Andrew Russo (white uniform) had three rushing touchdowns in St. Joseph by-the-Sea's win over Xaverian. When St. Joseph by-the-Sea beat Island-rival Monsignor Farrell two weeks ago, the Vikings started their Catholic High School Football League (CHSFL) schedule on a high note. However, in the always-competitive league, there's never an easy game on the schedule.
The Huguenot squad found that out this past weekend when they squared off against Xaverian in a Friday night affair at the Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn. After the Clippers posted 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to take an 11-point lead, Sea countered with 22 straight points in the final quarter to claim a 46-35 victory over the Brooklyn squad that advanced to the semifinals last season.
The win helped the Vikings improve to 2-0 in the league and 3-0 overall.
"After coming off the Farrell victory, we knew we couldn't take it lightly. We had to keep practicing harder and harder and that's how we got the victory at the end," said junior running back Andrew Russo, who had 184 rushing yards and three touchdowns against Xaverian.
"(Beating) Farrell wasn't our goal. Our goal is to go undefeated and win a championship," added senior Nick King, who sealed the victory after rushing for Sea's final two TDs.
"It's early in the season – it's only Week Two – but (Xaverian is) a great team and one of those teams that figure to be around late in the season. If that's our goal then we have to hang with these kinds of teams," said Sea head coach Rich Clark. "Win, lose or draw, we have to be able to compete. And they did that this week so I'm happy about that."
St. Joseph by-the-Sea, which is the only undefeated team in the AAA division along with Chaminade, travels to the Bronx this Saturday to play Mount St. Michael's at 1:30 p.m.