Curtis20 Kennedy0
Like a good heavyweight boxer, Curtis High School’s football team pounds its opponent until it is weak before throwing the knockout punch.
For the second straight week, the Warriors threatened to score in the first half, but succeeded only in wearing down the other team. Yesterday, Curtis (5-1, 5-0 in PSAL) turned a 0-0 halftime score into a 20-0 victory at home over Kennedy – much like it took a scoreless tie against Wagner last week and turned it into a 16-6 win.
“We had problems in the red zone during the first half,” Curtis QB George Hassell said. “Some of the kids might have seen that Wagner beat Kennedy (4-2, 3-2) and figured since we beat Wagner, it would be an easy win. But we know we have to play hard. In the second half, we figured it out.”
The Warriors improved immediately in the third quarter. They started their first play after the half on their own 15-yard line. Curtis then proceeded to methodically march down the field, driving 85 yards for a 6-0 lead.
“That drive was really demoralizing for us,” said Kennedy coach Jerry Horowitz. “When you play a team of that caliber and they do something like that to you, it just kills you. They did a great job and showed why they are champs.”
“The difference was George,” Curtis coach Fred Olivieri said. “I wasn’t meshing with the offense when I was calling the plays in the first half. So I let George handle everything in the second half.”
Hassell didn’t do anything fancy on that 18-play, 85-yard drive that took up 8:35. He called his impeccably reliable running back’s number an astonishing 11 times. The back, Mike Goodman, made like Ottis Anderson in the Giants’ Super Bowl victory over the Bills. Goodman ran for 48 yards and no play on the drive went for more than his 15-yard run on its first play. Goodman finished the drive with a one-yard touchdown run with 3:25 left in the third quarter. Goodman had 147 yards on 32 tough carries and scored twice.
“That [possession] was huge for us,” Olivieri said. “That was exactly what I wanted to see.”
It pleased Curtis’ defense even more. Kennedy, whose wing-T offense has given teams trouble all year, was held to just seven yards on 11 plays in the second half.
“No. 8 [Kennedy QB Mario DeGracia] terrified us,” Olivieri said. “He’s very elusive. He runs that offense very well. Sometimes I didn’t know who had the ball.”
Despite DeGracia’s deceptiveness, the Knights couldn’t get anything going after their first drive stalled on Curtis’ 37-yard-line. That turned out to be, by far, Kennedy’s best possession of the game.
“Their quarterback is excellent,” said Curtis LB Mel Haskell, who sacked DeGracia on consecutive plays in the third quarter. “I just tried to stick to him the whole time.”
It obviously worked. And with Curtis’ improved defense came a more potent offense. After failing to get the ball in the end zone in the first half, the Warriors scored on all three of their long possessions after halftime.
In addition to Goodman and Hassell, Curtis got a contribution from Juan Santos. The wide receiver had some problems holding on to the ball early on, but he responded with three catches for 39 yards. He gave the Warriors a 12-0 lead on a fourth-and-3 play early in the fourth quarter. Hassell hit him on a quick out pattern and then Santos avoided several would-be Kennedy tacklers for a 23-yard touchdown.
“I just saw the end zone and knew I had to get there,” Santos said. “I had missed a couple of passes before, but my teammates kept me up.”
Naturally, that play was called by Hassell.
“I just let him go and he takes us where we have to go,” Olivieri said.