IT’S A REPEAT IN MINEOLA!!!
By Matt Diano: In the clash of defending titlists, it was the young gentlemen in the Red & Gold jerseys [Chaminade] turning in a dominant performance on both sides of the ball to ensure that the AA-1 crown will stay another year on Long Island!!!
The top-seeded Flyers closed out the 2021 fall campaign with a 7-3 record as they knocked off reigning AA-2 kings, Moore Catholic, 43-7 in the middle game of our NYCHSFL championship triple-header at the Mitchel Athletic Complex!
The majority of pundits would have predicted that any Flyer victory would be accompanied by a massive finale put forth by senior tailback, Christian Alacqua (60 yards + 2TDs on 13 carries; 2 catches for 23 additional yards)…But alas, while #11 certainly had his highlights, it was predominantly a group of unsung/under the radar heroes of competition, that carried the Marianist program to their second straight hardware hoisting outcome!
Polishing off successful drives late in the 1st and then early in the 2nd, Chaminade headed into the locker room enjoying a comfortable 14-0 advantage!
Getting the boys from Jackson Avenue on the board first was their senior signal caller, Thomas Stueber, who called his own number on an 11-yard keeper (with 4:49 remaining in the 1st) to notch his fourth rushing touchdown of his swan song campaign…Prior to the scoring run, the 6’0, 185-pound field general/captain out of West Islip connected on 2-of-2 in the air, as he hit fellow senior, Michael Miller, over the middle and then found another 12th grader, Jack Schmatz on the sideline to move the pigskin to striking territory…
After the defense induced a punt (their third of the half), the offense went right back to work, as junior signal caller, Matthew Dieguez, took his turn in the QB rotation that Chaminade has used all season, and made the most of the opportunity, converting THREE third downs scenarios with his arm via completions to Alacqua, Gavin Creo (3 grabs for 79 yards), and then the biggest hook up of them all to Schmatz on the doorstep (2-yard line)…Two snaps later, Alacqua culminated the series with a 1-yard plunge for his 17th ground score of the season with 7:30 to go in the 1st half!!
That margin would increase to 21-0 with 5:11 remaining in the 3rd quarter, as the Long Islanders dealt a death blow to their Staten Island foes when on a 3rd & 30 situation, Stueber hit Creo on a slant in open field, allowing his 11th grade to go the rest of the way to polish off the 59-yard touchdown connection!
Moore Catholic, who has always represented the NYCHSFL with heart and dignity, would muster a brief rally late in the 3rd quarter (3:30 to go), as junior dual-threat QB, John Michalski (91 yards in the air; 34 on the ground) , channeled Tim Tebow, faking a run and then completing a pass over the middle to Troy Telesford for a 66-yard TD reception to cut the deficit to 21-7, but the Mavericks would draw no closer as Chaminade went on to control the majority of the final 15:30 minutes of duration…
If there was any hope of a momentum swing, that notion was snubbed out approximately 3:30 into the 4th quarter as a Dean Aquilina strip sack (recovered by fellow senior, Hagan Wagner) put the Flyers in ideal scoring position on the MC 8-yard line…
Three plays later, Stueber, with an assist/push from offensive lineman, Declan Welch, propelled himself across the line from a distance of 5-yards out to register his second TD run of the afternoon on the ground (3rd overall TD)…
Alacqua (42-yard TD run to cap off his senior year with 18 with 5:21) and Wagner (40-yard pick-6 shortly thereafter) rounded out the scoring for Coach Kevin Dolan’s championship cohort!!!
For the [Nick] Giannatasio mentored Mavericks, today will be about learning from their mistakes and using those lessons to fuel what is absolutely going to be a bright future on Merrill Avenue…In addition to the ill-timed fumble and the pick-6 in the 4th quarter, Moore had more than their fair share of chances to very much get/remain in the contest…
Late in the 2nd quarter, they had a 1st & Goal opportunity, but simply could not capitalize from the 4-yard line and turned the ball over on the opposing 1!
With the score still sitting at 21-7, a dropped pass on 4th and short inside the red zone resulted in a turnover on downs!!!
Stueber, who accumulated 137 yards of total production (6 completions for 110 yards/1TD; 3 rushes for 17 yards/2 scores) was the Offensive MVP; Wagner, who as noted previously had a hand in two turnovers, took the top honors on behalf of a defense that held Moore Catholic to their second lowest output of the fall!!!
Junior, Giovanni Maniscalco (3 sacks) was stellar on “D” in the losing effort for the Mavs!!!