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Tigers celebrate big homecoming win over Curtis

September 24, 2013 Jim Dolan

Fort Hamilton 30 Curtis 8

It was the tale of two halves as the Curtis Warriors shut out Fort Hamilton 8-0 in the first half of their homecoming game. Undaunted, the Tigers came back in the second half to score 30 explosive points to sew up the game by the middle of the fourth quarter to beat their Staten Island archrival.

Unfortunately on Curtis first possession, the Warriors starting quarterback was knocked out of the game with a broken ankle when Tiger lineman Kevin Ferguson tackled Shane Daneluzzi in the backfield.

Maleek Darby took over for the injured Daneluzzi and followed with the first score of the game as the second string quarterback hit Maleik Kelly on a 40-yard touchdown pass play late in the second quarter.

Down just 8-0 to start the second half, the Tigers started to put points on the board beginning with Juan Tejadas 45-yard electric catch and run down to the one yard line.

Quarterback Sharif Legree followed with a bootleg into the end zone along with another run for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 8-8.

From this point, the Tiger defense starting clicking as Kevin Ferguson and Jermaine Garner made quarterback sacks to hold the Curtis defense at bay.

Back in the game with their first score, the Tigers followed with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Washington and a two-point conversion to Mike Masoud.

After the Warriors failed to make a first down deep in Fort Hamilton territory, an errant snap from center sailed out of the end zone for a safety to give the Tigers an 18-8 lead.

Forced to kick off the ball after the safety, the Warriors kicked off into the arms of Michael Brooks who returned the kickoff 60 yards for another electric Tiger touchdown to end the third quarter with Fort Hamilton up 24-8.

Reading the Warriors quarterback from his safety position, Juan Tejeda caught a misdirected pass and swept across the field to run the interception back 35 yards for the Tigers final score of the game in the fourth quarter.

When asked what he did to inspire his team to come out in such an explosive fashion in the second half, Fort Hamilton Head Coach Dan Perez calmly revealed that he just stuck to his basic game plan of Xs and Os.

Tejeda did a great job to break open the game for us and the rest of the kids struck early and fast in the second half, Perez remarked.

Next week, the 3-0 Tigers host Sheepshead Bay (2-1) in another Saturday afternoon contest at Fort Hamilton High School.