Taysir Mack rewarded his teammates’ faith in him with Grand Street’s first-ever city championship win.
The Wolves were fourth down and five to go at Erasmus Hall’s 35-yard line with less than two minutes to play and just a two-point lead during the Public School Athletic League City Conference football championship at Yankee Stadium on Dec. 5. Coach Bruce Eugene wanted to punt, but the entire offense rallied behind star receiver Taysir Mack, Eugene said.
“They told me ‘Nah, coach, give the ball to Taysir,’ ” Eugene said.
And Mack didn’t disappoint.
Quarterback Sharif Harris-Legree found him for a five-yard reception at the 30-yard line that picked up just enough for a game-sealing first down.
The play allowed second-seeded Grand Street to hold No. 6 Erasmus Hall to 28–26 and win the school’s first-ever championship.
Mack hadn’t caught a single pass in the second half, but Eugene and the rest of the Wolves put their faith in him, he said.
“Coach said, ‘It’s on you. We catch this, we win’,” said Mack, who hauled in a total six passes for 92 yards.
The Wolves (13–0) completed a perfect season by sticking to their guns — Eugene leaned on a Harris-Legree-and-Mack passing attack in the first half and then went to his running game and defense after the break.
“They believed in each other, and they played for each other, and they got the job done,” said Eugene, who became the first African-American coach to win the crown.
Erasmus Hall fell short in the final for the second consecutive season and the third time it its last four appearances.
But Grand Street had no trouble scoring in the early going. Harris-Legree got Grand Street off to a fast start with three touchdown passes on three of the Wolves’ first four drives. He joins his brothers Jeff Legree (Fort Hamilton) and Chris Legree (South Shore, and now also a Grand Street assistant coach) as a public school champion.
He threw a 25-yard score to Kyle Brisfere, another for 28 yards to Ahmed Bah late in the first quarter, and a third to Mack from three yards out early in the second. The first trip to the end zone gave the team the momentum it needed.
“Once we got that first touchdown, we knew we were rolling,” said Harris-Legree, who was 15-for-22 passing for 202 yards.
Erasmus (10–4) responded to each of Grand Street’s first three scores. Aaron Grant threw an eight-yard touchdown to Daevon Alvarez on fourth down late in the second quarter to cut the Wolves’ lead to 22–20. Grant posted 183 yards of total offense and three scores.
Grand Street closed out the half with a perfect two-minute drive that Legree capped with a nine-yard touchdown with 15 seconds left to make it 28–20. The Wolves’s defense got the job done from there.
Grand Street muffed a punt that E-Hall’s Jahquel Webb recovered midway through the third quarter. He scored a play later on an eight-yard touchdown pass from Grant. But the Wolves denied Dejouree Addison’s two-point conversion attempt to keep Grand Street ahead 28–26. Erasmus head coach Danny Landberg questioned the ref’s call, believing Addison didn’t fall short.
“He scored,” Landberg said.
The Dutchmen had one more chance when the team moved the ball to Grand Street’s 14-yard line midway through the fourth quarter, but two Wolves tackles for a loss and a failed play on fourth-and-21 kept Erasmus off the board.
“Very frustrating, but we play the game — there’s got to be a winner and there’s got to be a loser,” Landberg said. “We keep on fighting to the next day. We’ll be back.”
Grand Street’s Rahmel Ashby, who finished with 116 yards on the day helped moved the move the ball into Dutchmen territory. The senior running back was playing while out on bail — he faces attempted murder and gun possession charges in two separate cases from this year and last.
Mack brought him and the rest of his teammates back to Brooklyn happy with his game-sealing grab.
“I just wanted to come through in the clutch for my team,” Mack said. “I knew I had it. My team was confident in me.”
