around the uft
The Snow Bowl
Jan 17, 2008 1:08 PM
Olivieri with the playbook he barely used in the second half.
Curtis HS football coach Fred Olivieri doesn’t have a snow playbook. So when his team trailed Canarsie HS 8-6 at halftime of the Public Schools Athletic League city championship football game on Dec. 2 on Midwood HS’s snow-covered Astroturf field, he made a decision. “The kids felt some of the [offensive plays called] weren’t the right ones in the first half,” Olivieri said. “They’re in the trenches and know what’s working and we decided to let [quarterback] Dom [LeGrande] make decisions at the line of scrimmage.” And the plan worked. Curtis completed a 13-0 season and captured its fourth championship in the last 10 seasons with a 22-16 victory.
Curtis’ Shaahiyn Alston runs for daylight.
A relieved Olivieri said afterward that the season had been one of the
toughest for him in the 26 years he’s been head coach at the Staten
Island school. “We were crowned champs before the season started,” said
Olivieri, whose team’s only loss in 2006 came against Fort Hamilton HS
in the championship game, “but if you don't get the hardware [trophy],
you don't have anything.” Canarsie’s Mike Camardese, who before Curtis’
comeback seemed on his way to winning the city crown for the first time
in his 24 seasons as head coach at the Brooklyn school, was nonetheless
proud of his players. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more,”
Camardese said. “It’s a shame we couldn’t do this. We were so close.”
Olivieri and his team were honored by the Jets Dec. 9 at halftime of
their game with the Cleveland Browns at Giants Stadium, where they were
cheered by nearly 80,000 people. “The kids had a ball,” UFT liaison to
the PSAL, Garry Sprung, said. “It was a great reward for all their hard
work during the season and their accomplishments.”
Camardese walks the icy sidelines.
The Curtis Warriors celebrate the championship.
