Article by Matt Diano
Charlie English (Sr.); RB/SS – Fordham Prep Rams
Singled-out for recognition for the third time this season (previously POTW honors in weeks 1 and 7) the 5’11, 175-pounder [English] will forever remember the final occasion in which he donned the Ram colors on the gridiron…
Participating in the 99th rendition in one of the greatest traditions in scholastic sports (first meeting occurred in 1887) before taking his talents to Middlebury College next fall to play for the Panthers, English capped off a brilliant varsity tenure by shining on both sides of the ball in Fordham Prep’s 41-25 victory over rival/2022 AA-2 Champs, Xavier!!
The victory, the fourth in the past five chapters for the Bronx based program, raised their overall lead in the saga to 53-41-4!!!
Literally saving his finest showing for the very end on offense, it is not very often that a player can overshadow a teammate’s 5TD passing display (Matthew Moorehead; 16-for-241), but that is exactly what the senior captain succeeded in achieving, as he rushed for a career-high 173 yards on 16 carries to crack the 1,000-yard milestone for the year (1,001 on 171)…
His last act being a 66-yard TD run (his 13th of the season) late in the 4th quarter that closed out the scoring for FP, even when he was the not the one punching the ball across the goal line, his fingerprints were evident…
On Fordham’s first series of the morning, it was his 41-yard dash that moved the ball across midfield and into the red zone (own 30 to opposing 19) to set up Moorehead’s eventual 25-yard connection to Tommy Gies (3 receptions, 51 yards, 2 TD hauls) to break the ice (7-0 3:30 remaining in the 1st)…
Demonstrating his versatility out of the backfield as a pass-catcher, the longest of English’s 3 grabs (career-best 74 yards) occurred on the last possession of the 1st half, as his 43-yard catch put the Maroon & White on the doorstep (XR 4), and served as a precursor to a 4-yard play-action strike from Moorehead to Keegan Doody (4 receptions, 51 yards) with :07 remaining before the break to increase the cushion to 28-12!
On defense, he tied his season-high of 8 stops (5 solo, 3 assisted) and crushed any hope of an 11th hour Knight comeback, when he picked off Xavier QB, Shane Zaletofsky, on the Ram 29 (FP up 34-25) for his second INT of 2022!!…The INT came just moments before the aforementioned touchdown blast!
Concluding the fall with 51 tackles and the 2 INTs, English ranked 4th and 2nd on the squad in those categories to complement his starring role on offense!!
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Kenneth Antoine (Jr.); RB – Cardinal Hayes Cardinals
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f legendary NFL Coach and/or broadcaster, John Madden, was still alive; there is no doubt who his “Turducken” selection would have been following a 38-18 triumph that gave Cardinal Hayes their ninth straight victory (in the 79th installment) in the battle for Bronx bragging rights over 2022 NYCHSFL AA-2 runners-up, Mount St. Michael Academy…
Officially credited with three touchdowns (career-high) on the morning of November 24th, the 5’10, 180-pound Harlem resident was even more dynamic and instrumental than the box score suggests…
The “w” still very much in the balance (Hayes leading 26-18), Antoine would truly put his personal stamp on the victory when he accounted for a pair of second half touchdowns (one in each quarter) to create the eventual cushion/separation…
Having already extended the drive when he converted a 4th & 1 on his own side of the field (Hayes 40) by picking up a 9-yard gainer, Antoine culminated a 6:28 march when he struck for his second ground TD of the day on a 2-yard plunge up the middle to make the score 32-18 with 3:12 to go in the 3Q….On the prior snap, he ran for a 9 yards to put himself on the cusp!!….A 26-yard scamper from Sophomore QB, Rich Belin (advanced the ball to the Mountaineer 25), as well as a 15-yard hook-up in the air to Alfredo Perez (to the Mount 10) aided the successful series!
With 4:44 still to be play in regulation, he completed his hat trick on the ground when he followed up a TD QB keeper from Belin that was called back due to a penalty by finding a hole on the ensuing snap and cruising 14 yards to the house…The scoring run was his fourth 10+ yard contribution to the drive, as he also had treks of 19, 12, and 12 at various moments throughout the nearly 6:00 sequence of action!
Responsible for bookend tallies, Antoine drew first blood with 7:00 remaining in the 1st quarter, when on three consecutive snaps, he broke for a 43-yarder to move the ball to the opponent’s 5, added a 4yrd gain to the 1, and then punched it in!
The Cardinals holding a 13-3 edge, his runs of 21 (to the Mount St. Michael 31) and 15 yards (to the 1) respectively was later cashed in on a 2-yard lunge up the middle by Belin to increase the margin to 20-3 (11:53 still to be contested in the opening half)!
To capture just how insanely good #22 was on Thanksgiving, consider that he notched a trifecta, just missed another (on the later Belin sneak), and had a 26-yard TD sprint in the last 2:30 of the 2nd quarter wiped out by penalty!!
Antoine’s banner day in his junior finale wrapped up 10 rushing touchdown campaign in 2022!