Archbishop Stepinac and St. Anthony squared off in some playoff action on Saturday, but Archbishop Stepinac had to settle for second. They took a blow against the St. Anthony's Friars, falling 50-14. While losing is never fun, the Crusaders can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New York football rankings (they are ranked 47th, while the Friars are ranked third).
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead St. Anthony's to victory, but perhaps none more so than Gary Merrill, who rushed for 124 yards and three touchdowns on only 13 carries, and also threw for 99 yards and a touchdown while completing 75% of his passes. Merrill's rushing production has been exceptional for a while as that marked his ninth straight game with at least 116 rushing yards. Xavier Bala was another major influence, as he rushed for 127 yards and ran in a TD.
Archbishop Stepinac's defeat dropped their record down to 1-10. As for St. Anthony's, the victory (which was their fifth in a row) raised their record to 8-3.
Archbishop Stepinac does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for St. Anthony's, they will take on Cardinal Hayes at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. St. Anthony's is on a four-game streak of home wins, Cardinal Hayes a five-game streak of away wins -- so someone will have to leave a streak behind on the field.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
