AA: #1 (East) Kellenberg Memorial (10-0) vs. #3 (East) Xavier (7-3)

When: Saturday November 17^th, 2018

Where: Mitchel Athletic Complex

Time: 1:30 pm

Synopsis

A classic battle between two of the past three AA champions, the top-seeded Kellenberg Firebirds will be looking to become just the second program ever to win back-to-back double-A crowns (Christ the King accomplished the feat in 2002/2003), while the Knights of Xavier will look to ascend back to the top of the NYCHSFL for the first time since their shocking victory over Christ the King in 2015 (won on a blocked punt return).

Owners of the third-longest current winning streak in New York State with 21 straight victories, the #4 ranked team in the New York Sportswriters poll [KMHS] has made it look easy the past two years, beating their foes by an average score of 39.7 to 13.2.  Only once during this stretch have the Blue and Gold failed to win by less than double digits.  When the two teams squared off during the regular season in Week #3 (September 22^nd), it was the Marianists winning 47-14.

Enjoying an embarrassment of riches on both sides of the gridiron, what has made KMHS so successful in 2017 and 2018 is that no matter where you look, there are capable, if not extraordinary playmakers occupying all 22 positions.

Matt Sluka

Captained on offense by “Mr. Postseason” himself, senior All State field general, Matt Sluka, the defending titlest is the only school in the AA division that has both a top 4 passer and multiple 1,000+ yard rushers.  The Most Outstanding Offensive Player of last year’s championship game (238 yards rushing, 5 TDs in the win over Fordham Prep) as well as the reigning NYCHSFL Offensive Player of the Year, Sluka (69-for-101 for 1,092 yards and 11 touchdowns passing; 111 carries for 1,022 yards and 20 TDs running) might be the most dynamic student-athlete in all of New York State.  In his team’s two playoffs wins to advance to the finals, the red-headed assassin has rushed for 217 yards and scored seven touchdowns on 30 carries.  Sluka was also the top runner during Week #3, gaining 130 yards and scoring a pair of touchdowns on just nine attempts.  The Roslyn native also set a new career-high with 232 yards passing on 9-for-11 attempts (3 additional TDs) against Xavier in September.

The potency of Sluka alone in the backfield would be enough to drive opposing defensive coordinators crazy.  But unfortunately for the opposition, he is not even Kellenberg’s most dangerous runner.  That honor belongs to junior Jordan Delucia, who currently leads the AA division with 1,236 yards on the ground (17 touchdowns).  Like Sluka, Delucia proved that he knows how to flip the switch when the stakes are highest, as he ran for 125 yards and one TD on only four carries in the 2017 championship game.  Averaging 168 yards and two touchdowns rushing thus far in the play-offs, Delucia will be playing with a chip on his shoulder.  When he faced Xavier earlier in the year, he was held to his lowest output of the season, finishing with just 15 yards on seven hand-offs.

Never one you can/should overlook, if we have said it once, we must have uttered it 100 times this season; no matter what Frankie Roder’s stat line looks like in 2018 (limited opportunities have resulted in a 318- yard, 4 TD senior campaign after he ran for 800+ and 15 as a junior), you have to consider him a severe threat.  The third Firebird to exceed 100 yards in last year’s finals contest (142 yards plus 1 score on 19 carries), Roder showed off his explosiveness last weekend in the semifinals when he needed just three touches to run for 66 yards.  In the first meeting between our two finalists, Roder finished second on the team with 36 yards rushing on six hand-offs.

Because he had such an impressive game in the air when these two schools met, don’t be surprised if Sluka (who only threw two passes in the 2017 title game) gets a little more aggressive with his arm this Saturday afternoon.  If Coach Hanifan gives him the green light to go vertical, there will be no shortage of targets for the 6’3, 205-pound dual-threat QB to lock his radar on.  At the top of that list of available receivers would have to be Matthew Mongelli, who has posted team-leading numbers in all major categories this season with 17 grabs for 452 yards and eight touchdowns.  On the back end of all three touchdowns passes during the regular season meeting with the Knights, Mongelli finished the game with 3 catches for 149 yards.  Fellow 12^th grader Bobby Filshie is making the most of his final moments in a Kellenberg jersey.  He steps on the field this weekend as the team’s leader in postseason catches so far with three snatches for 34 yards.  Delucia (15 catches for 271 yards, 1 TD this season) and Roder (2 catches for 49 yards and one score in the quarterfinals) will be weapons out of the backfield.

Daniel Vittiburga

For Chris Steven’s Xavier squad, circumstances may dictate a deviation from the high-octane, quick-strike running game that generated over 28 points per game through the quarterfinal round of the play-offs.  Unable to play during the Knights’ 7-0 semifinal win over Holy Trinity, if senior running back, Dan Vittiburga (2^nd in AA with 19 rushing touchdowns; 3^rd with 1,141 yards) is a no-go again this Saturday, it would be a big, but not insurmountable obstacle for the New York City-based school to overcome.  With No. 36 in the line-up, the Knights averaged 268.8 yards per game on the ground and scored 30 touchdowns.  In his absence, they still had a solid afternoon, running for 168 yards and one score last weekend.

Matt Geruso

One of the reasons why we feel Xavier can absorb this loss of talent better than most is that they enjoy immense depth in the persons of Matt Geruso, Demetrios Demetriades, and Anthony Bruno. Geruso, who would likely be the #1 tailback on the majority of high schools in New York State, had a fine junior campaign, rushing for 709 yards and five touchdowns in 2018.  While he would be held to just 27 yards in the semifinal win versus the Titans, he did have a banner day the previous weekend when he accumulated 96 yards and scored his first postseason touchdown in the quarterfinal “upset” over Xaverian.   In the previous showdown between these two programs, Geruso finished second on the team [behind Vittiburga’s 59 yards] with 30 yards on 10 attempts.  Demetriades, who was stuffed for –3 yards on three carries versus the ‘Berg in Week #3, is fresh off of a semifinal performance that saw him gain 56 yards on three attempts.  Bruno may be the biggest surprise/saving grace of them all, as he went from supporting actor (109 yards on seven carries during the regular season) to leading man in the semifinals, as he rushed for a season-high 84 yards and scored the only touchdown of the afternoon in delivering the “W” to his school…Bruno averaged 6.5 yards on his four carries (26 yards total) on 9/22.

Adding to the intrigue of this game is the fact that on the other side of the ball, you have the statistically #1 defense in AA [Kellenberg] matching up with what is without question the hottest defense over the course of the past three weeks [Xavier].

Dan Wilson

The Firebirds, who surrendered only 12.8 points this season, will turn to the likes of Danny Wilson, Jake Deakin, Paul McGuinness, Thomas Cipolla, Thomas Brzezinski, and Matthew Leahy, among others, to stymie the Knights’ ground attack.  The future U.S. Naval Academy midshipman/reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Wilson led all Firebirds with nine tackles during the first meeting.  Deakin was not far behind with seven stops of his own.  McGuinness and Cipolla (POTW selection yesterday), who combined for 11 tackles and four sacks in the semifinal victory over Fordham Prep last weekend, each made three tackles against the Knights in round one.  Brzezinski contributed seven tackles and a sack during Week #3, and Leahy emerged with a 5-stop performance.

With only 22 pass completions this season, we are not anticipating much of an aerial attack from the Knights.  But if they do get creative and try to catch Kellenberg off guard, Peter Taliercio, Zacarias Estrella,Alain Telfort, and Stephen McAllister, will dutifully patrol the ”no fly zone”….Taliercio had an interception during the previous encounter.

Kellenberg Champs in 2017

As it pertains to Xavier, which has not surrendered a single point in their last 12 quarters, the key will be to maintain their tough run defense (limited Kellenberg to their second lowest amount of ground yards with 204), while simultaneously correcting whatever went wrong in the secondary during the first engagement

Tasked with the first objective will be the team’s leading tackler the past two seasons, Valery Gwardyak (68 tackles, 9 TFL, 2.5 sacks), James Donaldson (56 stops, 4 tackles for a loss, 1 sack), Milton Guzman (49 tackles, team-high 11.5 TFL, 2 sacks, 3 fumble recoveries), Kevin Connelly (45 stops, 4 tackles for negative yards), John Walsh (42 tackles, 6 stops for a loss, 2 sacks), Jordan Sosa (37 stops, 11 TFL, 2 QB bags), and Giovanni Bernie (36 tackles, 6.5 stops for minus yardage, 2.5 sacks).  Gwardyak made 10 tackles (1.5 TFL) during the first meeting…Donaldson (13 tackles in the semifinals) was credited with six stops versus KMHS….Guzman, who was another of our Player of the Week picks following a 10 tackle, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery effort last weekend, made four stops against KMHS on September 22nd.  Connelly, Walsh, and Sosa all made five tackles in the first exchange and Bernie kicked in with four additional stops.

After coercing HT Titan quarterback Ryan Razzano into an 8-for-20, 103-yard, 1 INT game in the semis, the Knights’ last line of defense, anchored by Demetriades (team high six pass break-ups; tied for the lead with 2 INTs) and Joseph Maratea (1 INT, 4 pass defenses) will need to be just as effective this Saturday.

Safety, Langston Williams, is a bridge between the front seven and the defensive backfield.  His 61 tackles this season trails only Gwardyak on the Xavier leaderboard.  He made six stops during the initial meeting in September.