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Bayside, Midwood meet in game with early playoff implications
By Zachary Braziller October 2, 2008Don’t ask Jason Levitt about his inaugural season as Bayside football head coach. He doesn’t want to discuss it. Not only because of the 2-7 record and frustrating growing pains he incurred. It’s in the past.
He won’t even use last year’s 21-14 loss to Midwood – the setback that turned last season upside down, the second of a five-game slide – when he left the Commodores sidelines and was rushed to a local hospital with a migraine headache as motivation.
Instead, Levitt is looking at the present – home Friday afternoon against that same Midwood team – and at a born-again Bayside program led by senior quarterback Damir Dukanovic . The Commodores are 2-2 and, with a few lucky bounces, could be 4-0. He points to the offseason, which began as soon as last season ended. Players were asked to be around after school every day, to run and lift weights year round.
“It’s no longer a team,” he said.“It’s a program. This was the best offseason we’ve had since I came here (as an assistant coach) in 2003.”
The Commodores are stacked with athletes, from Dukanovic (949 yards passing, 9 TDs) to offensive tackles Dwayne Brown and Jean Canal to wide receiver/cornerback/return specialist Onur Gurbuz. Unlike most of the city, they throw the ball early and often, and throw it deep. It has worked in terms of hitting big plays, although Dukanovic has also been picked off seven times.
“Our offense is definitely centered around his arm,” Levitt said of his QB, who can throw the ball 60 yards on a line.
Midwood, like Bayside, is in search of consistency. The Hornets looked like world beaters the season’s first two weeks, knocking off Grand Street Campus and Columbus, but have fallen off recently, performing poorly in losses to Erasmus Hall and Brooklyn Tech.
“While we graduated some key guys, we’re asking some of our juniors to step up,” Midwood coach Stephen Basile said. “It’s still a work in progress.”
Basile has attempted to emulate the Commodores’ attack, running 7-on-7 drills in an attempt to find out what pass defense coverages his secondary, led by free safety Donovan Bleus and cornerback Dwayne Lewis, feel most comfortable in. But, as Levitt pointed out, “it’s hard to simulate our quarterback’s arm in practice. If you could simulate his arm, you would use it.”
Midwood will attempt to slow Bayside’s attack by keeping them off the field, using its ground game, based on trapping, pulling and misdirection, to eat up the clock. Getting pressure on Dukanovic will be no easy feat, even if seniors Derrick Nesbitt and David Thelemaque have four sacks apiece. In last week’s 22-12 loss to New Dorp, Dukanovic was sacked just once; the week before, his jersey was kept clean.
“We’ll try to be creative,” Basile said.
The two team’s contrasting styles’ sets up an interesting matchup Friday afternoon in northeast Queens, the power running game of Midwood against the let-if-fly aerial assault of Bayside. Thus, with each club 2-2, and facing stern tests upcoming, the 16-team city playoffs could be up for grabs in Week 5.
“This,” Levitt said, “is a big game.”
zbraziller@fiveborosports.com
He won’t even use last year’s 21-14 loss to Midwood – the setback that turned last season upside down, the second of a five-game slide – when he left the Commodores sidelines and was rushed to a local hospital with a migraine headache as motivation.
Instead, Levitt is looking at the present – home Friday afternoon against that same Midwood team – and at a born-again Bayside program led by senior quarterback Damir Dukanovic . The Commodores are 2-2 and, with a few lucky bounces, could be 4-0. He points to the offseason, which began as soon as last season ended. Players were asked to be around after school every day, to run and lift weights year round.
“It’s no longer a team,” he said.“It’s a program. This was the best offseason we’ve had since I came here (as an assistant coach) in 2003.”
The Commodores are stacked with athletes, from Dukanovic (949 yards passing, 9 TDs) to offensive tackles Dwayne Brown and Jean Canal to wide receiver/cornerback/return specialist Onur Gurbuz. Unlike most of the city, they throw the ball early and often, and throw it deep. It has worked in terms of hitting big plays, although Dukanovic has also been picked off seven times.
“Our offense is definitely centered around his arm,” Levitt said of his QB, who can throw the ball 60 yards on a line.
Midwood, like Bayside, is in search of consistency. The Hornets looked like world beaters the season’s first two weeks, knocking off Grand Street Campus and Columbus, but have fallen off recently, performing poorly in losses to Erasmus Hall and Brooklyn Tech.
“While we graduated some key guys, we’re asking some of our juniors to step up,” Midwood coach Stephen Basile said. “It’s still a work in progress.”
Basile has attempted to emulate the Commodores’ attack, running 7-on-7 drills in an attempt to find out what pass defense coverages his secondary, led by free safety Donovan Bleus and cornerback Dwayne Lewis, feel most comfortable in. But, as Levitt pointed out, “it’s hard to simulate our quarterback’s arm in practice. If you could simulate his arm, you would use it.”
Midwood will attempt to slow Bayside’s attack by keeping them off the field, using its ground game, based on trapping, pulling and misdirection, to eat up the clock. Getting pressure on Dukanovic will be no easy feat, even if seniors Derrick Nesbitt and David Thelemaque have four sacks apiece. In last week’s 22-12 loss to New Dorp, Dukanovic was sacked just once; the week before, his jersey was kept clean.
“We’ll try to be creative,” Basile said.
The two team’s contrasting styles’ sets up an interesting matchup Friday afternoon in northeast Queens, the power running game of Midwood against the let-if-fly aerial assault of Bayside. Thus, with each club 2-2, and facing stern tests upcoming, the 16-team city playoffs could be up for grabs in Week 5.
“This,” Levitt said, “is a big game.”
zbraziller@fiveborosports.com