Sean Carnevale (Sr.); QB – Chaminade Flyers
Demonstrating the leadership qualities and skillset that has made him a rare three-year varsity team member in Mineola; the 6’0, 195-pound field general that calls Bayville home [Carnevale] shined in the final regular season game of his scholastic career in propelling the Flyers to a 28-21 victory on the road over Fordham Prep that snapped a six-game losing streak and created momentum heading into the triple-A playoffs!!
Spreading the pigskin out to SIX unique targets under the Friday Night lights on October 30th; Carnevale registered his second multiple-touchdown tossing performance of the season (both in the past three weeks) to the tune of a 21-for-29 performance for 225 yards and a pair of scores!
His first act of heroism coming in direct response to a Ram touchdown on their opening possession in an initial 7-0 hole; Carnevale answered back on Chaminade’s first drive of the game by going 3-for-4 in the air for 78 yards; highlighted by a 57-yard TD strike to Senior TE, Kelly Snapp (4 grabs for 83 yards), that tied the game at 7-7 with 5:25 remaining in the 1st quarter!
Fast-forwarding to late in the opening half and the Crimson & Gold trailing again, 13-7; Carnevale executed the 2:00 offense (1:06 to go before the break) to perfection as he marched his squad 68 yards down field and culminated a go-ahead drive when he connected with Christian Birch Trani over the middle for their only hook-up all night on an 11-yard touchdown in the final 13 ticks of the 2nd quarter to send the visitors from Long Island into the locker room enjoying a 14-13 advantage!
Willing the “Mineola Marianists” at every stage; again it was the #12 shirt playing a prominent role in a come-from-behind capacity, as down 21-14 early in the 4Q; it would be his 31-yard connection to Michael Genovese (7 receptions for 70 yards), complemented by a 12-yard shovel pass to Anthony Trapani (3 snatches for 37 yards receiving; 62 yards and 1 TD on 16 carries) that set up the eventual game-tying score (Trapani 3-yard TD run) with 7:47 remaining in regulation!
By virtue of his monster night in the Bronx; Carnevale upped his numbers this season to 1,442 yards and 8 TD tosses on 153-for-235 (65.1%)!
He will have a chance to further boast this swan song stat line when he squares off in the quarterfinals this weekend against a St. Anthony’s Friar nemesis against whom he posted career-highs of 290 yards and 3 TDs in a 49-48 shootout loss in week #7!
Carnevale makes his return to the POTW list after previously being honored in week #8 of his junior campaign!
Madden Martinez (Sr.); QB – Holy Cross Knights
“So nice he had to do it twice”
The Senior field general for the Knights is making a second straight POTW appearance (now a 3x Player of the Week all-time) after orchestrating an explosive 42-36 overtime victory on home soil against the Cougars of St. John the Baptist on Halloween!
Tying his career-high (established a week ago during a 6-for-8, 141-yard outings versus Christ the King) of four touchdown passes; the 2x All-State Honorable Mention/2025 All-Catholic selection finished Saturday afternoon with a resume that read as: 13-of-24 for 203 yards; while also “stretching his legs” and coming just short of his single-game high on the ground (54 yards in the 2025 AA-2 title contest) by rushing for 49 yards and an additional TD on 8 keepers!
The 2x AA-2 runner-up Knights finding themselves trailing by margins of 21-6 and 28-14 at various moments in the 2nd quarter; it was Martinez keeping them within reach by firing a pair of TD darts to cut the deficit to a reasonable 28-22 at the intermission!
That mojo carrying over into the 2nd half; it was Martinez’s third touchdown chuck of the afternoon that put Holy Cross on top, 30-28, for the first time all day!
But the visiting Cougars were not done; as a TD run in the 4th quarter + the 2pt conversion restored their advantage to 36-30!
Needing an equalizer; it was only fitting that the gem in the #12 shirt was the one to deliver under the most intense of pressures, as he called his own number on an 8-yard keeper to draw even at 36-36!
The eventual game-winner took the form of a short-TD connection to super sophomore, Adrian Collado!
Martinez’s EIGHT takedown passes in the last two weeks increasing his seasonal to a Double-A-1 topping 17; he rolls into his final postseason as the owner of a 2026 resume that includes bullet points such as: 58-for-104 (55.8%) in the air for 963 yards; with two more “6”s occurring on the ground!
Seeded 2nd in their bracket; Holy Cross will kick back and relax while they await the winner of the Kennedy Catholic/Spellman quarterfinal!!
No matter the opponent; Martinez should be entering with supreme confidence, as he burned Spellman for four TD throws in a 42-0 shutout during week #5; and then followed it up by throwing for two and running for one versus the Gaels in week #6!
Mason Morales (Jr.); WR/PR – Monsignor Farrell Lions
On the heels of posting career-highs for receptions (5) and yardage (91) in a week #8 victory against St. Anthony’s that could have easily garnered him POTW accolades…
The 5’8, 165-pound Garden Stater [Morales] did not need to wait much longer to “get his flowers”; as he remained fully locked in this past weekend in helping the visiting Lions to a 21-0 triumph against St. Joe’s by the Sea in a bash of two of SI’s finest!
Just missing equaling the marks he banked a week prior; the two-sport speedster (4.3) emerged with a 4-grab, 87-yard, 1TD effort in doing his part to close out an astounding 9-1 regular season vitae for Monsignor Farrell!
His biggest reception of the day coming late in the 2Q with the Maroon & Gold holding a 7-0 edge; Morales hauled in a screen pass at the Viking 30, Shook off several defenders, cut back across the field, and then sprinted the rest of way to the 1-yard line before diving at the pylon to double the margin to 14-0!
Earlier in the day, he just missed a signature moment when he caught a dump off on the opposing 45, evaded a pair of SJS tacklers, and raced to about the opposing 4-yard line!
His versatility/multi-faceted gifts also showing themselves on special teams; he’d complement his contributions at WR by tacking on a 21-yard punt return!
His strong outings in consecutive weekends has raised Morales’s season totals to 25 snatches for 481 yards, with a pair of TD grabs to ranked 2nd, 2nd, and 3rd on the roster in those categories!
His “coming of age” as an impact performer was only made a bad situation worse for rival defenses as it has given All-League/All-State quarterback, Braxton Moye (19-for-25, 201 yards, 2 TD passes), yet another weapon for an ensemble that has three other members with 12 or more catches and over 100 yards receiving!
By virtue of being the #2 seed; the 2025 AAA runners-up will have the luxury of resting up this coming weekend as they await the winner of the STA/Chaminade quarterfinal!
We are quite confident that regardless of the opponent; #10 will remain a factor!
Morales is making his Metro POTW debut!
Oliver Pulido (Sr.); LB – Mount St. Michael Academy Mountaineers
The trend-setter all season for a Mountaineer defense that has now pitched shutouts in four of their last five trips to the gridiron…
It is quite the compliment to say that the 6’0, 200-pound Bronx resident put forth the finest performance of his scholastic career last Friday night as part of a 27-0 blanking on the road over St. Dominics that locked up the top seed in the AA-2 playoffs for Mount St. Michael Academy!
Entering week #9 already atop the team leaderboard in both total stops and TFLs; the senior standout donning the #34 jersey further added to his tremendous body of work this fall when he recorded single-game highs of 9 cumulative tackles, 4 TFLs, and a sack to limit a very capable Bayhawk offense to just 198 yards of total production all evening!
“The Mount” relishing in a 14-0 cushion at the onset of the 1st quarter; it was the awareness of Pulido that put them in business to inflict more damage when he scooped up a loose ball created by an Adam Richard (5 tackles, 1 TFL) strip and returned it approximately 17 yards to the Dom’s 9-yard line as a catalyst to the first of Dylan Turenne’s (12 carries, 80 yards, 2 TDs) two touchdown runs on the ensuing snap to increase the margin to 21-0!
The scoreboard unchanged (21-0) in the waning moments of the opening half; Pulido’s sack came in highlight reel fashion as on the next to last snap before intermission, he chased down and made a living ankle tackle on 2nd down to derail any chance the hosts from Bayville had of potentially getting some momentum flowing!
He, along with the rest of the Mountaineers, continued to play unrelenting “North/South” football during the final 24 minutes of action; as they never were in serious danger of surrendering points!
His stat line now reading as follows: 54 stops, 10 TFLs, 1 sack 3 forced fumbles, 1 recovered fumble, etc..
The “shame” in MSMA clinching the top spot atop the Double-A-2 bracket is that the distinction is accompanied by a quarterfinal bye; meaning that we will not get to enjoy watching Pulido wreak havoc this coming weekend!
When we next see the Mountaineers in the semifinals; they will be riding the wave of a six-game winning streak!
Well on his way towards becoming an All-Catholic selection later this month; Pulido is officially a first-time NYCHSFL Player of the Week honoree!
His stellar and consistent efforts (five or more tackles in six separate outings in 2026) on “D” are a main reason why a “ticker tape parade” is being discussed on Murdock Avenue for the first time since 2023!
Willie Reeves (Sr.); RB/LB – Iona Prep Gaels
The “Real Ticket” left no doubt that he is a “Real Deal” in a 34-7 regular season finale triumph on the road against Archbishop Stepinac!
The most productive person on both sides of the line of scrimmage while aiding Iona Prep in their attempt to remain perfect in 2026…
Reeves was responsible for accounting for ½ of the 2x defending AAA/NYCHSAA State Champion’s four rushing touchdowns; as the “short-yardage/red zone” specialist racked up 36 yards and the aforementioned two TDs on just five carries to raise his “6” sum this season to six scores on 14 hand-offs!
Hailed/celebrated as the “Soul of the Defense” to quite the Iona Prep coaching staff; the 185-pound stud in the #4 jersey was credited with 8 total stops, 2 TFLs, and a fumble recovery to lock down/smother a Crusader attack that took the field last Saturday having put up 28 or more points in each of their previous three appearances!
The timing of his turnover inducing play coming at precisely the right moment; just seconds after an IP field goal on their opening drive gave the New Rochelle based program a 3-0 edge; it was Reeves diving on a loose ball on Stepinac’s first snap from scrimmage to immediately hand control of the pigskin back over to his offense on the enemy 20-yard-line!…
Chase Reeves (74 yards, 1 touchdown on nine hand-offs) capitalized off of the ideal starting field position; as he busted through the hole just two plays after the change of possession to extend the lead to 10-0 a little less than 5:00 into the opening stanza!
[Willie] Reeves also played a key role in halting Stepinac’s next drive of the afternoon, as he’d join forced with Hunter DeBellis and Joshua Simmons on a run-stuff that generated a 7-yard loss and pushed the hosts from White Plains all the way back to IP 44 and created a 2nd & mile scenario from which they could not overcome (eventually punted)!
Called upon to do what he does best; the first of Reeves’s two touchdowns came on the ensuing march following the punt; as he culminated an 80-yard series by punching in on a 3-yard HB draw to increase the deficit to 17-0 with :16 to go in the 1st quarter!
After an acrobatic TD reception by Stepinac trimmed the cushion to 17-7; it was Reeves punctuating a second straight successful Gael possession when he went rather untouched in dancing his way to the promised land from a distance of 6 yards out to restore the three-score differential (24-7) with 2:31 to go before halftime!!
Head Coach, Joe Spagnolo’s “D” only allowing Stepinac to cross midfield once during the entirety of the final 24 minutes of action; if this was a preview of a future triple-A semifinal (#1 and #5 seeds); then Reeves and his colleagues have every reason to be darn confident about making a third straight trip to ‘ship weekend!
A man who truly seems to “hate” Stepinac; [Willie] Reeves has now been named an NYCHSFL Player of the Week twice in his four-year varsity tenure; and both occasions happen to be after at the expense of the Crusaders!!!!…He coincidentally received this accolades in week #9 of the 2025 season as well!
The Gaels vying for and favored to become the first AAA school since St. Anthony’s (2009-2011) to three-peat; it is the presence of special individuals such as the Reeves that power the machine!…
And that mechanism is a “SOUL TRAIN” with Reeves as the engineer!