Tigers’ winning streak stops at four

After winning the first three games of the season, the Fort Hamilton girls’ flag football team hosted the Dolphins of Leon M. Goldstein H.S.

In the first half the Tigers went ahead 6-0 on a 17-yard touchdown reception by Alex Kollaros. The Dolphins then tied the game in the second half on a 35-yard run by Tahillah Bertram on a perfectly executed hook-and-ladder play.

With the game tied, the Tigers were the first to go for the overtime tiebreaker from the 10-yard line. On the third attempt, quarterback Makayla Lucas threw to Lydia Walton in the end zone and she made a leaping catch for the six points. The Fort Hamilton defense then held the Dolphins scoreless in their subsequent four scoring attempts as the Tigers went on to win 12-6 for their fourth straight victory.

In a re-scheduled game from last week, the Tigers traveled the next day to Lafayette to take on the Patriots. In a close game that was tied 6-6 at the half and 12-12 in the third quarter, the Tigers’ top receiver, Alex Kollaros, pulled down two touchdown passes to keep Fort Hamilton in the game. Approaching the 10-yard line midway through the fourth quarter, Angelina Raharjo came in for quarterback Makayla Lucas to give the Tigers a new-look offense. After two passing attempts, Raharjo decided to run it into the end zone for the 18-12 lead after finding all of her receivers covered.

With momentum on their side, the Tigers made another push to score late in the fourth quarter in order to put the game out of reach of the Patriots. However, the pass that was so successful before turned out to be the Tigers’ downfall as the Patriots intercepted deep in their own end. The energized Patriots came back to score on a 40-yard touchdown run by Janiyah Applewhite to tie the game at 18-18. After the Tigers failed to make a critical fourth-down conversion to keep possession, the momentum swung back again to Lafayette as Jayla Robinson made a long touchdown reception for the final 25-18 Lafayette win.

Although the Tigers lost, Lucas still had one of her most successful games of the season as she connected on 16 of her 22 pass attempts for 116 yards and two touchdowns. 

“We will continue to strive to be the division champs,” said head coach Lynn Beruldsen-Milano. “This loss keeps us grounded and working hard.”