There was howling coming out the Grand Street Campus locker room after the Wolves lost the squad’s season opener to Erasmus Hall 20–0 on Sept. 9.
The Wolves weren’t angry — instead, the yelling was an attempt to psych one another up — a promise that things will get better next week.
Grand Street Campus — the reigning Public Schools Athletic League champions — played without head coach Bruce Eugene in the opener after the school suspended him indefinitely late last month. Eugene’s absence was a big-time part of the squad’s loss, but the Wolves refused to make any excuses.
This team is determined to get better.
“It’s different when you don’t have a part of an operation,” said assistant coach Christopher Legree. “We have a way of doing things and it was a little off tonight. I’m not making any excuses. Erasmus played a great game. They deserved to win.”
Grand Street came out firing on all cylinders early, moving down the field with ease in the first quarter, but the Wolves’ second drive of the game ended with a fumble on the two-yard line, and the team never recovered.
“We started the game exactly the way we thought we would,” Legree said. “We wanted to establish the run, which we did. But then you have those little mistakes, and when you have a younger crew out there, it kind of kills the morale.”
It hasn’t been an easy run up to the season for Grand Street, and the last few weeks’ ups-and-downs showed on the field.
The Wolves turned the ball over twice and racked up a handful of flags that made it difficult to move the ball.
The offense never hit its stride either, as Erasmus Hall’s defense continued to find its way into the backfield. Even a quarterback change in the fourth quarter — with junior Dylan Campbell taking over for starter Chirstophe Mattocks — didn’t do much to jumpstart the squad.
“We made a bad play, and I told the kids to play the next play,” Legree said. “We didn’t play the next play tonight. We let the bad plays affect the next play. We’ll work on that. We’ll get prepared for the rest of the season.”
Eugene was at the game — watching from the sidelines — but wasn’t able to help run the squad or lead the coaching staff. Legree said he and the other assistants did their best to keep things as normal as possible on the sidelines, but it was difficult find a rhythm.
“We tried to execute, but it just didn’t happen tonight,” Legree said. “The execution just wasn’t there tonight. That’s on everybody — the coaching staff, myself — and I take full ownership for that. I was calling the plays and we called zero points. But we’ll be better as we move forward.”
Grand Street hopes to have Eugene back on the sidelines as soon as possible, but the squad is preparing for a season without the coach. This loss — something the squad didn’t experience once last year — is a major learning experience for the group and one the Wolves hope to build on heading into week two.
“We’ve got another week,” Legree said. “So we’re thankful for that and we’ll get better. We’ll have no problem with that.”
