The Peglegs Narrowly Miss Playoffs

This year, Stuyvesant’s varsity football team, the Peglegs, finished with a 4-4 record, narrowly missing the playoffs after a three-way tiebreaker with William C. Bryant and John Jay High School. Despite the Peglegs leading both teams in point differentials throughout the season, their season’s fate came down to a coin toss—an unfair rule by the PSAL that unfortunately excluded them from the postseason. 

Despite missing the playoffs, the Peglegs improved significantly from a 1-7 record last year to 4-4 this year. They showed major improvements on both offense and defense, maintaining an average point differential of 27 in wins. Notably, the Peglegs held Fort Hamilton High School, a division finalist, to their season low in points in a defensive slugfest, losing by a margin of 8-28. The Peglegs also had some very strong wins this year, defeating John Adams High School 25-0, Flushing High School 33-6, and Columbus High School 40-0. A couple of key players this year for the Peglegs were senior quarterback Vitaly Pyagay and senior captain and linebacker Eli Lifton. Coach Michael Tauber credited his hard-working seniors for driving this change. “[We] had a great group of players who were competitive in every game and will be missed,” Tauber said. 

Even though the Peglegs improved from last year, they still lost half of their games. In three of their losses, they lost by double digits while being held to single-digit scores themselves. The main problem seemed to be their inconsistency on offense. Across their losses, the Peglegs were able to occasionally execute crucial plays, but were unable to maintain a steady offensive pressure outside of those select plays. For example, in their 6-26 loss against Harry S. Truman High School, while Pyagay had nine completions for 101 yards, 70 of those yards came from one play. Another problem seemed to be the rushing defense. In the Peglegs’ worst losses, the majority of the opposing team’s yards came from their run-game. Specifically, in the same game against Harry S. Truman High School, the Peglegs allowed just 10 passing yards, but 460 rushing yards. In addition, against Fort Hamilton High School where they lost 8-22, they gave up 205 rushing yards, as opposed to 44 passing yards. While the Peglegs’ offense and defense complemented each other well in their winning matches, in three of their four losses, both the offense and defense struggled, neither side being able to bail the other out. 

The team put in lots of practice throughout the year in order to progress this season. This includes strength training as well as skills development, and both went hand-in-hand to help them improve. Lifton commented on the behind-the-scenes work the team put in: “Our team didn’t just miraculously go from winning one game to barely missing playoffs. It was an accumulation of hard work during the season and in the offseason.”

The Peglegs haven’t just improved skill- and talent-wise, but the team’s dynamic and chemistry has also grown stronger, with many players playing together on both JV and Varsity in previous years. “As a captain, the thing I’m most proud about the team is how everyone has come to care so much about football,” Lifton said. The work the Peglegs put in isn’t just about a single practice or game, but long-term goals. “I’m glad to have left leading the team on a positive path so the future years’ Peglegs can thrive,” Lifton said.

Looking towards next season, the Peglegs are determined to win games. Junior running back Aidan Bailey said, “If we made a mistake on film, then we would fix the issues and practice, and then our labor bore fruit in games.” Bailey mentioned the feeling of winning and how that can also be a driving force to get better: “And what I enjoy most about playing for this team is the feeling I get when we win because it always seems like Stuyvesant has to prove something,” Bailey said. We can see this in major events like Homecoming, which generated a lot of excitement after their blowout win against Flushing High School. Another part of what makes their winning feel so good is how they know they are playing as a team. “I enjoy the progression of this team from my time on JV to Varsity through struggle. We’ve come closer as a group and family,” Bailey said.

The Peglegs will look to build on their improvements this year and get even better. Although the team will be moving forward without some key seniors, they will be looking to make the playoffs next season. The Peglegs will continue to practice and develop each year as they look forward to their new class of rising seniors and juniors for guidance.