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Friars edge Gaels, head to CHSFL 'AAA' final

by Gregg Sarra on Sat, Nov 12, 2011 at 10:59 PM  / Updated Sun, Nov 13, 2011 at 8:22 PM

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Highlights: St. Anthony's 14, Iona Prep 10VIDEOS

Anthony Anderson scored on a 4-yard run with 5:47 left as St. Anthony’s edged Iona Prep, 14-10, Saturday night in the CHSFL semifinals in South Huntington. It was the 28th straight win for St. Anthony’s which will play Stepinac for the CHSFL AAA title next week.

St. Anthony’s, the two-time defending CHSFL champions, found themselves locked into a scoreless tie at the half with No. 4 seed Iona Prep. The Gaels went toe-to-toe with the giant that has dominated the CHSFL for the past decade.

Iona Prep (7-2), which lost 21-20 to St. Anthony’s in the final game of the regular season, was the only CHSFL team other than St. Anthony’s to capture the league’s AAA title in the past 10 years. The Friars had won seven titles in a row before Iona Prep upended them in 2008 in an offensive shootout, 48-35.

Saturday night was in deep contrast to that showdown. Both defensive units stopped the run and stymied the passing attack. Iona forced one turnover, a second quarter interception.

The Gaels opened the scoring when Alex Kapp connected on a 38-yard field goal on the first possession of the third quarter for a 3-0 lead. A 33-yard pass from Justin Combs to Brandon Williams set up the go-ahead kick.

The lead didn’t last long. St. Anthony’s responded with a 13-play, 84-yard drive punctuated by a Maston Ellerbe 1-yard scoring run. Matt Musgrove added the kick as the Friars led 7-3 with 2:45 left in the third quarter.

The Friars extended the lead to 14-3 when Anderson scored midway through the fourth quarter. Iona came right back when Shaquille Townsend scored on a 4-yard run to cut the deficit to 14-10 with 4:35 left.

St. Anthony’s coach Rich Reichert is one win away from tying Joe Cipp Jr. as the all-time Suffolk wins leader. He earned his 210th win last night.

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