Andrew Bardak stepped to the podium and delivered a spot-on speech. The rugged St. Anthony’s linebacker earned Newsday’s Rich Reichert Award as the CHSFL’s top player this year and now he was accepting another prestigious honor — the Conrad Metzger Top Scholar Athlete from the National Football Foundation at a brunch held Sunday in the Melville Marriott.

Bardak owned the room as he talked about accountability, leadership qualities, all-in hard work and effort, the positive effect of teamwork and responsibility. It was no surprise that the CHSFL's top scholar athlete will attend West Point in the fall.

The Newsday All-Long Island football selection and a state CHSAA wrestling champion will play neither football nor wrestle in college. He will play for the Army’s rugby team.

“As much as I’ll miss those sports, I am looking forward to the next chapter in my life and being a part of the rugby team at West Point,” Bardak said. “I will focus on my education and be the best soldier that I can possibly be.”

Bardak credited the support and guidance of his father, St. Anthony’s football coach Joe Minucci, who also serves as the school’s director of athletics, and the school administration for his success.

“He’s a special student-athlete,” Minucci said. “He’s that once in a lifetime kid that comes through the school and makes a major impact. We’re so proud of him and we look forward to his future success.”

Bardak finished his football season with 65 total tackles, including 11 for a loss, two sacks, an interception, three forced fumbles and one recovery.

The James C. Metzger Suffolk County Chapter recognized co-winners for the Conrad Metzger Top Scholar Athlete Awards. Carson Tessitore of East Islip, who earned the defensive MVP Award in the Long Island Class III championship game, gave an impassioned speech about his family and teammates.

Tessitore carried a weighted average of 104 and scored a 1,380 on his SAT and will play football at Utica College in the fall.

Bellport defensive end Calvin Pedatella shared the top award with a weighted average of 102 and was ranked second in his graduating class. The Clippers captain was also a Newsday All-Long Island selection and will attend Williams College in the fall.

Suffolk also announced its Golden 11, which included Elias Barrett of Half Hollow Hills East, Brian Benson of Floyd, Matthew Bonfanti of Sayville, James Carretta of Mount Sinai, Paul Loguercio of Center Moriches, Dylan Sas of Hauppauge, Liam Villanti of Whitman, Robbie Smith of Huntington, Brenden O’Connor of Lindenhurst, Jonathan Borkowski of Kings Park, Kevin Dolan of Ward Melville, Nicholas Esposito of Deer Park, Luke Filippi of Port Jefferson, Konrad Maciejny of West Islip, Dylan McNaughton of Northport, Cody Miller of Rocky Point, Thomas Stueber of Chaminade and Cole Blatter of Comsewogue.

“We expanded the total of honorees in Suffolk because this group was the most competitive class we’ve ever had,” said Len Genova, the president of the Suffolk chapter of the NFF. “We had so many candidates that met the criteria that we’ve used historically in our 27 years on Long Island. And we didn’t want to leave anyone out.”

The Nassau County Chapter of the National Football Foundation honored the Golden 11 earlier this year. They were Quinn Broggy of Syosset, Liam Farrell of Clarke. Joaquin Llaurado of Floral Park, Ryan Mastropaolo of Island Trees, James McHugh of Seaford, Charlie McKee of Oceanside, Eric Orbon of New Hyde Park, Drew Palladino of Wantagh, Brian Surless of East Meadow, Charles Tauckus of Cold Spring Harbor and Brady West of South Side.

Brendan Staub of Garden City earned the Jay Fiedler Top Scholar Athlete Award in Nassau. The two-time Newsday All-Long Island selection was a captain for the Long Island Class II champions. The two-way star at offensive line and defensive end scored a 36 on his ACT.

Staub, who also earned the Martone Award as Nassau’s top lineman, will attend the Dyson School of Business at Cornell.

St. Anthony's QB Dante Torres holds onto the ball during the semifinal CHSAA football game against Iona Prep in New Rochelle, NY on Nov. 13, 2021.   Credit: Richard Harbus

By Mike Ruiz November 13, 2021 8:07 PM

NEW ROCHELLE, NY – Once running back Frank Ruta finished sharing some words of encouragement with St. Anthony’s quarterback Dante Torres moments after the season came to a difficult close on Saturday night, a sense of understanding permeated the air.

Though the visiting Friars were unable to complete the run to their first league championship game since 2017, it certainly wasn’t due to a lack of eye-popping playmaking ability or late game perseverance.

After finishing off an inspired drive in the waning seconds of regulation, No. 4 St. Anthony’s fell just short against No. 1 Iona Prep in double-overtime, 35-28, in a NYCHSFL Class AAA semifinal.

"We’re that team," said Torres, who completed 25 of 42 passes for 381 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. "We have the skill guys and our chemistry is good. We’re that team. We showed it, but I didn’t do what I needed to do in overtime."

Kenyon Miles was flipped into the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown on 4th and 14 in the first overtime to give St. Anthony’s (6-3) their first lead of the day at 28-21. Iona’s offense came right back with a 5-yard touchdown run from quarterback Ajani Sheppard to tie the score, and remained on the field for the first possession of the second extra period.

An 11-yard play-action run by Sheppard resulted in a go-ahead touchdown and a 35-28 advantage for the Gaels. St. Anthony’s was unable to extend the game, however, as Iona hauled in a difficult interception in the far right corner of the end zone to seal the dramatic victory.

It was the second time this season that St. Anthony’s and Iona went down to the wire, as the Gaels made a tackle at the 2-yard line on a deep completion to seal the first win on Oct. 23, 35-34.

"Coaches did what we needed to do but the kids went out there and made the plays and got themselves back into the game. It shows a lot of heart…this is a group of guys that has matured so much over the past two years and I’m just proud of how they handled themselves."

Trailing 21-7 entering the fourth quarter, St. Anthony’s climbed back behind a pair of touchdown passes from Torres, who scrambled from left to right to find Ruta for a game-tying 11-yard score with five seconds remaining to force overtime. The spectacular play capped off an 80-yard drive that began with 1:46 left.

"Dante is a great quarterback and Frank is a great football player," Minucci said. "We’ve got a lot of good football players out here. They were able to make a play and get us into overtime and unfortunately Iona made the last play."

The Gaels led 14-7 entering halftime before the game endured a 90-minute weather delay as lightning hit the area.

Following the hard-fought loss and encouraging words from Ruta, Torres declared a newfound confidence in his team ahead of his senior season.

"Now, for a fact, I know next year we’re going to win it all," Torres said. "For a fact. I guarantee that we’re going to win it all next year. That’s what I know."

Dante Torres #3, St. Anthony's quarterback, scrambles for yards as Kieran Connolly #6 of Iona Prep forces him out of bounds during the fourth quarter a CHSFL game at St. Anthony's High School on Friday, Oct. 22, 2021. Credit: James Escher

By Roger Rubin October 23, 2021 1:32 PM

Huntington's Heartbreak Kids were at it again on Friday night, and this time St. Anthony's has to have found the most painful way to lose.

Just a couple weekends since the Friars suffered a late collapse at home to lose by four points against Archbishop Stepinac, they came within two yards of knocking off CHSFL-leader Iona Prep at their Cy Donnelly Field. This time the final score was 35-34 and it hurt in so many ways.

St. Anthony’s led by 13 at the half and by 20 with 5:50 left in the third quarter before giving up the final 21 points to come out on the raw end of the decision. Friars quarterback Dante Torres had had an exceptional night but was intercepted by Terrance Walden with 1:44 left in the game to set up the Gaels' go-ahead score.

Then there was the game’s final possession.

St. Anthony’s (4-2, 4-2) took possession after Ajani Sheppard’s 9-yard touchdown run with 54 seconds left and was able to move the ball. The game’s last play was a fourth-and-10 on the Gaels 42, and Torres uncorked a Hail Mary intended for the sure-handed Korey Duff Jr. The pass was just short of the end zone and two defenders got a hand on it before Duff Jr. came down with it, but they brought him down on the Gaels’ 2 to end it.

"This feels terrible," Duff Jr. said. "I thought I might not get to the ball coming back toward it and then somehow I did. But they stopped me short. I came up just short."

The determination to beat Iona Prep – ranked No. 1 in the state according to the NYS Sportswriters Poll – was clear in just about everything St. Anthony was doing. Timmy Longo caught a short pass and dragged several defenders along as he made it a 24-yard gain on a second-and-19 in the second quarter. Michael Leo shed blockers to run down a huge sack. And Andrew Bardak thwarted an Iona drive with a sack, one of his 13 tackles.

"We played better the second half, but I'm going to hand it to coach (Joe) Minucci and St. Anthony’s," Gaels coach Joe Spagnolo said. "They came to play and they out-schemed us. Really, they outplayed us most of the game and are an excellent team.

"I’m glad we won, but you have to think we might see them again."

Said Minucci: ‘It hurts. The only positive takeaway is that it was a regular-season game."

Torres was 23-for-42 passing for 353 yards and four touchdowns, all scored in building a 34-14 lead. He and St. Anthony’s were especially adroit at avoiding Ellis Robinson IV, the Iona sophomore many consider the top blue-chip prospect in the area.

But after Iona Prep cut it to 34-21, St. Anthony’s had three straight three-and-outs while Zyian Moultrie-Goddard was closing the gap to six on an 14-yard TD run with 7:40 to play.

When Torres got picked off by Walden, the Gaels had the ball at their own 47. The first play from scrimmage was a hook-and-lateral to Robinson that went 32 yards and into the red zone. Five plays later Sheppard was back in the end zone with 56 seconds left and Sean O’Neil made the extra point for the lead.

Torres' scores went 30 yards to Darius Morant, 20 to Longo, 5 to Kenyon Miles and 9 to Duff Jr. while Frank Ruta added a 4-yard touchdown run for the Friars . Sheppard was 19-for-25 passing for 193 yards and rushed 25 times for 176 yards and Robinson had an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown for the Gaels.

"For the game to end this way stinks," Torres said. "I still believe we're going to be there at the end because there is too much talent on our team. It’s too bad they just wanted it a little more at the end."

St. Anthony's RB Joshua Escobar tries to get past two Stepinac defenders during the first half of a CHSFL game, Saturday, October 9, 2021 at Huntington. Credit: George A Faella

By Roger Rubin Updated October 9, 2021 6:43 PM

Great start. Horrible ending.

That was the story of St. Anthony’s CHSFL AAA showdown against Archbishop Stepinac on Saturday and it is sure to fuel the Friars through the rest of the month headingleading into the postseason.

St. Anthony’s led by nine with five minutes left in the third quarter and by three with eight minutes left in the game, but ended up suffering a 40-36 loss at the Friars’ Cy Donnelly Field.

St. Anthony’s led 36-33 with 8:00 to play after Frank Ruta scored on a 3-yard plunge and quarterback Dante Torres connected with receiver Kenyon Miles for a two-point conversion. The Friars got a chance to seal the win when linebacker Andrew Bardak ended the ensuing Crusader drive with an interception and return to the Stepinac 30, but they neither closed the deal nor devoured the clock.

SEE PHOTOSPhotos: St. Anthony's vs. Stepinac football

Stepinac (4-2, 4-1) got the ball back on downs with 5:53 remaining, went on a nine-play drive and scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 9-yard run by running back Bryce Davis with 2:25 to play. The last minutes of the game included three turnovers by the two teams, but no points for St. Anthony’s (3-2, 3-1). The Crusaders scored 21 of the last 28 points in the contest.

"We have the talent and we play with the right physicality," Bardak said. "We should be capable of putting it all together. If we focus on cutting down on mistakes — and we made plenty on defense including myself — we’re going to be a very dangerous team by the end of the season."

"We’re not where we need to be yet," Torres said. "If we do more of the little things, outcomes like this will end differently. There is so much potential here."

The potential was clear with St. Anthony’s rolling up 405 yards of total offense with Torres completing 21 of 35 passes for 353 yards and three touchdowns. Nine different receivers had receptions and three had four or more.

But so were the mistakes. Torres threw three interceptions and the offensive line allowed three sacks. The team went 6-for-14 on third down conversions and 1-for-3 on fourth down chances. And Stepinac was able to rush for 123 yards after halftime.

Kejuan Preston rushed for 92 yards and a touchdown, Dae Shawn Allen had TDs on runs of 11 and 7 yards and Serge Lagerdere returned a kickoff 76 yards for a score and caught a touchdown pass for Stepinac.

Korey Duff Jr. had four receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown and recovered a fumble, Jaeden Jenkins and Josh Escobar caught touchdown passes and Bardak had 11 tackles — three for losses — and the interception for the Friars.

"Maybe you have some great individual performances, but the scoreboard tells you the bottom line for the team," St. Anthony’s coach Joe Minucci said. "When you put up 36 and lose, the defense has to do a better job. We all need to get better."

The zaniest play of the game came after Davis’ touchdown put the Crusaders up 40-36. The Friars were looking at a third-and-6 from their own 24 when Torres got picked off by Anthony Afano, but he coughed the ball up returning it and Duff ended up recovering; the Friars ended up with a first down on their own 21 and a second ‘last chance.’

Three plays later Stepinac’s Jack Donahoe intercepted Torres on the Friars last offensive snap.

"They have a lot of weapons, are still at the top of our league and I expect [St. Anthony’s] will be in this thing to the end," Crusaders coach Mike O’Donnell said.

"This is a game we should have won," Duff Jr. said. "We will keep getting better and we will be ready for them in the playoffs."

SEE PHOTOSPhotos: St. Anthony's football vs. Delbarton (N.J.)

Bowers sure enjoyed it, saying, "As a Long Islander, myself, I love to play it because it definitely gets my juices flowing and connects me with my family and friends."

St. Anthony’s quarterback Dante Torres said the Friars need to fix "the little things" after 12 drives didn’t leave a dent on the scoreboard. The junior did go 27-for-37 for 183 yards at the controls of a mostly short passing game.

"It’s going to lead to a lot," Torres said. "Throughout the season, they’re going to start biting, biting, biting, and it’s going to open up the run game and it’s going to open up the deep ball."

Papantonis ran for a 36-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

The Green Wave could have scored more in the first half. The Friars, though, recovered a fumble in the end zone and Dillon Mehta intercepted a Robert Russo pass at the 10.But Papantonis carried the ball in from the 5 in the third quarter.

Russo, who threw for 161 yards, found Nicholas Petrillo over the middle for a 10-yard TD in the fourth.

Bowers said he still had "no doubt" St. Anthony’s will "have a lot of success this year."

The same went for Minucci. The Friars have made 33 straight CHSFL AAA playoff appearances.

"I expect to be competing for the Triple-A championship, league championship, regular-season championship," Minucci said. "I have high expectations for this group."

Watch 2021 game highlights by MaxPreps

https://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/st-anthonys-friars-(melville,ny)/football/videos.htm