By Matt Diano:
“AAA”
Offense: Ajani Sheppard (Jr.); QB – Iona Prep Gaels
From start to finish of the fall (although the Gaels are not done yet), the 6’2, 230-pound 11th grader has been the most versatile and dominant offensive weapon in all of the Metro Catholic football league (regardless of classification) …What he achieved this past Saturday in Iona Prep’s 49-15 triumph over Monsignor Farrell was just the next act in what was a weekly pattern of dual-threat excellence and/or superiority!
Quite frankly, if you are a power-5 NCAA program that paid attention to his junior campaign and still are not ready to extend that offer, then the loss/regret is going to stay with you forever!!!
Leading the Gaels to their first triple-A hardware since 2008 (won AA in 2016), even a leprechaun would have been envious of the standout in the #3 jersey on November 20th; everything he touched, he turned to gold!!!
Accumulating for 323 yards of total offense and responsible for five of his school’s seven touchdowns of the evening, Sheppard was a marksman with his arm, connecting on 18 of 20 pass attempts for 251 yards (second highest of the season) and three touchdowns…To boot, he was every bit as evasive and unstoppable with his legs, as he carried the pigskin 10 times, gaining 72 yards and adding two additional scores to his tally!
The bulk of the damage he inflicted occurred during the opening 24 minutes of action as he both ran and tossed for one touchdown apiece between the 1st and 2nd quarters to complete the “haul” (4 scores) before even breaking a sweat!
In the 1st quarter, he drew first blood on a 3-yard QB keeper approximately 2:30 into the contest to record his 14th rushing TD of the year…Six minutes later, he hit fellow junior, Michael Senatore (5 grabs for 60 yards) on an 11-yarder right in front of the pylon, allowing his teammate to walk into the end zone to double the lead to 14-0….
After a long Farrell TD pass (Cristian Pinto to Frank Esposito) cut into the deficit, Sheppard wasted no time in issuing a response, as he connected with his favorite target all season long, Justin Joly (5 receptions 73 yards; also rushed five times for 73 yards; 2 total TDs) on a perfectly thrown 36-yard hook-up to regain the 14pt advantage with a little less than 10:00 remaining in the 2Q.
Sheppard further padded the cushion in the final 3:00 of the 1st half when he darted for 26 yards to the house to send the Gaels into the break up 28-7!
A 32-yard strike to Mike Ryan (6 grabs for 101 yards) in the 3rd quarter rounded out the aforementioned 5TD outing for Sheppard!
Boasting a 2021 stat line that reads as follow: 166-for-235 (70.6%) for 2,28 yards and 20 touchdowns tossing; 128 carries for 985 yards and 15 scores, Sheppard heads into this weekend’s Catholic State title game against St. Francis (Monsignor Martin) looking to make history!!! Per Lohud.com, If he ends the afternoon with 15 or more yards on the ground, he will become the first player in Westchester County history to enjoy a 2,000/1,000 effort in a single-season!!!
Defense: Zyian Moultrie-Goddard (Jr.); LB/RB – Iona Prep Gaels
The likes of Arizona State, Syracuse, Tennessee, and Rutgers have already seen what the rest of the nation is soon to witness…#8 in Maroon & Gold is a stopper to the very definition of the word!
The centerpiece of what can most accurately be described as a “total team effort” on the defensive side of the ball, the 3-star, 245-pound LB out of the Bronx was unofficially credited with nine tackles as part of a unit that smothered their opponents from Staten Island all night long!
Holding a Lion squad that stepped onto Mitchel Field averaging over 30 points in their two previous playoff appearances to 14, the Moultrie-Goddard anchored front-7 also succeeded in doing something that no other team had been able to do this fall; they shutdown Messiah Burch, limiting the top rusher in the AAA division to a modest 25 yards on 12 carries).
Farrell as a whole struggled to get their vaunted ground game (averaged 250.8 yards per game) moving, as they concluded the night with a net sum of 106 yards (season low) on 24 attempts!
Moultrie-Goddard, who has shined on offense as a short-yardage back, was not afforded many opportunities to carry the rock last weekend; but on the one chance he did get, he made it count, taking snap as the up-man on a fake punt and bulldozing forward for a 6-yard gain to extend the drive that ultimately was culminated by the previously cited 20+ TD trek by his quarterback!
Having stifled one dynamic play-maker out of the backfield in the downstate title contest, Moultrie-Goddard and the Gaels will now set their mission at containing [St. Francis] Red Raider 1,000-yarder rusher (1,054/8 TDs on 200 carries), Richardo Kidd.
“AA-1”
Offense: Thomas Stueber (Sr.); QB – Chaminade Flyers
In the battle of defending double-A titlists, it was the 6’0, 185-pound, West Islip resident [Stueber] playing the finest game of his senior year to propel the Flyers to their second straight AA-1 crown via a 43-7 victory over Moore Catholic…
An individual that posted steady, but not necessarily overwhelming numbers during the regular season, #4 for the Crimson & Gold really elevated his performance in two postseason appearances, as he followed up a personal-best of 139 yards and two TD throws (5-of-7) in the semifinals (31-0 over Fordham Prep) by establishing a new career-high of three total touchdowns one week later in the title contest!
Unofficially generating 137 yards of total offensive production, the 12th grade scholar-athlete (rumored to be ponding interest from the famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology) connected on six successful pass attempts for 110 yards (1TD), while adding a complementary effort of 17 yards and 2 scores on 3 carries) en route to playing a role in three of Chaminade’s first four touchdowns of the afternoon to aid the Marianists in building a 28-7 4th quarter edge!
After three straight punts (between the two programs) to commence the opening quarter, Stueber finally got the proverbial ball rolling on the Flyers’ second possession when he exploited a short field and orchestrated a 4-play, 37-yard drive to put his school on the board, 7-0 with! Going 2-for-2 in the air, he hit Michael Miller Jr. Over the middle for a 14-yard gain and then later (after an opposing sack) connected with Jack Schmatz on the sideline for a 15-yard pick up to move the ball into the end zone…He then punctuated the series by faking a hand-off and scrambling 11 yards to the promised land!
The ‘Nade up 14-0 (1-yard by run by Christian Alacqua; one of two on the day for the senior RB) at the half, Stueber pulled off one of the most miraculous touchdowns of the entire fall when on 3rd & 30 in the last 5:50 of the 3rd quarter, he threw a perfect dart on a slant route to junior, Gavin Creo, who out-raced the Mavs’ secondary to polish off the 59-yard TD completion that increased the cushion to 21-0!
His third and final score of the day (Chaminade up 21-7) occurred with approximately 8:30 remaining in regulation…The Flyers positioned deep into enemy territory after a Dean Aquilina strip sack gave them control on the MC 9, Stueber would call his own # a few snaps later (on 3rd & 5), shaking off an initial hit and then spinning towards the goal line before pulling across by Declan Welch for the 5-yard backbreaker that all but sealed the dub for the gents from Mineola!
Defense: Hagan Wagner (Jr.); LB/S – Chaminade Flyers
When you are praised/hailed by your head Coach [Kevin Dolan] as the glue and/or one indispensable piece of a unit that pitched three shutouts and allowed only 21 points in five games against their AA-1 peers, then you know that with the flattery comes a certain level of expectation…
Thankfully, for the Flyer faithful, the 12th grader out of Hempstead [Wagner] is that diamond that is yielded from such pressure!
A new school hybrid, all-purpose defender that is one half linebacker, another part defensive back, there was not an area that the 5’10, 165-pounder failed to make his presence known this past weekend!
At the forefront of a pair of 4th quarter turnovers that enabled Chaminade to pull away and cruise to the win, Wagner was the one that recovered the previously cited strip sack from Aquilina to put his school on the doorstep!
A little less than five minutes later (3:53 remaining; CHS leading 35-7), Wagner jumped in front of a pass attempt from Moore QB, John Michalski (who was under immense duress), for the interception, and then made several cuts in front of his own bench to go the distance on the 40-yard TD return! This marked the second pick-6 of the year for Wagner, who also recorded a defensive touchdown in week #7 versus St. Francis Prep!
The 7 points earned by Moore Catholic was their second lowest output this season!
As a testament to how tough Wagner and all of the Flyers’ secondary performed in pass coverage, it ought to be noted that the 37.0% connection percentage (10-for-27) was the lowest of Michalski’s career in games In which he attempted 10 or more throws!
“AA-2”
Offense: Josiah Brown (So.); WR – Holy Trinity Titans
The youngest of our six shining stars that were singled-out in recognition of their stellar respective efforts during championship weekend, the 6’1, 180-pound, East Rockaway resident was the focal point of the sequence that completely flipped the script and changed the momentum of the AA-2 title contest!
The Titans trailing 10-7 and in jeopardy of witnessing their perfect season crumble with under 7:00 remaining in the 4th quarter, it was Brown on the back end of a 19-yard bubble screen on 3rd & 11 from fellow 10th grader, Rocco Rainone, for the go-ahead score that proved to be the spark that ignited the 21-10 victory bonfire for the Hicksville based program!
Unofficially, #7 was credited with two receptions for 35 yards!
Defense: Dylan Braithwaite (Jr.); DB/WR – Holy Trinity Titans
For HT, who capped off the first 10-0 campaign in school history, if the Brown touchdown catch started the blaze, then it was the interception by the junior our of Valley Stream [Braithwaite] that immense fanned those flames!!
His school finally on the better end of the scoreboard, #9 remained cognizant of the fact with over 6:00 still remaining on the clock, the “w” was far from secure…
Thus, when the opportunity presented itself, he took fate into his own hands when on a Cougar 4th & 30 he demonstrated tremendous concentration, picking off a pass that was tipped multiple times and then returning it nearly 50 yards to lay the ground work for Kameron Robbins’ crown-clinching TD run (11-yarder) a few snaps later!
Embracing all responsibilities among the last line of defense, Braithwaite unofficially recorded five stops and was part of a defensive backfield that forced SJB senior signal caller, Kyle Chase, into an 8-for-20 (91 yards) tossing morning! His QB rating of 33.5 was his second lowest this year (17.6 when these same two schools met in week #4.
One of the top receivers in AA-2 throughout the season, like Charles Woodson and Deion Sanders, Braithwaite contributed on both sides of the ball, as it was his three catches (highlighted by a 16-yard grab over the middle to advance the ball to SJB 3) on the Titans’ last drive of the 1st half that served as a catalyst to Christopher Bacon’s 1-yard plunge in the waning moments of the 2nd quarter that sent the game into the break all squared at 7-7!
Last weekend marked Holy Trinity’s first NYCHSFL brass ring since 2008!