Beach Channel Dolphins crushed

There is nothing particularly menacing about the Port Richmond Red Raiders, so long as you're watching them individually. After games at their home field in Staten Island, they slowly shuffle toward the neighboring high school, chatting with friends who came to watch them play, leaning against a chain-link fence with the kind of lurking desperation known only to teenagers waiting for a ride from Mom or Dad.
However, when they get together on the gridiron, they are fearsome enough to rattle anyone, even a team with the kind of pluck to score an upset, 8-0 over Curtis, the second-best squad in the city.
That team, Beach Channel, was not supposed to be here on November 15. But the Dolphins put together a game for the ages one week earlier. Under suffocating weather conditions, senior quarterback Ben Burrello found senior wide receiver Devon Moore for the game's lone touchdown and the Curtis Warriors, whose only loss all year was a 42-34 squeaker versus Port Richmond, were toppled in the first round.
It was the first time in the history of the PSAL championship playoffs that a No. 15 seed defeated a No. 2.
So here was Beach Channel, the only team from Queens still in it, a ‘3'-rated squad in yet another prospective mismatch against a ‘5'-rated opponent. Unfortunately, for the Dolphins, it was apparent from the early going that the quarterfinals were headed for a very different conclusion.
The deluge, which became a 54-6 blowout, started quickly. Beach Channel, deep in its own territory, got nowhere on its first drive, and then gave Port Richmond a small gift when Burrello, also a punter, skied a kick out of bounds. Port Richmond got possession on the Dolphins' 40-yard line, and one long completion and short run later, senior quarterback Jeremy Ramos was in the end zone. Red Raiders 7, Dolphins 0.
Again, Beach Channel's offense sputtered, unable to rush or pass its way to a first down. Burrello punted. Port Richmond's Torian Phillips, a senior running back considered by some to be the best in New York, weaved his way through the right side for a 30-yard run, and then sped through an overmatched Dolphin defense on the next play for his first of four touchdowns. Red Raiders 14, Dolphins 0. In addition, by the end of the afternoon, Phillips would amass 142 yards rushing.
“That offense is just a pain in the ass to defend. They're fast,” Beach Channel head coach Victor Nazario said after the game. “Personnel-wise, we couldn't match them player for player.”
Beach Channel had conquered similar odds before, and the bench's reaction to the two-TD deficit seemed to reflect it. The Dolphins were not ready to let go. They did what players do whenever the bad guys score in a less-than-desperate situation. Players grimace. They groan. They turn away from the action on the field, spit, grab some water, take a seat. Possibilities for redemption, quick calculations of what must happen next, flash before their eyes.
It seemed that someone's words of motivation, audible in the pre-game huddle, were still ringing in Beach Channel's ears. “Introduce yourself to them!” the words said. “They don't know who you are!”
Early in the second quarter, Port Richmond's Ramos connected with senior wideout Zamel Johnson on a 30-yard touchdown pass. Red Raiders 21, Dolphins 0. And the first groans. “We didn't come to play today, baby,” someone lamented on the bench. Burrello, playing the good quarterback, told his teammates that they had better start their comeback right away.
With 7:22 left in the second quarter, Beach Channel got a break: a fumble. But not long after, a deflected pass by Burrello landed back in Port Richmond hands. Another long, evasive touchdown run down the right side by Torian Phillips. Another going-nowhere-quickly drive by Burrello and the Dolphins, followed by a fumble and a Port Richmond touchdown. Red Raiders 34, Dolphins 0.
“They're not gonna stop this game ‘cause they're feeling sorry for us,” someone said.
“They're a very good football team. They got great speed,” someone said.
Ben Burrello was watching in solitude, sitting on the grass a few yards away from the bench, his head lowered like everybody else's, as Phillips scored once more to start the second half. He sighed loudly, getting up. A tough day for a high school senior.
But he got his moment. With 2:42 left in the third quarter, a Burrello handoff became a lateral pass and then a 35-yard touchdown run by Devon Moore. The Dolphin bench exploded, even if the six points were only for pride. The 75 or so Channel fans in the audience, who had been supportive spirits all game long from the concrete bleachers at Port Richmond High School, riled themselves up before the kickoff.
And then Torian Phillips returned that kickoff for a 77-yard run into the end zone. It was that kind of day.
“That's what you call giving it up right there. He handed him that,” someone said, after a Burrello interception in the fourth quarter.
“Did you guys see that?” someone said, after Port Richmond's Joel Guzman leaped right over Domonic Co Bryant for one last touchdown.
“They're the best team. They're gonna win the championship, what are you kidding me?” Nazario said after the game. “The score got away from us - that's the only thing I feel bad about.”
When Nazario spoke, it had been two hours since Beach Channel had a realistic chance of winning the game. Only after the final whistle did the acceptance, the understanding that one miraculous win did not beget another, become real. There were hugs, tears, and thanks to players from a grateful head coach.
When it was finally over and most of Beach Channel's players were ensconced on the team bus back to Rockaway, Turran Rhodes held up their departure. His teammates, clich will tell us, figuratively left it all out on the field, but Rhodes literally left his hooded sweatshirt, too.
Therefore, as most of Port Richmond was ambling toward the front entrance for parental pick-up and most of Beach Channel was resting up after a hard-to-swallow experience, Rhodes was pulling on the locked gate, trying to get back onto the field. The game had sapped him of most of his energy. Still, he just wasn't ready to go home.