By Stephen Zitolo
One disastrous drive late in the third quarter was emblematic of Flushing’s day.
Red Devils senior quarterback Terrence Chavis dropped back and heaved the ball down field in attempt to get the Red Devils back in the game. Erasmus senior Kefa Court jumped the rout and intercepted the ball. As Court was charging down field, he was stripped of the ball at the Erasmus 32-yard line and the Red Devils recovered.
But the good fortune didn’t last long. Later in the same series, Chavis dropped and was picked off again. This time, senior corner Shavar Brathwaite grabbed the ball and returned it 52 yards to the house for a score. This gave the Dutchman a three-score lead and helped propel them to a 26-6 victory over host Flushing in PSAL City Conference football last Saturday.
“The game was over at that point,” Flushing head Coach Jim Desantis said of the interception returned for a touchdown. “We had to be methodical at that point.”
Erasmus (2–0) held the lead from start to finish, as Flushing couldn’t get any momentum going on offense or defense. Flushing (1-1) was, however, down only 12-0 at the half and was still much in the game. The Red Devils’ coaching staff saw an opportunity to catch the Dutchmen off guard, and they took advantage of it to start the third quarter.
Flushing attempted an onside kick on the opening kickoff of the second half and came out of the bottom of the scrum with the ball. The Red Devils knew it was their chance to take the momentum away from Erasmus if they could put points on the board.
Chavis drove his teammates all the way to the Erasmus 12-yard line, but they couldn’t put any points on the board as they failed to advance any further. They went for it on fourth down and couldn’t get a first down.
Flushing would get on the board at the end of the third quarter as Chavis hooked up with senior wide out Keron Hermitt for a 42-yard touchdown pass down the sideline to pull the Red Devils within 18-6.
On the Red Devils’ next drive, Kefa Court intercepted Chavis. The Dutchmen would capitalize on this third turnover score another touchdown in the fourth to make it 26-6. Flushing, which rallied to beat Port Richmond in Week 1, is confident it can rebound from this defeat.
“We got to keep practicing hard and keep playing hard,” Desantis said. “We got to stay the course. We’re not in panic mode yet.”
