By Anthony Bosco
The Bayside Commodores’ season came to an end Saturday with a hard-fought 18-15 loss to the Canarsie Chiefs in Brooklyn in the opening round of the PSAL varsity football playoffs. Bayside finishes up the year with a disappointing 3-6 record.
“We had our chances,” said Bayside head coach Joe Capuana. “It’s disappointing because we lost so many games like this.”
The No. 14 ranked Commodores took a 7-0 lead over the No. 3 ranked Chiefs on the team’s second play from scrimmage, when Drew Williams scampered 55 yards for the touchdown and Marcus Lugo added the extra point.
The lead did not last long, however, as Canarsie quarterback John Harvey hit Kevin Lawrence for an 81-yard scoring strike midway through the first quarter to close the gap to 7-6. Harvey connected with Kendall Wilson for an six-yard score near the end of the second quarter to give the home team a 12-6 halftime lead.
Neither team produced much offense until late in the fourth, when Canarsie scored again on an eight-yard run by Wilson to make the score 18-7. But Bayside wasn’t done yet.
On the ensuing possession, Bayside quarterback Zanu Simpson hit Andre Lewis on a short pass over the middle, which the receiver then broke for a touchdown. The duo teamed up again on the two-point conversion to make the score 18-15 with 3:30 remaining in the game.
Bayside opted to kick it deep and Canarsie converted a key third-and-6 opportunity. With just one timeout remaining, the Commodores could not keep the Chiefs from running out the clock.
The year now over, Capuana said he was pleased with his team’s progress this season and is looking forward to next year.
“We’re playing better now against better teams than we ever had before,” the coach said. “ We are closing the gap a bit on these teams.”
In other PSAL playoff action, the No. 12 Campus Magnet Bulldogs surprised the No. 5 Fort Hamilton Tigers for the right to play No. 1 ranked Sheepshead Bay in the second round this weekend. Courtney Jones and Omar Edward both scored rushing touchdowns for the Queens team and Kevin Alvarez returned an interception for a touchdown. Raheim Bazile led the Bulldogs (7-2) with 107 yards on the ground on eight carries.
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 130.
