9-20-08 HOLY TRINITY 29-7 W

The St. Anthony’s defense collapses around Holy Trinity quarterback Mike Porcenat.

BY JASON MOLINET

The play of the day was quickly followed by the save of the day.

As St. Anthony’s junior varsity quarterback Charlie Raffa rolled right with one minute left in the opening half Saturday morning at Cy Donnelly Field in South Huntington, he hesitated to throw the ball. His intended target hadn’t turned around yet. So Raffa kept rolling and waiting until Holy Trinity safety Greg Avdige was nearly on top of him.

Only then did Raffa attempt to throw toward the end zone. But the athletic Avdige was close enough to leap and swat at the ball. He not only knocked it off its path, but came down with the football and began running the opposite way.

“I was pretty upset,” Raffa said.

Now it was a footrace. Avdige had just one St. Anthony’s player to outpace. Sophomore running back Victor Belgiorno never gave up and finally hauled Avdige down at the Friars’ 40-yard line.

St. Anthony’s pulled away in the second half to beat rival Holy Trinity, 29-7, in a junior varsity football game as Raffa did the damage with a pair of 1-yard scoring runs. But so much of the game could have turned on one play.

On one play the fortunes of two teams swung back and forth two times over. St. Anthony’s began it at the Holy Trinity 7, already ahead 8-0 and destined to tack on another score. But one extraordinary effort denied the Friars. And if Avdige could have gone the distance he would have sent both teams into halftime tied.

That didn’t happen either. Not only did Avdige not score, the Titans were unable to capitalize. Time stopped the Titans at the St. Anthony’s 26. The Titans wouldn’t finally reach the end zone until four minutes remained in the game.

“That was the play of the day, preventing Holy Trinity from scoring,” surmised one of the zebra-striped officials.

No doubt. After struggling to find their way in the opening half, the Friars put together a nice 65-yard scoring drive on their first possession of the third quarter. Sophomore Joseph Locascio capped the series with a 31-yard scoring burst up the middle for a 14-0 edge.

St. Anthony’s defensive back Eddie Finnocchialo ended the next Holy Trinity drive with an interception. The St. Anthony’s coaching staff immediately decided to go for the knockout punch.

Raffa executed it with a 60-yard strike to sophomore wideout Brian Kensil down to the Titans’ 4. Raffa’s keeper over the goal line two plays later essentially put the game away with 2:30 left in the third.

SCORE
TEAM………………1…..2…..3…..4 — FINAL
Holy Trinity……….0…..0……0…..7 — 7
St. Anthony’s…….0…..8….14…..7 — 29
SA – Belgiorno 14 run (Lee run)
SA – Locascio 31 run (kick failed)
SA – Raffa 1 run (Belgiorno run)
SA — Raffa 1 run (Whalley kick)
HT — Olson 5 pass from Porcenat (NA kick)