Raiders are own worst enemies

Despite the handful of mistakes Port Richmond made against Sheepshead Bay, the Raiders were still in yesterday's PSAL contest with the undefeated Sharks down to the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

The host Raiders, however, failed on three separate third-down opportunities to stop a lengthy Sheepshead drive, which resulted in a back-breaking touchdown and 42-24 victory for the Brooklyn club.

"We're sitting here 0-2, but I do believe in this football team," said PR coach Steve Peretzman. "We have the talent. What remains to be seen is what we will do with it."

The Raiders' talent was a bit suspect early on as the Sharks opened with a seven-minute, 14-play, 73-yard TD drive. A turnover on downs deep in Sheepshead territory led to another long Shark drive and score and one fumbled punt snap later, PR was down 21-0.

"We made some mistakes," Peretzman said. "We were offsides on a punt shift (to prolong SB's opening drive), our punt snap went through the kicker's hands and our two-point plays were not sharp (0 for 4)."

Even with all the shortcomings, the Raiders managed to rally with back-to-back scores in the final three minutes of the first half.

Quarterback Jesse Ciardiello hit Akeem Jackman with a 22-yard TD fade and Jackman caught two passes for 42 yards on PR's next drive to set up the first of Brandyn Davis' three end zone runs.

"I believe we became a football team today," Peretzman said. "My kids showed a lot of character coming from 21-0 down to having a chance to win that football game."

PR's chance came when it cut the Sharks' lead to 29-24 with a TD three minutes into the fourth quarter. Raider kicker Vincent Velez then booted the ball into the end zone for a touchback and Sheepshead began its second, arduous, 14-play drive of the afternoon.

The Sharks converted a third-and-2 with a short run by Jonathan Foster, a third-and-11 at midfield with Kelley Pierre's 15-yard QB scramble and a second-and-15 deep in Raider territory when Lamont Downing broke loose for 16 yards -- most of it after his knee appeared to have touched the turf at the line of scrimmage. Sheepshead eventually punched in a third-and-goal from the 2.

"We had them in key situations on that drive and couldn't get the job done," Peretzman said, citing Pierre's scramble and Downing's slippery run that caused the PR coaching staff to erupt in protest on the sideline. "Really, there was no situation in that game where I thought our defense could not stop them," the coach added.

PR took over with just under three minutes left and moved into Sheepshead territory with Jackman's seventh catch of the day. Ciardiello threw an interception on second down, though, to end the drive.

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Individual statistics

RUSHING -- Sheepshead Bay: Downing 9-177, Foster 17-61, Akingba 8-56, Pierre 4-15. Port Richmond: Davis 22-109, Burel 6-42, Ciardiello 1-4, Velez 1-(minus 17).

PASSING -- Sheepshead Bay: Pierre 4-7-1-36. Port Richmond: Ciardiello 11-19-1-152.

RECEIVING -- Sheepshead Bay: Toussaint 1-25, Downing 1-9, Akingba 1-1, Louis 1-1. Port Richmond: Jackman 7-110, Griffin 1-30, Burel 2-10, Davis 1-2.

INTERCEPTIONS: Sheepshead Bay: Foster.

Jason Bock is a sports reporter for the Staten Island Advance. He may be reached at bock@siadvance.com.

Sheepshead 'clocks' Port Rich

By JULIAN GARCIA DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Sheepshead's Lamont Downing dances through Port Richmond defense for 3 scores and average of 20.6 yards per carry. Lamont Downing didn't have anywhere to go, but starting late in the third quarter of yesterday's game against Port Richmond, the Sheepshead Bay running back kept asking referees how much time was left. Downing knew that the longer the game went on, the better the chance that Port Richmond would catch up to the Sharks. "We needed to get out of there," said Downing. Sheepshead Bay eventually did get out of Staten Island with a victory, beating Port Richmond, 42-24, in a wild PSAL game yesterday. But it was not as easy as the final score indicated, which is why Downing was so concerned with the game clock. After mounting leads of 21-0 in the first quarter and 29-12 in the third, the Sharks (3-0) clung to a 29-24 advantage with 10:00 left in the game. It wasn't until Downing scored on a 67-yard run with under 2:00 left that he and his teammates felt they had it wrapped up. Apparently the scoreboard operator at Port Richmond's field felt the same way, since the plug was pulled immediately after Downing crossed the goal line. The Sharks took notice and seemed to take great pride in cutting of Port Richmond's electricity. "That's the moment I knew it was over," Downing said. Downing scored three times and finished with 206 yards on 10 carries. His touchdown runs of six and 65 yards helped Sheepshead build that seemingly comfortable first-quarter lead. Jonathan Foster's 2-yard touchdown run gave Sheepshead a 36-24 lead with 2:49 left. Foster also intercepted a pass on Port Richmond's next drive, which eventually led to Downing's final score and ended any chance of a comeback. There was some concern on the Sharks' sideline when Port Richmond (0-3) kept scoring to make a game of it. But with offensive weapons like Downing, Foster and quarterback Kelly Pierre, who threw two touchdown passes, it seems like Sheepshead has a chance to contend for the city championship again. The Sharks won it all in 2001, went to the semifinals the following season and lost in the quarterfinals last year. "We had a good lead and I thought they'd drop to their knees," Foster said. "But they played a whole game and made a game of it." "We just outlasted them," said Downing. "We couldn't play the clock down. We just had to keep scoring." Originally published on September 27, 2004