Budding Shore Star Has Unforgettable Day: ‘I Was Just Trying to Take It All In’
It’s hard to imagine there was a player in the Shore Conference who enjoyed a better first day of the season than St. John Vianney junior wide receiver Noah Fitzpatrick.
He and the rest of the Lancers were up before the sun for a 6 a.m. bus all the way down to Ocean City for a 10 a.m. game at the Battle on the Beach, but they made the trip worth it. Fitzpatrick had three catches for 55 yards, and all of them were for touchdowns in a 29-28 overtime thriller against defending Group 3 champion Cedar Creek.
The last one was the most impressive for the electric, 6-foot-3 junior, as he went over two defenders to haul in a 3-yard touchdown pass in overtime from junior quarterback Anthony Petracca that set up Petracca’s game-winning two-point conversion run.
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“I knew he was going to get it no matter what,” Petracca said. “I just put it up for him where he could get it, and he made a play.”
“The ball’s in the air, he’s going to go up and get it,” Lancers head coach Greg Penta said. “Last year, a contested catch, maybe he catches it, maybe he doesn’t, but this year to see him make those plays over and over again, I think we’re all extremely impressed, but at the same time, it is what we expected because we saw it in June and in the 7-on-7s and the scrimmages.”
Fitzpatrick has an 80-inch wingspan, comparable to that of Minnesota Vikings star Justin Jefferson, so his two quarterbacks, Petracca and Will Calcagno, have the ultimate faith in him.
St. John Vianney’s Noah Fitzpatrick had a day to remember in the season opener. (Photo credit: Bob Badders | rpbphotography.com)
“It’s like throwing the ball at the shed in your backyard,” said Calcagno, who threw two touchdown passes to Fitzpatrick and three overall in the Cedar Creek game before leaving with leg cramps. “No matter where you throw it, it’s going to hit the shed.”
Fitzpatrick entered the season with an offer from Temple while coming off a sophomore year in which he had 14 catches for 109 yards and a touchdown.
“Last year I would say was a disappointment,” he said. “I have standards for myself, I know how good I could be, and last year I didn’t really show that. This year I wanted to come out and show everybody that I’m not what I was last year. So I think I did just that.”
St. John Vianney quarterbacks Will Calcagno (left) and Anthony Petracca (center) combined for three TD passes to wideout Noah Fitzpatrick (right) in a win over Cedar Creek. (Photo by Scott Stump)
His touchdown hat trick was just the beginning of a memorable day. Following the game, he got a text from Penn State assistant coach Naz Oliver as he was boarding the bus. He called Oliver to find out the Nittany Lions were offering him.
“I was kind of just shocked from the game just happening, and that kind of added on to it,” Fitzpatrick said.
Two hours after that phone call, UConn reached out and made it two offers on the day to go with the win on the field.
“It was a lot for me,” he said. “I was just trying to take it all in.”
He was one of several heroes for St. John Vianney, as Petracca also ran for 76 yards on 10 carries in his first action of the season after Calcagno had to exit the game. Senior Lucas Farah also rolled up 100 yards on the ground with starting running back Corleii Thomas out of the lineup.
The No. 11 Lancers can now get the attention of the whole state this week when they welcome Donovan Catholic, the No. 2 team in the Shore Sports Insider Top 12(opens in new tab) and the No. 11 team in the state, according to NJ Advance Media.
“I love that we’re the underdog,” Calcagno said. “I feel like we can get it done, we just have to come together to play as a team.”
“Everyone is expecting us to lose like last week,” Fitzpatrick said. “I kind of just enjoy waking people up and proving people wrong.”
Scott Stump is the football editor and a reporter for Shore Sports Insider. He first started covering Shore Conference football in 1999.
Email: scottstump25@gmail.com
