Brooks strikes twice for Tiger comeback

Fort Hamilton 30, Grand Street Campus 26

The 4-1 Fort Hamilton Tigers hosted the 2-3 Grand Street Campus Wolves who were hungry to even up their record at .500.

The Fort Hamilton defense led by Jermaine Garner and Tyquell Brown held the Wolves scoreless in the first half until Grand Street broke out in a scoring flurry to take over the lead from Fort Hamilton late in the fourth quarter. Just as quickly as the Wolves snatched the lead, Michael Brooks snatched it back for the Tigers on his second electrifying kickoff touchdown return of the quarter.

Fort Hamilton started the game by completing two mid field drives into the Wolves’ red zone as Tiger quarterback Sharif Legree found Jordan Blake on a 17-yard pass and Juan Tejada on 15-yard pass for an early 14-0 lead that would stand until the end of the first half.

As the Tiger offense started to sputter, Grand Street ignited for its first score on an 18-yard touchdown pass to Kareem Baccus and a 30-yard run by Rahmel Asby to narrow Fort Hamilton’s lead to 14-12 by the end of the third quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff to open the fourth quarter, Tiger running back Michael Brooks electrified the crowd with a 75-yard touchdown return to give the Tigers back some breathing room at 22-12.

Fort Hamilton’s lead quickly evaporated on the next Grand Street series as Tynell Robinson scored on a 70-yard pass play and a Rahmel Ashby scored on a two-yard run to gain the lead from Fort Hamilton, 26-22.

On the following kickoff, lightning struck twice for the Tigers as Michael Brooks ran straight up the middle shedding tacklers along the way for another (63-yard) touchdown run. Quarterback Sharif Legree added the two-point conversion with 3:24 left as the Tigers held on for the final score of 30-26.

On his winning touchdown run, Michael Brooks stated, “I was ready to do whatever it took to come back to win. I found a hole up the middle and just followed my blockers.”

Commenting on Brooks’ second touchdown run, Tiger quarterback Sharif Legree added, “I couldn’t believe he made that run a second time; if he didn’t score, I was ready to punch it in myself to win the game.”

After this win, the 5-1 Tigers are in fourth place in the PSAL Championship Division behind first place Erasmus Hall (6-0), second place Lincoln (6-0), and third place Clinton (4-2). Next week, the Tigers venture to Queens to take on the 0-6 Campus Magnet Bulldogs.