FM Home Loans Men's Flag Football League – Week 5

Friday

Lev Mordechai vs. Kedma-Bnei Akiva 0-72

Kedma came into this one as one of the best teams in this league and Lev Mordechai came in as one of the worst. The game played out pretty much exactly as you’d expect, if not more. If you’ve seen these two teams play before you could guess what went down early on Friday. Kedma went up early, scored often, had fun and didn’t let up. They started out the game scoring a lot and not giving up very much. They were up 48-0 at halftime and didn’t allow a completion. The scoring slowed down a little bit in the second half but they were still scoring seemingly every time you blinked. They made highlight plays all game. They had picks, sacks and long TD’s. They had guys playing out of position and making plays and just flat out having fun. We look forward to seeing them play a little better competition next week.  

T.O. vs. Old School 6-13

         Old School got off to a hot start in this one as they took a 13-0 lead into the half. They got an early score from TE Binyamin Glanz. Later in the first half Zach Stern scored on a 5 yard TD score. He then got an INT to end the first half. To start the second half Zach was on his way to his second TD after he caught a deep ball in stride, made one guy miss and was on his way to scoring until his flag fell off and he got called down as there was a defender close enough. T.O. then got a big red zone stop in large part due to the Nachie Lefton sack on 3rd down. The teams then traded punts and turnover of downs for a good portion of the half as Moshe Abramson, Mordy Purec, Eli Mansdorf and Amir White all contributed sacks along the way. Then Old School won the war of field position and had it in the red zone. But then T.O. got a big game saving stop for now as they forced three straight incompletions and on fourth down Nachi Lefton came through with a massive five yard sack. After an incomplete pass and another Amir White sack on a big third and long backed up in their own zone Eli Radom received a nice 42 yard catch to flip the field and give them a good shot to make it a one possession game. Elie Mansdorf then came up with a big play for Old School as he picked up a nice second down sack while time ticked away but then on the next play T.O. got on the board making it possible but very unlikely to complete the comeback as time was really running out. It was Nachi Lefton who came through again for T.O. on an 11 yard TD score. After failing on the extra point and it being a 7 point game with very little time T.O. needed to go for the new fourth and 20 “onside kick”. And on that play they weren’t really able to develop anything and the game ended with yet another Amir White sack. Old School has been playing very well throughout this young season and will look to keep it going next time out there.

Tivuch Shelly vs. The imRAY’s 31-12

         This one got a little out of hand towards the end of the first half and The imRAY’s were just unable to put a comeback together this time. It started very nicely for imRAY’s as they got the ball first and drove right down the field and scored an opening drive TD, despite Sam Weinberger’s first sack of the game, on an 18 yard strike to none other than Meir Cavalier. On Tivuch Shelly’s first drive, after a few incompletions, on a third and long they hit on the first highlight play of the game on as Johnny Levine launched a 40 yard bomb to Ben Haber and he came down with it. Max Petak punched it in for them with a 4 yard score to tie it up at 6. On the next drive for imRAY’s Sam Wienberger continued his great game with back to back sacks and backed them up but on a third and long Yiddie Einhorn, their new young QB, loaded up on one of his famous long balls this one to Meir Cavalier and in double coverage, as he so often does, he came down with it for a 33 yarder to pick up a big first down on third and long. After spending more time then they would’ve liked in the red zone The imRAY’s finally put it in on a fourth and goal from the 1 on a score to Shlomo ‘Sani’ Sonneberg. Tivuch came right back with another long score as Levine dialed it up again to Ben Haber for a 50 yarder this time. Then Tivuch started to put up points. On imRAY’s first play of the next drive Wienberger set up a big play as he tipped a ball at the line and Jacob Feigenblum picked it off. One play later they made it 18-12 on  16 yarder to Ari Chasman. The imRAY’s then went four and out and a few plays later Tivuch was in the end zone again. This one was another big play as it was a hail mary on the last play of the half and it got tipped twice before Aiden Polinsky came down with the 20 yard heave. He then scored on the point after as well to make it 25-12 going into the half. Eli Daks opened the second half with one of imRAY’s only big plays in this half with a sack to help get the ball to his offense quickly as Tivuch then went three and out. However they gave right back as they went three and out. After a nice little drive Max Petak put up the first points of the half with an impressive 14 yard TD catch where he pinned the ball against his shoulder in order to hang on to it. The game ended with that score of 31-12 but there were a couple more noteworthy plays from imRAY’s as the game was ending. Tivuch tried getting cute and went trick play with a flea flicker but it ended very poorly as the receiver lobbed it in the direction of only Mier Cavalier. He took that gift pick and on the next play Jermy Strauss made an incredible play. With the defender draped all over him he hauled in an over the shoulder sideline grab. Both these teams have had some ups and downs getting used to this league and they’ll both look to continue to improve next time out.

Orayta vs. The Jays 18-27

         This game wasn’t very competitive for the first portion and once Orayta made a move it was too little too late. It started quick for The Jays as after an Orayta penalty started the game Yaakov Lurie came through with a nice 4 yard safety getting them the ball right away and putting up 2 points. The Jays then had a quick three and out Orayta put up a long drive but it stalled out in the red zone in large part due to a few penalties. The Jays then got the ball back and did not mess around this time. The second play of the drive was their second highlight of the game as new QB David Benami continued his rise to stardom as he hit Mendy Gelman for a 50 yard TD. The Jays then got a quick four and out and another quick score as on a third and short in the red zone Zev Rosenberg caught an 11 yard score. Orayta had their longest drive this game as then went a ten play drive but again on fourth down didn’t convert. After a couple incomplete passes, on a third long, The Jays hit another long ball. Benami hit Greg Eiseman for a 29 yard score. That ended the half with The Jays up 21-0. Orayta woke up early in the second half. On the third play of the half they came up with their first big play of the game as Jacob Shapiro picked off Benami and returned it 30 yards to put them in great field position, right in the red zone. Two plays later Jonah Gordon caught a 3 yard score. Orayta gave it right back though as a few plays later Benami hit Eiseman again. This one was a little more impressive as it was one on one coverage and he threw up the jump ball. Eiseman bobbled it and then came down with it for a toe tap TD from 27 yards out. Orayta’s next drive was looking bleak as on a second and long Dov Rosenfeld came up with a five yard sack but on the very next play they hit Nathaniel Mohl on a 34 yard TD to pull within two scores but time was running out. Orayta and The Jays then traded punts and turnovers but Orayta had one last chance. Towards the end of the game they got the ball and drove quickly and scored a 1 yard catch by Goldblatt but after they missed the 2 point conversion the game ended as it was a two possession game at 27-18 with less than a minute left. It was a valiant effort from Orayta but it was too little too late. The Jays managed to hang on to this one as well but they need to figure out how to close out games and not let their opponents come back.

CCJ vs. PK Hart 26-25

          The second half of this one was very exciting and ended Friday's games with a buzzer beater. CCJ was up 26-13 and were trying to close this one out as quickly as possible. Yisroel Wasser, CCJ’s QB, took a 20 yard run all the way down to the four as he spun in between defenders but the next play he threw a pick in the end zone to Ezra Singer giving them a chance. PK Hart’s next drive didn’t start well as on third and long they took a sack and it seemed as though the game might be slipping away from them. But on fourth and long they hit a massive game saving play with a 40 yard touchdown to Jonthan “JT” Thomas. PK Hart now needed to get a quick stop and that they did as they got a four and out helped by a third down sack from JT. As the clock ticked closer and closer to triple zeros they drove as quickly as possible and on the fourth play of the drive, after Shmuli Lefton got a 5 yard sack, QB Siegel hit Yisrael Weinberger for a 13 yard score making it 26-25. On the PAT attempt PK Hart decided to go for the win with a two point try. They drew up a nice play but it didn’t convert and that all but ended the game in very exciting fashion. They attempted the “Onside Kick” but it fell short and CCJ escaped with the win in one of the most exciting games of the week.

Motzash

Northwestern vs. DEC 6-38

         It felt like DEC had this one before it even started. They dominated from start to finish which is hard to do in this league in general and DEC had to play almost this whole game with everyone needing to play both ways. That was especially noteworthy in this given the fact that one of those guys was their star OL Rav Asher Labell who was playing in his first game of the year and he needed to do something he's never done before and that's play both ways and he did it for the majority of this game. He came back after almost a full year off and he didn’t skip a beat. He was handing out his usual bone crushing pancakes without allowing a sack as well as adding in the pressure while playing DL for the first time. The irst play of the game was very indicative of the way the game was going to play out. They went up 6-0 as QB Zvi Greenstone jumped an out route and walked in for the score from 23 yards out. On the next drive they got another takeaway as their new DB Aryeh got an interception on a pass that was floated over the middle and was begging to be picked. Two plays later he was in the end zone after scoring on a 26 yarder. Their defense then forced a three and out and scored fairly quickly as Greenstone followed one of those insane blocks we spoke about from their star O-lineman Rav Asher, for a 17 yard TD run. After getting another three and out and a little bit of a longer drive DEC made it 25-0 on a Noam Moore 6 yard TD catch. That took the game to the half. The rest of the game was more of the same as they finished Northwestern off 38-6. DEC’s normal DE Noam Moore had 3 TD scores along with Aryeh.

Marvelous Midos Machine vs. Pizzeria Efrat 6-20

         This was a close game for most of it. Pizzeria Efrat ultimately pulled away in this one as they took this one 20-6. It was a 14-6 game at half and Pizzeria Efrat started with the ball but the Marvelous Midos Machine got the ball right away as they forced a quick punt helped by an Asher Newman sack on third and long. However they gave the ball right back as they forced a three and out of their own helped by a sack of their own from Yechiel Sklar. Pizzeria then went on a nice drive ending with a 1 yard passing TD. Pizzeria got another defensive stop as Yechiel Sklar got another sack on fourth down, getting the ball back for his offense. Their offense then simply ran out the clock with one of, if the, best runners in the league QB Moshe shear. Pizzeria ended up taking this one 20-6 and kept it rolling this year as they look to capture another championship this year.

Shabbos Kodesh vs. BhB Investments

This game featured two teams that have been up and down this year with some big wins and some tough losses. Shabbos Kodesh opened this game with the ball and took right down field and scored on a 20 yard catch by their WR1 Michael Tover despite being held on his way to the end zone. Shabbos Kodesh’s defense came out in this one strong. They got a quick three and out then their offense took the ball right downfield again and Tover scored again on a nice 7 yard toe tap TD and Yair Slasky then made it 14-0 with the 2-point add on. Shabbos Kodesh’s defense played well again on this drive and got BhB in a fourth and long after a Max Bergerg five yard sack making it a fourth and 17. BhB then came up with their first big play of the game. Dudi Gelb was showing off his arm all game and the first example of that was him hitting Elchonon Gros for a 22 yard score on that fourth down. That play made it a one possession game and put BhB right back in this one at 14-6 but that didn’t last long. On the second play of Shabbos’s next drive they hit on a massive 50 yard bomb to, you guessed it, Michael Tover and they converted on the two try again making it 22-6. On the next drive BhB again a play after another Max Berger sack Dudi hit Gros again for a huge 40 yard play to get them back into the red zone. A few plays later, after Dudi scrambled around for a little while he found a wide open Shua Alexander for the 10 yard score on fourth down to make it a 10 point game at 22-12. On the very next play as Shabbos Kodesh was going for a hail mary Elchonon Gros made another highlight real play as he picked off the pass in 1 on 1 coverage while getting his arm pulled down although it didn’t amount to anything as that brought this game to the half. BhB opened the second half with the ball and came out of the gates on fire. On third and 15 on the first drive of the half Dudi hit Gros yet again on a 30 yard jump ball after Gelb had to scramble around a little again as it seemed like he was doing so all game long. On the next play Dudi hit Shua for an 8 yard TD pass and catch on the sideline. Shabbos Kodesh got the ball back now only up 4 and put together a good looking drive despite a couple penalties including one that called back a TD and in the end they did extend their lead back to 10 on a 2 yard grab after a 30 yard fourth and 1 pass was completed after it got tipped. BhB’s next drive was not so good as they ended up punting after a couple sacks including another one from Max Berger. BhB did get the ball back fairly quickly but had to be efficient given the score and the time remaining. They got in scoring postion pretty quickly using another deep bomb to Elchonon Gros again as he was just always getting behind the defense and his QB was giving him the chance to have this breakout game. On third and long he came down with a 30 yard reception that got on the doorstep making it a one score game again. Unfortunately for them though two plays later David Dusi came up with a huge play. He picked off Dudi as he might have been rushing it a little too much and this put Shabbos Kodesh in a great position to put this game away. BhB’s defense came up big though as they did what they needed to do as they got off the field quick with a three and out. Now with very little time left they picked up a nice 17 yard catch on third down and then on fourth and short they completed a 20 yard TD to Elchonon Gros one last time cutting the lead to 4 again but with the little amount of time left their last chance was to go for the onside kick and didn’t convert it putting an end to another very exciting game this week. Both these teams have very impressive rosters and are playing very well and aren’t showing any signs of slowing down or going anywhere.

Umpa Lumpa vs. Converse Dating 20-15

         The final game of Motzei Shabbos was another very exciting game that came down to the last play of the game. Converse Dating got the ball first and drove methodically down field but then Noam Gelb made the first mistake of the game. He threw an INT to Morris Setton in the end zone. Umpa Lumpa then drove down field and they converted on an 8 yard TD pass to Chaim Block. Converse Dating then went three and out Umpa Lumpa scored on a 15 yard pass to Shmuel Gelfan as they went up 12-0 and the QB was making it look easy. Converse needed to be quick if they wanted to try and score before the half. They got into the redzone quickly after Dan Stein came down with a 31 yard catch. However they stalled out thanks to a sack from Naftali Oldak. Gershon Liff ended the half with a sack of his own. Umpa Lumpa got the ball to start the second half but gave it away right away. Moshe Platscheck dropped into coverage and caught a tipped pass to give Converse a great opportunity to get back into the game. On the next play they did just that as Shai Feintuch caught a pass in the flat and he ran down the sideline and juked at the goaline sending the defender flying and walking into the end zone. Two plays later Converse’s defense came up with another massive play. The rush got to the QB quick and blocked the ball but he somehow hung onto the ball. He then went deep targeting Yitzy Stein who was in 1 on 1 coverage. That proved to be a mistake. Stein got the ball back for his offense as he tipped the ball to himself and made a very impressive one handed grab. They unfortunately went three and out after another Naftali Oldak sack. Converse’s defense yet again came up big with a much needed three and out forced aided by back to back sacks from Feintch and Liff respectively. They hit another big play as Noam hit Dan Stein on a 40 yard pitch and catch in which Stein held onto the ball despite taking a hit after the catch. Now in the red zone towards the end of the game Chain Mordechai “Motti” Cherns found the end zone on a 9 yard play. Liff tacked on the point after giving Converse their first lead of the game at 13-12. Two plays later Converse got on the board again and got the ball back with a chance to close out the game after Moshe Platscheck came through with a big safety as it seemed as he was living in the backfield in this one a just missing sacks all game long. After a run, a sack, and an incomplete pass where Motti Cherns dropped a pass in the backfield that was dumped off to him which was a big mishap. On fourth down Feintuch took the snap and waited in the end zone as long as he could until he walked out of the back of the end zone. There were around 40 seconds remaining in a 15-14 game when the Umpa Lumpas got the ball back. On first down they hit a big 30 yard pass and catch to get into striking distance and making this end game a lot more interesting. Feintuch then got a big sack in the red zone but on the next and last play of the game Umpa’s QB rolled out and fired a dart along the sideline into double coverage in which Morris Setton somehow came down with it and kept his feet in bounds. Umpa stole this one 20-15 and Converse seems to be one of the best teams in the league but can’t find a way to win these close games.