11-7-08 CHSFL Class AAA Quarterfinal 31-14 W

Tom Schreiber was lost in the first quarter.

BY JONATHAN WALTER

The injuries continue to mount for the St. Anthony’s football team. The second-seeded Friars may have beaten No. 7 St. Francis Prep, 31-14, in a CHSFL Class AAA quarterfinal on Friday night, but they lost their most irreplaceable player in the process.

Starting quarterback Tom Schreiber was sacked on the third play of the game and suffered a spiral fracture of the fibula, according to one account. He was transported by ambulance to Huntington Hospital.

St. Anthony’s (8-2) was already making due without its most explosive player in running back Atiq Lucas. He broke his leg against Chaminade three weeks ago. But at least the Friars had depth to draw from in the backfield.

There’s no replacing Schreiber. He finished the regular season with the second-best quarterback rating in the CHSFL AAA division. His loss will be tough for the Friars to overcome with two weeks of football left.

Schreiber, a top lacrosse prospect, will have to rehab hard to make it onto a lacrosse field in the spring.

Even still, junior Brendan Schroeder executed the St. Anthony’s game plan well enough.

Down 7-0 going into the second quarter, the Friars were looking for a spark after losing their leader in the first. Nicholas Ferrara got things started with a 38-yard field goal.

The Friars defense answered the call next as defensive back Taylor Chaney intercepted wideout Irick Baccari’s pass on a trick play and ran it back 64 yards for the score. Tight end Jerome Grazioli caught the two-point conversion to put the Friars up 11-7.

After trading punts, the Friars got a big play on special teams when linebacker Paul Alessandri blocked punter Thomas Brady’s kick. The ball fell into the end zone and Alessandri fell on it for the touchdown.

The Terriers managed to close the gap to 18-14 before the half on a 56-yard pass-play from quarterback Nicholas Ramirez to running back Tristan Akong.

That’s a close as St. Francis Prep (4-5) got. Nick Mercurio had a 61-yard touchdown run in third quarter and Kevin O’Malley finished off the Terriers with a 1-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter to make it 31-14.

SCORING
TEAMS………………..1…..2…..3…..4 — FINAL
St. Francis Prep………7…..7…..0…..0 — 14
St. Anthony’s…………0….18…..6…..7 — 31
SFP – Akong 33 run (Brady kick)
SA – FG 28 Ferrara
SA – Chaney 64 INT return (Grazioli pass)
SA – Alessandri recovers blocked punt in end zone (Ferrara kick)
SFP – Akong 56 pass from Ramirez (Brady kick)
SA – Mercurio 61 run (kick failed)
SA – O’Malley 1 run (Ferrara kick)