On Saturday morning, under an overcast sky at the Adlai Stevenson High School in the south Bronx, the DeWitt Clinton Governors football team played their last game of the season. The Governors lost to the fifth-seeded Curtis Warriors of Staten Island in the city quarterfinals, 20-8.

The game started with a bang when Clinton senior running back Anthony Smith returned the game’s opening kick for a 69-yard touchdown. Senior Kwaku Duah earned the Governors two more points off the conversion and the Governors maintained an 8-6 lead the end of the first half.

The Curtis defense effectively shut down Clinton’s offense in the second half. A successful nine-yard run by senior James Gardner gave the Warriors a third-quarter lead of 14-8. In the fourth quarter, after a light mist had descended on the field, Gardner returned again, running in a 26-yard touchdown to seal Curtis’ lead at 20-8.

Clinton Coach Howard Langley was saddened by the loss, as the Clinton boys worked hard all season, running past the competition with a 9-1 record.

“They’re a great group of kids, but [Curtis] had a little more than we did,” Langley said. “That we took a lot of these kids from scratch and have gotten this far is testament to the awesome teamwork and effort of this team.”

“What counts is not the result,” said Langley to his team in a post-game huddle, “but the effort, the battle.”

Clinton played an outstanding season, losing only once before Curtis. During the course of the season, Clinton beat their Bronx rivals, the John F. Kennedy Knights for the first time in 11 years in an Oct. 16 game. On Nov. 8, the Governors beat the Flushing Red Devils of Queens to advance to the quarterfinals. This was their second consecutive quarterfinals appearance. Clinton will graduate 17 members from this team.

Curtis will play the undefeated Fort Hamilton Tigers in the semifinals this Saturday.