This Son of Xavier from Staten Island says he's lucky to take part in storied "Turkey Bowl"

By Charlie De Biase Jr. | debaise@siadvance.com
Updated Nov 26, 2019; Posted Nov 26, 2019

Eltingville resident Anthony Bruno is a senior captain that plays cornerback and running back for Xavier HS of Manhattan (Coutresy of Liz Woo)

If you’re a sports person, you’ve surely heard of some of the classic football rivalries.  On the college level, there’s Michigan-Ohio St. and Auburn-Alabama.

And, seriously, is there anything bigger than Army-Navy? The NFL, to a lesser degree, has its share as well, most notably Packers-Bears and Ravens-Steelers these days.

The annual game is always played on Thanksgiving morning and pits Xavier HS of Manhattan against Fordham Prep of the Bronx. When the Knights and Rams square off Thursday beginning at 10 a.m. at Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn, it’ll mark the 97th time the storied rivals lock horns.

And if you think the rivalry is just a bunch of hype, think again. Staten Island’s Anthony Bruno, who is one of five co-captains for Xavier, believes the game is as good as advertised and he’s champing at the bit to play against the Rams one last time.

"Yes, it’s big -- it’s a big game for the community and something I consider myself lucky to be a part of,'' said the Eltingville resident, who sees plenty of action on both sides of the ball as a cornerback and running back. "It’s the oldest high school football rivalry in New York City and I’m very proud to be representing a great school.''

Bruno, who is one of 12 Staten Islanders on the Knights’ roster according to nychsfl.org, isn’t just whistling Dixie either. All you need to know is the game is considered so big, the teams never meet during the regular season and the CHSFL allows for reseeding should the Knights and Rams meet before the AA division championship game. Naturally, if they both advance to the title game, the contest is played on Thanksgiving morning at the pre-determined host’s site.

"We had what would be considered a successful season last year -- we played in the AA championship game,'' said the 17-year-old Bruno, whose Knights lost to Kellenberg in the 2018 AA final. "A week later, we played the Turkey Bowl and, unfortunately, didn’t play our best game and wound up losing 21-13.

"I kind of considered the year a failure (despite advancing to the playoff championship),'' he added.

Bruno said a Knights victory Thursday can turn the tables on what had been a disappointing ending in the CHSFL AA playoffs this season. Xavier suffered a 27-14 loss to St. Peter’s in the quarterfinals.

Bruno, who is one of 12 Staten Islanders on the Knights’ roster according to nychsfl.org, isn’t just whistling Dixie either. All you need to know is the game is considered so big, the teams never meet during the regular season and the CHSFL allows for reseeding should the Knights and Rams meet before the AA division championship game. Naturally, if they both advance to the title game, the contest is played on Thanksgiving morning at the pre-determined host’s site.

"We had what would be considered a successful season last year -- we played in the AA championship game,'' said the 17-year-old Bruno, whose Knights lost to Kellenberg in the 2018 AA final. "A week later, we played the Turkey Bowl and, unfortunately, didn’t play our best game and wound up losing 21-13. "I kind of considered the year a failure (despite advancing to the playoff championship),'' he added. Bruno said a Knights victory Thursday can turn the tables n what had been a disappointing ending in the CHSFL AA playoffs this season. Xavier suffered a 27-14 loss to St. Peter’s in the quarterfinals.

"We have the same records (Xavier is 3-5, FP 3-6) and to finish with a better record, morally, it would make the season,'' he said.

The Fordham Prep-Xavier rivalry was first played in 1887 and finished in a scoreless tie due to darkness, according to fordhamprep.org. The game wasn’t played again until 1905 and after another year off, the Rams and Knights met in 1907-08, then didn’t play each other for another 19 years before squaring off in 1927.

They’ve played every year since.

The 5-foot-7, 150-pound Bruno has turned in a solid season for the Knights, registering 44 tackles (3 for losses) with two interceptions and a team-leading five pass deflections. He also carried the ball 25 times for 241 yards and a TD and was among Xavier’s leaders in kickoff and punt returns as well.

If there was a saving grace to exiting early in the CHSFL playoffs it was the fact Xavier got some extra time to prepare for the Rams, who were eliminated a week later in the semifinals.

"I feel we’ve really prepared well for the game,'' said Bruno, whose brother, Nicholas, is a sophomore that plays on Xavier’s JV squad. "We got the extra time for practice and when you have two weeks to prepare, you know their offense by heart and that’s gotta be to our advantage.

"If our defense plays well, I don’t think we can be beaten. I’m going to leave it all out there on the field.''

In addition to the game itself, Xavier kicks off the pre-game festivities by hosting a huge pep rally on Wednesday. "The school community, alumni, the students all get involved,'' said Bruno, who also plays for the Manhattan school’s baseball team. "It’s just a great atmosphere. It gets so exciting, you just want the game to take place right there.''

Can you blame him? It's not everyone, after all, that gets to play in NYC's oldest high school football rivalry.

Nominee: Matthew Geruso                                                                         School: Xavier High School

Position : Full Back / Punter                                                                   Opponent: Fordham Prep.
Date of Game: 11/28/19   Ht. 5’10”   Wt . 195   Class: Sr.                  Hometown: Hoboken, NJ

Details of nominees performance:

Having won the Turkey Bowl four years in a row from 2012 thru 2015, Xavier was fighting not to lose four years in a row from 2016 thru 2019.  In the game, Xavier jumped out to an early 13-0 lead scoring on the first offensive play from scrimmage and then capitalizing on a subsequent Fordham Prep. fumble deep in their own end.  Yet, after dominating most of the 1/2 half, the Knights squandered an opportunity to go up by three scores and allowed the Rams to establish some momentum just before the half with the score 13-7.  Although #6 Junior RB Andrew Scariano (20 carries for 115 yards and 3 TDs) was the workhorse in the first half, it was the effort of #8 Senior RB Matt Geruso (15 carries for 143 yards and 3 TDs) that put the game away for Xavier in the second half.

Matt helped the Xavier cause in a number of different ways during the course of the game.  As one of the primary lead blockers at the point of attack, he helped pave the way for Scariano's first half heroics.  During the course of the game Matt's efforts as punter were important in flipping the field and keeping Fordham pinned deep in their own end.  Matt had punts of 43, 50 and 50 yards all go unreturned settling inside the Fordham 20 yard line.  He then added three second half scoring runs of 4, 77 and 32 yards putting the game away for Xavier with more points scored on Thanksgiving than any other team coached by Chris Stevens over the last 18 seasons.