AA-2 SEMIFINALS
#1 Holy Cross (6-3) vs. #4 Christ The King (6-4)
When: Saturday, November 15th @ 1:00 PM
Where: Bayside High School
Players to Watch (Holy Cross)
*Madden Martinez (Jr.; QB)—Named as an Honorable Mention All-State selection after leading the Knights to the title game during his sophomore year; the Bayside resident has been even better as an 11th grader….Topping all AA-2 QBs this season with 1,524 yards on 103-of-181 in the air (56.9%), Martinez has tossed 16 touchdown passes in 2025….A capable runner when the situation calls for it; he has tacked on an additional 167 yards and 3 scores on 38 carries…Is fresh off of a 4TD performance (3 passing, 1 rushing) in the quarterfinal victory against St. Dom’s
*Antoine Williams (Sr.; RB)—-The lone All-Catholic pick that returned to Holy Cross this season, Williams ranks 3rd among AA-2 ball-carriers with 720 yards (111 carries) and has found the promised land on four separate occasions in 2025…Just as valuable/cherished as a receiving option out of the backfield, the 220-pounder hailing from Hempstead has hauled in 21 balls for 316 yards and four more scores…With the “W” well in hand, Williams was not asked to overextend himself in the quarterfinal round, but still managed to gain 88 yards on 15 attempts!
*Ricardo Franco (Sr,; TE)—The most treasured weapon in the sky attack, the 180-pounder out of Roslyn leads all HC receivers with 24 catches (for 282 yards and 3 touchdowns)….Last weekend, he posted a 2 grab for 25 yard and 1 TD performance in the opening round of the postseason!
*Caleb Rivera (So.; WR/LB)—A young star in the making; Rivera has risen to prominence as a 10th grader; making significant contributions on both sides of the ball for the Knights….Boasting a 19.1 yard per catch average on offense, he has been credited with 20 grabs for 382 yards and 5 touchdowns…Defensively, he ranks 1st on the roster in both tackles (54) and pass break-ups (6)…He has also a sack, a blocked punt, and two induced fumbles to his resume…A week ago, he made his presence felt most on “D”, concluding the quarterfinals with 4 stops (1 TFL), the cited block punt, and two PDs!
*Kenneth Brassfield-Dailey (Sr.; WR/DB)—A three-way standout that commands the spotlight; the Jamaica resident is lightning in a bottle for the Knights as he holds the top spot among Holy Cross targets in both receiving yardage (429) and TD snatches (6). All in all, he has racked up 19 receptions….Defensively, he has recorded 23 tackles, 2 INTs, and 3 pass break-ups….As a special teamer, he does have a punt return TD on his vitae….Versus the Bayhawks a week ago, he went off for 3 touchdowns (2 receiving + the punt return)!
*Randy Sosa (Sr.; LB)—Trailing Rivera by just one tackle for the team-lead, Sosa also has a pair of pass break-ups this season!…He topped all Knights in the quarterfinals with 6 stops!
*Pantelis Pantelakis (Sr.; NT)—One of our favorite names to say; it is a good thing that it rolls off the tongue, because the senior DL hears it called repeatedly every weekend…Amassing 45 stops this year, his 11 TFLs and 3 sacks both rank 2nd on the roster…A week ago, he posted a 5-stop, 3-TFL display in the win over St. Dom’s
*Luca Collado (Sr.; DE)—The “landlord” of the enemy backfield; the Flushing product tops all Knights with 12 TFLs and 4 sacks this fall…Cumulatively, his 5 stops during the quarterfinals raised his seasonal total to 38!
*Denym Haughton (Jr.; FS)—The “centerfielder” of the no fly zone, the junior out of South Jamaica has Birdseye radar when it comes to zoning in and creating takeaways…His 4 interceptions lead the cohort this fall. Furthermore, he has been a reliable tackler with 45 stops and has forced a pair of fumbles…Last weekend, he notched an INT in the quarters!
*Xavier Godard (Sr;. DT)—A monster (6’2, 310) in the trenches; you do not push around the Valley Stream resident; but rather he dictates terms to you as shown by the 6 TFLs and 2 sacks he has accrued in the midst of a 24 tackle campaign…
Players to Watch (Christ the King)
*Isaiah Smith (Jr.; RB/QB)—-A “one man gang” for the Royals this season; there is a reason why Smith has garnered Player of the Week distinction on four separate occasions (including the quarterfinal round of the AA-2 playoffs)….The divisional leader across the board, he has chewed up 1,455 yards and scored 23 touchdowns on 114 carries…He exploded for 271 yards and 3 touchdowns rushing and added a fourth score on a pick-6 last weekend!
*Melvin Beltran (Jr.; WR)—A talented receiver who just happens to play on a team that features a heavy run-style; when the Queens resident has gotten his chances, he has made the most of them as he is either tied or holds the outright lead in all categories with 11 receptions for 238 yards and TD hauls….Dangerous as a special teamer, he has already returned two kickoffs to the house in this capacity!…Made 3 grabs for 32 yards in the quarterfinals win over Kennedy Catholic!
*Auston Headley (Sr.; LB)—The top tackler on the Royals, he has collected 45 stops (3.5 TFLs) to go along with 1 sack, 5 QB hurries, 2 induced fumbles, and a remarkable 5 loose ball recoveries!
*Eric Samuels (Sr.; DB)—Knocking on the tour to challenge Headley for the team-high in stops, his game-best 8 tackles in the quarterfinals raised his total this season to 44 (4.5 TFLs). He’d also register 1.5 sacks in the recent victory over KC to give him 3.5 QB bags this season. In terms of pass coverage, his 1 INT and 4 pass break-ups show that he is not slacking in that department either!
*Kelvin Regis (So.; DL)—The first half of a twin duo that you are going to be hearing/reading a lot about during the next 2.5 years, the 200-pound sophomore owns the program-lead with 8 TFLs, including 3 sacks….The three stops he made in the quarterfinals upped his sum to 24 during all of 2025!!
*Kendell Regis (So.; LB)—Slightly smaller (190 pounds) than his brother; he packs just as much of a punch as his 5-tackle, 1-sack performance in the quarterfinals increased his fall totals to 26 stops (4.5 TFLs)…He has also been credited with 5 QB hurries!
*Ayden Porter (Sr.; Two-man Lineman)—The 240-pounder is listed on the roster only as an OL; but he has been quite the difference-maker on defense as well…Banking 4 tackles and a half-sack during last week’s quarterfinal triumph, the Senior leader enters the semifinals with a line that reads as follows: 20 tackles (4 for a loss), 2.5 sacks, 4 hurries, an INT, and a forced fumble!
*Justin Brothers (Jr.; DB)—A playmaker’s playmaker, the 5’8, 160-pounder is a lockdown defender in the secondary, as displayed by his team-leading 10 pass break-ups to go along with a pair of INTs…
*Matthew Kawalick (Sr; DB)—Responsible for creating two turnovers during the quarterfinals (1 INT, 1 forced fumble), the senior defensive back doubled his interceptional total to 2 this season, complemented by 5 pass break-ups!…Not afraid to mix it out, he also has been credited with 17 tackles this fall!
*Roland Froelich (Jr.; DL)—One final stout defender to recognize, the 220-pounder leads CTK with 7 QB hurries and has been a chaotic in several additional ways as manifested in the form of 4.5 of his 19 tackles generating minus yardage, as well as 1.5 sacks and a pair of forced fumbles…
Mini Synopsis/Last time they Met
16-6 winners in the week #4 battle of Queens; Holy Cross knows that if they want the opportunity to make a second straight appearance at Championship Weekend (lost to Xaverian in the AA-2 finals in 2024); they are going to have to complete the sweep of a determined Royal foe that is just as ambitious and fully intent on breaking a decade-long drought (last title game appearance was in 2015; loss to Xavier)!!!
Going 14-for-24 in that game, Martinez hurled for 153 yards and found Brassfield-Dailey (4 grabs for 44 yards) for his lone TD pass of the afternoon…
Rivera emerged with the Knights’ only other touchdown, as the trip to the end zone was the highlight of his 7-carry, 26-yard day!
Asked to carry the pigskin only 7 times, Williams ended the afternoon with 52 yards; we expect his workload to drastically increase this weekend!
Pantelakis (10 stops, 7 TFLs, 2 sacks), Collado (7 stops, 5 TFLs, 2 sacks), Sosa (6 tackles), Brandon Glaudin (4 stops, 2 TFLs, 1 sack), and Godard (5 tackles, 2 sacks) were all superb among the front-7…. Brassfield-Dailey not only put points on the board; he also did his part to keep them off of it, as he notched an INT!
For Christ the King, their proverbial ”ace in the hole” is the knowledge that hung tough despite the absence (only 2 recorded carries) of the superstar, Smith…
There is not a chance in the world that with Smith at full strength, CTK will be limited to 29 total yards rushing the way they were on September 27th!
Shifting the OPOY candidate [Smith] to Wildcat QB will create an entirely different set of circumstances; thus, quasi negating the previous result!
The Royals will rely on Samuels (6 tackles, 3 pass break-ups), Headley (6 stops, 2 hurries), and [Kendell] Regis (4 QB hurries) to play as well in the rematch as they did during the original date!
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#2 Xaverian (6-4) vs. #3 Holy Trinity (7-3)
When: Saturday November 15th @Noon
Where: Aviator Sports Complex (3159 Flatbush Ave Brooklyn, NY 11234)
Players to Watch (Xaverian)
*Terrence Watson (Sr.; QB)—Named 3rd Team All-State a season after leading the Clippers to the hardware, the 6’0, 220-pound hometown kid (Brooklyn) is a bona fide lock to repeat, if not improve his Stately accolades in his swan song…A legitimate dual-threat signal caller who has torched opposing defenses with all of his limbs; the #5 jersey is fresh off of a performance in which he tallied three total touchdowns (2 passing, 1 running) as part of the quarterfinal win over Cardinal Spellman
*Richie Aiken (Jr; RB)—-The Robin to Watson’s Batman; Aiken is no stranger to postseason heroics as he was the offensive MVP of the 2024 title game triumph against Holy Cross…And his encore this fall has been every bit as lucrative as he is among the most potent All-purpose tailbacks in the AA-2 division…In the quarterfinals, he added two takedowns to his collection of “6’s” this season!
*Giacomo Tarasco (Sr.; WR)—The first of two primary targets in the passing game for Xaverian; Tarasco has hauled in a plethora of TD passes!…Last week, he had a TD grab in the victory over the Pilots!
*Christian LaRocca (Jr.; WR)—If Tarasco is option 1; then the 6’1, 185-pound 11th grader is 1A as both of them have made a living this fall causing headaches to opposing defensive backs….Like his teammate, LaRocca too was on the receiving end of a TD strike from Watson in the quarterfinal win!
*Mario Manna (Jr.; RB/WR)—Not a name that was fresh in our mind; the 11th grader took advantage of increased playing time due to the one-sided margin in the quarterfinals and ran for a pair of touchdowns…In doing so, he solidified that if needed, he could be an asset to complement Aiken!
Players to Watch (Holy Trinity)
*Ian Williams (Sr.; QB/DB)—-The backbone of the team on both sides of the line of scrimmage; the dual-threat assassin garnered his fourth NYCHSFL player of the week honors during the quarterfinal round when he accounted for a balanced 4TDs (2 passing, 2 rushing) and then contributed a pair of INTs on defense…You cannot take your eyes off of him for any moment in the 48-minute affair because he just makes magic out of nowhere!
*Damarien Singh (Jr. RB/DB)—One of several possible options that the Titans could incorporate out of the backfield, the Queens resident has come on strong during the home stretch on both sides of the line of scrimmage as he rushed for 75 yards on 15 carries offensively and then posted a 5-tackle effort on “D” as part of the quarterfinal victory!
*Marcus Abellard (Jr.; WR/DB)-–En fuego the past few weeks, the 155-pounder has put his amazing hands to excellent use as he has multiple TD catches and INTs!
*Ja’Sean Grafton (Fr.; WR)—A diaper dandy who is well on his way to becoming a Titan legend; the freshman has caught touchdown passes in two of his last three outings; and has been rock steady while serving as the placekicker on PATs…We are only beginning to see how special this young stallion can and will be down the road!
*Joseph Henn (Jr.; WR/LB)—Yet another Ironman for HT; Henn has been consistent from the beginning of the season to the present-day as he has multiple touchdown receptions and has been a well-rounded defender with an abundance of tackles and turnover creating contributions…
Mini Synopsis/Last time they Met
Despite being without the services of their stud QB, Watson; the Clippers would pitch a 22-0 shutout when these two teams previously clashed on September 19th (Week #3)…
With one superhero down; it just meant that the other was forced to step up; and rise to the occasion Aiken did as he ran for a pair of scores to be the catalyst in the Clippers triumph!
In the losing effort, the Green Machine (HT) received banner efforts from the likes of Deon Swinnie (6 tackles), Erric Hayes (INT), and Abellard (INT)!!!
So many factors now in play; the return of Watson is surely going to make Xaverian more potent and/or multi-dimensional on offense; but at the same time, Williams (who was a WR at the onset of the fall) was very early in his transition to signal caller and now a much more polished and comfortable in the new role…
Since dropping the head-to-head to Xaverian, HT is riding a 6-1 wave (including a current 3-game streak) with their only loss coming to AA-1 member, Fordham Prep…
The second-seeded Clippers have fared commendably as well as they overcame an 0-2 start to the fall by prevailing in 5 of their last 7 trips to the gridiron (only losses to AA-1 programs—Xavier and St. Joseph’s by the Sea)…
A potential game of the week candidate; we are hesitant to make a prediction; but if our feet were held to the fire; we’ll give the edge to the defending titlists out of the Brooklyn because of the big game experience many of their student-athletes gained during the 2024 trek to the prize!!
AA-2 champs in 2021 and AA-1 Kings the following year; the Hicksville brethren [HT] will not go down without a fight though!