Marco Aruta (Sr.); QB – St. Peter’s Eagles
Like a cold-blooded assassin, the senior stud in the #3 jersey enacted his revenge in ousting defending AA-1 champs, St. John the Baptist, from the conversation last Saturday afternoon!!
Limited to just 23 yards (12 carries) on the ground when the two squads clashed in last season’s NYCHSFL semifinals; and then held to 9 yards on two carries during a week #9 match-up, the 5’11, 190-pound Staten Islander [Aruta] will forever be known as “Vesuvius”, because that boy erupted for 244 yards of total production in spearheading the Blue & Gold to an electrifying 49-36 victory on home soil in a Metro Catholic quarterfinal pitting the #2 and #7 seeds against one another!!
Already quite acquainted with fame and prosperity heading into last weekend, the 2023 All-Catholic selection/HM All-State had been so good during the past two years that to top himself seemed an impossible feat…
But he made the impossible POSSIBLE!!!
Not just breaking, but shattering his previous single-game rushing highs by 25 yards and three touchdowns, Aruta exploded for 176 yards and five touchdowns on land while carrying the pigskin just 17 times (10.4/per)…As a complement, he was a perfect 4-for-4 via sky for an additional 70 yards!
His cosmic display raising his 2024 totals on the ground to 772 yards and 13 touchdowns this season (102 attempts), he vaulted himself into 3rd and 2nd respectively in each category among all Double-A-1 student-athletes this year!!
Now the owner of three century-mark outings this season and 10 total in his varsity career, the ever-versatile gem (can line up at QB, RB, WR, etc) wasted little time in making an impression, as he’d culminate the opening series of the day by taking two consecutive keepers a total of 35 yards (34 and then 1) to put STP on the board, 7-0, less than 3:00 into the 1st quarter…
The second drive of the contest (in response to a SJB TD that knotted the game for 7-7) for the Eagles especially affording him the opportunity to showcase the full range of his skill set; after back-to-back completions for a sum of 30 yards, Aruta would then call his own number on consecutive keepers for 15 yards each to reach the promised land with 6:03 remaining in 1Q (14-7 St. Peter’s)….
After a defensive stop, it was like deja vu for Aruta on the third drive for the Eagles, as he’d hit a 12-yard pass to move the ball just inside the opposing red zone, and then danced the rest of the way on two keepers to increase the margin to 21-7 less than one minute into the 2Q…
A 33-yard hook-up with Brandon Weinberg (2 catches for 40 yards) advanced the ball inside the Cougar 2 to set up his fourth TD of the opening 24 minutes on the next play (28-7)…
The rare and mind-blowing “true glut” (five straight scores by the same individual) came with 7:30 to go in the 3rd quarter as Aruta immediately answered a SJB TD by taking a shotgun snap 54 yards up the middle and down the right sideline to restore the three-touchdown cushion (35-14)…
Proving that ALL THINGS really can be done through Christ; throughout the course of the high-scoring affair, he’d also manage to haul in a 3-yard grab and even found the energy to contribute mightily on defense!
Reigning Offensive Player of the Year, Jeremiah Williams (142 yards rushing on 16 tries; 115 yards receiving on 4 grabs) was responsible for closing out the massive output, as he was on the back-end of a 63-yard wheel route from Ryan Vallely (3-for-5, 90 yards, 1 TD toss) in the 3rd quarter; and then detonated for a 28-yard trek during the opening five minutes of the 4th!!!
Both Aruta and Williams will continue to put the interests of the team on their proverbial shoulders this coming Saturday as they go in search of the program’s first championship weekend berth since 2010 (“A runners-up after winning the Single-A crown in ‘09) when they welcome three-time returning AA-1 runners-up, Moore Catholic, to Clinton Avenue!
Kadane Joseph (Sr.); QB – Mount St. Michael Academy Mountaineers
A living example of the expression, “Patience is a virtue”, for the first three years of his scholastic career donning the Mountaineer gear, the 6’3, 160-pounder [Joseph] hailing from New Rochelle sat back and accepted an understudy role on offense [behind 2022 NYCHSFL Offensive Player of the Year, Marc Pearson Jr.]…
However, all of that changed in the fall of 2024 as the senior signal caller is making his one season taking the snaps count to the fullest!!
His imprint indelible from the start of his swan song campaign, Joseph has played an invaluable role in propelling MSMA to the Metro Catholic Semifinals for a third consecutive year as he has racked up totals of 851 yards and nine touchdowns in the air on 48-of-91 attempts (52.7%), while also finding the promised land with his legs on five different occasions!…
Personally accounting for at least one touchdown in eight of 10 appearances to lead the Mount to a 6-4 overall record; Joseph’s leadership has been boisterous and apparent during much of the past two-plus months; but it reached a new level of domination during the quarterfinal round, as he’d collect a career-best three total TDs as part of his school’s 35-0 blanking over Christ the King in the #3 vs. #6 match-up…
Locked-in and/or “on the money” to a degree never seen before, the Mountaineer field general would tie his single-day-bests for completions (9-of-11) and TD throws (2) while amassing 140 yards (third most this season) en route to posting a QB rating of 161.9!!!
But alas, it would be in the capacity of ball-carrier that he’d deliver the first of his aforementioned three scores, as facing 4th & goal from the opposing 1-yard line, he’d punch the ball across on the opening series of the afternoon to hand MSMA the early 7-0 advantage!
The cushion doubled to 13-0 when Joseph would hit Ryan Reid (3 grabs for 55 yards) on a 37-yard dump off with just under 7:00 remaining in the first half!!
A 12-yard rollout dart to Travis Agoanya (2 catches for 14 yards) in the last 45 ticks before the intermission rounded out Joseph’s all-purpose trifecta to make the score 19-0…He’d then go back to Reid on a shovel pass to convert the 2-pointer to send the squads into the locker room with the scoreboard reading 21-0!
Even when he was not the one directly putting “6” on the board, Joseph still was a catalyst, as it would be a 23-yard hook-up to Maximus Ferran (2 snatches for 53 yards) that put MSMA on the doorstep and served as a precursor to Victor Declet’s (2 rushing TDs on the day) 1-yard plunge on the ensuing snap to further pull away, 28-0, approximately 4:30 in 3Q!!!
Head Coach, Jayson Holt, and staff will be relying on another big-time effort from their gunslinger under the November 15th Friday night lights as Mount St. Michael’s attempts to keep their NYCHSFL AA-2 repeat bid alive when they tangle with second-seeded Xaverian at the Aviator Sports Complex!
