Athlete of Week: St. Anthony’s Greg Campisi
St. Anthony's Gregory Campisi #11 warms up prior to the start of the game against Delbarton at St. Anthony's High School in Huntington NY on Sept 7, 2018. Credit: Daniel De Mato
Greg Campisi is a boss. St. Anthony’s senior quarterback, in his third year of varsity ball, has been given the reigns to the Friars season.
“We give him a lot of freedom,” said St. Anthony’s coach Rich Reichert. “There’s a lot of trust in a guy like Greg because we know he understands our system and what we’re trying to accomplish. He’s a natural leader and a winner.”
Campisi completed 11 of 18 passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns Friday night as St. Anthony’s rolled past New Jersey powerhouse Delbarton, 34-17, in a non-league opener. His touchdown passes covered quite a bit of ground. His scoring tosses went for 76, 66 and 82 yards.
For his accomplishment, Campisi was named the Newsday Athlete of the Week.
“I think he played a great game,” Reichert said “It was all big plays. And he’s definitely the player and the leader we thought he would be. We’re going to go as far as he takes us.”
On the Friars first possession, Campisi went play-action, read the linebacker, who committed to the run and dumped a short pass over his head to a wide-open Kyle Angus for a 76-yard touchdown and a 12-0 lead. He bulled in on the two-point conversion run to make it 14-0.
“It just makes it a lot easier to coach when you have a quarterback that the team respects and follows,” Reichert said. “He’s really the catalyst for this team.”
Campisi, a dual threat on the football field, is also an outstanding lacrosse player. He will play lacrosse at Harvard next fall.
He showed his athleticism on multiple plays in the home opener. He extended plays avoiding the rush. He wiggled his way through the Delbarton defense for yards after contact. And his decision making was spot on.
“That’s the nice part about him,” Reichert said. “He makes things happen.”
Every time Delbarton threatened to get back into the game there was Campisi making sure the Friars stayed on top.
He fired a long pass to a streaking Daniel Parker for a 66-yard second quarter scoring pass for a 20-10 halftime lead and then added an 82-yard play-action beauty to speedster Makhai Murphy in the fourth quarter to seal the scoring.
Each time Delbarton scored a touchdown to get within two scores, there was Campisi leading his team back to the end zone to extend the lead.
That’s what winners do.
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
