Seesaw season continues for Govs

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Through the first five games this season, the Dewitt Clinton Governors exchanged wins and losses.

 Coming off a 20-point victory over New Utrecht in their last game, the Governors looked to go on their first winning streak of the season when it took on the Grand Street Campus Wolves last Saturday.

 But the Governors were shut out, 31-0, at home by the defending Public School Athletic League (PSAL) champions in Grand Street. With the loss, the Governors have exchanged wins and losses through the first six games of the year, and have failed to establish a winning streak all season.

“[Grand Street] is the defending champs, two weeks ago we played the potential champs that were a play away from beating this team to go to the championship last year,” Clinton head coach Howard Langley said of his team’s lack of consistency. “So we play at an elite level at the PSAL. Every week is going to be competitive and we have to be at our best to beat the best.”

On Saturday Clinton was nowhere near its best. The Governors struggled on offense, failing to get on the scoreboard and committing two turnovers that led to touchdowns.

The first miscue came late in the first quarter. With the Wolves up 3-0, the Governors had the ball at their own 10. A high snap sailed over the head of quarterback Luis Ortiz, who then dove to the ground to pick it up, but instead, batted into the end zone where it was recovered by the Wolves for a touchdown.

Midway through the second quarter, the Governors gained some momentum during their best offensive stretch of the game. Clinton brought the ball to the Grand Street 10-yard line but wasted the opportunity with their second costly turnover of the game.

Stepping in for Ortiz, who had gone to the sideline with a right shoulder injury, quarterback William Rivera threw an interception, which was returned 90 yards by the Wolves for a touchdown.

The interception was the first passing attempt by Rivera, who had little time to warm up, as Ortiz immediately ran to the sideline after getting injured, and the Governors elected not to call a timeout.

“He’s going to get looked at, but we’ve got to get the next kid ready if he can’t go,” Langley said about Ortiz’s injury.

Ortiz would not come back into the game, leaving his status questionable for the next week.

“If he comes back next game, I’ll support him all the way,” Rivera said. “But if not, he could help me throughout the week and get my confidence up.”

The Wolves would tack on another touchdown on a screen pass to Jahquese Morris to go up 24-0 right before the half.

“We self-destructed at the wrong time,” Langley said. “When you turn the ball over, you give them easy scores, and when you give a good team—the defending champs—easy breaks, you make it much more difficult for yourself.”

The Governors seemed to have gotten some momentum coming out of the half after forcing a turnover on downs and driving the ball to the Wolves’ red zone. But once again, like they did in the second quarter, the Governors turned the ball over, this time on a fumble.

That was the last burst of offense Clinton would have, as the Wolves’ defense stymied the Governors for the rest of the game. The Wolves added one more touchdown in the third quarter to make it 31-0, to complete the scoring.

“What I think was the biggest problem was communication,” Rivera said. “Calling out the man you had … proper reads.”

The Governors return to action next Saturday on the road against Boys and Girls, a team which comes into the game at 2-4 on the season.

“It all starts with practice,” Rivera said. “Monday we had a rough practice, Tuesday we came back. It’s all about practice. If we come to practice all together and focus, we could definitely win consistent games.”

For Langley, the loss to Grand Street is one he is ready to move on from.

“My deal is to stay even keeled,” Langley said. “When you win, you can’t get too excited and party too long, and when you lose you can’t be too depressed and you’ve got to get out of bed and go on to the next day.”

Dewitt Clinton Governors, Daniel Ynfante

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