Day: November 22, 2015

By Matt Diano: In our championship week preview, we stated that despite being the owners of the NYCHSFL’s most prolific offense at over 40 points per game, that in the mind of Archbishop Stepinac Head Coach, Mike O’Donnell, the backbone of his program was defense…The Crusaders “D” would make their fearless leader look like a genius on Saturday evening, forcing multiple turnovers and serving as the table setters for the majority of their team’s 20 points as the Westchester based program would become the first Catholic School since 2011 (St. Anthony’s) to repeat as AAA titlists, defeating a motivated Cardinal Hayes squad 20-12 on the campus of Fordham University. Stepinac, who currently finds itself sharing the co-#1 ranking in New York State with section V Aquinas, would improve their winning streak against downstate competition to 20 consecutive games, but the victory would not come without some degree of suspense as

By Matt Diano: They said “nothing could possibly top the first meeting between the Royals and the Knights as the game of the year”; they said “if it becomes a shootout, Christ the King will take the title”; THEY WERE WRONG!!! In an NYCHSFL AA finals contest that saw the two combatants, the Royals of the CTK and the Knights of Xavier, take turns trading key scores for the entire 48 minute duration, it would be the most unlikely of plays that proved to be the difference maker in helping the latter [Xavier] to their first Catholic League title since 2012 by a score of 28-25 over their previously unbeaten opponents from Middle Village…Trailing 25-20 in the final 1:14 seconds of regulation, Xavier would go to an all-out punt block, a formation that Coach Chris Stevens and his program had not bothered to drill at all during the course of the

By Matt Diano: The wait is over for Xaverian!!! After two straight seasons of advancing to the Division A title game only to endure the bitter taste of defeat, the Mike Jioia led Clippers would finally seize the hardware following a 31-14 victory ov er Cardinal Spellman this afternoon at the Michel Athletic Complex. Xaverian, who improved their record to 3-0 this season over the Pilots to finish 2015 with an overall mark of 8-3, would score all of their points in the opening 24minutes, commencing with a 68-yard flee flicker from Phil DePaulis to Vincent Finizio on the first play from scrimmage to give the Brooklyn based school the immediate 7-0 lead. After a Lenward Williams 1-yard TD run half way through the first quarter cut the lead to 7-6, the top-seeded Clippers would waste no time in going back on the attack and creating a cushion for themselves as