Category: Players of the Week

Xavier Bala (Jr.); RB – St. Anthony’s Friars It is not by pure coincidence or fluke when a person who holds scholarship offers from the likes of Ohio State, University of Alabama, Penn State, Syracuse, Nebraska, etc puts on a show and leaves no doubt that he is the best player on the field regardless of the scoreboard!!! Thus far; despite the NYCHSFL returning Triple-A runner-up Friars mustering only a split of their two non-league contests; there is no mystery as it pertains to the supremacy of their 6’1, 215-pound junior stallion, Bala!!!  A season removed from posting a 1,009 yard/8 touchdown campaign on the ground as a 10th grader (5.6/per carry); the Baldwin resident has exploded out of the gates in 2025 and is looking the part of being a serious early contender for Riverso Memorial consideration (Metro Catholic Offensive Player of the Year)!!! Following up a then career-best

Daniel Breton (Sr.); NG – Mount St. Michael Academy Mountaineers An imposing force on the inside of the MSMA defensive line; the 6’0, 230-pound hometown kid could not have picked a better occasion in which to register the finest showing of his scholastic career… Shining under the Friday night lights in the first appearance of his senior season being a memory that will stay with him forever; there would not be many boxes on his personal stat sheet that went unchecked in the Mountaineers’ 30-14 victory on the road against the Gaels of Kennedy Catholic! Atop the totem pole in every category imaginable; Breton would accrue a team-high/personal-best 6 total stops (2 TFLs), including a QB sack early in the 1st quarter that drew first blood and put the Mount up 2-0!!! A consistent and unbridled menace for a D-Unit that collectively racked up three safeties (Kaiden Carmichael & Jomar

Thomas Lent (Sr.); FB/LB – Xavier Knights Stuck in the midst of a four-year drought in their annual Turkey Bowl rivalry with the Rams of Fordham Prep; the Knights knew that if they were to change their fortune; it was going to require a BIG BANG… Fortunately for Xavier; they don’t grow/come much bigger in a NYCHSFL offensive backfield than the 6’2, 235-pounder out of the Big Apple [Lent]… Utilized primarily as a tight end during the course of his swan song campaign; Lent would transition to the RB/FB spot during an abbreviated postseason (loss to Moore Catholic in the AA-1 quarters) run; and he delivered in each of his two appearances in this capacity… On the heels of a 107-yard/3TD rushing (17 attempts) performance in the already cited postseason loss to the Mavericks; the blocker turned locomotive proved to be even finer in his encore outing, as he’d shatter

Dean Coscia (Sr.); LB/FB – St. Joseph’s by the Sea Vikings Giving us feelings of nostalgia and conjuring up images of weekends spent watching the likes of Dan Morgan and Luke Kuechly, Coscia displayed gazelle-like fluidity in his ability to move sideline-to-sideline in pursuit of the ball-carrier!!! Having never accrued more than nine tackles during a single outing in his two-year varsity career heading into the AA-1 semifinal contest versus the Rams of Fordham Prep, the 5’7, 200-pounder succeeded in not only breaking his personal record; he shattered it to smithereens to the tune of 18 stops in captaining the Vikings to 21-16 dub that avenged one of only two losses this season (FP shutout them out, 13-0, in week #4)… Literally going frame by frame in watching the game film; we sincerely could count on one hand the few and far-between moments in which the #15 jersey DID NOT

Marco Aruta (Sr.); QB – St. Peter’s Eagles Like a cold-blooded assassin, the senior stud in the #3 jersey enacted his revenge in ousting defending AA-1 champs, St. John the Baptist, from the conversation last Saturday afternoon!! Limited to just 23 yards (12 carries) on the ground when the two squads clashed in last season’s NYCHSFL semifinals; and then held to 9 yards on two carries during a week #9 match-up, the 5’11, 190-pound Staten Islander [Aruta] will forever be known as “Vesuvius”, because that boy erupted for 244 yards of total production in spearheading the Blue & Gold to an electrifying 49-36 victory on home soil in a Metro Catholic quarterfinal pitting the #2 and #7 seeds against one another!! Already quite acquainted with fame and prosperity heading into last weekend, the 2023 All-Catholic selection/HM All-State had been so good during the past two years that to top himself

Xavier Bala (So.); RB – St. Anthony’s Friars Regarded by many pundits as an individual with the potential to be the finest Friar tailback since Matt Hahn (graduated in 2003 and took his talents to Penn State University), the 6’0, 210-pounder [Bala] was a rare call-up to the varsity as a freshman in 2023; but it has been his sophomore season where his budding stardom has especially begun to become evident… Already holding scholarship offers from the likes of Syracuse, Rutgers, Buffalo, Stony Brook, and Bowling Green, the super sophomore out of Baldwin has a VERY realistic chance of reaching the 1,000 milestone this winter should the Black & Gold enjoy an extended postseason run… His seasonal stat line reading as 653 yards and five touchdowns on 126 attempts (5.2/per), Bala is going to carry significant momentum within him into the Triple-A postseason as he is fresh off of a

Marcello Viscoso (Sr.); LB – Fordham Prep Rams An irreplaceable cog in the machine that powers the Rams defense, the senior ‘backer is in the midst of a banner senior campaign that has routinely witnessed him collect averages of close to 10 stops per appearance… In Fordham Prep’s 20-7 victory over Xaverian last Friday night, the scholar-athlete extraordinaire (sporting a 3.96 grade point average) would enjoy one of the finest performances of his varsity career, as he’d collect a team-best 11 tackles, while also adding a sack!! Hailed by the FP coaching staff as the ultimate run-stopper, when you watch his game film, you cannot help but notice the ease in which he naturally glides to the play; and when he arrives, he detonates with heavy-impact contact!! Priding himself on being that disruptive presence from the MIKE position, it is no coincidence that under his leadership, the Rams have allowed

Josiah Kueviakoe (Sr.); LB – St. Francis Prep Terriers A definitive Defensive Player of the Year favorite as we approach the final few weeks of the regular season; there is NO ONE in all of the entire Empire State has applied more proverbial “lickings” to opponents this season than the “Dog” in the #7 jersey for St. Francis Prep!!! Boasting a STATE-BEST 92 tackles in 2024, while being tied for 3rd in NYS with seven sacks, the Uniondale resident packs a punch considerably bigger than his 6’1, 168-pound frame!! A hybrid/Rover safety who is listed as a linebacker within the SFP defensive scheme, Kueviakoe attacks on the gridiron like he is a Walmart cashier at the holidays….NO WEEKENDS OFF; All-out energy!!! Amassing no fewer than six stops in any one appearance as a senior, Kueviakoe flies to the ball with ease, lives in the enemy backfield, and is proficient at

Chase Cruz (Sr.); WR/CB – Holy Trinity Titans One of the last remaining members of the Titan dynasty that won back-to-back NYCHSFL Double-A crowns in 2021 and 2022, we empathize with the 6’1, 175-pound speedster out of Brooklyn; as it is never easy to endure a rebuild during your swan song campaign!! Holy Trinity entering week #6 winless (0-6); the returning All-League performer from a season ago knew that if the Green & White had any hopes of turning around the fortunes of their 2024 year; he needed to be that proverbial spark…HE MANIFESTED A WILD FIRE!! Establishing new single-day career-highs in receptions (9), yardage (225), and touchdowns grabs (3) during HT’s 47-32 victory over previously unbeaten/2023 AA-2 champs, Mount St. Michael Academy (5-1), the senior leader for the Hicksville based program left everything he had out on the field!!! Picking the ideal time to register the first multi-TD game