Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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42 SEPT. 18, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FOOTBALL RECRUITING BY MIKE SINGER B lue & Gold Illustrated was in New Jersey to see a trio of Notre Dame commits. Class of 2023 safety Adon Shuler's Irvington (N.J.) High squad fell to Flanders (N.J.) Mount Olive 2-0 on Sept. 3. Shuler had a strong perfor- mance, notching three tackles and a pass deflection. The following day, we saw Or- adell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic dismantle Smyrna (Del.) High 52-6. While Smryna was outmatched against Bergen Catho- lic, they're not a bad football team by any stretch. MaxPreps ranks Smyrna as the No. 2 team in the state of Delaware. Bergen Catholic is just on a different level. Ranked as the No. 6 team in the en- tire country by MaxPreps, the Crusaders have a pair of Notre Dame commits in the 2022 class in quarterback Steve Angeli and defensive back Jayden Bellamy. A suffocating Bergen Catholic de- fensive line did not allow Smryna class of 2023 quarterback Cameron Edge to throw the ball down field much. On one pass he threw Bellamy's way, the Irish pledge broke up the pass. Bellamy made five tackles as well. Angeli was outstanding in the contest. His passing stats were padded by screen plays that went for 93 and 92 yards, with Angeli completing 14 of 15 attempts for 360 yards with five touchdowns. "My receivers were getting open, and Coach Vito [Campanile] called a great game and set up great pass plays," An- geli told BGI following the game. "I was able to deliver the ball to my receivers. We threw the ball short in the beginning and watched our guys run and take off. Once the defense started to come down, we started putting it over their heads and taking shots. We com- pleted them, scored touchdowns and put points on the board." One week earlier, on Aug. 27 Bergen Catholic traveled to Akron, Ohio, to face Archbishop Hoban — the No. 4 team in Ohio per MaxPreps — and Angeli's squad came out on top 42-7. After incompletions on his first two attempts, Angeli completed his next 14 passes — a school record for comple- tions in a row — and totaled 195 passing yards in two and a half quarters. He also added a rushing touchdown and fin- ished 14-of-16 passing. "I feel like this is the best team in the state of New Jersey, and we've proven ourselves out of state already," Angeli said. "I believe this is one of the better teams Bergen Catholic has seen in its history. It's all just talk for now; we have to go out and prove it every Saturday. I'm excited for the stretch that comes up. We'll get work in." Angeli has been highly efficient a cou- ple games into his senior season, com- pleting 28 of 31 passes for 555 yards with eight touchdowns and zero interceptions. "His confidence level is great right now, and he has an unbelievable grasp of what we do," Campanile said. "It's really hard to get to his experience level; he's a seasoned veteran. "It's come to the point to where our game planning is a collaboration with Steve. He's really a great student of the game and loves that part of it. He loves the film work, game planning and preparation. "He knows what he's seeing out there. He does a really good job in the run game as far as checking plays. Coach [Tommy] Rees will be pretty happy with Steve's knowledge of the game when gets there." Campanile is a longtime, decorated high school football coach in the state of New Jersey. He's coached collegiately as well at New Hampshire, under then- head coach Chip Kelly, who would go on to jobs at Oregon and UCLA, plus a stop in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles. Campanile threw for 6,755 yards and 55 touchdowns during his prep career at Paramus (N.J.) Catholic. He knows the quarterback position and has full trust in Angeli at the position. It says something about Angeli that Campanile has given a 17-year-old "free rein" to make various checks and au- dibles at the line of scrimmage. "We'll basically have a 'kill' call in the run game, and he can do any of that stuff," Campanile explained. "He's Notre Dame QB Commit Steve Angeli Is Off To A Hot Start Through two games with Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic High, Angeli had completed 28 of 31 passes for 555 yards with eight touchdowns and zero interceptions, defeating top teams from Ohio and Delaware. PHOTO BY MIKE SINGER