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JBSA News
NEWS | Nov. 3, 2009

Fire Department bests 435th FTS 13-6 in intramural flag football play

By Sean Bowlin 12th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs

The 12th Civil Engineer Division's fire department flag football team beat the 435th Fighter Training Squadron's team 13-6 Oct. 28 at Grater Field. 

The hour-long contest was an aerial one in which both sides vied to complete passes after flooding the passing lanes by sending several receivers downfield. 

Lateral throws plagued both teams, as quarterbacks jockeyed for position behind the line of scrimmage with defenders closing in to stop them. 

The fire department started the contest with the ball and ran four scoreless plays until the 435th FTS's Kelly McNerney intercepted a long fire department pass. On the next possession, the 435th ran it out of bounds. It looked like the 435th would pick up some offensive momentum on the next play, when Tadziwill Barger caught a nice reception in the middle of the heavily trafficked field. But the 435th's quarterback rolled to his right, and threw it up, right into the arms of a fire department defender, who ran it back for about 15 yards before being stopped by a 435th player playing a hastily improvised defense. 

The next series saw the fire department make passing plays of two, five, five and then 15 yards as their quarterback made rolling runs either to the strong or weak sides of the field. But fire department didn't score, and the 435th got the ball. 

This time, the 435th converted, with McNerney taking the ball into the end zone on a 70-yard reception after three plays that resulted in about two yards of ground gained. The conversion attempt failed, but the 435th was still ahead 6-0. 

The fire department got the ball and their march up field was similar to the one they had just opposed. Their quarterback rolled to the right side on the first possession, threw and it resulted in an incomplete pass. Then he rolled left and threw to a teammate, who passed it again to another man downfield, for 20 yards gained. The 435th defenders batted down his next pass. But on the subsequent play, he stepped deep into the pocket, saw teammate Roy Vargas and threw to him. Vargas caught the ball for a 70-yard touchdown. The conversion attempt failed. The score was now tied 6-6. 

The next series saw the 435th throw for 30 scoreless yards on five attempts until the halftime came. When halftime ended, they still had the ball and bobbled it on the first play. On the following down, they were called for an illegal forward pass, then went to ground on a pass up the middle and were forced to punt. 

The fire department vollied by throwing a 30-yard pass to Jimmy Cummings and after a couple of unsuccessful pass plays, breathed easier when their quarterback hit Jerry Knopf for a 15-yard touchdown after rolling to the right and launching a nice throw right into his hands. With a successful conversion, the score was now 13-6. 

The 435th came back, throwing for a nice 10-yard pass into the heavily defended middle of the field, but then lost momentum two plays later when McNerney threw and was intercepted by Ryan O'Grady. 

Two plays later, the fire department's quarterback threw Chris Perez a 40-yard pass, but ensuing attempts to pass downfield resulted in incompletions due to dropped or tipped balls, courtesy of the 435th's aggressive defensive efforts. 

In what was one of their strongest series, the 435th then gained possession and threw successive 20-yard, 10-yard, 10-yard, 30-yard and 2-yard passes until CE's Cummings picked off the ball on a safety blitz  and time in the game ran out. 

Of their performance, 435th FTS coach Kevin Gibbs said, "We could have done a little bit better. But we're still learning and we still have room to grow." 

12th CE coach Cliff Martinez simply called his team's win "sloppy." 

"Our defense," he concluded, "came together in the end."