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Heavy-hearted Fort Hamilton falls in second-straight flag football final

Heavy-hearted Fort Hamilton falls in second-straight flag football final
Photo by Joseph Staszewski

Fort Hamilton’s day began and ended with tears.

The members of the Tigers girl’s flag football team learned Tuesday along with the rest of the school that senior volleyball player Eduard Nogay died of cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center earlier that morning, just minutes after his 18th birthday.

The girls took to the field in his memory, said coach Richard Sherry. Many of the players had Nogay’s No. 3 painted on their cheeks in yellow and blue in his honor.

“They all truly and sincerely loved the kid,” said Sherry, who was on little sleep after staying at the hospital with Nogay’s family and friends until 2:30 am. Nogay had been battling a sarcoma that led to the amputation of his arm and he was an inspiration to the whole school since he came back to play in the volleyball playoffs this season with only one arm.

But try as they might, the Tiger girls wouldn’t finish off the emotional day with a city title, falling 28–19 to second-seeded Tottenville in the Public School Athletic League city title game at Aviator Sports Complex. It’s the No. 1 Tigers second-straight loss in the final, making for an emotional post game.

“It was difficult,” senior linebacker Iyuhna Callands said. “[Nogay’s] a great friend to all of us. We wanted to come out here and win it for him on behalf of him, but our team did really, really good. We left it all on the field.”

Fort Hamilton (12–2) had one final chance to win the game, trailing 21–19, when Daniella Zamora intercepted Tottenville backup quarterback Paige Klein in the end zone with 6:22 remaining in the game. The ensuing drive stalled on the Pirates 14-yard line as dropped passes again hurt Fort Hamilton, as they had throughout the game. Tottenville (13–1) would put the game away with a touchdown and an extra point.

“Usually our offense is pretty smooth,” said Tigers quarterback Maria Papadakos, who tossed three touchdown passes. “Today wasn’t our day.”

Fort Hamilton, which lead 13–0 early in the first half, watched Tottenville score 21 straight points to grab a 21–13 lead with 13:00 to go in the game. Papadakos connected on consecutive passes to Daniella Zamora, the second a 15-yard touchdown. That put Fort Hamilton within 21–19, but the extra-point pass was no good, and the Tigers never got closer.

“Second year losing it again is pretty emotional for us,” Papadakos said.

Nogay’s death made things even more so. Just playing, even without winning, helped them deal with the day’s events.

“This was sort of a break from it,” Sherry said. “These girls helped me get through it today.”

Reach reporter Joseph Staszewski at jstaszewski@cnglocal.com. Follow him on twitter @cng_staszewski.