Eagles’ two-way senior star inspired by memory of his late stepfather

Ask Mark DeCristoforo about Matt Sweeney and it’ll be hard to get him to stop talking.

“He’s the ideal high school football player,” said the St. Peter’s head coach of his senior wide receiver/linebacker. “He works hard every practice, every rep.”

DeCristoforo said Sweeney received the most votes of any player for one of the team’s captain spots, and it isn’t because he’s a rah-rah guy.

“He leads by example, so [getting the most votes] speaks volumes about him and his character,” said DeCristoforo, whose Eagles improved to 3-0 on the season with a 42-0 whitewash of Morris Catholic – a complete reversal of last year’s 52-27 loss to the New Jersey school.

“This season is a bit of our ‘revenge tour.’ We want to put St. Peter’s back on the map,” said Sweeney, whose squad has avenged 2022 losses to St. Joseph by-the-Sea, St. John the Baptist (whom the Eagles lost to twice) and now the Crusaders.

Getting payback isn’t the only reason why this season has taken on extra meaning for Sweeney, whose athletic 25-yard catch late in the first quarter set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Jeremiah Williams that gave St. Peter’s a 21-0 lead.

In late June, Sweeney’s stepfather, Department of Transportation employee Michael Long, died suddenly from a heart attack at the age of 39.

“He taught me football when I was 6 years old, and he drove me to every practice [at the Staten Island Boys Football League] and was at all the games,” recalled Sweeney.

To honor his stepfather, he switched from his usual No. 1 jersey to No. 87, which was Long’s jersey number when he was a tight end for Port Richmond HS.

“My mom knew I planned to make a change, but she didn’t know what or why. The first time she saw it was when I came onto the field,” noted Sweeney, who doesn’t know which number he’ll continue to wear this season.

“That’s awesome,” said DeCristoforo of Sweeney’s surprise to his mother.

Sweeney transferred to St. Peter’s from Monsignor Farrell after his freshman year, giving an honest answer as to why.

“It’s because I wasn’t playing at Farrell, so I came to St. Peter’s and I’ve played my heart out,” he said.

For DeCristoforo, the hardest problem Sweeney gives him is determining where to dedicate him more.

“He plays as much as he can. During practice, the coaches get together and ask which side of the ball is Sweeney going to get a break this week,” said DeCristoforo. “He’s indispensable. He contributes so much every game and every practice. His presence has to be accounted for by other teams, aside from our coaching staff.”

“I like wide receiver more,” admitted the 17-year-old Westerleigh resident. “I’ve always liked offense … playing to make plays.”

The Eagles have collectively been making plenty of big plays this season, outscoring the opposition 104-28. So, what’s caused the change from last year?

“It definitely has to do with our coaching, and our attitude is different,” said Sweeney, who is in the scholars program at school. “Everybody just does their job. There’s such good camaraderie. This is the first team I’ve ever been on where there hasn’t been a single fight, even in camp.”

It was a moment in the preseason which confirmed for Sweeney and the Eagles that there likely wouldn’t be a repeat of 2022. After a competitive scrimmage against CHSFL AAA power Chaminade, the Eagles were told by Flyers head coach Kevin Dolan, “What a difference a year makes.”

“That definitely lit a fire under us,” Sweeney said.

“Most of these guys were sophomores or juniors on the varsity last year. It was basically a glorified JV,” said DeCristoforo. “So, the concept of the ‘revenge tour’ means so much more to those guys who suffered through last year (when the team was 3-7 overall).”

There’s only one more opponent left on the ‘revenge tour’ and that’s an Oct. 7 encounter with host Moore Catholic, which defeated the Eagles 41-7 to open the 2022 campaign.

“We’re trying not to look ahead, but it’s hard not to,” admitted Sweeney, who, when asked to remember the score of the loss to the Mavericks laughed, “it was a lot to a little.”

“There’s no way our guys are not looking ahead. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to skip the next two weeks or not respect the teams we’re going to play,” said DeCristoforo.

“It would be unnatural not to highlight a Staten Island rival. What’s gone on the last three years [with Moore’s surge] has created a nice rivalry. We have tremendous respect for them, tremendous respect for Coach [Nick Giannatasio] and his staff.

“We told our players they could start to look ahead if we’re 3-0 on the season. We’re 3-0.”