Beach Bums, WTBL end season as champions

ANNA MARIA – The rain delay the previous week gave four teams additional time to plan their strategy for the semifinal adult flag football games last Thursday night. In a nail-biter, WTBL narrowly won against TBT with the final score 27-26. In a game that came down to a failed extra point conversion by TBT, the WTBL squad moved on to face a worthy opponent in team Moss Builders.

The Moss Builders team, led by Ryan Moss, defeated the Solid Rock Construction squad by five points, without the sure hands and speed of Jesse Griffin. Their win in the semifinal matchup put Moss in his third flag football final game this season as either a coach or player.

What was anticipated to be a close game ended in a 20-point win by the less experienced, younger squad. Putting the pressure on QB Moss was key to the team’s win, with two sacks by Daniel O’Connor and a single by Tyler Brewer.

The heat on the quarterback forced throws and caused one interception by WTBL’s Brandon Kull. Kull had two receiving touchdowns in the game in addition to his interception.

WTBL teammates Julia King, Dominick Otteni and Jaret Rojas each had a touchdown catch in the championship game to give their team 18 points. Rojas and Brewer helped to seal the deal each with points after conversions.

On the passing side of the game, Otteni had the top statistics of the game with four completed touchdown passes. Rojas, serving as QB, threw for six.

Moss Builders’ quarterback was down critical players in the big game. Missing some of his key targets, JB Shuck and Brandon Holcomb became the marks for Moss’ missiles.

Team WTBL won the big game under the bright lights at The Center Thursday night in the co-ed flag football league. From left, Tyler “Bean” Brewer, Brandon Kull, Julia King, Jaret Rojas, Dominick Otteni and Daniel O’Connor. – Monica Simpson | Sun

Shuck had eight catches for positive yardage and a touchdown. The football hit the hands of Holcomb twice and once for six points.

The defense of WTBL and the skeleton roster widened the scoring gap as the game clock ticked down to the final 31 seconds on the scoreboard clock. In the classic Moss sportsmanship way, the game was called with time on the clock, with the final score 32-12 and WTBL champions.

In The Center’s gym, adult indoor soccer playoff action kicked off, with the Beach Bums team finishing on top against Gulfview Windows & Doors in the championship game.

Gulfview made it to the Big Show after beating Sato Real Estate in semifinal action in a close game. Beach Bums took the victory against Slim’s Place by three goals, putting the team in the final against Gulfview.

In the final game of the night at The Center, Gulfview continued to fight until the last second, but the scoring powerhouse of Beach Bums team was just too much.

Gulfview’s Mark Long and Luca Vecchio each had hat tricks for their team. Julian Rodriguez, Keith Mahoney, and Raul Loera scored a total of five points for their team. Despite this and the 17 total goals saved by Long, Mahoney and Loera, the Gulfview Windows & Doors team could not capture the win.

Lucky Durmaz finished the top scorer of the game with six goals for Beach Bums. Kevin Roman and Mauro Vecchio scored five goals each, with an additional two by teammate David Noval.

Osvaldo Cabello protected the net for his team, making 14 stops for Beach Bums. Vecchio is credited for two saves in the game, along with a save.

After a crazy season of indoor soccer games and forfeits, the season ended with an action-packed final game with Beach Bums champions.