St. Paul finished second at the 7-on-7 New England tournament held Tuesday at Peabody, Mass., losing 16-14 to St. John's Prep (Mass.).

From the ESPN Boston article on-line:

As St. John's Prep quarterback Mike Geaslen walked off the Bishop Fenwick High School football field, a teammate asked whether he was going to be at the next day's morning workout.

Geaslen held up the Under Armour Northeast 7-on-7 New England Championship trophy and said, “No man, I'm going to eat my cereal out of this cup.”

Prep, guided by the steady arm of Geaslen and its impressive list of offensive playmakers, defeated St Paul Catholic (Conn.) in the finals, 16-14, after grinding through pool play and a talent-laden bracket. The Eagles knocked off Chelmsford in the semifinals to set up a showdown with one of Connecticut's top teams.

During the finals, Thomas was charged with defending St. Paul receivers being fed by Logan Marchi, considered one of the top quarterbacks in Connecticut. Marchi, who verbally committed to UConn back in June, spent most of the day picking apart opposing defenses but was stonewalled by Prep during the final five minutes of the championship.

“That was a good quarterback. He was one of the best athletes on the field,” said Thomas, admitting that Marchi beat him a few times with accurate passes. “He throws some dimes.” 

According to a report by ESPNBoston.com, UConn commit Logan Marchi led his St. Paul squad to the Northeast 7x7 South Regional title, becoming the first Connecticut team to win a regional title.

St. Paul emerged victorious from a 40-team field including 38 squads from Massachusetts in the event held yesterday at Ames High School in North Easton, Mass. St. Paul defeated Mansfield (Mass.) High 35-29 in the championship game. Both St. Paul and Mansfield advance to the New England Championship on July 30 at Bishop Fenwick High in Peabody, Mass.


Also:

ESPNBoston also reported that Ansonia High’s record-breaking running back Arkeel Newsome, who recently committed to UConn, was one of the standouts at the Super 7 Showcase.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: The pitch count grows for top prospects

Decisions, decisions.

A standout football player, especially an incoming senior, will likely soon decide where to spend the next four years after high school.

Some have already made their choice.

Ansonia running back Arkeel Newsome recently verbally committed to play at UConn. Early this year, St. Paul quarterback Logan Marchi also picked UConn, while Norwich Free Academy running back Marcus Outlow gave his verbal commitment to Boston College.
The recruiting process, though, can often be confusing and overwhelming.

“A little (overwhelming),” West Haven running back Ervin Philips said. “It’s all new. It just takes some time to get used to.”

Philips and Hillhouse running back Harold Cooper are arguably two of the state’s more sought-after players who have yet to commit.

Philips has already taken unofficial visits to Syracuse and Temple, which he lists as his top choices. Both schools have made offers. Philips said he also received interest from Boston College, Maine, Rutgers, UConn, UMass and Villanova.

According to the NCAA rules for football, a student-athlete cannot make an official visit until the start of classes of their senior year, which for West Haven is on Aug. 29.

“As of right now, I want to wait until my senior year actually starts so I can take my official visits to really get the school experience,” Philips said. “From there, that’s when I think I’ll make my decision, so maybe late August into September.”

The Register-Citizen's Kevin Roberts takes a look at St. Paul junior quarterback Logan Marchi. 

By KEVIN D. ROBERTS
Assistant Sports Editor

kroberts@registercitizen.com

WINSTED — He was making the right reads, firing precision darts, and completing pass after pass at Van Why Memorial Field on the campus of The Gilbert School on Saturday.

He is Logan Marchi, a solid quarterback with good vision and a quick release. Marchi is a Winsted native, so Saturday was a football homecoming for him, but he was wearing the dark blue helmet associated with the St. Paul Catholic Falcons football team. The right-handed junior quarterback has been pretty locked in this summer in St. Paul’s spread offense according to head coach Jude Kelly, and there hasn’t been much that opposing defenses can do about it.

Gilbert/Northwestern and Lewis Mills each had that same problem on Saturday during a scrimmage.

“I think he has great vision and he has great touch,” Yellowjacket head coach Scott Salius said.