Although Fort Hamilton suffered another loss to New Dorp last week, two Tigers established school records during that game. Rookie sophomore quarterback Mark Kiss connected on 21 of 35 pass attempts for 163 yards and two touchdowns. Eleven of Kiss’ passes were caught by Fort Hamilton’s leading receiver Brandon Aranda, who established the pass reception record for a single game.
This week the Tigers visited the first place high-powered Madison Golden Knights, who had scored 104 points over their last three games while holding their opponents scoreless. The Knights wasted no time getting on the scoreboard with a handoff from quarterback Amir Cameron to Miles Jackson for a 24-yard score to start the first quarter. In the second quarter, Cameron put up an aerial assault, connecting with his primary receiver Nicholas Willensky on passes of 30, 51 and five yards to push Madison’s score up to 28-0 by halftime.
Although Brandon Ha made a fumble recovery in the Madison end, the strong Madison defense stopped the Tigers from scoring in the third quarter. After holding the Tigers, Jackson scored again on an eight-yard run to make the score 36-0. Midway in the fourth quarter the Tigers finally answered back with their first and only score.
Not wanting to be the fourth team in a row to be held scoreless, a reset Tiger offense started a 67-yard drive into the Madison end that featured 10- and 20-yard runs by Charles Kitsakos. With the Tigers reaching the Madison 35-yard line, repeated shouts of “Don’t let them score” were heard across the field from the Knights’ sideline. After being battered all game by the Madison defense, the Tigers avoided being the Knights’ fourth shutout as a determined Kitsakos eluded multiple tackles completing a 35-yard sweep into the end zone.
Madison added one last score on Jackson’s third touchdown rush as the Knights’ primary running back finished the game with 141 yards for the final score of 44-6. Still looking for their first win, the 0-6 Tigers go back on the road next week to play the 0-6 Tilden Blue Devils.