William Auerbach (Sr.); OLB – Kellenberg Memorial Firebirds
Playing with added motivation after a knee injury last fall forced the Carle Place native to miss the annual “Marianist Bowl” as a junior classman; the 210-pound OLB more than made up for lost time as his contribution acted as an “X factor” in propelling the visiting Firebirds to a confidence boosting 21-10 triumph on August 29th over returning Metro Catholic AAA semifinalists, the Chaminade Flyers!!
The best offense on that Saturday afternoon in Mineola coming in the form of a stout and suffocating defensive showcase; it would be the gentleman donning the white #14 jersey that was front-and-center during the two pinnacle and/or game-changing sequences that enabled Kellenberg Memorial to register their first victory over their rivals/sister school since 2021 (snapped a four-game losing streak)!!
The ‘Birds trailing 3-0 early in the 2nd quarter; it was Auerbach responding to a costly fumble inside the opposing 24-yard line when chased down and stripped opposing veteran field general, Sean Carnevale; thus allowing teammate, Christian Eleazer, to do a swoop and scoop for the 15-yard fumble recovery to the house to put KMHS up 7-3, with 7:53 remaining in the opening half!!
Approximately four minutes later; on the Crimson & Gold’s [Chaminade] next possession; Auerbach struck again when on 3rd & 5 inside, he stepped in front of a tipped pass and raced 75 yards untouched to paydirt for a pick-6 that increased the margin to 14-3 in the last 3:30 prior to the break!!!
The two cited signature highlights obviously stealing the spotlight; what did not go overlooked was the fact that the senior delivered an all-together solid and fundamentally strong effort as his six cumulative stops were just one shy of matching his career-best established in October ’25 versus Archbishop Stepinac!!
By virtue of the “upset” dub to commence 2026; Kellenberg has already equaled their win total from all of last year (finished 1-9)!!
Week #0 marks Auerback’s debut on the POTW list!
Jayden Burch (So.); RB/S – Monsignor Farrell Lions
Little Brothers Always Do it Better!!
That seemed to be the manta to which 5’10, 155-pound 10th-grader from Staten Island [Burch] incorporated in what was an absolutely brilliant varsity debut that yielded the returning NYCHSFL Triple-A runner-up Lions a 28-14 conquest against 2025 NJSIAA Non-Public B semifinalists, Holy Spirit, on August 29th!
The Lion faithful no strangers to watching members of this decorated clan chew up mass quantities of yards in representation of the Maroon & Gold; still vivid are the memories of elder sibling/current University at Buffalo tailback, Messiah Burch (2021 All-League Selection) routinely reaching “hyper speed” on his way to a 1,000-plus, junior campaign (sidelined by injury by much of his swan song in 2022)!
But the torch has now been passed; and if week #0 is any indication of what Jayden has in store for us during the next three years; then get the popcorn ready, sit back, and enjoy the show!!
The bulk of his 200+ yards of total contribution transpiring while operating as MF’s top option out of the backfield; the sensational sophomore exploded for an astounding 167 yards on 26 carries (6.4/per), while also adding a 35-yard kickoff return, and a 4-yard reception!!
The Amboy Road renegades already enjoying a 7-0 lead; it would be a huge gainer by Burch at the onset of the 2Q that set up the first of Junior signal caller, Bryce Moye’s three TD to
sses, as the 2025 2nd-Team All-State/All-Catholic selection connected with Mason Morales, on a 16-yard hook-up to extend the cushion to 14-0!!!
His mighty body of work on offense not being the only occasions in which you’d hear the name of the stud in the #5 shirt called; the game film showed Burch was a beast out of the D-backfield as well; as the game-film showed him flashing from the safety spot to register 3 cumulative tackles (2 for negative yardage); including a sprint off of a botched Holy Spirit punt that gave Farrell control of the pigskin from the enemy 39!..
As a follow-up, he’d break off a pair of double-digit runs to move the ball inside the red zone as a precursor to the 11-yard pitch-and-catch between Moye and Joseph Augustine-Martino that made it a 21-7 affair with just under 6:00 to go in the 3rd quarter!
The opening act is spectacular in every regard; our gut tells us that the subsequent encores will be no less marvelous! A new star has been born!
Joseph Moran (Sr.); RB/LB – St. Joseph’s By the Sea Vikings
Splitting NYCHSFL AA-1 finale appearances in 2024 (champs) and 2025; early signs are already pointing at another promising November for the Vikings thanks to the presence of their senior ironman, [Joey] Moran!!!
Named 5th-Team All-State, as well as a no brainer selection to the All-League squad as a junior last season; the SJS staff phased it perfectly when they stated the following:
“Normally, when an All-Everything player returns; expectations for senior year are high; But in his first outing of the 2026 Calendar, Moran not only exceeded expectations; he reminded everyone that he is a true threat to claim Offensive Player of the Year.”
Based on the comprehensive and/or all-encompassing damage he inflicted on both sides of the line of scrimmage in Sea’s 54-28 victory against returning AA-2 runners-up, Holy Cross, to commence 2026; the Staten Island resident isn’t looking too bad for DPOY honors either as that #18 jersey “was on repeat” over the public address system!!
Collecting a career-high five touchdowns in total (had multiple 3TD efforts last fall) on the afternoon of August 29th; it is not lip service when we say that every time the ball found its way into his arms/hands; Moran turned it into magic as he’d accrued a mind-blowing 236 yards of production while shifting back-and-forth from the role of traditional tailback to lining up as a wide receiver!
Three of this “golden quintet” occurring back-to-back-to-back possessions (two on offense; one a defensive display); with SJS already holding a 14-8 lead; Moran would park himself under an errant throw and then march nearly 60 yards to the promised land for a pick-6 that extended the margin to 21-7 with a little under 3:00 remaining in the opening stanza!
The next time that his school had the ball; he’d parade 65 yards up the gut at the onset of 2Q to further pull away (28-7)!
The lead briefly trimmed to 28-14; he’d step up yet again in the 2nd quarter when he was on the receiving end of respective 22 (leaping grab) and 35-yard (over the shoulder) TD hauls hurled by Peter Tronolone (4 TD passes on the day) to blow the contest open, 42-14!
For good measure, he later punched in an 11-yard carry in the 3Q (score 42-22) to round out his epic effort!
In addition to the highlighted INT TD return; Moran was credited with nine total stops on “D”!!
Garnering POTW distinction in weeks #0 and #5 last year; Moran is now a three-time recipient!
Per MaxPreps; Joe’s by the Sea has now won the last six meetings between the two programs (including in each of the past four seasons)
Nahum Pierre (Jr.); RB – Archbishop Stepinac Crusaders
WELCOME TO THE NYCHSFL, MR. NASHUM PIERRE!
As first impressions go; the newest Crusader could not have dreamed up a finer scenario in which to ingratiate himself to the Stepinac fanbase!
Donning the Red, White, and Blue colors in his first official appearance on August 29th; the transfer from East Ramapo (1,500 yards and 21 TDs in 2025) single-handedly was the culprit in vaulting the White Plains based cohort to a 27-7 win over Fordham Prep on home soil!!
Responsible for personally accounting for three of the school’s four touchdowns during the proceedings; Pierre boasted an average of 8.6/per carry on 12 attempts to record a century-mark milestone (103 yards) in his Stepinac debut!
Wasting little time in emphatically putting his name on the score sheet; the man wearing the #8 shirt cashed in on A.S.’s initial possession of the fall when he took the pitch to the outside, evaded a Ram defender, cut back to the inside while sidestepping additional FP personnel as part of a 21-yard TD trek that made it a 7-0 contest with 6:31 remaining in the 1st quarter!
A little luck mixed in for a whole lot of talent; Pierre found the end zone again in the waning moments (under 1:00 to go) of 1Q when in deja vu fashion, he started left, shimmied back to center, and picked up 10 yards before the ball was jarred loose…He’d attentively stay in pursuit and dove on the free ball to complete a 22-yard touchdown to increase the advantage to 14-0!
A 50-yarder to the house just before halftime (2:49 on the clock) negated by a penalty; Pierre refused to be denied of his hat trick, as on the first snap of the 4th quarter; he pounded the nail into the coffin when he barreled in from a distance of 5-yards out while in the wildcat formation to turn a then 21-7 lead into the aforementioned verdict!