Category: Players of the Week

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.

By Matt Diano: Seth Surrett (Sr.); RB/DB – Kennedy Catholic Gaels Playing for the first time this season as a “solo act” in the backfield after it was announced that his band mate”, Myles Proctor (Single A rushing leader with 978 yards) would be sidelined for their semifinal game against Nazareth Regional, the 5’10, 180-pound Newburgh native [Surrett] would clarify that even if he wears jersey #2 and entered the game trailing his teammate for the top spot among all A Division runners, he most certainly does not play second fiddle to anyone in the NYCHSFL. The first student-athlete of the 2018 season to be named a Player of the Week on three separate occasions (previously recognized during weeks 1 and 4), the Kennedy Catholic senior would score all three of his school’s touchdowns in their 21-12 victory at home last Friday night. A defensive stalemate for first 17 minutes

By Matt Diano: Joe Randazzo (Sr.); RB/LB/PK/Athlete – Moore Catholic Mavericks In his hit song, “I do Everything”, Jamaican R&B recording artist, Masego, talks about all of the things he can do…Well, with all respect due to this gentleman, kindly “hold Joe Randazzo’s ‘Root” Beer’.”…Because when you look at all that the 6’1, 230-pound senior out of Staten Island did this past Sunday in helping the Mavericks snap a two-game losing streak (63-22 over St. Joe’s by the Sea), you see that in comparison, you did not really do much after all. Already a rather busy guy while tending to the defensive (LB) and specials teams (serves as both the place-kicker and punter) duties, Ranzazzo has seen his activity level increased even further during the past three weeks of the regular season, as injuries in the offensive backfield have forced him to embrace a new role…And whereas in weeks 6

By Matt Diano: Myles Proctor (Sr.); RB – Kennedy Catholic Gaels Batman and Robin; Abbot and Costello; Peanut butter & Jelly; and for you “Maneaters” out there, Hall and Oates….Throughout time and in every walk of life, we have been blessed by the greatness of many dynamic duos…And in 2018, the NYCHSFL gave birth to another terrific tandem in the persons of Kennedy Catholic running backs, Myles Proctor and Seth Surrett. The #1 and #2 ranked men in every rushing category this season in the “A” division, Proctor (823 yards, 5 TDs) and Surrett (573 yards and 8 touchdowns) have taken a Kennedy Catholic program that had never advanced to championship weekend and turned them into a program that is now not only a heavy favorite to hoist hardware next month, but also a team that is so good it can now challenge and defeat opponents from the higher divisions….Last

By Matt Diano: Kyle Angus (Sr.); RB – St. Anthony’s Friars For any senior classman, when you reach week #6 of the regular season, it begins to dawn on you that the finish line is inching closer by the second.  For some, the realization that the journey is close to reaching its destination is a cause of for added pressure and tightening up.  For others, it is a reason to reflect on all you have accomplished while simultaneously acknowledging that there is still business to be completed.   Like a diamond, for this second group, the pressure does not hinder them, it brings out the best in them…Kyle Angus belongs to the latter! Putting forth what was without debate the finest overall performance of his two-year career, the 6’1, 190-pound running back needed just eight total touches to record a mind-blowing five TDs in the Friars’ 56-32 Homecoming triumph over their

By Matt Diano: Ethan Ortiz (Jr.); FB/LB – Cardinal Spellman Pilots A modern-day Jessie Tuggle [NFL All-time Tackles leader] for the Pilots defense, behind the leadership of the 6’0, 202-pound 11th grader, Cardinal Spellman successfully pitched their third shutout of the season on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Bawkhawks of St. Dominic’s by a score of 21-0.  The victory completes the early season sweep of their Long Island foe and raises the Bronx based program’s overall record to 3-2 (3-1 in league play).  In eight quarters of play between the two schools, Spellman did not allow a single point to St. Dom’s. Living in the offensive backfield during the fifth week of the regular season, Ortiz’s ability to consistently “beat the opposing running back to the point of attack” made him a nightmare from which the Bayhawks would never awake…Of his career-high 20 total stops (10 solo), more than a few