The final week of the season finally saw that much anticipated fall championship rematch we’ve all been waiting for between the Rage and the Vikings. The championship game just a few months ago came down to final minute and eventually went into overtime where the Rage pulled out their fourth franchise championship. The Vikings have loaded up this offseason and are seeking their fourth championship, while the Rage have been fluttering as of late, losing 2 of their last 4 games. The Vikings predicted a big win and some of the Rage experts predicted a big loss, so it just so happened to work out for the betters in this one as the Vikings got revenge..in a regular season kind of way. Kevin Langevin and Nate Forsaith each caught TD’s in this one while Joey Lorento caught his first of the season for the winners. The Rage put up 13 second half points to beat out the Vikings 12 but for the Rage, it’s a game of 2 halves. Michael Vinagro caught a pair of touchdowns for the losers, as the Rage fall, 33-13.
At 8:30 the Scoregasms went on the road to take on Flagnado. If the Scoregasms win, they clinch themselves a berth in the A playoffs. With a loss, they can still clinch pending the outcome of the Goonies game at the end of the day. Flagnado essentially didn’t have anything to play for as they came into this game locked into the 4 seed regardless of the outcome. This was a back and forth battle from the jump. Neither defense could get a stop as Dan Walkley and Bill Savary took this game over. Walkley would score. Savary scored. Walkley scored again. Followed by Savary again. Then halftime came to cool off these juggernauts. Zack Carter and Dylan Humphrey scored for their squads. The Flagnado D was finally able to get it’s much needed stop. Humphrey caught his 2nd TD of the game to put his team up by 6. On the Flagnado extra point, Nick Sapienza caught a ball that was batted up and down by every Scoregasm defender until he finally coralled it in for the conversion. Flagnado went up 7 with 2 minutes to play. Walkley would not be stopped as he danced his way around the field leading to a Scott Daniliek TD to pull within a point. Pat Morris pressured Derek Riley who would throw an errant pass over the heads of everyone to keep Flagnado’s lead at just one point. Bill Savary caught a 40 yard bomb out of the huddle. The Scoregasms wanted the ball back and decided to let Jake Tinirella waltz into the endzone. With 30 seconds left and no timeouts, the Scoregasms got all the way down to the Flagnado 13 yard line before Morris stepped with a sack as the clock expired. Flagnado survives a battle and takes the Scoregasms playoff hopes out of their own control, 33-26.
The Vinegar Strokes looked to finish with a winning record and a division title as the Blue Balls of Doom looked to keep their A bracket hopes alive with a victory and some help. This was highly amped game in the forum this week due to the Blue Balls GM taking ownership of the expansion Vinegar Strokes franchise rights. This game was all but over on the second play of the game when Dave Martel caught a little out and then Shakira’ed his way into the endzone to go up 6 early. Shortly after a few Vinegar Stroke turnovers, Kiel Canada caught his 3rd touchdown of the season with just under 2 minutes to play in the half. The Strokes got on the board with 30 seconds left when Chad Crockett caught a bomb over the middle and shook defenders as a footrace ensued for the score. The second was littered with Vinegar Strokes turnovers and sloppy play on both sides of the ball. Martel caught another TD followed by another Canada TD. Vinnie Frasco pitched in with a pair of picks on the defensive side of the ball. The Blue Balls of Doom win their finale, 27-8.
The Tigers and Instinct qualified for the BGOW but due to the turnout, it failed to win the honor. In a game that only saw 26 total points combined, we will fast forward to juicy stuff. Keith Johansen scored for the Tigers and then Derek Crawford scored for Instinct. Connor Brown made a leaping one handed TD catch with 90 seconds left on the clock for the Tigers. Instinct would then march the ball down the field as fast as their little hearts could take them. Martin Becerril would eventually catch a ball in the front of the endzone and fall down to secure it to send this game into overtime. After an intense RPS battle, Joe Page took his team down the field in the extra frame but ran out of gas. The Tigers would get one quick possession and could not convert. This game ended tied at 13’s in a good ol’ fashioned soccer style draw.
Across the way, America’s Children looked to keep on their hot streak while facing off against Beast Mode. Attendance has been dropping at an alarming rate for Beast Mode since their epic last minute loss to Goonies a few weeks ago. However they were able to gather a flock of warm bodies for the season finale. America’s Children came out completely flat in this one as they managed just 8 points in the first half thanks in large part to Bernard Lynch. He led the way with 5 first half receptions and the lone TD which was a slip screen that he slipped through for 60 yards. The second half, the fatigue set in for Beast Mode as America’s Children got rolling. Jesse Fortier caught a little dump off from the 4 yard line. Tom Scalley later added a gut hauling TD from the 2. Beast Mode falls in their finale and go winless once again, 21-0.
Now the game you all have been waiting for. A game that helped compose a hit song. A game that produced memes and gifs galore. A matchup of A champions and B champions. A clash of antithesis’ adversaries. The Rage and Battletoads squared off in the Blitz Game of the WEEK (insert double air horns). The Toads came out of the National Anthem hyped and ready to go. QB Scott French paraded his offense down the field with little resistance by the Rage. Nick Kepka Calvetti would eventually punch it in to put the Toads up 7 quick. Defense led the way for much of the first half until the Rage got on the board. Joe Harris caught his first TD of the game to pull within a point before the half. Harris would add another TD after the break this time by way of a 50 yard screen pass. Josh Briand of the Toads would then take over. He got a TD called back due to a penalty on the offense. He then dove over the goalline and the flag got pulled before the pylon. And then finally he was able to catch one wide open in the endzone to go up a point. Briand on the ensing drive would score again to put the Toads up by 7 with just a minute and change to spare. The Rage took over on offense. They did what they do best; eating slowly and taking what the defense gave them. Jimmy Sanford connected with Harris for the third time on the day to pull with a point as the clock expired. The Rage needed the extra point to send it into overtime but the Toads had other ideas. Kepka struck again swatting the ball away at the goal line to preserve the win for the Battletoads. The Rage lose and make the Toads prediction and dreams ring true, 20-19.
At 11:05 a battle for the number 2 seed and top spot in the division went down as the Punishers took on Tune Squad. The Punishers flexed their muscles early and often in this one as Tune Squad seemed out of whack to start. On the Punishers first possession, Austin Williams caught a 30 yard post for a touchdown. Williams then caught a pick 6 just two plays into Tune Squads drive. Dane Schindler took a carry up the sideline for 25 yards for the score. Mikey Bags got involved with a pick 6 of his own for the Punishers. And finally, Justin Vasquez caught a TD to put the Punishers up 32-0. It wasn’t until the final 30 seconds when Tune Squad woke up. Damon Wilson caught a pass over the middle and stuck a stiff arm out and got in for the score as time expired. Out of the halftime show an eloquent profanity laden speech by the coach, Tune Squad came to life. Dale Paradise was left all alone from the 11 yard line for the score. Then Chris Mastropietro took a quick slant over the middle to cut into the Punishers lead. Evan Goldney caught his 4th touchdown of the season to make it 32-25 and finally ignited the Punishers and from their sluggish start. Schindler shoveled a baby pass to Chris Rocker who was sweeping left from the start that saw him drag his toes over the pylons for the touchdown. Austin Williams would then stick the dagger into the hearts of Tune Squad with his third total touchdown to put the Punishers up for good. If Tune Squad played the way they played in the second half, it might have been more of a ball game, but alas, two halves must be played. Punishers win the division with the victory, 45-31.
The Battletoads fresh off their Super Bowl victory, who by the way clinched their spot in the A’s which means there will finally be a new champion in the B’s, took on Illmatic in the second leg of their day night doubleheader. This game was an absolute mess and neither team could get any kind of momentum on offense going. The score ended very lopsided but it was a tight contest until the final 3 minutes when the Battletoads broke it open. The highlights of the final game for each team were as follows: John Groff picked off 4 Illmatic passes to bring his season total to 8. Josh Briand reached 50 receptions for the season with 5 in this game. Cory White of Illmatic reached a career high 5 sacks while his teammate Justin Martin ended right behind him with 4. Illmatic ends its disastrous experiment of a season with the loss, 30-7.
The Athletes and Dream Killers went into battle at noon. Both are coming off their bye weeks and one team forgot to come back. The Athletes win a snoozefest as the Dream Killers nightmare of a season was left dreaming at home in their beds, 28-0.
The Reapers looked to bounce back from last week’s atrocity with a matchup against Young Barely committed Dynasty. The Reapers, Shawn Fitzgerald caught the games first TD quickly followed by a Pucho Rivera pick 6. Tyler Baker of Young Dynasty cut into the lead with a juke move to get into the endzone. Fitzgerald would go up and over everyone on the next drive for another Reapers TD. DJ Ramos caught the final TD of the half for the Reapers to go up by 19 at the break. The Reapers would get a safety on the YD’s first possession and they would never look back. Ramos added another TD to bring his rookie total to 11 on the season and lastly Pucho would put it away with a rushing TD by way of hook and ladder. The Reapers finish their inaugural season 6-1 and win this one on the road, 45-25.
The Vikings and Athletes engaged in a battle of the undefeateds at 12:45. The Athletes core roster were away at some tournament or something, so their captain commissioned a roster of suitable fill-ins and athletes. This was a close game in the first half as the Athletes backup QB was slinging it. Garrett Nelson threw for 2 first half TD’s and rushed for one to keep his team within striking distance. The Vikings were lead by Nate Forsaith. He grabbed a pair of receiving touchdowns and even a pick 6 to lead the way. Kevin Langevin led the charge in the second half as the Vikings defense stood firm and pitched a second half shutout. The Vikings finished the season undefeated and clinch the number one overall seed, 39-19.
The New Wave and the Goonies finished out the Blitz regular season at 1:35 with the rain coming down. On the first play of the game, Devon Collier connected with Harmel for a deep touchdown to put New Wave up 6. Charles Roaf would respond for the Goonies with a touchdown grab from the 3 yard line. With 6 minutes left in the first half, Bobby Cipolla went up and caught a perfectly placed ball over Data for a go-ahead TD grab for New Wave. With 1 minute left, Mike Pisapia rumbled and plowed his way into the endzone to tie up at the half. On the Goonies first possession, JJ Lopez picked off a pass to set up a Dylan Boucher TD to give New Wave another lead. Roaf caught another one for the Goonies at the pylon for the equalizer. Finally the Goonies D was able to make a stop thanks to a Rommel Mercado pick. That pick would eventually lead to Charles Roaf scoring his third TD of the day to take the outright lead for the first time in the day. New Wave would not be put down. Cipolla hauled in a 30 yard seam route to pull within a point with over a minute to play. Unfortunately for the fans of the away team and the Scoregasms, New Wave could not convert on the extra point. Will Washington would add a tippy toe over the shoulder grab two plays later to put the nail in the coffin for New Wave. The Goonies win and earn their spot into the A playoffs, 31-24.
With the regular season over we head into two weeks of playoffs. The B playoffs will be the weekend of May 26th. Yes this is Memorial Day weekend but we have no choice. Come out have a burger a dog a brew and root for your favorite B team as they try to climb their way into the A playoffs the following weekend. The top two B winners will advance to the A playoffs where they will try to upset the highest seeds and be crowned a cinderella.
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