Seaside’s St. Joseph Anthony Lavezzoli worked on the picture last week, paying close attention to details. While studying St. Peter’s, he tucked away some knowledge and waited for the appropriate time to put it to use.
The Vikings were within one point of tying the Eagles when Christian Carter scored on a quarterback sneak late in the first quarter.
Sea’s holder, Lavezzoli, is a standout defensive defender, and that’s when he recalled the movie job.
“When we watched the movie, we could tell if St. Peter’s was going to rush or play safe (on extra points) because they were weak to one side in some formations,” Lavezzoli explained. We could see they were going to rush on that play, so I assume they were looking for the big play. I got the holder to let me check into an outside zone (rush), and I managed to make it work.
Lavezzoli took a quick break, got to his feet, and ran straight. The Vikings defeated the Eagles 8-7 in the CHSFL AA-1 championship game on Friday at Monsignor Farrell’s Oakwood facility after the senior followed a double-team block to find the end zone and give his side a one-point advantage that, astonishingly, would last the rest of the game.
At the end of the game, Sea running back Tommy DiGregorio (27 for 89 rushing) and linebacker Dean Coscia (eight tackles, 2 TFL, sack) were named offensive and defensive MVPs, respectively, in addition to Lavezzoli, who had an interception and sack. In addition to finishing the season with an 11-2 record after winning eight straight games, head coach Tressor Baptiste’s team won the CHSFL championship for the first time in 20 years.
Sea has avenged its two losses of the season in the past two weeks, including a 22-19 non-league setback to the Eagles in early September and a 13-0 loss to Fordham Prep (21-16 in last week’s quarterfinal).
Baptiste, whose squad held the Eagles to 150 total offensive yards, including 62 after halftime, stated, “It feels great.” We are champions because we concentrated on the process of winning and losing, and we paid attention to the small details. These are the elements we concentrated on, and they helped us win.
We prepare as a team, we train as a team, and we’re simply a family, dude, every day from 3:30 until 6:30. We won this tournament thanks to a collaborative effort, DiGregorio remarked. Everyone had doubts about us, but we are happy to show them that we are champions.
Friday’s 68-yard march, which included quarterback Marco Aruta’s 18-yard touchdown run up the middle, was the best start the No. 2-seeded Eagles (10-3) could have had. With seven minutes and sixteen seconds remaining in the first quarter, Vincenzo Coppola’s extra point put St. Peter’s ahead 7-0.
But before they discovered pay soil, the Vikings followed a similar pattern. DiGregorio set up a third-and-4 from the SP 38 by carrying the ball six times in a row for 27 yards and two first downs. Christian Carter, the quarterback, then located Christian Yue, the receiver, on the right sideline. After escaping two tackles, the junior wide receiver ran all the way to the 1.
Carter decreased SP’s advantage to 7-6 on the following play by following linemen Leo Mantzioros, James Collins, Jullian Criscitiello, Anthony Ferrari, and Hunter Racioppo for a quarterback sneak touchdown.
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With 2:43 left in the first period, Lavezzoli then followed up with his fake off an extra-point try to give the Vikings an 8-7 lead.
“I saw everyone rushing to the middle, expecting a kick, and then it was a two-on-one (on my run),” Lavezzoli remarked. I had a hole in front of me to punch it into, and my blockers produced a beautiful double team.
“I completely supported Lavezzoli’s choice to run the fake,” Baptiste declared. When we lined up and saw what they intended to do, we knew it was theirs, and (Lavezzoli) immediately checked into another play.
“We took it because it was there,” stated Sea’s head coach. We have been doing well throughout the season, which is one of the reasons we are the first seed and defense. Those children can be coached, and they consistently show up and rise to the occasion.
After running back Jeremiah Williams ran 20 yards, quarterback Ryan Vallely found Aruta for a 5-yard gain. Aruta then received the call and rushed up the left edge for a 12-yard gain and first down at the 50. St. Peter’s resumed work right away.
However, Aruta missed much of the remaining half since he suffered a significant sprain to his ankle during the play. After returning to the field in the second half, the three-year varsity player, who contributed to 11 touchdowns in St. Peter’s three postseason games, was never touched again.
Sea’s defense made the most of it, spearheaded by linebackers Joey Moran (5 tackles) and Joe Solla (three tackles, PD), as well as defensive lineman John Munson (4 tackles, TFL, two pressures), Coscia, and Lavezzoli. Early in the second quarter, Lavezzoli intercepted a ball, and the Vikings stopped the Eagles with four straight three-and-outs.
LB, St. Joseph by the Sea In the CHSFL AA-1 Championship game on Friday, November 22, 2024, at DiTommaso Field in Oakwood, Joe Solla intercepts a ball against St. Peter’s. Jason Paderon/Staten Island AdvanceAdvance of Staten Island
It was a field position game that benefitted the Vikings for the majority of the second half.
The ball game will be controlled by two things: According to Baptiste, whose team had a 54-43 lead on plays from scrimmage, that would be the time and field position. Therefore, we want to win both in the field zones and on the clock. We eventually got a grasp of the clock after managing the field zones to some extent.
We punted in order to preserve the field zones, even though there were a few challenging calls.
But defensively, St. Peter’s defense proved up to the challenge, with key plays from cornerback Nicholas Scolaro, defensive back Brody Turnbull, and end Gregory Ajose-Martinez (sack). Martinez and Turnbull’s combined tackle of the always dangerous DiGregorio on fourth down actually put the Eagles in a goal-line stand after they faced a first-and-goal from the two.
SP got the ball back at its own 20 and after Williams gained eight yards on a first-down rush, he took a pass from Vallely along the left sideline and rambled 23 yards to give SP a first down at the Sea 49 with about 3:00 left.
With little over 2:00 remaining, the Vikings’ defense stood firm and forced SP to turn the ball over on downs, partly because of a pass breakup from senior defensive back Damian Aviles.
Three consecutive completions to Williams (27 yards) and a 15-yard penalty for pass interference gave the New Brighton school a first down at the Sea 37 with four ticks left after St. Peter’s got the ball back one last time with 1:17 left.
Anthony D. Acunto, a strong-armed sophomore, was substituted by St. Peter’s for the game’s final play. D Acunto fired a ball to the right part of the end zone after dropping back and rolling right to evade the pressure. But as time ran out, Sea defensive back Matthew Fuentes batted it down, and the Sea won their first CHSFL championship in 20 years.
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NOTES:Sea contained Williams (18 for 62) on the ground, but thespeedy RB led the Eagles with five receptions for 47 yards, giving him a total of 109 yards from scrimmage …Lavezzoli served as a jack-of-all-tradesfor the Vikings, as he not only had the sack and interception, but he made what appeared to be a game-saving tackle during Williams 8-yard carry midway through the final period. Had Williams got by Lavezzoli, he would have been off to the races with nothing but real estate in front of him. Additionally, Lavezzoli carried the ball six times for sixteen yards.Sea had a 100-89 rushing advantage and a 159-150 overall yardage advantage. Both teams finished with nine first downs … Moran led the Vikings with two catches for 13 yards … SP was flagged four times for 35 yards, Sea 10 times for a 100 … Aruta finished with 33 yards on four carries … Sea punter Yue averaged 28.8 yards on five punts.
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