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Bulldogs win ugly to improve to 3-1

Bulldogs win ugly to improve to 3-1
By Zach Braziller

Campus Magnet is about as easy to figure out as the weather these days.

The Bulldogs started the year by blowing out Grady, outplayed Lincoln but committed enough mental errors to fall short, then outslugged Boys & Girls Sept. 25 in a shortened game now known as “MoonGate.”

The latest confounding performance came Friday in Bensonhurst, a hard-fought 14-6 victory over New Utrecht.

Is Campus Magnet (3-1), ranked seventh in the city by the New York Post, an elite team? It looked the part in building a 14-0 lead on the strength of two Jimmy Potepa touchdowns in the first half, but failed to score over the final 30:44. Had it not been for the defense’s marvelous fourth-quarter effort, the Bulldogs could be sitting at .500.

“We’re good, but not good enough,” linebacker Kareem Turnage said, words his coach didn’t necessarily agree with.

Eric Barnett has been on the wrong end of enough heartbreaking defeats, the setback to Lincoln the latest such example, he was happy his players found a way to leave Brooklyn victorious, even if the team had far too many penalties — eight in all — for his liking.

“We hurt ourselves,” he said.

They defeated New Utrecht on Homecoming Day in a tough place to play in the midst of a steady drizzle that, at times, was a driving rain.

“We’re 3-1 going into Fort Hamilton,” the coach said, preferring not to elaborate.

There were plenty of positives to take from the win, Potepa’s performance at the top of the list. A bulldozing 5-foot-9, 200-pound back, he transferred from Westbury High School on Long Island in September, but hadn’t made much of an impact until Friday.

That was partly his doing — Potepa missed practice and was therefore benched for the Boys & Girls game. He wasted little time making it up to his teammates, returning the opening kickoff 82 yards to the house. Later, he ripped off a 42-yard touchdown run off right tackle and finished with 70 yards on the ground.

“Jimmy’s always motivated, every game,” said senior running back Wavell Wint, who ran for 67 yards himself. “He’s a strong runner. He brings a new element to our team.”

Dubbing Potepa his “power back,” Barnett would like to use more of the senior. He went to him early in the second half in a no-huddle, but Potepa quickly ran out of gas after carrying tackles on three consecutive carries.

“He’s not the Energizer Bunny, he’s a Duracell,” the coach said, laughing at his own joke.

Barnett’s defense, led by inside linebacker Turnage and hard-hitting safety Jhaleel Oswald, had staying power against one of the league’s top offenses, led by talented quarterback Jordan Paul. The Utes (1-3) entered play averaging close to 30 points per game, but could manage only Paul’s 10-yard scoring strike to Terrence Chillious in the third quarter.

They had two chances to get even in the fourth quarter, but failed to move the ball past midfield. When told Paul, who missed plenty of receivers high in the first half, had an off day, Barnett chafed at the suggestion. The pressure he faced, Barnett said, caused the inaccurate tosses, and he had fewer attempts because he was often on the move, scrambling instead of comfortably throwing from the pocket, sacked five times.

“After a while, you start hearing footsteps,” Barnett said.

New Utrecht Coach Alan Balkan, indeed, gave the Bulldogs credit for hitting him early and often.

“We knew their defense was good,” Balkan said. “[Turnage] is one of the best players in New York City. They fly to the football and they don’t stop.”

The unit will need to be at its best — if not better — a week from Sunday when it returns to Brooklyn to face powerhouse Fort Hamilton. Barnett isn’t counting on a victory, since it’s his birthday — he kept his age a secret — and the Bulldogs have suffered their worst losses of his five-year tenure the weekend of his birthday.

Last year, they blew a lead against Canarsie, the year before that Susan Wagner knocked off Campus Magnet, and it was Long Island City in a shocker three years ago.

“We’re gonna get him his first win on his birthday,” Turnage said. “I’m not guaranteeing it, but I’m expecting a win from my team.”