Tigers spoil McKee’s homecoming with first win 

After losing twice to the 1-1 McKee/Staten Island Tech Seagulls last year, the 0-2 Tigers really wanted to win their first game of the season, especially at their host’s homecoming game, according to Fort Hamilton offensive lineman Nicholas Cheregotis.

With two consecutive losses at home to start the season, Aidan Farley promised to get the Tigers’ first win. Making good on his promise, the junior quarterback led the Tigers in a poised performance to an impressive victory, completing 16 of 23 passes for 162 yards and four touchdown passes.  

From the very start the Tigers looked crisp, blocking an early punt attempt that led to Fort Hamilton’s first score. After Zaire Thomas (74 yards) moved a pass to the 5-yard line, Farley found Manny Dimitrakios for the next play on a slant across the end zone to close the first quarter at 8-0.

In the second quarter Daniel Tkachuk’s interception set up the Tigers’ second score as Farley ripped a 4-yard pass across the middle to August Porter. On McKee’s following sequence, Porter starred again as he intercepted Daniel Oleyaja’s “Hail Mary” pass at the 2-yard line with a minute left in the half. However, the Seagulls made the Tigers pay for their interception, as Porter was tackled on a handoff in the end zone for a safety to end the first half with Fort Hamilton leading 14-2. 

After taking the kickoff in the second half, Farley confidently drove the Tigers to the 12-yard line where he found Thomas up the middle to give Fort Hamilton a commanding 22-2 lead.  Down but not out of the game, Oleyaja led his team downfield to the 2-yard line, where he scored on a quarterback keeper to narrow the Tigers’ lead to 22-10 to end the third quarter.

Resuming play in the fourth quarter, Farley steadily drove downfield on a series of plays where he found Dimitrakios for his second touchdown on a 34-yard pass play to increase the Tigers’ lead to 30-10.  Down by 20 points, the Seagulls responded with a 17-yard scoring run by Oleyaja to close the gap to 30-18.

In the closing minutes of the game Farley put the icing on the cake for the Tigers, handing off to Fort Hamilton’s game-leading rusher Manny King (74 yards), who raced for a 32-yard score for the final 30-18 win.

“We played two tough teams [Boys High & DeWitt Clinton] to start the season, so I don’t think that it was really indicative of our team,” said Fort Hamilton coach Dan Perez. “We’ve been working hard and hopefully this builds some confidence for us.”

On the offensive side, Perez saw a breakout game for his rookie varsity junior quarterback Farley, who successfully connected with multiple receivers. Perez was also pleased with the play of his defenders, especially safety Daniel Tkachuk (four tackles and an interception) and defensive tackle Sebastien Zamy, who also made four tackles.