With week five now gone, can you believe it; there are only two weeks left in the regular season!? Wherever did the time go.
Week five started off cold and foggy when America’s Children took on Young Dynasty. We had ourselves a barn burner early when both teams countered each other’s touchdowns with touchdowns. Tom Scalley caught his 7th TD of the season for America’s Children and then Bill Condurelli caught one deep for Young Dynasty. The Children then scored with a slant TD to Devin Conley quickly followed by a Tyler Baker TD to tie it up at 13’s at the half. America’s Children came out of the locker room with a big bruising Buddy Bajerski TD from the 3. On the next Dynasty drive, John Mattera would pick off his first career pass and take it to the house for the Children to extend their lead to 13 points. Young Dynasty dug in their cleats with just under 3 minutes left to play. Tim Deleo was the star of the 2 minute offense hauling in 4 receptions on the final drive alone. Deleo not only caught 4 of 6 balls on that drive, he caught the TD to pull within 7. Alas this was the closest Young Dynasty would get as ‘Murica ran out the clock for the victory. America’s Children wins 27-20.
Across the track, the league’s last two champions squared off at 8:30. The Rage are looking to go back-to-back as the Tigers are looking to regain what’s theirs in this battle. The Rage got going first with a first drive TD to Anthony Williams. The Tigers didn’t wait long as they responded on their next drive with newcomer, Bobby Digital. The score would remain tied until right before the half when the long existing Free Agent known as Klink caught a missile from QB AJ Rotella to put the Tigers up 7 at the half. The Tigers would jump out to a big lead thanks to another monstrous TD grab by Bobby Digital. The Rage scored via Dee Jennings and then in puzzling fashion used their money ball to get a quick 6 points. They ultimately failed and thus could not complete their comeback. Despite another Williams TD, it just wasn’t enough for the Rage as the Tigers hang on, 26-21.
At 9 was a battle of shorthanded teams when Beast Mode took on Flagnado. Despite Flagnado’s 4 wins, they have yet to make any of them look easy, and they continued that trend in this one. In a game with a combined total of 18 points, Jake Tinirella and Vin Hoang were the stars of the game. Tinirella scored the games first TD..in the second half when he took a shovel pass up the sideline for 60 yards and 6 points. After a Dilsson Ramirez safety sack, Flagnado was up by 8 points going into the final two minutes. Beast Mode hunkered down and got some momentum going. They picked apart the Flagnado defense piece by piece and scored the game-tying TD and extra point by way of Vin Hoang and Chazz Hirbour. Hoang caught a little dig route in the middle of the endzone to pull within two followed by a Hirbour 2 pt conversion in extra time to tie it. Overtime also lacked offense from both squads. Flagnado worked their way down to the 5 yard line and threw a pick into Hirbour’s hands to set up Beast Mode with 1 minutes and the ball to win. Unfortunately, a fumbled snap on their first play led to their demise as the ball rolled out of the endzone for a safety. Flagnado survives a surprising Beast Mode surge, 10-8 in Overtime.
At 9:45 the shell of a champion squad Ultimate Warriors took on Insanity. Warriors captain Bill Savary finally got out from under center in this one and immediately made an impact at wideout. Savary caught his first TD of the season to put the Ultimate Warriors up 6 right out the gate. Former Warriors QB, Joe Page would not let his team go down without a fight. Page found JJ Lopez down the middle for the equalizer. Larry Dirocco kept his strong rookie season afloat hauling in a pair of back-to-back TD’s for the Warriors. Jesse Diaz of Insanity, stole an interception from the Ultimate Warriors, and took it to the house to pull within two points. Page would connect Nkongolo Harmel for his second TD in his many games. Insanity’s Sam Gilat made his presence known once again as he caused pressure and wrecked havoc on the Warriors offense. Gilat collected a sack and 4 QB pressures in Insanity’s first franchise victory. Insanity gets in the win column 27-21.
Illmatic and the Goonies got down and dirty in the sun at 10am in a Leaf B-Division back and forth battle. The Goonies’, Richie Ellis scored his first TD since opening day to put the Goonies up by 6 on their first drive. After a Goonies pass interference call that set Illmatic up at the 1 yard line, Doobie caught his second TD of the season to go up by a point. A one point lead that wouldn’t last long as Craig Maynard caught a 45 yard TD down the middle to go up 5. Illmatic would benefit from another penalty as bull rush blitz would set them up with a new set of downs at the 5. Jordan Martin punched it in to go back up by 1 once again. It wasn’t until 40 seconds left that Craig Maynard caught his second TD of the half to put the Goonies up 6 at the break. Illmatic elected to defer at the coin toss and got the ball first in the second half. The perfect strategy as they drew up a perfect quick hitter for Justin Vasquez who caught a streaking TD on their second play from scrimmage to put them back up by..yes..1 point again. A forgotten man in the realm of scoring early in this one was Will Washington. Not only did he lead his team with 11 receptions and 160 yards, he caught the game-winning touchdown on fourth down with 4 minutes left to play. Despite what some may think, Washington still has a lot left in the tank for a deep Goonies playoff run. Illmatic had a last minute drive stall out on the 25 as they fall, 26-20.
The BLITZ GAME OF THE WEEK took place at 11 when the Blue Balls of Doom took on the Punishers. Defense reigned supreme in this one as we didn’t see our first score until 55 seconds left in the first half. Shaun Leal caught a wheel in the backfield and dove over the pylon to put his team on the board. It didn’t take long for the Blue Balls to respond, as J dot Smooth caught a short screen pass and scampered his way for 60 yards to paydirt for 6. The Punishers got the ball back and on second down, Kiel Canada picked them off and took it to the house. But wait…could it be. An inadvertent whistle was heard? It’s true and it stopped the Punishers defenders dead in their tracks. Thus the law says the ball will be placed back where it was blown down so the Blue Balls took over at the Punishers 15. Some historians believe that the ball never lies when it comes to the matter of justice and that is exactly what happened here. Justice prevailed as Canada caught a TD in the back of the endzone for his blown dead pick 6. Blue Balls of Doom up 13-7 at the half. The second half was a lot like the first as defense highlighted the half. The Punishers were able to hold down the potent Blue Balls offense and force overtime by way of their lone second half touchdown. It came on a 10 yard hitch when QB Dane Shindler fired a rocket to Leal by the back plyon who got up high to haul it in for the tie. The Punishers put this game away in OT when Chris Rocker caught a floater over the middle in the soft spot of the Blue Balls D. Punishers hand the Blue Balls of Doom their first loss of the season, 19-13.
As that thriller was going on, another thriller was happening across the way. The Battletoads matched up in a crossover game with the Nashua Vikings at home. The Vikings came out sluggish as they often do against B teams, earning penalty after penalty and turning the ball over at an alarming rate. The Toads would capitalize early on the Vikings mistakes. John Groff caught a pair of touchdowns in the first half paired with a Nick Kepka Calvetti TD. The Toads were up by 2 TD’s early. The Vikings had flashbacks of the last B team they played and refused to be upset once again. They got their offense back on track and before we knew it, they were up by 2 points. Ryan Manning and Joey Lorento caught beautifully placed balls in the endzone to cap off the comeback. John Groff struck again for the Toads for his third TD of the day to put the green guys up by 4. But in the waning minutes, the Vikings championship pedigree prevailed. Nate Forsaith caught his second TD of the game for the dagger to send the Toads packing. The Vikings survive a thriller, 27-24.
In the days’ finale, it stuck with the overtime theme as the Knocks went on the road to face the Metrowest Boomin. It seemed early like it was going to be a blowout when the Boomin jumped out to a 14 point lead on their first two possessions. Jay Davis took a carry up the sideline for their first score, followed up by a Roy Magoon stumbling and bumbling TD up the gut of the defense. The Knocks with their QB2 Jamie Wright would not say die. They released their secret weapon, Kyle Miklinevich. He caught a game high 7 balls, 3 of which game on their first TD strike of the day. Miklinevich went up high in the endzone to haul in a TD and extra point to cut the Boomin’s halftime lead to 7 points. Greg Lavoie caught the first TD for the Boomin to give them a quick lead out of the break. The Knocks little motor scooter, Dave Duong would then catch a short TD to pull within 8. Fast Forward to no scores and 13 minutes later, when the Knocks had possession. After a PI and a holding call in the endzone, Taylor McCarthy used his backside to back in the endzone to tie the game up at 21 a piece at the final whistle. Unfortunately for the Knocks, their momentum didn’t carry into Overtime. Boomin QB Jay Davis found Matt Lavoie on a crossing pick route for the game-winner. The Boomin halt the Knocks mini streak, 27-21 in Overtime.