On a chilly first day of November in Uniondale, Chaminade was feeling the heat from the one-win Kellenberg Firebirds.

At the halfway point of the final frame, the Flyers were holding on for dear life, nursing a 17-10 lead as Kellenberg drove down the field. 

Fortunately for the Crimson and Gold, Anthony Trapani came to the rescue. 

On a crucial third down, the two-way star blew up Kellenberg QB Dan Licari, knocked the ball out, and recovered it deep inside Firebirds territory.

"I just wanted to make a play for my team," said Trapani. "We repped that same exact scenario so many times in practice, so when it happened, I was prepared and made a play." 

The turnover gave Chaminade's offense spectacular field position, something it quickly took advantage of. The running back duo of Trapani and Maccoy Wallace continued to dominate, pushing Chaminade deep into the red zone. Eventually, QB Sean Carnevale cashed in on an eight-yard TD scramble to make it a 24-10 game. 

A late Kellenberg touchdown brought the final scoreline to 24-17.

"We knew they were going to be a tough opponent today. This is never a game that you can mark as a win," said Chaminade head coach Tom Claro. "I'm very happy to win this game. I think it was a little ugly at times, and we didn't play great, but I'm happy." 

The Flyers set the tone early. After the defense forced Kellenberg into a three-and-out to start the game, the offense promptly marched down the field and found paydirt. Carnevale dropped a dime to receiver Michael Genovese on a play-action pass to the left for a 27-yard touchdown, quickly making the score 7-0. 

Not long after, the Crimson and Gold tacked on. This time Trapani, who took a toss from Carnevale, raced down the left sideline for a 45-yard TD, and the Flyers were finally off to the fast start that has eluded them so often this season, leading 14-0.

Late in the first quarter, the Flyers' special teams unit got in on the fun, blocking a punt for the second straight week. However, the offense squandered this chance to go up by three scores, turning the ball over on downs inside the five-yard line.

It was a tale of two teams in the opening frame, as Chaminade accumulated close to 150 total yards, while the Firebirds barely gained 10. 

By the afternoon's end, Chaminade had piled up 382 total yards to Kellenberg's 271. Most of the Flyers' success was found on the ground, as the combination of Trapani and Wallace totaled the majority of the team's season-high 277 rushing yards.

"Our offensive line has worked their butts off all season, and today they dominated the point of attack," praised Trapani. "Myself and Maccoy just followed their backs, and they made it easy for us."

Trapani has come to be a familiar name for Flyers fans, but after Wallace was thrust into the spotlight due to injuries elsewhere on the roster, the senior made the most of his opportunity. In only his sixth appearance of the season, he tallied 123 yards on 13 carries, earning him the praise of his head coach:

"We're down to two running backs on the team right now," chuckled Claro. "I was very happy with Maccoy. He has been a guy that just keeps working and, lo and behold, we got some great runs from him. It was big." 

Midway through the second quarter, the Kellenberg offense found its footing behind running back Brendan Barkley. Still, the Firebirds offense stalled, leading to a Kaleb Dyasi field goal to make the score 14-3. 

The Flyers threatened to add on late in the first half, but a Jamison Heneghan interception kept that from happening. Despite such a dominant opening quarter, the Flyers held just an 11-point halftime advantage, 14-3. 

Fresh out of intermission, Chaminade's D made a couple of clutch fourth-down stops, with both Thomas Jemison and Luca Smith stepping up to make impact plays. The Flyers' defense was stellar from start to finish, keeping the Firebirds off balance and yielding just 10 points. 

"The defense played great," reflected Claro. "We had a couple of guys who got hurt throughout the course of the game, which hurt us. We gave up a couple of big plays, but largely, we shut them down."

One of those injured Flyers was starting defensive back Benjamin Bekiers, who was helped off the field after an offensive carry in the first half. His status for this upcoming week's playoff game is in question. 

Each of the fourth-down stops gave the Chaminade offense a short field, but the team failed to take full advantage both times. Thus, Justin Jones was twice sent out to attempt long field goals. Although he missed from 46, Jones redeemed himself by converting from 40, pushing the lead to 14 in the process.

Kellenberg's defense was the reason the contest stayed close. Early in the fourth quarter, John Hastings intercepted a Carnevale pass and dashed down the right sideline for a pick-six, electrifying the home crowd and cutting the Chaminade lead to just seven.

Fortunately for the Flyers, they found their groove in crunch time and hung on for the victory. 

With the win, Chaminade moved to 6-4 overall and 4-3 in league play. In games decided by one possession, they improved to 4-1. 

In other important AAA action, Archbishop Stepinac fell to Iona Prep by a score of 49-21. The Flyers had hoped this result would be enough to secure them a home playoff game, as both Chaminade and Stepinac finished with identical records. However, by the slimmest of margins, Stepinac won the right to host next week's showdown.

The Crusaders' power point total, a calculation involving multiple factors including win-loss record and strength of schedule, came out to 122.952. The Flyers' power point total ended up at 122.238. It was due to this minuscule difference that Stepinac eked out fourth place - and the home playoff game. 

These two squads are now set to match up this coming Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in White Plains, with the winner earning a date with the top-seeded Monsignor Farrell Lions.

This season's initial meeting between Chaminade and Stepinac was arguably the game of the year in the CHSFL. On September 19, the Flyers squeaked out a 24-23 double-OT win, stopping a do-or-die two-point attempt under the lights to finish the contest.

As the temperature of the air cools down each fall, the competition on the gridiron heats up. With October turning to November, it's the time in which seasons are lost and championships are won.

Can the Flyers run the table and win it all?

Their quest starts Saturday.