While the year 1961 might be better known for events like the building of the Berlin Wall or the birth of Princess Diana, here at Brooklyn Tech it was the last time the football team won a city championship, at least until this Saturday’s game at the Old Boys & Girls Field. The 63 years since then have been mixed times for the Tech football team, marked by difficult seasons, heartbreaking playoff losses, and unbelievable dedication.
In the last two years, however, fortunes have greatly shifted for Coach Brian Pugh and his team. Following a 6-2 regular season and a semi-final loss to Clinton in 2023, the team came into this season with a new level of energy and motivation, especially for Law and Society major Elijah Hendrich.
“Last year was a sign-we got a glimpse of a championship,” he said, adding that “This year was the final show for all the kids who rebuilt the program from freshman year.”
The Engineers cruised through the first month of the season, with dominant victories over FDR, Boys & Girls HS, and Benjamin Cardozo, scoring a combined 112 points and only allowing 20. A late October loss to Fort Hamilton was the Engineers’ only regular season defeat, and they ended with a 7-1 record and the #2 playoff seed.
The Engineers, led by quarterback Michael Jung (‘25) and running back Tristan Suarez (‘26), who racked up over 900 and 400 yards respectively during the regular season, made easy work of William C. Bryant in the quarterfinals and A. Phillip Randolph in the semifinals, setting up a one versus two seed showdown for the championship against Fort Hamilton.
The Engineers’ only regular season loss came against the same Fort Hamilton team, so Coach Pugh and his team needed to take their performance to another level in order to reach their ultimate goal of raising the PSAL 3A trophy.
Coming within reach of that goal, with the final test ahead of them, the players felt the weight of the moment.
“A mix of emotions, the interaction of which nearly left me in a numb state leading up to the kickoff,” admitted Hendrich.
Despite such intense feelings, he had no doubts going into the game. “I knew we would win and the thought of victory filled me with pride and satisfaction,” Hendrich added.
In typical Engineer fashion, the team fought through adversity, falling behind in the first quarter, with only a Matan Abir (‘25) field goal on the board while Fort Hamilton found the endzone.
However, the team completely changed the course of the game in the second quarter, scoring three touchdowns and going into halftime up 24-16.
The third quarter shifted the momentum back to Fort Hamilton, after they tied the game at 24 points and celebrated their defense nabbing an interception.
With everything on the line in the make-or-break 4th quarter, Tech’s players needed to put years of hard work and dedication on display to get over the line.
Fort Hamilton and the Engineers exchanged scoring drives to start the 4th quarter, but with six minutes left, Fort Hamilton held a 36-30 lead. Star running back Suarez drew the Engineers back level, and Abir (‘25) gave them what ended up being the decisive extra point, making it 37-36.
Despite driving all the way down to the Brooklyn Tech 16-yard line, Fort Hamilton missed what would have been the winning field goal as the clock reached all zeros, delivering the Engineers the title they had yearned for so long.
“It is one that will never be forgotten by anyone who was able to experience it,” exclaimed Pugh.
After the game, Abir admitted that he knew his kicking would play a major part in the final result, feeling that “all the pressure was going to fall on him.”. In the end, the championship was a major relief to Abir, who trusted his defense on the final drive to get the job done.
While players like Abir, Suarez, Jung, and Hendrich will get most of the plaudits, credit must be given to the coaches who have played such an instrumental role in it all.
“I credit most of our success to our coaching,” said Hendrich, adding, “The coaches have been a fundamental part of the program.”
From day one back in the fall of 2021, where Coach Pugh remembered “we barely had enough kids to field a team,” to the final whistle against Fort Hamilton, this group of Engineers never stopped competing. As Coach Pugh put it simply, “It was Tech on top.”
