Madison Rivera and Emma Levine
On Friday, September 22nd, the Cardozo High School football team had their first win at home of the 2023-2024 season against Staten Island Technical High School.
Cardozo’s Judges started the game up by eight points, after scoring a touchdown and a safety. Soon after, Staten Island Technical High School tied the game, which lasted for a while. Later in the game, the Judges finally scored another touchdown, which put Cardozo in the lead with 14 points, but this only lasted a short while. As the fourth quarter wrapped up, the score was tied 22-22.
The game went into two rounds of overtime, until the Judges were finally able to score another touchdown, ending the game in a 28-22 win. Led by Coaches Joseph Kaso and Sean O’Connor, the team celebrated enthusiastically after the game.
Before the players took the field, we were able to sit down with a few of the varsity players and understand their love for the game. Some of the players have their own ways to prepare for the games. Shem Beaufort explained, “I listen to piano music; it’s an orchestra that’s called ‘Experience.’ You have to listen to it to understand how it helps me calm down.”
Despite the music helping him prepare for playing, losing is pretty hard for Beaufort. “I hate losing with passion. It’s the worst feeling ever, and to me, I don’t know why, but people say it’s just a game, but you don’t understand until you’re the one playing it,” he shared.
Thery Pierre Louis, another Cardozo player, explained what inspired him to join the football team. Louis, along with many other players, disclosed, “having fun and [their] passion for the game itself,” inspired them to try out for the team.
Many of the football players also have to manage school and practices multiple times a week. Nicholas Heaven explained that being on another sports team prior to football helped him manage his time. “Coming from wrestling and track before, I don’t really find it as difficult. Usually, practice is a couple hours, then I get home, and I have a few hours for anything else, so I’m able to manage it.”
Cardozo Judges Football Coach Joseph Kaso has a few strategies that he likes to implement for the team before games to get them ready. “Before games, we like to keep them motivated and feed them a lot of positive information,” he explained. He focused on both desire and effort when discussing pre-game rituals for the team.
“This is my 40th year of coaching, and I’ve been playing the game since I was 8 years old, so this is my 60th year on the field,” Coach Kaso admitted. Kaso was selected as an all-era coach because he has been coaching for well over 30 years and was also recognized by St. John’s University for his time coaching.
With such a successful career, Kaso revealed that the 2023-2024 football season will be his last season of coaching. “Football has been my life,” he professed .
