Sandy tried to sack Manhattan's Xavier High,
but the Knights are still standing

by Eric Adelson on Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 3:11 AM EST


A member of the Xavier High football team carries a symbolic red hammer (Courtesy of Megan Stevens)

They took the field on Thanksgiving Day, and that in itself was a small miracle.

A few of the players held hands as they approached midfield for the pregame coin toss. One of them held a small red hammer, suddenly a symbol of their struggle. Their head coach had told them what this game meant, both to their school and to all of New York City. That much was obvious as the players looked up into the stands and saw more than 6,000 people bundled up to watch a rescheduled high school playoff game on a national holiday.

The players lined up for the opening kick. Today would be special, win or lose, because tonight would be very difficult. Tonight, nearly a dozen of them would not be going home. Eleven of the players on the Xavier high school football team were displaced by Hurricane Sandy.

And yet here they were, all together on the field, maybe for the last time.

They joked about this storm. Xavier head coach Chris Stevens admits it. The weekend before Sandy arrived, Stevens and his trusted assistant, Brian McMahon, laughed as they remembered Hurricane Irene the year before. It was supposed to be the storm of the century, but it mostly fizzled, and McMahon figured the hype around this one was "a government conspiracy to help the hotel industry."

By that Monday night, it was clear Sandy was very real.

Xavier is a Jesuit school located in Manhattan, but it draws students from all five boroughs. Several players on the football team live in the outer boroughs, and some of them found themselves in trouble. A wall of water rushed through towns in the Rockaways, and buildings burst into flames. Ryan McDade, one of the team's running backs, found his house flooded in what seemed like seconds. The lights went out. And then he heard the rumble of fire. Wind was carrying an inferno from house to house, incinerating everything in its path, and McDade's family was three homes away.

"All the light you could see," McDade says, "was from the fire."

The 17-year-old put on a wetsuit, went to the backyard and grabbed two surfboards. Then he bashed a window to pull a kayak from the garage. With the help of his parents, he put his two little sisters and the family pets on the surfboards, and put his 78-year-old grandmother in the kayak. Then he helped pull them all to safety. It was a long, frigid, damp night for the high school senior, but the next day was worse. Ryan returned to his neighborhood and everything was gone.

"To see my house," he says, "I didn't even recognize it. All ashes."

A week went by before any shred of normalcy returned. That's when school resumed. McDade, whose family rented a place in Brooklyn, saw his teammates and realized 10 others had lost their homes, destined to be displaced for months. One coach had eight feet of water in his basement. Another running back piled up sandbags only to watch them come crashing down in a torrent of water that destroyed his basement bedroom. "First couple weeks, players were where they ran to," says Stevens. "Some were farmed off to family. A number of them stayed with teammates. Our senior tight end had four kids in his house."

Xavier High beat Fordham Prep to advance to the CHSFL championship game. (Courtesy of Chris Stevens)

The remainder of the JV football season was canceled and there was thought of scrapping the varsity season, too. Stevens started calling players and parents. He'll never forget the resounding response he got.

"Look, coach," one player told him. "I just lost everything. I can't lose that too. Please tell them we'll play."

And so they would play.

Still there were other problems. Where would the team practice? Xavier didn't have a football facility in Manhattan, so it usually bussed to a field in Brooklyn. But even that was underwater after the storm. The nor'easter which hit the city a week after Sandy caused the cancelation of more practices. And the team's first playoff game, against a team from a better division, was only a few days away.

The goal through the playoffs, Stevens says, was "don't worry about winning or losing. Our goal is to get to this game. This game is 10 days beyond the season. Ten days of camaraderie and unity."

And 10 days of service. Despite all the difficulty the players and their loved ones were going through, many spent hours helping others affected by the storm. The first relief effort happened November 2, while Xavier (and most of lower Manhattan) was still without power.

Stevens remembers leaving the school one day and stumbling across a bucket of red hammers. He figured they were left there by workers assigned to an adjoining building. He found out later they were meant for a service trip to be taken by the students. Stevens took the hammers and, in a speech to his team, held up two of them in the shape of an X, for Xavier. The red hammer was a new symbol for the school, for the victims, for the team, and for the story they would all be finishing together.

Xavier's first playoff game came against Mount St. Michael, a top-ranked team from a higher division. The Knights went down 22-12 at half, only to score 28 points after the break to upset the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Something was happening here.

The Knights kept going, kept practicing, kept serving. And kept studying. Stevens is a history teacher too, and he gave his displaced students a break. He would only count test scores if they helped overall GPA. The players all got A's anyway. Some of them without homes actually took the SAT on the morning of the playoff game, and then won the game.

There were emotional moments, like when McMahon finally returned to practice even though he still didn't have any heat in his house. He's a tough guy, a hunter, and his signature yell – "Readyyyyy … GO!" – is a gruff hallmark of every practice. But when McMahon came back and the students lined up to run for him, McMahon broke down and cried.

The Thanksgiving Day game, against Fordham Prep, would be just as tough as the first-round game. The rivalry went back many years, and Fordham Prep won a lot more than it lost against the Knights. But not on this day. Xavier won, in front of all those thousands of fans, beating the No. 2 ranked team after beating the top-ranked team. Trey Solomon, who ran for 218 yards and three touchdowns, told the Brooklyn Daily, "For me it just means I get to spend 10 more days with the guys I love."

So here they are, teammates that could have stopped playing and didn't, one game away from an improbable, inspiring title. The Knights play Saturday for a championship. It will be the school's first title game in 16 years.

More than a month after Sandy hit, all 11 players displace by the storm are still living away from their homes. Some coaches are still waiting to get back their power and heat. And there's still no practice field. This week, the Knights went through drills in the cafeteria. Stevens was accidentally pinned when a player running a route shoved him into a pillar in the school basement.

"We're using everything we have," says McDade.

That's just it. They will walk out onto that field Saturday after using everything they have: the hammers, the surfboards, the kayak, the soccer field, the cafeteria and most importantly the strength of each other. They are Xavier's team, and New York City's team.

On Saturday, at 8 a.m., Xavier is organizing another relief trip to help Sandy victims. That night at 8 p.m., a team will walk out for one last coin toss.

A media panel of prep football experts has already weighed in on the Catholic High School AA championship.

None of them picked Xavier to win.

Coach Stevens,

I just read the story about Xavier's football team and their performance, both on the field and off, after Hurricane Sandy and I wanted you to know that I wish you and the impressive young men on your team all the best of luck in tomorrow's championship game. If any team ever deserved to win, yours does.

Not just because they have proved that they can step it up even in adversity. But because of their positive attitude and their commitment to help others. And their recognition that winning the previous two games was not just an end in itself, but as Trey Solomon said, "For me it just means I get to spend 10 more days with the guys I love." And because, with all that they have to deal with: practice without a practice field, schoolwork, and for the players who were seriously affected by the storm, loss of property or homes, they have still found time to help others rebuild.

My nephew is a recent graduate of Fordham Prep and I attended one of his basketball games at Xavier a few years back. So I must admit that I usually root for Fordham Prep (though I don't as a rule follow HS sports). But I'm rooting wholeheartedly for Xavier on Saturday.

If you get this email in time, please feel free to share with your players that their City is proud of them. They are excellent role models for their peers and a shining example of what is RIGHT with our youth. Too often, they only hear what is wrong with our youth.

I was touched deeply by the story about your team and am happy to provide my support, in what little way I can. I have included all of you in my prayers tonight, that you might win the championship and that the players may go forward to a blessed future. But whatever the outcome, they can hold their heads high in the knowledge that they have faced adversity as men and come through victorious.

Good luck and God bless!

Jean G.
The Bronx

Channel 5 New York: Coverage of Xavier Football Perseverance en Route to Championship
video-clipId=8038121&autostart=true

Video of the Whole Game with Commentary:
http://www.msgvarsity.com/brooklyn-bronx/full-game-xavier-35-st-john-the-baptist-14-1.1283677

Video Highlights of the Game:
http://www.msgvarsity.com/brooklyn-bronx/xavier-beats-baptist-to-win-chsfl-class-aa-title-1.1280250

Pictures of the Game taken by MSG Varsity:
http://www.msgvarsity.com/brooklyn-bronx/photos-chsfl-aa-final-xavier-vs-st-john-the-baptist-1.1280127

Video Wrap Up of Championship Game & Season
http://www.msgvarsity.com/brooklyn-bronx/xavier-knights-visit-the-studio-12-6-12-1.1286774


Xavier beats Baptist to win CHSFL Class AA title
by Dylan Butler on Sun, Dec 2, 2012 at 1:40 AM 

There’s a special bond among most Xavier football teams. Coach Chris Stevens credits the daily adversity the student-athletes face.  “We practice in four different locations a week, we commute from five boroughs, Long Island and Jersey, long commutes,” he said. “And they have high academic expectations to boot.” 

But this band of brothers is even closer. That’s because 11 of them who hail from the Rockaways were displaced by Hurricane Sandy.

“The 11 have been out of their houses and their commitment inspired the other guys,” Stevens said. “They wanted to do it for them, they wanted to emulate them. It took the whole character of the team to another level.”

On Saturday night, Xavier capped a remarkable and emotional postseason run, beating St. John the Baptist 35-14 to capture the CHSFL Class AA title at Mitchel Athletic Complex.

It is Xavier’s first Class AA championship since 1996 when the Knights won what was called the Varsity A championship.

“It’s beyond words,” senior Jimmy Wolfer said. “I’ve been thinking about this since freshman year. It just feels so good to win this game. I’m just so choked up by it.”

Wolfer, who had a key interception in the third quarter that set up Ryan Kilgallen’s third touchdown run, is one of four displaced players who have been living with tight end Connor Sweet.

Kilgallen, who had 16 carries for 104 yards, Ryan McDade and Bryan Carley were the other three who stayed in Sweet’s Manhattan home.

“The support I knew I had from him as well as my other teammates just brought us together and made it so much more special,” Kilgallen said. “I really think that’s what gave us that push to make this playoff run.”

Kilgallen said he carried the momentum from a solid performance in a Turkey Bowl win over Fordham Prep that also doubled as the CHSFL Class AA semifinals. He said he dedicated his game to his father.

“I was playing for my dad today,” he said. “My dad is so special to me, he’s such an important person to me.”

Trey Solomon, the CHSFL’s leading rusher, capped a spectacular junior season by rushing for 140 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a late interception that sealed the victory.

“I don’t know yet,” Solomon said when asked how it feels to win the title. “I still feel like I’m going to wake up tomorrow and have to get ready for practice again on Monday.”

Xavier (9-2) jumped in front 7-0 when Kilgallen dived inside the pylon for a 5-yard score with 2:59 left in the first quarter.

St. John the Baptist (9-2), which beat the Knights, 14-0, in Week 2, tied the game on a 1-yard score by Jake Wiswall with 9:23 remaining in the second quarter.

Kilgallen added his second touchdown, a 27-yard run, with 7:42 left in the second quarter and Solomon added a 21-yard score to give the Knights a 21-7 halftime lead.

Wolfer picked off Cougars quarterback Greg Egan at the 43-yard line and ran it back to the Baptist 5, setting up Kilgallen’s third touchdown on the next play to put the Knights in front, 27-7, with 2:54 left in the third.

Baptist threatened a comeback when Oscar Frisby scored a 1-yard TD with 6:09 left in the fourth quarter, but Solomon ended those thoughts with a 1-yard score of his own with 1:44 left in the fourth.

After losses to Baptist and St. Francis Prep, followed by Hurricane Sandy, Xavier wasn’t supposed to make a deep playoff run. But the Knights battled on, beating the top two seeds – Mount St. Michael and Fordham Prep – before knocking off Baptist to win the championship.

“It just shows the perseverance of all of us,” Kilgallen said. “The community itself of the Rockaways, Breezy Point, it’s a great community, it’s tight knit. The motto is keep calm and rebuild because we know we’re going to get it done and come back stronger.”

Xavier 35|
St. John the Baptist 14

And it wasn't even that close, boys and girls. Quite simply, The Team Formerly Known as the Kaydets... and then the Bruins...(Est.1882) dominated this game— on both sides of the ball— from start to finish. It was, indeed, a famous victory— a game for the ages.

More to follow. For now, here's to the players and coaches of the 2012 Knights— arguably the toughest, most resilient and, yes, the best gridironmen ever to wear the Maroon and Blue in the 130-year annals of Xavier Football.

Congratulations, Men. Xavier Nation salutes you.

Stand by...

Tom O'Hara '69

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Okay, listen up youse mugs (and mugettes!)— especially you, O'Rorke. I know for a fact that head football coach Chris Stevens '83 wants you guys to hear this before you head out to Mitchel Field tonight to watch The Team Formerly Known as the Kaydets... and then the Bruins.... (Est. 1882) write another page in the 130-year annals of Xavier Football history.

... From Henry V... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-yZNMWFqvM

"This day is call'd the feast of Crispian. 
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home, 
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd, 
And rouse him at the name of Crispian. 
He that shall live this day, and see old age, 
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, 
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.' 
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars, 
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.' 
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, 
But he'll remember, with advantages, 
What feats he did that day... 
This story shall the good man teach his son; 
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, 
From this day to the ending of the world, 
But we in it shall be remembered- 
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; 
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me 
Shall be my brother....
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed 
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here, 
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks 
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day." 
—King Henry V addressing his troops 
before the Battle of Agincourt (1415) 
(from Shakespeare's HENRY V) 

The Long Maroon and Blue Line is behind you, Kids. Give 'em hell.

Sons of Xavier, Keep Marching...

Stand by...
Tom O'Hara '69