Holy Spirit football was denied another title, but what a 4-year run for the Spartans

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher For 12 weeks the Holy Spirit football team was the biggest, baddest group of athletes donning shoulder pads and helmets. No. 1 in South Jersey, undefeated, really only tested by St. Joseph of Hammonton. Lower Cape May Regional forfeited their scheduled game with the Spartans rather than endure the punishment that was sure to be dished out. Their first two playoff opponents combined couldn’t even muster a single point, as Holy Spirit had an 86-0 scoring advantage while waltzing into the Non-Public Group II championship game for a fourth straight year. The Spartans were on a different block on Sunday, Dec. 8. DePaul Catholic (10-2) was bigger, stronger, faster and meaner. And it showed from the first series to the final horn. Those other Spartans bulldozed their way to a 19-0 first-half lead, leaving Holy Spirit players and fans shell-shocked in snowy conditions at Rutgers’ Highpoint Solutions Stadium. The situation didn’t improve much in the second half, as DePaul added a field goal to make it 22-0 before Holy Spirit (11-1) finally got on the board with a Frank Rifici rushing touchdown to cut the deficit to 22-8. It was too little, too late, however, as DePaul steamrolled to a 35-16 victory and the state championship. Holy Spirit running back A.J. Dawson looks for room along the sideline during the Non-Public Group II championship game earlier this month at Rutgers University. (Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan) Holy Spirit’s defense, which had been so dominant all year long, simply didn’t have an answer for the size and athleticism of DePaul players such as quarterback Zach Benarczyk and running backs Kareem Walker, Mikey Clark and Steven Speidel. Bednarczyk provided a unique challenge for Holy Spirit. Big, fast and elusive, he was a formidable challenge as a runner. He rushed for 105 yards on just 10 carries and also proved to be a capable passer in less-than-ideal conditions, completing 8-of-11 passes for 118 yards. Walker added 105 yards on 19 carries and Speidel, a 5-foot-9, 230-pound back, plowed his way into the end zone on two occasions. By the fourth quarter, Holy Spirit defenders Ray Ellis, Jeff Steeb, Dandre Davis and T.J. Clayton were bruised and battered by a DePaul offensive line that set the tone early and never let up. Holy Spirit held strong through much of the first quarter, but DePaul got on the board with 1:36 left. Bednarczyk found Hasise DuBois on a nice pass over the middle to the Spirit 8-yard line, and from there Speidel finished the drive off with a 4-yard touchdown run to put DePaul up 6-0. Holy Spirit, frustrated by DePaul’s big, fast defense shutting down its run game, tried to go to the air but Riley Clark picked off a T.J. Anderson pass at the 3-yard line early in the second quarter. DePaul then marched all the way down the field, with a Bednarczyk shovel pass setting up another scoring run by Speidel to make it 13-0. The backbreaker came with less than a minute to go in the first half. Bednarczyk found Nassir Hooker on a 16-yard slant to push the lead to 19-0. Holy Spirit never gave up though, and cut the lead to 22-8 early in the fourth quarter when Rifici scored from eight yards out. Steeb, the holder on the extra point, rolled out to his right on a fake and found Joe DiBuonaventura for the 2-point conversion. Spartans senior Ray Ellis watches from the sideline as his team tries to make a second-half comeback. DePaul was too much, however, answering on its next drive. Bednarczyk found Matt Greff, who made an acrobatic catch after Spirit defender A.J. Dawson had tipped the pass, to keep the drive alive on third-and-17. On the next play, Walker broke a tackle in the backfield and scampered untouched into the end zone to make it 28-8. Bednarczyk scored on a keeper with 4:08 remaining before Dawson scored on a 1-yard run after his own long kickoff return. Despite the loss, Rifici said he was proud of the effort his team turned in. “This team is like my brothers. I wouldn’t trade them for anybody,” Rifici said. “Obviously, we played a great football team. We had a couple of red zone turnovers and that really killed us.” Rifici did turn in the biggest hit of the day from either team. He set up Dawson’s long kickoff return with a crushing block, planting a DePaul special teams player into the artificial turf. “I was real upset about the score and just had to let some frustration out,” Rifici said. “I saw a legal block and just went at it.” “We’ve played together for four years. We expected that Holy Spirit football legacy to continue through us, just play tough football. These guys are all my brothers. We’ve come so far, coming in as strangers freshman year and now we’re here,” DiBuonaventura said. Both DiBuonaventura and Rifici took the loss in stride and kept it in perspective. After all, during the last four years they have been part of a program that has produced 39 wins and three state championships. “It was a tough loss but we just have to pick our heads up and move on in life,” Rifici said. “It’s a loss, but we’ll grow from it. It’s going to help us. It builds character. Nothing is given to you and we learned that today,” DiBuonaventura said. “We all played our hearts out. We gave everything we had, everything we possibly could give. That hard work, that sweat, that practice time, it builds character and it builds friendships. These guys are my best friends and we’ve built bonds over these last four years.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays