JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
The Air Force Personnel Center won its second consecutive
Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph intramural flag football tournament
championship by shutting out the 359th Medical Group, 12-0, Nov. 17 at the
JBSA-Randolph football field.
AFPC went 4-1 during the tournament and bounced back from an
earlier loss to 359th MDG in the double-elimination tournament to repeat as
JBSA-Randolph intramural flag football champions. They finished the regular
season 7-0 in the five team JBSA-Randolph flag football league.
AFPC won its first game of the JBSA-Randolph tournament,
12-6, over Air Force Personnel Center #2. In their next game, AFPC was shut out
by the 359th MDG, 13-0, knocking AFPC into the consolation bracket. AFPC then
staved off elimination by edging out the 502nd Civil Engineering Squadron,
13-7, which put them back in the championship bracket. The win against the
502nd CES set up a rematch with the 359th MDG, which AFPC had to beat out twice
to win the flag football championship.
In the final two tournament games against 359th MDG, AFPC
won 20-14 and 12-0 to win the JBSA-Randolph title.
AFPC and 359th MDG qualified for the JBSA Flag Football
Championship tournament Nov. 18-19 at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston. The tournament
consisted of six intramural teams, including the top two from both JBSA-Fort
Sam Houston and JBSA-Lackland.
In the JBSA tournament, AFPC advanced to the title game and
played San Antonio Military Medical Center from JBSA-Fort Sam Houston. AFPC
fell short in the JBSA championship game, losing 14-7 to SAMMC.
AFPC scored its only touchdown of the game on a 5-yard pass
from Jeremy Gilchrist to Carlos Colon in the first half. Gilchrist then threw
to Benjamin Soltisz for the extra point to put AFPC on top 7-0, which was the
halftime score.
In the second half, SAMMC took control of the game by
scoring two touchdowns and preventing AFPC from getting into the end zone.
AFPC coach Allen Batiste said AFPC was unable execute its
offense and capitalize on scoring opportunities in the second half.
Batiste said AFPC accomplished a lot this season, which
included going undefeated in the regular season, winning the JBSA-Randolph
title and playing in JBSA championship game.
“It was a fun and successful season by the team,” Batiste
said. “We had a pretty good run.”
Batiste said a quick defense was one of the reasons AFPC
repeated as JBSA-Randolph champions and were able to make a run at the JBSA
title. He said the defensive backfield of Stephen Johnson and Michael Gunter,
cornerbacks, and Jeremy Gilchrist and David Harness, safeties, made it tough
for opposing offenses to pass the ball.
“The defense was the strongest part of our team,” Batiste
said. “Our defense would put our offense in good situations to score. We had a
pretty good pass rush either getting to the quarterback or forcing him to make
an ill-advised throw.”
Henry Sorsby, 359th MDG coach, said the team had a lot of
new players and played better towards the end of the season once the team’s
chemistry started coming together.
The 359th MDG went 5-3 during the regular season and
finished in second place in the JBSA-Randolph standings behind AFPC. They went
2-2 in the JBSA-Randolph tournament, which included wins over 502 CES, 18-13,
and AFPC, 13-0, and the two final losses to AFPC.
The 359th MDG ended their season losing in the first round
of the JBSA Flag Football Championship tournament. Last year 359th MDG advanced
to the JBSA Flag Football Championship game. Sorsby said his team’s goal next
year is to advance further in the JBSA tournament.