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ka-3>Canarsie was supposed to be driven by its defense. Nobody told the offense that.
For the second week in a row, a dominant performance on defense was matched by an equally impressive offense. The Chiefs wasted no time proving themselves as one of the best teams in the PSAL this season with a 36-12 thrashing of two-time defending champion Curtis yesterday in Staten Island.
“We want to make the offense known,” said running back Earl Charles, who had 15 carries for 237 yards -227 of them before halftime. “We want people to know we have an offense, too.”
They know now. A week ago against Brooklyn Tech, Charles scored on Canarsie’s first play from scrimmage. Yesterday, he did it again. After a Curtis punt, Charles scampered 81 yards for a touchdown and the Chiefs (2-1, 2-0 in the PSAL) never looked back.
“You have to get on them early,” said coach Mike Camardese. “Once we did that, we could do the things we wanted to do.”
Which was run the ball down Curtis’ (2-2, 0-2) throat. On the Chiefs’ second drive, Charles scored again, this time from 76 yards away.
“Last year, I didn’t have a good game against [Curtis],” said Charles, who scored four touchdowns yesterday and has eight in his last two games. “I wanted to make up for that.”
He did and he had plenty of help. Canarsie led 22-0 after the first quarter and increased it to 36-0 by halftime with two more scores by Charles, from 35 and eight yards. It’s no wonder he’s being recruited by the likes of Wisconsin, Michigan State and Tennessee, among others.
“They overwhelmed us,” said Curtis coach Fred Olivieri. “They had too many big plays and we didn’t tackle Charles. And how are you going to stop that fullback?”
“That fullback” is 6-foot, 240-pound Hugh Bent, who is also a major Division I prospect. After trying to deal with Charles’ speed and elusiveness, the Warriors had to adjust to Bent- a mass of humanity who can’t be brought down by fewer than three players. He had 124 yards on 13 carries.
“I didn’t get to play against them last year,” said Bent, who missed the game with an injured shoulder. I wanted to see what all the hype was about. They’re a good team, but I’m surprised we handled them so well.”
Camardese knows he’s got a dynamic 1-2 punch.
“Now they can’t load up on Earl,” Camardese said. “After they get used to him, we can bust Bent in there and it’s really hard to stop both of them.”
Or either one of them. All of that running nearly overshadowed another powerful showing by Canarsie’s renowned defense, which is led by the city’s best player, Leon Williams. Yesterday, Williams made some great tackles early in the game, but DB Dan Fennell did the most damage, returning an interception for a touchdown near the end of the first quarter.
Curtis’ two late touchdowns came off Canarsie’s second-string defense and the Chiefs were able to contain Steve Gregory, the Warriors’ star runner. Gregory, who is bound for Syracuse, ran nimbly, but is the Warriors’ only real offensive threat. He accounted for both touchdowns, tossing a 24-yard touchdown on a halfback option play and running another one in from three yards away.
As well as Canarsie’s defense played, everyone knew about that part of its game. The offense was virtually kept a secret.
“The defense got all the hype,” Camardese said.