MAKE IT FOUR BRASS RINGS IN A ROW
FOR THE NYCHSFL REPRRESTATIVES!!!
Iona’s Crew Davis (Offense) & Matthew Plunkett (Defense) Selected State Championship Game MVP’s
by Matt Diano
Congratulations to the Gaels of Iona Prep on claiming their second NYCHSAA State Crown in the past four years on Saturday morning behind a 42-26 triumph in hostile territory over the Canisius Crusaders in a clash of the #1 and #7 ranked teams in the
Evil Empire (per MaxPreps)…
Labeling them as a “2nd half” team in our state title contest preview; for the second weekend a row (utilized a 25-0 run between the 3rd and 4th quarters enroute to a 43-22 upending of St. Anthony’s in the league finals), it was the Maroon & Gold taking control of a barn-burner during the final 24 minutes of regulation to hoist that precious hardware on Stransky Field (campus of CHS)…
A tale of two halves with each displaying a different component of the explosive offensive attack of the gents from New Rochelle; after the aerial attack accounted for 2/3s of the touchdowns in quarters 1 and 2; it would be the vaunted ground attack led by junior standout, Crew Davis, that took over during the back-half of the game, as IP peeled off 21 unanswered by cashing in on three of their four possessions…
Holding a modest 21-20 advantage at the break; it would be a huge defensive play at the onset of the 3 rd quarter that served as a spark/catalyst for the Gaels as after forcing Canisius into a 3rd & 11 scenario, it was senior DB, Geoffrey Galloway, intercepting a pass on the opposing 38…
After a Davis 14-yard run moved the ball inside of the CHS 25, it would be junior field general, Julian Guzman hitting super sophomore, Mamadee Sangaray with a 24-yard TD dart on 4th & 10 for his third TD pass of the day to increase the cushion to 28-20 5:20 into the 3Q…
After the Gael defense induced a punt to their 42 on the Crusaders’ next possession, it was t he 205-pound freak from Connecticut [Davis] finding paydirt for the first of his two 2nd half touchdowns (2nd overall of the matinee) when after previously converting a 4th & 2 by trekking for 36 yards (to CHS 14); he took it to the house from a distance of 9-yards out with 1:55 remaining in the third stanza to further bolster the margin to 35-20…
Their momentum briefly halted on their third series of the final half when Brennen Pressley had an ill-timed fumble inside the CHS 10 a little less than 2:00 into the 4Q; the drought would be short-lived as Davis would then explode for runs of 35 and 54
(TD) on consecutive snaps to punctuate the program’s last “real” possession of 2024 to complete his November 30 th hat trick (to give him his 16th rushing TD of the year; 23th overall score) with 4:04 to go in regulation (42-20 score)….
To the credit of the host school [Canisius]; they would fight to the very end; as with the outcome already likely decided; they mustered the fortitude to tack on one final TD of the fall in the in the final 75 seconds when it was Jahyden Clark displaying remarkable focus by catching a 16-yard TD pass off of a deflection (almost INT) by Matt Davitt, on 4th & long as a symbol of skill and pride….Earlier in the drive, Clark also hauled in a 17-yard pass to push the ball to the IP 31… Amir Hernandez, who played an amazing game in his own right, had a 16-yard run (after returning the KO across mid-field) to put CHS at the Gael 16!
While it may have come in a “too little, too late” predicament, the TD exchange between Joshua Kandefer (back-up QB who played extraordinary) and Clark did hopefully erase some of the frustration on the home sideline as Canisius had two prior marches into the IP red zone stalled…
On their third possession of the 2nd half (after the Davis 9-yard TD), a 59-yard pass to Xavier Gates-Franklin, propelled the pigskin to the IP 16….
But then it would be Elijah Smith making a pass break-up in the end zone on 3rd down; followed by a Jayleel Stewart TFL on 4th down that produced the turnover on downs on the final snap of the 3rd quarter…
Canisius’s next series got them even closer to the promised land; as after punching the ball loose from Pressley to regain possession buried on their own 10; it would be a 27-yard hook-up from Kandefer to Clark, complemented by a 34-yard connection from
Hernandez to the #1 jersey [Clark] that moved them inside the IP 14….
But alas, a tackle by Matthew Plunkett for –6 on 1 st down, followed by a –5 loss TFL by Sangaray; and then a Plunkett pass rush to induce an incomplete pass on 3rd & 21 brought up a 4th & a mile…A 12-yard completion to Clark was well short of the marker; thus resulting in a second straight T.O.D. 4:54 to go!
The conclusion to this 10th annual collision of Metro vs. Monsignor Martin perhaps being somewhat anti-climactic; the same could not be said for the entirety of the initial 24 minutes of action, as the teams took turns trading one exhilarating play after another to the tune of the aforementioned 41 combined points….
Wasting little time in breaking the proverbial ice (there was genuine snow later in the day), Iona Prep got off on the right note when after AJ Zimmerman’s return to the 50 on the opening Kick-off put them immediately in business, Guzman would have a 15-
yard keeper to the 35; and then Davis caught a 21-yard pass to the 11…Moments later, it was Davitt, on the receiving end of a 11-yard completion over the middle for just his second TD grab of the year to make the score 7-0 2:01 into the 1Q….
Subsequent punts by each time on their respective next possessions yielding a major edge in field advantage (Lucas Bonilla had a 60+ boomer that buried IP at their own 11) for CHS; after taking over on the Gael 32, it was only a matter of moments before
they’d deliver an response, as a 27-yard catch by Clark put the pigskin on the IP 2; and then highly-touted sophomore RB, Elijah Kimble, did the rest on the next snap to cut the deficit to 7-6 (PAT blocked) with 4:04 showing in 1Q…
The 1pt difference survived all of mere seconds though; as AJ LaMotta returned the squib kick to his own 42…And then Davis found a hole and jetted 58 yards on the 1st snap of the drive to make it a 14-6 game with 3:49 showing on the clock in the 1Q…
The back-and-forth matching of TDs continued on the Crusaders’ next attempt, as after a 9-yard pass on 4th & 2 into the hands of Jack Cullinan kept the series alive and moved the ball across the 50 (IP 45), it would be Kimble going off for consecutive carries of 11 and 34 yards; the latter of which produced “6” on the scoreboard, as he notched his second land TD of the contest and the 31st rushing score of the year to even the State finale at 14-14 (he threw a successful halfback pass to Cullinan for the 2- pointer) in the last 60 seconds of the 1st quarter…
Each squad emerged with one touchdown apiece in 2Q, as the culmination of FIVE straight series in a row generating a TD would be highlighted by passes of 29 and 17 yards (TD; 11:15 to go) to IP receiver Joe Wolf; while a 23-yard reversal by Clark, a 17-
yard catch by Clark (on 3 rd & 12), and a 43-yard QB keeper out of the Wildcat by Hernandez for the score (2pt pass attempt no good) rounded out the output…
Opportunities did present themselves in the last 9:54 before intermission; but the defenses of both colors bent without breaking as Canisius Junior LB, Arno Mbaiyo had a pick-off his own 24 to snap the streak of lucrative marches with 8:21 remaining…
A gang tackle run stuff on 4th & 5 by the Iona Prep “D” produced the T.O.D. on their own 44 with 4:29 to go….
An incomplete pass on 4th & 3 was responsible for IP turning the ball over on downs inside the CHS 12 with 1:10 before the break (Davis had runs of 16 +12 to get them this close)…
And finally, after a monster 66-yard gain by Hernandez surged the Crusaders to the IP 20, Stewart would step up for a sack to force 4th down; and then Zander Poole camped under a throw attempt to collect the INT in the end zone on the last snap of the 1st half!!!
By virtue of their triumph upstate today, the Gaels capped off their 2024 season as the owners of an 11-2 resume…The state trophy that will travel in tow with them back to New Rochelle will join the 2021 prize they claimed via a 38-22 dub against St.
Francis…
Canisius, who falls to 9-3 in ‘24 and 3-2 all-time in CHSAA State title appearances, is still just one of two teams (Archbishop Stepinac being the other) to win the brass ring on three separation occasions…The only Monsignor Martin rep to get the job done; their celebrations occurred in the inaugural edition (23-10 over Stepinac in ‘14), as well as 2016 (50-44 over Cardinal Hayes) and 2019 (25-24 over Hayes)…They were defeated in 2017 by Stepinac (49-28)!
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KEY STATISTICS (Unofficial):
Passing:
*Joshua Kandefer (Canisius): 11-for-15 passing for 205 yards/1TD throw
*Julian Guzman (Iona Prep): 8-for-13 throwing for 125 yards/3 TDs
Rushing:
*Amir Hernandez (Canisius): 16 carries for 138 yards (1TD)
*Elijah Kimble (Canisius): 18 carries for 71 yards (2 TDs)…Held to 0 yards in the second
half (7 attempts)
*Crew Davis (Iona Prep): 333 yards on 17 carries/3 TDs…211 yards and 1 score of
which came in 2 nd half on 8 carries
Receiving:
*Jahyden Clark (Canisius): 10 grabs for 168 yards (1 TD haul)…7 for 112 in the 2 nd half
*Joe Wolf (Iona Prep): 2 catches for 46 yards (1 TD)
*Matt Davitt (Iona Prep): 1 catch for an 11-yard TD
*Mamadee Sangaray: 1 catch for a 24-yard TD