Grand Street fends off Erasmus for first PSAL title

December 13, 2015 Jim Dolan
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Grand Street 28 Erasmus 26

Five days before the 2015 PSAL City Championship game at Yankee Stadium, Grand Street quarterback Sharif Legree “hit the nail on the head” when he predicted that Sunday’s game with Erasmus would be “a good game” as well as “a close one.” Ensuring that Grand Street won this “close one,” Legree threw for three touchdowns along with a score of his own.

Enjoying the best year of his three-year PSAL varsity career, Legree, the Grand Street senior who had spent two prior seasons with Fort Hamilton, led the Wolves to their first-ever championship under the guidance of Head Coach Bruce Eugene, a former Grambling State University quarterback.

Under the leadership of Head Coach Danny Landberg, this would be Erasmus’ fourth appearance within the past five years at Yankee Stadium as the Dutchmen aimed to reclaim the PSAL title that they last won in 2012.

For Grand Street, the rise to an undefeated 13-0 season was a gradual ascent as Coach Eugene took a formerly .500 team deeper and deeper into the playoffs each year until they became “the team to beat” this season. Employing a “West Coast” passing offense, Eugene set the stage for quarterback Legree to connect with three college-bound receivers (Rutgers-bound Taysir Mack and Ahmed Bah along with a possible Lehigh-bound Kareem Davis) to dominate this season’s PSAL’s passing landscape.

From the very beginning of this title game, Legree set the tone for the Wolves as he struck quickly on Grand Street’s first possession on a 30-yard touchdown pass to Mack. Later, Legree would connect again for a second touchdown with Mack to put the Wolves up 22-14 late in the second quarter.

In the closing minutes of the second quarter, Erasmus quarterback Aaron Grant narrowed Grand Street’s lead to 22-20 with a touchdown pass to Daevon Alverez, only to have Legree run a quarterback draw into the end zone to give the Wolves some breathing room with a 28-20 lead at the half.

Neither team could score in the second half until Jahquel Webb recovered a Grand Street punt fumble on the five-yard line. With momentum now on Erasmus’ side, Grant took to the air and rewarded Webb for his fumble recovery with a touchdown pass that put the Dutchmen just two points behind the Wolves, 28-26.

In the fourth quarter, the Grand Street defense held the Dutchmen scoreless as Erasmus was denied anything close to “Red Zone” access. Regaining the ball back for the last four minutes of the game, Grand Street simply pounded the ball up the middle until time ran out for the win.

Enjoying his championship, Coach Eugene stated, “I believe we have the best defense in the city,” referring to keeping Erasmus scoreless in the fourth quarter. “We ran when we wanted to; and passed when we wanted to control the game. I’m at a loss of words for the way the kids played this game. I’m so proud of my guys. They played their tails off today.”

Photos courtesy of Jim Dolan
Photos courtesy of Jim Dolan
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