CHSFL predictions, Week 6
By MARC RAIMONDI and JOSEPH STASZEWSKI
By BILL SPRURGE
St. Peter’s coach Mike Cosentino is proud of the fact
his young team of only 27 players has lifted one another throughout a 3-1
season-opening stretch in the CHSFL’s AA/A division.
And it will take another team effort Sunday when the Eagles face their
biggest challenge yet as undefeated Xavier visits New Brighton for a 1:30
p.m.
“They are as solid a team as we will face,” said
Cosentino of the 4-0 Knights, who have posted two shutouts and have
outscored the opposition 146-63, with the only close game a 33-32 edging
of Cardinal Hayes last week. “They run a single-wing offense, and they
have good running backs and a solid offensive unit that has the capability
of long drives. They play a 4-4 defense and are big and strong. They will
be formidable. It’s a big week for us.”
If the first four games are any indication, the Eagles should be up to the
task. St. Peter’s has numerous players playing well on the both sides of
the ball, and that’s especially noteworthy as the team tries to survive
a number of injuries to important players. Meanwhile, Cosentino is getting
solid play out of sophomore quarterback Billy Triglianos, one of 16
underclassmen on the squad. Cosentino used the phrase “stepped it up”
regularly when discussing his troops.
“Every year you hope your seniors step up, and quite a few have done
so,” said Cosentino. “And the senior core has set the pace for the
younger guys, and the younger guys have followed suit. We have a good
group of kids who understand how (important) it is to work hard day in and
day out. We don’t have great numbers (of players), but you do your best
for every game. It’s a blue-collar type of team.”
Cosentino handed the reins to Triglianos at the start of the season, and
the soph has responded, throwing for 592 yards and five touchdowns, with a
46.8 percent pass-completion percentage. Cosentino sees a maturing
quarterback who is ready for big games.
“Triglianos does a nice job of making reads downfield and he has
improved and is more comfortable each week,” Cosentino explained.
“He’s a bright young man who works hard. The key is protection, and
we’ve done a decent job up front.”
Ironically, Triglianos’ favorite target is Dan Low, who handled the
quarterbacking duties a year ago. Cosentino moved Low to receiver to
maximize the amount of skilled players the Eagles could put on the field.
Low has responded by catching 12 balls (seventh on the Island) for 169
yards (14.1 yards per catch). While seniors Low and John Nikosey have
formed a solid tandem, a third senior, James O’Neill came up with five
receptions for 179 yards in the last two games.
Dom Bertucci has become the Eagles’ top runner. The 5-foot-9, 176-pound
senior fullback has six touchdowns, and he finished with 14 carries for
100 yards in a win over Bishop Ford last week. Backfield mate Lawrence
McNeil, who doubles at defensive back, has rushed for 235 yards.
“Bertucci becomes a tight end when we go double-tight end package, and
he’s done a nice job,” said Cosentino. “Our running backs are doing
a nice job and the linemen are putting it together. But there’s room for
improvement.”
Defensively, Cosentino is especially pleased with the play of the line,
and he singled out seniors Justin Robles and Mike Kuna and juniors Andrew
Lazo and Dan Smith.
St. Peter’s hopes it is healthy enough heading into the Xavier game.
“McNeil (knee bruise) and Bertucci (wrist) are both questionable, and as
two-way starters (it’s a big blow if they can’t play),” said
Cosentino. “As it is, we have a good deal of guys playing both ways. But
we might get (tight end/linebacker) Dom Trimarco back from a hip
injury.”
St. Peter’s committed six turnovers against St. Francis Prep in its only
loss. On the other hand, the Eagles handed St. John the Baptist its only
league defeat, and hopes to drop Xavier from the unbeaten ranks and grab a
share of the division lead.
“That was a hard-fought contest and could have gone either way, and it
showed you have to bring your ‘A’ game to win,” said Cosentino of
the SJB game. “This one won’t be easy to win. But we just try and keep
focused and go one at a time.”
Hey
Tom
O'Hara '69,
Happy
to have been your "eyes and ears" yesterday, even though your
family might have thought I was your "bookie"!
Not
too much to report on the game itself with a few exceptions, since what
you sent already pretty much covers it. Maybe St. Peter's was
outnumbered but not by very much. Talking to Chris after the game I got
the impression that the Knights were playing without five or so players,
key ones at that, and although St. Peter's was "slightly"
outnumbered, from my vantage point behind the Eagles bench, they were by
no means the smallest (physically) group of football players I've
ever seen! They were at least as big, if not bigger than the Knights,
man for man. The fact of the matter is that they were soundly beaten by
a Xavier squad which, according to Chris, had to try some new things
because of the loss of some key players. They stumbled a bit in the
first half but in the second half it all came together!
I
don't know if Xavier teams have ever been physically bigger than their
opponents. It certainly didn't happen in the 60's and doesn't seem to be
happening today. There's an intangible quality that Xavier Teams had and
still have. It has never been easy to play football at 16th St. Today's
Knights practice at Red Hook and play "home" games at Aviator.
The teams of our era (the 60's) practiced at East River Park which we
got to and from on public transportation! Our "home" field was
Downing Stadium on Randall's Island, across the Triboro Bridge at 125th
St!...another easily accessible venue! The intangible quality is an
overwhelming desire to play for Xavier and the incredible bonding that
takes place among the players. In our day it started at Camp Fordham in
late August. Today it starts at a camp in PA.
As
I told you yesterday, I watched most of the game with John Cilmi, father
of #5 Matt who scored Xavier's final TD. He spoke of the same
brotherhood among today's players...how they bond together and how it
all starts with the way they are educated on 16th St. They're held
responsible for their actions, whether on the field or in the classroom!
In fact, as I listened to Chris talking to his kids after the game, I
could sense that bond. One of the things he told them was that he
expected all of them in school Monday morning, no excuses. As he put it:
"no blackeyes for our program"! BTW: I got to join in with the
players singing "Sons of Xavier", their post-game ritual, win
or lose. Of course Chris asked me if I still remembered the
words...somehow we all remember the words. Anyone at the Annual
Beefsteak or at a Reunion Gala can attest to that!
One
final thing about Staten Island before I close. If the SI Advance is
going to compliment the Eagles for "hanging in there" against
a team which outnumbered them, I might refer them to their own archives
from Monday November 14, 1966 when, the day before, an incredibly
outnumbered and outweighed Xavier Team upset a previously undefeated
(through 15 games) Farrell Team 29-19 at that nearby "home"
field of ours, Downing Stadium!
The
names and the faces change but Xavier Football Teams will "...keep
marching, on to victory..."!
Standing
by...
John Murray '67
|
|
Player of the Week
Nomination
Nominee:
Erik Nicholes
School:
Position:
Strong Inside Linebacker
Opponent: St. Peter’s
Date
of Game: 10/16/11
Ht. 5’10”
Wt. 190
Class: Sr.
Hometown:
Details
of nominees performance:
In an
important CHSFL AA-A Regular Season Game between the 1st and 2nd
place teams in the division, Xavier defeated
St. Peter’s to go 5-1 Overall and 5-0 in the CHSFL AA-A, to remain
undefeated and in 1st place.
In a gritty blue collar performance with both starting offensive
backs out due to injury, Xavier continued to play strong defense led by
Captain Erik Nicholes. The
Xavier defense is the least scored upon defense in the league giving up
just 77 points this season or 12 points per game against CHSFL
competition. Over the course
of the season, the Xavier defense has two shutouts to its credit and more
importantly has two second half shutouts in close games over the last two
weeks. In the game against St.
Peter’s, Erik had 13 tackles, 2 of them coming on Special Teams and 3 of
them quarterback sacks for a total of minus 23 yards.
Class Honors:
Erik has an overall B average at Xavier and is an A- student in history.
League
Honors:
In both his Freshman and JV Football seasons, Erik was named team Captain
and Defensive MVP. He is a
product of the Brooklyn Hurricanes little league football organization.
Other
Sports & Honors
Erik
played Flanker on Xavier’s undefeated JV Rugby team in his Sophomore
year.
Big 2nd half leads Xavier past St. Peter's 34-14 in CHSFL football
By BOB WIETECHA
The
tired look on Dan Low’s face summed up St. Peter’s fate Sunday. The
two-way standout, like many of his teammates, gave it their all against
visiting Xavier - but the law of numbers eventually caught up to the
Eagles.
Despite
dressing just 23 players and battling hard for three quarters, St.
Peter’s fell to the first-place Knights 34-14 in a CHSFL AA-A contest.
“We
always play with a lot of heart and intensity, but I feel like we wore
down in the fourth quarter,” said Low, who finished with a game-high
four catches for 75 yards and a touchdown.
The
intensity was there until the end, but the Eagles will probably look back
at a few plays that turned a 14-14 deadlock at intermission into their
second loss in league play.
Perhaps
the biggest of those plays came with under eight minutes to go in the
second quarter after quarterback Billy Triglianos’ 1-yard keeper and Dan
Monzi’s PAT kick gave St. Peter’s a 14-7 lead.
Just
second later, Charles Guiraud fielded the ensuing kick on his 5 and raced
through the middle of the Eagles’ coverage unit and down the left side
en route to a 95-yard score.
“We
needed to play a near perfect game against a good football team and we
didn’t,” said SP coach Mike Cosentino. “Too many mistakes, including
the kickoff return, hurt us.”
The
score stayed the same until midway through the third quarter when a
12-yard punt put Xavier (5-0 AA-A play, 5-1 overall) just outside the red
zone at the 30. Four plays later, William Solomon scored his second of
three touchdowns on a 5-yard sweep with 6:53 remaining.
The
Eagles (3-2 AA-A and overall) would make it to midfield just once the rest
of the way as Solomon (60-yard run) and Staten Island native Matt Cilmi
(23-yarder) closed out the scoring for the Knights.
Triglianos managed to put up decent numbers (11 of 23 passing, 115 yards), but was sacked a half of dozen times and was without the services of senior fullback Dom Bertucci (wrist). Lawrence McNeil finished with 93 yards on 26 carries as he shouldered most the Eagles’ rushing load.
