Running back Michael Chiarovano and Xavier High School’s offense ground out the hard yards against Fordham Prep in the championship game.
BY JOSEPH STASZEWSKI | Simply the best.
That’s what this year’s Xavier football team ensured it is with a 15-13 victory over rival Fordham Prep in the 92nd annual Turkey Bowl at Aviator Sports Complex, near Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field, on Thanksgiving Day.
The win made this the first Knights club to win 11 games in a season. Add that to a Catholic High School Football League Class AA title and the first four-game Thanksgiving winning streak since 1983-86 and it makes for an impressive résumé. It is one that left no question in Coach Chris Stevens’s mind where the 2015 team ranks in the history of a program that began playing late in the 19th century.
“It’s not maybe. It’s not arguably,” Stevens said. “It’s the best team ever.”
The achievement didn’t come easy. Xavier (11-1) beat Holy Trinity 14-7 in its regular season finale, trailed Kellenberg by a score before winning 29-14 in the quarterfinals, beat St. John the Baptist by just 14-0, and needed a touchdown thanks to a blocked punt late in the fourth quarter to beat Christ the King for the C.H.S.F.L. AA crown. The Chelsea team’s lone defeat came to C.K. on a last-second touchdown pass.
“They got grit, they got moxie and character,” Stevens said. “We find a way.”
The Turkey Bowl was no different.
The Knights needed to withstand one last push from Fordham after the Manhattan squad took a 15-7 lead on a 3-yard touchdown run from Michael Chiarovano with 3:03 to go in the game. The Bronx team engineered a 12-play, 74-yard scoring drive. It ended with a 10-yard touchdown pass from the Rams’ Matt Valecce to Jack Casella with 29 seconds remaining. Valecce (12 of 28 passing, for 80 yards) threw behind Casella on the 2-point conversion, though, and Xavier was able to exhale and celebrate.
“It’s 130 years and we can take on any of those teams,” Chiarovano said. “It’s an amazing accomplishment.”
Things didn’t start as well in this game as they ended, though. Fordham (7-4) led 7-0 at the half and intercepted Xavier twice, including in the end zone in the closing seconds of the second quarter. The Knights finally got on the board when they went 80 yards in 15 plays for a score on the opening drive of the second half.
Chiarovano (41 carries, 157 yards) capped it with a 2-yard touchdown run, but Matthew Lydon’s extra point attempt was no good off the right upright. The Rams still led 7-6. But Lydon, who also had an interception, redeemed himself. He collected an interception and pinned Fordham at its 2-yard line with a punt. The field position led to a key play in the game.
Xavier, like it did most of the game, got pressure on Fordham QB Valecce. Fordham was called for a hold while trying to protect him. It resulted in a safety and an 8-7 lead for Xavier with 9:19 to play in the contest.
The Knights never relinquished the lead and claimed the title of best Xavier team ever. The feat still felt like a dream immediately after the game.
“I think it is going to take a couple of days for me,” said Frank Masella, the game’s most valuable player. “This was my last game with everybody on this team. It’s going to set in in a couple of days. It hasn’t settled in, maybe when I am eating some turkey.”
