Gary Merrill leads St. Anthony's past Holy Trinity with his arm and his legs
St. Anthony's QB Gary Merrill takes the keeper to the outside against Holy Trinity in a CHSFL game on Sunday at Holy Trinity. Credit: George A Faella
Whether it was through the air or on the ground, the football seemed to never stop moving when St. Anthony’s quarterback Gary Merrill was holding it.
Merrill completed 6 of 8 passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 108 yards and a score as the Friars defeated Holy Trinity for the 20th consecutive time, winning on the road, 41-14, on Sunday. St. Anthony's (6-2) improved its all-time record against the Titans to 30-8. The junior did not play in the second half after St. Anthony's took a 34-7 lead into halftime.
“Gary is a great athlete, he’s fantastic with the ball in his hands,” St. Anthony's coach Joe Minucci said. “He can make a lot of guys miss and make a lot of dynamic plays.”
The Friars were coming off a 27-21 homecoming loss to Monsignor Farrell, but Minucci said he was pleased with his team’s response throughout the week to prepare for Sunday’s game.
“Last week [Monsignor Farrell] came to play, and they were the better football team last Friday,” Minucci said. “Our kids worked hard to get it right this week in practice, minimize mistakes that we made on film — penalties, holds, missed assignments — and they did a good job all week long, and I think it paid off for us this afternoon.”
The Friars scored on their first drive of the game, set up by a 13-yard reception by James Taylor and an 18-yard run by Merrill. The quarterback then connected with Taylor on a lovely fade to the back right corner of the end zone for a 4-yard score.
“I thought [Taylor] was a little bit taller, a better matchup,” Merrill said. “I thought he could go up and make a play.”
Holy Trinity had its best drive of the game on its second possession, but St. Anthony’s was able to force a turnover on downs as the Titans were unable to convert a 12-play drive into points. Two plays after the stop, Merrill hit Braden Mehm on a slant, which the senior took 77 yards for a touchdown.
It was a welcome sign for Minucci’s Friars after allowing 27 points last week, but as most coaches will say, it wasn’t perfect.
“We struggled to get off the field on third downs, which was a little bit frustrating,” Minucci said. “We were banged up, so to see players who haven’t really played too much rise up and contribute to this was terrific.”
St. Anthony’s will head to Archbishop Stepinac on Friday night. Holy Trinity fell to 3-5 and hosts St. Francis Prep on Saturday.
Michael Sicoli covers high school sports for Newsday. He graduated from Quinnipiac in 2022 and left with a master’s degree in sports journalism in 2023.
