1978
PAROCHIAL B SOUTH JERSEY
FINAL
Eustace 16, St. Joseph (Hammonton) 8: An unsuccessful attempt to go
for it on fouth down meant Eustace needed to drive just 28 yarda in the
second quarter for what turned out to be the winning touchdown-- John
Shirk's 1-yard run, followed by Vince McAneney's conversion. SJ, which
entered the game unbeaten, ran for a 72-yard score on the game's second
play. the Crusaders responded with McAneney's 2-yard run and his toss to
Shirk. Fullback Bill DiCiurcio plowed for 83 yards on 17 rushes. Bruce
Rodio sealed the deal with a late interception.
1979
PAROCHIAL B SOUTH JERSEY
SEMIFINAL
Eustace 21, St. Joseph (Hammonton) 0: Though it entered this fray
with a 3-5 record and St. Joe was again unbeaten, Eustace wound up
dominating. Of Scott Rumer's three passes, two were picked off. But the
other produced a 24-yard TD to Chris Heinkel. Bill DiCiurcio and Bruce
Rodio added rushing TDs. Dom Vricella and John Morganthaler made key
fumble recoveries.
FINAL
Gloucester Catholic 13, Eustace 7: The Crusaders opened the
scoring with an 18-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by Bill
DiCiurcio's 1-yard run. Eustace managed just 36 yards thereafter and
never made it inside GC's 40.
1980
PAROCHIAL B SOUTH JERSEY
FINAL
Eustace 14, St. Joseph (Hammonton) 6: This win was preserved on
the final play as Bruce Rodio ran for a short score, his second. That TD
was set up by cornerback Vince McAneney's midair fumble recovery (forced
by Pete Mutascio).
1986
PAROCHIAL B SOUTH JERSEY
FINAL
Eustace 7, St. Joseph (Hammonton) 0: How 'nout this hat trick?
While his father, Vince, was coaching Pennsauken to the Group 4 crown
and his uncle, John McAneney, was steering Frankford to the Public
League title across the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge in Northeast Philly. Tim
McAneney fueled the Crusaders to the championship in a game played AT
Pennsauken. They won it in the first quarter on a 34-yard pass from Bill
Mitchell to Steve Medes. The latter also made numerous big plays on
defense; the highlight was a come-from-behind tackle that prevented what
would have been an 86-yard pass play TD.
1987
GROUP B SOUTH JERSEY
FINAL
Eustace 21, St. Joseph (Hammonton) 7: Chuck Borromeo made it into
the end zone three times with runs of three, six and 21 yards as the
Crusaders again prevailed over St. Joe. The last two occurRed in the
fourth quarter to leave behind a 7-6 deficit.
1988
GROUP B SOUTH JERSEY
FINAL
Eustace 32, St. Joseph (Hammonton) 15: The Crusaders earned not
only a win, but a place in history -- they became the first team to
seize three consecutive South Jersey sectional titles. And this one
wasn't easy because they fell into a 15-0 hole. The highlight was a
score on an 84-yard halfback pass from Jeff Wall to Mike Simons. Wall
scored the final two TDs on a pass from Mile Talerico and a 32-yard
jaunt on which he broke four tackles.
1989
GROUP B SOUTH JERSEY
SEMIFINAL
Eustace 26, Monsignor Donovan 25: With 5:58 left, Mike Talerico’s
24-yard TD pass to Tighe Crovetti was followed by Anthony Plunkett’s
winning PAT. Earlier, Crovetti was part of a trick-play tally when Omar
Cassidy took his lateral and raced to the end zone. Talerico finished
10-for-22 for 112 yards. Donovan entered with a 2-7 record to Eustace’s
4-4-1.
FINAL
St. Joseph (Hammonton) 19, Eustace 0: Though the Crusaders had
conquered SJ six consecutive times in playoffs, this one was a
tide-turner. SJ rushed for 282 yards and added 54 through the air. Its
defense racked up five interceptions.
1994
PAROCHIAL GROUP 3 STATE
SEMIFINAL
Immaculata 31, Eustace 21: The Crusaders scored twice in the third
quarter to create a 21-21 deadlock, but yielded in the fourth. Dave
Sadowski passed 15-for-32 for 176 yards and a score to Andre Williams.
On first downs, Jim Hundzynski made five catches for 65 yards.
2003
PAROCHIAL GROUP 2 STATE
SEMIFINAL
Eustace 57, Cardinal McCarrick 26: The Crusaders highlighted their
point festival by scoring four TDs in an eight-minute, second quarter
span. Sean Hogan started the outburst with the first of his three TDs.
No. 3 came on an interception return. Eustace finished with 410 yards;
331 on ground. McCarrick’s Will Manley passed 17-for-33 for 340 yards
and four six-pointers.
FINAL
St. Joseph (Hammonton) 40, Eustace 7: The Crusaders could not
prevent SJ from winning its fifth consecutive state championship. Their
lone TD came on Derek Gregory’s 29-yard pass to Geoffrey Nogle.
2004
PAROCHIAL GROUP 2 STATE
SEMIFINAL
Queen of Peace 21, Eustace 19: The Crusaders scored the first two
TDs thanks to short runs by William Hargrave and Michael DiMaggio, then
surrendered 21 consecutive points before getting a score with 20 seconds
left on a pass from Jim Rafferty to Steve Sessa. Alas, the conversion
run failed.
2005
NON-PUBLIC GROUP 2 STATE
QUARTERFINAL
Eustace 34, DePaul 8: This was the Michael DiMaggio Show. He
rushed 24 times for 275 yards and three TDs. Wait, he wasn’t a one-trick
pony. He notched two more scores on passes from Jim Rafferty.
SEMIFINAL
St. Joseph (Hammonton) 37, Eustace 7: Against South Jersey’s top
ranked, small-schools team, Eustace could only produce a fourth quarter
score on Jim Rafferty’s 30-yard toss to Chukwudi Obianwu.
2006
NON-PUBLIC GROUP 2 STATE
SEMIFINAL
Eustace 27, DePaul 26: The Crusaders had to hold on after building
a 27-6 lead. Michael DiMaggio (36-145, two) and Tony Thornton ran for
TDs while Drew Hutcheon contributed six points by recovering a fumble in
the end zone.
FINAL
St. Joseph (Hammonton) 14, Eustace 0: While winning its
state-record eighth consecutive state championship, and extending its
winning streak to 29 games, SJ held the Crusaders to 26 yards in the
second half and allowed them to advance no closer to the end zone than
48 yards. Eustace also slapped together a nice defensive performance,
keeping the Wildcats without a first down until 0:55 remained in the
third quarter. Michael DiMaggio managed 78 yards on 21 carries.
2008
NON-GROUP 2 STATE
QUARTERFINAL
Eustace 28, Morris Catholic 14: Chris Branigan passed for TDs to
Cody Diamore (75 yards) and Bill O’Brien after Andrew Ardire and Mike
Miller racked up rushing scores.
SEMIFINAL
Holy Cross 25, Eustace 7: HC, guided by former Eustace star/coach
Tim McAneney, limited the Crusaders to 105 yards of total offense. Their
score came on Michael Sess’ diving catch in the end zone on a 28-yard
pass from Chris Branigan.
2009
NON-PUBLIC GROUP 3 STATE
QUARTERFINAL
Immaculata 42, Eustace 7: Carmen Raroha prevented a shutout on a
6-yard, fourth-quarter run. Dashes of 78 and 59 yards accentuated a
five-TD rushing performance by Immaculata’s Ishmil Mack.
2011
NON-PUBLIC GROUP 2 STATE
QUARTERFINAL
Holy Cross 14, Eustace 13: Eustace rallied from a 14-0 deficit as
Vince Marone ran for a 39-yard score and a drive, kept alive by a clutch
play off a fake punt, ended with Chris Spellman’s 1-yard run. The PAT
was thwarted by a poor snap.
2012
NON-PUBLIC GROUP 2 STATE
QUARTERFINAL
Holy Spirit 35, Eustace 0: Details unavailable.
2013
NON-PUBLIC GROUP 2 STATE
QUARTERFINAL
Eustace 16, Camden Catholic 14: Zach Pharo won it by hammering a
30-yard field goal with 2:27 remaining.
SEMIFINAL
Holy Spirit 38, Eustace 0: The longest of the Spartans’ five TDs
was a 95-yard interception return by A.J. Dawson.
2014
NON-PUBLIC GROUP 3 STATE
QUARTERFINAL
Red Bank Catholic 62, Eustace 7: Details unavailable.
2015
NON-PUBLIC GROUP 3 STATE
QUARTERFINAL
Delbarton 35, Eustace 0: The Green Wave finished scoring by
halftime and Andrew Sanders’ four TDs (three rushing, one receiving) led
the way. |