Football Preview: Mount St. Michael

How will the Friars respond against Mount?

BY JASON MOLINET

This is the week where coaches earn their pay. They have the challenge of refocusing the St. Anthony’s football team after a loss to unbeaten Iona Prep that was stunning in its completeness. It was just the second defeat at the hands of a CHSFL foe since the start of the 2001 season.

You can forgive the players for any hangover. Four straight weeks on the road, capped by a tough-to-stomach loss, would give any teenager pause.

The coaches have no such luxury. Rival Mount St. Michael awaits in the regular-season finale at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Cy Donnelley Field in South Huntington. It’s been a mostly disappointing season for the Mountaineers after facing the Friars in back-to-back CHSFL Class AAA championship games.

Unless St. Francis Prep can knock off Iona Prep this weekend, St. Anthony’s (6-2 overall, 5-1 CHSFL) is locked into the No. 2 seed. But that matters little. The Friars will have home field advantage in its quarterfinal and semifinal games. And the title game is at Mitchel Athletic Complex, another edge considering the Friars won’t have to leave Long Island again this season after road trips to Philadelphia, Staten Island and Westchester.

Likely quarterfinal opponents are St. Francis Prep or Stepinac. Stepinac can earn the No. 7 seed if it beats Xaverian on the road, a more realistic proposition than St. Francis Prep upsetting first-place Iona Prep.

But St. Anthony’s must take care of business. The Mountaineers (3-5, 3-3) have lost to Holy Trinity and Xaverian and beaten St. Francis Prep and Farrell. The offense has been stuck in neutral all season long — just the thing for a St. Anthony’s defense that couldn’t stop Iona Prep in the rain last Saturday.

Tom Schreiber will have to get the passing game back on track after two flat performances. And offensive coordinator Fred Gallagher must find that replacement for Atiq Lucas (broken leg) to pair with the versatile Nick Mercurio.

Those issues were obvious against Iona Prep. Luckily for the Friars, these Mountaineers haven’t put up much of a fight this season. It’s the perfect game for what ails St. Anthony’s. Just in time for the playoffs.