When you're the number-one team in the state, you're going to get everybody's best shot.

The Chaminade Flyers gave Iona Prep, the number-one team in New York according to MaxPreps, their best punch in the first half, but the Gaels hit right back, outscoring Chaminade 26-6 after intermission en route to a 33-9 triumph on Saturday afternoon at Gold Star Stadium. 

"I tip my cap to Iona; they're a great football team, but it's really more of what we didn't do well," said Chaminade head coach Tom Claro. "We made a lot of mistakes, and we put our defense in a lot of tough positions. When you do that against the number-one team in the state, you have no shot."

Those mistakes often came in the form of penalties, of which the Flyers took 13 - their second-most in a game this season. Chaminade also managed to convert on just three third downs in 13 attempts, as yellow flags and stalled drives continue to be major obstacles for the team this season.

Heading into Saturday's contest, Chaminade was hoping to change a trend. They hadn't beaten Iona Prep since 2013, equating to a 12-game losing streak. The most recent of those losses came in last year's CHSFL semifinals when the Gaels defeated the Flyers, 34-14. 

On its initial possession, Iona looked every bit like the top team it is. On 4th-and-1 from the Chaminade 12, star running back Crew Davis dashed through the middle and dragged a tackler into the end zone to make it 7-0 in favor of the road team.

Late in the first quarter, the Flyers forced two takeaways. However, largely due to penalties, they came away with just three points:

On the Gaels' second drive, QB Julian Guzman fumbled the handoff right into the waiting arms of Chaminade linebacker Luca Smith on the Iona 12-yard line. Unfortunately for the Flyers, they went backward from there, and the offense had to settle for a 35-yard field goal from Justin Jones to make it 7-3.  Later, sophomore Shaye Skyes reeled in a tip-drill interception - his first as a member of the varsity squad - to set up the offense in good field position yet again. Similar to the previous drive, however, the Flyers squandered the advantage and were forced to punt. 

"We protected the quarterback pretty well; we ran the ball, at times, pretty well; we got a lot of positive yards on offense. We had plays, it's just the penalties killed us," said Claro. 

While the Chaminade offense was oscillating, the defense was dominating. Outside of some chunk plays by Davis and Guzman, the Flyers' D stood its ground. 

Iona threatened with a two-minute drive late in the first half. On third down from inside the 15, Chaminade two-way star Anthony Trapani contained Guzman on a scramble to force a loss of yards. On the next play, 4th-and-12, Guzman circled in the backfield for what seemed to be forever before tossing one to the end zone, where sophomore linebacker Giuseppe DeVita snatched another tip-drill pick to end the Gaels' drive.

Heading into break, Iona only led by four.

"Great game plan, and we put a lot of pressure on them," explained Claro, discussing what worked so well for the defense. "We limited the big play, which was great; that was something we were cognizant about. They changed their game plan a little bit, so we didn't expect them to try to run the football as much as they did early on, and they had trouble running it. Tip the cap to our guys."

Iona Prep head coach Joe Spagnolo echoed a remarkably similar sentiment: "The Chaminade coaches did a great job with their game plan. They kept us off balance pretty much the majority of the first half, and I tip my cap off to them."

In one of their closest contests of the season thus far, the Gaels needed a spark. Fortunately for them, Mamadee Sangaray provided just that.

To start the third quarter, the two-way star took the opening kick from his own four, split the Chaminade defense, and motored all the way to the end zone for a blazing 96-yard return. In the blink of an eye, it was 14-3 Gaels. 

With the exception of that big return, the game remained relatively quiet, as both defenses continued their strong play and score stayed 14-3 late into the third frame. 

Eventually, the relentless Iona ground game took over thanks to both the elusiveness of Guzman and the sheer power and agility of Davis. At times, it was as if Guzman was playing Madden with the way he danced out of tackles and escaped around defenders. Towards the end of the third quarter, he found paydirt on a designed run from eight yards out to make it a three-score affair. 

Not long after, Iona tacked on a 24-yard TD run by Davis, and just like that, it was 27-3. 

From there, Iona cruised to victory, their 16th in a row (dating back to last season). The Gaels' offense rushed for a whopping 297 yards on Saturday, their most in a game this season. Davis and Guzman accounted for the majority of these, as they totaled 137 yards and 122 yards, respectively. 

On the other side, the Chaminade offense seemed stuck in the mud, managing just 254 total yards. 

Iona now stands at 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the league; they haven't lost a game in 13 months -  since September 14, 2024. Next up for them is a huge showdown with the second-place Monsignor Farrell Lions. Kickoff for that match is Friday at 7 p.m. in New Rochelle.

As for the Flyers, their record dropped to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the league. They will now shift their sights to next Saturday's rivalry matchup with the St. Anthony's Friars. Kickoff for the final regular-season home game at Gold Star Stadium is set for 1:30 p.m.