Pep Rally Pumps Up Friars To Homecoming Victory

By Andrew Wroblewski

awroblewski@longislandergroup.com

The Friars raise their helmets Friday night. They defeated visiting Chaminade 45-17 on homecoming day.

After a pep rally saw thousands of St. Anthony’s students flood the school’s gym with homecoming spirit Friday afternoon, the Friars undefeated football team responded with a decisive 45-17 victory over Chaminade that night.

St. Anthony’s (5-0) was led by touchdowns from running back Jordan Williams and quarterback Tom Walsh, both seniors. Williams leads in rushing for Long Island private-school play this season, while Walsh leads in passing touchdowns.

Williams ran for his seventh and eight touchdowns in 2015 to keep pace with St. John the Baptist’s Jerome Brooks, while Walsh threw for his fifth and sixth touchdowns to find himself in a tie with Long Island Lutheran’s Josh Fogg.

The performances helped the Friars jump out to a 24-3 lead over Chaminade (0-5) come halftime. From there, St. Anthony’s added three more scores to maintain its lead while keeping Chaminade mostly at bay.

James Pryor, a senior wide receiver, caught five passes for 96 yards and a touchdown. Along with two extra points, kicker Claudio Robiglio also added a 29-yard field goal in the first quarter.

On defense, the Friars forced three fumbles. Two of them were recovered by senior Frank Sotomayor and other was picked up by junior Dan Lord.

Hours earlier, during a pep rally, the Friars filled the St. Anthony’s gym with white, black and gold. Performances by the Friars cheerleaders, kickline team, step team and more rallied the crowd and all of the school’s fall sports teams were introduced to waves of applause.

To cap the celebration off, St. Anthony’s named Mesut Yang and Charlotte Campbell as its homecoming king and queen. The remaining finalists in the homecoming court were Takanari Ebisu, Daniel Gude, Patrick Kennedy, Brian McNulty, Stephanie Browne, Amber Mahoney, Nicolette McLean and Summer Porsche.

As for the football team, St. Anthony’s prepares for a trip to Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains on Saturday when they’ll meet the also undefeated Crusaders. Stepinac (5-0) is coming off a 43-21 homecoming win of its own over Cardinal Hayes. The Friars and Crusaders are scheduled to kickoff at 1:30 p.m.