10-18-08 @Chaminade 24-6 W

Jaffrea Corley-Woods scored on an 11-yard run.

BY JASON MOLINET

St. Anthony’s senior Nick Mercurio scored twice to help offset the loss of Atiq Lucas in a costly 24-6 win over rival Chaminade on Saturday night before a huge crowd at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale. The battle of 5-1 teams saw the Friars reassert themselves on defense and show just how deep they can go.

The Friars (6-1 overall, 5-0 CHSFL) took a real blow to their collective psyche and the offensive game plan when Lucas went down after pounding up the middle on third-and-1 from the St. Anthony’s 48-yard line. Lucas ran for 4 yards before going down at midfield. After a 25-minute delay, Lucas was carted off the field by paramedics.

Lucas had a protective cast placed around his lower leg. The nature of his injury – or how long Lucas will be out – is still unclear. He reportedly broke his ankle. It’s likely Lucas, a surefire Division I-AA prospect, has played his final game as a Friar.

Without Lucas, perhaps Long Island’s top playmaker, St. Anthony’s fed the ball to senior Nick Mercurio. He ran for a career-high 115 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns.

Mercurio got the Friars on the board one drive later. After breaking away for a 40-yard run down to the Chaminade 5, Mercurio finished off the drive with a 1-yard plunge with 41 seconds left in the opening quarter. Nick Ferrara’s point after kick made it 7-0.

Undersized junior running back Jaffrea Corely-Woods stepped up in the second quarter, putting the Friars in front 14-0 with a 11-yard scoring run with 7:54 left.

Ferrara extended the lead to 17-0 with 56 seconds left in the half. His 25-yard field goal capped a drive that began at the Friars’ 32 and lasted 12 plays.

The defense did its job. One week after surrendering 28 points to St. Joseph by the Sea, the Friars gave up just two first downs in the first half against Chaminade (5-2, 3-2). The Flyers didn’t cross midfield until the fourth quarter. That drive was stopped at the Friars’ 10 when Chaminade quarterback Stephen Chmil was stuffed on fourth-and-1.

A late fumble set up the Flyers’ lone score. Chmil hit John Urbank in the back of the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 5 with 36 seconds left in the game. The kick failed.

Iona Prep plays Holy Trinity at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in Westchester. If the Gaels win, it sets up a showdown of unbeaten CHSFL teams in New Rochelle next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. That’s how tough the schedule has been for the Friars: Every week seemingly is the biggest game yet.

SCORING
TEAMS…………………………………..1……2……3…..4 — FINAL
St. Anthony’s…………………………7…..10……7……0 — 24
Chaminade……………………………0……0……0……6 — 6
SA — Mercurio 1 run (Ferrara kick)
SA — Corley-Woods 11 run (Ferrara kick)
SA — FG Ferrara 25
SA — Mercurio 14 run (Ferrara kick)
C – Urbank 5 pass from Chmil (kick failed)

9-28-08 XAVERIAN 38-14 W

Friars special teamer Benjamin Aloi scores on a 70-yard kickoff return. [PHOTO BY JAMES ESCHER]

BY JASON MOLINET

No sooner had the ball been kicked into play than it found the hands of junior up man Benjamin Aloi. The St. Anthony’s special teamer did what anyone would with 11 opposing players closing in.

He ran.

Aloi broke free down the left sideline before being corralled at the Xaverian 27-yard line. His 40-yard return set up the Friars’ first possession of the game nicely. And it underscored just how potent the St. Anthony’s return game has become this season.

Aloi may not be a marquee name. But his contributions were as significant as anyone’s in Sunday’s 38-14 win over Xaverian in a CHSFL football game before a homecoming crowd of 3,000 at Cy Donnelly Field in South Huntington.

Not only did St. Anthony’s capitalize on the prime field position Aloi gave the offense to open the game — Chris Carberry would eventually score on a 1-yard run — but Aloi struck again just before halftime. He grabbed another squib kick and raced 70 yards for a touchdown. Nick Ferrara added the extra point for a commanding 28-7 lead.

The kickoff return for a score was the third in as many weeks for the Friars. Atiq Lucas provided the first two. Which is why the Xaverian coaching staff opted not to kick in his direction. It didn’t matter.

And Lucas still made his presence felt with two catches for 40 yards and a 3-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.

Once again, junior quarterback Tom Schreiber made all the right moves. He completed 11 of 19 passes for 248 yards, highlighted by a 41-yard touchdown strike to Tim Wine in a 14-point first quarter.

Xaverian senior quarterback Najee Tyler, a Division I recruit with all the size and tools, beat the Friars deep at times. He ran for a 2-yard score and tossed a 62-yard touchdown. The Friars also intercepted Tyler twice. In the end, he was not enough.

But the Friars (3-1 overall, 2-0 CHSFL) do have trouble ahead in the form of four straight road games. Back-to-back trips to Staten Island await. Traditional rival Farrell is up next at 7 p.m. Saturday night.

Nothing has thrown these Friars for a loss yet. Not the postponement of homecoming. (The game was moved from Friday to Sunday because of weather). Not the strong-armed Tyler. And certainly not Xaverian’s attempt to negate the Friars’ special teams.

Just ask Benjamin Aloi, the Friars’ unheralded star on homecoming Sunday.

SCORE
TEAM……………1…..2…..3…..4 — FINAL
Xaverian………..0….14…..0…..0 — 14
St. Anthony’s….14….17…..0…..7 — 38
SA — Carberry 1 run (Ferrara kick)
SA – Wine 41 pass from Schreiber (Ferrara kick)
SA – Mercurio 1 run (Ferrara kick)
X — Tyler 2 run (Petrie kick)
SA – Aloi 70 kickoff (Ferrara kick)
X — Mistretta 62 pass from Tyler (Petrie kick)
SA – FG 37 Ferrara
SA – Lucas 3 run (Ferrara kick)

Football Camp Opens

Big things are expected of senior running back Atiq Lucas this fall.

BY JASON MOLINET

Football practice opened on Monday, and with it the expectations that come with winning seven straight CHSFL Class AAA titles. St. Anthony’s must replace each of its four captains from last season’s 10-1 team. Quarterback James Brady is off at Georgetown; center Austen Fletcher and safety J.B. Andreassi are at Dartmouth; and defensive tackle Scott Vallone battles for a playing time at Big East power Rutgers.

While the offense must break in a new quarterback, a stable of backs, led by senior Atiq Lucas and Nick Mercurio, should provide plenty of stability and give any game plan some pop. They are the givens.

What needs to be answered between now and opening night Sept. 6 in Philadelphia is who will fill the voids at receiver and safety, and who will step up and provide leadership on both sides of the ball? Coach Rich Reichert and Co. has his work cut out.