The Battle of the Boulevard took place in Uniondale, Long Island on Friday, September 10 on a cool, breezy night; the perfect setting for the Catholic High School Football League (CHSFL) season opener. The game brought hype from the media, students, parents, and the players themselves.
Approximately three hours before the game, Brendan Stackpole, starting quarterback for the St. Francis Terriers, was walking up and down the field listening to his iPod trying to focus on the game at hand.
“I just think about everything,” he said during part of his usual pre-game ritual. He might have been thinking not just about the game, but also about his father who passed away during the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. His dad, Timothy Stackpole, was a firefighter and also a St. Francis alum. He played for St. Francis Prep football in the 1970s, wearing the now retired jersey number 32. As a family tradition, Stackpole and his relatives, including his brother Terrence, who plays on Prep’s junior varsity football team wearing dad’s number 32, visit ground zero on September 10. However, this year he had a rivalry game to play for his father.
As the sun went down and the game grew closer, the tension and anticipation could be felt on both sidelines and in the packed seats at Mitchell Athletic Complex. Early in the game, both Holy Cross and St. Francis Prep controlled the ball on the ground. Holy Cross drew first blood, kicking a field goal to go up 3-0 in the first quarter.
However, St. Francis’ major weakness, its blocking up front, reared its inexperienced head as the Knights went up 17 points before St. Francis was able to establish their running game.
But when St. Francis did manage to establish the run, it ended up being one of the bright spots in their game. Casey Beaudoin, a 5’6”, 158 pound locomotive, took the ball 13 times for 77 yards. For his part, Stackpole completed 7-of-13 passes for 64 yards and ran for a 1-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Holy Cross continued to mix up their plays and went on to win the game 31-6. Devon Cajuste, leading CHSFL receiver last year, had 99 receiving yards and 76 rushing yards, highlighted by a 63-yard touchdown catch from junior quarterback Yianni Gavalas.
The Knights dominated on both sides of the ball, racking up 498 yards of total offense while stifling the Terriers. Defensively, the Knights swarmed Stackpole and sacked him five times while holding the Terrier offense to six points and 193 total yards.
St. Francis needs to shake off this drubbing quickly if they want to find themselves in contention late in the season. The Terriers will play Mount St. Michael Friday night, September 17.
Meanwhile, Holy Cross plays St. Anthony’s High School live on Cablevision’s MSG Varsity on Friday, September 17 at 7 p.m. The Knights seem to be the team to beat in the CHSFL this year showing a variety of weapons in every part of their game.
They will have their hands full against St. Anthony’s, who defeated them in last year’s CHSFL Class AAA semifinals.
