What a Saturday! I spent my day at Fordham University to watch the ‘AA-1’ and ‘AAA’ title games. After the game, I was called upon to tend to family things, so I had to watch the ‘AA-2’ title game today on Sunday. I wish it was a triple-header, but I completely understand why Fordham University would want to keep it at two. These games are a lot of work.

Anyways, I spent a lot of time on campus walking around, and here are some shots:

Onto the results:

Xaverian 21-Holy Cross 8; Taking place at Mitchel Field, the rematch between the Knights and Clippers, a battle of Queens and Brooklyn took place concurrently with the ‘AA-1′ game. While both teams offense stalled first, it was on Holy Cross’ second drive where Jayden Salomon forced a fumble after a big pass from Martinez. Giacomo Tarasco, after some confusion, returned the fumbled to the 40 yard line of the Knights. After a big run to the Holy Cross 13 yard line from Terrence Watson, Richie Aiken would run into the endzone on the next play to put the Clippers on the board with 5:19 left in the 1st quarter. Xaverian would lead 7-0. Madden Martinez and the Knights would respond with a drive of their own, and march the ball deep into Clipper territory as the 1st quarter expired. Xaverian’s defense would stand tall, forcing a turnover on downs on the Clipper 6 yard line. Forcing a punt, Antione Williams would go to work on the ground, rushing twice from the Xaverian 35 yard line to the 7 yard line. Madden Martinez ran it in from 1 yard out, and hit Ricardo Franco for the 2 point conversion to make it 8-7 with 5:16 left before halftime. The Clippers would storm back, leaning on Aiken with some efficient passing by Watson. Xaverian would finish with Watson pounding the football into the endzone from 4 yards out to make it 14-8. The score would hold into the halftime. In the 3rd quarter, two turnovers forced by Holy Cross on fumbles ended two promising Xaverian drives, and stingy defense by Xaverian kept the 3rd quarter scoreless. In the 4th quarter, Terrence Watson would strike again, this time through the air, finding Christian LaRocca for a 41 yard touchdown with 9:19 to go in the game to put the Clippers up 21-8. After this, Holy Cross had a long drive which ended in the redzone, the Clippers were able to milk the clock down after the turnover on downs, and win the ‘AA-2’ title for the 2nd year in a row.

Xavier 28-St. Joseph by the Sea 7; The first game of the doubleheader at Rose Hill, the Xavier Knights faced off against St. Joseph by the Sea. After a quick three and out, Xavier worked quickly with Elijah Stewart exploding through the middle on his way to a 46 yard touchdown to make it 7-0. After a quiet rest of the 1st quarter, disaster struck early in the 2nd quarter. Xavier’s Ryan Lavin jumped on a loose football deep in Sea territory. Elijah Stewart made them pay for the 2nd time with a 24 yard touchdown run to make it 14-0. St. Joseph by the Sea would respond. Pete Tronolone would find Christian Yue for a big gain to get the Vikings down to the 4 yard line. Joey Moran found pay dirt soon after to cut the lead to 14-7 shortly before the half. A tense, defensive battle we had been presented continued into the 2nd half. Much of the third quarter was this way until late. On a play where Sea was not ready Peter Heaney struck this time with a 47 yard run to make it 21-7 with 3:03 left in the 3rd quarter. Heaney would strike again early in the 4th quarter with a 76 yard touchdown run. Brady Metzger came up with a huge interception on the next offensive drive, and a late interception by Brian Caulfield put the final nail in the coffin on this one. Xavier’s defense was dominant all day, not letting running lanes for Joey Moran to open up, and making things difficult for the Sea wide receivers and the quarterback. While Sea’s defense was valiant, the persistence of Xavier’s single wing attack broke them in the end. Xavier seized the day, and are now crowned ‘AA-1’ Champions. Xavier’s season is still not over. They have a game on Thanksgiving, against their archrival, Fordham Prep.

Iona Prep 42-Monsignor Farrell 20; “The big one” is what this was dubbed. The rematch from earlier this year, both teams came out focused. On the first drive, Iona Prep drove right down the field with Julian Guzman capping the drive at 2 yard touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead. On the very next drive, after a few good runs by Kevin Gumb Jr., Bryce Moye struck with a 49 yard touchdown to Alex Ustun to cut the lead to 7-6. Iona would go back to their bread and butter, running the ball and getting the ball to Crew Davis, who finished off their next drive with a 4 yard touchdown run to make it 14-6. Farrell struggled to get anything going for much of the rest of the half. Iona Prep would score just before halftime on a Guzman run to make it 21-6. Farrell would drive the football, but Zander Poole would intercept a pass to end the drive. Anthony Vento would return the favor, intercepting a Guzman pass, and the score would hold 21-6. Coming out of after halftime, the Lions would respond with a big return, followed by a drive which culminated in a 4 yard touchdown from Bryce to Braxton Moye to cut the lead to 21-12. But as soon as the Lions seemed to make it a game, Iona Prep responded. The Gaels would cut through the Farrell defense with Crew Davis and Julian Guzman gashing the defense. Chase Reeves would finish off the drive with a 7 yard touchdown on a shovel pass. The Lions would drive down the field on the next drive, but an untimely fumble ended that opportunity. The Gaels would convert this turnover into points with Guzman hitting Mamadee Sangaray on a screen, who then took the ball 31 yards for a touchdown to make the lead 35-12 early in the 4th quarter. Farrell would not go away as Bryce Moye would find Alex Ustun again, this time for a 60 yard touchdown to cut the lead to 35-20. After a recovered kick, Farrell would get the ball again. But the Iona defense would clamp down, forcing a turnover on downs. As the clock ticked away, the Farrell defense had the Gaels on 3rd and 8. Guzman would find Joshua Simmons wide open down the sideline to get the ball down to the Farrell 30 yard line. The Gaels would grind the clock down again, and finished off the drive with a 9 yard rushing touchdown by Brennen Pressley with 2:42 left in the game. Iona Prep secured their 3rd ‘AAA’ title in 5 years, including two straight. Iona Prep moves to the CHSAA Championship game. They play St. Francis High School from Buffalo, who defeated a strong Canisius team in the Monsignor Martin Championship.

Remaining matchups:

My takes:

• Iona Prep passed every test this year. They had the look of the best team in the league all year, especially when they based their offense around their best player, Crew Davis. I do wonder how many touches he got Saturday, it seemed like a ton.
• Xavier abused the ‘AA-1’ this year. Besides their loss to St. Francis Prep, Xavier dominated every game against ‘AA-1’ foes. The Knights tend to make a run to a Championship every few years. This is a great program.
• Xaverian has won the ‘AA-2’ for the second year in the row, and has been to the championship for the last three seasons. I think is a sign for them to move up. Of course, when the league meets in the offseason, I will be interested to see where they end up being ranked, since a lot of their players are seniors.

It is important to acknowledge, and have a moment of silence for team’s seasons who have ended.

Holy Cross– The Knights had a great year, going 8-4 (counting the Moore “forfeit”) and going to their 2nd title game appearance in a row. Holy Cross will need to reload for next year with a lot of their players graduating this year. They return Madden Martinez, who had an excellent year overall. I think they have a lot to look forward to, since Madden Martinez will return next season.

St. Joseph by the Sea– I think everyone kind of expected St. Joseph by the Sea to take a step back this year. Usually the champion loses a lot of seniors, and programs on the ‘AA-1’ level need to reload. They wen 6-5, but had a tough schedule with three ‘AAA’ opponents in the regular season. And yet, they won the division and went to the championship game. This shows the strength of their coaching staff that was able to weather storm, and go back to the championship. I look forward to the development of this program.

Monsignor Farrell– Monsignor Farrell had a fantastic season, going 9-2 overall (10-2 counting the Moore “forfeit”), their best season since 2021. Rocco Del Priore has a great JV team moving up, and the Moye twins are just sophomores. They will be back and I look forward to seeing how they reorient themselves this offseason.

I am looking forward to the State Championship game, and may need to get myself out to Iona Prep next Saturday. Of course, this will depend on Thanksgiving weekend plans, but I guess I will have to see.

Congratulations to the NYCHSFL Champions, Xaverian, Xavier, and Iona Prep!