Teams ready for playoff run as regular season ends

As the regular season comes to a close last week, all that is left now is the culmination of everything players have worked for thus far, the playoffs. The top seeds in each division will take on the team that finished in fourth place, with the second and third place teams being matched up as well. The winners of each game will advance to the Championship game in this single-elimination playoff schedule. The 8-9 division featured the Tortilla Bay Dolphins finishing in first place, the Ross Built Raiders topped the 10-12 division, the Tapes Tennis Titans captured first place in the 13-16 age group and the Raiders were also in first place of the Adult Division as the regular season ended. Playoff games will be held at the Community Center starting Wednesday, March 6 and running through Saturday. The Championship and All-Star Games for each division will be held throughout the day on Saturday. For final standings, statistics and schedules you can visit www.islandcommunitycenter.com.

Monday, Feb. 22
Division 3 (8-9)
BeachHouse Cardinals 30 - Tortilla Bay Dolphins 12

A pair of touchdowns by the Cardinals Tyler Pearson and Alexander Buttram propelled the team to its fourth win as it finished the season 4-8 and in third place. Pearson finished with 99 rushing yards and an 18-yard touchdown pass to Brooke Capparelli, while Buttram had 112 rushing yards in the game. Masen Blandford also caught an interception in the win. Ethan Bertrand led the Dolphins offense with 64 rushing yards, 55 receiving yards and one touchdown. Hannah McCracken ran for 61 yards as the Dolphins fell to 10-2, but still have the first place seed heading into the playoffs.

Division 1 (13-16)
Anna Maria Oyster Bar Panthers 51 - Galati Yacht Sales Raiders 26

Christian Hightower stood out for the Panthers by throwing for nearly 200 yards, five touchdowns passes and intercepting two passes to help his team win. Jordan Grabski was on the receiving end of four touchdown passes and finished with 135 yards and a pick-six. Hightower also threw a touchdown pass to James Hardy and later caught a 21-yard scoring pass from Grabski. The Raiders received a pair of touchdown scores by Aaron VanHook, who finished with 98 passing yards and 87 rushing yards. Garrison Clark had 71 receiving yards and a score and Luke Shackelford also had a touchdown for the Raiders.

Division 1 (13-16)
Tapes Tennis Titans 26 - LaPensee Plumbing Ravens 6

Austin Ferrer of the Titans threw for 165 yards and hooked up for touchdowns with Chandler Hardy, Nick Papazian and Kyle Parsons each once for a score. Ferrer and Parsons each also intercepted a pair of passes on defense to prevent the Ravens offense from making progress. Hunter Parrish caught the lone touchdown pass for the Ravens, a nine-yard toss from Tommy Price as the Ravens finished the season in fourth and will take on the Titans in the first round of the playoffs.

Wednesday, Feb. 24
Division 2 (10-12)
Island Real Estate Ravens 26 - Holy Cow Cowboys 22

Josh Zawistoski led the Ravens by running for 188 yards and scoring three touchdowns in addition to a scoring pass to Matt Manger-Denigris, who finished with 45 receiving yards. Zawistoski also converted an extra-point attempt and recorded a team-high 10 flag pulls in the victory. The Cowboys Zach Stewart rushed for 58 yards and reached the end zone twice, in addition to 92 passing yards and a touchdown pass to Burke McCampbell-Hill.

Division 1 (13-16)
Galati Yacht Sales Raiders 35 - LaPensee Plumbing Ravens 20

Anna Maria Galati led her team with a pair of touchdown receptions, helping the Raiders improve their final season record to 6-6. Danny Doyle completed 11 of 18 passes and threw for three touchdowns, two to Galati and another to Luke Shackelford. Aaron VanHook finished with 129 rushing yards with a touchdown, and he also intercepted a pass and returned it back for a touchdown. Garrison Clark picked up a pair of extra-point conversions, and Shackelford also caught an interception in the win. Tommy Price had one receiving touchdown and also completed a short pass to Rainia Lardas in the end zone for the Ravens. Chris Pate and Price each intercepted two passes and Price ran one back to the house for a defensive touchdown as well.

Division 1 (13-16)
Tapes Tennis Titans 34 - Anna Maria Oyster Bar Panthers 25

Austin Ferrer led the Titans to victory by rushing for a pair of touchdowns and passing for another two to help the Titans clinch first place in the division heading into the playoffs. Max Miller and Kyle Parsons each caught touchdowns for the Titans, and Chandler Hardy also had a defensive pick-six to aid their team. Miller also converted on an extra-point attempt and two-point conversion to round out the team's scoring. The Panthers had lone touchdown receptions from Jordan Grabski, Liam Cassidy and Carolyn Cullinan, which were all thrown by Christian Hightower. Grabski picked off a pass on defense, and Hightower also had a rushing touchdown in the tough loss.

Thursday, Feb. 25
Adult Division
Titans 25 - Lions 14

Greg Ross caught a pair of touchdowns thrown by Will Bouziane as the Titans defeated the Lions and clinched a spot in the playoffs. Bouziane threw for 151 yards and also had touchdown passes to Blair Schlossberg and Matt Hendricks in the win. The Titans improved to 4-4 and will challenge the first place Raiders in the first round of the adult playoffs. All of the Lions scoring came from Robert Cornell, who finished with 112 total combined yards of offense, along with two touchdowns and a two-point conversion. The Lions will take on the Cowboys in the consolation game for the fifth and sixth place teams in the division.

Bengals 19 - Chiefs 13

Tyler Bekkerus came through in the clutch by intercepting a Chiefs pass and returning it back the entire length of the field as time expired to win the game for the Bengals. The win gives the Bengals a 6-2 record and Chiefs a 4-4 record, as the two teams will face off in the first round of the playoffs being the second and third place seeds. Scott Dell, of the Bengals, threw two touchdown passes, one to Bekkerus and another to Billy Malfese in the win. Scott Eason and Mark Anderson each caught touchdown passes from Paul Kurtz to help the Chiefs, who finished with 145 passing yards in the game.

Raiders 13 - Cowboys 2

Shawn Kaleta led the Raiders with 98 yards of total offense and a pair of touchdown scores in this low-scoring affair. Lance Plowman also caught an extra-point attempt by Mark Richardson to round out the scoring. The Raiders defense is what defined the game though, as they recorded five interceptions. Plowman led the team with two picks, and Kaleta, Richardson and Gary Zink each added picks to shut down the Cowboys offensive efforts. Heidi Johnston provided the Cowboys two points by recording a safety on the Raiders quarterback and she finished the game with four sacks to lead her team. The first place Raiders will take on the fourth place Titans in the first round of the playoffs, while the Cowboys will play the Lions in the consolation game for the Adult division.

Upcoming Week’s Games

Wednesday, March 3

6 p.m. – Division 3, third place BeachHouse Cardinals vs. second place Sparks Steel Art Falcons
7 p.m. – Division 2 – third place Island Real Estate Ravens vs. second place Mr. Bones BBQ Bengals
8 p.m. – Division 1 – third place Galati Yacht Sales Raiders vs. second Place Anna Maria Oyster Bar Panthers

Thursday, March 4th

6 p.m. – Adult Division – fifth place Cowboys vs. sixth place Lions
7 p.m. – Adult Division – third place Chiefs vs. second place Bengals
8 p.m. – Adult Division – fourth place Titans vs. first place Raiders

Friday, March 5

6 p.m. – Division 3 – fourth place Sandbar Saints vs. first place Tortilla Bay Dolphins
7 p.m. – Division 2 – fourth place Walter & Associates Titans vs. first place Ross Built Raiders
8 p.ml– Division 1 – fourth place LaPensee Plumbing Ravens vs. first place Tapes Tennis Titans

Saturday, March 6

10 a.m. – Division 1 – Championship Game (winners of Wednesday and Friday’s games)
11 a.m. – Division 2 – Championship Game (winners of Wednesday and Friday’s games)
12 p.m. – Division 1 – All-Star Game
1 p.m. – Division 2 – All-Star Game
2 p.m. – Division 3 – Championship Game (winners of Wednesday and Friday’s games)
3 p.m. – Adult Division – Championship Game (Winners of Thursday’s games)
4 p.m.– Division 3 – All-Star Game

*Playoff style is a single-elimination tournament. Please contact the Community Center for a more detailed playoff schedule as it approaches closer and is finalized.