STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Three Staten Island PSAL teams in two different conferences will play semifinal games this weekend.
But the one result most everyone will be watching for will be the Curtis-Erasmus Hall game Sunday in the PSAL 4A Conference.
The other 4A semi, also on Sunday, has Abraham Lincoln traveling to unbeaten Tottenville.
If both the Warriors and Pirates win, they will face each other in the Nov. 30 city championship.
Meanwhile, Petrides opens semifinal action on Saturday by hosting Grady in the PSAL 1A Conference.
Please see the breakdown for each game below.
Curtis QB Vincent Canzoneri feels the heat vs. Erasmus last month. (Kara Buzga for the Advance/SILive.com).
PSAL 4A
Curtis vs. Erasmus at Sid Luckman Field, Sunday, noon
This is the game of the week, no doubt as it’s a rematch of last year’s city title game won by the Warriors — which brought them their unprecedented eighth PSAL crown.
The Dutchmen got a bit of revenge against the Warriors a few weeks ago with a 35-19 victory in Brooklyn, the same site of Sunday’s matchup.
“Failure is only bad if you don’t learn from it,” said Curtis head coach Peter Gambardella. “We learned a lot about our team and what we needed to get better at from that first loss. We’ve gotten better from that game.”
The No. 3-seeded Warriors enter the game with a 9-2 overall record and 6-2 in the league, while No. 2 Erasmus is 8-2 overall and 7-1 in the league.
The Warriors pulled out a miraculous 24-18 OT win versus Eagle Academy II, rallying from an 18-10, late fourth-quarter deficit to knot things in regulation before an injured Quadare Gomez, who came out of street clothes during the game, scored the winning TD in the shootout.
“Last week’s game was a true playoff game that we had to believe in each other and then execute at a high level in crucial times,” Gambardella said. “Eagle had the fourth-highest power points and it’s a team of talented young players. I think it brought us together as a team because we had to battle and faced adversity. Hopefully we can carry that over for this week.”
Meanwhile, Erasmus dismantled Brooklyn rival South Shore 41-0. Its only league loss was a 38-35 decision to Tottenville.
The Dutchmen possess a high-powered offense with players that score from anywhere on the field at any time.
“Their offense is a huge puzzle with so many athletes,” Gambardella said. “We are going to have to play physical, fast and tackle a lot better than we did the first time around.”
Tottenville quarterback Justin McGuire scrambles against Curtis in a PSAL 4A football game in St. George on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. (Advance/SILive.com | Jason Paderon)(Advance/SILive.com | Jason Paderon)
Abraham Lincoln at Tottenville, Sunday, noon
The top-seeded and unbeaten Pirates (11-0 overall, 8-0 in the league) handled the No. 4 seeded Brooklynites (5-3 in the league), 43-20, in the regular season.
But Tottenville led only 22-14 at the half before pulling away behind running backs Kory Brown and Tyshawn Bent and quarterback Justin McGuire and a sound defense that Pirate head coach Brian Neville shook up at the half.
Lincoln is always athletic and has the conference’s top passer in Christian Borhi, who threw for 1,555 yards and 16 TDs in the regular season. His main targets are Francisco Ortiz and Jaiden Brooks, who can score from anywhere on the field.
“Lincoln is a well-coached team — very balanced offense; they are able to run and throw,” said Neville, whose Pirates recorded a 43-6 triumph over Port Richmond last week. “Their defense is strong — tough up front great linebackers, especially (Ronaldhino Jones), who is the best we have seen this year. Their secondary is very good.
“Forget the score in the first game. We were able to force two turnovers, recover an onside kick and they had some guys open for TDs but were unable to connect. We have to play much better in this game than we did in regular-season game if we are going to advance.”
The Tots have plenty of firepower of their own as Brown and Bent combined for 1,200 yards rushing and 17 TDs during the regular season.
McGuire’s favorite target is Nic Constantino, who hauled in 24 passes for 559 yards — a 23.3 average per catch — and had six TD receptions.
Petrides RB Joshua Okwuabueze is one of the top rushers in the conference. (Advance/SILive.com photo/Kara Buzga)Kara Buzga
PSAL 1A
No. 3 Grady at No. 2 Petrides, Saturday, noon
The 11-0 Panthers are off to their best start ever in Dave Olah’s 18 years at the Sunnyside school where he started the football program.
The two teams didn’t meet during the regular season but defending 1A champ Grady recorded a 7-1 league mark, while Petrides was 8-0.
The Panthers beat A-Tech 34-0 last week in the quarterfinals. The teams also met in the regular season, with Petrides winning 28-6. Grady also played A-Tech in the regular season, but pulled out a 32-28 victory by scoring a TD in the fourth quarter.
Still, Olah knows his team is in for a battle.
“They are a well-coached team,“ said Olah. ”We haven’t seen them in a few years. They won the 1A title last season.
“They tackle very well, and their only loss was 12-6 to the No. 1 seed Mott Haven.
Petrides posted its sixth shutout of the season a week ago behind defenders Jamel Kamara, Joshua Okwuabueze and Darien Niles.
But don’t sleep on Petrides’ offense, which seems to be peaking at the right time. Quarterback David Lee is a dual threat with his legs and arm, while Okwuabueze gives Petrides another weapon in the backfield.
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