GYFL championship week highlights
BANTAMS CRUSHERS 26, GENERALS 13
The Crushers capped off a perfect season to win the Bantam championship against a talented Generals team. The offensive line of Mickey Petrone, Joey Mitchell, Luke Vizzo, Ryan Strassel and Stephen Rossi was too much to handle, springing Braden Raybuck and Henry Schmedlen to four stellar scores. Raybuck was unstoppable, with touchdown runs of 1, 22 and 35 yards, plus a 58-yard run that was its own highlight reel as Raybuck zigged, zagged, spun and broke multiple tackles before reaching the 12-yard line. Meanwhile, Rossi, Strassel and Anthony Sclafani set up the blocks that allowed Schmedlen to seal the win with a 19-yard scoring dash around the left end..Jake Natale added a two-point conversion and had several hard runs to move the Crushers down the field. Aidan Williams was masterful at quarterback, orchestrating the plays with sure ball-handling and excellent execution. Charlie Burchell, Nate Collins, and Matthew Kolc added key blocking at middle and end to let Crushers runners gain big yards. On defense, disciplined play led to big solo tackles that kept the Generals off the scoreboard by Braden Vizzo, Matisse Sostre and Phillip Tarantino. Petrone had seven tackles, Raybuck added an interception while Schmedlen provided excellent pass defense. Ryan Mora helped stop a sure Generals touchdown by slowing down a breakaway runner, allowing Mitchell to make the tackle.
The Generals’ offense played hard against a very tough Crushers defense, scoring two touchdowns and one extra point by Madsen Ehrhart. Teo Pita and Brendan Curley each supported the scoring drives with long runs and catches, respectively. Owen Cunnion, James Caputo, Spencer Smith, Callum Holl, Brett Schmidt, Ned Davis, Sebastian Keyes and Matty Cohen all provided key blocks on each of the touchdowns. The defense, led by Kellen Aslansan, Ayden Keshvarzian, Mathew McFarlane, Winslow Van Reesema, Harry Collier, Gavin Stewart and Jake Leonard worked hard on defense to hold a highscoring Crushers offense to 26 points.
JUNIORS MAVERICKS 12, GATORS 6
The Mavericks went toe-to-toe with the unbeaten Gators and came up victorious in an exciting Junior championship game that came down to the final seconds. The Mavs got on the board first with a long sustained drive ending with a 2-yard plunge into the end zone by Brandon Auguste. The offensive line, led by Nash Edwards, Michael Asprinio, Julian Ravina, Chase Lowthert and Philip Martone, came up huge and proved to be the difference. They managed to up open holes for Mavericks running backs Emerson Bulis, Johnny Tsaparas, Jackson Choi, Teo Ocana and Noah Park, all of which contributed to positive ball control. QB Nicholas Wells pioneered the last game-winning drive, which resulted in a 70-yard touchdown run by Auguste with 28 seconds left on the clock. Defensively, the Mavericks corralled the Gators’ powerful offense as Andrue Borrelli, William Connell, Grant Goldring, Sebastian Pena, Daniel Ciccarelli and Chris Marinaccio played solid defense sealing the edges and shutting down the Gators offense in some critical situations.
In a heart-breaker of a loss, the Gators scored in the third quarter when Guy Germain took the ball around the right corner 6 yards for the touchdown. Jack Carroll had the extra point but a penalty called it back. Germain had over 100 yards rushing, Carroll carried the load and Maximus Gabelli added a number of key first-down conversion carries. The Gators offensive line and backs played well, maintaining a steady push up front led by Andrew Lane, Peter Vomvolakis, Dylan Botoff, Mekai Brown, Daniel McGuire, Topher Martinelli and Gabelli. The defense was stellar the entire game, containing the Mavericks until the final minute as Gabelli, Vomvolakis, Germain, Carroll, McGuire and Michael Nogaki each had tackles for loss in the backfield. Others who contributed on defense were Harrison Castelli, Travis Wilson, Matthew Colella, and Luke Homan. Gabelli and Germain recorded a sack each.
SENIORS GENERALS 33, MAVERICKS 27
The Generals and the Mavericks battled back and forth in an exciting Senior championship game that saw the Generals open up the scoring on their second series with a 62-yard run by Tomas Delgado behind key blocks from Peter Michalik and Cal Cunnion. Wyatt Gibson scored the extra point on a sweep around left end behind George Fugelsang. The Generals’ next score was a 52-yard run by Delgado behind Michalik and Jackson Wolfram. Gibson again scored the extra point on a sweep around left end behind Cunnion and Fugelsang. The Generals’ final touchdown of the first half was a 60-yard pitch pass to Gibson from Delgado. Delgado scored the extra point on an option pitch from Luke Michalik behind a block from Peter Michalik giving the Generals a 21-13 lead at halftime. The Generals again ran the option with Luke Michalik pitching to Delgado who went 27 yards to score, with excellent downfield blocking from Harrison Hoover and Wolfram. The final score of the game was an 8-yard run by Delgado behind Jake Popjoy. The Generals defense saw strong play from Liam Reynolds, Peter Michalik, Wolfram, Delgado and Luke Michalik, who had the only turnover of the game, a one-handed interception that sealed the win for the Generals.
Leading the black and yellow Mavericks on offense was James Wailgum, who ran for 176 yards, scored three touchdowns and threw for another. Also handling the ball were Jack Konigsberg, Anthony Pedicano and Rocco Grillo. Leading the Mavs in receiving was Cooper Edwards who had four receptions, good for a touchdown and two extra points. Gavyn Gennarelli also caught two passes. Timmy Powers did an outstanding job at center. Great blocking was provided by Sean Cowie, Ray Ruggiero, Lane Critchell, Coley Critchell, Michael Truini, Antonio Ortiz and Wyatt Stratton. The defensive effort was led by Wailgum, Antonio Ciccarelli, Dylan Kellan, Carl Griffasi, Sergot Boone, Henry Goldberg and AJ Pisacano. Also providing tackles were John Gatherer, EJ Perez, Leart Deduschi and Luke Snisky.