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| Curtis High School Football Head Coach: Peter Gambardella (8-1 in 2008, his second season) Assistant Coaches: Peter McNamara (defensive line), Andrew Schron (offensive line), Joe Baratta (wide receivers, defensive backs), Charlie Packowski (running backs & linebacks) Sept. 5 Curtis 28 vs. Lincoln 12
Sept. 12 Curtis 0 vs. Fort Hamilton 38
Sept. 18 Curtis 28 vs. Canarsie 0 Sept. 26 Curtis 54 vs. James Madison 0 Oct 3 Curtis 28 vs. New Dorp 0 Oct 9 Curtis 36 vs. Tottenville 14 Oct 17 Curtis 26 vs. Susan Wagner 30 Oct 24 Curtis 48 vs. Bayside 6 Oct. 31 Curtis 32 vs. Port Richmond 19 2009 Playoffs ! 1st Round Nov 8 Curtis 24 vs Lehman 8 2nd Round Nov 15 Curtis 20 vs DeWitt Clinton 8 3rd Round Nov 22 Curtis 20 vs Ft. Hamilton 19 Champioship Game Nov 28 Curtis 16 vs Tottenville 10 2009 Record 11-2 NYC PSAL CHAMPS
New York Jets Name Curtis' Gambardella Top High School Coach
In his second year as Curtis' head football coach, Peter Gambardella was named the tri-state area's top HS coach by the NewYork Jets. Read more Staten Island Advance, photo by Derek Alvez
Out of the shadows and into the spotlight By ZACH BRAZILLER NY Post, December 3, 2009 There was a moment at Midwood Athletic Complex Saturday afternoon when James Timmins found time to soak it all in – the championship, the completion of his remarkable season, and his even better postseason. He had just picked up two sacks and a blocked punt, leading Curtis past Tottenville, 16-10, and to its fifth city title. He couldn’t believe any of it – his PSAL-leading 14 sacks during the regular season, the five he added in the playoffs, or the 92 tackles and two defensive touchdowns he recorded. “It’s just crazy,” the under-the-radar senior said. “I still can’t believe I had that good of a season.” Life is good these days for Timmins. The St. George school has been all about football the last few days. He finds himself being approached by classmates he never met before, with more friends than he can remember. They’re justified. Curtis may not have won the city title without Timmins’ blocked punt. The Warriors were trailing, 10-8, midway through the fourth quarter. He had come close before, just missing. This time, he broke through, blocking the punt in the end zone, which created a game-tying safety. On the ensuing possession, running back Jevon Gardner scored on a 48-yard touchdown run, the championship-winning dash to pay dirt. “I knew I had to step up and make that play,” Timmins said. “That brought all the momentum our way.” Timmins, 17, had just one sack his junior year as an outside linebacker. After filling in adequately late in the season for star defensive lineman Dominique Easley, Curtis coach Pete Gambardella moved Timmins to the line, where he shined, teaming with the Penn State-bound Easley to form the top pass-rushing duo in the city. When Easley missed three games, including Curtis’ impressive 36-14 victory over bitter rival Tottenville, Timmins further emerged. In that victory, he had 12 tackles, three for losses, and three sacks against the Pirates. “He’s just a ballplayer,” Gambardella said of the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Timmins. “He’s got a great football IQ and he knows what it takes. … He’s a typical blue-collar guy -- just goes out and does his job every day.” Prior to the season, Timmins worked extensively with Easley on the nuances of the position. He absorbed everything, Easley said, particularly to diversify his moves, often beating the elite pass-rusher to the practice field. “His athleticism, he’s able to move quickly and he’s able to take on blockers,” Easley said, explaining Timmins taking to the position so quickly. “He’s able to do everything you need from a defensive end. I’ve never seen anybody like him before.” Unlike Easley, who will play in the Big 10 next year, Timmins is still waiting on a school. Before this season, he had received only minimal interest from a series of Division I-AA programs. But recently, Boston College, Rutgers, Fordham, Delaware, Albany and Bowling Green have made inquiries. He isn’t too worried about the future. Timmins is busy focusing on basketball, his second love. He helped the Warriors become the first Staten Island school to win a city title of any kind last March, when they claimed the ‘A’ crown. He returned to practice on the hardwood Monday. “I think from the past few years, this is going to be quickest adjustment period,” he said. “I’m more mature, I know what I have to do. I’m not running over people right now.” zbraziller@nypost.com
Tying it all together  Tom Dowd, November 28, 2009
Curtis assistant Peter McNamara started coaching as an injured HS senior in 1986 and has been at it ever since. - (Derek Alvez/Staten Island Advance) McNamara and Olivieri came to Curtis football at about the same time. Olivieri took over the program in 1982, the start of a 26-year run. McNamara was a freshman the following year. Before he'd graduated college, he was Olivieri's right-hand man and closest coaching confidant, the one who got the late-night calls on the eve of a game."A big-time consigliere," says Peter Gambardella, who succeeded Olivieri as the Warrior head coach in 2008."In his way, he'll push you," says Olivieri. "If he saw me over the years trying to cut a corner or leave some stone unturned or end practice a few minutes early, anything that didn't seem to fit, he would get on it. "If he saw it, he was not afraid to voice his opinion. He kept you honest. Sometimes you didn't like it. 'Come on, Mac, give me a break. I'm a little shot today.' He kept you on the straight and narrow and didn't let you deviate from what you were doing. "That little (coaches') room in that field house, there were some things being thrown around over the years. Sometimes my bag went across the room. You're in close quarters working together. I've been known to get on people's nerves." McNamara was a senior in 1986 with some unfortunate free time; he'd injured his knee and was done for the season. His older brother, Tommy, was coaching the Curtis junior varsity. Olivieri asked Pete to help out. There was a kid who needed some help with his long snapping. "Things were lean in the '80s," says Olivieri "Any guy on IR I had helping me." The next year, Olivieri asked him back. McNamara stayed home for college, getting his degree at the College of Staten Island before becoming a special education elementary school teacher. He spent three years coaching the junior varsity before Olivieri asked him to work with the varsity linemen in 1990. "It got in my blood after the first year," says McNamara. Things were still a little lean. For a few years, Olivieri and McNamara were carrying the load, with a little help here and there. Gambardella and Andrew Schron were playing for the Warriors in the early '90s, years away from coming back to coach. "(McNamara) motivated you to get better," says Schron of his old offensive line coach. "And you wanted to do it because he was so likable. He made you want to play better. He made you want to go that extra step, give that extra effort because of the way he cared about every player. I would do anything for him." Slowly, things got better. The Warriors made the playoffs in 1992. There were four straight quarterfinal losses, then a trip to the semis in 1996. The following year they lost the championship game. The year after that they won it. Olivieri retired after the Warriors won their fourth city title in 2007. McNamara stayed. "The constant," Schron calls him, a connection to a different time at Curtis and the effort it took to change things. He's also part of a family that has bonded with the school through the years. For years, the McNamara family has awarded a scholarship to two Warrior seniors in memory of Pete's brother Robert. His nieces, Meghan and Jillian, teach at the school. Meghan is the girls' basketball coach and his nephew Kevin is a varsity basketball assistant coach. "Curtis is in our blood," says Peter McNamara. "We have a special place for Curtis and we've been here a long time. "People say it's nice to give your time coaching. This is a selfish thing for me. I want to be here. I want to be part of it. I like the Curtis kids. I like the Curtis program. You feel like you were part of getting something going." A big part, says Olivieri. "I love him. He's been such a great friend. Without that, I don't know if we would have gotten to where we are. I owe him a lot."
Jevon Gardner gives Curtis early lead to fuel squad's upset of No. 4 Clinton Jevon Gardner (26) rushes for more than 159 yards and scores two touchdowns in Curtis' 20-8 upset over Clinton. Curtis quarterback Tynell Brown scored on a one-yard touchdown run as the Warriors advanced to the PSAL City Championship semifinals at top-seeded Fort Hamilton next Saturday.Gardner gave Curtis its first lead of the game with 2:26 left in the third quarter, making a nine-yard touchdown run and rushing into the end zone a second time to complete the two-point conversion as the Warriors went up, 14-8. With 4:09 remaining in the game, Gardner finished off a 23-yard touchdown run to increase the lead to 20-8. Clinton's only points came on the game's opening kickoff, when Anthony Smith scored on a 69-yard touchdown return. Clinton (9-2) took its final lead at 8-6 with 9:11 left to go in the second quarter as linebacker Kwaku Duah recorded a safety.
Curtis pounds Bayside, 48-6 Daniel O'Leary, October 24, 2009 Dominique Easley - (Advance file photo) Shaquan Coles returned the opening kickoff 85-yards for a score in Curtis' 48-6 rout of Bayside. - (Advance file photo) Curtis was eager to put a disappointing loss to Susan Wagner last week behind it and Shaquan Coles made sure that happened immediately. The junior tailback took the opening kickoff 85 yards to the house and the Warriors were never threatened in a 48-6 romp over visiting Bayside Saturday. The Commodores, ranked No. 19 among 24 PSAL city championship division teams entering the game, fell to 1-7 with the loss. "You do worry about a letdown," said Curtis coach Pete Gambardella, whose team has one more game, next week at Port Richmond, before the PSAL playoffs. "Shaquan, he's been exploding. He's getting going a little more each week. He really set the tone today and he's becoming a nice leader and carrying the load for us." Coles picked the ball off the ground at the 15 near the Curtis sideline, made a great move to make a tackler miss and tightrope-walked the sideline before busting into the open field for the score, just 10 seconds into the game. On the next play from scrimmage, Curtis hit Bayside's Joel Campbell for a 3-yard loss. After a false start penalty, the Warriors' Dominique Easley (in his first game back from injury) pressured QB Kevin Antoine into an interception, thrown right into the arms of Edwin Karnley who ran it to the 13. Two plays later, Coles (12 carries, 124 yards) was in the end zone again after a 7-yard rush. Bayside's hopes of a comeback were quelled by Easley, James Timmins, Kirk Dudley, Aevry Wright and Kassim Forbes, who lived in the Commodore backfield the entire first half. In fact, Bayside didn't run a play for positive yardage the entire first quarter. For Easley, who had to sit out the past two games with turf toe, there was no rust. "Since the first quarter of the New Dorp game," said Easley, about the origin of his injury. "(Last week), I just wanted to play, bad. Obviously I couldn't. Now I'm fine. If I'm not 100 percent, I'm close to it." "To get Dominique to break a sweat, to get back into it was good," said Gambardella. "He had to get some game experience again because he's been out for two weeks, so, getting game experience was a pretty big thing for him." NOTES: While Easley returned, he only played the first half. Senior two-way standout James Ponpon missed the game, but Gambardella said he is expected back for next week's PR game... In addition to Coles, Jevon Gardner also ran well, carrying seven times for 83 yards and two TDs.
Big fourth down plays were key to Falcon win over Curtis Lost amid the frantic finish of Susan Wagner's win over Curtis was the Falcons' defensive effort - most notably turning the high-octance Warriors away twice on fourth-down runs. The first instance happened in the second quarter with Wagner holding a 14-6 lead. Curtis had moved from its 17 to the SW 20, when the Warriors faced a fourth-and-2. Shaquan... Full story »
Curtis starting to get healthy Stephen Hart, October 23, 2009 12:49 p.m. Curtis standout James Ponpon will likeley miss Saturday's Bayside game due to a sprained knee. - (Hilton Flores) Despite the loss to the Falcons, Gambardella praised the effort of a pair two-way linemen: senior captain James Timmins and junior Edwin Karnley. "They played every snap on offense and defense," Gambardella said.
Red-hot Shaquan Coles helps Curtis run over Tottenville Easley, who was on the sidelines, missed being on the field with his teammates. "You always want to play," he said, "especially when it's all Staten Island." With Tottenville holding a 7-0 lead after the first quarter, Coles set the tone for the rest of the game by rushing for a touchdown. A successful two-point conversion gave the Warriors an 8-7 edge, but the Pirates came right back.Again, Tottenville quarterback Jonathan Derbyshire rushed for a touchdown, and an extra-point gave Tottenville a 14-8 advantage. It may not have seemed like it at the time, but for that would be that for Tottenville. Spann took back the momentum for Curtis, breaking several tackles and eluding others for a thrilling 90-yard touchdown on a punt return. A 15-yard touchdown from quarterback Tynell Brown later in the period put Curtis up, 22-14, a lead it would never relinquish. Coles came out steaming in the second half, running straight through the middle of the Pirates defense to set up a two-yard touchdown rush for Brown and a four-yard TD rush for himself. Tottenville, which dropped to 4-2, will host New Dorp next Saturday, while Curtis visits Susan Wagner.
Curtis uses big plays to run past Tottenville, 36-14 Jim Waggoner, October 09, 2009 Curtis faced an early deficit and the loss of defensive stars Dominique Easley and James Ponpon during a PSAL battle Friday afternoon against visiting Tottenville. The Warriors responded favorably, however, with a string of 28 unanswered points on their way to an impressive 36-14 victory over the Pirates in a PSAL showdown of 4-1 squads at St. George. "I'd say we are the best team on Staten Island,'' said junior running back Shaquan Coles, who rushed for 210 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries. "If we play together as a team and go hard, we shouldn't be considered a one or two-man team.'' Marcus Spann returned a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, quarterback Tynell Brown ran for one TD and passed for another, and senior defensive lineman James Timmins had three first-half sacks as Curtis won its fourth straight game since a loss in Week 2 to Fort Hamilton. The Warriors were without Easley, the 6-foot-3, 255-pound end who has verbally committed to Penn State. He said he bruised his right foot in the first quarter of last week's game against New Dorp. "He's mad at me for holding him out,'' said Curtis coach Peter Gambardella. "He wanted to play but I wouldn't let him.'' Ponpon, a defensive back, left with a leg injury early in the second half. "They told me it's a bruised knee,'' said Gambardella. Tottenville jumped out to a 7-0 lead after recovering the opening kickoff at the Curtis 24. It took six plays for quarterback Jonathan Derbyshire to run in from the 2. Coles broke a 65-yard TD run before Derbyshire's second TD, a 1-yard run, gave Tottenville a 14-8 lead. Spann returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown and Brown ripped off a 63-yard run on a QB keeper on the Warriors' next possession. Two plays later, Brown hit Andy McCoy in the corner of the end zone with a 15-yard TD pass that gave Curtis a 22-14 lead with nine seconds left in the first half. The second half belonged to the Warriors, who outscored the Pirates 14-0. Brown scored on a 1-yard run after a high snap from punt formation gave Curtis the ball at the Tottenville 12 late in the third quarter, and Coles scored on a 4-yard run with 8:21 remaining. Tottenville wasted three first-half scoring opportunities, penetrating the Curtis 25 each time and coming away without any points. Derbyshire also had three long passes dropped - plays that could have helped change the outcome. "We left too many plays out on the field. You can't get away with that against a team as good as Curtis,'' said Tottenville coach Jim Munson. "We had them on the ropes a little bit in the first half and we didn't put them away. "They played better than we did in the second half. They wanted it more than us and they got it.'' The Warrior defense limited Tottenville to 39 net rushing yards. Derbyshire threw for 261 yards, but the lack of a running game played into Curtis' hands. "There's still a long way to go in this season,'' cautioned Gambardella. "We need to build on this game and keep improving.'' That's a scary thought for the rest of the PSAL.
Curtis routs Madison 54-0 Bill Spurge, September 26, 2009 5:44 p.m. Shaquan Coles had four touchdowns and 118 yards rushing in Curtis' 54-0 rout of host Madison in Brooklyn Saturday. - It wasn't more than 10 minutes after the final whistle mercifully sounded the end of Curtis' 54-0 PSAL thrashing of host Madison, and Warriors' coach Peter Gambardella was already priming his team for the trio of games ahea d on the Staten Island side of the Verrazano, ones that could define their season. There wasn't much else to discuss after yesterday's shellacking in Brooklyn that saw the Warriors hold an outmatched opponent to minus-18 yards and one first down. Shaquan Coles scored the first three TDs, and it was basically over by the second quarter. "We came out and playe d," said Gambardella, whose team was a hard-hitting machine throughout. "The defense played great and was physical up front. We wanted to get work on (both lines), and they got a body on a body. We played together as a unit. "Now we get New Dorp (at home), and any time you hit the Island (it's tough). New Dorp (followed by Tottenville and Susan Wagner) will be a challenge." Curtis certainly didn't look past 1-3 Madison. The Warriors came out on a mission and seized control immediately. Madison earned its only first down on the first series, and that was it. The Warriors went right to work on offense, with Coles running for 40 yards after bouncing off a tackle and then scoring from 26 yards out thanks to a big hole. Kassim Forbes recovered a fumble to set up Coles' 7-yard score, which came after Curtis' only completed pass, a 49-yarder from Tynell Brown to Marcus Spann. Madison botched a punt snap out of the end zone for a safety to end the quarter, and Coles ran back the ensuing free kick 36 yards to the Madison 10. After a 12-yard loss, Coles blasted through a large hole on the right side and cut back to the left to score from 31 yards out. "The offensive line did a wonderful job, and I just ran hard," said Coles. "The blocking was mostly inside zone, and we put a body on a body." On the following series, Penn State-bound Dominique Easley picked off a swing pass and ran it in from 18 yards out for a 28-0 halftime lead. Coles, who had 118 yards on only seven carries, completed his day with a 24-yard TD run in the third quarter. Rashad Scott scored twice and Andy McCoy had a 57-yard punt return for a TD.
OFFENSE
QB-Tynell Brown (5-11, 165, Jr.) RB-Shaquan Coles (5-11, 170, Jr.)
WR-Kassim Forbes (6-1, 185, Sr.) WR-Marcus Spann (5-11, 170, Sr.)
WR-Andy McCoy (5-8, 150, Jr. WR-Wesley Foryoh (5-10, 165, Jr.)
LT-Mike Sorocco (5-10, 230, Jr LG-Jamie Boatang (5-10, 245, Sr.)
C-James Timmins (6-3, 215, Sr. RG-Edwin Karnley (5-11, 210, Jr.
RT-Evan Odeseye (6-3, 215, Sr) K-James Ponpon (5-10, 180, Sr.) DEFENSE
DE-Timmins DE-Dominique Easley (6-3, 260, Sr.)
DT-Krenar Suka (5-9, 265, Sr) DT-Dudley Kirk (5-11, 195, Jr.)
LB-Jevon Gardner (5-10, 185, Sr) LB-Marcus Gayle (5-11, 170, Jr.)
LB-Aevry Wright (6-1, 185, Sr.) SS-Kassim Forbes (6-1, 185, Sr.)
CB/ P - Ponpon CB-Sharon Irwin (5-9, 165, Jr.)
FS-Khaliefa Forbes (6-0, 155, Sr.)/Lanscine Jammeh (6-0, 180, Sr.)
Curtis' Easley chooses Penn State Tom Dowd, September 21, 2009  Curtis defensive lineman Dominique Easley has picked Penn State after receiving 18 scholarship offers.
You have to imagine there were a lot of frustrated college football coaches this month as their phone calls went straight to voicemail. That’s what happens when the No. 1 high school football recruit in New York State drops his cell phone and waits a week or two to replace it. All but one of those suitors are going to be disappointed even further now that Curtis senior Dominique Easley has given Penn State a verbal commitment to accept its scholarship offer. “I always liked Penn State,” said Easley, who gave the coaching staff his commitment on Saturday after watching the fifth-ranked Nittany Lions defeat Temple, 31-6, on a campus visit. “I didn’t think I was going to commit, but being out there and talking to everybody made me feel like this was the place.” read more ...... | |
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