BROOKLYN, N.Y.— Petrides head coach Dave Olah was surely freezing after a Gatorade bath on a chilly Saturday morning in Brooklyn, but he didn’t seem to mind one bit as he celebrated his team’s gritty 14–6 victory over East Harlem Pride in the PSAL 1A championship game — a win that capped the first perfect season (13-0) in school history.
“It’s awesome; this doesn’t get old. You saw what this team was made of today. The seniors stepped up like the leaders they are; it was a great game,” Olah said, marking his second championship win as head coach.
Petrides entered the title game with easy 34–0 and 30–0 wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals, but East Harlem made the Panthers work. The first half was a tale of missed opportunities for Olah’s crew; a missed field goal, getting stuffed on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line, and a dropped touchdown left 17 points on the board, resulting in a 6–0 halftime deficit.
Still, Olah trusted his squad’s resilience.
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PSAL 1A Championship game: East Harlem vs. Petrides
“We went in at halftime after we missed a field goal and we were inside the red zone twice and didn’t capitalize on it, but felt good about it only being 6–0. So we knew we were there, and it was just going to take someone making a play,” Olah shared.
The big plays came indeed.
On East Harlem’s first drive of the second half, senior standout Michael Giordano recorded an interception, giving the Panthers their third turnover (Darien Niles had an interception and a fumble recovery in the first half).
That set up QB David Lee (6/11 passing, 82 yards, 1 TD) to hook up with WR Jaiden Brown for a 28-yard touchdown connection, giving Petrides its first lead at 7–6.
But Giordano wasn’t done. After recording yet another INT on a huge fourth-down play inside the Panthers’ 20, he scooped up a fumble caused by Jamel Kamara for a touchdown on the Pride’s ensuing drive; he then made it 2/2 on extra-point attempts to extend the lead to 14–6.
“This is something that I wish I felt two years ago when we lost in the championship, and now that we finally made it back my senior year, to end it off at 13–0 and win it, it’s the best feeling in the world,” Giordano, Petrides’ all-time leader in reception TDs, said.
“This means everything. Since my freshman year, everyone told me, ‘Mike, leave Petrides,’ but I never left; I always stuck it out because of my coaches, and I stayed all four years and finally won one,” he added.
Olah praised Giordano as one of the program’s all-time greats.
“It’s not often you get a kid who comes in as a freshman and plays four full years of varsity. We were lucky to have him. To see where he was as a freshman and the complete player he’s become — he started as an offensive kid and matured into a true three-way player. He’s a special teams guy, a defensive guy, and an offensive guy. It’s just awesome to see. I know he really wanted this, and I’m glad he was able to get it.”
Even with Giordano’s heroics, East Harlem still had a chance to tie the game with the ball and 1:30 remaining. That’s when junior DB Jason Dennis capped an incredible defensive effort, recording the team’s sixth turnover on an interception to seal the win.
“Defensively, they stepped up big today. We always talk about them being leaders on the defensive side, and we only gave up six points on a busted play. Outside of that, I thought the defense did their job; they were awesome today again,” Olah shared.
Offensively, senior RB Joshua Okwuabueze made a big impact despite not scoring, racking up 198 yards on 34 carries and consistently putting the Panthers in strong field position.
“In the second half, you saw what Josh is made of. He ran hard, didn’t go down on first contact, and kept finishing runs. By the fourth quarter, it really started to wear on East Harlem. He was the catalyst of the offense,” Olah said.
Petrides head coach Dave Olah is all smiles after his team won the PSAL 1A championship game on Nov. 29, 2025.Michael O’Brien
With a combination of a dominant defense and a relentless ground game, Olah found the right formula for the title, and finished the season unbeaten as the only football coach the Sunnyside school has ever known.
“It’s hard to win one game, let alone 13 straight, and this team just stepped up week after week and proved to the coaches that they were going to do what we asked them to do. They didn’t quit at halftime. They came out and said, ‘This is what we’re going to do,’ and they did it,” said Olah, who concluded his 18th season with his second career PSAL crown.