Tigers’ surge falls short in Bayside

Looking for their first win of the 2021 season, the 0-2 Fort Hamilton Tigers traveled to play the 1-1 Bayside Commodores, a team that Fort Hamilton had not played in more than 10 years. From the outset of the game, the Tigers were up to the task, holding Bayside on two goal line stands for a scoreless first quarter.

In the second quarter, Bayside quarterback Tom Delgado engineered back-to-back scoring drives from midfield that saw the Commodores’ primary running back Jaylen McGee (101 yards rushing) score on 7-yard and 15-yard runs to make the score 16-0 midway in the quarter.  

Still recovering from an ankle sprain and seeing limited duty in this game, Fort Hamilton’s primary running back Charles Kitsakos was inserted into the game to give the Tigers some punch. With his blockers pulling to the left, Kitsakos responded with a 55-yard score on a swing pass from Tiger quarterback Mark Kiss to make the score 16-6 to end the first half.

In the third quarter, Kiss (10 for 18, 183 yards passing) faked another pass to Kitsakos and this time found Brandon Aranda on a 45-yard scoring strike to narrow Bayside’s lead to 16-12.

In the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, the Tigers gained momentum after gaining the ball deep in their own end on an interception. Kiss then “threaded the needle,” hitting Aranda between two Bayside defenders on a 30-yard pass to bring the ball to the Bayside 40-yard line. Kiss then followed with a 20-yard pass to Chris Bruno to set up the Tigers on the 10 yard line with under a minute left in the game.

Down by just four points with their first victory in sight, the Tigers ran a sweep to the right that ended in a Bayside fumble recovery to end the game on an ill-timed pass from Kiss to Kitsakos. Still searching for their first win, next week the 0-3 Tigers will host Staten Island Tech.