Category: Players of the Week

By Matt Diano: Damon Barnes (Sr.); WR/DB – Cardinal Hayes Cardinals If you want to know what makes the postseason extra special, it is those moments when a senior, staring the end of his scholastic career dead in the eyes, goes out and puts forth a career-day so as to earn the right to wear his school colors a few more additional times. Described by Cardinals’ legendary Head Coach, CJ O’Neil, as a “Tremendous human being,” the 5’10, 185-pounder from the Bronx [Barnes] was nothing if not tremendous in propelling fourth-seeded Hayes to their second straight [third in the past four years] championship weekend berth behind an avenging 45-34 victory over previously unbeaten/top-seeded Iona Prep in the AAA semifinals on November 9th. Flying to the ball with passion and determination, the overall performance of Barnes proved to be the ultimate catalyst as to why the Cardinals were successful in turning

By Matt Diano: Justin McDuffie (Sr.); RB/S – Nazareth Regional Kingsmen The first and only student-athlete from a losing team to be named to the POTW list in 2019, even if the Kingsmen fell slightly short (33-20) against Kennedy Catholic last Friday night, it in no way negates or detracts from the absolutely staggering, career night for the 5’9, 181-pound 12th grader. Suiting up for the last time in front of the home crowd, neither McDuffie nor any of the Naz faithful will soon forget the magic they witnessed on Senior Night at Tilden HS. The self-proclaimed “Just a kid from Brooklyn trying to make it,” certainly MADE quite a few dazzling plays and turned more than a few heads in the last regular season game of his two-year scholastic career. Taking the hand-off a season-high 15 times, the three-sport athlete (baseball and track) completely shattered his previous personal best

By Matt Diano: Aidan Bernal (Sr.); Two-Way Lineman – Kennedy Catholic Gaels In his 2010 song, “Timing is Everything”, Country singer/actor Garrett Hedlund proclaimed, “When the stars line up and you catch a break, people think you’re lucky, but you know its grace.”…For the Gaels in their 28-12 regular season title clinching win over Cardinal Spellman last Friday, it was a case of creating their own fortune and it all started with a game-changing play from their senior captain [Bernal]. Trailing 6-0 in the first quarter and in danger of falling into a deeper hole, the 5’11, 205-pound senior knocked the pigskin loose right before a Pilot runner could break the threshold.  In doing so, he created a 12-point swing in momentum (KC scored on the ensuing possession) and the Dom Tassone mentored program was never looked on their way to clinching the top seed in the “A” playoffs for

By Matt Diano: Shane Greene (Sr.); RB/LB – Xaverian Clippers We don’t know if the 5’10, 175-pound two-way force from Brooklyn is sentimental; but what is keenly obvious is that there is just something about the hoopla of Homecoming weekend that causes Greene to elevate his performance to an entirely different level…Honored as a POTW in the fourth week of the 2018 season (also Homecoming) after running for a career-high 155 yards and two TDs in a win over Mount St. Michael Academy, the Clipper senior made it two straight years that he was the “King of the Homecoming Gridiron” when he led Xaverian to the 42-23 triumph over Holy Trinity. Single-handedly accounting for nearly 25% of his school’s scoreboard output, Greene scored one of the team’s five rushing touchdowns when he took the ball to the house from 10 yards out.  He then added a pair of successful 2pt

By Matt Diano: Derrin Hansen (Sr.); OL/LB – Xaverian Clippers A bona fide game-changer on both sides of the line of the scrimmage, the 2018 All-Catholic selection (for defense) showed exactly why pundits consider him one of the supreme two-way players in the NYCHSFL by impelling the Clippers to their first win of the 2019 season, 32-0, over St. John the Baptist this past Friday. Recording double-digit stops for the third straight game (including the 2018 playoffs) and the fifth overall time in his three-year varsity career, the 6’2, 195-pounder out of Staten Island would be the main reason that Mike Jioia’s troops are celebrating their first shutout of an opponent since the second week of the 2017 season (48-0 against Kennedy Catholic).  Adding to the prestige of this feat is the fact that it was the first time since the 2015 AA quarterfinals that the Cougars were held scoreless.