Sports

Confident NYC receivers look to catch on at Empire Challenge

Cardinal Hayes Bryant McAdoo will be one of the many big targets for the New York City team. (Damion Reid)

Bryant McAdoo took some time to glance at the Long Island roster. The Cardinal Hayes and New York City wide receiver wanted to see what he and his teammates would be up against under the lights Tuesday in the Outback Steakhouse Empire Challenge at Hofstra.

“I looked at all the corners,” he said. “They are all 5-9, 5-10. I hope they are looking at us because we have 6-5, 6-6 kids, ready to jump over them and catch the ball and score touchdowns and just look in their face like, ‘Yeah we from New York City.’”

He and his receiving corpshave plenty of reasons to be confident. They posses speed, size and excellent hands. The 6-foot-5 McAdoo, who is headed to Stony Brook next season, is joined by Hayes teammates Gallo Henson, who is 6-foot-3 and Jeremiah Kobena, one of the fastest kids in New York City, is an even 6-feet.

There are plenty of other weapons outside of the Cardinals stars. Canarsie’s Sosha Callender is 6-foot-1, Erasmus Hall’s Jonathan Yearwood stands at 6-foot-4 and New Dorp’s Elijah Bratcher is 6-foot-1. It may be the most physically impressive group New York City had brought to the game at that position in recent memory.

“Long Island is usually loaded, but we are hoping that we are going to get some mismatches there and we are going to chuck it up and hope that they make a play,” NYC offensive coordinator and former Fort Hamilton coach Vinny Laino said.

The receiving corp has impressed at every practice. Kobena, who is headed to Syracuse, has found space over the middle that he’s turned into big gains, while McAdoo and Henson both made plays down field and picked up first downs. Bratcher has shown an innate ability to make tough grabs over the shoulder and with defenders around him.

“If everything works out well we should actually be able to dominate,” Henson said. “If the coaches call the right plays and we run our timing routes on point.”

Henson, who was also a star defensive end for Hayes last fall, is headed to Nassau Community College with hopes of earning a scholarship to a four-year school. He views playing in the Empire Challenge as a leg up for him in the recruiting process. It is something he believes will help him stand out to college coaches. McAdoo thinks that won’t take very long.

“If he gets some moves, nobody is stopping that kid, no matter what position he plays, defensive end, receiver, safety, linebacker,” he said. “Nassau is not going to know what to do with him on the field. He is so athletic.”

Bratcher, one of the more under-the-radar talents, is in a similar position, headed to Santa Rosa Junior College in California, where he jokes they do not run the ball. New Dorp finished 4-5 last season and didn’t make the playoffs. But there is no doubting Bratcher’s individual ability. He had 11 touchdowns and 808 yards on 35 catches for an average for 23 yards per grab.

“He’s my favorite player,” said Erasmus Hall coach Danny Landberg, who is coaching the NYC receivers. “He’s fun to coach. He knows all his assignments and he calls them out like a soldier.”

New York City hopes all its playmaking ability will be on display on Tuesday, helping them raise the Empire Challenge trophy for the first time since 2008.

“They can’t hold us,” Bratcher said. “We are just going to do what we got to do, make plays on the ball and when we get the ball we just got to make something out of nothing.”