After a win over Franklin K. Lane last week to finish the regular season with a 7-1 record to secure Division 3A’s first seed, the Fort Hamilton Tigers hosted the eighth-seeded 4-4 John Jay Jaguars for the first round of the 2024 PSAL playoffs.
After the first change in possession, QB Aidan Farley drove the Tigers from midfield to the John Jay 10-yard line where he found a leaping Zaire Thomas in the corner of the end zone for the first score of the game. While preventing the Jaguars from scoring, the Tigers added to their first quarter lead with a 12-yard pass to Aiden Porter to give Fort Hamilton a 15-0 lead at the half.
Trey Marshall scored on a six-yard touchdown run to begin the third quarter. With the score 22-0, Fort Hamilton coach Dan Perez substituted Manny King for Marshall as the primary running back. After running for a series of first downs, King exploded off the line for a 52-yard touchdown run as he outran the Jaguar defense zigzagging down the field to give a Tigers a 28-0 third quarter lead.
King had one more opportunity to cross the goal line in the fourth quarter as the junior running back (92 yards, four carries and two TDs) scored on Fort Hamilton’s last possession on a 10-yard dash for the final score of 35-0. With this quarterfinal playoff win, the 8-1 Tigers advance to the semi-finals where they will host the 9-0 Harry S. Truman Mustangs from the Bronx.
Celebrating the win, the Tigers and their supporters were once again treated to a special playoff postgame meal of pizza and hot tray Italian food prepared and hosted by Frank Mancini of Mancini’s Wood-Fired Pizzeria.
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