Tigers send six to All Star Game   

In 1996, current Fort Hamilton head coach Dan Perez played his final game for the Tigers as an offensive tackle in the PSAL’s Reilly Classic All Star Game for outgoing seniors.  Now in his 13th year as Fort Hamilton’s varsity football coach, Perez had the pleasure to name six seniors to the Reilly Classic after a successful 5-3 bounce-back season.

Leading the Fort Hamilton All Stars was Manny Dimitrakios, who was the Tigers’ leading receiver with 21 receptions for 276 yards and five touchdowns. Dimitrakios was a two-way player who played wide receiver on offense and outside linebacker on defense and was known as “a force to be reckoned with”. Also on offense, this season’s surprise receiver was co-captain Jawad Fares, who closely matched Dimitrakios’ numbers with 17 receptions, 215 yards and five touchdowns. “Jawad ran crisp routes, had good hands and made spectacular catches for us,” Perez said.

In addition to offense, Tiger linemen also starred for the senior class, starting with co-captain Sebastien Zamy, who played both offensive and defensive tackle. During the season Zamy was always quick off the ball and played with strong pursuit to take down running backs. Offensive guard Nick Cheregotis also played defensive end and steadied the middle of the box on offense. Max Southward was the right tackle who running backs used as their battering ram to open holes for the offense. 

Lastly, Daniel Tkachuk played free safety and called the defensive formation after each down. As the team’s best open-field tackler, he accumulated a valuable unrecorded stat for most touchdowns saved. At least once a game he was the last line of the defense that stopped the opposition from scoring.

Although they did not qualify for the Reilly Senior Classic since they were juniors, the tandem of August Porter and Aidan Farley earned honorable mention for their “all star” season. As the team’s featured running back, Porter amassed 476 total yards with 31 carries for 237 yards and two touchdowns, while also receiving 14 passes for 239 yards and five touchdowns. At quarterback, Aidan Farley led the team to their first winning (5-3) season since 2018.  In his first season as a varsity quarterback, he won the AAA Conference Award as the top performing quarterback after finishing the regular season with 91 pass completions for 1,235 yards and 18 touchdowns.