Bishop Eustace High School
(Now Eustace Prep)
Football History

(This New Jersey School is located in Pennsauken,
in Camden County.)

Recaps of Playoff Games

  Details obtained primarily from stories in the
Philadelphia Inquirer and Camden Courier-Post.

To reach Ted Silary -- tedtee307@yahoo.com


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.

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