The Blitz game of the week got the week started with the league’s top offense, Tune Squad; against the league’s top defense, Flagnado. In this one, offense won the day as neither team could manage a stop on the defensive side of the ball. Chris Mastropietro put the Tune Squad up first with a rushing TD up the sideline after several missed flags aided his sprint. Flagando answered right back three plays later via a Bill Savary a 50 yard TD haul. The Tune Squad would score on their next possession, thanks to a meticulous drive by Derek Stella until he finally connected with Mastro again from the 4 yard line for the TD. Two plays later; Flagnado tied it up once again. Jake Tinirella caught a screen on the right side and bounced to the inside avoiding flags until he found paydirt up the left sideline. Tune Squad as expected, answered back. Dale Paradise caught a little slant over the middle and then shook 2 defenders on his way to the endzone with 80 seconds left in the half. Flagnado would not go down without a fight as they quickly marched the ball up the field. It was Savary again who was left wide open in the back of the endzone to pull within an extra point going into the lockers. After each team failed to score on their first drive, Alex Golden took the game over. He caught 2 balls on the ensuing possession one of which went for a 25 yard TD that he made everyone miss at least once before waltzing in for the score. Flagnado then took over on offense. They worked the clock and marched the ball down the field slowly using every single down to their advantage. After a 6 minute drive and sitting on fourth and goal from Tune Squad’s 8 yard line, Nick Sapienza caught his first TD of the season for the tie. Stella and his Squad would then go to work one last time. Pesce with a quick pass over the middle. Dirocco then caught a little hitch. Paradise went for 7 yards. Then Dirocco again but this time rumbling and bumbling over the 30 for the first down. Pesce caught another one to get them a bit closer and then it was Golden with the dagger. Stella flipped a little shovel pass to Alex Golden who was sitting alone in the endzone for the game-winner. Tune Squad sends Flagnado home with their second straight loss, 32-26.
At 9am, the Vinegar Strokes took on the Rage in a divisional matchup for first place in the division. With much hype in the forum prior to this one, it seemed as though it was going to be an intense matchup of athleticism and football magnitude. Unfortunately for the Strokes, it was nothing of the sort. The Rage came out swinging with interceptions and touchdowns galore. Jerry Brown led the way with 3 on the day, one of which went for six. Rookie Michael Vinegaro also caught a pick six for the Rage. On the offensive side of the ball, Jimmy Sanford was slinging like it was 2004. He completed all but 5 passes on the day setting a career high in BQBR. Brian Bebyn and Chris Yin led the way with 2 TD receptions while Billy Felt found the endzone for the first time this season. As for the Strokes; Joe Guiod continued his hot streak, catching his 5th TD of the season in the loss. The Rage cuckold the Vinegar Strokes and take over sole possession of first place, 44-6.
The Blitz community welcomed back Young Dynasty as they went on the road to face off against the Battletoads. Playing without QB1, the Toads had no problem leaping over the Young Dynasty defense in their first drive. Josh Briand who caught a team high 10 balls, scored the game’s first TD from the 5 yard line. Young Dynasty would respond on their very first play from scrimmage. Gary Lunetta launched a bomb to Tim Nutter who caught it in stride and sprinted into the endzone to pull within one. Tyler Baker then picked off a Toads pass on the next drive. Lunetta went down the field play by play until he connected with Baker for the TD to go up 12-7. That was the last lead of the day Young Dynasty would hold, as Ben Glassman would catch a dump shovel pass from the 2 yard line with 5 seconds left in the half to take the lead back. Glassman struck again right out of the jump scoring his 2nd TD of the game. Fast forward to a whole bunch of turnovers on both sides when Young Dynasty had the ball with 59 seconds left. They went down the field without haste and on fourth and goal from the 9, Nutter went up and over everyone for a leaping endzone grab to pull within 3. With their money ball still on the table, and down by 3 with 33 seconds left, why not use it now. Lunetta dropped back and uncorked a prayer from his own 25 yard line. Baker had it, then it was batted away, then he had it again, then it was grabbed by a Toad momentarily who then dropped it, and as Baker hit the ground, the ball fell within inches of his reach. The Toads get another Briand TD as the clock expires, and win a tight one, 27-18.
At 10, America’s Children to looked to rebound on the road against a struggling Illmatic squad. Illmatic was in it for the first couple minutes when Tyler Hartt stole an errant ‘Murica pass and took it to the house to get on the board. However, for fans of the home team, Illmatic wasn’t able to muster up any more points for the rest of the game. America’s Children took over and didnt’ look back. Tom Scalley caught a pair of TD’s while John Mattera added another for the winners. Bernard Lynch kept his hopes for rookie of the year alive, with his 6th receiving TD of the season and 3rd interception. America’s Children stops their 2 game losing streak, 24-6.
The Goonies and Tigers engaged in battle at 10:30 in a matchup of underachieving talents. Neither the Goonies nor the Tigers have had a consistent roster all season long and their records have been greatly affected. This game started off with a 6-6 tie by the tip toes of Steve Tambouris and a rushing TD from QB2 Danny Labrecque of the Tigers. This one seemed destined to go into halftime the same way it started, until Mike Pisapia caught a deep laser from Jimmy Lauzon right before the half to go up by six at the break. The Tigers shut down the Goonies offense on the first drive which led to a Connor McFreizajent tip drill TD to tie it up again. It wasn’t until 50 seconds left in the game, when the Tigers struck one last time. AJ Labrecque caught his 3rd TD of the season over what seemed like every Goonie defender for the game-winner. The Tigers are streaking for the first time this season as they down the Goonies, 19-12.
At 11, the Scoregasms took on their expansion namehood brethren in the form of Beast Mode. The Scoregasms were there once believe it or not. They were once an expansion team of the same name with similar faces on their squad. The Hirbour brothers, who started in 2012 with the Scoregasms, who then became Beast Mode and then went back to Scoregasms are now back to Beast Mode and going through the rebuild once again. Rebuilds are not easy but when you play familiar faces it reminds us all of a simpler time. A time when the write-ups took just a few short minutes. A time when a Saturday consisted of 2 refs and 3 hours of time. A time before the screaming and yelling, a time before the Uber talented superstars. A time when Blitz was allowing tackles and flag guards. In 6 years, the Scoregasms grew from a 1-6 team to a Champion team. Too bad for Beat Mode, they can’t time travel because right now, they are struggling to get W’s. The Scoregasms had moments of resistance from the sneaky decent Beast Mode defense, but at the end of the day, it may have been a forfeit. The score ended in forfeit territory as the Scoregasms win 28-0.
At noon, the Reapers took on Blue Balls of Doom. This game was all about climbing up an ant hill and dying there. 13 seconds was atop the hill and that’s where it ended. A league that has been growing every single year since its inception in 2011; a league that has a waiting list of 4 teams; a league that was voted a top 20 league to play in by Flag Football magazine in the country; has never seen an incident of the matter that happened on the field on this day. There is no need to go into details but at some point we all have to realize, that we are all grown men who love to compete as much as the next guy. However, this is just a game and no one is out here to hurt anyone or cause chaos or fix it for someone else. The game is never bigger than life as it is just a game and nobody is getting paid to be out here. Anyways, the Reapers DJ Ramos kept his offensive player of the year nomination alive and well with another TD. While Josh Thomas put his name in the hat for defensive player of the year with yet another lockdown day and couple batted balls. Reapers down BBOD 25-13.
After the debacle, the Punishers and Instinct took the field. From the get go, the Punishers had their offense flowing and Instinct didn’t have an answer for it. On their first drive, Dane Schindler surged into the MVP talk once again as he rushed up the gut and then to the sideline for his 2nd rushing score of the season for the quick lead. A lead they would never look back on as they routed the turnover riddled Instinct squad. Justin Vasquez caught a pair of interceptions and a pick six; Mikey Bags caught his 4th pick of the year and even Austin Williams got involved in the picks with his first of the season. On the losers side, Giovanny Vazquez caught his 4th TD of the season in his many games. With the loss, Instinct clinches a B playoff berth. The Punishers win convincingly and punch their ticket to the A bracket, 48-7.
In the days’ finale, the Vikings took on the Scoregasms in their second game of the day. Scott Daniliek caught his 4th TD of the season and second of the day for the Scoregasms, quickly followed by a Dan Walkley TD. For the home team, that would be all they would manage as the Vikings dismantled them piece by piece. The Vikings sailed over their rivaled playoff foe easily as they put up a scoregasmic 46 points. They were led by QB Jake Forsaith who threw for 6 TD’s and also caught one. Dez and Dez Jr both continued their assault on the endzone, each getting two receiving TD’s respectively. The Vikings remain unbeaten and send the Scoregasms into a win and in situation next weekend, 46-12.