Word From The Mouth: End of the Spring

Here we are another season has come and gone. This was a very interesting season with a bunch of new teams that were better than expected. Normally when a new team comes in they tend struggle and take some time to get use to the game. That wasn't the case this year with D#Nasty, Beaux Garson, and the 7th Rounders all being very solid teams. Yes we did have some teams that came back and still struggled but not every team can be great. Try hard have fun and anything can happen. Now lets jump right into what happened over championship weekend.

D#Nasty vs Beaux Garcons

In my mind these were the top 2 teams most of the season and yes they were both new teams. I jumped on D#Nasty as my favourite to win early on in the year and well they didn't disappoint me. To start the game both teams had a hard time moving the ball, not sure if it was nerves or just real good defense. Once D#Nasty got over that slow start they scored on two consecutive drives while still keeping the shutout alive. I was getting a little worried for Beaux Garcons that is was going to be a blow out. They were finally able to mount a drive with just under seven minutes left that lasted three and a half minutes. Next possession they held D#Nasty to a three and out to get the ball back but weren't able to do anything with the ball. Half time score was 16-6 D#Nasty.

Second half started the same way the first did with neither team doing much with the ball until Kevin hits Sebastien for a 33 yard score to put them up 22-6. At this point I'm thinking it's over but it only took 2 plays for JS to find a way to score and make it a 10 point game. Beaux Garcons are playing some great defense at this point in the game and are able to force another three and out. Beaux Garcons have gotten momentum and the ball, can they capitalize on it? Yes they can and they do. They went down, scored 6 points, and were able to make the it like they might be able to pull this one off. D#Nasty was under 5 minutes away from going to the finals so what did they do? They used every second of the play clock before snapping the ball and were able run out the rest of the game. I feel that if Beaux Garcons got the ball back they would have won the game but sh*t happens and that's why we play the games.

Old School vs Iron Wolves

I want to start by saying the way the season had gone I'm surprised by both teams making it this far, one team had inconsistent play and the other had guys missing all year. Old School started the game by forcing a turnover on downs which is a great way to start the game, but Iron Wolves one upped them on their first shot a defense with a pick 6 by Andre. The following possession Old School was a little more careful with the ball but still ended up punting. Then Jon started playing b*tch ball and eating clock going short and wearing down the defense to punch it in for 6. Finally we get some life from Old Schools offense in a big 43 yarder to Raphael to get them into the red zone where Dahic was able to find Yuri for the score. This made it a one score game that Jon didn't take that long to make it a 12 point game again. Going into halftime the score was 18-6 Iron Wolves but Old School was starting with the ball in second half.

The Iron Wolves were able to stop them on their opening possession. They then were able to march down and score and what seemed to be an insurmountable lead at this point 25-6 should have been the game. Once again Dahic led a quick drive which resulted in 6 points. Still being up 13 points with 14:30 left and the way Jon plays offense should have been good enough for the win. Jon and the Iron Wolves were able to eat up some clock but weren't able to walk away with any points, still leaving a sliver of hope for Old School. Dahic does it again another 2 play drive with 6 and after the successful convert the score was 25-19 Iron Wolves.

Once Iron Wolves get the ball back Jon does something that is so out of character and throws a pick on the very first play. Just so you all know right now I'm holding my hands around my neck in a choking gesture. Old School has it all going for them now and Iron Wolves are wondering WTF is going on we were up 25-6 the game was ours. Of Course Old School goes down to score not only the tying TD but they were also able to get the convert to give them a 1 point lead with six minutes left. Can they hold off Iron Wolves and get the win? We have all seen Jon do this before use every second of the clock go down and score leaving very little time on the clock if any, could he pull off another miracle?

Jon marches the team down to around the red zone where he has time to get a few shots for the game winning score. On first down the pass was batted away on second down Jon being the top running QB ever in the MFL runs and gets ZERO yards (ed's note: you're clearly looking at the stats to remember this as it was a snap over my head!) third down he throws it incomplete. It all comes down to this fourth down last play of the game either Iron Wolves will pull it out and go to the finals or they will look back and think of how they gave it away up 25-6. On fourth down Jon is moving around to the left if I remember correctly and throws the ball to one of his guys, but coming over from his safety spot is Dahic to knock the ball away and give the win to Old School. This was a super exciting finish to the game. I wish I could had done an interview afterwards with both team captains to ask them how they felt. But lets not give all the credit to Old School I did motivate them to prove me wrong so even though all their guys showed up if I didn't pick against them who knows if they really would have won.

Final: Old School vs D#Nasty

Here we are the final game of the spring season. Both teams come in on a high pulling out wins in very tight games, I hope that they wouldn't be too drained from that. I thought that D#Nasty was going to walk all over Old School, They had played better most of the season and well I picked them as my team earlier so I was really hoping to be right. Was I ever wrong. Old School was able to score on 2 of their first 3 possessions while not allowing D#Nasty any points. Were we going to see a blow out by Old School in the finals? While that was short lived as D#Nasty was able to do the same thing right after and score on 2 of their next 3 possessions to tie the game up at 12.

We get to half time with the score 12 all. D#Nasty wasn't able to do anything with their first opportunity of the second half but a punt is still better than the pick from Old School on theirs. D#Nasty was able to take advantage of that turnover and make it into a scoring drive. Now being up 19-12 D#Nasty should be able to depend on their defense to hold off Old School which they were for one possession until Dahic found Charles for a 21 yard score and with a successful convert we are all tied up at 19 with 11 minutes left. This is where the game got to be a little boring neither team could do anything with the ball.

This is where the inexperience of D#Nasty comes into play, with 2:32 left in the game a few yards short of mid field fourth down they go for it and don't get it. I would have wasted the full play clock taken the delay of game punt the ball and force Old School to go 45 yards for the win with 1:45 or so left on the clock, remember neither team was moving the ball at this point of the game.

Dahic had 2:25 left to try and score on first down he goes short for 6 yards, second down he goes for 9. New set of downs with 52 seconds remaining in the game ball is on the 8 yard line. Incomplete on first second down the pass in knocked away by Aly. It all comes down to this third down zeros on the clock ball at the 8 and Dahic can either run it in himself or find a guy in the end zone for the win or we will be going to overtime for the first time in a finals. Dahic throws the ball to the least likely target to get it in Gabe. I say least likely cause he hasn't caught a TD all year. What a better time to score your one and only all season last play of the game in the finals.

Old School wins 25-19, who would have thought it. Way to go Old School congrats on title number 1 hopefully you guys can get more in the future. Way to keep the games close with the semi and finals both last play of the games for the win.

I want to thank everyone who played this season and anyone who refereed, score kept, videoed, and came out to watch the games. It's because of you that the league is what it is. I hope you all come back for the fall season where I wish you all good luck and I hope to see you on Saturday.