Prince Dukes (1) of Curtis trying to get rid of the Tottenville defender. (An rong xu)
Two key second-half fumbles against Erasmus Hall. Some missed opportunities against Campus Magnet.
Curtis coach Pete Gambardella can boil down his team’s first two regular-season losses quite easily. On Friday night in a 28-16 loss to rival Tottenville in PSAL City Championship football under the lights in Huguenot, there were similar instances.
“Our season has been a few plays,” Gambardella said. “We didn’t score down there. The bad punt. The third down when it was a roughing the passer and they scored on that series.”
Down three touchdowns in the second quarter, Curtis (6-3) had a chance to come right back. A 38-yard pass from quarterback Prince Dukes to Wesley Foryoh set up the Warriors inside the red zone and they had 1st-and Goal from the 6 and then 2nd-and-Goal from the 1. But three straight runs by Tynell Brown from under center were stuffed by the Tottenville defense. Considering Curtis scored on its next possession on Dukes’ 27-yard pass to Brown, it could have very well been a one-possession game going into halftime.
“We spotted them too many points and it was tough to battle back,” Gambardella said. “But one thing I’ll say about our guys is they didn’t give up. They didn’t give up to the bitter end.”
A bad punt, which hit off a Curtis player’s back, actually went for minus-6 yards in the second quarter and Tottenville (9-0), the top team in the city according to The Post, scored three plays later to make it 21-0.
The Pirates only scored once after that, though, as No. 8 Curtis hung with them in the second half. Brown, on an option play, hit Andy McCoy for a 28-yard touchdown pass that made it 28-14 with 7:24 left, but the Warriors ran out of time.
“Sometimes their backs are against the wall and they play harder, but we were in just too much of a hole,” Gambardella said.
Dukes, just a freshman, was 14-of-26 for 240 yards and a touchdown. He did have three interceptions, including two by Tottenville star Alvin Cornelius, but ended up leading Curtis on two important scoring drives. Dukes has been splitting snaps with Brown, but he was the Warriors’ primary signal-caller Saturday night.
“He’s a very resilient young man,” Gambardella said. “For a freshman to go out there and play a game like this, he’s gonna make mistakes. He’s a freshman. He’s gonna make mistakes, but we’re gonna live and die with him now.”
It was a good experience for him in a big game against a great team in a raucous environment – there was a capacity crowd on hand for Tottenville’s Homecoming and a long line down Luten Avenue of people waiting to get in just minutes before the opening kickoff. The same can be said for Curtis, which was just a few plays away from being considered part of the PSAL’s elite.
“I thought we were competitive,” Gambardella said of the game. “It’s a whole new season and anything can happen.”