Category: Players of the Week

Demetrios Demetriades (Jr.); WB/CB – Xavier High School Knights This time last year, the junior two-way player was focused on a different kind of football, as he was a sophomore starter on the soccer team during his sophomore campaign….Thankfully for Head Coach, Chris Stevens, and his staff, the 5’11, 170-pound Brooklynite elected to ditch the pitch and take his amazing athletic skills to the gridiron in 2017.   That decision is already proving to be worth its weight in gold for the Knights as Demetriades has factored prominently into each of his school’s two wins thus far this season. During the opening week of the season, it was his 20-yard TD run (on just his second touch of the game) in double-overtime that was the difference maker in a 19-13 victory over St. John the Baptist…This past week, his contributions may have lacked that same level of drama that accompanies a

Matt Valecce (Sr.); QB – Fordham Prep Rams A student-athlete who has been so dominant during the early part of his senior campaign that based on merit, he could easily be a four-time POTW selection already, Valecce makes his debut on the 2017 list following his second straight five touchdown pass game in a 35-28 victory over Mount St. Michael that kept the Rams atop the AA standings…In the four games that Fordham Prep has played this season, the Boston College bound signal caller has had a hand in no less than three scores each time he has stepped onto the field…His march up the record books is as ferocious as ever as he has now  tossed for 1,226 yards and 16 TDs whole completing a remarkable 74 percent of his throws (84-for-114) in keeping his school unblemished thus far. While the gaudy numbers are no doubt mind-blowing, as we

Frankie Roder (Jr.); RB/LB – Kellenberg Memorial Firebirds For many an athlete at any level of competition, you can wait your entire career and never have the kind of show-stopping, page-turning, game-changing type of performance that Firebird junior, Frankie Roder, posted last Saturday afternoon in KMHS’s season-opening 47-26 road victory over Mount St. Michael Academy…And, it all happened in his VARSITY DEBUT!!!  If what happened on September 9th becomes the norm for the 5’11, 170-pounder from Franklin Square, then we just saw the birth of a future legend in the Blue & Gold. Carrying the pigskin just eight times on the afternoon, Roder would certainly maximize the quality of all of his touches, as he found the end zone 50 percent of the time, scoring his four touchdowns from distances o 2, 14, 14, and 18 yards away…The timing of his success could not have been more perfect as his initial

By Matt Diano: Justin Felder (Jr.); RB – Holy Cross Knights When the 2016 season started, the junior from Jamaica was not even slotted to be Coach Tim Smith’s #1 option out of the backfield….However, when injuries demanded that the 5’8, 180-pounder assume a larger role, Felder was ready for the promotion, gaining 600 of his season total 905 yards in the weeks since taking over as the Knights’ primary ball carrier.  Entering the final contest of his 11th grade season riding a streak of four consecutive games with a rushing touchdown and 100+ yard performances in two of his last three outings, the recently named All-Catholic honoree truly did have a heck of a finale, accumulating 208 yards on only 13 carries (an average of 13.0/carry), including a 49-yard “burst” (to quote Coach Smith) up the gut that put the “w’ on ice for Holy Cross in their 54-16

By Matt Diano: Gene Brown (Sr.); DL – Archbishop Stepinac Crusaders In the lead-up to last weekend’s semifinal game, we said that “if there was one outstanding unit to keep an eye on”, that it would be the Monsignor Farrell defense….Now, while we do not know if this comment was responsible for lighting a fire in the belly of the Crusader’s senior defensive lineman [Brown]; what we can attest to  with complete certainty though is that he played like man with a statement to make a point to prove, as it was the “D” from the two-time defending AAA champions that won the day, as they avenged an earlier 23-20 regular season loss by doubling up the host Lions, 20-10, in a CHSFL semifinal contest.  A team captain who Coach Mike O’Donnell described as “playing the game with high energy and never stopping until the sound of the whistle,” the

By Matt Diano: Christian Legagneur (Sr.); RB/CB – St. John the Baptist Cougars In the CHSFL Double-A Quarterfinal preview, we said that when they get on a roll, the Cougar running attack was very capable of taking a game over….That is precisely what the story was last Sunday, as their trio of tailbacks combined to run for an astounding 604 yards and six touchdowns in a 45-31 road victory over St. Joe’s by the Sea in the classic #4 vs. #5 seeded match-up….The two score margin of win over the weekend represents a four TD turnaround as it was the Ralph Carusillo coached Baptist squad that dropped a 36-20 game early in the 2016 regular season.  While it was junior, Daniel Parker, who led all Cougars in total yards accumulated on the ground, rushing for 257 yards on 19 carries, the most important production of the game was complements of

By Matt Diano: If you ever find yourself doubting the old saying that “it’s not over till it’s over,” consider the 7th week of the Catholic Football season where overcoming multiple touchdown deficits were the norm.  All five of our selected student-athletes this week found their respective teams trailing at one point, two of whom were really walking a fine line as they trailed in the final 2:00 of regulation.  Another of our POTW picks was the man responsible for helping his team post the biggest upset of 2016 as the CHSFL’s last unbeaten program fell. Bryson Welch (Sr.); RB – Mount St. Michael Academy Mountaineers The second member of the MSMA backfield honored in the past three weeks, Welch joins fellow senior, Justin Montoyo (week #5 selection) among the many student-athletes recognized this season for going above and beyond in leading their respective school’s to triumph…The “Thunder” to Montoyo’s