October 9, 2010
St. Anthony improves to 5-0
Junior RB Daryl Wilson had 106 yards and a touchdown for St. Anthony.
Click Here for more photos from Lincoln at St. Anthony.
By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director
JERSEY CITY – For St. Anthony, last night was about more than just a showdown for the top spot in its division. It was about legitimizing an entire football program.
Yes, the Friars made the state playoffs in their second varsity season a year ago and started 2010 with four-straight victories. But they had yet to record a win that would establish them as team to be reckoned with, both in the county and in Non-Public Groups 1/2.
Last night St. Anthony got that signature victory it was desperately seeking as they defeated previously-unbeaten Lincoln 42-16 last night at Caven Point.
“We were the bully who beat up on the struggling schools,” Friars head coach Sean Fallon said. “We needed to beat a legitimate football team. If you want to be considered the Number 2 team behind (St. Peter’s) Prep in this county, that’s what you have to do. You’ve got to beat Hoboken, you’ve got to beat Lincoln and that’s what we did tonight.”
“We just pulled the monkey off our back,” said RB/CB David Coleman. “To tell the truth we were really worried about Lincoln, they were really good. “We went in, kept our composure, did our job and came out with the W.”
In the eyes of St. Anthony (5-0) last night’s win was a clear reward of an offseason of strength training and maturity. When these two teams met a year ago, it was the Lions (4-1) who controlled the tempo with a physical style of play.
Instead it was the Friars who used physical play to set the tone as they rushed for 336 yards in the win.
“All of our coaches preached to us weight room, weight room, weight room,” RB Daryl Wilson said. “And that’s all we did. (Fallon) said ‘weight room shows,’ and tonight it did.”
“We won the game in the weight room and that’s the bottom line,” Fallon said. “The point came where they did not want to tackle us any more and that’s because of how hard we work in the gym. Our kids are relentless.”
No player symbolized that physical toughness more than Jidamon Sparkman. The senior RB scored three touchdowns for the Friars on offense. His 4-yard touchdown would give St. Anthony a 6-0 lead late in the first.
Lincoln would take the lead after a 75-yard touchdown from Ronald Butler. But from that point forward it was the St. Anthony defense delivering the big plays, forcing four turnovers in the opening half which led to 22 points.
Holding a 14-8 lead early in the second quarter, the Friars’ Kerwin Sampson recovered a fumble at the Lions’ 45, setting up a 1-yard touchdown from Wilson on 4th-and-goal.
The Friars’ Sharmin Nalls forced another fumble just three plays later which was recovered by teammate Craig Davilla. It set up Sparkman’s second touchdown of the game, a 1-yard run, to make it 29-8 at the half.
The Friars would put the game out of reach early in the fourth quarter when Sparkman scored his third touchdown of the game. This time it was a 6-yard pass from Slyvester Wright to make it 36-16.
“(Jidamon’s) our best player and that’s what your best player is supposed to do,” Fallon said. “If he’s going to be a kid who signs a scholarship in a few months, that’s what he needs to do. Come out and dominate games and that’s what he did tonight.”
At linebacker, Sparkman was all over the field and delivered of a pair of bone-crushing tackles and was also asked to shadow Butler.
In addition to the turnovers, St. Anthony became the first team keep Lincoln’s standout RB Tyron Stevens under 100 yards and without a touchdown. Stevens had shredded the defense in last year’s 22-15 Lions win.
“Last year he ran for (241 yards), that was too much,” Sparkman said. “This year we’re a much better team than last year so we had to shut that down.”
Stevens finished with 79 yards on 16 carries. Butler had 11 carries for 139 yards. He also completed 6-of-12 passes for 58 yards and a touchdown.
Coleman led an extremely deep St. Anthony backfield with 111 yards on just nine carries. Wilson rushed 13 times for 106 yards and a touchdown, while Sparkman had 64 yards on 19 carries.
St. Anthony looks to continue its unbeaten start on Friday when they travel to Kearny. Lincoln will face another big challenge next Saturday when it hosts unbeaten Hoboken.
Deshawn Goodwin had a pair of receptions in the first half for Lincoln.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Lions (4-1) | 8 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
16 |
| St. Anthony Friars (5-0) | 6 |
23 |
0 |
13 |
42 |
| SA: Jidamon Sparkman, 4 run (kick failed) | |||||
| Lin: Ronald Butler, 75 run (Tyron Stevens run) | |||||
| SA: Quentin Collins , 8 run (David Coleman pass from Slyvester Wright) | |||||
| SA: Daryl Wilson, 1 run (Craig Davilla kick) | |||||
| SA: Sparkman, 1 run (Khadeem Wilson pass from Wright) | |||||
| Lin: Steven Jones, 3 pass from Butler (Stevens run) | |||||
| SA: Sparkman, 6 pass from Wright (Davilla kick) | |||||
| SA: Brian Maldon, 2 run (kick failed) | |||||