Stepinac State Champions, 42-28 over St. Francis

Too be honest, the game was not as well-played as the game last week between Stepinac and Cardinal Hayes (both games were on msgvarsity.com) which Stepinac won 20-12. There were multiple turnovers by both Stepinac and St. Francis. But Stepinac held it's nerve and deserved to win. There are some highlights here.

Game was played outside Buffalo. Stepinac saw a 28-0 lead shrink to 35-28, but came good in the end.

Tyquell Fields said his ankle felt “horrible” after the game, but he limped off the field a state champion.

The Archbishop Stepinac senior quarterback threw four touchdown passes as the Crusaders secured their first CHSAA championship with a 42-28 win over St. Francis on Saturday at dreary Gene Masters Field.

A high ankle sprain suffered in the CHSFL title game kept Fields in the pocket and limited his ability to plant on throws, but senior T.J. Morrison (nine catches, 200 yards) caught three of Fields’ four TD passes and added a fourth on a halfback pass from Antonio Giannico to lead the Crusaders’ offensive attack.

 

The 6-foot-3 senior, playing through a badly ankle sprain suffered in last week’s NYCHSFL championship win over Hayes, completed 17 of 28 passes for 243 yards and four touchdowns.

T.J. Morrison had four touchdown grabs, including one on a halfback pass from Antonio Giannico. Morrison finished with 10 catches for 209 yards for Stepinac, which finishes the season unbeaten after falling in last year’s inaugural state title game to Canisius (Buffalo).

- See more at: http://www.msgvarsity.com/the-empire-stepinac-wins-state-title-1.1755705#sthash.92p5dzXj.dpuf...

The 6-foot-3 senior, playing through a badly ankle sprain suffered in last week’s NYCHSFL championship win over Hayes, completed 17 of 28 passes for 243 yards and four touchdowns.

T.J. Morrison had four touchdown grabs, including one on a halfback pass from Antonio Giannico. Morrison finished with 10 catches for 209 yards for Stepinac, which finishes the season unbeaten after falling in last year’s inaugural state title game to Canisius (Buffalo).

- See more at: http://www.msgvarsity.com/the-empire-stepinac-wins-state-title-1.1755705#sthash.92p5dzXj

The 6-foot-3 senior, playing through a badly ankle sprain suffered in last week’s NYCHSFL championship win over Hayes, completed 17 of 28 passes for 243 yards and four touchdowns.

T.J. Morrison had four touchdown grabs, including one on a halfback pass from Antonio Giannico. Morrison finished with 10 catches for 209 yards for Stepinac, which finishes the season unbeaten after falling in last year’s inaugural state title game to Canisius (Buffalo).

- See more at: http://www.msgvarsity.com/the-empire-stepinac-wins-state-title-1.1755705#sthash.92p5dzXj.dpuf

The 6-foot-3 senior, playing through a badly ankle sprain suffered in last week’s NYCHSFL championship win over Hayes, completed 17 of 28 passes for 243 yards and four touchdowns.

T.J. Morrison had four touchdown grabs, including one on a halfback pass from Antonio Giannico. Morrison finished with 10 catches for 209 yards for Stepinac, which finishes the season unbeaten after falling in last year’s inaugural state title game to Canisius (Buffalo).

- See more at: http://www.msgvarsity.com/the-empire-stepinac-wins-state-title-1.1755705#sthash.92p5dzXj.dpuf

The 6-foot-3 senior, playing through a badly ankle sprain suffered in last week’s NYCHSFL championship win over Hayes, completed 17 of 28 passes for 243 yards and four touchdowns.

T.J. Morrison had four touchdown grabs, including one on a halfback pass from Antonio Giannico. Morrison finished with 10 catches for 209 yards for Stepinac, which finishes the season unbeaten after falling in last year’s inaugural state title game to Canisius (Buffalo).

- See more at: http://www.msgvarsity.com/the-empire-stepinac-wins-state-title-1.1755705#sthash.92p5dzXj.dpuf

Comments

[Sweat]

Congrats to the Crusaders! I knew they'd do it. I can tell you this; ISIS is not going to be very happy when they hear the Crusaders have won. But I'm sure that somewhere Timmy is smiling!!!

GO HERE >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04854XqcfCY

- Sweat....................

[tom faranda]

Heh. heh. Queen...

[jc]

I'm confident Stepinac would have converted a couple of those missed red zone opportunities into TDs and broken St Francis early if Fields had been healthy.The QB run option is a big piece of the Step playbook.

It's the only Step game I've seen the past two years with sloppy tackling. I think they missed Jay Howell!

[jc]

It was nice to see senior team leaders like Fields, Morrison,Negron and Koonce go out with big games. They all should be all county - also Harris, Celaj, Crawford, DeLaCruz, Howell and Jesse Brown. But I'm sure there will be political decisions to limit the number of Step players as all county and the JRs will have to wait.

Melendez has been a 2 year starter and was the only lineman to play both ways and I think was an unsung star. Step was short at DT all year and I don't think they would have been undefeated without Gene Brown.

[Bob Wintermeier]

Thanks for posting your info. I'm sending it to Steve who played St. Francis years ago. They were the cause of his knee injury. He'll love to know that the Crusaders won!

[tom faranda]

Bob, say hi to Steve! This would be St. Francis upstate, not the NY St. Francis.

[jc]

Here's a big cheer for the members of the Stepinac Board and Foundation, who not only provided the resources for the football team to succeed, they engineered a renaissance for the school in the past five years. Independence for the school brought with it their wisdom, experience and enthusiasm to help the school excel.

[jc]

Leroy Tucker is enrolling in Step class of 2020, he played in 8th grade AYF national all star game so I think Stepinac will be have another marquee player in the coming years. The Winston brothers transferred from WPHS and should have an immediate impact this fall.

[jc]

Looks like Joe Spagnolo's first step as Iona Prep head coach, after 10 years coaching at Stepinac, is to pirate Step star frosh QB Derek Robertson. This is IP modus operandi, they did the same thing with Quaadir Sheppard who was a star at Mt St Michael.

[jc]

Jon Gomez all conf RB as a soph st Sleepy Hollow will be playing his SR at Step after missing JR yr with injuries.Step RB duo of Antonio Giannico and Gomez could be best in NYS.

Sleepy Hollow’s chances of taking home the Section 1 Class A championship hinge on the powerful legs of sophomore sensation Jonathan Gomez. The 5-foot-9, 195-pounder is a game-changing offensive weapon and arguably the best all-around running back at the Class A level.

In Saturday’s sectional quarterfinal matchup against visiting John Jay-Cross River, Headless Horsemen coach Steve Borys unleashed the beast that is Jonathan Gomez.

Gomez carried the ball a career-high 24 times for 114 yards and two touchdowns as Sleepy Hollow (6-2) defeated the Indians, 27-14, in a game many predicted them to lose. The Horsemen will travel to take on Yorktown in the semifinals on Halloween night at 7 p.m.

“(Gomez) is a very tough kid and he’s built like a Dominican God,” Borys said. “He runs people over and we love him. We are happy that he’s on our team.”

Gomez entered the day averaging roughly 13 carries a game, however, the Horsemen fed him more in an effort to control the clock and keep John Jay-CR’s high-powered offense off the field.

“Coach told me to be prepared for that,” said Gomez, who has racked up 838 rushing yards and nine total touchdowns on the year.

[jc]

Phil Treglia, new Step offensive coach, (mentioned in article) is IP grad and replaces Joe Spagnolo who is IP head coach now. Treglia was Westchester coach of year at Hackley and was the supposed favorite to replace Vic Quirolo at IP. Quirolo is Step grad who I think was squeezed out after one bad year at IP.

Step picked up three all county caliber transfers this year, Gomez and the Winston brothers from WPHS, and I think a couple more are coming. The 2016 team could be the most talented team ever at Stepinac, maybe ever in Westchester county.
http://www.lohud.com/story/sports/high-school/lohud-varsity-insider/2016/06/11/talented-transfer-poised-make-impact-stepinac/85558830/

[jc]

Mike Cherico, incumbent Step senior QB, transferred to Harrison. Lohud was apoplectic about talented transfers from public HS to Catholic HS, said they threatened HS sports, wonder how they feel about the reverse.

Very talented Step team starts season with two JR QBs without any varsity experience. Tyler Winston a transfer from WPHS looks like he has a lot of potential.

Sean Cousins RB, who played in national HS 8 grade all star game, is first Step frosh ever on varsity. Step has a half dozen excellent RBs