Stepinac Routs Chaminade, 42-7, to Start the Season 2-0
If there was any doubt regarding the objective of the Stepinac varsity football team this season; senior quarterback Joey Carino made it quite clear after Stepinac trounced Chaminade, 42-7, in Mineola, on Saturday.
“It is just another State Championship and we have another State Championship next week against St. Peter’s,” commented Carino. When asked for an explanation, Carino clarified. “We are taking every game this season as if it is a State Championship.”
Stepinac is the defending NYS CHSAA Football Champions. And on Saturday, they surely performed against Chaminade, as if a State Championship was at stake. The game was practically decided in the first quarter when the Crusaders scored 21 unanswered points on three touchdown passes thrown by Carino.
Stepinac’s first drive of the game was spared by a rare official’s call of two penalties being marked off, one on each side. Stepinac was called for an illegal pass, which penalized them five yards and loss of down. Meaning it would have been fourth down and long on the Flyers 42 yard-line, which would have certainly been punting conditions for Stepinac.
However, the Flyers were called, among all things, for a late hit on their defense. Therefore, after the five yards were marked off against the Crusaders; then fifteen yards was marked off against the Flyers, which gave Stepinac a first down on the 27-yard line of the Flyers.
Carino thanked the Flyers by hitting wide receiver Myles Walker with a 22-yard touchdown pass to start the scoring in the game. Two minutes and thirty seconds later speedster Quentin McCauley waved his hand in the open field and Carino hit him with a 34-yard TD pass.
The Crusaders capitalized on another miscue by the Flyers when cornerback Malyke Davis forced Flyers punter Donovan Wood to run for the first down. Wood was unsuccessful and the Crusaders took over on the Flyers 26-yard line.
Then with 2:09 left in the first half, while facing a fourth down and long, Carino found McCauley waving his hand again for a 19-yard touchdown.
The Crusaders had a commanding 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. However, the game wasn’t broken open until the second quarter when White Plains resident Nazir Hibbert decided to put his speed on display. Hibbert cut across the middle to catch a short pass from Carino and dashed into the end zone leaving all Flyers defenders behind.
“Nazir is the fastest guy on the team. He is also the New York State Catholic High School Champion in the high jump. He is an outstanding athlete,” revealed Head Coach Mike O’Donnell.
At 7:58 of the third quarter when running back Jayden Jenkins scored the Crusaders only rushing touchdown in the game, the scoreboard read 42-0 for Stepinac. At 4:16 in the third quarter, Flyers fans finally had something to cheer about when quarterback Ryan Walsh hit Wood for a 60-yard pass-and run touchdown.
This game was a far contrast from last year’s meeting between the two CHSFL AAA rivals. Last season, the Flyers visited White Plains on Oct. 6 and handed the Crusaders a 13-7 defeat on their home turf in the Joseph R. Riverso Game.
This season Stepinac dominated the game behind five touchdown passes form Carino. McCauley caught three touchdowns, including a four-yard pass with 22 seconds remaining in the first half. Walker had one touchdown reception and just missed another after getting stopped on the one yard line after a 49-yard reception. Hibbert caught the remaining TD.
Despite the speed and agility of the Crusaders receivers, it was the improvement of the pass blocking by the offensive line this week, which was really the difference in the game.
“The offensive line did a great job giving Joey time to pass. Last game we had some trouble with the pressure, so we work a lot on that during practice. They did a good job keeping Joey standing up,” evaluated O’Donnell.
The offensive line also blocked well for placekicker junior Enda Kirby who converted on all six extra point attempts. Kirby has been successful on 10-of-11 PATs the past two games.
The Crusaders begin their home schedule next week when they meet St. Peter’s, on Saturday, Sept. 21, at 1:30 p.m. at Stepinac.
