Friars Rule Scrimmage
August 30, 2008 · Print This Article
Defensive coordinator George McLaren breaks down the plan of attack.
BY JASON MOLINET
You would hardly know a dream matchup was unfolding at the Lincoln Ave. Sports Complex in Mastic. The steady rain and early-Saturday start time probably scared off many people who would have liked to see a few of the premier Long Island high school football programs scrimmage.
Not just any powerhouses. We’re talking Floyd, winner of the last three Long Island Class I titles, and seven-time CHSFL champ St. Anthony’s. Throw in perennial Division II power Bellport and you’ve got quite a bit of tradition on the same football field. An inexperienced Wyandanch squad rounded out the four-way scrimmage.
Floyd backers will tell you that stars Brock Jackolski (running back) and Joe Sidaras (quarterback) are each reshirtring at Hofstra. OK, the Friars were without the league offensive and defensive players of the year in James Brady (Georgetown) and Scott Vallone (Rutgers). Both programs were trying to turn the page.
But in a battle of first-team strength, it was clear the Friars will move into 2008 in reload mode. New quarterback Tom Schreiber, a gifted junior who is already a star midfielder in lacrosse, moved the offense. And senior running back Atiq Lucas accounted for both touchdowns against Floyd, hauling in an 8-yard scoring pass and breaking a 20-yard touchdown run.
The defense forced two turnovers. Senior cornerback Matt Metalios, a ball-hawker a year ago, showed no let up with an impressive pick on a fade pattern. Then senior linebacker Storm Harris recovered a fumble.
So much for a showdown.
A mismatch with Wyandanch awaited next. Lucas broke a 30-yard scoring run, which spelled the end of the first team offense.
The final scrimmage pitted the Bellport Clippers against the Friars. Bellport showed off some athleticism, but not enough to stop St. Anthony’s. Lucas accounted for two more scores, a 12-yard reception and 12-yard run, as the first-team offense capped a near-perfect day.
Lucas, who is getting looks from Division I-AA and I-A programs, might be the best player on Long Island. And after a 5-touchdown showing in the rain Saturday, there’s little denying he is a special player.
On defense, Harris got plenty of love from teammates. He tore his left MCL last preseason and never made it on the field. Now he is the middle linebacker in the Friars’ defense and he played with passion in the scrimmage. One of the plays of the day saw Harris drop a Bellport back for a loss, drawing chants from the Friars’ sideline.
The Friars added two fumble recoveries against Bellport.
Complete domination? Well, yeah. But it was only a scrimmage. At least that’s what St. Anthony’s detractors will seize upon.
The reality is that the Friars showed up and took on all comers. Now it gets serious. The next time the Friars face an opponent, it will be on a Saturday in Philadelphia — nationally-ranked St. Joseph’s Prep.
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Missed the scrimmage.
Will there be any video of it up on the site?
No video…
nice scrimmages boys!!! cant wait to c u ball out this season
Uhh Jay, Floyd won three Long Island Class I championships in a row. That’s what makes Andy Slawson the media MVP every year. You and I are just merely guests in his sandbox — a very large sandbox I might add. Of course Andy called me at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning to remind me of Floyd’s accomplishments. Keep up the good work, the site looks great. Looking forward to Saturday’s game in Pa.
Yes, my bad. Floyd has won three straight Long Island titles and owns a 33-game winning streak, a Suffolk record. Very impressive stuff…
Bob Herzog (Newsday Aug 31)clearly demonstrated Newsday’s ongoing lovefest with Wm Floyd, Bellport and other public schools versus L.I. Catholic football in attempting to ignore the Friars dominance over Floyd, Bellport, & Wyandanch at the Aug 30th Scrimmages. Jason Molinet reported the scrimmages accurately - The Friars as a team, coaching staff, organization, etc are in a league far superior to L.I.public school football. If Bob Herzog was somehow blinded in what he claims he reported w/o bias from the field, perhaps he should have noticed the facial expressions on the Floyd players as they came to the sidelines. They knew that Floyd was clearly out-classed by the Friars!
this is the most bias thing i’ve ever read.
Well considering it is a St. Anthony’s Sports website wouldn’t you think it would be biased. If you don’t like it read something else.
Just so everyone knows, this St. Anthony’s vs. whatever public school team is the best that year, first it was North Babylon with Gwaltney he’s better the Hahn, then it was Bellport could kill us, and now it’s the Big Bad William Floyd. This arguement will go on until St. Anthony’s doesnt have a football program anymore. Every year we dominate the best league in NY State, but who cares because no one recognizes that. We put players into great colleges every year and we have many players that are at big time programs and we even have one thats a possible 1st rounders i nthe NFL Draft. All of them go on to have great lives and do well in life. That’s all that counts for all you frustrated athletes out there who don’t have a clue as to what high school football is all about, you should go do some real research and youll find that public school football cant even shine St. Antony’s shoes!!!
You all sure are proud of your Friars. It’s good the community supports their team this way. The thing is Mr. Football king, you can make that arguement about Long Island public schools. However, when your team leaves the island they aren’t necessarily the big bad Friars anymore. Sure they are competitive but they are far from dominant when they clash with upstate powers. The are 0-2 vs North Rockland an upstate power. Check the records. During that time they even had eventual division I all star Tony Williams and lost 18-6. This a great program indeed just be very mindful that there is public school football that is played much different then they do it out on the island.
Jason Molinet should not be writing about the friars. He should get a real job or a job that teaches him about the game of football. I have seen every game of the friars that he has written about , and he is accurate some times but his game MVP’s and key plays are often wrong. This year his focus will be on Tom Schreiber and Atiq Lucasocus Last year his focus was on james brady and scott Vallone. Even if one of these players would throw for a yard or get a half of a tackle he would write about it. I heard he made a highlight tape after the friars season of the kids getting burned, dropping balls, fumbling balls, and missing tackles. What kind of highlight tape is that? I do no think this man is a good fit for the friars.
Veteran- That is true but, coach Reichert doesnt care about winning or loosing to powerhouses out of the island. First of all get your facts straight, we went out and played St. Joesph’s Prep in Philidelphia and lost by 1 (7-6) and we just played a New Jersey powerhouse last night and embarassed them 52-14, we had also played Don Bosco for years and got crushed but who cares, we weren’t afraid to play them , we aren’t afraid of anybody. The only upstate football team that would give us a hard time is Christian Brothers. Also, we played St. Joesph’s Buffalo last year and they were supposed to be good and man handled them also. But as I stated in my last coment, the arguement of everyone being a jealous of St. Anhony’s football will last forever!!
I believe JM does very level minded sports writing of the SA football program, and most important, covering the kids. It’s really
all about the trials and efforts of the kids who make up this legacy program.
Ask any kid on this “team” who is the real star in any year and he will talk about anyone but himself. It really takes a outsider looking in who can accuratly size up the unsung hero’s, new talent, and
really measure the amount of effort put in by each kid on every play.
Parents of SA’s and public school fans and somestime even Newsday will always place a spin on every game….if SA’s record was say 5-5 over the last several years would anyone really pay attention? The proof adds up more every year.
Fair and balanced reporting is all any SA fan can really expect of JM…..and he is the last of a dying breed of reporters. Sometimes “fair” reporting stings somewhat, but is is necessary part of the game for the Friars to grow and learn.
Football King,
You started out making a good point but then destroyed your own arguement. I’m well aware of the games SA has played with out of state powers such as Don Bosco, St. Joe’s(Montvale NJ), North Rockland, St Joes(PA). Those are all power houses. Let’s be very clear Delbarton(NJ) is far from a powerhouse. They rarely get past the first round in the playoffs any year. They struggle against Poly Prep who is a pretty good team who also isn’t afraid to play anyone. St. Joes Buffalo is trash and barely wins their own division most years. You talk about upstate powers try Monroe Woodbury, Aquinas, North Rockland, John Jay, New Rochelle, CBA, Lasalle etc. Again SA is a good team noone off the island is hating on them. I just think that there league is subpar and fools many into thinking that they are better than they are. There are plenty of other public schools in NJ that would destroy SA. Hackensack, Ridgewood, Teaneck, Hoboken. I could go on and on. Please don’t suggest that CBA is the only upstate team that would give SA trouble. There are plenty more public schools I could name that would give SA a world of trouble.
IT’S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO BEAT THE FRIARS. I’m a proud father of a St. Anthony’s player. I understand when our 15 and 16 year old boys gets get caught up in “trash talking” with regard to who’s better than who, but it amazes me when parents and third party adults behave similarly.
Competition is a great thing. It provides motivation, promotes achievement and it teaches the virtue of struggling hard to prevail over adversity. Unfortunately, a few kids, and more regrettably, some adults, overlook the virtues of competition; get carried away, and start, for lack of a more appropriate word, to get “stupid.” Does it really that matter that any particular Floyd team may be better than any particular St. Anthony’s team? Floyd obviously has a great program and we should give credit to Longo and his kids. They work hard too! To bash them is to be ignorant.
Whether or not our competitors give us equal credit is not important. We can’t stop the immature and vocal few who demonstrate their ignorance. Our kids will spend their lives being evaluated and criticized. It’s our reaction that’s important. We need to teach our boys and girls to carefully evaluate the criticism - to understand when it’s valid (so they can learn and improve) and when it’s bogus. Our “knee jerk” responses to our critics who post on blogs are not productive and simply play to their foolishness.
As adults setting an example for our kids, we should follow the lead of our coaches and Brothers. St. Anthony’s is a great place and the saddest part of my son’s experience is that it will have to end. Athletics at St. Anthony’s is a life altering experience. Players learn to overcome obstacles (my son never played as a freshman or sophomore - but through his team’s supportive attitude and environment, he remained motivated and overcame the obstacles to become a starting player - i.e. he has gained more as a person by being benched than he will ever gain as a starter). Our athletes learn to respect other teammates, to respect their high school peers and parents, and most importantly, their competitors. They’ve learned the virtues of structure and discipline, and ultimately emerge from St. Anthony’s as fine young adults.
Who cares what our critics say, or how we are portrayed (or not portrayed) in the local newspaper. Look at the statistics and the facts. Our kids go to college. They go to great colleges! There isn’t a college football recruiter in the northeast (including D-1, Ivy, Patriot, and NESCAC) that doesn’t know Friar’s football. They know what the program is all about and have tremendous respect for Reichert and our coaches. They want our kids to play at their schools. They love our kids, not just for their athletic skills, but for their “life skills.” They could care less whether or not we beat Delbarton, St. Joe’s Philly or Floyd. Let’s face it - our kids aren’t playing in the NFL. We want them to matriculate into good college programs, prepared to face the outside world, with maturity and integrity. I am proud of our kids.
And that’s my point – we can’t be beat. Go Friars !!
CLASS, CLASS, CLASS! Thank you for stepping up and speaking your mind. I think all of us should follow this Friar Parent and stop responding to the trash talk (on any message board) and keep the conversations PG and fun.