The DeWitt Clinton football team began lifting weights in January, going through two-a-day practices in August, and playing games in September with one thing in mind: another chance at the quarterfinals.
Now that the Governors have made it, winning eight games in a row, their school has turned its back on them. Clinton will play on the road this week, just like last week, possibly at Adlai Stevenson HS, when it takes on Staten Island power Curtis, the 2007 city champion.
They will technically be the home team, but because neighboring Bronx Science is administering entrance exams for prospective students, and Clinton principal Geraldine Ambrosio agreed with Bronx Science principal Valerie Reidy the Governors would not have a football game on school grounds last weekend or this Saturday, they will not have access to their field.
The crowd will be smaller, the field unfamiliar. Home disadvantage.
Last week, Clinton topped Flushing, 22-19, at Columbus HS Field, a far different result from the previous meeting, won by the Governors, 37-0, at home.
“The kids on the bench had to muster offense and defense chants,” coach Howard Langley said. “The crowd was too far away. There was no energy, which is what you look for in the playoffs from your fan base. In a lot of ways we were kind of flat.”
Two-way lineman Oscar Martinez was one of several players who met with Ambrosio on Tuesday. They offered several concessions: no music or public address announcer, for a few. Moving the game to later in the day was another suggestion.
“She basically just shot us down,” he said.
Langley said he was told the agreement came a long time ago, before Ambrosio knew Clinton would have a playoff game of this magnitude. But, he said, it also sends the message to his student-athletes they aren’t as important as their future Bronx Science counterparts.
“None of the administrators are fighting for our cause,” Langley said. “Bronx Science wins every argument. This can be a scholarship game for one of my kids. It can be an opportunity for his future.”
He added: “We’re student-athletes, we’re the faces of the school. We get mentioned in the newspaper.”
“I don’t think they care,” Martinez said.
The senior said he was approached by students frequently in the last week, asking where the game will be played. Several didn’t show, he said, on Saturday because they had no way to get to Columbus, and many more won’t make it this weekend either for similar reasons.
“It’s not showing us any respect,” Martinez added. “We work really hard to get a top seed in the city, get a playoff game at home and we can’t do that. We deserve this.”
Unless something drastically changes, Clinton will play a home playoff game on the road, for the second consecutive week. It has nothing to do with the Governors’ performance on the field or in the classroom. It is out of their control. Nobody at the school is helping.
What a shame.