Stackpole's 2 takeways give Friars title

After St. Anthony's lost its legs and weakened its arm, Tim Stackpole used his head.

In a season spent struggling with injury -- including one to its starting quarterback and two starting running backs -- St. Anthony's, behind a strong defense and a forced fumble by Stackpole, defeated Stepinac, 14-0, to clinch its 10th CHSFL AAA crown in 11 years, Friday night at Mitchel Athletic Complex.

With 3:09 left in the third quarter and with Stepinac on first-and-10 at its own 39, Stackpole, a senior safety, read a reverse and slammed into Vincent Narog headfirst, forcing the fumble, which was picked up midair by Anthony Leggio and returned 61 yards for a 14-0 lead.

"I put my mouth on the ball and it came right out," Stackpole said. "They ran that play three times and that was the only time that guy was close [to me]. We knew simply every play that they were going to run.

"Our coaches have been scouting that play."

It was neither the first nor last time the defense (and specifically Stackpole) helped see St. Anthony's through. Threatening on fourth-and-7 at the St. Anthony's 25, Stepinac quarterback Daniel Hoffer saw the dark side of high risk and high reward. Hoffer tried to connect with Narog in the end zone, passing into double coverage and, thus, right into Stackpole's waiting hands. His return -- a 35-yard jaunt up the left sideline -- helped set up the Friars' first scoring run, a 17-play, 10:11 drive, capped by Anthony Anderson's 1-yard dive with 6:26 to go in the first half.

The first- and second-to-last plays of that drive would be the biggest for St. Anthony's, who kicked it off on Maston Ellerbe's 13-yard carry and later set up Anderson's score on a pitch to Anthony Duggan, who snuck in around left end for a 10-yard gain to the 1-yard line. Duggan led the rushing attack with 64 yards on 13 carries.

The Friars (10-0) complete an undefeated season for the second time in as many years; Stepinac finishes 9-3. The win also helped make a record-breaker out of coach Rich Reichert, who clinched his 211th win, tying him with Bellport's Joe Cipp, Jr.

Not that Reichert, who has coached St. Anthony's for 25 years, was all that concerned with his own accomplishment. "Who cares?" he said, again stressing what his team was able to do with a hobbled offense.

It was perhaps an unlikely year for it for the Friars, who started their third-string quarterback in (rapidly maturing) sophomore Greg Galligan (57 yards on 11 carries). It also lost its two top backs, Dariyan Riley and Brian Sherlock, to season-ending injuries.

The attack was appropriately well-balanced, with Ellerbe amassing 42 yards on six carries and Anderson chipping in 17 carries for 58 yards.

"It was a fight," Reichert said. "It was a fight every game."

For the first half, the fight mostly meant maintain possession. The Friars had the ball for about 15 minutes after Stepinac's 7 minute, 23 second opening drive. The defense was spearheaded by Dylan Cafarella and Pat McHugh, who were twice integral in forcing Stepinac to go three-and-out, once in the second quarter and once in the third.

"We knew every single play they were going to run," Stackpole said, pointing to the coaching staff, who he said would watch tape until midnight. "[We knew] every single time, every play."