#1 Moore Catholic (6-4) vs. #4 Xavier (7-3)
When: Saturday November 11th, 2023 @1pm
Where: Moore Catholic HS Campus (100 Merrill Ave, Staten Island, NY 10314)
Previous Meeting: Moore Catholic, 27-7, on September 30th (Week #4)
Overview: Can the Mavericks be denied a third straight trip to the AA-1 finals? The easy answer is that our magic 8-ball suggests that “Outlook Not so Good”; but if any program was going to be the ones to stop the train in its tracks, our pick would have been Xavier…So this rematch from week #4 actually does have us intrigued!
Victors in five of their past six outings (only loss to AAA semifinalist, Iona Prep) after getting off to a 1-3 start to the fall, there was never any real doubt that when November rolled around, we had full expectation that Giannatasio’s herd would very much be in the title picture!!
Likely not even at their best (breaking in a new QB; RB still working his way back to 100%) when they dealt that 27-7 blow to the Knights on September 30th, despite any obstacles they were facing, the MC offense clicked in every possible way during the first match-up, as freshman sensation field general, Thomas Zeh, enjoyed a “welcome to stardom” moment when he hit on 13 of 16 pass attempts for 179 yards and 3 touchdown passes…He has not looked back since and is actually fresh off of perhaps his finest outing, as he registered a 222-yard/4 TD chuck effort (17-for-24) in the quarterfinal win over St. Francis Prep last Sunday!
The back-end of these exchanges, both in week #4 and every weekend thereafter came courtesy of the dynamic trio of Boakai Veikai, Matthias Lighten, and Jayden Melendez, who hauled in games of 2 catches (both touchdowns for 47 yards), 4 grabs (65 yards, 1TD), and 4 snatches (36 yards) respectively….Having combined for 84 receptions (30 by Lighten), 1,306 yards (546 by Veikai), and 15 touchdowns (11 by Veikai), you are never going to be able to stop all three; so their presence forces you to pick your poison….Veikai and Lighten each had 2TD receiving displays in the quarterfinal victory over the visiting Terriers!!
And with a beast like Richard “RJ” Pacheco handling the bulk of carries out of the backfield, you knew the running game was not going to be neglected, as the 185-pound junior out of Staten Island racked up 102 yards and one score on 23 carries after only recently returning to the Mavericks line-up (early season injury)…On pace (789 yards on 140 attempts, 8 TDs) to notch his second consecutive 1,000 season with a berth into the finale, his afternoon versus Xavier was one of five occasions in 2023 where Pacheco surpassed the century mark….Known more for his consistent work on the other side of the ball, Gerald Green has managed to make things happen when afforded the opportunity, as he needed only two carries to rack up 53 yards versus Xavier in September, and is coming off of a 4-carry, 45-yard exhibition last week in the quarterfinals…
Defensively, the objective is quite clear….STUFF THE RUN….And they succeeded in doing just that during the initial meeting in late-September, as it was the stellar fight of individuals such as Michael Herbert (9 tackles, 1 INT), Lighten (8 stops), Aqil Meredith-Smith (8 tackles, 1 TFL), Isaiah Vanterpool (7 hits), Green (6 tackles, .5 sack), Omar Mendez (6 tackles, 1 TFL), Elijah Jones (6 stops, .5 sack), and Glenn Shepperd (5 stops, 1 TFL, 1 punt block) that were responsible for holding the Knights to their lowest output of the year on land, as they gained only 88 yards on 34 carries (159.4 below their seasonal average of 247.4)!!!….The “D” stockpiling 12 TFLs and 7 sacks in their quarterfinal triumph over SFP, there was no shortage of “attaboys” to go around, but it was Shepperd (12 stops, 2 TFLs, 1 sack) that had POTW honors bestowed on him!…Mendez (9 tackles, 3 TFLs, 1 sack), Vanterpool (8 tackles, 3 stops for loss, 2 sacks), or even Jason Guttierez (5 stops, 2 TFLs, .5 sack) were every bit as worthy of the distinction!
Turning our attention to Xavier, it is imperative that they find that extra muscle that will spring the running game….As noted above, 88 yards rushing is NOT Knight football; and our hope/belief is that the REAL/traditional version of the Single-Wing attack will show up on November 11th!!
Whether it be Mehdi Merah (1,048 yards, 17 touchdowns on 161 carries this season), Jeremy Kuharski (605 yards/6 touchdowns on 112 hand-offs), or Sean Kull (418 yards, 6 touchdowns on 51 attempts), all of the components/skills are there for the road warriors from Manhattan to execute their gameplan and pull off the upset!!
Merah being limited to 35 yards (14 carries) in week #4 is not something that can repeat itself if Xavier has intentions of prevailing…As the senior leader and tenacious competitor that he is, he needs to bring his “A” game to the field and set the tone by refusing to be stopped….With five 100+ yard games on his resume, including a 116-yard outing in the quarters versus St. Joe’s by the Sea, the 220-pound Rugby player turned gridiron great needs to put the team on his broad shoulders!!
Kuharski had the best game of the trio in September, as he’d average a respectable 3.7 yards per carry, ending the day with 48 yards on 13 keepers!!….He was credited with only one carry during the quarterfinals; so we are praying that this is not an injury situation that will sideline him for this pivotal contest!
Kull, either did not play in round #1 of the Mav/Knight saga or just did not get a carry (does not appear in the box score), enters on the heels of an amazing 16-carry, 91-yard, 1TD showing in the quarterfinal conquest of the Vikings!
Joshua Paduani is another name/face to pay attention to, as his 7-carry, 68-yard, 1TD display last week means he will bring a lot of mojo with him…He finished with –4 yards on five attempts in week #4; so he should be playing with extra motivation and a score to be settled!
After shouting out the exploits of the Mav Defense above, it is only right/justified that we do the same for XR!!!
Despite the loss, exemplary performances were delivered by the likes of Evan Tarozzi (10 tackles, 3 TFLs, 1 sack), Emir Yuksel (9 stops, .5 TFL), Liam Travis (8 hits, 1 INT), Hayden Lambert (7 stops, .5 TFL), John Ratigan (5 stops, 1 TFL), and Eoin McBride (4 tackles, 1.5 stops for negative yardage) among others…All of these gentlemen and more served as the nucleus of a D-Unit that last week in the quarterfinals contained SJS to 179 yards of total offensive production while creating numerous turnovers (INTs by Travis and Lambert, as well as Benedetto Loria & Tomas Diaz)….Between his work as a DB and specialist, there is definitely a buzz about Loria, as he too received a Player of the Week nomination from Coach Stevens/Staff!!
Both schools being returning Championship weekend participants (MC AA-1 runners-up; Xavier AA-2 kings), only one will be headed back to the Mitchel Athletic Complex on November 18th!!
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#2 St. John the Baptist (5-4) vs. #3 St. Peter’s (8-2)
When: Saturday November 11th, 2023 @1pm
Where: St. John the Baptist HS (1170 Montauk Hwy, West Islip, NY 11795)
Watch: Youtube (St. John the Baptist Page)
Previous Meeting: St. Peter’s, 19-14, on September 9th (Week #1)
Overview: When these two programs locked horns at the onset of the 2023 season, we called it an “upset special” considering that the Cougars were picked to finish 2nd and the Eagles towards the basement of the preseason polls…
If St. Peter’s is able to complete the sweep on November 11th, it will be much less of a surprise because week after week, they have done everything within their control and more to silence the doubters, humble the skeptics, and make the pollsters eat several helpings of crow en route to an 8-2 record that have many pundits now calling them the only serious challengers to Moore Catholic’s claim for the “Iron Throne”!!
Trailing for much of the afternoon at home to the SJB, as has been their savior grace and/or higher power all fall, it would be STP’s vaunted running game rising to the occasion when the stakes were highest, as Jeremiah Williams exploded for a 26-yard TD run up the middle on 4th &2 to turn a then 14-13 deficit into a 19-14 edge with just 1:33 remaining in the 4th quarter. A modest overall game by his standards (61 yards on 17 carries), Week #1 was one of only three occasions this season where the speedy junior was limited to under 100 yards in a single game….Earlier in the 2nd half, it was the other dynamo, QB Marco Aruta, striking for his second TD of the matinee, as he plunged the ball across the line from 4-yards out on the final snap of the 3rd quarter to cut the Eagles hole to 14-13. Finishing the day with 132 yards and the already recognized two scores on 16 carries, Aruta also connected on 4-of-9 passes for an additional 76 yards (including a big 25-yarder hook-up with Williams that acted as a catalyst to his short TD trek in 3Q)…
Combining for 317 yards (161 by Williams) and four touchdowns (2 each) on the ground in the quarterfinal triumph over Fordham Prep, the duo (both among the top-3 runners in the AA-1 division in for both yardage and TDs) will step onto the field this weekend with unified totals of 2,321 yards and 29 touchdowns…
If all goes well, there will not be a need for Coach DeCristoforo to call upon the aerial strike; but if a passing play does become necessary, look for Matthew Sweeney to be on the receiving end of it, as his 20 catches (501 yards, 5 touchdowns) in 2023 make him the only Eagle in double digits. Back on September 9th, he hauled in just one ball for 28 yards; but has been considerably more involved since, as he has logged multiple grabs in 7 of his last 8 appearances (including 2 for 24 and the lone TD snatch of the quarterfinal round…
After breaking early in the afternoon, an Eagle defense anchored by strong performances courtesy of Nicholas Scolaro (1 INT), MJ Ford (1 INT), Nicholas Gnerre (1 Sack), Cosmo D’Amelio (1 QB Bag), Brody Turnbull (key pass break-up late in the day), and Joseph Laureano (sack that created a TOD on the SJB’s last-ditch drive) found their groove and were utterly dominant overall, as they held John the Baptist scoreless for the final 33:45, did not allow a 1st down in the 2nd half, and only permitted the Cougars to collect 20 yards of total offensive after halftime…Scolaro (5 pass break-ups, game-clinching pick-6) was named as a Metro Catholic POTW following the quarterfinals and was complemented by Laureano (4 stops, 2 sacks), Aiden Ledlum (11 tackles), Duke Davis (1 sack), and Vincent Damato (6 hits) in keeping the visiting Rams off the board during the 2nd half, allowing the Eagles to turn a 20-20 deadlock into a 40-20 triumph a week ago!
In regard to the second-seeded squadron from West Islip, with the passing game very much inconsistent due to the injury sustained by Kevin Pilewski early-on in this fall, our gut is telling us that Coach Alba is going to place his trust heavily on a true and tested ground-and-pound approach that was able to average 5yards per carry (124 yards on 25 carries) and were responsible for banking both of the Red, White, and Black’s touchdowns in the week #1 loss….
The emergence of Andrew Simmons IV (75 yards, 1 score on 13 hand-offs back in September) as the lightning back, coupled with the complementary power/toughness of Luka Skoda (no attempt during the previous meeting), and Max Bowers (4 yards on 2 keeps in week #1) ought to make for a heck of a heck of arsenal as the longer the Cougars can control the ball and the clock, the better their chances of getting vengeance at the ideal time!!…With SJB’s quarterfinal contest with Christ the King never really in jeopardy, Simmons IV was given the opportunity to rest, rushing for 22 yards on just 2 tries….Skoda (40 on 5) and Bowers (40 on 4) on the other hand combined for 72 yards and a pair of touchdowns (both belonging to the former) on nine carries to propel the offense…
To the credit of Bowers (we have no intention of dismissing or writing him out as a thrower), it needs to be acknowledged that if there was ever a time to be beaming with confidence, the semifinals is quite a nice moment for it to be transpiring; and fresh off of what was by far his finest outing last week (9-for-11, career-highs in yardage and TD tosses with 130 and 2), he has every reason to feel that a page has been turned and the new chapter is here to stay!!
When healthy and in the line-up, Pilewski only mustered a 3-for-9, 36 yards, 0TD/2 INT showing in early-September…How any improvement on those numbers by Bowers has the potential to swing a razor thin margin in the other direction!!
It is a no brainer that when the ball is skyward, DJ Lisbon & Michael Conza are the favorite targets….Each hauling in one TD reception apiece in the quarterfinals versus the Royals, Lisbon was able to exploit his 6’4 frame to post a game-high 4 grabs for 42 yards, while Conza’s damage was inflicted in the form of a 2-snatch, 56-yard demonstration….Conza was the only SJB receiver to register multiple catches (2 for 26) during the first meeting!!
Channeling the 2000 Super Winning Baltimore Ravens, all three levels of the Cougar D-Unit has been extraordinary during the 2023 campaign, as they held their respective opponents to 14 or less points in 6 of 9 outings, including their last four games (3-1 during that span)….
Knowing the challenge laid before them (stop the top-2 runners in the AA-1 classification), there is little doubt that Skoda (8 stops, 4 TFLs, 2 sacks, and a forced fumble), Calogero Rosado (7 tackles), Benjamin Lehmler (3 hits, 2 TFLs, .5 sacks), Brandon Moloney (3 tackles, 1 stop for a loss, 1 fumble recovery) are going to leave every ounce of their being on their home field this weekend….Factor in the invaluable contributions of Brenden Raines (2nd on the team with 10 TFLs; 1st in sacks with 8 in 2023), who missed the week #1 clash, and you definitely have the personnel to bring the goal to fruition…..Jayden Miller (4 tackles in week #1) & Joseph Rivera (4 stops on September 9th) each picked off a pass in the quarterfinals to be among the defensive heroes!
Not so secret weapon, Lance Maiberg, could become a difference-maker if the outcome is still in question late and Baptist requires a clutch boot….20-of-22 on PATs and 2-for-2 (long of 38) on field goal tries, the LIU commit boasts a 4.5 star rating as a place-kicker, as well as a 4-star reputation as a punter per Kohl’s Camp!…He is money!!