HS ROUNDUP

After falling to Christ the King 13-10 two weeks ago, Holy Trinity seemed on the verge of losing to the Royals again yesterday, this time to end its season.

But after giving up a 95-yard touchdown run, which left Holy Trinity trailing by two points in the fourth quarter, Titan QB Anthony Cotrone finished off No. 5 Christ the King. He scored on a 67-yard run and Holy Trinity’s defense held twice in the final minutes to give it an 18-12 win in the first round of the CHSFL AAA playoffs.

“This was huge for us,” said Titan coach Chris Hardardt, whose fourth-seeded team improved to 7-2 and advanced to Saturday’s semifinal against St. Anthony’s. “It was real close, but we’ll take it.”

Top-seeded St. Anthony’s moved to next week’s round, which will be played at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, with a 27-12 home win over No. 8 Chaminade.

The Friars (8-1) were led by Garvin Pierre (19-124, TD) and Jimmy Rennert (6-54, 2 TDs) as they look to get back to the title game for the third straight year. The other semifinal will feature second-seeded Iona Prep versus the winner of today’s game between No. 3 St. Francis Prep and No. 6 Msgr. Farrell.

PSAL PLAYOFFS

Campus Magnet scored the biggest upset of the PSAL’s first round, as the No. 12-seeded squad knocked off No. 5 Fort Hamilton, 20-6. The win gets Campus Magnet to Saturday’s quarterfinals, where it will face No. 1 and undefeated Sheepshead Bay, which had a bye.

Fourth-seeded Wagner (8-1) had no such trouble with No. 13 Far Rockaway, as the Falcons put the game away early, 44-8.

Timmie Kelson ran 21 times for 187 yards and three touchdowns and QB Kasey Nunez was 11-for-14 for 228 yards and three TDs. Wagner hosts No. 6 Curtis next week, thanks to the Warriors’ 44-0 rout over 11th-seeded Port Richmond yesterday.

Curtis (6-3) led Port Richmond 44-6 a week ago before the Raiders closed to 44-30. This time there was no letup. Bobby Moore returned an interception 45 yards for a score and Mike Castoria, Damian McCaig and Calvin Johnson added touchdowns.

Stanton Chalmers’ sack with No. 8 Beach Channel driving inside Columbus’ 20 in the fourth quarter helped seal the 12-7 win for the ninth-seeded Explorers. Dontae Ransom again led 7-2 Columbus with 132 yards and a TD on the ground, as well as 11 tackles.

The Explorers will face No. 2 Lehman next week, which also had a bye. The other quarterfinal pits third-seeded Canarsie against No. 7 August Martin, after Martin knocked off No. 10 Midwood, 18-0.