TURKEY BOWLS COULD COOK UP SWEET REDEMPTION

By DAN MARTIN

November 22, 2006 -- Pete Gorynski has replayed much of his team's title game loss to Xaverian in his mind, but instead of just looking ahead to next year, he's preparing for another critical game.  Fordham Prep will face Xavier at 10 a.m. tomorrow for the schools' 82nd Thanksgiving game at Fordham University .  

"Nothing can make up for losing a championship game," said Gorynski, whose Fordham Prep squad turned the ball over six times in a 49-27 loss to Xaverian for the CHSFL AA crown on Sunday, also at Fordham.  "But it's a good opportunity for us to pull ourselves together one more time and finish strong."

Unlike in most parts of the country, there are few games on Thanksgiving Day in New York City . The only other two are Mount St. Michael vs. Cardinal Hayes (10:30 at the Mount) and Xaverian-Bishop Ford (10:00 at Xaverian), while Stepinac and White Plains battle in Westchester at Highlands at 10:30.   But for the schools that do play, the Turkey Bowl, a name given to many of the Thanksgiving Day contests, is a big deal.   

Mario Valentini can relate to what Gorynski is dealing with, since Valentini's Mount team came up one play short of upsetting St. Anthony's in the CHSFL AAA championship game on Sunday.  "I don't think we could have or should have done anything different," said Valentini of the 21-20 defeat that ended with the Mountaineers driving before they ran out of time.   "Now we just want to end on a winning note."  

They have a good chance of doing that, since both the Fordham Prep-Xavier rivalry and the one between Hayes and Mount have become fairly lopsided in recent years.  Fordham Prep has won the last six meetings between the schools, while Hayes hasn't beaten Mount since a 14-13victory in 1980.  

"I hope we're able to rally," Gorynski said.   "Obviously, everyone is disappointed and we're dealingwith a ridiculously short week, but there's nothing we can do about that. It would just be a shame to end this season with a loss."   He thinks the importance of the game to the players and alumni will help the team shake off the defeat.   "Everyone talks about Army-Navy as being the Biggest game in college football," Gorynski said. "Well, this is akin to that in high school.   "It's the oldest rivalry in the city and one of the oldest in the country and the kids understand that.  "I think we'll be ready."  

Fordham Prep falls to Xavier

By Anthony Malakian
The Journal News
 (Original publication: November 24, 2006)

BRONX - Maybe it was because they had only three days to prepare. Maybe it was because of the inclement weather. Or maybe it was simply because they were still stinging from Sunday's loss in the CHSFL championship game.

Whatever the reason, Fordham Prep simply had nothing left in the tank for the 82nd Turkey Bowl game against Xavier.

The Knights took it to the Rams on both sides of the ball on their way to a decisive 28-14 victory at Fordham University 's Jack Coffey field. The win snapped the Rams' six-game winning streak against Xavier in what is New York City 's oldest rivalry game.

Fordham (9-3) could never get anything going on the ground, which led to an unusually inconsistent day through the air. Star running back Calvin McCoy, who averaged 23 carries per game on the season and had gone over a 100 yards in each of his last four games, was a non-factor as the Knights held him to six carries for minus-3 yards.

Xavier (5-6) outrushed the Rams 277 yards to minus-7.

"Coach (Chris) Stevens did a phenomenal job, I really can't state that enough how well he did," Rams coach Pete Gorynski said. "We had a real tough job up front and playing Sunday hurt us. They played with eight, nine guys in the box and shut us down."

Behind senior quarterback Sean McVicker the Rams were able to move the ball, but because of the pass rush they were never able to do it consistently. While McVicker finished the game with 191 yards and two touchdowns, he completed only 14 of 36 passes.

Senior Luke Malone led Fordham in receiving yards with 78 on four catches. He also put the Rams on the board in the first quarter when he caught an 8-yard slant and took it the rest of the way for a 49-yard touchdown.

While he and his teammates were upset with the way the season ended, he is still proud of what they accomplished.

"We had little time to prepare and they came out and were ready for us," Malone said. "They just wanted it more. But we did a good job this season even though we lost our last two games."

The Knights were led by 6-foot-3, 240-pound bruising back Ryan McTiernan's 75 yards rushing. McTiernan, who also returned a fumble 29 yards for a touchdown, was named the game's MVP, an award his father won in 1968.

Stevens, who implemented a new Single Wing offense, was able to confuse the Rams all day. Fordham Prep never knew who was going to get the ball or in what direction he would be running. Stevens also said the weather conditions were favorable for his team.

"Rain is our best friend," Stevens said. "We got lucky it rained today and we were able to bang it up the middle. These kids played a truly outstanding game today."