DeWitt Clinton’s Jeremiah Obeng-Agyapong intercepts the pass. (Denis Gostev)
Canarsie’s emergence after two lean years was simple. Over the season’s first month, the Chiefs beat up on the weak, running the ball down the opposition’s throat and letting its dominant defense go to work.
It was clear Canarsie was a playoff team; what wasn’t so plain to see was how the young club stacked up against a top team, how it could take a punch.
That answer came loud and clear Sunday afternoon with the Chiefs’ picking up a trademark victory. They spotted host DeWitt Clinton 14 points, the defense was sluggish and the offense failed on two possessions inside the Governors 10-yard line.
Canarsie, however, was at its best when it had to be and left The Bronx with a thrilling 20-14 overtime victory when junior Donchervell Smith powered into the end zone from 2 yards out, his second 2-yard score of the afternoon.
“It’s a big win for us,” Canarsie coach Mike Camardese said. “Nobody thought we would win this game – except for us.”
After getting shredded by Clinton’s option offense in the first half – the Governors moved the ball at will on the ground, quarterback Ryan Camilo scoring on a 74-yard touchdown run and fullback Ashton McKenzie plowing in from 6 yards out – the Canarsie defense made a 180-degree turn. It had seven sacks after intermission, allowed just three first downs and held Clinton to minus-36 yards of total offense.
“It gave us confidence,” quarterback Giovanni Alexis said. “If our defense could dominate, we could dominate.”
The offense finally followed in the fourth quarter as Alexis began to make plays. He led the Chiefs on a 12-play, 66-yard drive to get them within one score and on the tying possession, converted on a pair of fourth downs, including an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Gillies on 4th and-7 to get Canarsie even with 1:13 remaining.
“At halftime we said we could either go home or keep playing,” Camardese said. “We kept playing the game and playing the game. That’s what football is all about.”
Alexis continued to pick Clinton apart in overtime, setting up Smith’s game-winning dive by hitting his tight end Justice Scott over the middle for 14 yards. At that point, Canarsie could taste victory. Clinton was weary and the 5-foot-11, 230-pound Smith is rarely turned away that close to the goal line.
“Once we get it all the way to the 2-yard line, there’s no stopping him,” Camardese said of Smith, who also brought down Camilo on fourth down when Clinton had possession deep in Canarsie terrritory earlier in overtime. “I knew the game was over.”
It was an alarming loss for Clinton, which seemed to be in total control by halftime, en route to its third straight win. Instead, the Governors were beaten up at the line of scrimmage and now drop to 3-2 with a visit to Staten Island against Susan Wagner upcoming.
“They seized momentum and didn’t let it go,” Clinton coach Howard Langley said. “We couldn’t get that one play to settle them down and get it going in our favor.”
The Chiefs stormed the field after the win, celebrating what seemed to be certain defeat most of the day. Camardese called it a huge win, mostly for his team’s psyche as the schedule’s degree of difficulty only increases with looming matchups against 3-2 Boys & Girls, 5-0 Lincoln and 4-1 Sheepshead Bay.
“We had to ace this test,” Smith said.
Canarsie will go into those showdowns confident, that it can not only hang with the best, but find ways to win when not everything is going its way.
“It shows how much of a strong team we have,” Alexis said. “It shows the resiliency we have.”
