Anthony Branscum (Jr.); RB/LB – St. Dominic’s Bayhawks
An individual who has grown accustomed to relishing in his fair share of prosperity; the three-sport student-athlete out of Massapequa was part of a NSCHSAA League and CHSAA State title winning squad on the baseball diamond last spring; and it seems that he has his sights set on trying to lead the Oyster Bay based Bayhawk gentlemen of the gridiron to a banner year in 2026!
The most dominant/imposing player on both sides of the line of scrimmage in St. Dominic’s 42-2 win over Nazareth Regional; the 5’11, 190-pound RB/LB stockpiled one highlight after another as he was responsible for logging three cumulative scores (two on offense, one on “D”) while simultaneously stifling the visiting Kingsmen and being front-and-center for three turnover creating scenarios!
His explosive display while donning the #32 jersey serving as proper homage to the likes of Marcus Allen, Franco Harris, Edgerrin James, and Long Island’s own Jim Brown; Branscum would notch the first of his already cited trifecta when just moments after teammate, Gianni Perullo recovered a mishandled punt on the opposing 1-yard line; he muscled his way across the line on the ensuing snap to turn a 2-0 deficit (safety on their first drive of the afternoon) into a 8-2 advantage (Darius Green 2pt conversion run) with 5:43 remaining in the 1st quarter!
The cushion increased to 14-2 in the 2Q; it would be Bransum chasing down the NR punter to make a tackle that created a turnover on downs inside the enemy 15-yard line as a precursor to an eventual 25-yard completion from Ray Minson to Nick Lang a few snaps later to make it a 21-2 differential!
Staying on the attack defensively, the next Kingsmen march was also prematurely halted by the 11th grade stud when on back-to-back plays, he’d bag the Nazareth QB for a sack on 3rd down to induce a punt; and then (again) was able to clobber the Kingsmen punter to force his second consecutive T.O.D. on NR 5 to set up his second short TD trek (5 yards) of the evening to create a 28-2 edge in the last 4:30 of the opening half!
An utter nightmare for his guests from Brooklyn; Branscum turned matters from bad to worse at the onset of the 3rd quarter when on Nazareth’s initial possession of the 2nd half; he stepped in front of a pass attempt and paraded 10 yards to paydirt to transform a then 35-2 gap into the final tally!
Today marks Branscum’s Metro Catholic Player of the Week debut!
Charles Costanzo (Jr.); LB/WR – Monsignor Farrell Lions
He may choose to wear the #0; but when it comes to how essential the 6’2, 225-pound junior is towards the Lions’ title hopes; the word “invaluable” is what comes to mind!!
Named as both an All-Catholic Squad member and a 5th-Team All-Stater as a sophomore safety (75 tackles, 2 INTs, 4 pass break-ups, 2 forced fumbles); the FBS pursued prospect (offers from the likes of Boston College and East Carolina) transitioned to more of a traditional linebacker role this fall and thus far is flourishing in the new role for the now 4-0 Amboy Road mafia!
An anchor and trend setter for a Monsignor Farrell defense that currently is allowing a Triple-A best 8.75 points per game; Costanzo was absolutely and undeniably unblockable in the program’s recent 28-3 win on the road over Chaminade in a rematch of the 2025 NYCHSFL semifinals!!
Not credited with a sack during all of last fall; the Staten Island resident detonated to the tune of four QB bags in a single afternoon against the Flyers as part of an overall eight stop effort (5 solo tackles)!
The timing of his contributions impeccable; Costanzo got himself into the box score early when he chased down rival QB, Sean Carnevale, on 3rd down to spoil the Crimson & Gold’s opening series and force a punt!
It was deja vu on Chaminade’s next drive as again the “Italian Stallion” tracked the opposing signal caller on 3rd down and refused to let him escape his grasps to generate yet another boot away…Previously, be pounced when a bad snap caused his LI nemesis to give himself up!
Even when he did not “get home” and smash the quarterback; the constant pressure applied still paid dividends as his pass rush on the Flyers’ initial march of the 2nd half left Carnevale with no other option but to throw the ball away to bring up 3rd & long on a series that eventually concluded with another punt!
Firing off the edge with reckless abandon; sack #4 came with exactly 4:00 to go in the 3rd quarter and temporarily disrupted a promising Chaminade possession, as the hosts from Mineola had moved within the Lion 35 before Costanzo pushed them back to the 40 to create a 3rd & 10 scenario!….He later made a one-on-one tackle in open space to prevent a TD as the saga stalled inside the MF 7 and resulted in a blocked FG!
His productivity as a shutdown defender being one chapter of what was a universal story; Costanzo has also embraced a more prominent function on offense in 2026, as evident when he scored both of Farrell’s second half TDs via a 2-yard run late in the 3rd quarter (first career ground score) and a 40-yard reception (caught the ball on the 39, turned up field, and darted to the promised land) just over 2:00 into the 4th!
By virtue of his comprehensive resume on both sides of the line; Costanzo upped his seasonal numbers to the following: 31 stops (7 TFLs; all in the past two weeks), 5 sacks, and 4 QB hurries on “D”….6 grabs for 90 yards (2 TDs) on “O”!
Costanzo is now a first-time POTW selection!
Victor Declet (Sr.); RB – Mount St. Michael Academy Mountaineers
Named to the All-Catholic squad, as well as garnering Honorable Mention All-State recognition last season following a junior campaign in which he racked up 806 yards and scored nine TDs rushing for the Mountaineers…
The 5’11, 190-pounder put his school on his back in propelling Mount St. Michael Academy to their first win of 2026 (1-3) via a 28-13 victory on the road against the Gaels of Kennedy Catholic!!
Approaching and/or surpassing all of his previous single-game career bests under the Friday Night lights of September 18th; the Bronx resident took on workhorse responsibilities out of the MSMA backfield as the closed out the evening as the author of a stat line that read as follows: 18 carries (two off of his career-best), 148 yards (nine short of the 157 he posted last fall vs. Nazareth), and three separate trips to the promised land (tied his personal-best registered a little over a year ago at the expense of Cardinal Spellman)!!
Now the owner of five century mark performances since 2024; it did not take Declet long to make an immediate impact as less than 4:00 into the contest, it was the #6 running for six when he took a 17-yard handoff up the middle before then cutting to the outside to give the Mount the initial 7-0 lead!!
The beneficiary of a 28-yard hook-up in the air between Jacob Jimenez (14-for-22, 161 yards, 1 TD toss) and Jamir Abney (6 grabs for 73 yards, 1 TD snatch) that put MSMA on the doorstep; it was Declet doubling the cushion to 14-0 as the clock dipped below 3:00 to go before halftime when he punched in from 2-yards away to make it a 14-0 affair!
That 14-0 margin still intact; the rare “True hat trick” came to fruition in the final 4:00 of a 3Q when Declet danced his way to the end zone on a 15-yard dash to up the lead to 21-0!
His tremendous individual effort during week #3 raising his seasonal totals to 277 yards and four scores (both tops among NYCHSFL AA-2 personnel) on 36 carries (7.69/per); Declet is making his first appearance on the POTW list; but we are certain we will be hearing his name for weeks to come!
Anthony Diieso (Sr.); QB – St. Anthony’s Friars
There has never been any doubt as to how well the 5’10, 180-pound junior incumbent field for the Friars could “toss the rock”
Named as the MVP of the Long Island QB Challenge over the summer and just a year removed from throwing for 1,902 yards and 14 touchdowns to guide St. Anthony’s to the AAA semifinals; the resident of Ridge is a proven commodity!
And last Saturday in a clash of NYCHSFL powerhouses that all Metro Catholic fans had circled on their calendar; it was the 11th grader wearing the #1 on his back that left no doubt that he was the #1 reason why the Black & Gold were able to come away with a much needed 48-42 shootout triumph on the road against the Crusaders of Archbishop Stepinac
Delivering what was bar none a supreme and darn-near flawless performances to break STA into the win column (entered at 0-2 after losses to NJ’s Red Bank Catholic and St. Peter’s Prep); Diieso rewrote his personal record book by achieving career bests for completions (24 of 26), yardage (335), and TD passes (3; tied after doing it 3x prior, including week #1 vs. RBC)!
Out of the gates quickly and never looking back; it took Diieso all of two snaps to find a groove as he found Rory McDermott on a 64-yard slant to give the South Huntington based juggernaut the immediate 7-0 cushion!
Shaking off one of few mistakes he’d make all afternoon (INT in the red zone on STA’s second possession of the contest); Diieso rebounded by going 3-for-3 in the air, while adding a 17-yard keeper (to the Stepinac 5) to lay the tracks for the first of Xavier Bala’s four trips to the end zone to retake a 14-7 lead less than 1:00 into the 2nd quarter!
The swap of scores continuing, after Stepinac cut their deficit to 14-13, it was a 9-yard hook-up into the arms of Senior WR, Luke Maurino, that expanded the margin to 20-13….Earlier in the series, Diieso also hit McDermott with a 20-yard leaping snatch that moved the pigskin from his own 37 to the Crusader 43!
Cool as a cucumber in orchestrating the 2:00 drill; after several bubble screens and dump offs; it was Diieso unleashing a 56-yard bomb to Cole Magro to advance the ball from his own 32 to the AS 12 as a precursor to an 8-yard touchdown hurl to Maurino for their second TD exchange of the afternoon to make it a 27-13 edge for the Friars in the final 22 ticks before halftime!
The hosts from White Plains rallying for 17 straight points between the end of the 2nd and the entire 3rd quarter to put themselves up 30-27; it was Diieso’s 40-yard grenade (own 30 to enemy 30) to Magro on the last play of the 3Q that regained momentum for STA, as Bala later cut to the outside and cruised to the promised land on a 21-yard bolt to put the Friars back on top, 34-30, with 10:46 to go in regulation!
An INT by Jake Harrs deep inside his own zone (approximately the 32-yard line) putting the pigskin back in the hands of Diieso; he’d hit Magro with a 34 screen over the middle to advance the ball to the AS 25 as one of his final heroic acts…Bala did the rest as his 20+ carry was complemented by a 3-yard punch-in for an insurance touchdown that made it 41-30 with 7:20 to go in 4Q!
Named to the Player of the Week list for the first-time in his two-year tenure under center for STA; while the official box score for the loss to SPP in week #2 is not available; we unofficially have Diieso’s three-game quantities as the following: 720 yards (2nd among AAA quarterbacks) and six TD passes (3rd in the division) on 59 of 82 in the sky (72%)!
Luke McKay (Sr.); RB – Fordham Prep Rams
One of the most gifted student-athletes on and off of the gridiron in the Metro Catholic football League; the 4.0+ GPA achieving lad has Ivy League written all over his 5’9, 180-pound frame!
Garnering Honorable Mention All-State distinction as a junior following a campaign in which he racked up 966 yards of traditional offensive production (706 rushing, 260 as a receiver) to go along with 466 yards as a kick returning specialist; no feat surprises us anymore when it comes to the thoroughbred in the #22 jersey for the Fordham Prep Rams!
But alas, even known stars can and will shine brighter on certain days; and such was the veritas of the situation on the afternoon of September 19th when the Rye native went off to the tune of establishing a new single-game career-best of 190 yards and tied his personal-high of two rushing TDs (for the second week in a row) to launch the visiting flock to a 41-21 triumph over St. Peter’s!
Setting the tone for a memorable day, McKay he busted for a 56-yard gain to the Eagle 29 on his first handoff of the day and then later cashed in on a 20-yard dive up the gut to cap to issue a quick response to SP’s opening drive TD and square the game at 7-7 with 6:35 remaining in the 1st quarter!
With the score now deadlocked at 14-14 early in the 2Q, it was the trusted senior converting on 4th down via a 15-yard pick up that advanced the pigskin to the opposing 15 to set up a 12-yard pitch-and-catch between sophomore assassin Vincent DiPasquale (4-for-6, 107 yards, 2 TD hurls) & Ryan McEvily (2 catches for 24 yards) for the go-ahead touchdown (21-14) with just under 6:00 to go in the 1st half!
The edge having grown to 28-14 in the last 4:30 of the 3Q, after peeling off several medium runs to methodically march the Maroon & White herd down the field, it was McKay accelerating through the hole for a 21-yard house call with 4:03 to go in the stanza to make it a 34-14 affair!
Surpassing the century mark in each of his past two outings (ran for 101 yards and two TDs; also tacked on a 90-yard KO return for a touchdown in a loss to Florida’s Belen Jesuit); there is no doubt that McKay is going to shatter his sum from 2025 as he already boasts totals of 364 yards (2nd among AA-1 representatives) and four scores (two more than he had during all of last year)!
Previously a POTW during the 2025 quarterfinals; he can now refer to himself as a multiple NYCHSFL awardee!
Cole Wallace (Sr.); RB/Wing – Xavier Knights
An illustration of their depth in the backfield, for the second week in a row, it is a Knight running back earning a spot on the POTW scrolls in celebration of their 26-0 shutout victory over two-time AA-2 runners-up, Holy Cross on September 19th!
Following in the footsteps (or rather cleat impressions) of Week 2 selection, Marcello Vitale; it was Cole Wallace emerging with the finest showing of his scholastic career when the 5’10, 165-pounder who calls Brooklyn his home posted personal-highs across all rushing categories in keeping the reigning Double-A-1 kings among the ranks of the unblemished!
Spotlighted and displaying those glimpses of star power in Xavier’s first two wins of the year (64 yards and two touchdowns on six handoffs combined); last Saturday night presented the senior in the #11 shirt with the opportunity to be the “leading man” in the poetic art form that is the Knight lethal ground attack!!
Barely missing recording the first 100-yard game of his varsity tenure; Wallace would amass 98 yards and score a TD for the third straight outing on a mere seven tries to end the melee holding a mind-blowing average of 14ypc!!
His school already enjoying a 6-0 advantage courtesy of an Ace Jernstedt pick-6; it was Wallace doing everything but scoring the touchdown on Xavier’s last possession of the 1st half, as he’d peeled off a pair of 20+ yard gainers (after having an early big run negated), including a 24-yard sprint to the HC 5 to do the grunt work in a series that was eventually culminated by a 1-yard keeper delivered by sophomore, Anthony Pierro (65 yards and two TDs on six attempts) to double the cushion to 12-0 with :20 before the intermission!
After a clutch defensive stand deep in their own territory by the XR defense at the start of the 3rd quarter; it was Wallace’s 39-yard jet sweep to the Holy Cross 26 that paved the way for Pierro to take the next snap the house to up the margin to 19-0 with just under 5:00 remaining in the stanza!
His work as a facilitator for others would finally be rewarded in the last 2:07 of the 3Q when just moments after Cole Manfredo dove on a mishandled kickoff (right after the Pierro TD above); it was Wallace cruising through a seam and rocketing 17 yards to the end zone to wrap up the scoring for the Knights (26-0)!!
Giving further credence to the Xavier recipe of turning rugby players into phenom tailbacks; it ought be noted that Wallace is also a member of the State Champion claiming/National top-5 cohort on the pitch!
He too is now rejoicing at his introduction to Player of the Week accolades!