Debbie Vance was going to run out the clock. Her Lehman football team led Canarsie by eight points with less than a half-minute remaining in the first half. But after fullback Rudy DeLeon picked up 14 yards, advancing the ball near midfield, Vance took a shot.
Quarterback Edwin Guity rewarded the gamble, connecting with Raynaude Byass on a 49-yard pickup to the Chiefs 1-yard line. Eric Matos punched it in from there, and the Lions held on to pick up the marquee victory they had been in search of, 28-12, in Brooklyn Saturday afternoon.
“It was a huge win for us, not just in terms of our record and making the playoffs, or putting us over .500,” Vance said. “It instills in players that they are pretty good and we can play with the rest of them.”
Byass caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Guity and George Fields and David White also scored on the ground. But the story was the defense of Lehman (4-3), which bent but didn’t break. They allowed 304 total yards, but yielded just a Jarrel Turner-to-Sosha Callendar touchdown pass. It turned over Canarsie (3-4) six times. Bryan Maldonado picked off Turner twice and Luis Santana and Byass also had interceptions. Yannick Kabore (two sacks) and Matos also recovered fumbles.
The win moves Lehman closer to the postseason, the program’s goal after prevailing just once last fall. After starting the year with a 44-14 loss to Tottenville under the lights in Huguenot, the Lions have turned it around.
“We got to the point where we believe in ourselves, and that’s an important thing right now,” Vance said.
Erasmus 22, Midwood 20: Wayne Morgan had 120 rushing yards with two touchdowns to lead Erasmus Hall (7-0). Shaquell Jackson had 65 yards on 16 carries, Jauvan John had 60 yards on eight carries and Jonathan Yearwood blocked a punt, recovering it for a touchdown.
Elijah Burgos had 10 tackles and Chris Mack had seven tackles, a sack and forced a fumble for the Dutchmen.
Matthew Chase and Dwayne Lewis both rushed for touchdowns for Midwood (4-3) and Donovan Edwards caught a ball for a score.
Grand Street Campus 22, Boys & Girls 14: Tyriese Defreitas ran for 69 yards and a touchdown, Cristian Pena ran for 67 yards and a touchdown and Anderson Smith returned a kickoff 81 yards for a score and had seven tackles and a fumble recovery for Grand Street Campus (3-4). Boys & Girls lost its fifth in a row to fall to 1-6.
New Utrecht 40, Grady 6: Davon Collins ran for 203 yards and four touchdowns and Jordan Paul threw touchdown passes of 61 and 18 yards to Matt Corona for New Utrecht (4-3). Grady (0-7) remained winless.
Flushing 38, Bayside 8: Andrew King ran for three touchdowns, Jordan Beranger scored on a 25-yard run and Tristan Thomas returned a fumble 30 yards to the house for Flushing (5-2). Bayside is 1-6.
Campus Magnet 33, Columbus 12: Nequan Smith scored twice on the ground, Raeshawn Lewis and Javonne Smalls also had rushing touchdowns and Kareem Pierre caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Scott Gadsden for Campus Magnet (5-2). Columbus fell to 0-7 and has lost 26 games in a row dating back to 2007.
Brooklyn Tech 32, Madison 6: Tarrance Taylor rushed for 134 yards on six carries with two touchdowns and Denzel McLarty rushed for 119 yards on 14 attempts with a pair of scores to lead Brooklyn Tech (5-2). Oyeleye Odewunmi added a rushing touchdown and Antoine Cummings had a sack for the Engineers. Madison is 1-6.
Tottenville 40, New Dorp 20: Marvin Staten had four rushing touchdowns and Jon Derbyshire hooked up with Alvin Cornelius twice on scoring strikes to lead Tottenville (5-2). Matt Popovic had two rushing touchdowns and a third through the air to Elijach Bratcher for New Dorp (3-4).
Bowl Division
Truman 14, Beach Channel 13: Isayah Muller had 118 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown and Cory Johnson ran for a score to lead Truman (6-0). The Mustangs produced three separate goal-line strands to halt Beach Channel (5-2). The game ended with a Dolphins punt returner stopped at the 4-yard line.
“I have not in my life screamed the way I did today,” Truman coach John Shepherd said with a laugh. “Games like that are good in hindsight only.”
FDR 32, South Shore 0: Bryan Joseph had 120 yards on 10 carries with three touchdowns and also had eight tackles on defense to lead FDR (3-4). Oscar Key rushed for 105 yards on nine carries with a touchdown and Timur Nazarov had seven tackles, including two for a loss. South Shore is 0-6.
August Martin 8, John Adams 4: Thomas Greyer tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Shane Chambers and Matthew Lyttle had a team-high eight tackles and a sack for August Martin (4-2). John Adams (6-1) had the ball at the Falcons’ 1-yard line as time expired.
Cup Division
George Washington 46, Lane 0: Olsin Maxwell ran for 192 yards, two touchdowns and two two-point conversions, Victor Jerez ran for 144 yards and a score, and David Wallace threw a 72-yard scoring strike to Abdul Khalid for George Washington (3-4). Ernest Matos, Jerez and Andy Lopez also had an interception apiece for the Trojans. Lane fell to 0-7.
Info Tech 30, Alfred E. Smith 12: Chris Bohan ran for 41 yards and two touchdowns, Shawn Chowdhury ran for 50 yards, a score and returned an interception to the house and Gideon Taylor made a team-high 11 tackles and added a sack for Info Tech (5-2). Smith fell to 3-4.
South Bronx 39, Evander Childs 0: Michael Walker threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Rafelito Mercedez, Michael Drake Jr. ran for 130 yards and three touchdowns and Arbely Soto returned a fumble for a touchdown for South Bronx (7-0). Evander Childs is 2-5.
McKee/Staten Island Tech 18, Far Rockaway 16: Manny Johnson rushed for 171 yards and a touchdown and Warren Davis also scored on the ground for MSIT (3-3). Far Rockaway (3-3), who received 38 rushing yards and a touchdown from Ramel Gittens, dropped its second straight.
Petrides 29, Stuyvesant 6: Joe Volpe ran for two touchdowns and Jordan Mancuso and Billy Caban, who amassed 141 yards on the ground, also found pay dirt for Petrides (6-1) on Saturday. Stuyvesant has lost three in a row and is now 2-5.
Other Scores
Thomas Jefferson 42, Springfield Gardens 6
Jamaica 30, Long Island City 0
Automotive 14, Bryant 0
Adlai Stevenson 36, Lafayette 14
