Game days

Bayside Commodores

It’s autumn, and that means football. The Jets and Giants are sold out until the end of days, so the best option for New Yorkers who want to experience the thrills of live helmet-on-helmet action (and to see some future Division One college players) is to watch the top local public high-school teams engage in heated turf wars. These varsity squads are mostly level five (the highest echelon in the city), and tickets usually cost only around $5.

Saturday 25

Sheepshead Bay Sharks vs. Boys & Girls Kangaroos
Sheepshead Bay High School, 3000 Ave X at Batchelder St, Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Subway: Q to Sheepshead Bay.
Time: Noon
Players to watch: Sharks: Andre Civil (DE), Ayo Ishola Isijola (RB)
Game plan: Early-season losses to local powers Clinton and Curtis slowed down a good Sharks squad, but the team will be fired up for its battle against Bed-Stuy.

Canarsie Chiefs vs. William E. Grady
Canarsie High School, 1600 Rockaway Pkwy between Aves J and K, Canarsie, Brooklyn. Subway: L to Canarsie–Rockaway Pkwy.
Time: Noon
Players to watch: Chiefs: Steven Rene (RB); Grady: Ikeem Williams (RB), Sylvester Mitchell (CB), Kenny Leveille (QB)
Game plan: Canarsie was last year’s runner-up, but isn’t quite as strong a team this year. It does, however, have a little dynamo of a junior running back in Rene.

November 1

John F. Kennedy Knights vs. Herbert H. Lehman Lions
John F. Kennedy High School, 99 Terrace View Ave, Bronx. Subway: 1 to 225th St–Marble Hill.
Time: 4pm
Players to watch: Knights: Stephen Obeng-Agyapong (RB), Ozzie Garcia (QB), Tyheen Taylor (CB)
Game plan: Defensive-star-turned-bruising-running-back Obeng-Agyapong is headed to Penn State, but not before he tramples some Lions.

November 2

Curtis Warriors vs. Port Richmond Red Raiders
Curtis High School, 105 Hamilton Ave between St. Marks Pl and Daniel Low Terr, Staten Island. Travel: From the Staten Island Ferry, walk on Stuyvesant Pl to Hamilton Ave.
Time: Noon
Players to watch: Warriors: Naykwan Johnson (RB), James Norm PonPon (WR), Dominique Easley (DL); Red Raiders: Jeremy Ramos (QB), Torian Phillips (RB)
Game plan: These are the two best teams in the city this year, period. Hold on to your hot chocolate.

Campus Magnet Bull-Dogs vs.Bayside Commodores
Campus Magnet High School, 207-01 116th Ave at 207th St, Bayside, Queens. Subway: F to 179th St–Jamaica.
Time: 11am
Players to watch: Bull-Dogs: Jonathan Achab Syms (WR); Commodores: Damir Dukanovic (QB), Onur Gurbuz (LB)
Game plan: Bayside is our area’s version of Mike Martz’s bygone “Greatest Show on Turf”—and the Dukanovic-to-Syms or -Gurbuz aerial assault is almost as fun to watch.

For info on other games and the upcoming playoffs schedule, go to psal.org.