Stepinac Stifles Chaminade Comeback

The Dial-a-Down on may have read that it was fourth and impossibly long, but in actuality for the Chaminade Flyers Saturday afternoon against Stepinac it was fourth and goal, the chains stretching from the endzone to the 40 yard line. Quarterback Joe Anile sent the ball spiraling into the air down the field as numbers the right hand side of the scoreboard clock became a blur.

In less than 40 seconds the Flyers and the alumni in attendance had experienced the full range of emotions. They had seen FB Kelven Urena literally leap over the Crusader defenders, batting a punt down to smother it on the turf at the 19 and setting the Flyer sideline off in a jumping mass of Crimson and Gold and setting up the final drive.

After getting sacked, taking a holding penalty and under pressure Anile had hit WR Thomas Zenker for the completion, sailing 32 yards up the field to the eight as the junior’s feet hit the turf. Joaquin Spencer had other plans, the Stepinac senior DB lassoing the Chaminade junior’s leg while LB Vincent Narog delivered the finishing blow.

“I was hoping (Zenker) could have grabbed it and spun out of it and make a play,” Chaminade head coach Stephen Boyd said.

For the Crusaders, the 28-20 victory was a series of firsts: the first time they had beaten the Flyers since 1967 and their first as a Triple-A team. The victory also extended Stepinac’s win streak to 14, going back to last year when they took the ‘AA’ title from Iona.

“They’re a good football team but we made too many mistakes early in the game,” Boyd said, referring to the man coverage employed in the first half. “When you’ve got your backs turned to the football and a big run breaks, you don’t have any help.”

Chaminade had incurred a pair of penalties on the opening drive, including a recovered fumble from junior RB Matthew Correa. It would not be the last time the Flyers hurt their own cause, turning over the ball on a punt return from RB Ed Tigh in the second, a fumble by RB John Desepoli and Anile being picked off by Spencer.

Down 28-7 in the third, Desepoli capped a nine-play 57-yard drive with a run into the endzone from 9 yards out to give Chaminade its second score of the game.

“Our kids played their hearts out and I’m proud of them but we’ve got to fix those mistakes,” Boyd said.

The Crusader defense the senior RB to 63 yards total, and stopped three long Flyer drives, two of them in the red zone.

Meanwhile Stepinac’s offense wore out the Flyers in the first on a 13 play drive that saw a field goal kick sail wide. Following a three and out punt from the Flyers, the Crusaders let junior QB Mark White loose up the field for a 48-yard TD run to start the second. White struck again in the second, hitting WR Vincent Narog for a 28 yard TD reception. Stepinac would score again on a three play drive when senior FB Caleb Gilligan Evans would carry it into the end zone from 2 yards out.