With the way that the flag football leagues are established, these two teams were battling for the third time (2 games in the regular season) in the playoffs.  Both teams got the best of each other taking one game a piece in the regular season.  This game would be the indicator of who would reign supreme in the tough division from which they came.  The game got off to a slow start due to the lack of offensive output, but this should not take away from the excellent defensive plays that were made in the process.  The drought was ended when Stan Mansell scored on a long and efficient drive to make the score 7-0.  The Shamrock’s struggles continued when they threw an interception that led to a quick score for Stan Mansell (14-0).  Just before the end of the first half, Stan Mansell all but ended the game for the Shamrocks by scoring on a pass up the middle to make the score 21-0.  Much of the credit should be given the Stan Mansell’s speedy QB who was running the Shamrocks all over the field.  To add to the frustration of the Shamrocks, they made a nice drive to the goal line only to see Stan Mansell pick another pass.  This proved to be the ender for the Shamrocks and their championship hopes were crushed.  Stan Mansell made some key plays at the end of the game to run the clock out and advance in the playoffs.

Final Score: 21-0 in favor of Stan Mansell

Play of the Game: What seemed to be the Shamrocks only big play of the day was a deep pass that was tipped off the hands of Stan Mansell’s DB and into the hands of the Shamrock’s open receiver.  As the score shows, they did not score off of the play.

Based on last year’s disappointing finish, Redeem Team came into this season and game with a motive to win and win big.  Due to the cold weather, the game got off to a slow start as players were still warming up.  Lights Out had the ball first, which resulted in a three and out.  This appeared to be the theme throughout the game as they could not establish the running or passing game.  This put much unwanted pressure on the defense. Redeem Team answered to the opponent’s slow start by unloading a touchdown pass to their playmaker Anthony Carson on the opponents porous defense (7-0).  He scored shortly after as well on a nice touch pass that reached him in stride (13-0).  Towards the end of the first half, Redeem Team took advantage of a Lights Out turnover that put them in prime position to score, especially with the momentum they received from that turnover.  They knew the passing game was working, but decided that a nice run would throw them off.  They did a sweep to the left, a lateral back to the right with some jukes, and ended up scoring on what was the nail in the coffin (19-0).  There was a period of the game where both teams were at a standstill, but that was ended by a score with approximately 5 minutes left in the game.  Redeem Team’s accurate QB rolled out to the far right and threw it back to his left to a wide open receiver (25-0).  At this point, frustration was setting in for Lights Out and the game was eventually called with 2 minutes remaining due to league rules.

Final Score: 25-0 in favor of Redeem Team

Play of the Game: Redeem Team’s Lateral play for the long score

We are in week 2 of the flag football season, and there have been some intriguing games. Munsoned vs. last MEN standing was a great matchup and was a good game all until the last few minutes of the game. Both teams got off to early starts scoring off of a pick six(Munsoned) and a touchdown pass(last MEN standing). Munsoned responded by getting a highlight reel touchdown catch soon after. The receiver was back pedaling amid great coverage, tipped the ball, and as he was falling, made the miraculous catch to make the score 13-7. Later in the game, LMS handed the ball off to their speedster(He can probably run the 40 in 4 seconds flat) who turned the corner and attempted a dive into the endzone, but his flag landed on the 2 yard line. They scored 1 play after on a run up the middle to make the game even at 13-all. The second half is where the game became out of reach. Munsoned went for the touchdown on 4th down and got it. One of the weirdest successful throws I have seen all year was done by their QB who kind of flipped it high in the air, on the run, to his receiver to the right (20-13). LMS knew they had to play smart to make a comeback, but that was negated when Munsoned returned another interception for the score (26-13). To add insult to injury, Munsoned scored one last time towards the end of the game.

Final Score: 32-13 in favor of Munsoned

Play(s) of the game: Receiver for Munsoned makes circus catch for the score, and LMS’s speedster runs his way to the 2 yard line leading to an eventual score.

Pictures from game (click on them to see full size)

The season has officially started and The Donks and Shenanigans provided some excitement. I came in thinking that this game was going to be a shootout, but the defenses were dominating early and often. Either the Shenanigans got off to a good start or The Donks to a bad start, but the first drive ended with a hard-to-watch safety(0-2). At this point, the game had the potential to be lopsided in favor of Shenanigans, but in the words of Lee Corso, “Not so fast my friend.” The Donks responded later in the half with an interception return for a score and a successful 1 point conversion(7-2). Nothing could have gone more wrong for Shenanigans when they had a play that may have resulted in a first down called back for an illegal forward pass 10 yards past the line of scrimmage. The score at half was 7-2. The Donks went into the break feeling confident in their defense and this allowed for them to come out in the second half and work on their offense. They converted on a 40 yard bomb to go up 14-2 over Shenanigans. Shenanigans responded to adversity with 2 quick scores within the last two minutes of the game. They connected on a touchdown pass and successfully converted on the 3 point conversion(14-11). They then got the ball back with approximately 40 seconds on the clock and scored a last second touchdown for the victory!(14-18). The referees said the score was 23-14, but I believe that it was 18-14 in favor of the cardiac kids of Shenanigans.

Final Score: 18-14(23-14 according to refs)

Interesting Stat: 6 total interceptions, 1(almost 2) returned for scores

Play of the Game: Score at the end of game to put Shenanigans on top.