CHSFL predictions, Week 8
Xavier @ Christ the King - Saturday, October 30th 1:30 p.m. @ Juniper Valley Park
Staszewski: Christ the King has gone 1-1 so far against the 'AA-A' league’s top three teams and a win over Xavier earns CK second place. There is not one star on Xavier like Terrel Hunt for the Royals, but Brent Scardapane, who had four TDs last week, has become the Knights go-to player. Xavier’s running game could stifle the CK offense by keeping it off the field. CK will want to bounce back from a loss to Stepinac and have the horses to make enough big plays to get the job done. Pick: Christ the King
Butler: This is an intriguing matchup, to be sure.
Xavier seems to be rounding into form after back-to-back blowouts against
Spellman and St. Peter’s.
The Knights have won four of their last five games and face a Christ
the King team smarting after its first league loss, a 45-12 thrashing by
Archbishop Stepinac. The Royals have some game-breakers on offense, but
are prone to mistakes. Xavier will capitalize and come away with a big
road win.
Pick: Xavier
Nick Conte is congratulated by his Xavier teammates after his touchdown grab.
Gamble pays off for Xavier against Christ the King
By JOSEPH STASZEWSKI
Chris Stevens chose to go for what he called “the big banana” instead of going with what was safe and working so well.
His Knights were holding onto an eight-point lead in the third quarter, facing a third-and-short on their 30-yard line, trying to run out the clock on Christ the King. Xavier last threw the ball early in the first quarter, but that changed quickly.
“We knew that they knew that we didn’t pass the ball all game,” running back Brent Scardapane, who ran for 164 yards on 19 carries, said. “We figured they were going to expect run. [Stevens] told me if [the pass] was not there, I could run the ball.”
Scardapane lofted a ball down the left sideline to quarterback Nick Conte that hung up in the wind at first. The senior turned back to get it and sprinted down field 70 yards for a touchdown. The score was the eventually game winner in Xavier’s 27-20 victory against the host Royals in a CHSFL Class AA-A game at Juniper Valley Park Saturday afternoon.
“When I caught it I saw a defender on me,” Conte said. “I was just trying to get that first down to keep the drive going.”
The score put the Knights up 28-12 with 2:30 left in the game, but CK quarterback Terell Hunt, who had 275 yards of total offense, connected with Jayvaun Smyer for a 47-pass down the middle of the field to the Knights 3-yard line.
The Syracuse-bound quarterback ran it in from for a score two plays later and hit Chris Hartney for the 2-point conversion with 1:25 left. Xavier (5-3, 5-2) recovered the onside kick and kneeled out a win that earned them second place and a likely first-round playoff date with Chaminde next week. Christ the King finished third.
“I was happy to beat [CK] this year because that’s dodging a bullet,” Stevens said. “This is a team that has been in hell for the first half of the season. They dug their way out and have a better finishing position this year than last year.”
CK (5-3, 5-2) led 12-6 at the half thanks to a 7-yard
touchdown pass from Hunt to Hartney on their opening drive and a 5-yard
run by Hunt to beat the Xavier blitz on fourth down with no time left on
the clock in the second quarter. Scardapane, who also had a 5-yard TD in
the first half, didn’t wait long to answer. He took the Knights first
play from scrimmage of the second half 67 yards for a touchdown to put his
team up for good at 13-12.
“I saw a big hole,” Scardapane said.
The Xavier defense made sure to close the running lane for Hunt and their blitz kept them from really throwing the ball down field. Matt Cilmi picked off a tipped pass early in the first half and Scardapane did the same at the CK 30 to set up his first scoring run.
The Knights defense came up with one of the game’s biggest play late in the fourth, when Joe Corrado stripped Hunt trying to reach for the goal line and recovered the fumble at the 2 with 6:40 left in the game. Defensive coordinator Kevin Kelly was the Royals head coach two years ago before leaving to teach at Xavier. He has beaten his old school in both meeting since and got a Gatorade bath after the game.
“We wanted this one for coach real bad,” Conte said. Conte helped make sure that happened and also ensured Stevens gamble paid off in a big way.“I saw that he was probably going to score,” Scardapane said of watching Conte. “I just put my arms up and just started running down behind him.”
Turnovers, big plays doom Christ the King
By JOSEPH STASZEWSKI
Chris Higgins was telling his defense not to expect a pass from Xavier on a key third-down play in the fourth quarter. The Knights had passed just once prior in the game and had moved the ball well on the ground all afternoon.
“I wouldn’t have,” Higgins said. “I would have ran the ball and ran the clock out. It was only a couple yards. I was hoping to stop them.”
Instead Xavier running back Brent Scardapane threw a pass to quarterback Nick Conte down the left sideline that turned into a 70-yard touchdown. It put the Royals down two scores in an eventual 27-20 loss to the visting Knights in a CHSFL Class AA-A game at Juniper Valley Park Saturday. The loss puts Xavier over CK and into second place in the division.
“That last touchdown killed us,” Higgins said.
The score came on a drive after quarterback Terrel Hunt, who threw for 136 yards and ran for 139, missed a chance to get the Royals even. As he burst through the line at the Xavier 6, he tried to the extend the ball for the goal line, but was stripped. Xavier recovered the fumble and still led 21-12 with 6:40 left in the game. Conte’s touchdown made it 28-12 with 2:30 remaining. Hunt’s 7-yard TD, set up by a 47-yard strike to Jayvaun Smyer got CK (5-3, 5-2) within eight with 1:25 left, but Xavier recovered the onside kick.
“If he crosses the plane first he is a hero,” Higgins said… “That’s why it’s called a risk.”
That’s exactly what Hunt, who had a 7-yard TD pass to Chris Hartney on the opening drive, did on fourth down from the 3-yard-line with no time left to put CK up 12-6 at the half. But Xavier (5-3, 5-2) quickly answer, with the play that bothered Higgins the most because of the timing. Scardapane (19 carries, 164 yards) took the Knights first play from scrimmage 67 yards for a score to give Xavier its first lead at 13-12.
Xavier’s blitzes made life difficult for Hunt in the pocket. They contained him, for the most part, and the pressure took away his ability to throw down field. The Royals played without starting center Chris Quadrino, who tore his meniscus two weeks ago. Hunt was picked off twice on passes that were tipped. The second helped set up Scardapane’s first TD run.
“There were a lot of turnovers, a lot of mistakes,” Hunt said. “They picked up on mistakes well.”
The Syracuse-bound senior knows his team is going to pick itself up heading into a possible playoff match-up with Kellenberg. CK lost its first game of the season last week to Archbishop Stepinac and he felt they needed to respond better.
“We got beat by Stepinac and didn’t react off it well,” Hunt said. “We got to change something.”
