The 1-5 Fort Hamilton Tigers visited the 1-5 New Dorp Central Cougars and both teams were seeking just their second win of the season. Up to the end of the third quarter, it was a close punch-counter-punch type of game until the Cougars went ahead by two touchdowns on the legs of New Dorp quarterback Marat Baratov.
With this game on the line for team pride, the Tigers made a goal line stand to end the first quarter in a scoreless tie. In the second quarter, Baratov scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 15-yard run. Fort Hamilton immediately responded with a 36-yard sweep by quarterback Aiden Porter to tie the game at 8-8. Zak Benchemarr followed with a fumble recovery that led to a three-yard run by Jayden Pagan to put the Tigers ahead 14-8. The Cougars responded with a 40-yard pass play to Roman Siniscalchi to close the first half with a 16-14 lead.
The Tigers opened the third quarter with a 56-yard run by Manny King down to the three-yard line where Kevin Lin caught a short pass for the Tigers to take back the lead at 22-16. Baratov then followed with a 20-yard dash down the middle to tie the score at 22-22. Regaining the ball, the Cougars made a long drive that finished with Baratov’s one-yard push across the goal line for a crucial 28-22 go-ahead score to end the third quarter.
Siniscalchi’s nine-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter put the game out of reach for the Tigers, while the Cougar defense added an exclamation point to end the game with a safety for the final score of 38-22.
The Tigers will finish their regular season schedule at home against rival Brooklyn Tech, the team that they lost to by one point in last season’s 3A Championship game.
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