AA-2: Xaverian Clippers
OFFENSE: Richie Aiken (So.; RB/CB)
Responsible for the only two touchdowns of the game scored by the Clippers, the 5’8, 150-pound super sophomore [Aiken] got the job accomplished in every facet possible this past Saturday in vaulting the Brooklyn based program to their first Metro Catholic brass ring since 2015 behind a 14-6 victory over top-seeded Holy Cross!!
Building off of the career-high 181 yards (8 carries) he collected one week prior in the semifinals; things did not come quite as easily in the AA-2 finale for the young stud in the #20 jersey (usually wears #25); but he was effective when he needed to be, as he unofficially chewed up 61 yards on 17 carries, including a key ground score!!!
Very much a THREE-WAY player who rarely (if ever) was spotted on the sidelines taking a rest, Aiken’s first TD of the game (to break a scoreless contest) would transpire as a special teamer, as after a Tommy Martin punt block, he’s scoop the ball at the opposing 37 and found nothing but green pastures ahead of him, as he paraded to the house for the special team’s score that gave Xaverian a 7-0 lead :40 into the 2nd quarter…
Towards the end of the first half, Aiken struck again in a more traditional manner, as he fully exploited a shortened field (punt that landed on the HC 27) by finding a hole and sprinting 13 yards to paydirt with 1:05 to go before the break to double the cushion to 14-0!!
His most exciting/electrifying play was one that did not result in points being scored; but was no doubt just as valuable…
In response to a Knight touchdown that trimmed the deficit to 14-6 with just under 4:00 remaining in regulation, Aiken took the ensuing kickoff 65 yards to the HC 22….No additional scoring would be yielded; but it would put Holy Cross in an unenviable position of having to travel nearly 80 yards to try to find an equalizer!!!
Just as committed to “D” as he was to offense, Aiken registered multiple tackles and had a pass break-up while patrolling the secondary to aid the effort that kept HC off the board for a span of just under 44 minutes!
DEFENSE: Jaiden Cadotte (Sr.; Two-Way Lineman)
The more we watch and learn about the 6’4, 240-pounder out of Brooklyn, the more we are in awe of his wealth of talents…
A beast on the gridiron and a scholar off of it, last Saturday was not the last time that the gem in the #99 jersey is going to showered with acclaim and awards…Holding a grade point average of 102, with scores of 35 and 1540 respectively on the ACT/SAT, he has our vote for class Valedictorian!
Cited in our AA-2 championship preview as a young man who pops whenever you watch game film; the privilege of seeing him in action for a full-48 confirmed that he is beyond a shadow of doubt the ultimate game-changing presence from the DE position…
His impact felt from the very onset, one of the primary reasons why the Knights remained scoreless for as long as they did is that every time they had an opportunity to get momentum going; he’d step up and make a play that derailed promising possessions…
Never was this truer than during the initial 8:15 of the 1st quarter when he’d halt back-to-back drives on the XR side of the field by playing a part in generating an interception…
On HC’s 1st series of the morning, he’d get his claw up and tip a pass at the line that allowed teammate, Matt McDonnell, to swoop under it and pick it off on Clipper 42….
Just minutes later; after the Knights logged and INT of their own and returned it inside the Clipper red zone; it was Cadotte’s turn to be on the back end of an interception, as he’d haul in a tipped ball by Thomas Regan to regain control of the ball at his own 9!!
The pair of takeaways just the tip of the iceberg as it pertained to his knack for blowing up/obliterating anything and anyone that crosses paths with him; we unofficially had Cadotte tagged with three additional big hits that manufactured HC punts or temporarily slowed the Green wave of attack!
With just over 8:00 remaining in the 2Q, Cadotte cleaned up a tackle for a 3-yard loss (to create 4th & 5) on a run-stop initiated by Regan and then McDonnell…
The short punt referenced above that set up the Aiken TD run came about because on the next snap after a pass interference call, it was double-9s chasing down and bagging the QB for –12 yards to push the Queens boys back to their own 10!
In the final 6:00 of duration (still 14-0) and Holy Cross having moved to within the Clipper 42; Cadotte banked his second sack of the title matinee for an 8-yard loss…A P.I. call would extend the drive and HC would eventually prevent the shutout by scoring a TD; but a loss of crucial time due to the bag could not be overlooked!!!
Simply put, Cadotte was the heartbeat of a D-Unit that limited a Knight attack that averaged 26.6 ppg against AA-2 foes this season to just a single “6”!!!
He’d also be a mainstay on the OL; as “relaxation/respire” are words that do not exist in his personal dictionary…He prefers “hard work” and “excellence” in all endeavors!
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AA-1: St. Joseph’s By the Sea Vikings
OFFENSE: Thomas DiGregorio (Sr.; RB/LB)
Kept out of the end zone for the first time all postseason (entered having rushed for 311 yards and 5 touchdowns in two previous playoff appearances); just because he was not the one to score the winning TD does not mean that the Viking workhorse in the #33 jersey [DiGregorio] wasn’t successful in leaving an indelible impression on last Friday night’s 8-7 triumph over St. Peter’s that yielded SJS the school’s first-ever Metro Catholic crown!!!
Understanding the assignment/objective of controlling both possession and clock (to keep the pigskin out of the hands of the explosive Eagles’ offense), the 5’8, 190-pounder played his role perfectly, as he’d post a team-leading 89 yards on 27 carries (per SI Advance)…
Selflessly putting the interests of the team ahead of himself, DiGregorio was forced to deal with stacked boxes all evening; but yet ran with such conviction, determination, and heart, that he still managed to prove quite effective in extending drives…
His most valuable contribution likely coming on the opening series of the title contest, snap-after-snap, the Joe’s by the Sea coaching staff elected to feed him the ball to the tune of six consecutive carries that advanced the ball from his own 35 to the opposing 38 to set up the program’s lone touchdown of the night (1yrd QB sneak by Christian Carter directly after a 38-yard pass completion to Christian Yue)…
His gritty and tough approach on the ground raising his swan song totals to an even 1,400 (14 touchdowns) on 215 attempts in 2024; while he may not have been flashy on offense; the two-way superstar most undeniably notched a highlight or two when he switched sides of the line to OLB/Rover Safety duties!!
Despite only “moonlighting” on “D”, two particular sequences especially stood out….
With 10:39 remaining in the 1st half and St. Peter’s at just around mid-field, DiGregorio brought the heat on a pass rush, which resulted in Eagles’ field general, Ryan Vallely, putting the ball up for grabs to avoid the sack…On the 50/50 jump ball, it was Anthony Lavezzoli coming down with the INT
Fast-forwarding to a tad bit over 2:00 remaining in the 3rd quarter, DiGregorio joined up with Senior DB, Luigi Biondolillo, to stiff out and stuff a short dump off short of the marker to create a punting situation for the STP…
DEFENSE: Dean Coscia (Sr. LB)
Nicknamed by us as the “Dean of Mean”, for the second weekend in a row, it was the 5’7, 200-pound senior MLB out of Staten Island making it impossible to ignore the wreckage/chaos he creates…
On the heels of a 18-tackle game in the semifinal, the #15 shirt was not quite able to match that quantity in the AA-1 finale; but quality of all of his fierce hits most definitely measured up to expectations…
His presence so disruptive that he appeared considerably more active than his final stat line suggested (SI Advance credited him with 8 stops, TFLs, and 1 sack); what especially impressed us about Coscia is that he seemed to elevate his game just a little higher the deeper into the contest it went on Friday evening…
With the score deadlocked at 8-7 about halfway through the 3rd quarter, there would be an entire opposing march where Coscia displayed the full range of his intensity; as he made a diving ankle tackle in the offensive backfield on 1st down; flew to the ball to hold STP to a short gain on the ground on 2nd; and then came with the pass rush on 3rd to induce an incomplete pass and coerce the punt…
Coscia’s talents for getting after the QB manifested themselves again when with approximately 7:03 remaining in the 4th quarter, he shot up the middle untouched and caused a panicked STP QB to make an errant pass that again produced a boot away…
Saving his best for the title-game’s conclusion (last 80 seconds); like a stone-cold killer, Coscia laid a hat on returning NYCHSFL Offensive POY, Jeremiah Williams, on a punt return; stopping the returning All-Stater dead in his track on the STP 27 yard…Two snaps later, he clobbered Ryan Vallely for a sack that not only pushed the Eagles back to their own 20; but also exhausted nearly 20 seconds of valuable clock before they could reset and get off another play!!
Perhaps the greatest tribute we could give to the senior captain is that he set such a tone for his “band mates” that as a collective unit, they managed to limit an absolutely explosive St. Peter’s offense (averaged 26.5 ppg & 317/per this season) to modest sums of just 7 points and 157 yards!
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AAA: Iona Prep Gaels
OFFENSE: Crew Davis (Jr. RB)
Referenced in our Triple-A title game preview as “created in the mold of Christian McCaffrey’, the 205-pound Connecticut resident most certainly lived up this reputation as he’d rack up a sum of 284 yard and score four touchdowns in vaulting the Gaels to a 43-22 victory over St. Anthony’s in a clash of the top-2 seeds!!
Registering a championship weekend stat line of 21 carries for a career-best 222 yards (all four scores) and 4 grabs for an additional 62 yards, the #5 jersey was plenty good during the initial 24 minutes of action; but would be next-level unstoppable in the 2nd half!!!
Three of his aforementioned four TD runs occurring in the final-24, with the score at 18-15 in favor of the Maroon & Gold, Davis sparked a streak of 25 unanswered points when he paraded 34 yards to paydirt to cap off a 69-yard march to increase the lead to 24-18 with 2:54 remaining in the 3Q…
The margin now sitting at 30-15 (53-yard TD run by Junior QB, Julian Guzman), Davis struck for the first of two straight fourth quarter touchdowns when he found a hole and punched it in from a distance of 5-yards out to further pull away (36-15; 6:03 left)….One way or the other refusing to be denied, earlier in the possession, he had a 41-yard shovel pass TD negated by an IP penalty!
His fourth and ultimately last “6” of the afternoon would be perhaps his most impressive as just moments after sensational sophomore DB, Mamadee Sangaray, Davis took the ensuing snap up the middle and jetted 55 yards untouched to complete the “golden haul” for an insurance TD (43-15) with just 4:18 standing in the way of a dogpile/celebration at mid-field!!!
Davis’s first score of the title-game came courtesy of a 15-yard trek on 3rd & 12 that turned a 7-6 deficit into a 12-7 edge with 6:54 to go before the break!
The catalyst and/or difference-maker in both ends of Iona Prep’s sweep of the Friars in 2024; in the two head-to-head showdowns, Davis accumulated 603 yards (421 rushing; 182 receiving) and eight touchdowns as he had previously gone off for 199 on the ground/120 as a pass-catcher (2 TDS apiece in each capacity) in the 48-40 triumph during week #5!!
His outstanding display in the Metro Catholic League finale upping his seasonal numbers to: 1,014 yards/13 TDs (110 attempt) running; 50 receptions for 701 yards (7 TD catches)—Davis will have one more opportunity to shine as Iona Prep will travel to Buffalo on November 30th to square off against Canisius for the NYCHSAA State hardware…
DEFENSE: Brennen Pressley (Jr.; LB/RB)—
Fresh off of being named as a Player of the Week following a semifinal effort that saw him record 11 stops (2 TFLs), sack, and a rushing TD; the three-year varsity member of the Gaels was every bit as good, if not better in the title game!!!
Silencing the ghosts of past championship game shortcomings (50-18 to St. Anthony’s in 2022; 30-29 to Cardinal Hayes in ‘23); we pray that it was worth the agonizing wait for the stud in the #2 jersey when at long last, he had the privilege of hoisting that title trophy on last Saturday afternoon!!!
His influence perhaps overlooked/underappreciated by the pundits because of the ungodly/utterly insane exhibition delivered by his teammate [Davis] on offense; in truth, it is our contention that taking all factors/contributions into consideration, PRESSLEY was the most impactful player on the field on November 23rd!!!
Answering the bell/call to duty on both sides of the ball; the 5’11, 205-pound ironman hailing from the “Apple” amassed a stellar set of statistics on “D”—11 stops/5 TFLs; but to do him true justice; it is essential that we acknowledge that the quality of his play transcended the box score!!!
On countless occasions throughout the 48-minute affair, Pressley would either directly or indirectly be responsible for creating a change of possession…
With IP down 7-6 with just under 9:00 remaining in the 1st half, he’d chase down opposing QB/NYCHSFL OPOY favorite, Gary Merrill, to make a tackle on 3rd & 10 for no gain to force the Friars to punt into the wind…That punt would land on the STA 17, setting up a short field that was later exploited by Davis on the go-ahead 15-yard TD run (to make the score 12-7)…
Just prior to the break (final 10 seconds), it would be him and Sangaray stuffing Merrill on 4th down on the STA 36 to generate a turnover on downs…
The gents from New Rochelle now relishing a 30-18 cushion; Pressley came up with another clutch stop on the final snap of the 4th quarter when he blew up a hand-off to Friar sophomore RB, Xavier Bala, for a 5-yard loss on 3rd & 8 to induce a punt…This enabled the Gaels to regain the pigskin just short of mid-field and eventually was cashed in by Davis!!!
His menacing body of work from his spot among the LB corps sufficient enough to garner him MVP honors; Pressley’s tale of heroism also boasted season-highs of 6 carries for 29 cards and a pair of touchdowns while working as a complement to Davis!!
It would be him, not Davis that actually drew first blood when he powered his way into the end zone from 2-yards out on IP’s first series of the game to culminate an 80-yard, 7:08 drive to make the score 6-0…
He later added a 3-yard TD run in the first 3:15 of the 3Q for his third score of the 2024 postseason to increase the 12-7 margin to 18-7!!
Having done more than his part to contain the always explosive Friar offense this past weekend; Pressley knows that there will be no time to rest on laurels; as up next he will be tasked with trying to shut down a Canisius squad that averaged close to 33 ppg this season while chewing up 2,733 yards/40 touchdowns on land!