Team History

The Grand Street Campus Wolves

“I see on your resume that you are a football coach.” William Jusino, principal of Progress High School , said to teacher applicant Ed Gazzillo. Gazzillo replied, “Yes, yes I am.” Mr. Jusino then walked over to the window in his office, pulled on a cord that opened the curtains to reveal a view of the campus athletic field. Jusino directed Gazzillo to come over to take a look. As the two men stared over the field Principal Jusino stated, “It is a dream of mine to open this curtain to see a football team and all the great things that football brings to a school.” Gazzillo turned to Principal Jusino and replied “I can make that dream come true.”

In January of 1999, Jusino hired Gazzillo as the school’s technology teacher and instructed him to write up a proposal to start a football team.

In March of 1999, Gazzillo’s proposal was passed by the four principals of Grand Street Campus. A few weeks latter Gazzillo meet with PSAL Football Commissioner, Alan Arbuse and Assistant Commissioner, Jerry Epstein to pitch his bid for a football program at Grand Street . On Thursday April 1 st, 1999 Grand Street Campus’ application for a football program was approved and Ed Gazzillo was named the head coach.

At this point The Grand Street Campus was in its infant years. The four schools that made up the campus were only in their third year of existence. The athletic program in the school was in disarray. Teams wore different color uniforms and had different nick names. Some teams were the Chiefs and other teams were the Seminoles. At the same time some teams wore light blue and white uniforms and other teams wore black and gold uniforms.

Gazzillo lead the charge in unifying the athletic program under one name. First was to come up with a nick name. Gazzillo, a Marketing and Advertising Major from Baruch College , knew that a unique name and logo would help promote the school and make the school stand out from the rest. After careful research, Gazzillo decided on The Wolves. Before he presented the name to the principals he decided to package it with a logo. Gazzillo searched and searched for a logo that was perfect for the school but all he could find were stock logos that were being used by every other Wolves team throughout the country. So Gazzillo decided to design his own. After many prototypes Gazzillo developed which is now known as “The Wolf”. He then combined the colors the teams were already using settling on Columbia Blue and Black as team colors. Gazzillo packaged his ideas, once again presented them to the four principals. After deliberating, the school now had an official nick name and official team colors. It was not long before “The Wolf” became recognized throughout the city as The Grand Street Campus Mascot.

Now that the School had an identity, Gazzillo focused on football. In September of 1999 Grand Street Campus Football was born. The first year of the program the team was considered a club. There was not an official schedule for them to follow so they had various scrimmages vs. other teams in the city. The Wolves participated in their first scrimmage at the freshman jamboree at Lincoln High School . As they walked on to the field in their Columbia Blue and Black uniforms, every one wanted to know who they were. Grand Streets début performance was outstanding, at the end of the day everyone knew who the team in the Columbia Blue and Black uniforms were. Grand Street also scrimmaged New Dorp and South Shore that season gaining valuable experience leading into their first J.V. Season

The year 2000 was the first official season of The Grand Street Campus Wolves Football Team. In the first game, on the very first play vs. The Madison Knights, Eric Sykes ran back a kick-off for 90 yards scoring the first Touchdown in GSC history, a sign of all the good things that would follow. The 2000 season was filled with a lifetime of excitement. The Wolves finished an astonishing 5-3 with a high power offense and a stingy defense. The Wolves Out scored opponents 208-89 and also shut out opponents 3 times. Other teams and coaches were amazed with the performance of the first year team. Grand Streets popularity began to grow further.

2001 was The Wolves first Varsity season. It was a huge awakening for the young Wolves. The Wolves struggled through the season, managing to finish only 2-7. Even though the season was a struggle it taught the Wolves valuable lessons, it gave the young players a life’s worth of experience in how to deal with misfortune and still be able to stick together. At the end of the season a group of team members got together to make a commitment to working harder so the 2002 season would be different.

After beating Erasmus Hall 36-6 on November 3rd, 2002; Grand Street Campus finished with an undefeated record. Lead by PSAL leading rusher Javon Sistrunk, the Wolves finished first in their division and earned the 11th spot in the PSAL. The Wolves finish the season 9-0. They out scored their opponents 206-72 registering 3 defensive shutouts and allowing only 1 rushing touchdown in the regular season. The Road to the Undefeated Season was not an easy one for the Wolves. Injuries, distractions, and other problems tried to steer The Wolves off the path, but Grand Street stayed focused to the end. The Wolves Finished 11 th in the city, placing them in the playoffs for the first time in their young existence, to face, the perennial power house fifth seeded Wagner Falcons. The Wolves lost to the Falcons, ending their dream season.

After going undefeated in 2002, the 2003 team had a lot to live up to. However, with only 4 returning players from the 2002 team, Grand Street was a young team that made young team mistakes. In addition, because of the huge success of the 2002 season, The Wolves moved up in the power rating system giving them a tougher schedule. Finally, the Wolves field was under construction forcing The Wolves to play all games on the road and practice at a park. Through it all, The Wolves still managed to win 3 games.

With most of their players returning for the 2004 season, Coach Gazzillo knew he had a good chance at improving from the 2003 season. Game after game The Wolves battled, beating every team they played. Lead by Senior Linebacker Ubaldo Miron, the Wolves finished 8-0, their second undefeated season in three years. Once again the Wolves did it with their high powered offense and stifling defense. The Wolves out scored opponents 195-40 and pitched 5 defensive shutouts. The Wolves Finished 8 th in the city, placing them in the playoffs for the second time in their young existence to face the fifth seeded South Shore Vikings. The Wolves lost to the Vikings, ending their season. The 2004 season also produced the first Grand Street All-City player-Defensive End Chris Basile.

As The Wolves continue to gain experience, they will to continue to grow into one of the premier teams in the PSAL. If things keep going they are it is only a matter of time.