Football Preview: Archbishop Stepinac Crusaders vs. St. Anthony's Friars
The Archbishop Stepinac Crusaders will venture away from home to square off against the St. Anthony's Friars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Archbishop Stepinac will come in still looking for their first win of the season.
Archbishop Stepinac is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New York's top teams: Iona Prep, who was ranked first in their home state at the time (Archbishop Stepinac was ranked sixth). Archbishop Stepinac took a blow against Iona Prep on Saturday, falling 43-13.
Zaire Spellman put forth a good effort for the losing side as he picked up 88 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, St. Anthony's game on Friday was all tied up 14-14 at the half, but luckily for them it didn't stay that way. They walked away with a 35-27 win over Monsignor Farrell. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Friars considering their ten-point performance the contest before.
Gary Merrill continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 168 yards and three touchdowns, while also throwing for 226 yards and two touchdowns. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in September of 2023. A healthy portion of that aerial production (105 yards to be exact) went to Will Hart, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, St. Anthony's was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 246 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 174 rushing yards in three consecutive games.
Archbishop Stepinac's loss dropped their record down to 0-4. As for St. Anthony's, the victory got them back to even at 2-2.
Archbishop Stepinac took their win against St. Anthony's in their previous meeting back in October of 2023 by a conclusive 56-35. The rematch might be a little tougher for Archbishop Stepinac since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
