By John Tolis
Flushing running back Deandre Ross-Lomax thought the game was going to continue as New Dorp’s Dawa Winn ran for the goal line and the potential tying two-point conversion.
“At that point I was a little nervous and I knew we had to get the stop,” Ross-Lomax said.
His defense made sure they did.
A pack of Flushing defenders brought Winn down at the 2-yard line to seal the fourth-seeded Red Devils’ thrilling 14-12 home win over No. 5 New Dorp in the PSAL City conference football quarterfinals Saturday afternoon. Surviving the close call allows Flushing to advance to its first semifinal since the early 1990s. It travels to take on top-seeded Abraham Lincoln Saturday at noon.
“I’m thankful for the win, I’m glad we won, I’m glad that my team kept fighting and we didn’t give up,” Flushing quarterback Terrance Chavis said.
Flushing (9-2) came out a different team in the fourth quarter after trailing 6-0 for the previous three.
The Red Devils took a 7-6 lead with 7:00 left in the fourth quarter when Chavis snuck in the end zone and senior Kevaun Dunn kicked the extra point. Ross-Lomax picked up his second interception with 3:00 left in the game. It set up Chavis throwing a 31-yard bomb to Dunn to extended Flushing’s lead to 14-6.
Bur New Dorp didn’t go way.
Versatile quarterback Charles App hurled a 42-yard touchdown pass to junior Henry Smith to cut the deficit 14-12 with 1:05. The Central Cougars, despite having one of the best quarterbacks in the city in App, opted to run a reverse and were denied.
“At that point I was a little nervous and I knew we had to get the stop,” Ross-Lomax said.
New Dorp (8-3) did strike first in the second quarter after App and senior receiver Edmond Samuel connected in the end zone from 13 yards away with 14 seconds left in the first half. Both teams had trouble holding on to the ball. There were a combined eight turnovers. The two extra points by Flushing proved to be beneficial and Coach Jim DeSantis, headed to the semifinals for the first time in his career, knows how important it is to have a player like Dunn to kick them.
“He’s unbelievable,” he said.
Flushing will now have to prepare for its biggest test of the season in the unbeaten Railsplitters. The Red Devils would love nothing more than to pull the upset.
“Hey, you know what, all you got to do is get here and then you got one more and then you’re in Yankee Stadium,” DeSantis said. “We’re excited and I know they’re a powerhouse and all that, but we’ll put the film on and break it down.”
