11-1-08 @Mount St. Michael 28-14 W

St. Anthony’s beat Mount St. Michael, 28-14, in a CHSFL freshmen football game at Mount St. Michael.

11-1-08 Mount St. Michael 28-14 W

St. Anthony’s beat Mount St. Michael, 28-14, in a CHSFL JV football game.

11-1-08 MOUNT ST. MICHAEL 42-27 W

Junior Nicholas Flynn scored three touchdowns.

BY JONATHAN WALTER

The St. Anthony’s football team won its final regular season game at home against the Mount St. Michael Mountaineers, 42-27, in a CHSFL matchup Saturday night. Junior Nicholas Flynn rushed for 54 yards and three touchdowns as the Friars bounced back from a tough loss against Iona Prep.

The Friars (7-2 overall, 6-1 CHSFL) scored six rushing touchdowns, including a 65-yard run from Nicholas Mercurio that gave them a two-touchdown lead in the third quarter. The Friars will likely be the No. 2 seed and host quarterfinal and semifinal playoff games.

Running a variety of option plays, Mount St. Michael had the Friars defense off balance for most of the first half. The Mountaineers were going score for score with the Friars until Mountaineers quarterback Max Otano was sacked on fourth down with time winding down in the first half.

The Friars caught onto the Mountaineers’ option scheme in the third quarter. And after holding the Mountaineers rushing attack to just 20 yards on their first possession, Mercurio came through with his big run to make it 28-14.

Mount St. Michael (3-6, 3-4) showed it still had some life in the fourth quarter as Otana threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Tarik Hawkins, closing to 35-21.

The Friars answered right back as Flynn scored his third rushing score of the night from 16 yards out. The Mountaineers would score one more time on a 1-yard Gary Acquah run. But the drama of the last two seasons – when the teams met in the CHSFL Class AAA championship game — wasn’t there.

These programs are headed in different directions. Mount will likely miss the AAA playoffs while the Friars begin the push for their eighth straight title.

SCORING
TEAMS………………..1…..2…..3…..4 — FINAL
Mount St. Michael……7…..7…..0….13 — 27
St. Anthony’s………..14…..7….14…..7 — 42
SA – Schreiber 21 run (Ferrara kick)
MSM – Otano 65 run (Samuels kick)
SA — Flynn 10 run (Ferarra kick)
MSM – Acquah 6 run (Samuels kick)
SA – Flynn 5 run (Ferrara kick)
SA — Mercurio 65 (Ferrara kick)
SA – O’Malley 39 (Ferrara kick)
MSM – Tarik 16 from Otano (Samuels kick)
SA – Flynn 16 run (Ferrara kick)
MSM – Acquah 1 run (kick failed)

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.