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Message: [QUOTE="CuseLegacy, post: 336821, member: 469"] [SIZE=6][B]Back for more: Explosive Xaverian has sights set on 'AAA' title run[/B][/SIZE] By JOSEPH STASZEWSKI [I]Last Updated:[/I] 1:49 AM, August 23, 2012 [I]Posted:[/I] 1:36 AM, August 23, 2012 [LEFT] [/LEFT] [URL='http://syracusefan.com/#'][U][COLOR=#0066cc]Share on email[/COLOR][/U][/URL][URL='http://syracusefan.com/#'][U][COLOR=#0066cc]Share [/COLOR][/U][/URL] Zach Kearney won’t let himself forget the final play of last season. “I think about it every day,” the Xaverian quarterback said. “It’s my motivation.” Kearney was a mere yard away from sending the Clippers to their first CHSFL Class AAA title game, but as he dove for the goal line the ball was popped loose resulting in the end of Xaverian’s season at the hands of Archbishop Stepinac. “I feel like I cost [us] the game,” he said. “It’s always going to stick with me.” How close the Brooklyn school came isn’t lost on anyone. Their motto is, “being a yard better than last year." Coach Joe DeSiena, however, has made sure his players don't forget how hard it was to get to that point. Xaverian's Zach Kearney will have the freedom to go to the air more often this season. Xaverian's football team (from left to right) Peter Tuohy, Jonathan Bedyna, head coach Joe DeSiena, Chris Jones, and Zach Kearney want to lead Xaverian to a CHSFL AAA ttile. “I want the ring,” two-way senior lineman Chris Jones said. “Senior year I want the ring. ... I want to move it to the next level.” Kearney and his fellow seniors will get a chance at redemption. DeSiena will be looking to open up the offense and give Kearney, who will also play safety, a chance to drop back and spread the ball around to Xaverian’s array of speedy, athletic weapons. He described himself as a running back playing quarterback last year. “I held him back last year in the passing game and he threw for over 1,000 yards,” DeSiena said. “But we were simple.” [B]The Clippers are again loaded with speed on offense, starting with highly recruited running back Laray Smith, who is also an All-American track runner. Smith has been with the team when he can this week with his father Lawrence again hospitalized because of complications with his dialysis.[/B] Classmates Jonathan Badyna and Peter Tuohy will be at wide receiver and linebacker on defense. Freshman Rahmel Ashby takes over for Tushaun Plummer in the slot and could also make an impact on defense. Senior quarterback Greg McGoldrick, a pocket passer, could also see snaps and send passes Kearney’s way. “We have Laray who is very fast,” Badyna said. “If we aren’t running, we have big receivers to go up and get the ball.” Despite losing key pieces from one of the league top defenses, DeSiena believe the Clippers will be just fine along the defensive line with Jones moving in from linebacker, Valerio Auguste and sophomore Kamari Jones. C.J. Matthews and Nicky Binckes join the linebacking corps. There are still question marks in the secondary besides Kearney at safety. Dean Bantis, Jordan Blake and freshman Justin Phillip could all see time in the defensive backfield. “In the secondary we have athletes, but they have to prove something,” DeSiena said. Even off one of the most successful seasons in program history, Xaverian still feels it has something to prove. It also has some unfinished business to attend to. “Our motto is we have to be a yard better than last year,” Tuohy said. “As long as we are a yard better, we work a little harder, I think we got it.” [/QUOTE]

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