Varsity Football

 Practice begins on Thursday August 16, 2018.  
8/16-8/18 Practice on Cy Donnelly Field from 8am-1pm.
 

By John Malone and photo by Lonnie Web

It wasn’t vintage St. Anthony’s on Saturday at Iona Prep, but it was a vintage result.

After committing double-digit penalties throughout the game, the Friars weathered an Iona Prep two-minute drill in the fourth quarter, and hung on for a 14-7 victory.

It was St. Anthony’s first win on the road in the series since 2010.

“It was awesome to get out of here with a win. It’s a great place to get a victory,” St. Anthony’s linebacker Tynan Hillery said. “We had to really dig down at the end right there on that last drive and we executed.”

Iona Prep methodically moved down the field from its own 22-yard line with 3:07 left to the St. Anthony’s 9-yard line. The Gaels converted two fourth downs on the 16-play drive and faced another one, this time a 4th-and-5.

Derek Robertson found Ryan Soules in the back of the end zone, guarded by Hillery. The junior receiver came down with it, but the official on top of the play said he was out of bounds.

“It was kind of crazy. When I saw him line up, he tightened his gloves, so I had a feeling it was coming his way,” Hillery said. “Sure enough it came to him and I got a little lucky on getting the coverage call. It was a good win, I guess.”

Greg Campisi, St. Anthony’s junior quarterback, lost his first game as a starter last week after going 5-0 as a sophomore and topping Delbarton (NJ) in the opener. He got his team back in the win column with a drive of his own.

Campisi drove the Friars from their own 28-yard line into Iona territory thanks to a 38-yard pass to Heron Maurisseau-O’Neal. After penalties helped back St. Anthony’s up again, Campisi and the Friars faced a 4th-and-17 from the 29.

Campisi dropped back, was flushed out of the pocket, and decided to take off. He made a cut back and picked up 20 yards on the play to keep the drive alive. Three plays later, he plowed into the end zone with a one-yard touchdown run.

“Nobody was open so I just had to get the heck out of there,” Campisi said of the fourth down play. “I saw open grass and I just made a play. I’m the head of the offense. It’s my responsibility to get the ball in the end zone. I knew I had to make a play.”

St. Anthony’s was down 7-0 in the first quarter after Iona Prep’s Joe Rodda scooted into the end zone from eight yards out. The Friars defense committed three big penalties on the drive to aid the Gaels, one of which came on an interception by Hillery, which was subsequently wiped off the board.

On the ensuing drive, Hillery picked off another pass and this one counted. He returned it all the way to the Iona Prep 13-yard line as the first quarter ended. Two plays later, Campisi threw a 10-yard strike to Maurisseau-O’Neal to tie the game, 7-7. He finished the day 16 of 26 passing for 145 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions.

“The defense won this game for us. They kept us in it when the offense played absolutely horrible to be frank,” Campisi said. “That last drive, they did what they had to do and I had all the confidence in the world in them.

Besides Hillery, Gershom Delva, Anthony DePaul and Tyler Perez all made big plays on defense for the Friars. Edward Sorrentino and Grayson Cherubino were also big stoppers on the line for St. Anthony’s.

The Gaels will take positives from the loss though.

Iona’s final drive will help first-year quarterback Derek Robertson make great strides. He finished 21 of 39 passing for 251 yards. Defensively, Iona was very good, especially Johnryan Freeman (who also stepped up on offense in the wake of all Iona’s injuries).

But, St. Anthony’s did just enough to get the job done, and on a day with penalties and turnovers killing both teams, that could be a sign of things to come for the Friars.

“This showed grit and toughness from us, it was a statement game,” Hillery said. “We feel like we’re back and better than ever.”

by Mike Smollins on Thu, Nov 9, 2017

CHSFL 'AAA' Semifinals 
Iona Prep (6-3) at St. Anthony's (8-1), 

Date: Friday, Nov. 10, 7 p.m.
Location: St. Anthony's High School
Watch LIVE on News12Varsity.com or on the N12 Varsity iOS app (download)

Key Players St. Anthony’s
Greg Campisi
QB 2017 stats (regular season): 112-of-134 for 1,154 yds, 8 TDs, 1 INT.

Key Players Iona Prep
Derek Robertson
QB 2017 stats: 206-of-309 for 2,626 yds, 26 TDs, 0 INT.

Scouting Report:
This will be a must-see CHSFL matchup under the lights. The winner advances to face the victor of Cardinal Hayes and Archbishop Stepinac, which play each other on Saturday.

Top-seeded St. Anthony's, ranked No. 9 in News 12 Varsity's top 25 poll, has not lost a game since Sept. 15, when it fell to Stepinac. The Friars topped Christ the King, 31-21, last week in the quarterfinals after jumping out to a 31-0 lead.
Campisi was 13-of-16 for 193 yards and two touchdowns in the win, both of which were caught by Heron Maurisseau. The receiver finished with three catches for 65 yards.Campisi and Kyle Angus each found the end zone on a rushing score.

Fourth-seeded Iona Prep has been lighting up the scoreboard with ease over the past three weeks. The Gaels thrashed Monsignor Farrell in the quarterfinals last week, 52-20. Robertson threw for 304 yards and amassed two touchdown passes. Michael DeGasperis hauled in one TD reception and had 13 catches for 149 yards.

These two teams met in Week 3 this season, with St. Anthony's pulling out a 14-7 victory at Iona on Sept. 23. The difference-maker was Campisi's 1-yard touchdown run, which broke a 7-7 tie. Campisi passed for 150 yards and a score.

GO FRIARS!!!

By Jordan Lauterbach
Newsday Nov. 10th 2017

He’s a pretty good way to guarantee a win — don’t let the other team score. Here’s one even better — don’t let the other team touch the football. That’s practically what the St. Anthony’s football team did during the second quarter of their 35-7 victory over Iona Prep in a CHSFL AAA semifinal Friday night at St. Anthony’s High School.

Thanks to three St. Anthony’s kickoff recoveries, the Friars limited Iona Prep to one offensive play in the second quarter. That play? An Iona Prep fumble with 5:25 left before the half.

St. Anthony’s (9-1) will face the winner of Saturday’s Cardinal Hayes-Archbishop Stepinac game in the CHSFL AAA championship game, scheduled for Nov. 18 at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale.

Sean Bryan scored three rushing touchdowns for St. Anthony’s in a game in which they dominated every facet.

“It feels amazing,” he said. “All those spring, summer, and late-night practices paid off and led us to this win.”

The Friars turned all that second quarter time of possession, nearly 12 minutes worth, into three rushing touchdowns. Bryan scored on a 2-yard run with 8:37 left to break a scoreless tie. The rush was set up by a 67-yard, offense-awakening scamper by quarterback Greg Campisi.

Nearly two minutes later, Campisi’s 1-yard touchdown run capped an 8-play, 66-yard drive. St. Anthony’s went to halftime with a 21-0 lead after a 1-yard TD run by Bryan off left tackle.

Continuing the trend, St. Anthony’s opened the third quarter with the ball and — thanks to three Iona Prep personal fouls that totaled 40 yards — scored easily. Bryan had his third touchdown on an 8-yard rush with 9:30 left in the period that gave the Friars a 27-0 lead.

“I saw the holes nice and hit them 100 percent,” he said. “I wasn’t going out there tired. My offensive line did a great job blocking. Without them, none of this would be happening right now.”

Makhai Murphy scooped up an Iona Prep fumble with 8:57 left in the third quarter and rumbled 45 yards for a touchdown and a 34-0 lead. Murphy also intercepted Iona Prep quarterback Derek Robertson with 3:22 left in the third.

All this scoring was done under clear, but frigid skies. With temperatures in the high 20s at kickoff, players might have struggled to keep warm, but they had little trouble scoring.

“We didn’t even think about it,” Bryan said of the conditions. “We just played through it. We all came prepared and kept running out there.”

Next week, it’s a chance at a championship for the Friars. No doubt, they hope it’s a little bit warmer. They’re also hoping they stay hot . . . and keep the ball in their hands.

Sean Bryan NYCHSFL offensive Player of the Week for Week #1

http://nychsfl.org/2017/09/week-1-players-of-the-week-announced/

Scouting Report by News 12:  Most people pegged Iona Prep and St. Anthony's to be in the top four of the CHSFL this season along with Hayes and Stepinac (with Farrell also laying claim to that position), but there was no consensus on how it would actually shake out when it's all said and done. Both St. Anthony's and Iona Prep lost to the other contenders last week though, making this week's matchup even more important.

Both teams were beat soundly last week, St. Anthony's by Stepinac, and Iona by Cardinal Hayes, but both were in the game and breaks here or there and it's a different story. 

St. Anthony's has a veteran quarterback in Greg Campisi and a versatile skill player in Julian Chung. Those guys plus their cast can really get some points on the board. Campisi had over 300 yards of offense in St. Anthony's season opening win over Delbarton (N.J.). 

Iona Prep is still looking to get into an offensive flow with all its weapons. The Gaels put up 40 points in week one but weren't incredibly happy with the performance and Iona is certainly turning the ball over too many times through its first two games. 

Come join Cheerleading, Kickline and the Football team as we thank our seniors for being part of Friar history and their commitment to their teams.

Celebration begins at 12:00 pm on Oct. 21, 2017
Kickoff is 1:30 pm

By Fr. Friar Jarred Valluzzi 

On October 28th St Anthony’s took on St. Peter’s in Staten Island. The Friars knew they had to win this game in order for them to secure the number one seed in the playoffs, and they did just that.

The Friars dominated St. Peter’s 42-0 and got their sixth straight victory.

The Friars are now ranked number two in New York state and number one on Long Island at the end of the regular season.

Greg Campisi passed for 186 yards and 2 touchdowns, also adding a rushing touchdown. Sean Bryan added 81 yards rushing on six attempts including a long 50 yard rushing touchdown.

On the first drive, St. Peter’s had a lot of success running the ball with their all around superstar Chris Ledlum. The Friars shut it down after the initial drive, however, with some words from head coach Rich Reichert to the players. Coach Passante said, “We had to flip our front, make sure we lined up correctly. They were coming out with different formations because they had some guys hurt, but after we lined up correctly it was pretty easy.”

St. Anthony’s took a commanding 21-0 lead to end the first half. Julian Chung had two receiving touchdowns in the first half, and Kyle Angus also added a first half rushing touchdown.

The Friars’ defense continued to be the highlight of the day as Phil Plantana, Nick Espada, and Makhai Murphy all finished with interceptions. After St. Anthony’s week two loss against Archbishop Stepinac, the Friars’ defense has dominated opposition, only allowing a maximum of 8 points per game.

When asked on what has changed since the Stepinac game, defensive coordinator George Mclaren said “It’s a process as time goes on with the players understanding roles in the defense. We got better, and we are getting better. We are going to the playoffs. Hopefully, we will get healthy and peak at the right time.”

The Friars have now beaten St. Peter’s for a third straight year. When asked about what propelled them to the dominant victory, head coach Rich Reichert said, “Well first of all, [St. Peter’s] was a little depleted. They had some major injuries, their QB was out, and their best receiver was out. They were struggling a little, and we didn’t play very well in the first quarter and then we started to play much better.”

In order for the Friars to get the number one seed for the playoffs, not only did they need to beat St. Peter’s but they also needed for Iona prep to beat Archbishop Stepinac. Thankfully, that was the case. Iona prep beat Stepinac on Saturday night 38-34 giving the Friars the number 1 seed for the second straight year.

The Friars will face off against Christ the King Friday, November 3rd, 7:00 p.m., in the CHSFL AAA Quarter Final.

Team Scholar:
Conor Ryan

Team MVP:
Nick Greer All League, 3 year starter on varsity

Coach Rich Reichert has completed his 31st season at head coach and has won 14 AAA Championships. 

All League: Sean Bryan, Gregory Campisi, Grayson Cherbuino, Julian Chung, Nicholas Greer, Heron Maurisseau-O'Neal, Makhai Murphy, Conor Ryan, Ryan Vahey 

CONGRATULATIONS!!
Sr. Defenseman Grayson Cherubino
Awarded the Joe Thomas Memorial Award for AAA Lineman of the Year

2017 Play of week awards went to
Week 1 Sean Bryn Sr. RB
Week 3 Greg Campisi Jr. QB
Week 5 Grayson Cherbuion Sr. DE
Week 7 Makhai Murphy Jr. CB
Semi Finals Week Robert DeGregorio Sr. PK

Sean Bryan (Sr.); RB – St. Anthony’s Friars Week #1 Player of the week for the
Catholic High School Football League of Metropolitan New York

As a junior, Bryan ran for 467 yards in total; last Saturday, he rushed for more than half of that in a single afternoon, racking up 254 yards and a touchdown in propelling the visiting Friars to a big 35-21, opening season victory over NJ’s Delbarton.  

A lightning bolt in pads, Bryan is so out-of-this world fast that anytime the Green Wave left an inch available to him, he exploited it and exploded for a massive gain….Never was this more true than when after seeing a 14-0 lead at the half get squandered, the 5’8, 180-pound senior took it upon himself to make sure there would be no second comeback effort by their opponents, as he followed up a Delbarton turnover on downs by breaking away on an 81-yard dash with 5:36 remaining in regulation to make the score 35-14 and give his school a nice cushion. 

While it goes without saying that the aforementioned TD blast is probably what hogged much of the headlines the next morning, it was Bryan’s clutch effort all day that should be celebrated.   He as an individual may have only accounted for six of his team’s points.  However, it was his ability to consistently move the chains that served as a catalyst and preserver of many a Friar drive….For instance, even though it was teammates, Greg Campisi and Julian Chung hooking up on a 9-yard TD pass for the first score of the contest, that touchdown would not have been possible if Bryan had not put them on the doorstep with a 65-yard scamper on the second play from scrimmage. 

Perhaps premature and gutsy to put it in official writing, but it is our contention that with the way he can so effortlessly cruise untouched down the field, coupled with a very solid offensive line doing the paving for him, week #1 will be just the first of multiple 200+ yard games for the Gold & Black dynamo.

News 12 Varsity will broadcast the St. Anthony’s vs Archbishop Stepinac football game tonight  Friday, September 15^th at 7:00 pm live on News12Varsity.com and the News 12 Varsity App.

A replay of the game will be available on Channel 614 early next week.
GO FRIARS!

By Newsday Staff

Julian Chung had eight receptions for 129 yards and one touchdown, and added two rushing scores to lead St. Anthony’s over Delbarton, 34-21, in its CHSFL opener Saturday. St. Anthony’s scored 21 unaswered points after Delbarton tied the score at 14 in the third quarter. 

by Justin Walker WBBJ-TV

 http://cdnapi.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/424341/uiconf_id/39732551/entry_id/1_jmath1p6/embed/dynamic

The Friars last won the Catholic High School Football League AAA Championship in 2013
Players who put on a jersey representing St. Anthony's High School know that there's a certain level of expectation that goes along with being a Friar. But it's been four years since the Friars won the Catholic High School Football League AAA Championship in 2013, the final chapter in a era of dominance by the Friars in which they won 11 titles in 13 seasons.

Now, head coach Rich Reichert says he believes he has a team capable of reaching similar heights once more.

"I really like our senior group," Reichert said. "Now it's just a matter of putting stuff together."

"I have all the confidence in the world this team can win it all," Senior linebacker Ryan Vahey said. 

Reichert is in his 31st season at St. Anthony's, but this year, the winningest coach in Suffolk County history is preparing for a daunting first-half of the season, including road trips to Delbarton, Stepinac and Iona Prep.

"Our guys know, the hardest part of the season is right out the gate. It is what it is, we just have to deal with it," Reichert said.

STEPINAC (8-2) VS. ST. ANTHONY’S (9-1)

TONIGHT Saturday, November 18 @ 6PM  Mitchefl Field

NYSSWA Rankings: Stepinac — 11. St. Anthony’s — 8.
Tri-State Rankings: Stepinac — 12. St. Anthony’s — 9

First Meeting

Stepinac 38, St. Anthony’s 19 (9/15/17): The highly-anticipated Week 2 showdown at Stepinac turned into a one-sided affair from the middle of the second quarter on. In a game that streamed live on News 12 Varsity, Michael Nicosia passed for 271 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Shawn Harris. Full Game: Watch Stepinac-St. Anthony’s in its entirety. Highlights: Stepinac 38, St. Anthony’s 19

Road to the Championship

Stepinac: The Crusaders avenged an ugly regular season defeat to Cardinal Hayes by knocking off the reigning champs 13-12 in the semifinal at Rooftop Park. Michael Nicosia threw a touchdown to Alex Thomas and Shawn Harris ran for the winning score as Stepinac’s defense locked down the league’s most explosive passing attack and made a goal line stand in the final minute. Highlights: Stepinac 13, Cardinal Hayes 12

St. Anthony’s: After narrowly defeating Iona Prep in the regular season 14-7, the Friars blew out Iona in the semifinals last Friday, 35-7, in a game that aired live on News 12 Varsity. Sean Bryan ran for three touchdowns as St. Anthony’s recovered three onside kicks in the second quarter alone and blew open a 21-0 lead at the half. Full Game: Watch St. Anthony’s vs Iona Prep. Highlights: St. Anthony’s 35, Iona Prep 7.

Game Breakdown

How Stepinac can win: Stay disciplined on defense, get to Campisi. If the Crusaders learned anything on Saturday it was that no two football games are the same. They gave up 48 points to Hayes in Week 4 and held them to 12 in the second meeting. Well, the roles could be reversed here. Stepinac’s dominance after the opening 15 minutes in Week 2 will be difficult to replicate considering how much St. Anthony’s has improved. The Crusaders’ ability to force Greg Campisi out of the pocket but contain him as a runner is vital. Douglas Simmons had two sacks in the first contest and allowed just 2.4 yards per carry in the ground game.

How St. Anthony’s can win: Don’t let Harris get in space. Two of the best games Stepinac junior Shawn Harris had this season were against St. Anthony’s in Week 2 and last week versus Hayes. With a team handling injuries at key spots, Harris’ emergence means everything to this Crusaders offense. He’s the CHSFL’s reigning Player of the Week and had one of his best games in last year’s final. Harris shines in the spotlight.

How it will play out: St. Anthony’s is one of the best teams in the state in game planning and are especially difficult to beat twice in the same year. Stepinac will likely see different schemes on both sides of the ball. The Crusaders must handle the pass rush well, as they did in the first meeting, and Nicosia (2,262 yards, 24 TDs) needs to deliver the ball quickly, as he did last week against Hayes. The CHSFL final last year was as good of a game as there was in the Tri-State last season and this one could be right up there, as well.

By Gregg Sarra

Junior Greg Campisi is all about efficiency. The St. Anthony’s quarterback uses a quick-strike offense, complete with a high completion percentage and the ability to recognize the blitz and take off on timely runs. His versatility and the balanced attack of the Friars offense is hard to stop.

Campisi completed 26 of 35 passes for 262 yards and added 76 yards rushing and a 30-yard touchdown in a 29-3 win over Chaminade Saturday in a CHSFL AAA game in South Huntington.

The win improved first-place St. Anthony’s to 6-1 and dropped Chaminade to 3-4.

“I use all of my receivers and when no one is open right away and I see a lane, I just take off,” Campisi said. “It’s all in the timing. We’re in a three step drop and throw. And when we’re in rhythm it’s tough to stop.”

St. Anthony’s found its rhythm early in the game. 
Campisi was the orchestrator of an 11-play, 80-yard drive, completing six of six passes for 52 yards before halfback Sean Bryan scored on a 4-yard run. The extra-point kick failed and the Friars led 6-0 with 8:52 left.

Campisi completed three passes each to Conor Ryan and Julian Chung during the march.

“We feel we have superior athletes and have so many ways to score,” Campisi said. “I just have to get them the ball in space.”

St. Anthony’s threatened to add to its lead on its second possession. The Friars drove to the Chaminade 14 where halfback Kyle Angus spun out of a tackle after a 13-yard run and on his second effort, while lunging for the end zone, was hit and fumbled. The ball was recovered by Ryan Pugh for a touchback.

Chaminade then went on a 12-play drive to the St. Anthony’s 21, but linebacker Ryan Vahey sacked quarterback Thomas Rogan for a 9-yard loss to the 30. The Flyers’ Anthony Pecorella attempted a 47-yard field goal and had the distance but hit the right upright.

“That gave us all the momentum,” said Vahey, who had eight tackles and two sacks. “Chaminade always comes ready to play because it’s a huge rivalry. And our defense set the tone for the offense.”

St. Anthony’s opened a two-score lead when Campisi completed five of five passes for 76 yards on a 79-yard march. Chung capped the drive with a 1-yard scoring run for the 12-0 lead with 5:45 left in the half.

Jeremy Miller added a 33-yard field goal to make it 15-0 at the half.

The rugged Friars defense held Chaminade to 44 yards on 27 plays in the first half, forcing five punts and a missed field goal.

“Our defense makes the job easier for our offense,” Campisi said. “Those guys always come up big.”

Pecorella nailed a 40-yard field goal to help the Flyers avoid the shutout midway through the third quarter.

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St. Anthony’s would extend the lead to 29-3 with two touchdowns in a 21-second span of the fourth quarter. The first score came after the defense stopped Chaminade on downs and the second came on a pick-6.

Campisi drove the Friars 77 yards in eight plays for the score. On an option read play, Campisi went around left end, eluded two tacklers, and followed a huge block from Chung, which paved the way for a 30-yard touchdown and a 22-3 lead with 10:29 left.

“The block was awesome, he blew the kid up and made the run easy,” Campisi said. “I was like, wow, when I was running.”

Two plays and 21 seconds later, defensive back Makhai Murphy returned an interception 33 yards for a touchdown for the 29-3 lead.

It was the defense putting the exclamation point on the win.

by Elio Velez on Sat, Oct 7, 2017

Grayson Cherubino counted down the minutes, hours and days since his St. Anthony’s team ended the 2016 football season. 

There was a buzz during practice this week for the anticipated rematch after Cardinal Hayes ended the Friars dreams of winning a CHSFL ‘AAA’ title in the semifinals last November. St. Anthony’s had long memories, but the only way to respond was taking care of business on the road again. 

St. Anthony’s defense starred on Saturday with three interceptions and five sacks to help cool down the Cardinal Hayes offense in a 31-12 victory held at SUNY Maritime in the Bronx. 

“We have been thinking of that since last November. We’ve been working the whole offseason and waiting for this game right here,” Cherubino said. “I’m just glad we came out and executed.”

The Friars defense clamped down a high-powered Cardinals offense that has scored 30 or more points in three games and compiled 50 in a win over St. Peter’s last week. The Bucknell-bound Cherubino had two sacks and linebacker Ryan Vahey had two interceptions as the Friars contained Cardinals quarterback Sofian Massoud and their dangerous playmakers to just 12 points. 

Sean Bryan rushed for three touchdowns as St. Anthony’s (4-1), ranked No. 24 in the News 12 Varsity Tri-State rankings, once again proved itself as road warriors with its third win away from South Huntington. 

“We had this good feeling coming for a long time. We knew everything had to come together at some point and this was the perfect night to do it,” Cherubino said. “On a big stage like this it was awesome.”

St. Anthony’s clearly settled down after an up and down first half. A number of penalties and chances to put points on the board almost went by the wayside until Bryan scored on an 8-yard touchdown run with 2:06 left in the first half to put the visitors up 7-6. 

Cardinal Hayes recovered an onside kick to begin the second half, but it wasn’t long before the Friars defense forced another big turnover. 

Nicholas Lopez tackled Massoud inside the Friars 19-yard line as the ball popped forward in the air. Vahey took the interception down the left sideline untouched and even though he dropped the ball at the 5-yard line, teammate Makhai Murphy recovered for the touchdown for a 14-6 lead. 

Elijah Jones caught his second touchdown of the day on a 27-yard pass for the Cardinals to cut the deficit to 17-12 on the first play of the fourth quarter. The defending ‘AAA’ champions though couldn’t overcome a stout defensive line of Cherubino, Nick Greer, Anthony DePaul and Tyler Perez from causing havoc in the backfield. 

Joel Atuahene was stopped short on a fourth-and-two conversion attempt by the Cardinals inside the Friars 29-yard line in the middle of the fourth quarter. Junior quarterback Greg Campisi, Bryan, Julian Chung and others continued to churn out rushing yardage on the next series that ended with Bryan going untouched on a 17-yard touchdown to make it a 24-12 lead. 

Bryan added his third touchdown with 5:41 remaining to cement Cardinal Hayes (3-1) its first loss of the season and things to work on in the going into next Saturday’s title game rematch in White Plains against Archbishop Stepinac. 

“St. Anthony’s is a great program. They have had a lot of success over the years and we had success against them, but that was last year’s team. This is a whole new ballgame,” Cardinals coach C.J. O’Neil said. “We need a lot of guys to grow up and take leadership responsibilities. Hopefully we continue to get better. We need to have better practices and compete on this level.”

Vahey says the team has responded positively after losing on the road to Stepinac in Week 2 and is glad his Friars return home for the next two weeks against Christ the King and Chaminade. 

"This team has just matured so much. We had three road games the beginning of the year. Unfortunately we dropped one, but now we ‘re coming back and stepping up,” Vahey said. This [game] was huge. I love playing at Cy Donnelly Field and all of our fans coming out.”

By Bob Herzog

7:00 PM GAME TIME vs. Monsignor Farrell
Watch LIVE: on News12Varsity.com or on the N12V iOS app.

Quarterback Jr. Greg Campisi
2017 stats: 50-73, 523 yards, 3 TDs, 28 carries, 174 yards, 3 TDs

Scouting report: by Patrick McCormack 
Monsignor Farrell, ranked No. 6 in New York City by News 12 Varsity, travels to play St. Anthony’s, ranked No. 5 on Long Island by News 12 Varsity, in a battle of two of the top teams in the NYCHSFL ‘AAA.’

Farrell comes into the game with a 3-0 record. The Lions topped Chaminade, 21-17, in Week 3. Mike Regan ran for 71 yards and two touchdowns, and Vin Wagner rushed for 219 yards and a score on 17 carries. Regan punched in a 1-yard touchdown with 1:49 left to put Farrell ahead 21-17.

St. Anthony’s enters the contest with a 2-1 record. The Friars defeated Iona Prep, 14-7, in Week 3. Greg Campisi completed 16-of-26 passes for 145 yards and threw for one score. The quarterback also ran for a touchdown. Heron Maurisseau recorded a 10-yard touchdown catch. St. Anthony’s defeated Iona Prep on the road for the first time since 2010.

Greg Campisi (Jr.); QB – St. Anthony’s Friars

By Matt Diano:?
Fresh off of suffering the first loss as a starter of his varsity career to Stepinac in the second weekend of the 2017 season, Campisi was not always perfect (he threw two interceptions) in his most recent outing last Saturday.   However, like a true leader and money-performer, he was lights out when he needed to be, throwing for one score and running for the game-winner to lead the Friars to a 14-7 win over Iona Prep in the marquee game of week #3. 

A defensive battle where penalties seemed to play a part in derailing multiple drives for both teams, Campisi would complete 16 of his 24 pass attempts for 150 yards….A consummate dual-threat signal caller, the future Harvard lacrosse player also took off with his legs seven times to gain an additional 27 yards….While these numbers may not seem overwhelming at first sight, we caution you to look not at the quantity and instead focus on the quality of his production. 

With this team trailing 7-0 at the time, the junior field general capitalized off of a huge INT return by STA linebacker, Tynan Hillery, hitting star wide-out, Heron Maurisseau-O’Neal with a 10-yard bullet to even the score seven seconds into the 2nd quarter.

Well aware of the stakes and how this game would undoubtedly factor into playoff seeding, both defenses dug deep, keeping the game deadlocked for the next 33 minutes…But alas, someone needed to step up and embrace the hero role and that person was Campisi, who on the final drive of the game made at least three or four plays that preserved the eventual winning march. 

Taking over possession at their own 28 yard line with approximately eight minutes remaining, Campisi’s first game-changing display came a little more than two minutes into the drive when he connected again with Heron Maurisseau-O’Neal on a 38-yard pass to put the Friars in business at the Gaels’ 22-yard line….Three unsuccessful plays that resulted in STA moving seven yards in the wrong direction would set the stage for the greatest of Campisi’s works.   Facing 4th-and-17, Head Coach Rich Reichert elected to pass up a 46-yard field goal attempt and instead put the game in the hands of his 11th grade quarterback.  His faith and confidence was rewarded two-fold as Campisi kept the drive going when he scrambled, cut back, and found a hole, picking up the needed yardage and more to set up a 1st and goal….Having gone above and beyond to move the chains on that priceless and clutch run, it was only fitting that a few snaps later, it was Campisi that posted the game-winner, calling his own number on a QB keeper to plunge the ball across the line from a single yard out.

Through three weeks, Campisi is completing 68.5 percent (50-for-73) of his passes for 523 yards and three touchdowns.   He has added an additional 174 yards and three scores on 28 carries with his legs.

Having already played Stepinac and Iona Prep in back-to-back weeks, St. Anthony’s continues this monster part of their schedule when they faceoff with undefeated Monsignor Farrell under the lights Friday Night on September 29th.