After dropping their first three games, Jamaica has suddenly thrust themselves into the race for the postseason, whether it's for the top 16 teams in the City Championship tournament or the eight-team Bowl Division format. The Beavers have won three of the last four, including Saturday's 8-6 home win over Tilden.
First-year quarterback Naeem Abdul Majied threw for 101 yards and a touchdown pass to Barry Griggs and Eli Barkley caught the deciding two-point conversion from Mory Fadiga on a botched snap on the extra point attempt. Nyles Bynum led the way with 59 yards rushing and Majied ran for 51. The senior signal-caller, a wide receiver a season ago, won the job in training camp and has really impressed lately, even in a recent loss to Staten Island power Port Richmond, when he accumulated over 200 yards of total offense and two scores.
“We moved him to quarterback because he's athletic,” Jamaica Coach Kenny Dyckman said. “He's getting much better.”
So are the Beavers (3-4, Bowl Division), although they weren't too bad in their first three defeats, either. Two of their losses - to Beach Channel and Grand Street Campus - were by just eight points. “We were always working hard,” Dyckman said, “but now we're starting to eliminate the physical mistakes.”
Meanwhile, it was another rough week for the rest of the borough, Bayside, considered the class of Queens Public School football until this season, fell to 0-7, dropping a 28-14 decision at Brooklyn Tech. Luis Toro threw a pair of touchdown passes to Darryl Brown, but the Commodores allowed 198 yards rushing. John Adams also lost their seventh straight, a 33-0 shellacking at Beach Channel.
Campus Magnet (3-4, Bowl Division) dropped their third straight, 28-12 to Grady. Ezra Lewis and Datalia Holness each ran for a touchdown, although Holness was picked off twice. August Martin (2-5, Bowl Division) was the lone bright spot, topping Thomas Jefferson, 20-12, behind 161 yards and two touchdowns from Murphy White.
As teams in the top divisions struggle, the borough virtually owns the Cup Division. Long Island City (7-0, Cup Division) is in first place, courtesy of their 38-6 win over Stuyvesant and Evander Childs' 42-0 loss to McKee/Staten Island Tech. Omar Mohran led the Bulldogs with 133 yards and two touchdowns and Nick Torres made a game-high 11 tackles.
William Bryant (6-1, Cup Division) is suddenly nipping at LIC's heels, after their sixth straight win, a 35-0 shutout of Lafayette. Omar Nasr, Joseph Mercado, Edgar Santos and Darro Clarke each found pay dirt. The win moved them into a three-way tie for second place with Evander Childs and McKee/Staten Island Tech. Now, an all-Queens first place showdown is right around the corner - Bryant hosts LIC in two weeks.
