By Matt Diano: It is semifinal time in the triple-A division and playing this weekend will be more than a few familiar faces as three-fourths of our teams are back in the championship round of 4 for the second consecutive year.
Up top, the unanimous top team in New York, Archbishop Stepinac, will look to win their 19th straight game against a downstate Catholic opponent when they square off against the team that on paper was not even supposed to be here, 5th– seeded St. Peter’s Boys…While the Crusaders cruised in their quarterfinal game a week ago, winning 50-3 over Chaminade, the Eagles would advance by the slimmest of margins, avenging a 33-8 loss from earlier in the season by claiming a 22-21 triumph over Monsignor Farrell in a clash of S.I’s finest.
At the bottom of the playoff bracket, you have a game that will give Giants/Patriots a run for their money in terms of most hyped and anticipated contest of the weekend. The last time the Cardinals and the Friars met, it took nearly every second of the 48 minute affair to determine a victor….Second-seeded Cardinal Hayes, who is looking to advance to a NYCHSFL title game for the second time in two years (were the AA champs in 2013) would get to the semifinals by posting a 31-14 victory over Holy Cross….Opposing them this weekend will be the gold standard of Catholic League football, #3 St. Anthony’s…The winners of 11 of the past 14 AAA titles, regardless of seed, it is impossible to ever attach the underdog label to the Friars…The Black & Gold would open the 2015 playoffs last weekend with a 45-20 win over Iona Prep .
#1 Archbishop Stepinac vs. #5 St. Peter’s Boys (Sunday, November 15thth @1 p.m.—Archbishop Stepinac HS)
If there was one non-Eagle faithful member that was likely ecstatic to see St. Peter’s pull the 22-21 upset last weekend over Monsignor Farrell, that individual would probably be Stepinac Head Coach, Mike O’Donnell…While the undefeated, defending AAA champion Crusaders would have entered the semifinal round favored over either of their potential opponents, the difference in the margin of victory in which they defeated each (52-6 against St. Peter’s vs. 34-28 versus Farrell) strongly suggested that for whatever reason, the team from Clinton Ave is just a better match-up for the top-seed from Westchester…Following that week #7 loss, even Eagles’ Head Coach, Mark DeCristoforo, admitted to Staten Island Live.com that “Stepinac has mismatches at many, if not most positions.”
Having had a few weeks to process and learn from the one-sided loss on October 24th, a theme that we expect to permeate throughout the visiting locker room this weekend is the importance of getting off to a much better start. In the initial match-up, Stepinac would just about put the game out of reach in the opening 12 minutes, scoring two offensive touchdowns (one in the air, the other on the ground), a third off of a pick-6, and then tack on a field goal from 32 yards out to lead 24-0…The Stepinac scoring machine, powered by senior quarterback, Tyquell Fields, would continue to pour it on in the second and third quarters, as the 6’4 field general would toss his second, third, and fourth TDs of the game to increase the lead to 45-0…AS, which by their own incredibly high standards, would be relatively tame in their running attack (170 yards on 22 carries) would notch their final TD of the game on an 83-yard dash by sophomore, Atrilleon Williams, who by virtue of this amazing run, would lead the team in rushing yards with 78 despite only taking two handoffs…Fields would finish the game with a stat line that read, 14-for-19, 210 yards passing, and the previously cited quartet of TD strikes (two of which were to fellow senior, TJ Morrison from 28 and 5 yards out respectively).
Now that they have witnessed firsthand how unstoppable Stepinac can be if they are allowed to utilize their “freak athlete” heavy band of weapons, the name of the game on Sunday afternoon is ball control/clock management. If the Eagles, who will unquestionably be looking to ride junior workhorse, Bobby Wing (limited to only 51 yards on 16 carries in the previous match-up), all afternoon long, can mount multiple extended drives, they can force their more explosive opponents to play at a slower speed. Being as it is that no one has been able to do that thus far in 2015, it remains an enigma what, if any, affect a slow, low-scoring affair would have on O’Donnell’s cohort. The more diligent the Eagles are early in the game in moving the chains with short-yardage runs, the more the field will open up for quarterback, Joe Mazziotta, who if you look past his three interceptions, played a solid game, completing 13 of his 20 pass attempts for 127 yards and accounting for his team’s lone TD when he and sophomore, Aaje Grayson, hooked up in the 4th quarter to prevent the shutout.
Note: This is also a rematch of the 2014 AAA semifinals, won by Stepinac, 56-0.
#2 Cardinal Hayes vs. #3 St. Anthony’s (Saturday, November 14thth @7 p.m.—Roof Top 161)
Without a doubt the rematch that everyone has been eagerly awaiting, if the encore is half as good as the first act, then those in attendance on Saturday night are in for a special treat…When these two teams went to battle in the regular season finale, the game would be knotted at 25 apiece as the clock showed 1:00 to go. In this moment, history would be made, as senior running back, Justin Covington (16 carries, 152 yards, two TDs) would refuse to be denied, as he took the handoff and trekked 19-yards untouched into the end zone with 32 seconds remaining to seal Hayes’s first ever victory over the perennial powerhouse Friars of St. Anthony’s, 32-25.
Now on the eve of part II, the CJ O’Neil coached from the Bronx knows that if they want to make it two in a row, they are going to need to get just as significant a contribution out of the quarterback positions as they did in the initial showdown…Playing the majority of the contest with back-up, Brian Vigo, under center, the Hayes offense would hardly skip a beat as the 5’10, 175-pounder would be locked in all day, completing 12 of his 17 pass attempts for 125 yards and two touchdowns (both to fellow 12th grader, Dante Rodriguez—6 receptions, 67 yards)…Prior to losing his services early in the second quarter, junior starter, Christian Anderson (who did not start last week’s quarterfinal victory over Holy Cross, but did make an appearance) would also look good commanding the offense, as he would go 5-for-9, including a first quarter touchdown strike to Shameen Jones (9 catches, 147 yards receiving) that covered 65 of his 115 yards in the air…Because both signal callers played so well, It is uncertain which will get the call tomorrow. However, as the stat line suggests, no matter who it is that leads the team out onto the field, the 10 guys that surround him have every reason in the world to feel confident.
Defensively, Hayes will look to prized DE, Abdoul Kouyate, to apply the same level of pressure (5 tackles, 2 sacks) to opposing QB extraordinaire, Tom Walsh, as he did in late-October, holding the potent passer (2,430 yards, 63 percent completion percentage, 17 TD tosses) to a reasonable 197 yards in the air on 21-for-37 passing….In addition to not allowing #12 in black to ever establish a comfort level in the pocket, another essential responsibility of the D-unit is to play a smarter, more disciplined game…At one time leading 19-7 early in the 3rd quarter, it would be penalties, especially those of the 15-yard personal foul variety that would enable St. Anthony’s to get themselves back into the game.
For the visiting Friars, whose senior class will take the field on Saturday night looking to avoid becoming the first group since 1992 to graduate having never played in the AAA finals, the path to victory seems to start and end with their previously cited senior field general…Normally a team that is as well-balanced offensively as you will encounter in all of the Empire State, an injury to primary ball carrier, Jordan Williams, in the loss to Hayes has left the South Huntington based school slightly one dimensional…While Kwesi Thomas-Henderson (58 yards and a TD on 13 carries in the first meeting) is more than capable of being a game-changer out of the backfield, the truth is that he has yet to show in 2015 that he can channel his inner-Jordan Gowins, Matt Hahn, or Frank Lazio (to name a few of the star backs that helped to build the Friar championship dynasty)…The good news is that as long as his offensive line gives him the time necessary to pick his spots, Walsh will have no shortage of capable targets as James Pryor (43 for 698 yards), Nick Watts (37 for 509 yards), Tyler Palminteri (37 for 441 yards), and Andrew Hancock (25 for 508 yards) make up the most feared receiving corps in all of the NYCHSFL.
On the other side of the ball, we cannot reiterate enough how crucial it will be for St. Anthony’s to do a better job in pass coverage. As noted in the quarterfinal preview, if there has been one Achilles heel this season, it has been that the third-seeded Friar defense has been vulnerable in the air…In the last three games that they have played, the Rich Reichert coached squad has surrendered no less than three touchdown passes each time. This is a streak that must not continue in the semifinal round if Long Island hopes to have a representative playing in the ‘ship