Exciting Eat Here Jaguars opening

The Sun sports Game of the Week was an AFC 10-12 year old divisional matchup between the Anna Maria Oyster Bar Dolphins and the Eat Here Jaguars. Both teams with respectable records in the league but always needing that important conference win.

The Eat Here Jaguars' opening drive was just as exciting as the opening of the Island's newest restaurant. The Jag's first drive was capped by Brad Duffman, who took the hand-off and zigzagged, bobbed and weaved and threw a host of defenders for the touchdown. The point after was good when quarterback Jacob Talucci passed to Anthony Cucci and made the score 7-0. On the ensuing drive, a mix-up in the AMOB Dolphins backfield caused a fumble in the end zone and gave the Jaguars a safety, and just like that, the score was 9-0.

At the 10-minute mark, Dolphin's quarterback Adam Clark threw a nice crossing route pass to Reese Helvey, who tip-toed down the sideline 25 yards for the TD. The two boys connected again on the same exact play for the extra point, which made the score 7-9. The Dolphins' defense stepped up and shut down the Jaguars' offense with great flag pulling by John Smith, Jack Mello and Adam Clark. On a key third down, Reese Helvey came up with an interception that got the ball back for his Dolphin team. Adam Clark dropped back and threw a long bomb to Helvey, who ran it the rest of the way for the 45-yard touchdown. Clark found John Smith in the back of the end zone for the point after and gave the Dolphins the lead for the first time 14-9.

The Jaguars responded. On a big third down play, Brad Duffman took the hand-off to the right and then made a nice cut back to the left which allowed him to go 30 yards for the TD. The extra point was no good leaving the score 15-14. With little time left in the half, the Dolphins marched all the way down the field, but fell short at the half yard line when time expired.

The Eat Here Jaguars opened with the ball the second half and capitalized right away. Quarterback Jacob Talucci marched his team down the field and threw a pass to Anthony Cucci for the touchdown. They used the same exact play, and Cucci scored the extra point which made the score 22-14.

With only five minutes left in the game and the Dolphins down only eight points, Clark threw a long bomb to Mikey Ellsworth taking the Dolphins to the 7-yard line. On third down and a chance to tie the game, Ellsworth caught a pass on the 1-foot line and didn't get into the end zone because of a great flag pull by Gavin Sentman.

The Dolphins' defense came up big again and forced the Jags three and out. With only two minutes left, they needed a score, but Matt Manger-DeNegris, of the Jags, came up with a huge interception. The Jaguars offense geared to run out the clock and then Manger-DeNegris sealed the victory with a 7-yard touchdown run. Talucci passed to Duffman for the extra point and made the score 29-14. On the very last play, the Dolphins threw a last ditch bomb, but Manger-DeNegris was there again to pick it off and return it for a long touchdown. It was a very close and exciting game all the way until the two-minute warning, even though the 35-14 final score didn't reflect it. To see more photos of this game and others go to amisun.com.

Game Summaries:

Division III (8-9-year-olds)

Beach Bums Seahawks 6 
Island Real Estate Saints 2
Ethan Helvey threw for 68 yards and one TD, and Zach Fernandes caught one TD for the Seahawks. Andrew Proctor had four flag pulls and a safety for the Saints. 

Division II (10-12-year-olds)

LaPensee Plumbing Falcons 32 
Sandbar Cowboys 6
Levi Lengal threw for 226 yards and four TDs and Tyler Yavalar caught three TDs for the Falcons.Keegan Murphy scored one TD and had one sack for the Cowboys.

Walter & Associates Steelers 24 
Eat Here Jaguars 20
Seth Walter accounted for all four TDs - he threw for 145 yards and two TDs and also scored one rushing TD and one TD reception for the Steelers. Jacob Talucci threw for 122 yards and two TDs and Gavin Sentman had one interception for a TD for the Jaguars.

LPAC Cardinals 19 
Ross Built Vikings 32
Issac Henderson threw two TDs – one to Ethan Bertrand and one to Michael Latimer for the Cards. Andrew Ross threw for 186 yards and five TDs – two TD receptions for Hayden Brewer and two for Jake Ross of the Vikings.

Walter & Associates Steelers 32 
Sandbar Cowboys 19
Seth Walter threw for 176 yards and two TDs, and Moriah Goode scored two TDs and caught two extra points, and Jack Walter intercepted one for a TD for the Steelers. Joe Rogers threw one TD to Brenden Murphy and Keegan Murphy intercepted two passes for TDs for the Cowboys.

Ross Built Vikings 25 
Mr. Cleaning Chargers 6
Andrew Ross threw three TD passes, and Jake Ross scored three TDs for the Vikings. Ben Connors threw one TD to Hannah Mooney for the Chargers.

Southern Greens Bucs 0 
LPAC Cardinals 25
Ryan Doyle had four flag pulls for the Charger defense. Issac Henderson threw for 143 yards and four TDs and Michael Latimer had 100 receiving yards and three TDs for the Cards.

LaPensee Plumbing Falcons 6 
Holy Cow Colts 34
Tyler Yavalar had one interception for a TD and Jake Miller had four flag pulls for the Falcons. Austin Morrow threw for 188 yards and four TDs and Zach Stewart had two receiving TDs and one interception for the Colts.

Anna Maria Oyster Bar Dolphins 19 
Southern Greens Bucs 7
Adam Clark threw for 79 yards and two TDs and Jack Mello had one interception for a TD for the Dolphins. Andrew Zink threw for 54 yards and one TD and Ryan Doyle had one receiving TD and an extra point for the Bucs.

Division I (13-16-year-olds)

Mr. Bones BBQ Eagles 20 
Beach Bistro Bears 27
Elijah Clay-Chapman threw two TD passes to JT Goode for the Eagles. Austin Ferrer threw two TDs and ran for one TD and Nick Mello caught one TD and one extra point in the Bears win.

Bassett, Vita, Vining & Hermann Group Raiders 30 
Mr. Bones BBQ Eagles 20
Reese Vita threw for 210 yards and four TDs – two TD catches by Michael Duffman and two by Hunter Parrish for the Raiders. JT Goode ran for one TD and threw two TDs to receiver Ellijah Clay-Chapman for the Eagles.

Beach Bistro Bears 6 
1st American Bank Bills 32
Nick Mello rushed for one TD and Henry Bernet had three flag pulls for the Bears. Jack Shinn threw for four TDs and Pierce Hogan caught two TDs for the Bills.

Adult Co-Ed League 
MartiniVille Bears 33 
Hurricane Hanks Patriots 34
Danny Murphy threw for 175 yards and five TDs and Tyler Bekkerus caught three TDs for the Bears. Dave Johnston threw for 153 yards and four TDs and Ben Conlon and Tommy Hutchinson each caught two TDs for the Patriots.

Island Sun Falcons 44 
Rotten Ralphs Packers 30
Scott Dell threw for 240 yards and four TDs and had two interceptions with one for a TD and Nick Regan had 113 yards receiving and three TDs for the Falcons. Ryan Moss threw for 193 yards and four TDs for the Packers.

Walter & Associates Steelers 7 
Sato Real Estate Browns 19
Mike Walter threw one TD to Kevin Austin for the Steelers. Jason Sato threw for 157 yards and two TDs to receiver Kaleb Roberts and Tommy Tyrell had one interception for a TD for the Browns.

Bob Vita Landscaping Cowboys 0 
Jessie's Island Store Vikings 33
Chuck McCracken threw for 64 yards and had three flag pulls for the Cowboys. Greg Ross threw for 104 yards and three TDs and Tim Shaughnessy had one interception for a TD for the Vikings.

Duffy's Tavern Bucs 28 
Beach to Bay Construction Rams 15
Mark Anderson threw for 163 yards and three TDs and had one interception for a TD for the Bucs. Andy Proctor threw for 60 yards and one TD and Scott Eason had three flag pulls a safety and two sacks for the Rams.

Schedule:

Instructional League (5-7-year-olds)

Feb. 9, Wednesday, 6 p.m. 
LPAC Cardinals VS. Island Dental Spa Broncos

Feb. 11, Friday, 6 p.m. 
LPAC Cardinals VS. Connelly Marine Bucs

Feb. 11, Friday, 7 p.m. 
Tyler's Ice Cream Vikings VS. Island Dental Spa Broncos

Division III (8-9-year-olds)

Feb. 11, Friday, 6 p.m. 
Beach Bums Seahawks VS. Connelly Marine Falcons

Feb. 12, Saturday, 11 a.m. 
Island Real Estate Saints VS. Beach Bums Seahawks

Division II (10-12-year-olds)

Feb. 9, Wednesday, 6 p.m. 
Anna Maria Oyster Bar Dolphins VS. Ross Built Vikings

Feb. 9, Wednesday, 7 p.m. 
Southern Greens Bucs VS. Holy Cow Colts

Feb. 11, Friday, 7 p.m. 
Sandbar Cowboys VS. LaPensee Falcons

Feb. 11, Friday, 8 p.m. 
Mr. Spiffy Cleaning Chargers VS. LPAC Cardinals

Feb. 12, Saturday, 12 p.m. 
Eat Here Jags VS. LaPensee Falcons

Feb. 15, Tuesday, 6 p.m. 
Eat Here Jags VS. Sandbar Cowboys

Feb. 15, Tuesday, 7 p.m. 
Anna Maria Oyster Bar Dolphins VS. Holy Cow Colts

Division I (13-16-year-olds)

Feb. 8, Tuesday, 8 p.m. 
Mr. Bones BBQ Eagles VS. Beach Bistro Bears

Feb. 9, Wednesday, 8 p.m. 
1st Bank of America Bills VS. Bassett, Vita, Vining & Hermann Group Raiders

Feb. 15, Tuesday, 8 p.m. 
Mr. Bones BBQ Eagles VS. Bassett, Vita, Vining & Hermann Group Raiders

Adult Co-Ed League

Feb. 10, Thursday, 5:30 p.m. 
Rotten Ralphs Packers VS. MartiniVille Bears

Feb. 10, Thursday, 6:30 p.m. 
Bob Vita Landscaping Cowboys VS. Walter & Associates Steelers

Feb. 10, Thursday, 7:30 p.m. 
Sato Real Estate Browns VS. Jessie's Island Store Vikings

Feb. 10, Thursday, 8:30 p.m. 
Island Sun Falcons VS. Duffy's Tavern Bucs

Feb. 10, Thursday, 9:30 p.m. 
Beach To Bay Construction Rams VS. Slim's Place Jags

Clear your head run in the fog

I never complain about the weather in Florida. Many Midwesterners share my belief that we'll take a Florida summer any day over the humid, stagnant, usually polluted, hot air of the northern climes. My Northern friends are astounded that Florida rarely tops 94 degrees in the summer and is 10 degrees lower on average than the Midwest. Florida always has cooling summer breezes. Give me a predictable hurricane you can almost always outrun over a completely unpredictable tornado and earthquake any day. It takes a couple of years living here to understand that most Florida tornadoes, if they ever touch the ground are mostly rated a tame "1" on the Fujita scale, compared to Midwest monsters rated from "3" to "5." As a former TV tornado chaser, it is a very different ballgame here.

My heart goes out to those who can only stay here a week and see mostly fog. Obviously you need to stay longer. Many natives love the fog for variety. Risking sounding like the Chamber of Commerce, a bad day in Florida is a fabulous day in Des Moines. I don't mean to offend, but since I spent 18 long months in Des Moines covering everyone else's cars getting stuck in snow and ice, I don't exaggerate.

I ran the "Snowball Series," an invigorating two months of races in January and February designed to keep runners exercising during winter.

The massive blizzard on every news station last week brings back nightmares and reminders why we live in Paradise. For many who've endured horrific winters, it takes several years of living here before you realize you are not still on vacation and you don't have to go back.

A Facebook friend posted, "what was your worst winter storm experience?" I flashed back immediately to the two feet of snow that paralyzed St. Louis in the blizzard of January 1983. The gossip columnist wrote about my walking four miles to work. I was one of only a few to show up for work anywhere that day. Or the day in Des Moines when my agent called and said, "You have two job offers…one as a primary anchor for both evening newscasts in Salt Lake City, or a reporter's job in Miami for 1/3 the pay." I didn't hesitate. The wind chill in Des Moines that day was 30 below. I gave up a career of network stardom for southern creature comforts and as the expression went, "getting paid in sunshine."

Walking or running on the beach in the fog can't be beat for inspiration, exhilaration, perspiration and meditation. One or two other people vanished in the mist. As I ran, I went through my warm-up routine of trying to touch my knees to my bent elbows as my arms remained in a "T" formation. A seagull started circling. Then dozens more arrived, as if I were going to feed them. They only stopped swooping around my head when I took my arms down.

How sad that our local wildlife is now so conditioned to human feeding. For this very reason, some restaurants post signs asking tourists not to feed wildlife. Adult birds forget how to hunt, and worse, forget how to teach their young to hunt.

When I began my run, the tailwind propelled me from Manatee Beach to the Sandbar Restaurant. When I turned around, I realized the 20 mile-an-hour headwind would make me late for work. So I caught the trolley back to Manatee Beach. One of the couples on the trolley said, "Oh you're the runner. We saw you on the beach with the birds. We've been thinking about joining you for your Friday workout. Tell us more about it."

I described a brief walking warm-up, then dynamic exercises such as skipping, easy lunges, kicks and gentle twists. Mainly, I told them, the one hour, free workout is tailored to everyone's abilities. Some run, some walk, some do a combination. We reunite for some core work, cool down and stretching. I bring an appropriate recovery snack. So join us from 9-10 a.m. every Friday, rain, shine or fog, at Manatee Beach, by the playground.

Have a burning question you would like to see answered here? Contact Ellen at ejones@vegcoach.com www.vegcoach.com or 941-704-1025.

Ellen Jaffe Jones is an Anna Maria Island resident, accomplished endurance runner, cookbook author, certified personal trainer and running coach. She also coaches the Manatee High School Girls Cross Country and Track and Field teams.