FM Home Loans Men's Flag Football League – Week 2

Friday

Moreshet Mafia vs. Ayala Tours

          Moreshet was looking to build off of their week 1 win this week vs a tough opponent in Ayala Tours. They got off to a great start with an INT on the second play of the game. The Mafiafirst drive didn’t go as well as they had a quick three and out and Ayala Tours collected 2 sacks on that drive including a big 3rd down sack. But then again the Mafia defense came up with a massive play. Harry Gani, their ball hawking corner, picked off the pass that was intended for a short gain and took it back the short field for a 15 yard pick-6. Moreshet then added the PAT to Ezra Dweck to open up the scoring and go up 7-0. Ayala then took over and had a nice 24 yard pass play but promptly stalled out and thanks in large part to Uzi Heaney’s big 4th down sack. Ayala’s defense got it right back for them on a pick from Yuval Berkovitch that led to a nice methodical drive that ended with a 7 yard TD pass to Akiva Schwartz although they couldn’t come up with the PAT so they still trailed 7-6. The Mafia’s next drive was a good one highlighted by Brandon Magurdumov’s 37 yard bobbling jump ball catch in 1 on 1 coverage. The drive ended with a 8 yard TD score to Moreshet’s star TE Ezra Dweck and they somewhat rewarded Magurdumov with getting him the PAT to make it 14-6. Moreshet got the ball right back after a quick three and out but gave it right back after Ayala got a three and out of their own with a big red zone 4th down sack from Natanel Kuhr. Ayala then closed out the half with a few deep bombs that fell short. Moreshet opened the second half with the ball but after a few nice QB runs on 4th down they threw another interception that gave the ball with it still being a one score game. Ayala then immediately hit on a 40 yard TD bomb to Yuval Berkovitch which pulled them within 2. Still up 14-12 Moreshet opened their next drive with a 22 yard scamper from their QB followed by an 18 yard catch and run from Dweck which put them right in scoring position. That is where this drive flipped. First there was a false start then back to back sacks and then on 4th and goal Daniel Zacks picked off the pass at the goal line and returned it 20 yards to give them the ball back in a 2 point game midway through the second half. They then traded three and outs a couple times until Ayala threatened a little at the end of the game. They got the ball in pretty good field position and then hit a 23 yard QB run to put right on the doorstep in still only down 2. But then in the red zone after back to back sacks and an incomplete pass on 4th and goal yet again Harry Gani came up with pick number 2 of the game to seal the win. This was a very hard fought defense matchup with a few big plays that decided the game. Moreshet is now 2-0 on the young season.

EarBiters vs. PK Hart

This match up featured one of the best team names this league has and the EarBiters had their star player, Jason Bick playing on a bad knee. He didn’t disappoint. He opened up the scoring for them with a long 50+ yard TD run but PK Hart got two early scores from Jonthan (JT) Thomas and Chananya Mondtow. The Half ended 12-6 PK Hart on top. The second half would not be as kind to them. The EarBiters opened the second half with a few medium pass plays and then had a 20 yard TD run from their QB to tie it up. They then got a quick three and out with the help of Akiva Lader’s second sack. Jason Bick followed that up with a 40 yard punt return to put them right back in the red zone. A few plays later they scored on a 4 yard pass to Benjy Hild. After another quick three and out and another nice return from Bick They scored on an 11 yard QB run from Yitzy Tannenbaum. Eli Nagel tacked on the extra point as they went up 25-12. PK’s next drive was the last real threat. They drove down the field with a flurry of medium deep passes but then came up just short on a fourth down QB run. They got the ball right back but had a quick three and out where Akiva Lader got his third sack of the day. A few plays later Yosef Shmuel caught a 2 yard TD pass and as the final nail in the coffin, a couple plays later, Eli Spaeth took an INT 25 yards back to the house to give the EarBiters a 37-12 win.

DEC vs. BhB Investments

This one ended up being a little bit of a lopsided game with the more experienced DEC coming out on top. Yaakov “Rabbit” Rabinowitz started the scoring with a pretty 20 yard TD catch. After a decent drive BhB Investments failed on a fourth and 18 giving the ball back to DEC. DEC hit a big play on the second play of the drive with a 32 yard catch but then had four straight incompletions in the red zone and turned it over. The very next play BhB went for it all and got it on a 54 yard TD pass to Shua Alexander. On DEC’s next drive on a fourth and short, Rabbit came down with a 28 yard contested catch with the defender doing the best he could. A few plays later he found the end zone again on a 10 yard TD catch for his second of the day and he tacked on the extra point making it 13-6. Noam Moore was the star of the next drive. After helping his team to a three and out with back to back sacks on second and third down he caught a 9 yard TD to make it 19-6 right before the half. DEC opened the second half with the ball and on the second play of the drive got a 30 yard TD run from their QB. After a three and out from each team DEC scored on a short field and got the 2 point conversion from Gidon Hazony putting them up 33-6. On the second play of BhB’s drive they did it again. Backed up in their own end zone they hit a 51 yard bomb to Elchonon Gros and the 2 point conversion for good measure but that was the last scoring for them. After DEC drove down to the goal line looking to put the final nail in the coffin Dovid Kolko picked off the first and goal pass but only a few plays later DEC would get them back plus some. After Noam Moore got yet another sack and a penalty and an incomplete pass Gidon Hazony did put the final nail in the coffin with a 36 yard INT TD were he followed a convoy of blockers on his way to leading his team to victory. The final score was 39-14.

The Baboons vs. T.O.

This one was a hard fought match with a controversial end between two teams who think they’ll be in it late this season. T.O. started with the ball but had a quick three and out and the Baboons capitalized with a short TD pass to Isaac Jacobson. T.O. then had another three and out but they made up for in a big way. Nachi Lefton opened the drive with a sack on first down then on third down TAL, or Tzvi Aryeh Lieber, came up with a pick on a deep pass attempt. After a few three and outs T.O. got on the board and took the lead with a nice 29 yard TD pass and catch and converted the PAT to go up 7-6. Then Nachi Lefton got his second sack of the day but a few plays later Isaac Jacobson hit another long TD score, this time from 23 yards out and put the Baboons up 12-7. Then the defenses traded INTs. The Baboons got one but then right before the end of the half Chaim Jacobovitch got it right back of a batted ball at the line and Nachi Lefton made it count with a 10 yard score to make it 14-12. As the Baboons opened the second half with a decent drive and were getting ready to take the lead Eli Radom took their hopes away with an interception, only for his team to give it right back on a deep ball that was picked by Shalom Chananya. The baboons quickly scored after a 40 yard bomb to go up 20-14. This is where the excitement came. After a couple turnover on downs as the second half was winding down T.O. had one more shot. With only seconds remaining they loaded up for a hail mary put it up. The pass got completed and he made it into the end zone but there was a flag. The call was offensive PI as he freed himself from the coverage at the last second with a push off. The baboons ended up sneaking away with this one 20-14.

Chofetz Chaim Chassidim vs. Tivuch Shelly

         This was a close game all throughout which led it to become a very chippy game. Tivuch’s O-lineman and Chofetz Chaim’s D-lineman were getting into it all game long and as the game went on they got more and more intense. The game itself on the field was also an intense one. It was close for almost the entire game. Early in the first half CC went up 14-6 on a deep TD pass to Naftali Hollander that went for 23 yards. Then on the next drive Tivuch drew within two on a 24 yard TD pass of their own to Ben Haber. They however failed on the 2-point try to tie it after a penalty made a 15 yard play. Each team traded punts and turnovers for the rest of the half and went into halftime with the score of 14-12 CCC. After a fairly low scoring first half the second half had something else in store. A flurry of scores back and forth. CCC opened the second half with the ball and drove right down field and scored on an 8 yard TD pass to the TE that was topped with the extra point by Hollander. Tivuch then came right back and scored on the 3 play drive highlighted by a 31 yard pass play and capped with an Ari Chaseman TD and 2 point conversion catch making it 21-20. CCC then followed that up with a 3 play drive of their own ending with a 35 yard TD pass and catch to Mordy Davidowitz. After this CCC started pulling away. They got a safety 2 plays later from Yisroel Wasser and 2 plays after that a 21 yard score to Mordy again. That made it 37-20 with the extra point from Hollander. That put this game out of reach although Tivuch did get a last second score from Zachary Benkel from 2 yards out. The final score was 37-27 in a game that was close until the end of the second half.

Umpa Lumpas vs. Little Big Giants

This game ended up getting ugly as The Little Big Giants have struggled to get accustomed to this league. Morris Setton opened up this game with a TD for Umpa Lumpa and they didn’t look back after that. Shmuel Gelfan added another score for them in the half as they went up 14-0 after Chaim Block came down with the 5 yard extra point. On the very next play Umpa Lumpa’s defense came up with a huge play to make it 16-0. They got a safety for the first big defensive play of the game. Just three plays after that they hit on a 20 TD pass on 4th and 5 to the TE Chaim Block which pretty much ended the first half. The score at half time was 22-0 Umpa Lumpa. The second half would prove to be just and disappointing for The Little Big Giants. The teams traded bad drives with turnover on downs with Alex Owens contributing a sack early in the second half as one of the only bright spots this game for the Giants. As the game was winding down Umpa Lumpa added one more final nail in the coffin with a 5 yard TD pass to Eli Meir Weisshaus after a nice quick drive after getting good field position off a turnover on downs. The game mercifully ended with the score 28-0 Umpa Lumpa. The Little Big Giants will look to figure this league out next time out because they have the personnel they just need to figure out how to play in this league.

ShabbosKodesh.com vs. Route 38

         ShabbosKodesh.com dominated the game vs. Route 38 who last were in the lower tier and are trying to make the jump up this year. The train kind of came off the rails for Route 38 early and they just were never able to get back on track. On a 3rd and long on the first drive they snapped the ball over the head of the QB and the ball rolled out of the back of the end zone for a ShabbosKodesh.com safety. Then on the first play Shabbos Kodesh hit a 50 yard bomb to Michael Tover. Just like that it was 8-0 before Route 38 could even blink. If that wasn’t bad enough on the 3rd play of their next drive David Dasi picked off the deep attempt. Akiva Hain then made it 14-0 on a 15 yard TD on the next play. Shabbos Kodesh’s defense continued to dominate the next drive with a Rafi Guttman sack on 2nd down and an Akiva Hain INT on the ensuing 4th. Route 38 put together their first good drive of the game which ended after moving quickly down field they completed a 24 yard TD to Max Weinblatt. The defense couldn’t match their offense's first good drive as they allowed Shabbos Kodesh to score on two plays, a 21 yard catch that set up a 32 yard catch and run from Ben Tobin where he juked his way into the endzone. After 3 straight incomplete passes David Dusi came up with his second pick of the game which set up a jump ball to Michael Tover from 9 yards out just before the half and Gideon Benshabbatt ended the half with a 2 yard sack. The game ended 32-13. ShabbosKodesh.com seems to have made an immediate impact on this league and Route 38 will look to get things rolling in this league next week.

Pizzeria Efrat vs. May Eagles

         This game saw two teams with championship aspirations face off early. The veteran Pizzeria Efrat took care of business and it was usually suspects along with another familiar face from a former rival. Pizzeria went up 18-6 early in the second half on a Moshe Shear dime to Mayer Kiffel for a 41 yard TD pitch and catch. May Eagles responded with a long TD of their own to make it a one possession game. It was a 31 yard pass play with Gabi Waldman on the receiving end. Pizzeria quickly answered with a Moshe Shear 29 yard run where he followed his blocks and then simply out ran everybody on the field. They added the PAT on a jump ball to David Abell. May Eagles came back again with a good looking drive where they hit chunk plays that led to a 5 yard TD once again making it a one possession game 25-19.  Pizzeria got the ball back with a chance to ice the game as the game was winding down. They did just that and in style. After hitting a deep ball to Kiffel and a few nice runs from Shear the defense had to pick their poison. Pizzeria didn’t really give them a choice. Moshe Shear rolled out left as if he was running again and with time starting to wind down May Eagles sold out for it and Shear pulled back and hit a wide open Kiffel for another 41 yard score to close out the game 31-19.

TC vs. Converse Dating

The matchup of the week and primetime game featured two of the championship favorites. The largest crowd of the season came out for this early season highly anticipated match which proved to be slightly eventful and difficult from the refs. The game was close all throughout although it felt like TC dominated this one. TC went up early on a 3 play drive with 2 of them going to, one of if not the best receiver in the league, Gav Goldberg and one of those being a 30 TD pass. TC then forced a four and out helped in large part to Rav Avi back to back sacks to open the drive. Converse got the ball right back with the help of a sack of their own from Shmuel Cohen. They subsequently drove down field and tied the game up with a hook and ladder for 22 yards to open the drive and a 9 yard score and Shai Feintuch added the extra point to make it 7-7. Converse got the ball back with a chance to take the lead before the half because of another Shmuel Cohen sack but they didn’t do anything with it as Nechemia Gross and Rav Avi got back to back sacks. There was then a flurry of action. Back to back tip picks from Shmuel Cohen and Nechemia Gross plus a Shmuel Cohen sack brought a close to the half. On the first play of the second half Avi Schuman took another tipped pass to the house for a 17 yard pick-6. Nechemia Gross added yet another sack during the next drive to force a Converse punt. After a big play to Gav was negated by a penalty TC got down to the red zone by going right back to Gav in double coverage and he made a spectacular twisting back shoulder catch for 19 to get down to the 1. But one play later TC threw an ill-advised red zone INT to Yosef Groman. Converse then turned the ball over after a penalty riddled drive late into the second half. TC put the final nail in the coffin two plays later on a 24 yard TD pass to Avi Schuman. Avi added a tipped INT on the last gasp last prayer to end the game. The final score of this highlight filled early season grudge match was 21-7.