Cardinal Newman football completes perfect regular season
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — On the heels of a very successful 2021 football season, Coach Jack Daniels and the 2022 Varsity Football Team were looking to keep pressing forward and pushing the Crusader Football program to new heights. The 2022 Varsity Football Team brought history, accomplishment, and a renewed sense of Crusader pride to the Cardinal Newman campus. This year’s football team gave the Cardinal Newman community a remarkable journey that started with spring football and ended in the FHSAA Regional Finals.
For the first time since 1982, the Newman football program put together A PERFECT REGULAR SEASON. Overcoming injuries, multiple weather delays, and many well-known opponents, the football team defeated all comers. Defeating Pahokee to start the year shocked some, but a few weeks later, the Crusader team defeated Benjamin to move to 3-0 in a game that took four days to complete due to weather delays.
The next big test was avenging a loss from last season to John Carroll Catholic, a stout program from Fort Pierce. The Crusaders rolled to a 40-7 victory and a 6-0 start. The last game of the regular season was at Gulliver Prep; in a battle of 4 and 5-star rankings, the Crusaders scored early and often to defeat Gulliver 54-14. The team capped off a historic 10-0 regular season for only the second time in school history.
Additionally, for the first time in school history, the Palm Beach County Sports Commission named Cardinal Newman High School’s Football Team the 2022 Palm Beach County High School Team of the Year at the Lou Groza Award Celebration.
RECORD-BREAKING YEAR:
Throughout the year, many impressive stats were achieved. The 2022 Football Team will be known for its offensive firepower, averaging 34 points per game, with 32 passing touchdowns and 17 rushing touchdowns. The offense had a great mix of experience and youth, led by Quarterback Luke Warnock ’24 and all-purpose athlete Chris Presto ’23. In addition to Presto, receivers were led by Dallas DeSouza ’24 and Nae’Shaun Montgomery ’25. Running back by committee only led to great success with multiple running backs that could go the distance in Henry Bennett ’23, Vinny Pierre ’23, and Jaylin Brown ’25. The defense and special teams held their own as well, holding the opponent scoreless four times, 125 tackles for loss, and scoring ten touchdowns of their own. The offensive and defensive line anchored both sides of the ball, with Brady Shea ’23, Sebastian Scott ’23, Maverick Gracio ’23, and Stephen Curtis ’23 doing their part. On the defensive side, the leaders were Cole Dillon ’23, Josh Philostin ’24, and Max Redmon ’25.
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