H.S. ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Josh Amaro was almost impossible to find after Monsignor Farrell’s dramatic playoff victory over Mount St. Michael on Sunday.

Hidden among teammates and dozens of other people who had made their way onto the Hofstra field, the diminutive Amaro was lost in the crowd.

While his lack of size makes him difficult to find, Amaro’s speed and strength cause opposing defenses big problems.

“Everyone looks at how small he is, but they don’t realize how powerful a runner he is,” said Farrell head coach Ben Sarullo. Amaro is listed at 5-6, 170 pounds, but seems smaller than that. “He’s probably the hardest worker around in the weight room.”

Amaro, a senior, became the CHSFL’s all-time leading rusher for a season with his 258-yard performance against the Mountaineers. In his first year starting out of the backfield, Amaro has gained 2,008 yards, becoming the first player in the 50-year history of the league to surpass 2,000 yards. He still has one game remaining.

Amaro is the main reason the Lions have another game, since it was his last-minute touchdown and ensuing two-point conversion that gave Farrell a 22-21 victory Sunday and a chance to win its second CHSFL AAA title in four years when the Lions meet St. Anthony’s on Saturday.

“He makes the most of what he has,” Garofalo said of Amaro, who is being recruited by several lower level college programs, including Fordham. “So we were absolutely not [surprised]. We knew what we had before the season started.”

So did Amaro.

“I thought about what kind of year I could have and I thought I could do some big things because of our offensive line,” Amaro said.

He didn’t play much before this season, instead spending his junior year watching Kern Collymore set the school record of 1,754 that he wound up breaking.

“I learned a lot from him,” Amaro said of Collymore, now a freshman at Columbia, who inspired him to run track during the offseason to improve his quickness. “After I did that, I knew we would have an explosive offense.”