By Dylan Butler
Dom Laurendi didn’t need a second opinion, but the Xaverian football coach got one anyway.
Trailing St. Francis Prep 21-20 with 2:40 left in the fourth quarter, Laurendi immediately decided to go for the two-point conversion after Henry Edwards’ 67-yard touchdown reception, especially with starting kicker Calagero Carollo out sick.
He called a timeout to talk it over with his team and what he got from quarterback Craig Cantelmo and the Clippers was a resounding answer: “We came here to win.”
Mohamed Bangoura easily ran in the two-point conversion for Xaverian, which rallied from a 14-0 third-quarter deficit to defeat the Terriers, 22-21, at St. John’s University Sunday.
“I asked the kids if they wanted to go for two and they all said yes,” said Laurendi, whose team improves to 2-0. “They pushed me. Plus our offensive line does a great job. Sometimes you have to listen to the youth of America.”
After a scoreless first half, St. Francis Prep (1-1) scored the first touchdown of the game with 8:13 left in the third quarter when quarterback Peter Mazzurco hit tight end Mark Burik from 15 yards out on third down. Mazzurco kicked the extra point to put the Terriers ahead, 7-0.
Xaverian gift wrapped St. Francis Prep’s next score when the ball sailed way over 5-foot-6 Peter Favalaro’s head, who was in punt formation at the Clippers 20, and bounced to the five where Max Badette picked it up and easily ran into the end zone to give the Terriers a 14-0 lead with 6:02 left in the third quarter.
Even after Bangoura, who rushed for a game-high 155 yards on 16 carries, cut Xaverian’s deficit to 14-7 on a 60-yard run with 4:56 left in the third quarter, the Clippers continued to shoot themselves in the foot.
A pair of pass interference penalties, including one on third and nine from the St. Francis 31, led to Michael Conigliaro’s three-yard touchdown run to put the Terriers ahead, 20-7 with 11:28 left in the fourth quarter.
Mazzurco was set to boot the extra point, but holder John Fini fumbled the snap. The miscue would come back to hurt the Terriers.
“Mental mistakes is the reason we lost this game,” said Mazzurco, who was 8-for-18 for 133 yards and missed a 47-yard field goal attempt at the end of the first half. “We beat ourselves.”
“This league is very competitive and anytime you miss an opportunity to give yourself an edge, many times it comes back to haunt you later,” said St. Francis Prep coach Vince O’Connor. “It makes you play a little differently.”
Trailing by 13 points, Xaverian was forced to abandon its running game, which it went to almost exclusively to that point. Cantelmo, who hit Jarrett Henderson for a 30-yard completion earlier in the drive, found Edwards just inside the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown reception.
Favalaro missed the extra point though, and the Clippers trailed 20-13 with 7:49 left in the fourth quarter.
After holding the Terriers to three and out, Xaverian took over on its own 15 with 5:08 left in regulation. Four plays later, Laurendi called for a brand new formation, which featured double wide outs. The call proved brilliant as Cantelmo found a wide open Edwards at the St. Francis Prep 40. Edwards rushed into the end zone for a 67-yard score.
“I knew our receivers would get a lot of attention and I just wanted to isolate Henry or [James] McCourt,” Laurendi said. “This was a tremendous mental victory for us.”
“We missed the coverage,” O’Connor said. “He’s a good receiver, he caught the ball on the fly.”
St. Francis Prep travels to Staten Island to take on Monsignor Farrell (1-1), which fell to St. Anthony’s 31-13, Saturday at 7 p.m., while Xaverian faces Kellenberg.
Holy Cross 21. Cardinal Hayes 7. The Holy Cross Knights ran for 287 yards against an out-gunned Hayes squad en route to the team’s first win of the season. Shawn Stewart led the charge with 140 yards on eight carries, including a 63-yard score. Quarterback Dan Meara ran for two one-yard touchdowns, Paul Jennings added 64 yards and Devereaux Leget had 51. Defensively, Travis Briggins had two interceptions and Jonathan Isaac added one. Cross, now 1-1, will host Moore Catholic Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point.
Stepinac 36, Christ the King 29. The CK Royals lost a heartbreaker to Stepinac when Wendell Barbour hooked up with Griffin Nugent late in the fourth quarter for the deciding points. The game saw four lead changes in the final quarter. Christ the King falls to 0-2 with the loss. the Royals will take on the Chaminade Flyers Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Hofstra University.
— Anthony Bosco contributed to this story
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
