CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL LEAGUE of METROPOLITAN NEW YORK

                             Player of the Week Nomination

Nominee: Michael Dedza                                                            School: Xavier High School

Position: Offensive Guard & Defensive End                           Opponent: Monsignor Farrell

Date of Game: 11/08/08   Ht. 6’ 0”    Wt. 210   Class: Sr.   Hometown: Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Details of nominees performance:
Xavier defeated Monsignor Farrell 30 – 27 in the 1^st Round of the CHSFL AA Playoffs to go 8-1 Overall and 6-1 in the CHSFL AA-A Division.  The Xavier Offensive unit managed to score 4 TDs and 3 2pt. conversions while gaining 450 yards on offense with 50 rushes for 431 yards for an 8.6 yards per carry average.  Senior Running Back, Seamus Kelly rushed for 356 yards on 33 carries and accounted for all of Xavier’s 30 points.  In only 9 games, the Xavier Offensive Unit has rushed for 3785 yards for an average of 420 yards per game.  They have also scored 427 points for a 47.4 point average per game.  This week’s nominee Michael Dedza is Xavier’s only 2 – way starter at the Offensive Guard and Defensive End positions.  At Strong Guard on Offense Mike is often one of the key blockers in our attack.  In the Farrell game, Mike had 11 big blocks allowing Seamus Kelly to gain over 300 yards.  On Defense Mike is usually giving up at least 50+ pounds versus most of the OTs in our league, yet even though he was going both ways, Mike had seven tackles including 2 for losses and a sack.  In recognition of the unsung heroes in Xavier’s Offensive and Defensive trenches, we nominate Michael Dedza as Player of the Week. 

Class Honors:
Mike has an 87+ average at Xavier.

League Honors: Mike has served as a Xavier Football Team Captain in both his Freshman and Senior years.  Last year, Mike was also a 2 – way starter on Xavier’s Varsity Football Team at Offensive Guard and Defensive End.  In 2007, the Xavier Varsity team (10-1) had the most wins in a single season in Xavier history.  They rushed for 3681 yards which was the most in the State of New York .  In the process of winning the CHSFL A Division, the CHSFL A Playoffs and the Turkey Bowl vs. Fordham Prep. on Thanksgiving Day, Xavier scored 410 points which was the most points in the CHSFL and the most in Xavier history.

Other Sports & Honors:
In 2007, as a Sophomore, Mike was a traveling member of the Xavier “B” Division National Championship Rugby Team.  In 2008, as a Junior, he was the starting Hooker for the Xavier Rugby Team which won the Northeastern Championship Tournament at West Point and which finished 5^th at the National High School Championship Tournament in Pittsburgh , Pa.   During the past two seasons he has been selected as a starter for the Under 17 Met New York All-Star Rugby Team.

Seed flip changes Farrell foe

STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE -- A long-standing CHSFL tradition ended up affecting Monsignor Farrell's AA playoff matchup.

Based on the final regular-season standings, Fordham Prep, which finished last in the 12-team AAA/AA division, ended up with the No. 4 seed in the AA playoffs. The Rams should then have been matched against the first-place team in the AA/A division, which was Xavier.

Farrell, as the 11th-place AAA/AA team, would then get the third seed and play AA/A second-place St. John the Baptist.

But Xavier and Fordham have an annual Thanksgiving Day game that took precedence over the brackets. As a result, Xavier and St. John the Baptist switched seeds, and the Lions drew Xavier.

If Xavier and Fordham both advance to the AA final, their Thanksgiving Day game will count as the AA championship game.

No. 6 Xavier at

No. 3 Farrell, 1:30 p.m.

The Lions oppose Xavier's single-wing attack and running back Seamus Kelly, who drew headlines earlier this season when he ran for 291 yards and scored seven touchdowns in an 86-42 win against Cardinal Hayes.

In Week 2, the Knights beat St. Peter's 51-21, rushing for 445 yards, a week after Farrell beat the Eagles 48-6.

Kelly was even the leading receiver for Xavier, which rarely throws the ball. The Knights didn't even have a quarterback listed among the CHSFL's AA/A passer rating rankings.

"We haven't seen anything like it," said Farrell assistant coach Tony Garafolo. "They're running the old single wing as true as it can be. Honestly I think it's an exciting week because it's a tough offense to stop."

After losing seven straight games, the Lions came to life in their regular-season finale with a 41-20 win against Chaminade. Running back Jonathan Mezzacappa made a sterling starting debut with 167 yards and two touchdowns, while Marco Boshnack added 125 yards and two touchdowns.

Xavier's Stevens a fan of longtime Monsignor Farrell coach

The Staten Island Advance, November 11, 2008 6:14 p.m.

Xavier HS head coach Chris Stevens was well aware of the playing career of his counterpart on Saturday, Ben Sarullo.

The Monsignor Farrell coach was a standout two-way lineman and a captain for legendary New Dorp HS coach Sal Somma in 1957. Stevens adopted Somma's old single-wing offense in 2006 -- with the aid of some of Somma's playbook and input from some of his former ND players -- and has since used it with great success, including a 30-27 CHSFL AA quarterfinal win at Farrell on Saturday.

"Just to play him is an honor," said Stevens of Sarullo, an all-city selection on that undefeated team at New Dorp. "I've had a chance to talk with him a few times, along with some of his former New Dorp teammates. And what he's done here over the years at Farrell speaks for itself."

Xavier runs over Monsignor Farrell, 30-27

Stephen Hart, November 08, 2008 5:30 p.m.

Monsignor Farrell is having a subpar season, but to Xavier, the Lions represent a tradition-rich program, and a good showing against such a program is always a feather in a team's cap.

No player was more aware of that than Seamus Kelly, the Xavier running back who has chewed up Double-A opponents the past two years. But there were still doubts about how well Kelly and the Knights would do against one of the league’s top-tier clubs.

The critics are pretty quiet today.

The 5-foot-10, 190-pound senior rushed for 323 yards and scored all of the visiting Knights’ points in a 30-27 CHSFL AA quarterfinal victory Saturday in rainy Oakwood.

Xavier advances to play Holy Trinity (a quarterfinal winner over St. Peter’s), while Farrell will face the Eagles in a consolation contest next week.

“This is an amazing experience. A lot of people didn’t think we’d be able to do this,” said Kelly, who rolled over previous Island squads St. Peter’s (202 yards, three TDs) and Moore Catholic (135 yards, two TDs) earlier this season.

“I guess we’re legit now, to win against a very credible program like Farrell,” added Xavier coach Chris Stevens, who adopted the old New Dorp/Sal Somma single-wing offense two years ago. “We weren’t a very good A program a few years ago. But last year we went 9-1 and beat AA champion Fordham Prep on Thanksgiving. That win was a major stepping stone for us. This year, it’s the Farrell game.”

The Lions took the lead 12 seconds into the contest when Billy Dawson returned the opening kickoff 87 yards for a 6-0 lead. But the Knights marched 80 yards in nine plays for an 8-6 advantage, capped by the first of Kelly’s four TD runs and three conversion carries.

Farrell turned to its ground game to recapture the lead. Jonathan Mezzacappa, who gained 167 yards rushing in his first career start in last week’s win against Chaminade, had a 127-yard effort yesterday. And he combined with Marco Boshnack (a 43-yard jaunt followed by a 3-yard TD carry) to put the Lions ahead 14-8.

It took Xavier five runs —four by Kelly, including a 35-yard TD tote that saw the senior burst up the middle then veer right before cutting it back to the left and striking paydirt — to go back on top to stay, 16-14, with 2:31 left in the first half.

“Seeing the field is my biggest asset,” said Kelly, who is considering several Ivy and Patriot League schools. “I may not have Division-I speed, but I can see the field as well as anyone.”  “You do have D-I speed; you just don’t have D-I height,” said Stevens to his star. “Maybe after today, you’ll get more looks.”

On the fourth play of the second half, Kelly produced a carbon-copy TD run from 32 yards out. And after Mezzacappa answered with a 7-yard score, Kelly barreled in from 3 yards for a 30-21 Xavier lead with 2:40 left in the third quarter.

The Lions held Kelly to only 17 yards in the final period, and closed to within 30-27 on Jonathan Derbyshire’s 43-yard TD toss to James Pizzo with 2:45 remaining, but didn’t recover an ensuing onside kick and never got the ball back.

“It’s the same stuff (as New Dorp’s single wing), though they have a lot more variety on offense than we did,” said Farrell coach Ben Sarullo, a two-way lineman and renowned captain for Somma. “Kelly’s a tremendous running back, but we didn’t tackle him very well in the first half. I take the blame for this loss. My defense wasn’t adequate for this running attack. I blew it.”

CHSFL playoff round-up: Xavier gets by Farrell