The game was billed as “the Battle of the Unbeatens” by Sage Media, as the 3-0 Fort Hamilton Tigers ventured to the Bronx to play Harlem’s 3-0 A. Phillip Randolph Cougars. To add to the hype, Sage Media featured the game on YouTube as the PSAL’s Division 3A Game of the Week.
This was the surging Tigers’ first ever game against Randolph. After playing in different divisions through 2023, the Tigers entered the game knowing that the Cougars were perennial playoff contenders.
From their first possession, the Cougars’ leading rusher Travis Gamble exploded out of the backfield for 54 yards and subsequently 24 yards to give his team a 12-0 lead in the first quarter. The Cougars then quickly added to their lead in the second quarter with another Gamble touchdown on a 36-yard run for a commanding 20-0 lead.
Anxious to get on the scoreboard, Tiger quarterback Aidan Farley ran a drive that finished the quarter with a nine-yard pass to Trey Marshall to end the first half at 20-6.
In the second half, the game changed dramatically as the Tigers found their offensive rhythm while the defense held the Cougars scoreless to the end of regulation. Farley moved the ball down the field on passes to Aiden Porter and Zaire Thomas that set up a 14-yard TD pass to Marshall to narrow the score to 20-14. Leading on defense, Captain Tim Tan (13 tackles) and Ismail Haider (seven tackles) held down the surging Cougars with Fort Hamilton’s defensive adjustments.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Cougars advanced to Fort Hamilton’s 20-yard line. The defense held and prevented the Cougars from getting a first down in the red zone to give the Tigers one last opportunity to come back. Energized by the turnover, Farley found August Porter (5 for 115 yards) on a 55-yard pass play downfield to set up a 10-yard run by Marshall to tie the game at 20-20. With a chance to win the game on a two-point conversion, Farley’s pass was batted down by Randolph’s Issac Suazo to send the game into overtime.
In OT, the Cougars once again went to their top running back as Gamble ran for his 11th season touchdown along with a successful two-point conversion to go ahead 28-20. For the Tigers, Marshall also scored his eleventh TD on a three-yard run but was stopped at the one-yard line on his two-point conversion attempt to give the Cougars the 28-26 win.
“That was a humbling game for us,” said two-way senior player August Porter. “We almost made that comeback to win in the fourth quarter, but we missed on that last pass play to win on the conversion. Still, it was a good game for us to help us keep our focus for the rest of the season. Now that we’ve seen them, we’ll be ready when we play them again.”
Despite the tough loss, Kate Farley and the parents club made the ride home to Brooklyn just a little more palatable as they distributed Italian ham sandwiches donated by Ray Mancini’s Wood-Fired Pizza Shop in Bay Ridge.
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