Week Four is the week of separation. This is when teams can balance their record or go up or down 2 in the win/loss column. This is when we start to see who’s who in the A’s and B’s.
The day kicked off with a pair of B teams looking to get on track. Beast Mode was at home to take on the New England Knocks. Team Captain, Taylor McCarthy tipped the scoring off with a leaping toe-tapping grab in the endzone to give the Knocks an early lead. Beast Mode on their second drive would answer back. League vet, Adam Hirbour caught the 1st of his 4 receptions at the 1 yard line on a quick out to tie it up. Beast Mode was then able to convert the extra point and take the lead by 1 at the break. Out of the break the Knocks looked poised to adjust. On their first drive, Cody Gardner caught a streak up the sideline for 45 yards to take a 6 point lead. The Beast Mode offense was stagnant as the Knocks D was stout. Gardner put this thing on ice for the away team when he took a lateral over the middle and sprinted through Beast Mode defenders for 6 and nail in the coffin. The Knocks win their second straight game, 18-7
At 9 we saw a possible B championship game matchup as Young Dynasty took on Flagnado. Young Dynasty got going quick with a pair of TD’s on their first two drives. QB Gary Lunetta took a handoff and shook his way into the endzone from midfield. On the next drive he found a man named Bill deep downfield to go up 13 points early. Flagnado stalled on several drives in the first half before they finally found pay dirt. Nick Sapienza kept his touchdown streak alive with a diving grab in the endzone to pull within 7 at halftime. The second half belonged to Flagnado as their defense completely shut down the potent Young Dynasty offense. Led by Dylan Humphrey in the air and Jake Tinirella on the ground, Flagnado would put up 14 more points in the second half to close the game with 20 unanswered. Young Dynasty fell short at a chance to tie it up when they failed to convert a fourth and goal from the 1 yard with 14 seconds left on the clock. Flagnado thrives in the second half and wins going away, 20-13.
In a thrilling crossover game, the Goonies and the artists formerly known as 603 Mafia squared off at 10. This was a classic back and forth battle as both teams took advantage of each teams weaknesses. The first touchdown of the game came way of Alex Kahl. Marcus Villafane picked off a batted Goonies pass in the endzone and then on the second play from scrimmage, Isaiah Prince aired it out down field right into the soft hands of Kahl for the score. The Goonies would quickly rebound. QB Steve Tambouris found Devin Blaze in the back of the endzone to tie up with his toe drag swag. Isaiah Prince called his own number on the next 603 possession. He handed off to WR Drew Beleski who then cocked back to find Prince wide open in the endzone on the wheel route. The Goonies and Blaze would respond again. Blaze’s second TD of the day came on a 40 yard post where he beat all of the coverage to tie it up once again. They were able to convert the extra point to take their first lead. Rusher Ryan Allen decided to then make his presence felt for the Goonies. On third down, he rushed right past the 603 O-Line for a safety sack to put the Goonies up by a field goal at the break. 603 Mafia figured it out in the second half and the back and forth battle was no more. Drew Beleski caught a pass over the middle and back his way over the goal line to go up 3. Ryan Rule would then soar up over the offense to pick off a pass and take it to the house; Mafia now up 9. The Goonies still had a little fight left in them with their 2 minute offense. Tambouris rallied his troops and marched them downfield on 4 plays and 36 seconds before finding Mike Langley for the touchdown to pull with 2. But then with 80 seconds left on the clock, Beleski put the Goonies out of commission. He caught his second career TD over the right pylon to give them the lead for good. 603 Mafia wins their first game of the season, 30-22.
At 11 was our BLITZ GAME OF THE WEEK. with the undefeated Punishers taking on the defending champion Rage. The Punishers have been red hot so far this season and they continued their streak right from the jump. Chris Rocker picked off a Rage pass on their second possession which set up a Jovany Santos TD to go up a quick 6. The Rage would promptly respond. Rage WR Rob Keddie caught a missile down the sideline for the equalizer. After the Punishers stalled out on their next drive, Dee Jennings would punch one in from the 1 yard line to put the Rage up by a TD heading into the locker room. The Punishers came out with the ball and wind as they capitalized. The man with the best feet in the league used them in their first drive, as Austin Williams tapped both feet simultaneously in the back on the endzone to tie up once again. With momentum in their favor, the Punishers then took the defensive side of the ball. They were so jacked up and so exhilarated that they tied it up bing bang no problem, that they forgot about that Rob Keddie guy. Rage QB Jimmy Sanford, tossed an underhand screen pass to Keddie who then equipped himself with a stiff-arm and an X Button and he eradicated defenders and spun his way to paydirt for 60 yards and the lead. Once the Punishers offense stalled out, their defense gave them hope with another interception. This set-up Santos for yet another TD this time from Shawn Leal on the HB option to pull within one after a missed extra point. With 1 minute left in the game, Rob Keddie struck again. He scored his third TD of the game to go up by 7 with time running out. Just when you think the Punishers were done, they had one more trick up their sleeve. Chris Rocker, who lead the team in receiving ran a seam up the sideline and hauled in an extraordinary ball at the 8 yard line. He then escalated in the back of the endzone for a touchdown to pull within a point once again. This time…they refused to tie; they went for 2; win or go home. The Punishers ate up their whole play clock and reached into the depths of playbook for a good one. Dee Jennings who flew under the radar for much of this game, despite a TD and a pair of INTS, shut the door on the Punishers. He swatted away the game winner thus crushing the hopes of an undefeated season for the Punishers. The Rage hang on right as Nostradamus Kahl predicted, 25-24
In what looked like a marquee matchup, the Scoregasms v Blue Balls of Doom, didn’t quite live up to the hype. The Scoregasms played with a shorthanded roster whist the Blue Balls of Doom, had a full arsenal of weapons. That arsenal was used to it’s full capacity to prorate pain, points and prescriptions on the stunted Scoregasms squad. The Blue Balls of Doom started their day with a pick 6 by Jamaal Woods. The Scoregasms got on the board on their next drive by way of an outstanding circus bomb from Scott Danuliek to Dan Walkley. For the fans of the away team, unfortunately, that was as close as it would get. The Blue Balls then scored 26 straight points on 6 possessions. Brett Bellerose earned his Blue Balls by hauling in a pair of TD’s. While AJ McKelvey ended the scoring for the winners with a pick 6 to bookend the Blue Balls output for the day. The Scoregasms go down, 32-6
A game sometimes is fun to watch. Sometimes it’s fun to play. Sometimes games are so high scoring that you remember every little play because it means so much. And then sometimes they are so high scoring that you forget why you are still watching. That’s what happened in the 1 pm game between America’s Children and Insanity. The first half was quite entertaining as it looked as though Insanity had finally found the rhythm that they had been lacking so far. Rookie wideout, Nkongolo Harmel got the vibes started for Insanity. After a Devin Collier interception, Harmel caught a deep bomb over the middle and sprinted his way to the endzone for the first score of the game. America’s Children then woke up and scored 12 quick ones via Buddy Bajerski and John Mattera. After the break, Insanity let their inexperience get the best of them. Interceptions, fumbles, botched snaps and pick sixes ultimately led to their demise in the second half. Three defensive touchdowns and 5 interceptions led that way for America’s Children as they roll, 46-6.
The undefeated Battletoads took on Illmatic in the 2 pm matchup. This game was a lot closer than one would think it would be on paper despite the box score. Illmatic’s Justin Vasquez popped first with a deep post down the middle of the field for their lone lead of the day. The Battletoads responded by way of the little engine that could known as Ben Glassman. He caught a little dump off pass from 2 yards out for the game tying TD. Shortly thereafter, Ben Phelps would pick off an errant Illmatic pass which he would then convert into a back of the endzone stomach striking stab. Vasquez struck again for Illmatic. This time in the form of a 50 yard broken coverage seam route for 6. Finally the Toads took over for good. Josh Briand caught back-to-back touchdowns on consecutive drives to put it out of reach for Illmatic. The Battletoads stay remain flawless, 24-13.
The last game of the day was supposed to be a great game between Metrowest Boomin and the Ultimate Warriors, but it fell flat on it’s face. The Ultimate Warriors had no answer for a new and improved Boomin offense in this one. Jay Davis earned his captaincy in this one. Not only did he throw for 2 TD’s and 200+ yards, he also added 150 yards on the ground to go along with a rushing TD and an interception on the defensive side of the ball. Zach Cordelli also picked a good day to earn his Blitz stripes. He hauled in a career high 5 passes to go along with 2 TD and a pick as well. For the Ultimate Warriors, Larry Dirocco kept his TD/Games played ratio alive but that was about the only bright spot for his squad on this day. Metrowest Boomin looks like they have something going, 27-6.