By Matt Diano: With only a win standing in the way of their respective teams earning a berth in the NYCHSFL finals, these four student-athletes would embrace the big stage and shine.
Showing that there is no “one right way” to achieve victory, our selections would be evenly divided among the two sides of the ball.
Representing the offense would be a pair of running back that combined to run for 446 yards and six touchdowns.
On defense, it would be run-stopping galore as our two highlighted players would be instrumental in suffocating three of the top running backs in all of the Catholic League and keeping them off of the scoreboard.
Recognized for their impeccable play during the semifinal weekend of November 13th-15th are:
Justin Covington; RB – Cardinal Hayes Cardinals
Before the biggest game in program history, the Cardinal Hayes captains would honor the memory of departed teammate, Delano Cowan, by bringing his jersey with them to midfield to observe a moment of silence….Once the game got underway, it would be one of those captains, senior running back, Justin Covington, doing his own personal tribute to Cowan by doing everything within his power to ensure that the #90 jersey would be making the trek to Fordham University for the AAA championship game….Carrying the ball 32 times, the 5’11, 200-pound speed back would set season highs in yards (273) and touchdowns (5) in leading the Bronx, NY located school to their first ever AAA finals appearance, as the Cardinals would win a shootout over the Friars of St. Anthony’s, 44-39. Having never previously defeated the perennial powerhouse from Suffolk County entering 2015, CJ O’Neil’s squad has now done so twice in the span of three weeks.
With this team already leading 6-0 in the first quarter, Covington would pick up the first of his five aforementioned scores when he found a hole and dashed 13 yards into the end zone to double the lead for the #2 seed…However, on one of those nights where the offensive units on both sidelines would be clicking in full force, it seemed that anytime Hayes would build a lead, St. Anthony’s would find the fortitude to fight back and remain in the contest. For this reason, the host school would very much need every inch of production that it received from their star ball carrier…Just like he proved to be in the regular season finale (scoring the game-winning TD in last 30 seconds), Covington was the ultimate difference maker this past weekend. In fact, for those who were only able to follow the game via the twitter updates, crunch time read as a “Covington vs. Friars” battle where the young man in the #1 jersey would single-handedly prevent St. Anthony’s from ever establishing lasting momentum…After seeing his team’s 18-0 lead be cut to 18-14, Covington would break out of his second TD of the contest, running 45 yards to make the score 25-14 at the half…The Bronx resident would only grower stronger in the second half, accounting for 18 of the Cardinals’ 19 points behind TD rushes of 56 (to make the score 32-14), 16 (38-20), and 3 yards (44-33)…For the season, Covington has compiled just under 1,500 ground yards (1,489), finding the promised land on 20 of his 150 touches.
Brandon Peterson; RB – Xaverian Clippers
The Clippers are headed back to the ‘ship for the third-straight year as the top-seed in the A Division would run (literally and figuratively) roughshod over visiting Kennedy Catholic to the tune of a 44-3 semifinal victory…Utilizing their full array of offensive weapons, the Mike Jioia coached team would score all of their touchdowns on the ground, dividing the six scores among four players, including two each from quarterback, Phil DePaulis, and tailback, Angelo Spata…All in all, Xaverian would tally 378 rushing yards, averaging 11.8 yards/carry on their 32 attempts.
While DePaulis (151 yards on 16 carries), along with senior linebacker, Michael Robertson (2 INTs), both had very strong cases made on their behalf for POTW honors, we elected to go with the Peterson in recognition of what he has accomplished on the whole in 2015…Running for a season-high 173 yards only eight carries (did not play in the second half), the returning All-Catholic player from a season ago, would surpass the 1,000 yard (1,015) milestone last Friday night, making him the first Clipper in four years to do so. His lone touchdown run would also give him 15 in his senior season, nearly double the eight scored he recorded as a junior in 2014….He heads into this weekend’s championship contest riding a streak of three consecutive 100+ yard games rushing.
Zachary Cilmi; FS/PR – Xavier Knights
For the third straight week, the difference between victory and agony for Xavier would be the stellar play of their AA Division-leading defense, as the Knights will be returning to the league title game for the first time since 2012 (won the title) after holding the visiting Cougars of St. John the Baptist (entered the game averaging 400 rushing yards and 33 points per game in 2015) scoreless for the first time this season…The victory on Saturday afternoon would be made even sweeter by the fact that it avenged a loss from the 2014 championship round of 4.
Locked in a defensive stalemate (the kind of game that will always favor a Chris Stevens coached team), this showdown would be scoreless through three quarters, before senior running back, Mike Chiarovano (110 yards on 30 carries), would score on a pair of fourth quarter TD runs from 3 and 2-yards out respectively to punch his team’s ticket to Mitchell Field on Saturday the 21st.
While Chiarovano and his two scores would undoubtedly be the offensive MVP of the game, Stevens would credit the “w” to the level of play he received from his defensive and special teams units…Serving as the primary link between these two aspects of the game would be the 5’9, 170-pound free safety, Cilmi….With constant jockeying for position being the story for much of the game, it would be the 51-yard punt return by the senior from Staten Island that flipped the field in favor of the Knights, as their stop on “D” early in the 4th quarter would enable them to take over possession on the SJB 29-yard line. This excellent starting position would be all the #2 seed would need as the drive would culminate with the game-winning TD from the Xavier workhouse [Chiarovano].
Cilmi would also have a major impact on the game from the defensive backfield, finishing second on the team with 13 tackles in doing his part to limit the Cougars’ dynamic duo of Jerome Brooks III (74 yards on 21 carries) and Nicholas Cipolla (25 yards on 16 touches) to under 100 yards combined (first time all season this has been achieved)…As a final act in a brilliantly played game on the defensive side of the ball, Cilmi would put the win on ice when he used his ball-hawking skills to secure his team-leading third interception of the season. He also ranks second in total tackles in 2015 with 80 (trailing only fellow 12th grader, LB- Frank Masella, who has made 104 stops, including 16 last weekend).
Jordan Gunther; LB – Archbishop Stepinac Crusaders
The goal to repeat in 2015 is alive and well in Westchester following the Crusaders’ 49-7 AAA semifinal victory over St. Peter’s Boys…The victory, which improved Stepinac to 2-0 in 2015 over the Eagles and 10-0 overall, would extend Head Coach, Michael O’Donnell’s downstate Catholic streak to a very impressive 20th straight win as they continue their pursuit of the NYCHSFL State crown that escaped them last season in a 23-10 loss to Monsignor Martin champions, Canisius (Buffalo).
As predicted in our AAA preview, the visiting Eagles, which suffered their first road loss of 2015 in last Sunday’s loss, would lean heavily on star running back, Bobby Wing (who entered the game with over 1,200 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns). However, similar to their performance in week #7 (held Wing to 51 yards on 16 carries), the A.S. defense would be unrelenting in smothering the opposition’s run game, as they negated Wing’s impact, limiting him to a modest 66 yards on 25 carries…Sitting at the head of the table and setting the example would be the senior linebacker, Gunther, who posted his fourth double-digit tackle effort of the season with 13 stops to increase his team-leading total to 97 (24 more than fellow senior, Jaychar Howell, who ranks second on the team in the category)…With the outcome no longer in doubt (Stepinac leading 35-0 in the 4th quarter), Gunther would return his second fumble of the year for a touchdown, picking up the loose ball and taking it 18 yards to the house to put the cherry on top.