I wasn’t planning on making this post, but recent events in the PSAL and the NYSPHSAA (what a mouthful) made me think. I guess I have something to say. Football season is done. We are officially in the offseason for them, and because of this, I should only post once or twice a month. Anyways, onto the post

Christian Brothers Academy Wins the New York State Public School Championship

I don’t really pay attention to other leagues, but one of the accounts I follow posted that the NYS Public School Championship on the AA level (the highest level in NYS public schools) was between the Christian Brothers Academies in Albany and Syracuse. They are Catholic High Schools. 

As you can imagine, there is a lot of chagrin over the fact that the Catholic schools are dominating the public school league as well. To be honest, I agree. It doesn’t really make sense that these private schools are allowed to compete against public schools. The resources are different, the flexibility with enrollment, and scholarship opportunities are fundamentally different. I mean, even at the lowest classification (D), Burke Catholic won the NYS championship. 

I wonder how the Christian Brothers Academy, both of them, would measure up in the CHSFL, or the MMHSAA. They are Catholic High Schools, and therefore, could explore joining these leagues. The biggest obstacle, besides each school might not want to join either of those leagues, is logistics. New York is a larger state than you think. Each CBA is very far from the center of each league, with the CHSFL centered around New York City, and the MMHSAA centered around Buffalo. I feel like this could be overcome though. The MMHSAA only has three league games before the playoffs, so a CBA Syracuse theoretically can make it work. The CHSFL is the league that is more challenging, as they have a demanding 7 game league schedule, and it’s already burdensome to go from one area to another (Westchester to Long Island or Staten Island is a long trip). The CBA in Albany would have a brutal away schedule no matter what. 

It is difficult to gauge the classification system in the public school league too, since it isn’t really based on competition. It’s based purely on the size of each member school. Larger schools are in a higher classification, and while this is a good way to gauge how good each program is, it isn’t always the case. The CHSFL is not separated by school size, nor even program size. I am not sure what the answer is, and maybe there are discussions already for these two Catholic Schools to join their respective leagues. I doubt it though, why leave a league you’re already dominating? 

On this note, there were several matchups between CHSFL schools and Public Schools outside of NYC. For example, below:

• St. Peter’s HS beat Elmira (Section IV Class AA) 16-8
• Chaminade beat John Jay (Section I Class AA) 27-0
• St. Anthony’s beat University Prep-Rochester (Section 5 Class AA) 32-8
• Rye HS (Section I Class A) beat Monsignor Farrell 31-21
• Yonkers Brave (Section I Class AA) beat Cardinal Spellman 26-6

Curtis High School Wins the PSAL ‘AAAA’ Championship

Curtis High School defeated the reigning PSAL ‘AAAA’ Champion Erasmus Hall in the championship. The Public School Athletic League (PSAL) is a natural comparison for the CHSFL, since they both operate in NYC, and 13 of 22 schools in the CHSFL are in New York City. The Staten Island programs are especially good at trying to set up non league matchup with their PSAL counterparts. I am interested in how the best of the PSAL matches up with the CHSFL, but my gut feeling is, not very well. 

Non-League football games in August shouldn’t really be used to judge the strength of these teams, but:

• Moore Catholic beat Curtis HS (PSAL AAAA) 25-21
• St. Peter’s Boys HS beat Susan Wagner (PSAL AAAA) 51-6
• Holy Cross HS beat Eagle Academy III (PSAL AA) 12-6

I would love for Monsignor Farrell to get in on this, playing a Tottenville, or even another strong PSAL program. But, I am not sure the PSAL ‘AAAA’ division can compete with Iona Prep, Cardinal Hayes, or St. Anthony’s. There used to be a Metro Bowl between the CHSFL and PSAL Champions, but it only ran from 1978 to 1986, with the CHSFL winning each game but 1 on the top level.

I can only imagine the gap being even wider now. But you never know. 

There are other football leagues, just in the tri-state area, the MIFL– Poly Prep is the current champion, and the Long Island Champions– Massapequa HS. I don’t exactly know why Long Island doesn’t send a competitor to the Public School State Championships. I do wonder how they would match up against the CHSFL, or how they would match up vs the other public leagues. 

I know the football season is already too long, but it is kind of fun to speculate where the CHSFL matches up with the other football leagues in New York. With the focus of the AAA being squarely on out of state meetings, I would like to see more AA-1 and AA-2 teams play more PSAL teams and NY Public School teams. That may be just me though. 

What do you think? How do you think teams like Curtis HS, or the CBAs, or the LI teams would stack up against the CHSFL?

Speculation on CHSFL 2025 pre season rankings

Is it way too early for predictions on preseason rankings? Absolutely. Am I still going to do that? Absolutely as well. Pre-Season Ranking in the CHSFL determines how the following season’s wins are valued come playoff time when power points are calculated. For example, a top AA-1 team that a AAA team plays will likely be worth more than a lower ranked AA-1 team. This happened this year, St. Anthony’s wins against St. John the Baptist and Xavier—were weighted differently. This also creates the quirks in powerpoints, where a team with fewer wins is ranked ahead of a team with more wins. It is this reason that Farrell was ranked ahead of Chaminade come playoff time. Chaminade was ranked low going into the 2024 season, and Farrell was ranked high. 

Anyways, here is what I think they will be going into next season, and this is assuming that they keep the same division structure, and this assumes St. Dominic as a full time member— 7 teams in AAA, 8 teams in AA-1, and 7 teams in the AA-2.

Below is each division, with a short blurb.

AAA

1. Iona Prep
2. Cardinal Hayes
3. St. Anthony’s
4. Archbishop Stepinac
5. Chaminade
6. Monsignor Farrell
7. Kellenberg 

Iona Prep is loaded. They return a ton of starters from this season, and their JV team went undefeated last year, AND their freshman went undefeated. Iona is committed to winning in the AAA and their record shows. They are the defending champion, and should have the 1 rank. The controversy I have here is keeping Stepinac at 4, and having Cardinal Hayes at 2. The Cardinal Hayes JV team won their championship. They will be a top competitor this season. St. Anthony’s HS will have to replace 52 touchdowns and over 3,700 yards of offense. They are a powerhouse, so it should not be an issue for them, but it is a lot to replace. 

Stepinac is at 4 because their lower levels are still strong. Their JV team was very good, and I have no reason to believe that 2024 will be the norm for the Crusaders moving forward. Chaminade is on the bubble, but they, along with the rest of the AAA, will have to prove themselves. The good news? Chaminade, Farrell, and Kellenberg will get multiple AA-1 matchups this season. 

AA-1

8. St. Joseph by the Sea
9. St. Francis Prep
10. St. Peter’s
11. Moore Catholic
12. Fordham Prep
13. Xavier
14. St. John the Baptist
15. Holy Trinity

I struggled with Sea winning this year, they never looked entirely in control of their games, and really just seemed to grind out victories. They need to be #1 in the AA-1 because they won the championship, and their JV is coming off of a strong year. I just could not put St. Peter’s at #2 since they are losing their two workhorses on offense. I trust they will be a tough team like this year, but really, I have put the spotlight on St. Francis Prep. The Terriers were the surprise of the AA-1 last season, winning a lot of games before losing in the playoffs. With their JV team winning the AA, the Terriers look prime to make a run at the championship in the AA-1 in 2025. St. Francis Prep is a huge school, they have the population to field a very good program. They would be my team to watch for. Moore Catholic seemed to take a step back, but they still should be a strong team. 

The Jesuit schools in the CHSFL take the 5 and 6 spot in the AA-1. The only reason I put Fordham Prep above Xavier, is their JV team made it to the championship team, while Xavier’s JV was 2-6. I don’t really know what to expect from them. 

To round out the AA-1 are the Diocesan Long Island Schools. Both teams had a disaster campaign in 2024, and their JV squads also weren’t good. The combined record of these schools was 6-27 on the Varsity and JV levels. 

AA-2

16. Holy Cross
17. Xaverian
18. Mount Saint Michael
19. St. Dominic
20. Kennedy Catholic
21. Cardinal Spellman
22. Christ the King

The AA-2 will always swing towards teams with a JV team, of which only 3 of the seven schools do. Holy Cross is number 1 in the AA-2 due to their young varsity team, and competitive JV team, this coupled with the fact that their varsity team went on a run at the end of last season, makes me put them as the favorite in the AA-2. Xaverian will be their main competitor as they are the defending champion. Meanwhile, Mount’s JV team was not good, and the varsity team was a disappointment. 

I don’t really know how to speak on the rest of the AA-2. Smaller programs often struggle, and it is hard to get a good read on the overall quality of their programs. I can see any one of them becoming much better. It wasn’t that long ago that Christ the King was in a higher division, and Kennedy and Spellman were both competing for AA-2 championships. The newcomer is St. Dominic, the lone Long Island team in this group. They beat both Spellman and Kennedy last season, so they should solidly be in the middle of the pack here. 

What are your thoughts on these rankings? Any other ideas on how the CHSFL can shuffled their league around?