By: PortRichmondAthletics.com writer Chris Scott
Port Richmond Field 12:00 PM
On the final regular season game, the #14 Port Richmond Raiders find themselves in a must win situation. If the Raiders come out on top, they clinch a playoff spot and will begin their run at defending their PSAL Championship from last year. The opponent in this game is a Staten Island arch-rival, the (6-2) #5 Curtis Warriors. The Warriors look to maintain a top five spot in the PSAL Power Rankings for a fourth consecutive year.
For Curtis Head Coach Peter Gambardella, this will be his second run at the PSAL title in his now two years of coaching. For Port Richmond Head Coach Vesce, this maybe his biggest game yet as a coach. For the first time in a long time, Port Richmond has found themselves in a must win situation in order for them to make the playoffs. What makes the game even more intriguing, it is against rival Curtis High School.
For Curtis, they have a dominate defense, averaging an amazing 12.5 points per game. They even went on a streak this year of three consecutive shut outs! And Curtis has a tough schedule too, but no where near as difficult as Port Richmond’s. The Warriors are led by three dominate seniors on defense. Aevry Wright, James Timmins and Dominique Easeley have been a force when it comes to ball carriers. In total they combine for 146 tackles. As for opposing quarterbacks, they have nightmares after facing this team. Easley is known in all of New York as a top pass rusher, last year compiling 10 sacks and this year having a total of 8 sacks so far. Entering the season, he was expected to be a dominate force, colleges are scouting him constantly. But, a player scouts maybe looking at now is a breakthrough player named James Timmins. Last year, Timmins put up a solid season with 61 tackles and 1 sack, but this year,Timmins has 13 sacks and 57 tackles along with 2 defensive touchdowns. You can find Timminslined up at Middle Linebacker or Defensive End.
The Raiders Defense has a big task up ahead. They average 23.75 points allowed per game. They will have to shut down Shaquan Coles who has 16 rushing touchdowns on 165 rushing attempts averages 7.4 yards per carry and has a total of 1232 rushing yards. Port Richmond had struggled against the running game this year. The players are optimistic though and believe they can hold Coles to under 100 yards and keep him out of the end zone at least twice. The Raiders Defense is led by a beast at defensive end in senior John Hines. He has 42 tackles and 7 sacks at defensive end this year. He has so much strength and such great speed. He has really stepped up as a leader of this football team this year.
As for the Raiders offense, they are led by a group of running backs, two juniors named Rotimi Oni and Mark Clark and seniors Robert Schroeder and Charles Corneh. Together they have 1428 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns off of 233 attempts, averaging 6.1 yards per carry. The Raiders rushing offense has led them to averaging a low 18.5 points per game, but Port Richmond’s offense has been shut out two times this year. The passing game has struggled a little bit this year, Jonathan Hernandez has a QB Rating of 66.48 throwing 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, completing 50% of his passes and throwing for 501 yards. Port Richmond’s offense though depends on the run though, so the passing game isn’t expected to be a dominate force.
The Curtis offense is led by Shaquan Coles at running back, who I have stated before, is a dominate playmaker in the backfield. The Warriors quarterback is another Junior who has 7 passing touchdowns and 7 interceptions off of 74 attempts, compiling a completion percentage of 43% and a QB Rating of 64.75. The Curtis offense averages 34 points per game.
Last year this game was a classic match-up between the top two ranked teams in the PSAL Power Rankings. This year, one has a chance to knock out there rival from even reaching the playoffs while the other will play with everything they have to try and get in the playoffs. Curtis wants to embarrass Port Richmond after last year’s heartbreaking loss. They now have the opportunity to have the ultimate revenge. In front of the Port Richmond crowd, Curtis can eliminate Port Richmond from the playoffs. Port Richmond will give everything they have in this game. Two teams, one rivalry and one goal. The road to the championship start right now for Port Richmond. Win they are in, lose they are out for the first time in Coach Vesce’s Port Richmond Head Coach career. Who will come out victorious?
Prediction
30-16
Curtis beats Port Richmond
When it comes down to it, Port Richmond just doesn’t match up well against Curtis. But this is just a prediction. This game is being played on Halloween. Crazy stuff can happen on Halloween.
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