By: Staff
In an amazing upset, the SCS Commodities Bulldogs overcame the undefeated Buist Inc. Jets, 52-32, to take the championship in NFL/HEWYBL flag football action.
The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead with touchdown receptions by Mike Williams and Jeff Scott. The defense, with strong performances by Ryan McGoorty and Mike Williams, coupled with interceptions by Nick Williams and Scott, held the Jets to two touchdowns in the first half. The Dogs added two more touchdowns on receptions by Anthony Altamura and Matt Rosenberg. Quarterback Joe Medici added to his four touchdown passes thus far by running for another before the half was over.
As the second half began the Jets showed the skill and determination that led to their undefeated season. The Jets, under a strong running attack led by Marcus McCleod, Evan Bangs and Quarterback Robert Guillano, came charging back. Robert Guiliano played with a lot of determination at quarterback in the absence of regular QB Erik Karlick. Marcus McCleod and Evin Bangs carried the load, each running for over 100 yards. Chris Ripa added a diving touchdown reception to keep the game close.
The Jets offense narrowed the gap to a point, 33-32, but the Dogs were not to be denied. The Bulldogs defense managed to stifle the Jets comeback with heroic efforts by McGoorty, Ben Rosenberg and Tyler Drewitz. After two offensive drives aided by the efforts of Justin Brusorsky, Medici completed two more touchdown passes to Matt Rosenberg and Jeff Scott. Mike Williams ran an interception in for the final touchdown of the game.
The Buist Inc. Jets defeated the Bagel Bazaar Jets 76-51 in a wild playoff game that can only be described as bazaar. In a game where defense was almost non existent, the Buist Jets scored more points than any team in the two-year history of the league and both teams combined to score more points than in any other prior league game.
Buist Inc.’s Robert Guiliano was clearly the star of the game, scoring an incredible five touchdowns. Guiliano was unstoppable with over 130 yards rushing, several pass receptions, and an interception for a touchdown on defense. Marcus McCleod also rose to the occasion for Buist, adding three touchdowns of his own, including one acrobatic touchdown reception.
Once Buist’s defense got untracked in the second half, Bobby Freund showed the form he used to earn team defensive player of the year honors with an incredible eight flag pulls. Bagel Bazaar was holding a slim three-point lead at halftime, at 33-30.
The offensive player of the game was Taylor Smith, who threw five touchdown passes. Bobby Dougherty ran for one touchdown and caught one touchdown pass. PJ Jackocki ran for one touchdown and caught one touchdown pass. Daniel Ratner, Ricky Vetick, Adam Daniels and Curtis Martin each caught a touchdown pass. Defensive player of the game was Daniel Ratner, who pulled six flags to lead the team. Nick Enea pulled four flags. Taylor Smith pulled two flags. Bobby Dougherty, Sean Gafgen, Curtis Martin, Bill Schultz, PJ Jackocki and Adam Daniels each pulled one flag.
The SCS Commodities Bulldogs defeated the Sun Bank Giants, 41-33, in one of the biggest comebacks of the season.
The Sun Bank Giants came out strong, racking up 33 points in the first half to the Bulldog’s 14. For the Giants on offense, Keith Strausman had six receptions and two touchdowns. Quarterback Mike Valez passed for four touchdowns and scored another.
On defense Mike Williston had six flag pulls and Jim Teller had four flag pulls. For the Bulldogs, quarterback Joe Medici hit Matt Rosenberg for a touchdown and ran end zone to end zone for a touchdown of his own. The second half, however, was all Dogs’ defense. Led by a dynamic effort by Mike Williams with strong performances by Nick Williams, Ryan McGoorty and Tyler Drewitz the defense shut down the Giant offense. The game broke open with an interception return for a touchdown by Nick Williams. The offense added three additional touchdown – two on receptions by Ben Rosenberg and one by Nick Williams – to win the game and advance the Bulldogs to the championship.
SOPHOMOREŽ
The Paints & Papers Iron Giants took the Sophomore Division championship with a 32-18 victory over the Alston Group Bomb.
The Giants took an early lead with two touchdowns from Matthew Reisser, one on a long run, and one on a pass from quarterback Bryan Connaughton. Reisser finished the day with 105 yards on the ground and 30 yards on three pass receptions. Connaughton gave another strong performance at quarterback, throwing for 12 completions, including four touchdown passes to lead the team to victory. Justin Lenart caught three of those touchdowns, one on a bomb from midfield. Lenart had 70 yards receiving for the game, and also ran in a two-point conversion on a center sneak. Mike Tingen was also a favorite receiver, racking up 60 yards on four catches. On the ground, the Giants spread the ball around as Brandon Solarski got two key runs, Brodie Decker, Matthew Walker, Tommy Rodriguez, and Ben Adlerman each contributed carries.
Defensively, the Iron Giants were tough, often holding the line against the Bomb’s running attack. The Iron Curtain defense was headed by John Indrikovic, who led with six flag pulls and two big blocked passes. Connaughton and Tingen each pulled four flags, while Reisser pulled one and knocked down two end zone passes, and Lenart gathered two flags. The Bomb got big games from Nik Astone, Mike Noebels, Thomas Powell, Troy Powell, and Rennie Alston.
The Consolidated Vipers lost to the red hot Iron Giants 52-26.
The Vipers’ offensive attack was led by quarterback Dillon Torno, who had a 35-yard touchdown run, a 20-yard touchdown run and rushed for a total of 106 yards on the day. Six more points were added to the score when Tommy Barnes connected with Cody Gafgan for a five-yard touchdown reception. Gafgan rushed for a total of 71 yards on the day. Matthew Braun ran for a total of 41 yards and scored a 2-point conversion run. Bradley Russian ran for 23 yards, Jordan Rosen ran for 11 yards, Bobby Froster ran for 16 yards, Barnes ran for 8 yards and Alex Houtenville ran for 2 yards. Strong offensive support was given by Billy Irwin and Jordan Paige. The Vipers’ defense was led by Barnes with a season high 12 flag pulls. Torno followed suit with seven flag pulls, Braun had four and Houtenville, Russian, Rosen and Froster each had one. For the second time in two weeks, Froster returned an interception for a touchdown. John Indrikovic spearheaded the Giants’ effort, scoring three touchdowns and getting 60 total yards, including three pass receptions.
Defensively, Indrikovic was impenetrable, pulling an incredible 14 flags on the day. Mike Tingen supplied another three touchdowns, with four receptions. On defense he had seven flag pulls and an interception. Justin Lenart added a touchdown and four flag pulls. Matthew Reisser had a touchdown and 130 rushing yards. Brandon Solarski had 70 yards rushing and a 10-yard pass reception, and ran in a two-point conversion. Quarterback Bryan Connaughton completed 14 passes, ran for 55 yards, and had three flags and an interception. Brodie Decker and Tommy Rodriguez each rushed for 10 yards, and Matthew Walker got one flag.
J.V.Ž
The Nottingham Insurance Giants beat the Howard Lane Gift Basket Jets, 12-0, recording the first ever playoff shutout in the two-year history of the program. The Giants were led by the Fab 5 on defense: Ryan McEvenie had three flag pulls and six passes defended; Tyler Ferst had five flag pulls and an interception with a pass defended; Kenny Tarr had a flag pull and a pass defended and shut down the Jets’ big guns with blanket coverage; Justin Flam, playing nose guard, had a big day with six flag pulls all in the backfield, and Steven Braun had two flag pulls and blitzed the quarterback all day, not allowing him to set up and pass.
The offense was led by quarterback Ryan Janni, who threw for 77 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 23 yards. Mike Dougherty rushed for 39 yards and had three receptions for 20 yards, Mike Arak rushed for 15 yards, and Max Rothenstein rushed for 40 yards and a 30-yard touchdown run. John Beehler caught four big passes (three for first downs) for 24 yards. Jenna Braun had two flag pulls, Ally Tarr rushed for 15 yards, and the offensive star was Erik Trost, rushing for 120 yards and an unbelievable fourth down run of 45 yards for the second touchdown.
