Grand Street is headed to Yankee Stadium after a near miss.
Trailing by six points, tenth-seeded Curtis appeared to have dashed the No. 2 Wolves’ title hopes when Quincy Barnes hit Amad Anderson for a 10-yard pass in the end zone with 17 seconds left in the Public School City Conference football semifinals on Nov. 29. Luckily for Grand Street, refs called Anderson for offensive pass interference and wiped away the touchdown. Barnes’ next pass sailed out of the end zone, and the Wolves escaped with a 28–22 victory, realizing a season-long dream of making it to the big game in the Boogie Down.
“That was the goal,” Wolves coach Bruce Eugene said. “Our kids from day-one have been talking about the championship. We came up short last year against Lincoln, and all they talked about this week was we were in the same point as last year. They waned to come in, fight, and finish.”
His club, which committed three turnovers, needed to rally from a 22–16 deficit early in the third quarter. Kyle Brisfere tied the score at 22–22 with a sensational touchdown grab, and Justin Philip put the Wolves up for good at 28–22 with a two-yard scoring run with 8:28 left in the game. A late third-down stop got Curtis (7–6) the ball back, but Grand Street ultimately denied it a final score.
“Curtis gave us a few punches and everything, especially when we were down 22–16,” Eugene said. “None of my kids wavered. None of them pointed fingers at each other, and we just played.”
Quarterback Sharif Harris-Legree threw three touchdown passes, including two to Rutgers-bound receiver Ahmed Bah, whose second grab in the end zone put the Wolves (12–0) up to a 16–8 lead with 57.2 left in the first quarter. But two Barnes touchdown passes erased the advantage. Grand Street’s defense stopped Curtis twice in the red zone — and from its 25-yard line on the game’s final play.
The Wolves beat No. 6 Erasmus Hall 40–12 on the road during its regular-season meeting, but the Dutchman played without starting quarterback Aaron Grant. Both teams will be at full strength when they meet in the Bronx at noon on Dec. 6.
Grand Street never imagined itself anywhere else.
“It’s amazing,” Rutgers-bound receiver Taysir Mack said. “It’s something we have dreamed of for a long time. We worked hard. I guess when you work hard, you finish off strong.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt 24, McKee/Staten Island Tech 20: ReJohn Williams scored from seven yards out on a fake field goal in the final play of the game to send defending champion and No. 6-seeded Franklin D. Roosevelt back to the Public School Athletic League Bowl championship game, which goes down in MCU Park at 7 pm on Dec. 5. The top-seeded and previously unbeaten Seagulls grabbed a 20–18 lead on a Wesley Sanchez touchdown run with less then 5:00 to play. Rashaun Coleman netted a touchdown off an 88-yard punt return and ran 82 yards for another score. The Cougars face No. 2 Truman in the title game.
