The Archers surprised everyone – except perhaps themselves – Saturday, as they upset the previously undefeated Sharks, 8-6, to win the championship of the 2018 Men’s Summer Flag Football League Championship at Lionel Roberts Stadium.
The game was the perfect example of the cliche, “defense wins championships.”
The Archers fell behind early. Lon Garfield Jr. of the Sharks found Cursim Hansen with a deep touchdown pass and the deficit was 6-0. The two point conversion failed.
On their next possession the Archers found themselves facing a fourth and long situation. That’s when Kyle Lamotta caught a slant from Shaquille Richardson, then made a defender miss and took it 60 yards to the end zone to tie the game. The two-point conversion was successful, and the Archers had what turned out to be al the points they’d need.
On the first possession of the third quarter, the Garfield- Hansen connection was good again, this time for 40 yards, and got the Sharks inside the 20 yard line. But the Archers’ defense stiffened and held the Sharks out of the end zone.
Later in the third quarter, the Archers had their own chance to extend the lead, after an interception put the team in great field position. This time it was the Sharks defense coming up with the stop in the red zone, keeping the game within a single possession.
The games final stop came with just under a minute left, when the Archers defense sacked Garfield. The Archers took over on downs and ran out the clock.
Calvert White, member of the Archers team, said after the game, “This is why I love sports, records don’t matter, all that matters it what happens in between those lines.”
