Published: October 26, 2007 02:02 pm            

ST. JOE'S NOTEBOOK: Rossi now delivering on offense, too

In a season that hasn’t seen much go right for the St. Joe’s Marauders, the play of linebacker Jonathan Rossi has been a bright spot for coach Bob O’Connor.

Rossi continued that in a 41-20 loss to Cardinal O’Hara in Week 8, rushing for a pair of touchdowns. That helped the Marauders score double the amount of points O’Hara had let up all season.

“He’s just been terrific for us all season,” O’Connor said of Rossi.

n Kevin O’Sullivan, who came into the season as the third quarterback for St. Joe’s, continued to get comfortable in the second half against O’Hara. It was O’Sullivan’s first game back after an extended absence because of a knee injury. O’Sullivan finished the game 10-for-32 for 166 yards, all but 32 of which came in the second half. Freshman Nicholas Hall was his leading receiver, grabbing three passes for 44 yards.

“I thought he did a great job on just two days of practice,” O’Connor said of O’Sullivan.

O’Sullivan’s return allowed senior Phil Scaffidi to shift back to his normal position of wide receiver, where he’s more comfortable.

Turnovers were what killed St. Joe’s, as O’Hara came up with three interceptions.

n St. Joe’s meets Canisius at 6 p.m. Saturday at Buffalo’s All-High Stadium. The winner of that game will earn the second seed in the Monsignor Martin League AA playoffs. That means they’ll get home-field advantage for the rematch of the two schools in a week, as the Marauders and Crusaders are locked into the second and third seeds behind League AA-champion St. Francis.

After going 1-7 in 2006, first-year coach Brandon Harris has the Crusaders turned around. They enter Saturday’s game with a 4-4 record. They’re also on a two-game winning streak, including last week’s 13-8 triumph over East.

— Jay Skurski

        

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