Chris DiGiacomo (Sr.); PK/P – Monsignor Farrell
Specialists….The undercover, under-appreciated, unsung warriors behind any/every winning football team!
Rarely do they get the opportunity to bask in the spotlight (especially on the high school level); but when that moment does come to fruition, you know it was undoubtedly warranted!!
And the Lions of Monsignor Farrell have one of the best in the Empire State in the person of their 5’9, 200-pound place-kicker/punter [DiGiacomo]…
Named to the All-State squad (4th team) in 2022, the cannon-legged senior from Staten Island returned to his top form (after beginning the year 0-for-4 on FG attempts) during week #3, as he went a perfect 3-for-3 with the boot (2 FGs, 1 PAT) to account for more than half of Farrell’s 13 points in a 13-10 barn-burning dub over Moore Catholic in a collision for “Island bragging rights”!!!!
Demonstrating the “clutch” gene that is God-given and cannot be taught, DiGiacomo was unflappable down the stretch, as it was his 42-yard kick with 3:33 remaining in regulation that broke a 10-10 tie and served as the difference-maker under the Friday Night lights!!
Responsible for bookend contributions, DiGiacomo nailed a 30-yarder with 3:57 to go in the 1st quarter that drew first blood and gave the Maroon & Gold a 3-0 edge!
Having never failed on a point-after try during the entirety of his varsity career, he improved his 2023 stat line to 13-for-13 and extended his comprehensive streak to 36 in a row when he complemented senior QB, Cristian Pinto’s 32-year TD trek by adding the +1 to increase the Lions’ margin to 10-0 with 10:31 to go in the half!!
His scoring duties tending to be the role that earns him the majority of the adulation he receives, DiGiacomo showed the full breadth of his value when on kick-offs and/or punts, he exerted significant influence on opposing starting field position…
Averaging 60 yards per KO, he’d log touchbacks on 3 of 4 boomers; and on the one attempt where there was a stiff wind in his face, he wisely squibbed it to keep the pigskin out of the hands of the always dangerous, Mathias Lighten!!
In terms of his punting, despite the brutal conditions, he managed to average 31 yards on his six endeavors, highlighted by an especially monstrous boot following the go-ahead FG that buried the visiting Mavericks inside their own 10-yard line with only a mere :53 standing between the Lions and celebration!!!
One of the most intriguing/top backstories we have heard, adding to the allure of this tale of heroics is that fact per an article published by SiLive.com, just hours earlier, there was reason to believe that a tooth absence would prevent the 12th grader from even participating!!!
That is what we call a total 180-degree twist of fate!!
If you are a fan/aficionado of exemplary kicking, then week #4 offers quite the treat for you, as up next for DiGiacomo and MF will be a date on the road on September 30th with Iona Prep and their All-State specialist (5th team), Sam Bisesi!!!
Mehdi Merah (Sr.); RB/FB – Xavier Knights
On a night where the Knight defense was impenetrable (allowed only one first down in 48 minutes) in pitching the 35-0 goose-egg over rival, Xavierian, one would have thought that it would be a member of the “hit squad” earning the top billing for the victory…
However, we’d all be wrong because on the other side of the ball, the 5’11, 220-pound native of Toulouse, France [Merah] was so spectacular that by the end of the game, there was little doubt that he settled any debate regarding whom the star of stars was on September 23rd!
An All-American rugby player by birth and/or trade, it is never shocking to see the power aspect of his skill set on full display. But in the triumph over the host Clippers, he showcased that he had all the tools in the bag, as his speed/burst-ability was every bit as pronounced/evident in his 29-carry, 220-yard, 4-touchdown effort during week #3!!
Surpassing the century mark for the third time in his career and smashing through the 200-yard barrier for a second occasion (257 vs. Holy Cross on October 1st, 2022), Merah either broke (carries) or tied (rushing touchdowns) his previous personal-bests!!
So perfectly and accurately described by Coach Stevens as “EXPLOSIVE”, Merah was responsible for 83% of the total yardage output (220 of 264), while contributing 69% of the points (24 of 35)…Not bad for a youngster who only came to the country four years ago and had to learn to translate his rugby prowess into gridiron greatness!!
Three of his four scores coming from shorter distances, Merah propelled the Big Apple based program to a 14-0 first 1st quarter advantage when he punched the ball in from the doorstep…
That cushion increased to 21-0 in 2Q when he struck with a direct-snap up the middle for the 4-yard gainer to the house!
Making it a natural hat trick, he banged in a 6-yarder up the gut at the onset of the 4th quarter to further increase the cushion (28-0)!
But alas, he saved the best for last, as he’d find a hole and then disappear on a 51-yard dash to paydirt to round the scoring for his school (35-0)!
Entering the game having racked up 166 yards (33 attempts) in his previous three outings, we knew it was only a matter of time before the beast would be uncaged and allowed to roam free!!!….And roam he did, as his seasonal stat line was raised to 386 yards and 8 touchdowns on 62 tries (6.2/per)!
Merah is now a two-time Player of the Week selection, having previously been bestowed the honor in week #5 of the 2022 campaign!
The Knights, who evened their record this fall to 2-2, will need another Herculean display from #26 when they square off with two-time returning AA-1 runners-up, Moore Catholic, this weekend!
Lorenzo Robinson (Sr.); RB – Archbishop Stepinac Crusaders
Welcome to the POTW list, Lorenzo Robinson!!!!
In his third year as a starting running back for the Crusader varsity, prior to last Friday night, the 5’10, 200-pound senior out of White Plains had amassed 1,134 yards and scored 13 touchdowns on the ground, while adding an additional 288 yards (2 touchdowns) working as a receiver out of the backfield….Simply stated, HE WAS DUE SOME RECOGNITION!!
And boy did he put on such a show in Stepinac’s 40-20 victory on home soil over Holy Trinity that his selection became automatic!
Re-writing his personal record book, the 3.8 GPA honor roll student-athlete with the 4.6 burners for legs proverbially set the field ablaze, rushing for 206 yards and four touchdowns on 19 carries (10.8/per)!!!
Not content to dominate just on land, he’d tack on a bonus 43 yards and a fifth overall TD with his hands, hauling in a pair of passes to further cement his epic outing!
Three of his five scores coming during the opening 24 minutes of action, Robinson was the catalyst in why the Red, White, and Blue were able to retreat into the locker room enjoying a 28-14 lead at the midway point!!
His first “6” coming in direct response to a Titan touchdown on the previous series, He’d jet 24 yards to the house to score the game at 7-7 with 4:49 remaining in the 1st quarter!
A little more than two minutes later, he found the end zone again, taking a halfback draw to the right and then barreling over a defender at the goal line for the 6-yarder that gave his team the 14-7 lead!
A.S. now up 21-14, he punctuated a brilliant half when he went in motion/swung out of the backfield, made the grab on the opposing 10-yard line and then cut back to shake the HT defensive back out of his cleat to go the rest of the way for the 20-yard reception with just 39 ticks to go before the break!!!
Delivering a bit of a death blow in the last 3:00 of the 3rd quarter, Robinson made it a 34-14 game when he ignited for his longest TD run of the evening, taking the HB draw on the visiting 39, meeting a would-be tackler at around the 12, and evading the hit to cruise to paydirt!!
He went untouched on a 4-yard exclamation with 8:38 remaining in duration to further create separation on the scoreboard (40-14)!!
Having crossed the century mark in two straight appearances (after only doing it once during the first 2.5 years of his scholastic career), Robinson will be counted on to stay en fuego on September 29th, when Stepinac clashes with Cardinal Hayes in battle of 3-1 programs on the campus of Columbia University!
Sean Rooney (Jr.; RB/LB) – Fordham Prep Rams
Praised in our game of the week preview for his ability to light up the opponent with bone-chilling hits on defense, little did we know that the 5’11, 220-pounder out of Bronxville [Rooney] was destined to be an both “Ironman” and a “Superman” in the Rams’ 27-0 road victory last Saturday against St. Francis Prep!
Turning to a running back by committee approach to compensate for the absence of leading rusher, Jack McKillop, Rooney, who stepped on the field having taken only one hand-off all season, looked like he had been doing the deed all his life, finishing 2nd on the team [behind Lucas Ocasio’s 113 on 18 carries] in yardage with 85 on just six attempts (14.2/per), including a 21-yard trip to the end zone to bank the first touchdown of his scholastic tenure!
Fulling capitalizing on this rare opportunity of being utilized on offense, in addition to his exploits on the ground, Rooney added his first career reception in flashy fashion, displaying tremendous concentration on a 16-yard one-handed haul out of the backfield that advanced FP inside the red zone (Terrier 10-yard line)!
Best of all, the energy burned on “O” did nothing to slow him down on “D”, as he was a madman, running sideline to sideline, ending the night with a Ram-high 7 total stops (6 solo), including 3 TFLs to be a catalyst in Fordham Prep pitching their first shutout since 2018!!…..All in all, FP allowed just 70 yards of total offense to SFP!
Not far removed from a bout with mononucleosis, if this is the “coming attraction” of what we can expect to see from the #20 jersey, then we are eagerly anticipating the main event in the coming weekends!!
Dante Vardaro (Sr.; LB) – St. Anthony’s Friars
Making up for lost time and then some!!
When the Friars squared off last November against the Gaels of Iona Prep for the AAA Metro Catholic hardware, the gentleman in the #2 jersey [Vardaro] was unable to compete after sustaining an unfortunate injury late in the regular season!!
Now healthy and firing on all cylinders, the 5-star lacrosse recruit bound for the University of Pennsylvania gave those in attendance a sampling of the stellar play that they were deprived of during the 2022 league finale!!
Piling up 7 total stops (5 solo), including a TFL, the 6’2, 200-pound resident of Commack raised his team-leading quantity this fall to 33!
But alas, the future Quaker was not just all substance; he most assuredly mixed in the style points (literally) under the Friday night lights, as he played a paramount role in two of the key sequences in helping St. Anthony’s run their win streak to three consecutive (3-1) behind a 44-24 victory at home on September 22nd!!
The defending NYCHSFL and Catholic State champs [St. Anthony’s] enjoying a 7-3 edge as the clock dipped below 6:00 to go in the opening stanza, Vardaro’s keen awareness on special team resulted in that cushion growing even bigger as he’d scoop up a blocked punt (courtesy of Kevin Moore) on the opposing 12-yard-line and dart the rest the way untouched for TD to make the score 14-3!
Demonstrating that he can not only put points on the board, but is quite adept at preventing them as well, he’d almost single-handedly blow up/derail a promising IP drive early in the 3rd quarter (STA up 23-3), when on first down inside his own 12, he’d correctly read a screen-pass to the Gael running back and crack him behind the line of scrimmage to create a loose ball scenario that ultimately yielded a 13-yard loss!!!…..Two snaps later, with the nemesis facing a 3rd & 23, Vardaro was in the perfect spot at the perfect time, he parked himself underneath a desperation heave attempt to earn the INT on the 1-yard line and stamp out any momentum that the visitors from New Rochelle may have been mounting!!!
By virtue of the exceptional player of their senior linebacker, the Black & Gold appear to be in the driver’s seat to earn the top-seed in the triple-A playoffs, as their scheduled was somewhat front-loaded and they already have “checked off boxes” against two of their fellow consensus title threats (Cardinal Hayes & Iona Prep)!
Vardaro is a first-time POTW selection!!!