Article by Matt Diano
#1 Holy Trinity (7-1) vs. #5 Fordham Prep (4-5)
When: Saturday November 12th, 2022 @1pm
Where: Holy Trinity HS Campus (98 Cherry Ln, Hicksville, NY 11801)
Previous Meeting: 39-0 Holy Trinity on October 1st (Week #4)
Synopsis: Their 19-game winning streak ended the last time they stepped foot on the gridiron, the 2021 NYCHSFL AA-2 champs out of Hicksville [Holy Trinity] return to the field for the first time in two weeks following a double bye in week 8 and the quarterfinal round…
The owners of both the most prolific offense and the stoutest defense in AA-1 this fall, to many, the Titans advancement to title weekend has been viewed as something of a formality, as the program has gone the better part of the past two years untested by their peers…In fact, to put into perspective how dominant the “Green Wave” has been in recent times, it is important to note that in two outings with AAA opponents (Kellenberg Memorial & Chaminade), HT mustered a split, defeating the fifth-seeded Firebirds before narrowly dropping a hard fought contest to the #4/current Triple-A semifinalist Flyers!
Rumored to have been banged up in final appearance of the 2022 regular season, there is no understating how much of a factor a 14-day recovery period can be for a team that when healthy can rival anybody in the entire Empire State…
Anchored and/or powered by an extremely balanced and lethal offensive scheme where there has been no shortage of individuals worthy of All-Catholic, if not All-State, acclaim, when Trinity squared off against the visiting Rams during the fourth week of the fall (October 1st), they received banner efforts from both of their top-2 quarterbacks, as junior starter—Rocco Rainone, connected on 9 of 13 throws for 184 yards and a hat trick of TD tosses (all in the 1st quarter)…Senior back-up, Zion Woodhull-Trippett, thrived when he entered the game, hitting on 2 of his 4 hurls for 84 yards, highlighted by a 40-yard TD strike!!!
On the ground, junior RB, Jameer Reeder, had a steady showing, rushing for 47 yards on 12 hand-offs; however, he was slightly overshadowed by the breakout play of sophomore teammate, Devon Gonzalez, who posted a school-best 48 yards on just six carries, including an 18-yard touchdown trek in the 4th quarter!!
The “cheetah coalition” out wide for HT all made their presence felt versus the Fordham Prep secondary, as Josiah Brown (3 grabs for 117 yards) & Jayden Simpson (2 receptions for 58 yards) each hauled in a pair of touchdown snatches….Andre Kirton topped all Titans with 4 catches for 50 yards!!
Defensively, it was the usual suspects of Reeder (reigning AA Defensive Player of the Year), Chad Case, Christopher Bacon (forced fumble + recovery), and Zayden Michel (1 sack) doing the damage upfront, while Simpson (1 INT) handled duties in the secondary en route to securing Holy Trinity’s second shutout of the year!!
Turning our attention to the gentlemen on the other sideline, while the smart money may not be pointing in their favor as it pertains to the mythical betting line, the Rams may have something of an ace in the hole/trick up their sleeve as they embark on what they hope will be the first of two straight weekend journeys out to Nassau County…
In the aforementioned regular season meeting in early-October, FP was without the services of starting field general, Matthew Moorehead, and instead were forced to play talented WR, Tommy Gies, out of position, thus resulting in a modest 2-for-10, 16-yard outcome via the sky…With the 6-foot, 160-pound 11th grader [Moorehead] taking the snaps, this is an entirely different heard on offense, as was demonstrated during the 28-14 quarterfinal victory last week over St. Joe’s by the Sea….In that contest, Moorehead delivered a career-best three touchdown passes as part of an overall 16-for-27, 179-yard showing….
With their trained gunslinger locked and loaded in the pocket, expect for the likes of Gies (back to his comfort zone), Keegan Doody, Edward Lewis Moore, and Jericho Ancheta to also come alive and make an impact….Ancheta (4 for 48) exploded for a three TD receiving game in the quarterfinals, while Doody tied his career-high with six grabs for 62 yards in the postseason triumph against the Vikings….Senior receiver, Zaal Lam, who was not credited with a single catch during the regular season, made 3 for 25 yards last week and perhaps is someone that we need to watch moving forward!!
Another essential adjustment that must be made in order for Fordham Prep to have a fighting chance at the upset would be for senior RB, Charlie English, to bury the skeletons of the first meeting (18 yards on 10 attempts) and instead demand of himself to be the version that has racked up four 100+ yard outings in his swan song, including a 160-yard/1TD exhibit (24 carries) in the quarterfinals!
If there was a silver lining in what on paper looked to be a one-sided battle in week #4, it would be the performances of defensive studs—William Wood (5 tackles, 1 sack), Jaziah Moore (4 stops, 1 sack), Michael Semprevivo (3 tackles, 1 sack), as well as English (2 stops, 1 INT)!….JMoore (6 tackles, .5 sack), alongside Jack Mckillop (7 tackles), Sean Rooney (6 stops), Vaughan Johnson (2 stops, .5 sacks), and JT Chmiel (1 interception) all come in fresh off of strong showings to begin the postseason!
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#2 Moore Catholic (8-2) vs. #3 St. John the Baptist (7-2)
When: Saturday November 12th, 2022 @1pm
Where: Moore Catholic HS (100 Merrill Ave, Staten Island, NY 10314)
Previous Meeting: “First Meeting of 2022”
Synopsis: A collision of two programs that a year ago found themselves in the unenviable position of being Metro Catholic runners-up (Moore: AA-1; Baptist: AA-2), there is unfinished business on the line for a group of very gifted seniors on the opposing sidelines…
For second-seeded Mavericks of Moore Catholic, who will enjoy the luxury of the “Red Turf” advantage (playing at home), the only missing piece to a world-class resume for senior signal caller, John Michalski, would be a team crown to complement his extraordinary individual exploits…Sensing the urgency that accompanies the notion that one’s scholastic career is approaching its twilight, the 6’2, 205-pound, dual-threat standout turned in a mind-blowing effort in his first postseason outing of 2022, as he generated 331 yards + 1 touchdown of production in MC’s 35-7 quarterfinal win over St. Francis Prep…..His legs (198 yards + 1 TD run on 18 carries) slightly more deadly than his arm (8-for-14, 133 yards) last weekend, if the Woodbridge, NJ resident has even a typical game (given his high standard), it should mean that he will reach and/or surpass the 3,000-yard of total offense milestone versus the Cougars…His numbers following the quarterfinal triumph are as follows: 1,143 in the air, 1,602 yards on land…He has also had a hand in 23 total scores (13 passing, 10 rushing)….
“Partners in crime” (they have stolen the hearts of Staten Island) during every step of his storied varsity chronicles are fellow 12th graders—Mattias Lighten, Jay’len Johnson, and Michael Zeh out wide….Lighten and Johnson were absent from the box score last week, whereas Zeh got into the mix, hauling in three passes for 51 yards….As forecasted in our postseason preview, another senior, Mario Ferraro, has continued to come on strong down the homestretch, as he followed up a 5-grab/90-yard effort in the regular season finale by tying his career-high of 5 receptions for 83 yards and one touchdown in the win over the Terriers in the quarters!
Sophomore RB, RJ Pacheco, was a 100+-yard runner for a third straight outing (sixth time this season), as he put himself on the cusp of a 1,000-yard campaign (899 heading into the semis) following a 15-attempt, 101-yard, 2TD day in the championship round of 8!
Defensively, Dowan Coachman (11 tackles), Zeh (8 stops, 1 INT), Giovanni Maniscalco (5 tackles, 1 sack), Arshad Meredith-Smith (3 tackles, 1 fumble recovery), and Ferraro (2 stops, 1 pass break-up) were part of the senior leadership committee that held SFP to their lowest point total of 2022!!!….Non-seniors that also rose to the occasion in the collective smothering were Michael Herbert (6 tackles), Isaiah Vanterpool (6 stops, 1 sack), and Jon Fields (4 tackles, 2 sacks)!
For the SJB Cougar Nation, who hope to get a second crack at Holy Trinity after leading the Titans for the majority of the 2021 AA-2 title contest (eventually lost, 21-10), the onus of getting the Red, White, & Black back to the ‘ship will fall on the shoulders of their own senior regiment, bedrocked by the likes of Elijah Alvarez, Jayson Zeva, Sean Dennehy, and Patrick Moloney!
Alvarez, who is a foundational piece on both sides of the ball, needs just 35 yards rushing this Saturday to reach 1,000 for the season…The 6’0, 177-pounder out of Patchogue amassed 135 yards and scored twice (on 12 carries) in John the Baptist’s 35-6 quarterfinal conquering of St. Peter’s….Also deserving of commendation as a complementary aspect of the ground attack was fellow 12th grader, Ethan Smith, who established a new personal-best, gaining 64 yards on just three hand-offs in the dub over the Eagles!
Zeva, who was won of three Cougar receivers to register a TD reception in the opening-round of the 2022 Catholic playoffs, finds himself give snatches short of hitting 50 for the year after hauling in 3 tosses for 70 yards…Dennehy, who has been a much more active element on “D”, earned his first touchdown grab of the fall when his lone reception was a 10-yard scoring strike…Junior, DJ Lisbon (2 receptions for 73 yards) rounded out the TD-catching trio, and joined Zeva as the only SJB student-athletes with multiple snatches to begin the playoffs…
After some debate as to whom be the primary field general, it was the man who started the year as QB1, Michael Wheat, handling the bulk of snaps, as he connected on 5-of-9 hurls for 133 yards and all three TD tosses!! Calling his own number #1 on four keepers, the Hicksville resident tacked on 54 additional yards on land to enhance his very impressive Catholic postseason debut!
Moloney (13 tackles, 1 sack) and Dennehy (9 stops, 2 TFLs) were joined by fellow senior, Nicholas Chizzoniti (8 tackles, 2 stops for negative yardage), as well as sophomore, Luke Skoda (13 stops, 1 TFL), and 11th graders— Calogero Rosado (9 tackles), Branden Raines (9 stops), Wheat (6 tackles, 1 fumble recovery), Joseph Chille (2 tackles, 2 TFLs, 2 sacks), and Christopher King (3 stops, 1 interception) in presenting an impenetrable defensive outfit!!…The 6 points was the lowest posted by SP this season against a double-A foe!!
While several pundits reflect upon MC’s two wins over AAA members—Monsignor Farrell & Cardinal Hayes—as grounds to suggest that the upcoming semifinal will not be as close as predicted; we on the other hand concentrate on the mutual opponents—St Peter’s (41-7 vs. 44-20/35-6) & Xavier (28-17 vs. 21-7), and do not find much disparity in terms of margins of respective victory…Hence, with election day having just passed, we say, “we are not yet ready to declare this race over.”!!!