Michael Brooks made an impressive return to the Fort Hamilton gridrion last Saturday, but it wasn’t able to bring victory with him.
The senior safety missed a scrimmage against Poly Prep and last week’s season-opening loss to Curtis with a dislocated shoulder, and his first game back was a heartbreaking 30–28 defeat at the hands of visiting DeWitt Clinton in Public School Athletic League city conference football on Sept. 13.
Fort Hamilton coach Danny Perez said Brooks’s return was vital to the team.
“You see how explosive he can be once he touches the ball, the things that he does on defense, special teams,” he said. “He’s our guy.”
Brooks, who was held out on offense, returned a punt 83 yards for the Tigers’ first score in the first quarter. He then ended the first half with a 101-yard interception return for a touchdown. That pulled Fort Hamilton within 22–20 at the break, but a failed two-point conversion kept it from tying the score. Brooks nearly completed the feat again in the third quarter, but was chased down from behind at the Tigers 38-yard line after picking off Clinton quarterback Brandon Harris for the second time in the end zone. Brooks was happy to contribute.
“Seeing them lose last week hurt me a lot, knowing I couldn’t help them,” he said. “To get back on this field and be with my team and be with my brothers, it felt great today.”
Fort Hamilton, which trailed 22–6 early in the second quarter, finally took the lead after the break. Sharif Legree completed 12 of 20 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns. The first of his scores was a 34-yard connection with Seba Nekhet. He also connected with Keyshaun Robinson along the left side for a 32-yard score to put Fort Hamilton up 28–22 on the opening drive of the quarter.
The Tigers appeared to have forced its third turnover of the game at a key moment when the ball was stripped from Harris at the Fort Hamilton five-yard line. Instead they watched Clinton running back Chauncey Murray scoop up the ball and run it in for a touchdown. He then made the two-point conversion to give the Governors a 30–28 lead with 5:10 to go in the game. Perez said a similar play happened in last week’s loss to Curtis.
“I thought that would happen only one time in a year,” the coach said, “but it happened twice to us already, so it was like, ‘Oh my God I can’t believe this.’ ”
Fort Hamilton had two chances to take the lead in the final minutes, but saw both drives end with sacks of Legree on the fourth down. The first came with the ball on the Clinton 19-yard line. While the Tigers drop to 0–2, they have lost by a combined eight points. It has the players believing they are better than the record shows.
“This team is capable of a lot,” Brooks said. “We just got to keep working hard, keep practicing. Zero-and-two does not define this team.”
