Jerry Kuharski (Sr.); RB – Xavier Knights
The Grand Master has returneth!!!!
The Xavier offense not skipping a beat in the brief absence of their 6’0, 180-pound running back (35-0 win last week against Holy Cross), there is no questioning that Coach, Dom DeFalco, and his staff are pleased to have Kuharski back at the head of the order!!!
The lone remaining member of a Knight trident (comprised also of departed alumni, Mehdi Merah, and Sean Kull) that combined to chew up 2,363 yards and score 31 touchdowns on the ground last year, an injury may have forced the Wesleyan University bound (has entered into the admission’s process) perennial honor student (3.77 GPA while enrolled in 7 A.P. courses) stud to the bench during week #4; but yet despite the small interruption; he is well ahead of pace to shatter the 634 yards and six TDs (124 attempts) he amassed as a junior!!
In his first outing back from the minor ailment, Kuharski put forth the same grit and dogged effort that we have come to expect from him during the past year and a half, as he’d record his second century mark performance of the fall (fourth of his career) when he went off for 101-yards and a single-day career-best of three touchdowns on 15 carries to send the host Knights to a commanding 42-7 win over their guests from Hicksville, Holy Trinity, on the night of October 5th!…
With the majority of his swan song still ahead of him, Kuharski has already accumulated sums of 346 yards and five ground scores on just 46 hand-offs (7.52/per)…He will not be retreating any time soon now that he is functioning at 100 percent!!
A true “backbone” and/or “pulse” caliber of player and human being, today marks Kuharski’s first POTW selection!
Jack Leary (Jr.); QB – St. Francis Prep Terriers
Combing through the past decade-plus of SFP statistics, from 2014 through the 2023 season, no Terrier signal caller had thrown for more than three touchdowns in a single game…
Jack Leary has done it TWICE this season alone in just five appearances!!!
Currently the overall TD pass leader across all of the NYCHSFL with 13, the 5’9, 145-pound resident of Beach Channel has a skill set much bigger than his physical stature…
Literally “PERFECT” (finished with a maximum QB rating of 158.6) in almost every aspect of the aerial attack during St. Francis Prep’s recent 34-7 victory over Holy Cross, “13” must be a lucky number for the junior field general, as every time he puts that jersey on, he plays like Marino and does something to make the crowd marvel…
Blessed with both exceptional field vision as well as sniper accuracy, the 11th grade first-year starter taking the snaps spread the ball out to four different receivers en route to being the architect of a 14-for-18 (77.8%), 228 yards, four-touchdown tossing exhibition on the campus of SUNY Maritime last Saturday afternoon!!!
All of the numbers cited above representing season and/or career bests for Leary, he raised his fall stat line to the following: 50-for-79 (63.3%), 786 yards, and a 13:2 TD/INT ratio in sparking SFP to a solid 4-2 beginning of 2024!!
Commencing his TD hurling “haul” during the opening 12 minutes of action, Leary drew first blood against the Knights when on 4th & 11, he connected with hybrid RB/WR, Sean Ibert (4 receptions for 79 yards + 1 TD catch; 17 yards + an additional touchdown on two hand-offs) on a 27-yarder over the shoulder to put Frannies up 7-0…
The cushion having doubled to 14-0 in the 2Q, he’d unleash the entire dual-threat package on the third successful Francis Prep drive of the day, as facing 3rd & 21, he’d scamper for a 16-yard gain to move the ball to the 25…On the next snap (4tj & 5), he fired a dart to Jonathan Nguyen (3 grabs for 36 yards, 2 TDs) on the 20 and allowed the senior from Bellrose to do the rest, as he danced around two HC defenders and paraded the rest of the way to paydirt to create the 21-0 scenario in the 1st half…
No tricks left in the bag during the 48-minute ordeal, a good old flea flicker for 48 yards to Rocco Petronella (team-highs of 6 catches for 111 yards; 1 TD) propelled the team inside the red zone (Holy Cross 9)…He then hit Nguyen on a 9-yardd out-route shortly after to further inflate the margin to 28-0…
His fourth and final TD chuck would be a 7-yard to Petronella in the 3rd quarter to round out the offensive explosion!!!
His family name legendary at the school and in the Fresh Meadows community; beating Holy Cross is tradition for the Leary clan, as his grandfather is the late Tim Leary (NYS Basketball Hall of Fame inductee; winner of 646 games in 43 years on the bench)!!
Having toppled one rival in their quest to the “Kings of Queens”, Leary and company will return to gridiron this Sunday when they square with Christ the King…
Should Leary throw for 215 or more yards in the game, he’d join 2023 QB, Tommy Zullo (1,191) as just the second 1,000-yard passers for the program in quite some time (Thomas Cani’s 1,391 in 2011 being the last documented occasion prior to Zullo)!!
Jack McKillop (Sr.); RB – Fordham Prep Rams
Instead of strapping an “S” across the chest [as in Superman] of the 5’9, 170-pound senior captain [McKillop]; we think it would be more appropriate/fitting to label his helmet with a giant “M” [as in Super Mario]; because that is whom he resembled down the homestretch of Fordham Prep’s 39-33 instant classic, double-overtime triumph against St. John the Baptist this past Friday night!
We did not see it happen during the live webcast; but sometime in the last 2:00 of regulation, the Edgemont resident must have “hit the level up star” because for a span of about 10 minutes, he truly was playing in “invincibility mode”!!!
The host Ram trailing the defending AA-1 champ Cougars, 27-19, with under 120 seconds to go in duration, good fortune would be on their side as a botched punt attempt (snapped over the head) by SJB would set up FP in prime scoring position (on the opposing 13)…
Two snaps later, it was McKillop delivering the equalizer, as he’d pop out of the backfield on a screen pass and bolt to the pylon to cash in the first of his two touchdown exchanges from senior QB, Jonathan Bailey (12-for-24, 132 yards, 2 TD throws; 3 keeps for 27 yards and 1 TD with his legs) to even the board at 27 all with 1:48 showing on the clock…
Fast-forward to the first OT sequence and again it was the #22 jersey being the one summed into action; as on the first play of the extra frame, he’d take the wishbone pitch from Bailey and sprint the entire 25-yard distance down the FP sideline to temporarily put the Maroon * & White back in front, 33-27….
The visitors from West Islip [SJB] extended the night when they matched FP with a touchdown of their own in OT1; but would then get shutdown by the Jesuit inspired defense at the start of OT2…
Now facing a “sudden death” and/or “one to score to win it all” predicament, McKillop was so determined to bank this “w” that he’d strike not once, but on two consecutive plays; as he bounced back from having a 16-yard TD run negated by penalty by breaking into wide-open space on another screen pass, catching the call on the 30 and then turning up field where he made a Baptist defender at the 10 en route to converting the 26-yard game-clincher!!
Tying his personal-best (accomplished twice last season) for touchdowns in a game (3) and setting a new high for receiving yards (51 on 3 grabs), McKillop concluded the night with 172 yards of cumulative offensive production (new record), as he’d gallop for 121 on the ground (19 hand-offs)!!
Now a two-time NYCHSFL Player of the Week honoree; McKillop was previously recognized during week #0 of his junior campaign when he scored on three separate instances in a conquest over Mount St. Michael Academy!
John Munson (Sr.); Two-Way Lineman – St. Joseph’s by The Sea Vikings
”The Streak Breaker”…
Entering their contest last Friday night having never beaten crosstown rival, Moore Catholic (0-12 in lifetime match-ups), everyone on the Vikings’ bench knew it was going to require a Herculean effort if they hoped to reverse their fortunes against the three-time returning AA-1 Metro Catholic runners-up!!!
Apparently, #54 [Munson] had that “Lion’s skin” underneath his uniform, as the 5’10, 215-pound ironman made his presence known on both sides of the ball; but was especially “barbaric” and/or menacing while anchoring the defensive line in SJS’s 14-6 victory on home soil…
Garnering the second POTW distinction of his career [previously received the honor during week #1 of the 2023 season following a win over Christ the King], Munson was unwavering and unapologetic in his harassment of Mavericks super sophomore QB, Thomas Zeh, sacking the opposing field general on three separate occasions, while also forcing him to check off/speed up his read on snaps in which he did manage to remain upright…
His determination evident from the get-go, on MC’s initial series of the night, Munson’s “Energizer Bunny” pursuits would induce a penalty call (on 3rd & Long) to negate a 1st down run before the first of his aforementioned three QB bags halted the drive on the ensuing play!
Collecting countless tackles on the day to complement his sack quantities, Munson added a new addition to the highlight reel when in the last 1:00 of the opening half, he’d make a shoe-string stop on Zeh to prevent any momentum from being established as the Vikings carried the 14-0 edge into the break….
SJS clinging to a 14-6 lead in the last 90 ticks of regulation, Munson posted perhaps the biggest of his hat trick sacks when he shot up the gap and caused Zeh to collapse for an 11-yard loss to all but derail the Mavs’ last-ditch effort an equalizer…
On the other side of the ball, the senior from S.I. provided superb pass protection and/or run blocking in the trenches while occupying the role of OG!!
Munson’s strong evening helping Joe’s by the Sea to their fourth win of the fall (4-2); the Vikings currently find themselves tied atop the Double A-1 standings!
The 9.2 points per game allowed by the “D” ranks 1st among all NYCHSFL programs regardless of division!!
Teo Tsoulos (Jr.); Cornerback – Monsignor Farrell Lions
This past Saturday afternoon, Staten Island welcomed the ascension of “Tsoulos Island” to impact star status!!!
Making his first career start on the varsity for the Lions, the 5’10, 170-pound 11th grader put the rest of the Metro Catholic League on high-alert that if you want to keep possession, you best not be throwing the pigskin in his vicinity!!!
Ball-hawking like his name was “Paul Krause”, “Emlen Tunnell”, or “Harrison Smith” (among the current generation of NFL players), Tsoulos was a standout performer for a Farrell “No Fly Zone” that limited Honorable Mention All-State signal caller, Marco Aruta, to just 10-for-22 in the air as part of a 14-3 road victory over the Eagles of St. Peter’s…
His debut among the Maroon & Gold starting 11, as well as his introduction to the POTW list being memories that he will not soon forget, the gentleman in the #29 jersey would be responsible for logging two of his school’s five total INTs on October 5th, while also being credited with three successful pass break-ups!!!
His impact on display from the opening whistle, Tsoulos curbed any early mojo that the host Eagled were trying to establish when on the first march of the game (ball just outside the MF 30), he’d go airborne to pick off Aruta on the 15-yard line…
With approximately 7:00 remaining in the 1st half of a still scoreless battle, Tsoulos completed the pair of takeaways when he made another leaping snatch on a deep attempt, grabbing the ball right beyond mid-field (own 47) and wrestling to keep control in a wild mano-a-mano scramble!!
Never shying away from contact, Tsoulos demonstrated that he quite adept at laying the wood to boot, as he’d rack up a career-best 7 stops, including uniting with teammate, Kevin Gumb (4 stops, 2 TFLs; also ran for 50 yards + 1 score on six carries) on a 4th & medium stuff in the 3rd quarter to create a turnover on downs after the Eagles had advanced to the MF 30…
All of his PDs coming on home run ball tries, with the score reading 14-3 late in the 4th quarter, he’d knock away a ball on the Lion 5-yard line, setting the stage for Alex Ustun to ice the dub when he banked his second interception of the game on the next step!!
As a unit, the 3pts surrendered was the lowest given up by a team to STP since the 2022 season when a different group of Farrell Lions pitched a 40-0 shutout in early-October!
