Fort Hamilton finally reaches the .500 mark

Eager to capitalize on Truman’s 1-4 record, the Tigers struck first on their initial possession on a 30-yard touchdown pass to Juan Tejada. After losing their first three games to start the season, the 2-3 Tigers were looking forward to an even .500 record after beating Boys High last week.

Although Fort Hamilton scored easily and first, the Mustangs surprised the Tigers with an opening upbeat tempo to roll up and down the field. “They caught us misaligned in the first half,” said Tiger Head Coach Dan Perez, explaining Truman’s first-half dominance.

Going for broke early in the game, the Mustangs faked a punt from the their own 45-yard line running the ball all the way down to the Fort Hamilton 10 where Truman eventually took a quick 8-6 lead on Donavan Jackson’s quarterback keeper.

Jackson struck again in the second quarter on another keeper that was matched by Tiger quarterback Sharif Legree to make the score 14-12 in favor of the Mustangs. Engineering one last drive before the half, Jackson found Cory Hall in the end zone on a four-yard pass to give Truman a 22-12 lead at the half.

Coming out for the second half, Fort Hamilton held the Mustangs scoreless as they opened the flood gates on a 20-yard touchdown pass play to Mike Mousad and a 10-yard rush by Noah Solano in the third quarter. Entering the fourth quarter with a slim 26-22 lead, the Tigers added two more scores on a 55-yard misdirection play by Legree and a three-yard rush by Solano for the final score of 42-22.

Commenting on his team’s turnaround, Legree explained the mindset of his team in the locker room going in to the second half. “Our defense was flat in the first half,” stated the junior quarterback whose defense stepped up and held Truman scoreless for the rest of the game.

“It’s been a long, hard road to reach .500,” stated Head Coach Perez now with a record of 3-3. “Now, we have a very big one coming up next week,” referring to the Tigers’ next critical home game with first-place Erasmus Hall.  When asked what his game plan was to go up against the powerhouse division leader, Perez quipped, “Work real hard and pray.”

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