CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL LEAGUE of METROPOLITAN NEW YORK

Player of the Week Nomination

Nominee: Mike Erickson                                         School: Xavier High School

Position: Fullback & Strong Safety                         Opponent: Cardinal Spellman

Date of Game: 11/10/07           Ht. 6’1”  Wt. 190  Class: Sr.     Hometown: Dongan Hills, S.I.

Details of nominees performance:
Xavier defeated A Division rival Cardinal Spellman this week in the Semi-Final playoffs 39-10.  Senior Mike Erickson amassed 181 yards on only 7 carries for an average of 25.8 yards per carry.  Mike’s three scores were the turning point in the game.  Late in the second quarter Cardinal Spellman had gained the momentum in the game when they went ahead 10-6 on a 75 yard run.  Mike then broke his longest run of the year for a 79 yard TD to settle the game down and give Xavier the lead 14-10 going into half time.  Midway in the third quarter Mike put Xavier up by two scores with a 19 TD run after Spellman had fumbled the ball giving Xavier a short field.  His final score came on another convincing 74 yard TD run as the Fullback burst through a hole and outran the Spellman secondary securing Xavier the win 39-10.  As our strong side contain Mike had 6 ½ tackles.

Class Honors:
Mike has a 92 overall average and has achieved honor grades in all 12 of the marking periods he has been at Xavier (4x 1^st Honors and 8x 2^nd Honors).  Mike is also a 2 year member of the National Honor Society

League Honors:

Other Sports & Honors:
Mike throws the Shotput during the Indoor Track season his personal best is 41’1” and he is the starting closed side flanker on Xavier’s 2007 “B” Division National Championship Rugby Team.  Last year, Mike won the Most Improved Player Award for the Rugby Team.

Please fax nomination form to Kevin A'Hearn at (516) 292 – 2557 or email to nychsfl@optonline.net

Nominations must be received by the Monday Night Meeting.

All winners will be announce on the league website on Tuesday after the Monday Night Meeting.

Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn 

The Team Formerly Known as the Kaydets... and then the Bruins... have a rematch with Cardinal Spellman High School at Aviator Field tomorrow afternoon.  At stake this time is a berth in next week's CHSFL Division A Championship Game.

The Battle by the Bay (Part Deux) will also be Fox TV's Game of the Week, thanks to a great effort by you folks in MyFoxLocker.com's online poll.  The Xavier-Spellman game received 62.82% of the 2,281 votes cast, trouncing Fordham Prep-Stepinac (33.1%) and three other high school football contests.  Way to go, boys and girls!

Thanks to you, a Fox 5 News camera crew will be at Aviator Field tomorrow afternoon and highlights of the game will be shown on Fox Five News at 10 Saturday night.  A longer video of the game will be available on the MyFoxLocker.com website for at least the next week.  There is also a possibility that Xavier will be featured on Fox TV's morning show, Good Day New York, but that is unclear at this point.  Stay tuned.  (Don't call us, Schmidt, we'll call you.)

The weather situation for tomorrow is uncertain, but one thing is for sure:  the Kids from 16th Street will show up.  I refer you to head coach Chris Stevens' meteorological forecast heading into the 7-1 Knights' last bout with Spellman just two weeks ago:  "No, rain does not cancel.  I paid good money for that rain.  Darkness, wind and rain equal the 12th, 13th and 14th men for our Amazing Gridiron Way Back Machine!!!"  

That's the Amazing and Astounding Gridiron Way Back Machine, known to mortal men as the Single Wing—the century-old offense that has scored more points this season, by far, than any other team in the entire 22-school Catholic High School Football league.  And the Knights lead the league in every other (non-passing) statistical category as well.  By a lot.  (Xavier's D is nothing to sneeze at either, by the way.)

Your support this season has been great— unprecedented, in fact— but Cardinal Spellman is never an easy opponent.  We trounced them last time out, but the Falcons bounced back with a 20-14 win over Moore Catholic in the first round of the playoffs last weekend.  And several key Spellman players who missed the first set-to with the Knights are expected back in uniform tomorrow afternoon.

The kids are starting their stretch run for Xavier's first football title of the 21st century and they need back-up. That's you.  So pack the foul weather gear and a thermos in the old touring car and head for the shores of Jamaica Bay this Saturday afternoon.  You won't be sorry.

(And don't forget— along with plenty of free, secure parking, Aviator Sports Complex also has a 500-person capacity sports bar inside for your pre-game, halftime and post-game shelter and fortification against the elements, if need be.)

For directions to Aviator Sports Complex, located at Brooklyn's historic Floyd Bennett Field, please see:

http://departments.xavierhs.org/athletics/football/2007webpage/spellmanplayoff/avaitordirections.htm

As I've also written before, those directions from Long Island are ridiculous.  Unless you live on the South Shore, just come west on the Belt Parkway to Exit 11S (Flatbush Avenue South).  Take Flatbush Avenue south towards the Rockaways and follow the directions as written in the "Lower Manhattan" box.

Important:  You will see Aviator Sports Complex and the football field (on your left) shortly after you get off the Belt Parkway onto Flatbush Avenue, BUT the entrance is 3/4 mile further down Flatbush.  Make the last left (traffic light) before the Gil Hodges Bridge to enter Floyd Bennett and go from there.

Stand by...
Tom O'Hara '69

The Team Formerly Known as the Kaydets... and then the Bruins... are on their way to the CHSFL Division A Championship Game next weekend after defeating Cardinal Spellman at Aviator Field Saturday afternoon, 39-10.

In West Islip, Long Island, meanwhile, Saint John the Baptist mauled Brooklyn's Bishop Ford High School 30-20 in the other division semi-final to set the stage for a long-anticipated rematch between Xavier (8-1) and the Cougars (6-3), the only team to have defeated the Knights this year.

In another game of interest to Sons of Xavier everywhere, Fordham Prep lost to Archbishop Stepinac 19-14 in a Division AA semi-final Saturday afternoon.  It was the second time this season the 8-2 Rams were vanquished on their home field by the Crusaders, and it dashed the Rose Hill Prepsters' hopes of returning to the title game for a second straight year.

More later.  For now— you read it here first.....

Xavier Football

The Knights vs. Saint John the Baptist

CHSFL Division A Championship Game
Saturday Afternoon, November 17th (1:00 PM)
SUNY Maritime College Throgs Neck, The Bronx 

Stand by...
Tom O'Hara '69