Category: Playoffs

2025 NYCHSAA STATE FINALS MVPs

December 5, 2025

2025 NYCHSAA STATE FINALS MVPs (Iona Prep) Offense: Julian Guzman (Sr.; QB) 3 State finals appearances…3 titles (and counting)…This is the legacy that the 6’0, 185-pound field general will be leaving behind in New Rochelle as this past weekend, he added a second straight NYCHSAA crown on the gridiron to the 2025 hardware he claimed on the baseball diamond last spring… Fresh off of a 4TD illustration (2 passing, 2 rushing) in the Metro Catholic AAA finals triumph over Monsignor Farrell and putting on the pads for perhaps the last time in a storied scholastic journey (will be focusing on baseball at the University of Maryland); if November 29th was his curtain call; then bravo to him for bringing down the house in every possible way to direct the host Gaels to a 42-21 triumph over Monsignor Martin champs, St. Francis HS!!! Garnering his first MVP honors between the four

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2025 NYCHSAA State Finals Recap

November 30, 2025

They entered the 2025 ranked #1 in NYS…And that is exactly how the Gaels of Iona Prep are going to finish the fall!!!  Utilizing outstanding efforts on both sides of the ball during the final 17 minutes of regulation; the New Rochelle based cohort closed out an 11-1 campaign and successfully completed their bid to repeat as CHSAA State titlists when they emerged as 42-21 victors on home soil (Mara Field) over a very talented St. Francis Red Raider (10-2) squad!! The contest deadlocked at 21 apiece with 4:29 remaining in the 3rd quarter; the Maroon & Gold machine would run off 21 unanswered points during crunch time to reaffirm their status as the kings of Empire Catholic football… Requiring a mere 27 ticks to respond to SF junior quarterback, Trent Buttles’s 9th TD run of the year (16-year scamper that was facilitated by a 48-yard connection to Mason Anderson);

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2025 NYCHSAA State Title Preview

November 28, 2025

NYCHSAA STATE FINALS Iona Prep-NYCHSFL (10-1) vs. St. Francis-Monsignor Martin (10-1) When: Saturday November 29th, 2025 @1pm Where: Wellington T. Mara Field on the Campus of Iona Prep (255 Wilmot Road New Rochelle, NY 10804) Watch: SportsEngine TITLE GAME HISTORY (Iona Prep) *2021: Champions Behind a 38-22 Victory against St. Francis *2024: Champions Via a 42-26 Victory against Canisius  IMPACT PLAYERS (Iona Prep): *Julian Guzman (Sr.; QB)—Returning All-State Quarterback that led the Gaels to the hardware in 2024….Fresh off of a 17-for-23 passing (206 yards, 2 TDs), 12-carry (66 yards, 2 TDs) performance that raised his seasonal totals to 2,113 (air) and 703 yards (land) and 30 touchdowns (19 passing) *Crew Davis (Sr.; RB)—A 2x Metro Catholic title game MVP as well as the returning Outstanding Offensive Player from the 2024 State Championship, the future Tar Heel racked up 253 yards (202 rushing; 51 as a receiver; 1 ground TD)

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2025 NYCHSFL Salute to the MVPS

November 27, 2025

AA-2: Xaverian Clippers OFFENSE: Terrance Watson (Sr.; QB) Suiting up as a Clipper for the final time in his scholastic career; the 6’0, 220-pound field general made certain that his name will forever be immortalized on the Shore Road based campus!! Serving as the conductor and/or architect of a successful Double-A-2 repeat bid from Xaverian; the senior leader with #5 on his back would unofficially amass an almost perfectly balanced 209 yards and two touchdowns of offensive production during his last hurrah!   Connecting on 7-of-9 passing for 104 yards, while rushing for a believed career-best of 105 on 11 carries (not including knee downs in the midst of victory formation); the Brooklyn resident either directly or indirectly had a hand (or more literally an arm/leg) in all of Xaverian’s 21pts on Saturday morning, as they cruised to a 21-8 triumph over their rivals from Flushing, Holy Cross, to deny the

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2025 NYCHSFL AA-2 Finals Recap

November 25, 2025

IT’S A SHORE ROAD REPEAT!!!!   Congratulations to the Clippers of Xaverian High School on hoisting the Double-A-2 hardware for the second straight year following a 21-8 victory over their rivals from Flushing, Holy Cross! A rematch of the 2024 finals (won 14-6 by Xaverian); the second-seeded squad played inspired football on Saturday morning for a cause greater than just their own satisfaction…. Dedicating the victory to Coach, Maurice Jones, who passed away in late-September; the Clippers were dominant on both sides of the ball…. Drawing first blood with 5:19 to go in the opening quarter, it would be a 20-yard run by senior field general, Terrence Watson, complemented immediately by a 13-yard TD trek (his 12th of the year) from junior tailback, Richie Aiken, that put the #2 seeds up, 7-0!! Prior to big runs on back-to-back snaps; it was the Jaydon Salomon creating a turnover when he erased what

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2025 NYCHSFL AAA Finals Recap

November 23, 2025

VENGEANCE + A REPEAT FOR THE GAELS!!! Losing their only game (28-21) to a NYCHSFL opponent in the past to two seasons to Monsignor Farrell on October 17th; it did not need to be said; it was simply understood that defending Triple-A champs, Iona Prep, stepped onto Coffey Field (Fordham Prep) on Saturday afternoon with a chip on their shoulders and revenge on their minds…. Making their fifth consecutive appearance during Metro Catholic Championship weekend, the Gaels silenced the ghosts of their lone imperfection, as they came out of the gate on fire and never took their proverbial feet off the gas en route to claiming the 42-20 triumph!!! Held to just 7 first half points during the regular season match-up; the New Rochelle based juggernaut could not have been any more fluid and/or potent today during the opening 24 minutes of action…. Tallying touchdowns on three of their first

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2025 NYCHSFL AA-1 Finals Recap

November 22, 2025

IT’S “KNIGHT TIME” IN 2025!!! Despite the finale being an 11am start on the campus of Fordham University; the 48-minute effort on both sides of the line of scrimmage could best be described as “KNIGHTY KNIGHTY”!! Congratulations to the contingent from Xavier High School winning their second Metro Catholic crown in the past four years (2022 AA-2 titlist) and their first AA-1 prize since 2015 behind a 28-7 dethroning of the defending St. Joe’s by the Sea Vikings!! A program that is traditionally known for its rugged, clock-eating, methodical, rugby-style ground attack would rely on four “lighting in a bottle” type of plays en route to emphatically punctuating a 10-2 campaign this fall!!   A tale of two halves where heroines—Elijah Stewart & Peter Heaney took turns in exploding for two touchdowns apiece; the first 24 minutes belonged to the junior TB [Stewart], while the back-half of the fireworks were provided

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