Tigers Outscore Gators for Intermediate Flag Title

By Miles Toogo- Photos by Morgan Gonzales

**Additional Photos are Available fo rpurchase at https://justallsports.zenfolio.com/p86762663 **

Playing on a 40-yard football field is conducive to lots of scoring. With the short field in a passing league, chances are you’ll get plenty of scoring.

In the Intermediate Flag Championship game held during the MYAA “Flag Bowl” on September 30, the Gators faced off against the Tigers for the coveted title.

Nine touchdowns were scored in the game and for a while it looked like who ever had the football last, would likely win.

After a plethora of passes and runs after the catch by both teams, Coach Ed Kmak and his Tigers captured the Intermediate title with their 35-28 victory.

“All year we had trouble scoring in the first half, but today in both games we were able to score early, which I think had a good calming effect on the boys,” said Coach Knak.

“We have the youngest team in the league, we have almost all 8 and 9-year-olds. Once we got the lead, our defense did a great job. We played a lot of man-to-man defense, we did that all year which other teams didn’t do with a little zone too. I think it flustered the other teams because we kept switching back and forth in our defensive coverage. Today, our boys worked out great.”

The Gators began the game with the ball. Quarterback Gavin Phillips connected on his first pass with Emmitt Erb for a short gain, but the next three tosses all fell incomplete, resulting in a turnover on downs.

As the norm for this league, the Tigers would take over at the 40.  Quarterback Maxwell Meader saw more success in his team’s first series.

In the Tigers opening drive, Meader connected on five of six passes. He completed passes to Patrick Mraz for 5-yards, to Moises Yepez for 13-yards, to Ryan Tidball for 8-yards, Kentrall Nelson for 9-yards and finally with Mraz again for the 4-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

The Gators next series didn’t last long. A combination of Tiger defense and the inability for Phillips to connect early on with his receivers limited them and forced another turnover on downs.

The Tigers doubled their lead in their next series. After an incompletion, Meader connected with Nathaniel Berlin. Berin received the football and raced 40-yards for the Tigers, extending their lead to 14-0.

Not so fast came from the Gators. They too would score quickly to get back in the game. Phillips finally hit a streaking Roenick Rapsky as he cut across the field and scored from 40-yards,  speeding by Tiger defenders.

With the score, the Gators cut their deficit in half and trailed 14-7.

Meader was at it again on the very next play. A soft pass to Berlin once again went 40-yards as the teams were now exchanging touchdowns. Berlins’ touchdown put the Tigers up 21-7.

“If I see a man putting all his momentum one way, I try to go the other way very quickly so they cant shift,” said Berlin. “You try and beat them to the sideline. It works for me because no one can catch me in the open field. I think both my speed and shiftiness is an advantage for me. I probably could run might routes tighter.”

Phillips had found his touch and was completing passes which gained larger chunks of yards for the Gators.

A pass completion to Leo Morris went for 13-yards. Phillips then connected with Erb who added 17 more yards. After a misfire, Phillips passed to Rapsky, who dodged his way in for the 9-yard touchdown.

The 21-14 score didn’t last long. Nearing the end of the first half, there was still plenty of scoring to come.

It took Meader and his Tigers three plays to once again cross into the endzone. A completion to Nelson and a missed grab would go 39-yards into the endzone and give the Tigers a 28-14 lead with less than a minute left before halftime.

Phillips and Gavin Ehrler proved that was more than enough time for them. Phillips completed a quick pass for 20 yards to Erb and then connected with Ehrler for 20 more and the touchdown in less than a minute right before time expired.

Heading into the break, the Tiger lead 28-21.

The second half would be a show of defense, a total contrast to the first half barrage of scoring, but it didn’t start that way.

Meader wasted no time with his Tigers getting the ball to start the second half. He found an open Brady Kmak after moving his team downfield. Kmak scored the Tigers fifth touchdown on the 4-yard score.

“It’s very tough playing quarterback, you can’t find all the open guys every time, you throw the ball away and then see some guys were open,” said Meader. “Once you find your guys and you complete the pass and they score, well then, it’s really easy but still, it’s a difficult position to play.”

The third-grade quarterback showed a lot of skill considering he is one of the youngest players in the division.

“I improvise sometimes and roll out on my own. The hardest part is hitting them in stride and throwing the deep ball, but I’m working at it.”

The Tigers were now playing stingy defense denying Phillips any completion on the Gators next four plays, but a pass interference penalty gave the Gators another chance and they took advantage of it.

With the second chance, Phillips connected with Erb for a short gain and then completed a toss to Drew Goodwin who raced 25-yards for the Gators touchdown, making the score 35-28.

The remainder of the game saw defenses step up their game. Both teams were shutting down the array of pass completions you saw in the first half and to start the second. There weren’t many flag pulls. More inability to connect with receivers was now on display.

Meader and his Tiger teammates closed out the game after he completed passes to Berlin and Nelson as time expired and sealing the35-28 Intermediate Championship for the Tigers.

Both teams had contributions during the season and in this game from several other players. Fort the Tigers, they include Spencer Dobbelhoff, Peter Hamstra, Luke Lovell, Henry Capadona, Cayden Mathews and Liam Fuller.

The Gators saw effort from Liam Vollmer, Malik Zayed, Anthony Marinello, Colton Partin, Leo Morris, Blake Anderson, Lerner Brantley and William Woodlock.