Chase Cruz (Sr.); WR/CB – Holy Trinity Titans
One of the last remaining members of the Titan dynasty that won back-to-back NYCHSFL Double-A crowns in 2021 and 2022, we empathize with the 6’1, 175-pound speedster out of Brooklyn; as it is never easy to endure a rebuild during your swan song campaign!!
Holy Trinity entering week #6 winless (0-6); the returning All-League performer from a season ago knew that if the Green & White had any hopes of turning around the fortunes of their 2024 year; he needed to be that proverbial spark…HE MANIFESTED A WILD FIRE!!
Establishing new single-day career-highs in receptions (9), yardage (225), and touchdowns grabs (3) during HT’s 47-32 victory over previously unbeaten/2023 AA-2 champs, Mount St. Michael Academy (5-1), the senior leader for the Hicksville based program left everything he had out on the field!!!
Picking the ideal time to register the first multi-TD game of his four-year varsity tenure, every point was important during the Saturday matinee shootout; and Cruz clearly was the biggest gun on either sideline!!
The Titans down 8-0 after a Mountaineer fumble recovery + return put the host school in an early hole, Cruz notched the first of his aforementioned touchdown trifecta when on 3rd & 8, he’d make a last-second adjustment with the pigskin in mid-air to haul in a 19-yard completion from signal caller, Josiah Patrick, to cut the deficit to 8-6 with 3:43 to go in the opening stanza…
Now up 20-14 following a long TD catch by Logan Figurski and a big TD run by Enoch Thomas, Cruz further added to the offensive explosion (four consecutive drives ending in TDs) when just moments after logging a 25-yard grab (on 3rd and 5) to extend the drive; he’d be on the back-end of a 6-yard hook-up to make the score 27-14 with 6:34 left in the 1st half!!
The board now reading 27-20 at the onset of quarter #3, the halftime break did nothing to cool off #6, as on the first series of the second half, he’d beat his man deep on a 66-yard homerun hurl from Patrick for his third and final “6” of the afternoon to restore the two-score cushion over the Mount (34-20)..,
A captain’s work never done; while full defensive statistics were not available; it ought to be noted that Cruz played the entirety of the contest on both sides of the ball, as he’d start at cornerback and not allow a single toss in his direction to be successfully executed!
Today mark’s Cruz’s first Player of the Week distinction!!
Carlo Della Ragione (So.); Two-Way Lineman – Monsignor Farrell Lions
Being of the believe that it is never too early to spotlight/identity a future award winner; if NYCHSFL Triple-A pundits are looking for an early favorite to be in the conversation for 2025 and/or 2026 Lineman of the year honors; then you need look no further than Amboy Avenue…
Only in the 10th grade and already a behemoth/mountain of a man standing 6’3 and tipping the scales at a 320, Della Ragione is without question a “plug and play” road grader that is going to be impossible to ignore/overlook during the next 2.5 years!!
Blending God-given size with strength and a work ethic, he is a definitive mismatch in the trenches for the typical scholastic OL/DL lined up opposite him!!!
His presence at this current state of development being more prominent on the offensive side of the ball; as a starting OT, he has paved the way for the Lions to accrue just under 2,300 yards (2,284) and 19 touchdowns of production between land (1,210; 9 touchdowns) and sky (1,074; 10 TD throws) this season!!
Unapologetically throwing his weight around and creating craters in Farrell’s 28-14 triumph over Fordham Prep during week #6, the most substantial benefactors of #79’s career-best THREE pancake blocks would be the backfield duo comprised of–RB Muhammad Nafis (121 yards on 15 carries) and QB Ryan Walsh (72 yards and a pair of TD runs on just three keepers), who collectively accounted for 193 of the team’s 204 yards (third most in ‘24), as well as deuce “6’s” on the ground!!
Obviously not planned, but a well-deserved karmic moment materialized for the super sophomore in the 3rd quarter when he’d actually to be the one credited as scoring the game-winning touchdown!!!
The scoreboard reading 14-14, Muhammad would take the carry on the Ram 13 and make it all the way to the 1 before he was stripped…
Della Ragione, who was busting his butt in trailing the snap, alertly recognized the loose ball and pounced on it in the end zone for the touchdown to give MF their first lead of the night (21-14)!!
Flipping the switch to his defensive obligations, the “Big guy” at the NT position had two stops, a TFL, and a forced fumble (late in the 1st half to derail FP’s final series before the intermission) as part of an ensemble that pitched a shutout in the 2nd half!!!
Thomas DiGregorio (Sr.); RB/OLB – St. Joseph’s by the Sea Vikings
Putting forth perhaps the greatest effort by a scholastic running back wearing the #33 jersey since Chicago legend, Al Bundy, ran for four scores on behalf of Polk HS; the 5’8, 190-pound Staten Islander [DiGregorio] was playing dominos while everyone else was playing checkers on the night of October 11th…
Exemplifying both elements of the “Thunder” & “Lightning” combination throughout the evening, the Viking senior was undeniably committed to doing whatever was necessary to ensure that SJS emerged with the victory (17-13) over their hosts from Brooklyn, Xaverian!!!
Setting the tone on his first carry of the night when he rumbled for 13 yards with his team backed up inside their own 2-yard-line, double-digit runs proved to be the norm for DiGregorio as he’d boast gains of 10 or more on nine unique occasions en route to a career-best/program record of 273 yards and two scores in a workhorse-like capacity (34 attempts)…
Carrying both the football (literally) and the ambitions of his school (figuratively), DiGregorio’s talents for finding a crevice and turning on the jets was the ultimate deciding factor as it would be his 70-yard TD trek on SJS’s first possession of the 2nd half that served as the game-winner, as he turned a then 10-7 lead into a 17-7 cushion when he bounced to the outside, used his blockers to evade two Clipper defenders, and then sprinted down his own sideline to the house!!!
Earlier in the contest, it was his first TD run of the evening that squared the game at 7-7 in the 2nd quarter!!
By virtue of his colossal, record-setting performance, DiGregorio would springboard himself into the #2 spot among AA-1 running royalty, as he raised his season total to 687 yards (5 touchdowns) on 97 hand-offs (7.1/per carry)!!!
Victors in their last two trips to the gridiron to improve their resume this winter to an AA-1 best 5-2 (tied for #1), it is going to be nearly impossible for DiGregorio top what he did in week #6; but we certainly look forward to seeing him try as the Vikings again embrace the road warrior lifestyle by heading to Somers to battle with Kennedy Catholic on October 18th!!
Rocco Petronella (Jr.); WR – St. Francis Prep Terriers
A week removed from seeing his “partner in crime” [QB Jack Leary] have POTW honors bestowed upon him; this time the limelight would shift to the individual who has been on the receiving end of the majority of those pinpoint passes [Petronella]…
In the midst of one of, if not the finest rookie campaigns among all NYCHSFL personnel this winter; the 6’1, 170-pounder hailing from Middle Village has been the Robin to Leary’s Batman in terms of their abilities to immensely elevate the aerial attack on Francis Lewis Blvd!!!
SFP on pace to amass their most prolific year in the air in over a decade, it comes as a surprise to no one that as the primary target, Petronella is well on his way to sweeping every major pass-catching category in the Metro Catholic Double-A division!!
His 24 grabs (4th) for 473 yards (1st) and six touchdown snatches (tied for 3rd) all towards the top of the NYCHSL receiving totem pole regardless of specific classification, the breakout stud in the #12 jersey has been uncontainable at nearly every stage of the past seven weeks…
He has recorded 3 or more grabs in five of seven outings (career-best of 6 last week in a win over Holy Cross); has surpassed the 100-yard receiving milestone on three different occasions (career-best of 143 in a week #1 loss to Xaverian); and has registered at least one TD haul at a 5 of 7 clip (personal-best of 2 also set in week #1)…
An end to his growing array of accolades nowhere in sight during the Terriers’ 42-12 rivalry victory over Christ the King last Sunday afternoon on the campus of SUNY-Maritime, Petronella’s impact was visible to an even greater degree than the monstrous 4-snatch, 100-yard, 1TD stat line might suggest!!!
Directly or indirectly responsible for fostering two of Francis Prep’s three touchdowns during the opening 12 minutes of action (21-0 lead at the conclusion of 1Q), Petronella would cut across the middle on a 6-yard slant to make the score 14-0….Later in the stanza, it would be the 51-yarder pluck on a RB toss/throw-back to the QB sequence that advanced the ball to the opposing 3-yard line and set up a short TD run!!
Praised by his mentors and/or coaches for the selflessness he always exhibits, Petronella’s willingness to be an enthusiast blocker during week #6 did not go unnoticed or unappreciated, as SFP was able to chew up 148 yards (seconds highest total in ‘24) and score three touchdowns on the grounds because of such unsung and/or complementary contributions!
Having conquered their native Queens in each of their last two appearances on the gridiron, SFP will look to extend their streak to three dubs in a row when they hit the road to the Bronx to square off with Mount St. Michael Academy, on October 20th!!
The “Dogs” have gotten bitten in each of the last four meetings between the two programs, but have full confidence that their dynamic QB/WR duo will the difference-makers in delivering the first “w” since 2015!