XAVIER  28  -  CHRIST THE KING  27  
     
   
     
 




CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL LEAGUE of METROPOLITAN NEW YORK   

Player of the Week Nomination

Nominee: Jalen Johnson                            School: Xavier High School                Position: Free Safety / Running Back                                       Opponent: Christ the King
Date of Game: 11/06/16                           Ht. 5’9”   Wt. 180                                   Class: Senior                                                                     Hometown: Brooklyn, New York

Details of nominees performance:
Having opened the season with a 24-12 loss to Christ the King and then struggling to grow up most of the season, Xavier entered the CHSFL AA Playoffs as the #7 seed with a 2-5 record.  As luck would have it, they drew the #2 seed Christ the King again, who earlier in the season defeated both St. Anthony’s and Iona Prep. while amassing a 7-1 record and who were the odds on favorites to win the 2016 AA Playoff Championship.  Improving every week, Xavier lined up their offensive line with players weighing 170, 205 & 205 versus Christ the King’s defensive line weighing 280, 285 & 290 to run power football.  Four turnovers and a blocked extra point later and Xavier achieved one of the greatest upsets of the 2016 season by the score of 28-27.

Free Safety / Running Back Jalen Johnson led the charge, helping Xavier to defend its 2015 CHSFL AA crown and to move on to the semi-final round of the playoffs.  While going bothways, Jalen carried the ball 29 times for 145 yards and two touchdown rushes of 9 and 5 yards.  He also passed Xavier back into the lead 28-21 in the 4th quarter with a 46 yard TD pass to Rory Kinsella after Xavier had given up a 20 point lead over Christ the King 21-20.  Jalen also had 5 solo tackles and 7 assists on defense, but more importantly he had two interceptions.  Jalen’s first interception set up Xavier’s third score giving them a 20-0 lead at the half and his second interception with about 1:30 left in the game on the Xavier 20 yard line sealed the upset victory for the Knights.  At this point, Jalen is both the leading tackler and the leading rusher for Xavier as well.  

  
     
 

CHSFL Quarterfinal Playoffs Today 

Xavier Knights v. Christ the King

at Franklin K. Lane High School, Brooklyn (Barely!)

Sunday, November 6th (1:00 PM) 

...And finally, here's to The Team Formerly Known as the Kaydets... and then the Bruins... (Est. 1882).  They are the underdogs today.  Again.  So what else is flippin' new?
As I've written before, I like Coach Chris Stevens' men best when they're cornered.  And in an week when the Cubs won their first World Series in 108 years,
and the Irish beat New Zealand's invincible All Blacks for the first time ever in their 111-year rivalry, you had better believe that anything can happen out there in the Brooklyn-Queens borderlands this afternoon. 

Say a prayer for our Knights.  And then buckle up!

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Xavier Football & Rugby Alumni
E-Blast No. 1307 

Xavier 28, Christ the King 27 

Bloody... flippin'... hell. 

The 16th Street Kids did it. 

Details to follow...  Thank you, Dan Dougherty (via that Jack Raslowsky guy). 

Stand by,
Tom O'Hara '69

  
     
 

Week 9 Recap: Xavier upsets Christ the King to earn CHSFL AA Playoff win

by Elio Velez on Sun, Nov 6, 2016 10:36PM
Updated Sun, Nov 6, 2016 10:36 PM

Xavier coach Chris Stevens has seen his team made gradual improvements in all facets in the last few weeks going into their CHSFL Class AA quarterfinal playoff game on Sunday.

The Knights were a confident bunch by arguably putting together its best performance of the season in a 28-27 comeback win against second seed Christ the King on the road at Franklin K. Lane High School. It was the upset of the day by the defending Class AA champions to eliminate one of the regarded title contenders for the 2016 championship.

“We told the kids you don’t have to play the best game of your lives,” Xavier coach Chris Stevens said. “ You have to play a good game. We got after them a little bit. They [Christ the King] got off to a slow start.”

It was the second consecutive postseason win for the Knights against Christ the King following a 28-25 Class AA title win in November of 2015 at Mitchel Field. 

Xavier senior Jalen Johnson had a big day on both sides of the ball with two touchdown runs and 2 interceptions on defense. Johnson would complete a 50-yard touchdown pass to Rory Kinsella in the fourth quarter to help the Knights retake the lead at 28-21 after previously losing a 20-point halftime advantage. 

The Knights advance to the semifinals next weekend with a trip to take on No. 3 Iona Prep in New Rochelle. The Gaels won 41-0 over Fordham Prep in a quarterfinal game on Sunday. 

One of the bright spots was Xavier’s young offensive line that has matured and grown into a strong unit according to Stevens in the last month. The head coach had seen an overall type of improvement in the 2014 campaign when his team went 1-4 to start the season yet rebounded to finish 4-1 and earn a overtime victory over Fordham Prep on Thanksgiving Day. 

The Knights also didn’t have to worry about the humid conditions that cost them a 24-12 loss on opening day to Christ the King. Yet they had to overcome adversity when Christ the King, ranked No. 3 in New York City by News 12 Varsity, rallied all the way back to take a one-point lead in the fourth quarter. 

Johnson’s 50-yard touchdown pass and an important two-point conversion helped Xavier stave off a late scare as the Royals got into the end zone but missed the ensuing extra point attempt. 

The celebration will last until the end of the night but Stevens knows its all business resuming on Monday’s game-film session. Iona Prep narrowly defeated Xavier, 28-22, in a regular season game October 22 in New Rochelle. 

 
     
 

CHSFL AA Playoff Preview
By Matt Diano

 

#2 Christ the King (7-1) vs. #7 Xavier (2-5)

When: Sunday November 6th, 2016

Where: Franklin K. Lane High School
Time: 1pm 

Synopsis: 

If we have said it once, we have said 100s of times, on paper when they play up to their capabilities, we feel that the second-seeded Royals are potentially the best team in New York State…The problem for Coach Jason Brown and company is that too often this season (even in games that they have won) that error free, smooth style of play that they were seeking at the start of the season has not been present…In a way, it is a curse to be as talented and lightning fast across the board as they are, because you learn that more times than not, your natural God-given skills will allow you to win when competing at a level lesser than your best….Make no mistakes about it, If the host Royals put all the pieces together and begin to play flawless (or close to it) football, they are going to be impossible to defeat in the postseason.  After all, in a sport where lower division teams hardly ever get the better of their AAA brethren, King has a victory over Triple-A top-seed St. Anthony’s in a non-league contest.

While they were able to get their revenge during the opening week of the season by doubling-up Xavier without his services, it goes without saying that CTK will be happy to see what Muhammad can do to add to their firepower…The senior tailback, who has is fresh off of being named a CHSFL Player of the Week in the regular season finale, has rushed for 100+ yards in the seven games he has played this season.  There is no doubt that had he been in the line-up earlier this season, the margin of victory may have been more significant. 

Yet another way in which King could open up a much larger advantage against the defending champions is if the junior signal caller, Wilson, steps up his performance…In his eight starts as an 11th grader, he is posting a ratio of nearly 1:1 in terms of TDs vs. interceptions….When you have a lethal weapon like Tosin Oyekanmi (21 catches, 515 yards, six of the team’s 10 TD receptions) as a primary target, you need to make all of your throws count for something ….Back in week #1, Oyekanmi only had two catches for a modest 19 yards.
 
More than anything, what we love about this CTK squad has been the overall stellar play of their defense (especially the front-four)….When writing the 2016 season preview, we raved about all of the shooting stars the team returned on “O”…What unfortunately got forgotten is that this team is also a defensive juggernaut, giving up only 13 points per game despite playing an ambitious schedule that included victories over Poly Prep and the aforementioned Friars of St. Anthony’s….In both of these wins, the defense showed true grit, making a goal line stand despite playing against the #1 OT in America to defeat the Blue Devils and then the following week, stopping a two-point conversation to knock off STA….Names such as Nick Hunter, Coombs, Randy Pringle, Anthony Lang, Jonathan Coste, Anthony Young, and so forth have all risen to the occasion, making the moniker true that defense may really be the key to King’s title hopes. 

With regard to Xavier, when thinking about how/what they needed to do to pull the huge upset on Sunday, we actually came back to the realization that there was nothing special that they could do….Much like their 2015 title winning effort, they just need to play their game a little better than they did the first time ….No matter the personnel, if you play for a Chis Stevens coached program, you know that anything and everything starts and ends with solid “D”….The Knights are not a team that is ever going to blow you away on offense; they incorporate a very military style, time of possession dominating ground attack…So, come this weekend, they need to do a little better job winning the line, allowing them to compile a series of 3-4 yard carries….A Muhammad who does not touch the ball is a Muhammad that cannot burn you.  As overly simplistic as they sounds, it is the truth….Xavier needs to make this a single digit game on the scoreboard and hope that they do just enough with the ball in their possession to squeak out a “w”….As noted earlier, Johnson enters on a hot streak and Morelli is no slouch himself on the QB option, as both have surpassed the 500 yard mark this season…King wants to beat you with the 50+ yard play; Xavier’s key to victory is endless quantities of short gain after short gain….King has a fierce defense, but like any group, if they are not able to get off the field, they will wear down like any mortal men.