Sunday’s 34-20, come-from-behind victory held little meaning for the South Bronx football team as far as the Cup division playoffs are concerned. The second-seeded Phoenix were going to face No. 3 Petrides in the opening round either way.
There was a special caveat that came with the victory – the opponent was George Washington, last year’s Cup champion which beat South Bronx in the semifinals.
“For a lot of the kids it was like getting the monkey off their backs,” coach Jose Cosme said.
Unlike the season-ending loss last year, the Phoenix responded after a poor first half. Michael Drake returned a punt 50 yards for a touchdown, quarterback Michael Walker ran for 82 yards and threw for 125 yards and a touchdown. Andrae Simpson led the defense with 12 tackles and Nebraska Huggins had six tackles and an interception.
Cosme is more confident now than he was a year ago. It was almost too easy for the Phoenix (10-0). They felt untouchable, until that heartbreaking defeat. So this year, despite the second consecutive undefeated record, there is a different mentality.
“We’re more grounded, we’re not looking past teams we face,” he said. “Experience is a great teacher.”
Cosme later added: “They know what happened to George Washington, and they know it can happen again. There’s no guarantee we’ll win the title, but we can only play every game as if it’s our last, and hopefully we come out on top.”
Automotive 28, Info Tech 8: The Pistons completed an undefeated seed and earned the top seed in the upcoming Bowl division playoffs. They will meet No. 4 Info Tech next Sunday.
In the victory, Maurice Edwards threw for 229 yards and tossed touchdown passes to Greg Dominick and Zorey Lewis. Josh Smalls and James Clark (101 yards rushing) scored on the ground for Automotive (10-0). Info Tech is 7-3.
Petrides 21, McKee/Staten Island Tech 20: Joseph Henry ran for 152 yards and two touchdowns and William Caban had 60 yards rushing and a touchdown for Petrides (7-3), which received the third seed and will meet No. 2 South Bronx in the Cup division playoffs next Sunday. MSIT is 6-4.
Alfred E. Smith 24, Stuyvesant 17: Dimitri Corley completed all six of his passes for 98 yards and two touchdown passes, including a 51-yarder to James Goff, and Clifton Gillespie ran for 158 yards and a score for Smith (4-6). Aaron Acevedo had a team-high nine tackles, an interception, sack and a fumble recovery.
Islam Ahmed ran for 89 yards and a score for Stuyvesant, who is 2-8.
William Bryant 27, Far Rockaway 12: Justin Polizzi had 202 yards on the ground and scored twice, as did Mohammed Azam, for Bryant (6-4), which missed out on the Cup division playoffs by a game. Far Rockaway is 4-6.
Adlai Stevenson 38, Evander Childs 20: Nijel Wells ran for 240 yards and three touchdowns, Nigel Harrell also ran for a score and Nelson Aldama had 12 tackles and a sack for Stevenson (4-6), who snapped a two-game losing streak. Davian Gauntlet had 150 yards on the ground and two scores for Evander Childs (2-8).
Lafayette 38, Lane 0: Jahleel Fenelon was 3-of-4 for 168 yards and tossed touchdown passes to Byron Granger and Ronnie Scott for Lafayette (3-7). Gregory Lenord and Sean Murray found pay dirt on carries and Nick Natal had 16 tackles and two sacks. Lane finished 0-10.