Grudge Game

Calvary Christian Beats Corpus Christi 34-6 in Annual Flag Football Clash

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

In an early-season showdown between neighborhood schools, Calvary Christian topped Corpus Christi, 34-6, in a nonleague 8th-grade flag football game last Friday afternoon in the Highlands.

Although the teams compete in different leagues (Calvary in the Pacific Basin League; Corpus in the Catholic Youth Organization), bragging rights were at stake as both sides wanted to give their school a leg up in pursuit of the coveted Palisades Cup, a trophy awarded at the end of the year to the local private middle school (Calvary, Corpus, St. Matthew’s) with the most points against the other schools in a variety of fall, winter and spring sports.    

Captain Jacob Lewis scored three touchdowns, Kenny Russo scored one and  quarterback  Ivor Tilford scrambled 33 yards for a score on third-and-8. Will Redmon and Kenny Russo broke up passes in the secondary and Gage Grimes constantly pressured Corpus Christi quarterback Henri Gibson.   

Also contributing to the win were Anthony Sitovetsky, Justin Pack, Enzo Torres, Logan Scott and Coco Rosenzweig.

Calvary Christian swept the 6th- and 8th-grade PBL crowns in 2016 and lost the 8th-grade ‘A’ Division final to St. Matthew’s 28-12 last fall after beating the Falcons 34-6 in the regular season.

My team is very strong this year,” Calvary Christian Coach Tharen Todd said. “Last year as 7th-graders they went undefeated and beat Windward 18-0 to win the league championship with [Head of School] Vince Downey as their coach. Now it’s my job to prepare them for high school and gear them to positions that they’ll most likely play at the next level.”

The Cougars travel to St. Matthew’s for a league clash Oct.17.

Leading Corpus Christi were Gibson, Kai Klein, Geoffrey Ammer and Theo Brown, who scored on a 30-yard touchdown catch. The Wildcats beat St. Matthew’s 20-6 on Sept. 17.