St. Anthony's Rallies Past Iona Prep, 28-20

St. Anthony's scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns to close out the regular season unbeaten and storm past Iona Prep, 28-20, in a CHSFL football game on Saturday in New Rochelle.

The Friars (8-0 overall, 7-0 CHSFL) rushed for more than 200 yards, led by Brian Sherlock (80 yards and touchdown) and Dariyan Riley (58 yards and a score). Riley's 3-yard scoring run at the start of the fourth quarter put the Friars in front, 15-14.  It kicked off a scoring deluge that put the game away. Quarterback Charlie Raffa managed the game and hit wideout Brian Kensil to convert big third downs.

Iona Prep (6-2) got a pair of first-half touchdowns from dynamic junior running back Sidney Weston to lead 14-6. Iona Prep knocked off the Friars in the 2008 CHSFL title game. But the Westchester school couldn't deliver the knockout blow on Saturday. Now the Friars enter the playoffs as the top seed and with a home field edge.

Hero: Put the spotlight on the St. Anthony's defense. Middle linebacker Tyler McLees led the team with 9 tackles and defensive tackle Pat McHugh had a big day up front with 8 stops.

But the biggest contribution came early in the fourth quarter when defensive end Bryan Rhodes scooped up a fumble and rumbled 15 yards for a Friars touchdown and 21-14 lead. The Friars also stripped a ball in the red zone in the third quarter, killing an Iona Prep drive.

Turning Point: After a sluggish start on the road and surrendering 14 straight points, the Friars got a big lift heading into halftime when junior James Doktor nailed a 45-yard field goal. Doktor, who missed a game after hurting his wrist against Farrell, has gotten better as the season has progressed. But this was a high point by any measure.

"The field goal right before halftime gave us a lot of momentum," St. Anthony's coach Rich Reichert said. "[Doktor] is doing a great job. He's got a good leg – and that [distance] was pushing it. He made it by 2-3 yards. He's only a junior.''

Quotable: "We made some great adjustments on defense at halftime," said Reichert, who earned career win No. 198. "And that made the difference.''

Bottom Line:  The Friars are on pace to reach the CHSFL Class AAA title game for the 12th straight season. That's quite a feat. This team had a lot of talent but not much experience when the season started in Pennsylvania, not to mention just three home games. It would have been a tall order for any other program to reload the way the Friars have. The veteran coaching staff brought players along slowly and kept the playbook simple. Now St. Anthony's has playmakers on both sides of the ball and an improving special teams. These Friars will be tough to stop in the postseason.

Key Stat: Iona Prep and its prolific offense is the second-highest scoring unit – after the Friars – in the CHSFL AAA division. After surrendering 14 first-quarter points to the dangerous Weston, the Friars buckled down on defense and pitched a shutout until the final play of the game.

Who's Next: CHSFL Class AAA quarterfinal No. 8 seed (possibly Farrell or Mount St. Michael) @ St. Anthony's, Saturday, 7 p.m.

CHSFL

Teams……………..1…..2…..3…..4 – F

St. Anthony's……6…..3…..0…19 –28

Iona Prep………14…..0…..0…..6 – 20

SA – Kensil 20 pass from Raffa (kick failed)

IP – Weston 5 run (Kapp kick)

IP – Weston 40 pass from Perley (Kapp kick)

SA – Doktor 45 FG

SA – Riley 3 run (conversion failed)

SA – Rhodes 15 fumble recovery (conversion failed)

SA – Sherlock 11 run (Doktor kick)

IP – Stillwagon 20 pass from Perley (no attempt)