102 The QUEE NS Courier • october 10, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com sports St. Francis Prep dominates in return to Queens BY LIAM LA GUERE lguerre@queenscourier.com The St. Francis Preparatory High School football team has not hosted a game in Queens since 2006. The Terriers usually plays home games at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Nassau County, adjacent to the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. But this year the school was able to get permission to share the Martin Van Buren High School field in Queens Village for its homecoming game on Sunday, October 6. So in their return to Queens a win was essential, and Prep did just that, routing the Nazareth Kingsmen, 49-20, led by three first quarter touchdowns by senior Justin Guerre. “It was something completely Rockaway’s ‘Running Guru’ BY LIAM LA GUERE lguerre@queenscourier.com Rockaway Park resident John Edwards, 59, was hoping to run the ING New York City Marathon for the 20th time last year, but Mother Nature had other ideas. The race was canceled due to the massive city-wide damage caused by Superstorm Sandy. But it wasn’t a time for Edwards, who is not related to the politician, and his family to look forward to a marathon anyway. Sandy flooded his basement, ruining irreplaceable pictures, documents and furniture, destroyed windows in his house and totaled two of the family’s cars. Edwards estimated that the damage cost more than $60,000. “People were going from house to house helping each other and people were covered with sewer water,” Edwards said. “I don’t think it was time to be celebrating a New York City Marathon when we had people down here who didn’t know what they were going to do the next day.” Now, nearly a year later, he has repaired his house and replaced items lost, thanks in part to insurance. And as part of his return to normalcy, Edwards is once again gearing up for the Marathon. “I’m looking forward to it,” Edwards said. I don’t expect to run fast, I expect to just get through it.” Edwards, a manager of a bakery on Long Island, began running when he was 27 years old. At that time he routinely played baseball in Brooklyn bar leagues with friends. “On the weekend we played ball, ate burgers, drank beer and gained weight,” Edwards said. “But then the groundballs would be going through your legs, because of the gut you’d be growing, so a friend suggested let’s go and do a little running.” Edwards and teammates eventually began entering races and he developed a love for running. In 1982 he entered and completed his first city marathon. Since then he has completed numerous races around the city and his hobby evolved into an addiction of sorts. As he is training for the Marathon, Edwards wakes up as early as 3:30 a.m. to do daily runs, which can vary from a short three miles to much longer distances, such as a recent 18-mile Marathon prep race. “I think it’s a combination of sheer pride and natural endurance and then love of the sport,” Mary, Edwards’ youngest daughter, said. Edwards is known throughout the community as a “running guru.” He founded the Rockapulco Running Series in 2001, which are various runs in the Rockaways throughout the year, including themed half marathon runs for Christmas, Labor Day and Memorial Day. He is also a member of the local running club the Rockaway Gliders. Edwards restarted the local Catholic Youth Organization track team at nearby St. Francis de Sales in 1996 so his daughters could run with other youngsters. But even after his children outgrew the league, he continued to train young runners for nearly a decade. His daughters will now join him in his 20th Marathon. After more than three decades the hobby has become a family bonding activity for Edwards, one that Sandy wasn’t able to break. “It’s been a way for us to stay con- Photo courtesy of John Edwards Sandy destroyed runner John Edwards’ house and canceled what would have been his 20th city Marathon last year. new for us,” assistant head coach Rich Carroll said. “We haven’t had that in seven years. It was a good experience for our kids to actually play a game in front of their hometown crowd.” The Terriers (4-0 in conference) were dominating the Kingsmen (2-3) from the start of the game. Guerre had four carries for 96 yards in the first quarter alone to help Prep to a 35-0 lead by the end of the first half. On one run he zipped passed defenders for a 69-yard run touchdown. “I don’t really think that much when I’m running,” Guerre, a captain, said. “I’m just moving trying to put that ball in the end zone.” The beating was so bad that by the second half Prep replaced most of its starters on offense and defense with second stringers. Nazareth’s offense only came to life in the second half against Prep’s backup defense. Kingsmen running back Tarif Keenan completed a 17-yard drive for a touchdown with about eight minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Kingsmen completed a twopoint conversion to make the score 35-8. But even Prep’s backups continued to inflate the score. With just under six minutes left in the third quarter, Terriers quarterback Robert Einersen faked a pass and ran 41 yards up the sidelines with some help from blockers before he was knocked out at the one yard line. On the ensuing play junior Marquis Gordon ran in a one-yard touchdown and following the extra kick, the score was 42-8. Five minutes later, after the Terriers allowed another Nazareth touchdown, Gordon completed a 38-yard run straight through the middle, breaking tackles and dodging defenders, to score his second touchdown. A successful extra point play made the score 49-14. “It was a great experience, because usually I’m on punt returns, but I got a chance to get in today,” Gordon said. “It was my time to shine.” Despite the Kingsmen’s efforts, which yielded one more touchdown in the fourth quarter, Nazareth just couldn’t catch up to St. Francis’ looming lead. With the win the Terriers are now tied for the top of the league, a cause for celebration, but also a reason to be cautious. “We need you guys to stay focused,” Carroll told the players in the locker room after the game. “We have to work harder because teams know they will have to play harder when they play St. Francis.” The next game for the Terriers will be against Xavier on October 12. THE COURIER/Photos by Liam La Guerre The St. Francis Prep Terriers football team pulverized the Nazareth Kingsmen in their return to Queens.
QC10102013
To see the actual publication please follow the link above