The sports seasons at the Island’s community center at first glance on paper appear to be short with less than a dozen games for each team to play.
From the adult flag football player’s perspective, the six regular season games leading into the playoffs during the heat of the summer can seem neverending for some and too short for others.
Going into the last regular season game, Team Talucci Construction looked like it would finish in first place. As the weeks went on, Ray Gardner’s team fell off one-by-one with critical injuries, keeping players off the field.
The loss of key players ultimately lead to the loss to Beach House Real Estate last Tuesday night, putting it in the third seed position going into the playoffs. Talucci Construction finally fell to Lexi Sato’s Team Avis in the quarterfinal game Thursday night in a heated battle between friends off the football field.
Don Purvis’ Beach House Real Estate, led on the field by replacement quarterback Chris Gillum, had its hands full against Team Truly Nolen in its first playoff game. The winless team captained by Jake Parsons found its stride Thursday night with a six-player roster for the first time since week two of the season.
Despite skillful play and an interception by critical team addition Patrick Calvary, Truly Nolen could not find the end zone in the final minutes of the game to move on to the semifinals. Parsons, Ben Sato, Patrick Harrington and late addition Joe Carder held their own in the last several games of the season, leaving the field with positive spirit.
Team Moss Builders ended the season on a victory upswing after a slow start in the first weeks of play. Back-to-back wins against Charles Buky’s Team Beach Bums put Ryan Moss and his company-sponsored team into semifinal play.
With the house of cards falling at the right time for Talucci Construction, Brianna Roberts’ Team Mason Martin took advantage of the team rankings last Tuesday night with a critical win against Team Avis.
Avis took the early lead putting 14 points on the scoreboard. To answer back, Roberts’ brother, Tim Shaughnessy, took the football for the score and extra point, giving Mason Martin a one-point lead.
Consistent strong runs by Caleb Roberts kept Team Avis on its defensive toes. Strong defensive play by B. Roberts and hard offensive work by Frank Agnelli kept Team Mason Martin in the game.
Critical receptions by Mike Brusso and a timely interception by Avis’ Danny Murphy near the end zone just as Mason Martin looked like it would score again kept Sato’s team in the game.
After 40 minutes of nail-biting play, the three Satos on the field just were not enough to hold the Shaughnessy-Roberts family trio. The Mason Martin win gave the team a much desired bye week in the quarterfinal round of play.
The semifinal games will be played on Thursday starting at 7:30 p.m. with Beach House taking on Avis and Mason Martin going up against Moss Builders.
