Lobstahs Buccaneers win nail-biter

The Sun sports game of the week was an Anna Maria Island Community Center 11-to-13-year-old divisional matchup between the Beach Bums Ravens and the Lobstahs Buccaneers. The two evenly matched teams going into the Saturday’s game were in a tie for third place.

The Lobstahs Buccaneers struck first on a touchdown run by J.P Russo. The extra-point was good when quarterback Joe Rogers passed to Russo, 7-0 Bucs.

The Beach Bums Ravens immediately evened the score when quarterback Mathew Manger-Denigris connected with John Smith for the touchdown pass. The extra-point failed, 7-6 Bucs.

The Bucs marched right back and scored when Rogers found Russo in the end zone for the TD pass. Rogers again passed to Russo for the extra-point, 14-6 Bucs.

The Ravens answered with their own scoring duo when Manger-Denigris passed to Smith for their second TD of the half. The two-point conversion was good when they both connected again in the end zone and evened the game at 14-14.

With one minute left in the half, the Ravens took the lead on a first down Manger-Denigris long 45 yard touchdown pass to Dylan Doyle. Brother, Ryan Doyle caught the two-point conversion and gave the Ravens the lead 22-14.

With only 19 seconds left in the half, the Bucs went three and out. The Ravens looked to try and put one more score on the board before the half, but J.P Russo came up with a huge interception for the Bucs at mid-field. With four seconds left on the clock, Rogers found his favorite target Russo on a crossing route pass. Russo turned on the jets and took it in for the 30 yard touchdown. The extra-point was no good when John Smith intercepted the pass. 22-21 Ravens at the half.

After both offenses went three and out to start the second half, the Bucs took the lead again when Rogers passed to Trevor Meek for the 12-yard touchdown. The extra-point was no good when Troy Cleland got the interception for the Ravens. 26-22 Bucs.

The Bucs defense held strong again when Noah Heskin made a nice play and batted down a Ravens pass. The Bucs offense seized the opportunity, and on the first play, Rogers connected with Russo again for the 45-yard TD catch and run. The extra point was good on a nice catch by Meek, 33-22 Bucs.

With six and a half minutes left in the game, Dylan Doyle made a huge interception in the end zone for the Ravens when it looked like the Bucs were going to score and put the game out of reach. This changed the momentum and on the Raven’s first down Manger-Denigris passed to Dylan Doyle for the 45-yard TD. The extra-point was no good, 33-28 Bucs lead.

The Ravens defense held strong and gave their offense back the ball and a chance to take back the lead with just over two minutes left in the game. On a desperate third and goal from the 18-yard line, Manger-Denigris threw a jump ball pass in the end zone to Steele Quinard with only one minute and 40 seconds to play. The extra-point failed but the Ravens led 34-33.

The Bucs offense stayed cool and methodically moved the ball down field. With 35 seconds left Russo took a handoff and ran the left side sweep for the touchdown. Rogers connected with Russo for the two-point conversion and the lead 41-34.

The Ravens still had 35 ticks on the clock and two timeouts remaining but it didn’t take that long. Manger-Denigris went zigzagging the entire 45-yard length of the field on a quarterback run option for the touchdown. The ravens needed the extra-point for the tie but fell short when the Bucs defense forced the incomplete pass.

With only 21 seconds remaining in the game the Ravens still had two timeouts and were able to force the Bucs to a three and out. This only left the Ravens offense with one second left in the game though. The Ravens tried the Hail Mary pass, but Russo knocked it down and sealed the nail-biter win for the Lobstahs Buccaneers 41-40.

Adult co-ed Flag Football Results

Southern Greens Seahawks  26
The Island Sun Bills  12

Sato Real Estate Browns  27
Harrington House Bucs  18

BY Construction Bears  34
Tyler’s Ice Cream Vikings  26

Adult co-ed Flag Football Schedule

Feb. 20, Wednesday, 7 p.m., Beach to Bay Construction Ravens vs. Sato Real Estate Browns
Feb. 20, Wednesday, 8 p.m., Southern Greens Seahawks vs. Slim’s Place Patriots
Feb. 20, Wednesday, 9 p.m., Agnelli Pools & Spa Giants vs. Harrington House Bucs
Feb. 21, Thursday, 6 p.m., BY Construction Bears vs. Duncan Real Estate Cardinals
Feb. 21, Thursday, 7 p.m., Lobstahs Lions vs. Waterfront Restaurant Dolphins
Feb. 21, Thursday, 8 p.m., Tyler’s Ice Cream Vikings vs. Florida Discount Signs Colts
Feb. 21, Thursday, 9 p.m., The Island Sun Bills vs. Duffy’s Tavern Raiders

14-17-Year-Olds Flag Football Results

Lobstahs Colts  26
Eat Here Packers  14

West Coast Surf Shop Bucs  34
Beach to Bay Construction Browns  21

Integrity Sound Falcons  25
Walter & Associates Bears  12

Lobstahs Colts  12
West Coast Surf Shop Bucs  7

Walter & Associates Bears  32
Lobstahs Colts  13

14-17-Year-Olds Flag Football schedule

Feb. 25, Monday, 8 p.m., Lobstahs Colts vs. Integrity Sound Falcons
Feb. 26, Tuesday, 6 p.m., Integrity Sound Falcons vs. West Coast Surf Shop Bucs
Feb. 26, Tuesday, 7 p.m., Beach to Bay Construction Browns vs. Eat Here Packers
Feb. 26, Tuesday, 8 p.m., Lobstahs Colts vs. Walter & Associates Bears

11-13-Year-Olds Flag Football Results

Mr. Bones Colts  31
Lobstahs Bucs  18

Ross Built Construction Dolphins  48
Lobstahs Bucs  24

Holy Cow Ice Cream Cardinals  41
Walter & Associates Bears  6

Lobstahs Bucs  41
Beach Bums Ravens  40

Mr. Bones Colts  26
Walter & Associates Bears  19

Ross Built Construction Dolphins  41
Edgewater Realty Jaguars  20

11-3-Year-Olds Flag Football schedule

Feb. 22, Friday, 8 p.m., Holy Cow Ice Cream Cardinals vs. Ross Built Construction Dolphins
Feb. 25, Monday, 6 p.m., Edgewater Realty Jaguars vs. Walter & Associates Bears
Feb. 25, Monday, 7 p.m., Beach Bums Ravens vs. Mr. Bones Colts

8 –10-Year-Olds Flag Football Results:

Lobstahs Browns  13
Beach Bistro Bucs  12

Manatee Cancer Center Dolphins  20
Miller Electric Chargers 14

Coastal Orthopedics Bears  25
Tyler’s Ice Cream Vikings  6

Coastal Orthopedics Bears  27
Beach Bistro Bucs  6

Air & Energy Jets  19
LPAC Cardinals  12

8 –10-Year-Olds Flag Football schedule

Feb. 20, Wednesday, 6 p.m., Coastal Orthopedics Bears vs. Lobstahs Browns
Feb. 22, Friday, 6 p.m., Beach Bistro Bucs vs. Tyler’s Ice Cream Vikings
Feb. 22, Friday, 7 p.m., Miller Electric Chargers vs. LPAC Cardinals

5 –7-Year-Olds Flag Football Schedule

Feb. 22, Friday, 6 p.m., Lobstahs Broncos vs. Tyler’s Ice Cream Vikings

Adult co-ed Volleyball schedule

Feb. 26, Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. – fourth seeded team vs. first seeded team – playoffs
Feb. 26, Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. – third seeded team vs. second seeded team – playoffs
Feb. 26, Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. – winner of game one vs. winner of game two – championship

 

Running in bad weather

When someone complains about the weather, I just laugh.

I’ve seen, lived and worked in the ugliest weather a TV reporter’s job can buy. Weather was, and still is, the best ratings that the media can buy.

Mother Nature knows no mercy when it comes to handing out big ratings. From my 18 years as a TV reporter, nothing like a Cat 5 hurricane, drought or Nor’easter to attract viewers – if they still have power. But even that, these days, is not insurmountable. Charge it up in advance, and you’re good to go for a few days. And when that runs out, recharge on your car battery.

I don’t mean to sound like the old, callused and jaded reporter that I am, but when the Cat 1 hurricane David rolled up to Miami circa 1979, I was sure I was gonna die. I was assigned to go talk to the bridge tender on Key Biscayne. Piece o’carrot cake. There was no one else out except us.

Then I was assigned to fly into Marathon, elevation 7 feet, the sign at the airport said when I landed. A 6-foot tidal surge was predicted. I figured I had about a foot to tread water.

Like so many doom and gloom predicted stories on the news, the hurricane fortunately came in mildly over Palm Beach and missed Miami and the Keys completely. This Midwestern tornado girl was so terrified of hurricanes, that I was sure the hurricane would make a sudden turn inland and I’d be caught in the eye in the middle of the dark night.

But nothing compared to covering constant snow and ice in Des Moines. After 18 long torturous months, the job offers came – weeknight primetime anchor job in Salt Lake City, or a reporter’s job in Miami. The day the call came in, I was the only reporter who showed up to work to take pictures of everyone else getting stuck in the snow and failing to start their cars in the 70 below wind chills. I didn’t hesitate for a second.

At least with hurricanes, generally speaking, you have an hour or two to outrun them. So with the couple of days of chilly, windy and rainy weather we’ve had this week, I headed right out to the beach to get in my 3- to 4-mile run. On Wednesday, it was windy and cold. I passed two other runners, our heads down into the wind, and not many others.

On Thursday, there were a few more souls as the gray skies kept many people inside hoping for the sun to poke through. Bad weather in Florida is just so relative. As I approached the shoreline, about 7:30, I saw a baby dolphin swimming with an adult. But beyond the usual frolicking that you often see, these two were swimming at the crest of each wave, wave after wave, body-surfing like nothing I had ever seen.

I promise I don’t have connections to the Chamber of Commerce, but just when you think you’ve seen it all here in paradise, something else surprises you. It takes a lot to make me stop my morning run once it is in progress. This was definitely a showstopper. Another couple had stopped to watch. I shared my awe with them to make sure they understood that what we were watching was not an everyday occurrence.

Then the usual conversation, ”You live here?” they asked.

“Deals can be had – just sayin.”

I kept running, running along the shoreline, letting the crashing waves play tag with my feet. The sand, as it often is, was just perfect to run on. The recent rain packed it down nicely, but not too hard. It was level enough to run on without any steep sloping issues or hip discomfort.

The little bit of sunlight was gone by now. The skies looked more dark and threatening. People were leaving the beach. As long as there’s no lightening, races and running don’t get cancelled.

Bring it. I love bad weather here. Gotta run.

You can follow Island resident Ellen Jaffe Jones on her Facebook page and keep up with her just released book:,"Eat Vegan on $4 a Day," or her website: www.vegcoach.com. She is also a nationally certified personal trainer and running coach. For training in a gym or private hire, contact Ellen at ejones@vegcoach.com or 941-704-1025.