Over the 70 years of the CHSFL, the league has gone through various iterations of dynasties, and power has shifted around the tri-state area for years. I am going to do some light reading of how strong teams have been as well as how the CHSFL has evolved over time, and look at why this may have happened over the years. Please note that this is from my perspective, and I don’t have much information from the past. So feel free to reach out to correct, or educate me. 

I am going to use a combination of the NYCHSFL Website, the champions list that I compiled (using the NYCHFL’s website) to look at how narratives persist through time, and how the landscape has changed. 

The CHSFL has expanded. In 1954, in its inception, there were only 8 teams. The league had attempted to form before that in 1951, but due to Thanksgiving Day rivalries being considered sacrosanct (Stepinac vs White Plains, Iona vs New Rochelle, Mount vs Hayes, and Fordham vs Xavier), they scrapped the idea. In 1954, the original eight teams formed the league in the spring of 1954, but only six made it to the season. Compare that to a 22 team going into 2025. The league has grown tremendously. 

The original eight:

• Chaminade High School (Long Island)
• St. Francis Preparatory School (Queens)
• Academy of Mount Saint Michael (Bronx)
• Cardinal Hayes High School (Bronx)
• Iona Preparatory School (Westchester)
• Archbishop Stepinac High School (Westchester)
• All Hallows High School (Bronx)
• St. John’s Preparatory School (Queens)

With All Hallows and St. John’s Prep dropping out before the Fall of 1954, the CHSFL remained a six team league. In the 1960s, schools began to join, leave, and the league evolved. Some schools you will recognize, others you will not. Here are some of the schools that joined:

• Holy Cross High School (Queens)
• Cardinal Spellman High School (Bronx)
• Maria Regina Diocesan High School (Long Island)** The article refers to Maria Regina in Westchester, but that is not the correct one. 
• St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School (Long Island)
• Holy Trinity Diocesan High School (Long Island)
• Holy Family Diocesan High School (Long Island)
• St. Anthony’s High School (Long Island)
• St. Dominic’s High School (Long Island)
• Nazareth High School (Brooklyn)
• Mercy Diocesan High School (Long Island)
• Bishop Ford High School (Brooklyn)
• Xaverian High School (Brooklyn)
• St. Joseph by the Sea High School (Staten Island)
• St. Peter’s High School for Boys (Staten Island)
• Moore Catholic High School (Staten Island)

The CHSFL has always tinkered with divisions, and levels of play. I know that in my time, the ‘AAA’ had 12 teams, with the bottom four in the ‘AAA’ dropping down to compete in the ‘AA’ playoffs. Currently, the ‘AAA’ has shrunk to just seven teams, with the ‘AA’ having eight teams. 

The exact date of when each team joined is unclear, but it seems that the “modern era” of the CHSFL began in 1998, when they split the ‘AAA’, ‘AA’, and ‘A’ divisions to keep students safe, and games competitive. Personally, I would love it if I could find the all time records of each team, records of how each school did against each other, and the scores, but the CHSFL website does not keep records like that published.

There are a few eras that I want to talk about when it comes to CHSFL football. The eras below are in relation to the ‘AAA’ division of the CHSFL:

• 1954-1974; The early years
• 1975-1991; The interlude years 
• 1992-2000; The Fall of Prep 
• 2001-2013; The St. Anthony’s Dynasty
• 2014-2019; Archbishop Stepinac vs Cardinal Hayes 
• 2021-Present; Post-Covid; the Decade of Iona 

A look below:

1954-1974

In the league’s infancy, they did not play a championship game. As with a lot of leagues back then, and even some today, a champion was declared after the seasons. This can cause issues, as co-champions were declared in 1955, 1968, 1969, 1970, and 1972. In the early years, the league was dominated by St. Francis Prep, and Chaminade. St. Francis Prep won 6 titles during this time, and Chaminade won 7 titles during this time. This was also a time where the league expanded rapidly, but the original six, even into the late 1960s, was dominated by the original six teams. The last champion of this era was Holy Family Diocesan High School– which merged with St. Anthony’s, to which I will credit their champions. 

Some interesting things to note:

• Iona Prep won the first CHSFL championship in 1954, and won in 1967, and did not win another championship until 1993 (an ‘A’ division championship).
• There were three champions in 1968, Chaminade, Cardinal Hayes, and St. Francis Prep. 

1975-1991

With the addition of a playoff, the champions of the CHSFL immediately began to shift. The first CHSFL Championship game was won by St. Dominic High School, from Oyster Bay. They beat St. Francis Prep 7-0. With the addition of many new teams, and the addition of a playoff, St. John the Baptist, St. Francis Prep, Monsignor Farrell, and Chaminade dominated the landscape. 

Some notes:

• 1980-1984; St. John the Baptist won four championships in five years. This is the most successful the Cougars have ever been. 
• St. Francis Prep added six more championships to their trophy case, winning three times in a row from 1988-1990, and in 1976, 1983, and 1985. 
• Chaminade added three more championships to their count, winning in 1977 (split with Holy Cross), 1978, and 1987. 
• Monsignor Farrell won the other two, in 1986, and 1991. 

This was the heyday of St. Francis Prep, they won 12 titles from 1954-1991, but in the 1990s, their domination came to an end. Every year from 1988-1992, St. Francis Prep either won the title, or was in the championship game. Monsignor Farrell’s 22-17 win over them in 1991 marked the end of the Terriers dominance in the ‘AAA.’

1992-2000; The Fall of Prep

In 1992, Mount Saint Michael won their first undisputed league championship, shutting out St. Francis Prep 26-0. The 1990s realized a shift from the original teams in the CHSFL, to a newcomer, the Friars in Huntington. Merging with Holy Family, St. Anthony’s began to dominate the CHSFL, winning a three peat from 1993-1995. The battle between the original founders of the league, and relative newcomers came to a head this decade, but the flood was coming. 

Some notes:

• St. Anthony’s won in 1993-1995, and played in the championship game in 1996, 97, 99, and 2000. 
• Mount won three championships in the 1990s, including repeating in 1996 and 1997, defeating St. Anthony’s both times. 
• Monsignor Farrell repeated in 1999 and 2000. Bringing their title count to four in the previous 15 years. 
• Chaminade added another title in 1998.
• I think St. Francis Prep’s Wing T offense began to get stale. Though an old style of offense that has worked, and continues to work for certain programs, it is rather simple to stop. On the flipside, the prevalence of the flexbone triple option became popular, as St. Anthony’s, Iona, Mount Saint Michael, at the very least, ran their offense out of the flexbone. 

2001-2013; The St. Anthony’s Dynasty

The dominance of the Friars was something that had never been seen before. The closest being perhaps the St. Francis Prep Terriers or St. John the Baptist Cougars of the 1980s. The Friars won every year from 2001-2007, and won 11 titles from 2001-2013, with blips in 2008, where Iona Prep won, and 2012, where Chaminade won. 

While some of these championship games were close, the Friars absolutely dominated the league during this time, and it seemed that their grip over the league would not end. I remember playing against them in the middle of this dynasty, and they just seemed unbeatable. 

Some notes:

• Long Island continues to dominate the CHSFL, with the Friars taking over. 
• A shift began to happen before 2013, as cracks in the dynasty started to form. The old triple option teams’ grip on the CHSFL began to weaken, as spread concepts began to take root, and other schools began investing heavily in their program. 

2014-2019; Archbishop Stepinac vs Cardinal Hayes

Two original founding programs, who had wallowed in the ‘A’ and ‘AA’ division for decades, very quickly rose through the ranks. Stepinac won the ‘AA’ in 2007 and 2010 easily, and entered the ‘AAA’ in 2011, where they fell to St. Anthony’s in the title game. Cardinal Hayes won the ‘AA’ in 2013, and would be in the ‘AAA’ in 2014. From 2014-2019, a six year period pre-pandemic, Stepinac and Cardinal Hayes dominated the ‘AAA’. Stepinac won 4 titles in the 6  years, and Cardinal Hayes won the other two years. The Cardinals and Crusaders played each other in the ‘AAA’ title game four times in this period, with each program beating each other twice. What is crazy to me, is that these are programs that my team played against in the late 2000s and they were in the lower division. It all happened so suddenly. Long Island, which had been so dominant for so long, now took a backseat to Westchester and the Bronx. 

2021-Present; Post-Covid; the Decade of Iona 

With the Covid Pandemic stopping a full season of CHSFL play in 2020, play resumed in 2021, and another power shift seemed to be on the horizon. In Westchester, the Gaels of Iona Prep, another original CHSFL founding school member, wrestled away dominance of the CHSFL from Stepinac. Iona Prep has been in the championship game every year, winning in 2021, and in 2024, losing to St. Anthony’s in 2022, and Cardinal Hayes in 2023. 

Some notes:

• St. Anthony’s winning in 2022, was the first ‘AAA’ title a Long Island school captured since 2013, the longest of those droughts. 
• Power has shifted essentially permanently to Westchester County and the Bronx, with several schools being competitive in the ‘AAA’ and top of the ‘AA.’
• Staten Island, during this time, has made moves to improve their programs. Monsignor Farrell went to their first ‘AAA’ title game since 2004 in 2021, and has been a top ‘AAA’ team. 

Where do we go from here? The story of the CHSFL is not only in the top division. The strength in the CHSFL is with how it treats all of their teams, carving out competitive, meaningful football for each division. It is here where I go through the lower divisions. The A/B (depending on the year)- for the purposes of this post, this will be referred to as ‘AA-2’– and the ‘AA’ division (for the purposes of this post, this will be referred to as ‘AA-1’). 

This is because of the 22 team league, only 12 of them have won a ‘AAA’ title, and that is okay. The CHSFL learned very quickly that some schools are capable of competing at that level, and others are not, for one reason or another. Lower division schools make up the fabric of the CHSFL and represent what it means to be part of the league, and they have their own compelling stories, and dynasties as well. I see teams move up and down through the divisions as a good thing. For example, Cardinal Hayes has titles on all three levels. 

The eras below take a look at the split of the CHSFL on the lower divisions. The CHSFL split their divisions starting in 1979. First into an ‘A’ or ‘B’ division. Then the full two lower divisions split in 1998 with the inception of the ‘AA’ division. 

• 1979-1989; The early years
• 1990-1997; The Holy Cross and the Holy Trinity
• 1998-2006
  • ‘AA-1’; New York City’s dominance
  • ‘AA-2’; Early ‘City’ division
• 2007-2018
  • ‘AA-1’; Just Passing Through
  • ‘AA-2’; Cardinal Spellman’s Decade
• 2019-Present
  • ‘AA-1’- The futility of SI
  • ‘AA-2’; The ‘City’ division

1979-1989; The early years

As with the top division, the second division began by not having a playoff or title game, with each year a team who had the best season, being declared the winner. The first 10 years, was dominated by Maria Regina/Kellenberg (the schools merged at some point). With a few city schools winning. 

Some notes and thoughts:

• Xavier won the ‘AA-1’ twice in 11 years. 
• Kellenberg and Maria Regina, which merged at some point (I think), won the ‘AA-1’ five times. 
• Nazareth HS in Brooklyn repeated in 1984-85. The school is no longer in the CHSFL at the time of this post.

1990-1997; The Holy Cross and the Holy Trinity

In the 1990 season, the ‘AA-1’ began to have their playoffs, and a championship was played for by two teams. As with the ‘AAA’, there was an immediate shift in who was winning titles. Holy Cross and Holy Trinity won the ‘AA-1’ five times in this eight year period. 

Some thoughts:

• This is the first time Iona Prep or Stepinac appeared on a champions list, even as runner ups since the 1960s. Those years in between must have been tough on them. 
• Fordham Prep makes its first appearance, competing in the title game in 1991, and 1992. 

1998-2006; ‘AA-1’; New York City’s dominance, ‘AA-2’; Early ‘City’ division

With the majority of schools in these divisions in New York City, the ‘AA-1’ and ‘AA-2’ both could be dubbed as early as 1998 as the old “city” division. From 1998, in the ‘AA-1’, a team from NYC won the championship 7 out of the 9 years. In the ‘AA-2’, 6 of the 9 years, a champion was crowned from NYC. As the balance of power, referenced above, started to change, teams began to shift up and down the divisions, and in the coming years, the league we know today began to take shape. 

Some thoughts:

• You begin to see the prevalence of the other Staten Island teams when you look at the lower divisions. It is clear that Monsignor Farrell’s dominance seemed to actively hold them back from making the jump to higher divisions. 
• Iona Prep, Stepinac, Cardinal Hayes, and Kellenberg all populate these eras pretty heavily. All of them are top division teams now. 
• On the flipside, early dominant teams, like Holy Cross, St. John the Baptist, and St. Francis Prep began to make appearances here as well. 

2007-2018; ‘AA-1’; Just Passing Through, ‘AA-2’; Cardinal Spellman’s Decade

Right in the middle of the St. Anthony’s dynasty, this period in the ‘AA-1’ was mired in teams making the jump from the ‘AA-1’, to the ‘AAA’ division, and teams in ‘AAA’, falling out of the ‘AAA’ to the ‘AA-1’. Mount comes to mind, as well as Holy Trinity, Holy Cross, and St. Francis Prep. It was in this era that I believe CHSFL put hard divisions between the levels. Before, the bottom four teams of the ‘AAA’ would play against the top four teams of the ‘AA-1’ in the playoffs, and the bottom four teams of the ‘AA-1’ would play the ‘AA-2’ in their playoffs. The CHSFL abandoned this during this time, probably due to the increasing gap in skill level between the top and bottom of the ‘AAA’. 

Some notes:

• Though no titles, St. Joseph by the Sea was in the ‘AAA’ for a number of years
• Fordham Prep moved to the ‘AAA’ division for a time. 
• Archbishop Stepinac and Cardinal Hayes both won ‘AA-1’ titles, and would move onto the top division in the CHSFL. 
• Kellenberg won the ‘AA-1’ twice and has since moved onto the ‘AAA’. 
• In the ‘AA-2’, Kennedy Catholic in Somers, NY in Westchester County joined the CHSFL 
• Cardinal Spellman won three ‘AA-2’ titles during this time, and played in three more title games. 

2019-Present; ‘AA-1’- The futility of SI, ‘AA-2’; The ‘City’ division

After 2019, the CHSFL converted the now defunct ‘A’ division, and reformed it into the ‘AA-2’. It is here where we land, where the ‘AA-2’ now is for the smaller programs. And besides Kennedy Catholic, they are all New York City teams. The ‘AA-1’ is still the division with perhaps the most competitive teams relative to each other. I define this era in the ‘AA-1’ as Moore Catholic and St. Peter’s fighting to win ‘AA-1’ titles. I fully believe that they want to go to the ‘AAA’, and yet…they have not broken through. 

Some notes:

• Mount Saint Michael, Xaverian, Holy Cross, and even Christ the King for a time, used to be ‘AAA’ powers, and are now in the bottom division of the CHSFL. 
• Xavier and Fordham Prep constantly mess with the ‘AA-1’ bracket due to their Turkey Bowl game being protected. 

CHSFL ’AAA’, ‘AA-1’, and ‘AA-2’ Championships and championship game appearances by school and by regions, with years listed. 

I think it’s useful to have this type of information listed. It provides context, and allows us to see how successful which teams are, in terms of hardware.

For the purposes of this post, please see some notes about how I counted titles: 

• In the years where there were multiple champions named (1955, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1977, 2019), all of the programs that are listed for these years will have them count towards their total championships.
  • Because of this, and the fact that the divisions split in 1979, and then again in 1998, there are 154 listed champions.
    • 76 ‘AAA’ Champions
    • 45 ‘AA-1’ Champions
    • 27 ‘AA-2’ Champions
• League Championships from 1954-1978 are designated as ‘AAA’ Championships. 
• From 1979-1997, the lower division championship will be counted as ‘AA-1’ Championships
• ‘A’ Division championships from 1998-2019 will be counted as ‘AA-2’ Championships.
  • In 2019, the ‘A’ Champion was Kennedy Catholic, and the ‘AA-2’ Champion was Moore Catholic. Both will count 2019 as ‘AA-2’ Champions.
• Since Holy Family HS merged with St. Anthony’s, Holy Family’s Championships will be counted towards St. Anthony’s total. 
• Since Maria Regina merged with Kellenberg, Maria Regina’s Championships will be counted towards Kellenberg’s total. 

Long Island (35 ‘AAA’, 15 ‘AA-1’, and 6 ‘AA-2’ Championships)

• St. Anthony’s (Holy Family)
  • 16 ‘AAA’ Championships (1972, 1974, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2022)
    • 12 more championship game appearances (1978, 1979, 1983, 1989, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2008, 2013, 2017, 2024)
• Chaminade
  • 12 ‘AAA’ Championships (1956, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1977, 1978, 1987, 1998, 2012)
    •  4 more championship game appearances (1990, 1994, 2002, 2013)
  • 3 ‘AA-1’ Championships (2014, 2019, 2021)
• St. John the Baptist
  • 5 ‘AAA’ Championships (1970, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984)
    •  2 more championship game appearances (1985, 1987)
  • 1 ‘AA-1’ Championships (2023)
    • 2 more championship game appearances (2012, 2014)
  • 4 ‘AA-2’ Championships (2001, 2003, 2010, 2013)
    • 3 more championship game appearances(2006, 2007, 2021)
• Holy Trinity
  • 1 ‘AAA’ Championship (1969)
    •  2 more championship game appearances (1976, 2009)
  • 4 ‘AA-1’ Championships (1992, 1999, 2008, 2022)
    • 2 more championship game appearances (1996, 2016)
  • 1 ‘AA-2’ Championships (2021)
• Kellenberg Memorial (Maria Regina)
  • 7 ‘AA-1’ Championships (1980, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 2017, 2018)
    • 4 more championship game appearances (1995, 2010, 2011, 2019)
  • 1 ‘AA-2’ Championship (1999)
• St. Dominic 
  • 1 ‘AAA’ Championship (1975)

Staten Island (5 ‘AAA’, 2 ‘AA-1’, and 5 ‘AA-2’ Championships)

• Monsignor Farrell
  • 5 ‘AAA’ Championships (1979, 1986, 1991, 1999, 2000)
    • 8 more championship game appearances (1982, 1984, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2021
• St. Peter’s
  • 1 ‘AA-1’ Championship (2001)
    • 1 more championship game appearance (2024)
  • 2 ‘AA-2’ Championships (2000, 2009)
    • 2 more championship game appearances (1997, 2010)
• St. Joseph by the Sea
  • 1 ‘AA-1’ Championship (2024)
  • 4 ‘AA-2’ championship game appearances (2000, 2001, 2003, 2019)
• Moore Catholic
  • 3 ‘AA-1’ championship game appearances (2021, 2022, 2022)
  • 3 ‘AA-2’ Championships (2004, 2016, 2019)

Brooklyn/Queens/Manhattan (17 ‘AAA’, 18 ‘AA-1’, and 7 ‘AA-2’ Championships)

• St. Francis Prep
  • 14 ‘AAA’ Championships (1955, 1957, 1959, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990)
    • 5 more championship game appearances (1975, 1991, 1992, 1995, 2001)
  • 2 ‘AA-1’ Titles (1998, 2005)
    • 1 more championship game appearance (2000)
  • 1 ‘AA-2’ championship game appearance (2011)
• Holy Cross 
  • 3 ‘AAA’ Championships (1963, 1965, 1977)
    • 2 championship game appearances (1980, 1981)
  • 5 ‘AA-1’ Championships (1990, 1991, 1994, 1997, 2004)
    • 1 championship game appearance (2003)
  • 1 ‘AA-2’ championship game appearance (2024)
• Xaverian 
  • 1 ‘AA-1’ Championship (2006)
  • 2 ‘AA-2’ Championships (2015, 2024)
    • 4 championship game appearances (2013, 2014, 2017, 2023)
• Christ the King 
  • 3  ‘AA-1’ Championships (1986, 2002, 2003)
    • 2 more championship game appearances (2007, 2015)
  • 1 ‘AA-2’ championship game appearance (2012)
• Xavier
  • 5 ‘AA-1’ Championships (1979, 1989, 1996, 2012, 2015)
    • 1 more championship game appearance (2018)
  • 2 ‘AA-2’ Championships (2007, 2022)
    • 1 championship game appearance (1999)
• Nazareth
  • 2 ‘AA-1’ Championships (1984, 1985) 
• Bishop Ford
  • 3 ‘AA-2’ Championships (2004, 2011, 2012)
    • 2 more championship game appearances (2005, 2009)

Bronx (9 ‘AAA’, 4 ‘AA-1’, and 8 ‘AA-2’ Championships)

• Cardinal Hayes
  • 5 ‘AAA’ Championships (1968, 1970, 2016, 2019, 2023)
    • 2 more championship game appearances (2015, 2018)
  • 2 ‘AA-1’ Championships (1981, 2013)
    • 2 more championship game appearances (1999, 2009)
  • 2 ‘AA-2’ Titles (1998, 2005)
    • 2 more championship game appearances (2004, 2008)
• Mount Saint Michael
  • 4 ‘AAA’ Championships (1969, 1992, 1996, 1997)
    • 2 more championship game appearances (1986, 2006, 2007)
  • 1 ‘AA-1’ Championship (2009)
    • 1 more championship game appearance (2013)
  • 1 ‘AA-2’ Championship (2023)
    • 1 more championship game appearance (2022)
• Fordham Prep
  • 1 ‘AA-1’ Championship (2011)
    • 6 more championship game appearances (1991, 1992, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2017)
  • 1 ‘AA-2’ Championship (2014)
• Cardinal Spellman
  • 1 ‘AA-1’ championship game appearance (1998)
  • 4 ‘AA-2’ Championships (2006, 2008, 2017, 2018)
    • 4 championship game appearances (2002, 2015, 2016, 2019)

Westchester (10 ‘AAA’, 6 ‘AA-1’, and 1 ‘AA-2’ Championships)

• Iona Prep
  • 5 ‘AAA’ Championships (1954, 1967, 2008, 2021, 2024)
    • 5 championship game appearances (2005, 2010, 2014, 2022, 2023)
  • 3 ‘AA-1’ Championships (1993, 2000, 2016)
    • 1 championship game appearance (1990)
• Archbishop Stepinac
  • 5 ‘AAA’ Championships (1955, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018)
    • 3 championship game appearances (2011, 2016, 2019)
  • 3 ‘AA-1’ Championships (1995, 2007, 2010)
    • 4 more championship game appearances (1993, 1994, 2001, 2008)
• Kennedy Catholic
  • 1 ‘AA-2’ Championship (2019)
    • 1 more championship game appearance (2018)

The story of the CHSFL has not been finished. As demographics change, as schools open, close, reduce their football programs, and invest in their programs. As schools leave, join, close, open up, there will continue to be shifts in the CHSFL landscape. Who knows what the future of the ‘AAA’, the ‘AA-1’, and the ‘AA-2’ are? 

What do you think?

Future posts are going to focus on the state of each program, how competitive they are in recent years, and how I think they will do in future seasons. While this post was focused on providing historical context to the CHSFL, the next group of posts will focus on the immediate future. I plan to do an overall region post, and then review each team, in the context of their performance over the last few seasons.