IT’S “KNIGHT TIME” IN 2025!!!
Despite the finale being an 11am start on the campus of Fordham University; the 48-minute effort on both sides of the line of scrimmage could best be described as “KNIGHTY KNIGHTY”!!
Congratulations to the contingent from Xavier High School winning their second Metro Catholic crown in the past four years (2022 AA-2 titlist) and their first AA-1 prize since 2015 behind a 28-7 dethroning of the defending St. Joe’s by the Sea Vikings!!
A program that is traditionally known for its rugged, clock-eating, methodical, rugby-style ground attack would rely on four “lighting in a bottle” type of plays en route to emphatically punctuating a 10-2 campaign this fall!!
A tale of two halves where heroines—Elijah Stewart & Peter Heaney took turns in exploding for two touchdowns apiece; the first 24 minutes belonged to the junior TB [Stewart], while the back-half of the fireworks were provided by the senior QB!!!
After a pair of pass break-ups by Ace Jernstedt forced Joe’s by the Sea to punt on their opening possession; it was Stewart taking a direct snap up the gut and racing 46 yards to paydirt to give the second-seeded Knights a 7-0 advantage approximately 4:00 into the opening quarter….
That lead would double to 14-0 with 7:56 to go in the 1st half when it was the man in the #3 jersey [Stewart] overcoming a 10-yard penalty on the previous snap by sprinting 25 yards to the house for his 8th rushing TD of the year…
Sophomore defensive back, Ryan Lavin, was the catalyst in Stewart’s second TD run of the day, as he’d pounce on a loose ball to secure a fumble recovery on the SJS 17 less than 60 seconds earlier!!!
An exchange of punts [Lavin had a TFL followed by a sack from Salvatore Vitale for Xavier; Christopher Dunne had a push out short of the chains on a Daniel Caridi reception) on the next two alternating series gave the reigning kings from Staten Island one final chance to get on the scoreboard before halftime; and they’d capitalize on that opportunity….
Requiring just 1:14 to parade 65 yards to the promised land; first-year junior signal caller, Peter Tronolone, went 3-for-3 in the air, including a 33-yard connection to Christian Yue (to move the pigskin to the XR 4) as a precursor to a 4-yard power-run from Joseph Moran to give the 11th grade RB his 11the land score of the fall to cut the deficit to 14-7 with 1:44 remaining before the teams retreated to the locker room!
The defensive units on each sideline coming out of the break with vigor; Viking senior LB, Dom D’Orazio had a 4th down stuff inside his own 7 to prevent further damage from being inflicted; while it was Vitale and Brady Metzger joining forces on a gang tackle on 3rd down to induce a SJS punt…
CUE HEANEY!!!….
On the first snap following the aforementioned Joe’s by the Sea punt, it was the AA-1 leader in yardage and TD runs (Heaney) taking a QB draw to the left, making a Viking defender miss, and then jetting 47 yards in front of the enemy bench to record his 16th touchdown run of his swan song to reestablish the two-score margin, 21-7, with 3:03 to go in the 3rd quarter…
A Kenneth Swanson TFL bringing up 4th &5 on the last snap of the 3Q; after another SJS punt at the onset of the 4th; Heaney again went all “Sonic Mode” when he commenced and concluded Xavier’s next possession by detonating for a one-and-done, 76-yard TD voyage to round out the scoring, 28-7, with 11:33 to go before the end of regulation….
Metzger (off of a deflection from Sebastian Myers) and Brian Caulfield each registered INTs on the final two drives of the morning for the Vikings to further cement what was a universally outstanding display from Knight defensive personnel…
Myers also erased a TD in the 1st quarter when he prevented Miles Sinclair from landing in bounds in the end zone after making a 25-yard haul…This series later ended on T.O.D. when the next two throw tries from Tronolone were off target!!
Not lost in the shuffle was the selfless blocking of 200-pound running back turned battering ram, Riley McLaughlin, who blew open holes on three of Xavier’s four TDs runs!!
In the defeat, Junior DL, John Kournidakis, was a standout performer for the Vikings, as he repeatedly invaded the backfield and collected several stops for negative yardage!!
The “straw that stirred the drink” throughout this fall; it came as a surprise to no one that Heaney was the recipient of the Offensive MVP…
Taking the honors on “D” in recognition of his consistent activity was fellow 12th grader/linebacker extraordinaire, Robert Milacci!