vs
| 11/09/24 - Home | 50-14 W |
| 09/27/24 - Home | 35-6 W |
| 10/27/23 - Away | 35-56 L |
| 10/28/22 - Away | 27-21 W |
| 10/09/21 - Home | 36-40 L |
| + 5 more games |
St. Anthony and Archbishop Stepinac are an even 5-5 against one another since September of 2017, but not for long. The Friars will square off against the Crusaders at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. St. Anthony's knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 31 points or more in their past three matchups -- so hopefully Archbishop Stepinac likes a good challenge.
St. Anthony's is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New York's top teams: Chaminade, who was ranked 13th at the time (St. Anthony's was ranked fourth). The Friars strolled past the Flyers with points to spare on Saturday, taking the game 33-19. The Friars pushed the score to 26-3 by the end of the third, a deficit the Flyers cut but never quite recovered from.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Stepinac entered their tilt with Kellenberg Memorial on Saturday with three consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with four. They enjoyed a cozy 21-7 win over the Firebirds. 21 seems to be a good number for the Crusaders as the team scooped up a victory with the same number of points in their previous game.
St. Anthony's better keep an eye on Xaidan Brand. He was instrumental in Archbishop Stepinac's win, rushing for 100 yards and one TD on only nine carries. Those 100 rushing yards gave Brand a new career-high. Archbishop Stepinac also got help from Nicholas Harrison, who showed off his sure hands for 80 receiving yards.
Archbishop Stepinac was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 246 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Archbishop Stepinac's defense made their presence known, laying out Daniel Licari six times. Ka'Mauri Guinyard was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up two sacks himself. Archbishop Stepinac is undefeated when Guinyard posts one or more sacks, but 1-2 otherwise. The Crusaders got some further help from Nieem Hardy: he made 12 total tackles and defended one pass.
The win got St. Anthony's back to even at 4-4. As for Archbishop Stepinac, their record is now 6-2.
Everything came up roses for St. Anthony's against Archbishop Stepinac in their previous meeting back in November of 2024, as the squad secured a 50-14 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was the Crusaders' John Smith, who rushed for 70 yards and a pair of scores on only seven carries. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will the Friars still be able to contain Smith? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
