It didn’t matter that his quarterback had lost two fumbles, thrown an interception and been a step slower than usual on a snowswept Midwood Field yesterday.
With his team trailing by two points and facing a fourth-and-two at the Canarsie 8-yard line in the fourth quarter of the PSAL championship game, Curtis head coach Fred Olivieri knew he still wanted the ball in Dominick LeGrande’s hands.
“He’s quarterbacked every game since he was a freshman, didn’t miss a game, didn’t miss a snap,” Olivieri said after top-seeded Curtis won its fourth title in 10 years and first since 2002 with a 22-16 victory over No. 3 Canarsie. “If you don’t trust him in that spot, what have you been doing the last four years?”
Olivieri’s faith in LeGrande was rewarded, as the senior kept a bootleg and ran around the right side into the end zone to give Curtis the lead with 6:07 to go. He then hit Davon Colbert for the two-point conversion.
“Before that play, I told Dom that he had to take it in for us,” said RB Shaahiyn Alston, who ran in a 26-yarder in the third quarter. “I just told him to keep it and I knew he’d figure out a way to score.”
Still, nothing came easily for the Warriors, who finished their season 13-0, while Canarsie ended up 11-2, with both losses coming to Curtis. The win avenged the Warriors’ 28-0 loss to Fort Hamilton in last year’s final.
Both offenses were compromised by a slick field and a mixture of snow and freezing rain. LeGrande opened the scoring with an 11-yard TD run in the first quarter and Canarsie quickly answered with a 52-yard touchdown run by Brandon Jones. The running back also scored the conversion to give the Chiefs an 8-6 lead at the half.
“The elements were taking over,” Olivieri said. “We just had to let the boys do it themselves on the field. That’s what Dom does best.”
The tide turned in the third quarter, as Curtis recovered a Canarsie miscue on the opening kickoff and Alston responded on the next play with his score. The Chiefs came back and regained the lead when Steven Rene took a pitch and scampered in from 24 yards.
Then LeGrande came up with his final heroics before heading off to play DB at Boston College next season.