By Five Boro Sports
Before he even sat down with his teammates on the Holy Cross football team to break down tape of the next opponent, Terrence Coon knew what to expect from Archbishop Stepinac, thanks to close friend Tristan Akong of rival St. Francis Prep.
The key is Maurice Easterling, as Akong found out the hard way in a Week 6 blowout loss. Shut down the all-purpose junior back from Yonkers and the chances of beating the Crusaders are very good.
Holy Cross did what their Francis Lewis Boulevard rivals could not, shutting down Easterling and rolling to a 31-14 victory Sunday at Bayside Athletic Field.
The Knights led 24-0 at the half and 31-0 until Stepinac (3-4, 2-3 CHSFL ‘AAA’) scored a pair of cosmetic touchdowns in the final 4:44 of the fourth quarter against Holy Cross’ second-string defense.
A week after rushing for 191 yards and scoring four touchdowns in a surprising 42-14 rout of St. Francis Prep, Easterling was held to 36 yards on the ground and kept out of the end zone in a dominating defensive effort by Holy Cross, which improved to 3-4, 2-3.
“We knew he was their go-to guy and that a lot of their plays go through them,” Holy Cross linebacker Travis Quarless said of Easterling. “We tried to get him out of the game and it helped through the whole team.”
Stepinac quarterback Joe Collins threw four interceptions, including one run back by Coon for a 39-yard touchdown late in the second quarter.
“(Easterling) jogged his route,” Coon said. “I was reading him and baited him so when the quarterback looked at him, I just came up and picked him off.”
Holy Cross scored 24 points off of Stepinac’s six turnovers. Nick Lamonaca booted a 32-yard field goal following a fumble recovery by Dale Codrington, Jarred Evans hit Devon Cajuste on a 24-yard touchdown pass set up by an interception by Dean Marlowe and Coon scored on his sixth interception of the season to give the Knights a comfortable 24-0 lead at the half.
After Quarless’ third-quarter interception, defensive end Omohe Uwa got into the action with his team’s fourth pick, which the 6-foot-1, 208-pound senior ran back to the Stepinac 22. Five plays later, Evans, who was picked off three times by Brian Boulhousa, rolled right for a 2-yard touchdown and the Knights were up 31-0 with 8:19 left in the game.
“I saw (the end zone). I tried,” said Uwe, who also sacked Collins in the first quarter. “There was nothing else I could do. I tripped.”
The second-string defense also had some fun – Joseph Kurtz sacked backup Crusaders quarterback Tyrell Goodman and Prince Mingle picked off a pass, although it was called back because of a Holy Cross penalty. Any hopes of a shutout were dashed when Goodman found Randy Perez for a 5-yard touchdown pass. Goodman also threw a touchdown pass to Conor O’Donnell in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter.
“You have to let second string go in, you know?” Quarless said. “We’re a play away from getting out of this game. That’s how we look at it.”
