With more than half of the regular season completed and with playoff seeding on the line, the 3-2 Fort Hamilton Tigers traveled to Bayside, Queens, to play a critical game against the Judges of Benjamin Cardozo H.S., who were also carrying an identical 3-2 record. For this Friday night contest under the lights, this would be the first ever meeting of these two teams as a result of the PSAL’s recent reorganization into four divisions.
Even before the beginning of the game, the Tigers appeared to be fatigued as they got off the bus after a two-hour traffic-laden ride from Bay Ridge, while across the field, the energized Judges conducted a pre-game ceremony honoring the seniors for their last scheduled home game.
Although the Tigers won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball, they were uncharacteristically stopped short at the 12-yard line as the Judges took over on four downs. After gaining the ball deep in their own end, Cardozo quarterback Brad Bahadur drove downfield to hit Peter Martucci on a 9-yard pass for an 8-0 first quarter lead.
In the second quarter the Tigers answered with two scores of their own as quarterback Aidan Farley found Zaire Thomas darting across the middle on an 8-yard pass. Daniel Tkachuk followed with an interception and a return to midfield to give the ball back to the Tigers. From there Farley went to his top receiver Manny Dimitrakios, who pulled in a 28-yard over-the-shoulder catch at the corner of the end zone for a 14-8 Fort Hamilton lead at the half.
Resuming play, the Judges took advantage of the second half kickoff and marched down to the 4-yard line, where their top running back Jakeel Johnson scored on a 4-yard dash. Despite advancing the ball to the 14-yard line, the Tigers couldn’t score as a surging Cardozo defense stopped the run and forced Farley out of the pocket to throw incomplete passes.
Tied at 14-14 to start the fourth quarter, the Tigers were this time stopped again at the 19-yard line, whereupon the Judges capitalized on the change of possession. Driving downfield to the 15-yard line with two minutes left, Cardozo’s leading ground-gainer Johnson broke free of multiple Tiger tacklers to score again to win the game for the Judges 22-14.
Addressing the team in the post-game huddle, head coach Dan Perez pointed out that the team failed to convert on three red zone opportunities and appeared to be “flat.” Nonetheless, Perez encouraged his team to move ahead of this disappointing loss, saying, “Sometimes you have to take a step back in order to go forward; the season’s not over yet.”
To see game highlights, visit https://youtube.com/shorts/V7GSAQ-WlCo?si=2Ps9pGDUi9TxiqM1
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