Category: Players of the Week

Article by Matt Diano NYCHSFL Playoffs- Semifinal Round (November 12th, 2022)   Isaiah Vanterpool (So.); OLB – Moore Catholic Mavericks They call the 6’1, 185-pound 10th grader [Vanterpool] “Ice” and that is exactly how he has played in helping the Mavericks reach Championship weekend for the fourth time since 2016… Cool and unshakable (ice water in his veins) by nature, after turning in a very solid regular season that witnessed him collect 41 stops (3 TFLs), the Staten Island resident has elevated his game even further during Moore’s two-game postseason, as he followed up a six tackle, 1 sack effort in the quarterfinals (35-7 win over St. Francis Prep) by registering a seven-stop, 2 sack, one interception performance this past weekend in the program’s 14-7 semifinal triumph over St. John the Baptist in a clash of 2021 Metro Catholic runners-up…  A contest where points where obviously at a premium and

Article by Matt Diano Week #8 (October 28th-29th, 2022)   Dylan Page (Sr.); Two-Way Lineman – Kellenberg Memorial Firebirds Horace & Harvey Grant (NBA), Daniel & Henrik Sedin (NHL), Mike & Bob Bryan (WTA), Ronde & Tiki Barber (NFL), Morgan & Paul Hamm (U.S. Olympic Gymnastics), Tom & Terry Brands (U.S. Olympic Wrestling), and so forth…. All throughout the history of sports have come miraculous stories of how one “egg” managed to produce two superstars!!…And that notion could not be any more valid than in the case of the 6’7, 290-pound, Cornell bound two-way lineman [Dylan Page] and his twin brother, returning All-Catholic field general, Devin!!! Both two-year starters and each on his way to the Ivy League next fall (Devin is committed to the University of Pennsylvania), today marks another shared experience as Dylan has officially joined his “splitting image” as a NYCHSFL POTW recipient (Devin has been named

Week #7 (October 21st-23rd, 2022) Article by Matt Diano   Charlie Battaglia (Sr.); LB – Chaminade Flyers In a clash of defending Metro Catholic champions (Chaminade in AA-1; Holy Trinity in AA-2) that featured a returning NYCHSFL Defensive Player of the Year (Jameer Reeder), three reigning All-Catholic selections (all on the Trinity sideline), multiple NCAA Division I commits and/or prospects, as well as a pair of on-going winning streaks (HT-19, CHS-3), it was the 6-foot, 220-pound senior LB in the #49 jersey [Battaglia] that showed himself to be the best player on the field on Saturday October 22nd!!   Pegged as a defensive affair where points would absolutely be at a premium, the contest itself lived up to its billing/reputation as the two Long Island programs that entered averaging a combined tally of 57.6 managed to muster just 17 in the Flyers’ 10-7 matinee triumph on visiting soil!!!   And through no

Article by Matt Diano Week #6 (October 14th-16th, 2022) Matthew Dieguez (Sr.); QB – Chaminade Flyers There is just something very special and miraculous about the heroics we see put forth by seniors each and every year when Mid-to-late October rolls around…It is almost as if they see the end of the road over the horizon and thus become inspired to elevate from “mortal” to “super human”… For the 6’2, 190-pound field general and/or team captain [Dieguez] there are not words invented yet in the English language that could accurately and sufficiently describe the out-of-this-world performance he exhibited last Saturday on “Senior Day” in the Flyers’ 43-12 triumph over their visitors from Middle Village, Christ the King! Throwing for only six touchdowns during the entirety of a junior campaign where he platooned with an incumbent signal caller [Thomas Steuber], the Westbury resident in the #5 jersey would need only 2.5

Article by Matt Diano Week #5 (October 8th-9th, 2022)   Ajani Sheppard (Sr.); QB – Iona Prep Gaels Legendary academician/foremost expert on management/leadership, Peter Drucker, defined the term as ” lifting of a man’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a man’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a man’s personality beyond its normal limitations.” For the 6’3, 230-pound, reigning Metro Catholic and New York State Offensive Player of the Year [Sheppard], no one can or ever will argue that during the past year-and-a-half as the ringer leader of a vaunted Gael offense, he has been the vision of consistency and spectacularism…. However, never was the breadth of his abilities as a comprehensive leader/role model more on display than this past Saturday afternoon as part of IP’s 42-35 triumph on the road over their previously unbeaten rivals, Archbishop Stepinac, in a clash of what could potentially have

Article by Matt Diano Week #3 (September 23rd-24th, 2022)   Devin Page (Sr.); QB – Kellenberg Memorial Firebirds Years before the 6’4, 195-pound, senior field general out of Valley Stream [Page] was even born, fictional professional football coach, Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hackman) said that the separation between winners and losers was the ability “get back on the horse after you’d been kicked in the teeth.” Thankfully for the Firebirds, the now 4-0 program has their own version of a “Shane Falco” whose character and dedication to team is second to none…Because for the majority of their road showdown with Cardinal Hayes, they found themselves plagued with adversity! A “Replacement” during the 2021 season, the future University of Pennsylvania student-athlete stepped up to fill the cleats of incumbent starter, Ethan Greenwood, and went on to earn All-Catholic distinction behind a campaign that witnessed him accumulate 1,575 yards (1,221 in the air;

Article by Matt Diano Week #2 (September 16th-18th, 2022)   John Michalski (Sr.); QB – Moore Catholic Mavericks Always questions of “when” and/or “how often” the 6’2, 205-pounder hailing from the Garden State will grace us with his presence on the POTW list, the future Sacred Heart University Pioneer has now made it three straight seasons that he garnered this esteemed honor…And for the second straight occasion [previously in the 2021 A-1 Quarterfinals], his highlight reel came at the expense of a very determined squad from Xavier… Less than a year removed from tormenting the Knights to the tune of a 300-yard passing, 80-yard rushing, 5-touchdown effort in the previously cited Metro Catholic playoffs last fall, the returning All-Catholic/2nd Team All-Stater was back to terrorize his foes from Manhattan this past Saturday afternoon, as he was the ringleader in a Mavs’ 28-17 victory on home soil that kept the ‘21