Thanksgiving and sports go together like mash potatoes and gravy. So, with turkey day on the horizon, we thought we’d offered a brief local sports roundup to get you caught up on all the latest action.

Clinton Football Thriving as Underdog
So far for the DeWitt Clinton High School football team the PSAL playoffs have been a Governor’s ball. The seventh-seeded Governors upset fourth-seeded Fort Hamilton last week and will face undefeated and top-ranked Lincoln High School in the semifinals. The Railsplitters bounced Clinton from the playoffs last year by a score of 32-6. The game is set to start at noon on Saturday, Nov. 26 at Lincoln’s home field in Brooklyn.

It’s the farthest Clinton has ever made it in the playoffs and Coach Howard Langley says, in preparation, he’s making his team sweat the details. Langley says he’s been looking at tape from last year’s game against Lincoln to, “try to find a crack in their system.”

Clinton’s offense received a boost this year after Quarterback Ryan Camilo transferred from Cardinal Hayes, according to the New York Post. Another major contributor of the Governors has been Jeremiah Obeng-Agyapong, who’s brother, who graduated from Kennedy High, now plays for Penn St.

Langley also said Clinton’s underdog status is used as an advantage. “When you’re the underdog, you don’t have anything to lose,” he said. “Kids play without fear.”

Fordham Fires Football Coach
In other Bronx sports news, Fordham University has fired head football coach Tom Masella after a 1-10 season.  Masella was 27-40 in five seasons with the team and won a Patriot League Championship in 2007.

New York Style Hoops
Speaking of Fordham sports, the basketball program is upping its efforts for local recognition. An ad in the New York Times pictured the team against the Manhattan skyline ran with a heading that read, “College Basketball New York Style!” Most of the team is from the Tri-state area, including two Bronx products: Khalid Robinson, a sophomore from Fordham Prep, and Jeffrey Short, a freshman who played for Kennedy High.

Fordham’s Chris Gaston, a New Jersey native, is fifth in the entire nation in rebounding. Here’s another story on Gaston from the Wall Street Journal.

So far, the team is 1-1 on the young season after beating Binghamton last Friday. They face cross-borough rivals Manhattan College on Wednesday, Dec. 7.

Monroe Soccer Falls Just Short
Monroe College’s soccer team will have to settle for silver. The Mustangs lost the NJCAA national championships 4-1 to Cloud County Community College in Kansas City. While the loss was a disappointing end to the Mustangs’ electrifying 14-2-1 season,  Monroe President Stephen Jerome is still proud of the team’s accomplishment. “They wore the name Monroe across their chests with distinction all season long and a second-place finish out of hundreds of NJCAA Division I teams, is something really special,” he said.

Fordham Prep Hauling in Hardware
Fordham Prep won the Catholic High School Football League Championship and its first-ever soccer title.