Iona Prep football repeats as Class AAA Catholic state champion

NEW ROCHELLE - Schoolmates convened earlier in the week to discuss potential themes for their cheering section at the upcoming football game. Iona Prep would be competing for a state title, so the occasion called for something special.

The result was hundreds of fans clad in plush red jackets and matching wool caps with white trim, forming a Santa sea in the crowd at Mara Field.

“With Thanksgiving already past us,” quarterback Julian Guzman said with a grin, “why not start the Christmas vibes?”

But it was the audience that was treated to a gift on Nov. 29, watching the Gaels beat Buffalo’s St. Francis, 42-21, to repeat as the Catholic school Class AAA state champions.

Crew Davis rushed for two touchdowns and caught another, leading Iona Prep in what initially was a tense, back and forth battle. Guzman hit the North Carolina-bound running back in stride for a 39-yard touchdown with 4:08 left in the third quarter that gave the Gaels a 28-21 lead.

It is better to give than to receive, is the old adage that’s often heard around this time of year. But, perhaps, it’s even better to retrieve.

Dashawn Harley provided the Gaels a cushion to start the fourth quarter. The offensive lineman recovered a teammate’s fumble inside the 5 and plunged into the end zone, giving Iona Prep a 14-point lead with 11:02 remaining.

The right guard helped clear a path on the run from the 11, then followed the play and alertly raced after the ball when it was stripped. That play, the second touchdown of Harley’s career, gave the Gaels a two-score lead for the first time in this game and, at last, a bit of breathing room.

“It’s hard to describe how amazing this is for us right now,” Harley said. “But it does kind of feel like Christmas. We’re like family here and everybody is happy.”

Fortunately for Iona Prep, the coal-in-their-stocking moment came more than a month ago, in a frustrating loss to Monsignor Farrell. They rebounded from that with five impressive victories, including a blowout of Farrell in the CHSFL final last week. That loss, Guzman said, forced them to look inward and improve. It also “put a big chip on our shoulder,” he said.

St. Francis tied it at 14 going to halftime on Trent Buttles’ 3-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Zielenski as time expired. Iona Prep retook the lead in the third quarter when Brady Morison returned a fumble 29 yards for a touchdown.

But the Red Raiders quickly answered as Buttles completed a 47-yard pass, setting up his own tying 16-yard touchdown run with 4:29 left in the third.

The Gaels defense seemed to get a read on them after that, though. Linebacker Willie Reeves had three tackles for loss and forced a fumble, defensive lineman Orion Trujillo made two tackles for loss, and Josh Simmons had a sack and three pressures, and Mamadee Sangaray intercepted a deep pass with 9:26 remaining.

Brennen Pressley scored a 6-yard touchdown with a minute left to create the margin.

Stephen Haynes covers sports for The Journal News/lohud.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Iona Prep football repeats as Class AAA Catholic state champion