Everything seemed to be in place for the Stuyvesant Peglegs, the boys’ varsity football team, to win their season opener. The five sets of Pier 40 bleachers were filled to capacity as the cheerleaders performed cheers and dance moves. And the Peglegs were finally playing on a field they could call home, kicking off the game shortly after 6 p.m. on Friday, September 7.
In Stuyvesant’s first home game at Pier 40, the Peglegs weren’t able to match the Spartans of John Adams High School, losing 22-8.
“We knew that this was going to be one of our three hard games,” said coach Brian Sacks.
The Spartans were demoted from a higher division they played in last year. John Adams finished 0-9 in the City Championship/Bowl Division. Now in the Cup Division, the Spartans brought with them a high level of experience.
The Spartans scored three unanswered touchdowns while senior and Peglegs quarterback Shafi Alam threw four interceptions, despite completing 17 of 35 passes. John Adams committed seven sacks and 39 tackles altogether. Although the Peglegs ran and passed 117 more yards on offense than the Spartans did, Stuyvesant scored only one touchdown, which senior Amos Dai ran into the endzone in the fourth quarter.
With a weak offense in the game, the Peglegs found little that went right that Friday evening. “I don’t think we were aggressive enough during practice. We don’t practice like it’s a real game. We just lollygag,” said senior James Morrissey.
The season opener helped Sacks identify ways to improve the team’s game. “[Alam] made some bad plays. But [he] also made some very good plays near the end of the game,” said Sacks. “Our running game picked up in the second half. For us, we need to take what we did in the second half and expand on that for our next game.”
The Peglegs were able to score points in their next game, held on Saturday, September 15 against Franklin K. Lane High School on their home field, but lost 18-14. The Knights outran and out threw the Peglegs, earning 422 total offensive yards compared to the 129 yards Stuyvesant made.
One difference between the two games was the unprecedented fan support for the Peglegs at their first game at Pier 40—impressive for a non-homecoming game. Senior and Peglegs cheerleader co-captain Rachel Sullivan said, “It felt great. We never had this before. We didn’t expect that many people.”
The event featured live commentary by senior Kelvin Yeung, free refreshments and a halftime show performed by the cheerleading squad. There was little reason not to take the 10 to 15-minute walk to Pier 40 from Stuyesant High School.
Fellow senior and cheerleader co-captain Sara Yoon was delighted to see the bleachers packed throughout the entire game. “We really appreciate crowd support,” said Yoon. “We can’t do anything about the team’s ability to win. But we can do something about encouraging team support.”
Two more games will be held at Pier 40. The Peglegs will face Alfred E. Smith High School on September 28. The Peglegs will complete the three-game series at Pier 40 on October 26, when they play Lafayette Educational Complex High School.
At both of those games, senior and cheerleader co-captain Sylvia Ko hopes the fan support continues.”We want them to come back,” said Ko.
For the Peglegs, there are eight games left for them to achieve their goal to make the playoffs. “We think we’re easily a 5-5 team. With two or three good wins, we can be a 7-3 team,” said Sacks.
