Ladies of the gridiron make the difference

The Thursday night lights at The Center were bright in the last game of the night, and the athletic ladies lit up the field. Team captain, and the newest Sato, Lexi, racked up 35 receiving yard, a touchdown, one extra point and two critical flag pulls, while Laura Alderson supported her team, both on the offensive and defensive fronts.

For Team Moss Builders, Emily Moss and Rainia Lardas presented a tough team presence in the late night game, playing a strong defensive game and making Tyler's Ice Cream earn every yard.

Once again the Sato family, sprinkled with two Aldersons, are featured in the game of the week, but this time they came away with the win for Team Tyler's Ice Cream. The loss for Moss Builders and all of the Moss family players, with the exception of Jon Moss who plays for Beach House Real Estate, brought each of the teams' records to 2-2 for the season.

Moss Builders, led by captain Ryan Moss, started on offense. Hitting his offensive weapon, the first pass of the night was to Andrew Terman for a 15-yard gain. Jordan Ganey was the target for the second down pass, which lead to the first touchdown play to Terman in less than three minutes.

The impeding the rusher call against Team Moss Builders negated the extra point attempt, leaving the score at 6-0.

After the incomplete pass to Rob "Ice Cream" Alderson on first down, L. Sato caught the first of her 35 total receiving yards in the game. E. Moss quickly made the flag pull to stop L. Sato's forward progress and prevented what could have been a breakaway play down the sideline.

With intense defensive pressure, Josh Sato threw the third down pass over the head of his sister-in-law, giving the football back to Moss Builders.

In an attempt to gain yardage, Terman worked hard to evade Tyler's Ice Cream defenders, gaining five yards down field, despite many more yards laterally. Team Moss Builders' offensive run was cut short with an interception by Josh Sato.

Quarterback Jason Sato's first pass was to brother Nick Sato. N. Sato was chased by R. Moss who made the flag pull to stop the play. The successful second down play put Tyler's Ice Cream on the Moss Builder's 20-yard line and a first down.

Three snaps of the football and no points were put on the scoreboard for Tyler's Ice Cream, thanks to the tightly played defense of Moss Builders.

Hoping to increase their lead, R. Moss gave Terman the ball behind the line of scrimmage, giving him the option to run or pass the football. Terman saw Lardas wide open, but threw it over her head.

R. Moss was pursued in the backfield by N. Sato. Finding Terman open, Moss Builders found themselves at third down three yards from the mid-field line.

Getting the football to the most reliable player on the field, Gillum made the first down catch. The initially missed flag pull allowed Gillum to gain significant yardage before heading into traffic between R. Alderson and L. Sato.

Taking the football in the shotgun position gave R. Moss critical time to get the play off, despite N. Sato almost stopping the play with a tipped pass. L. Sato quickly followed up with a quick flag pull ending Terman's run after the pass.

With five minutes lit up on the scoreboard, the pass by R. Moss was nearly picked off by a sprinting Josh Sato. Challenging the referee's call, Josh Sato lined up defensively, fired up and ready to prove a point.

Tossing the football back and forth behind the line of scrimmage between R. Moss and Terman, R. Moss ended up with the football and threw an intercepted caught by Josh Sato who ran past the Moss Builder's defense. With the last missed flag pull by R. Moss, the ballgame was tied 6-6.

The running catch across the middle of the end zone by Jason Sato to L. Sato gave Tyler's Ice Cream a one point lead.

Back on offense, two consecutive passes to Gillum gave Moss Builders another first down. The incredible defense by Ben Sato stopped the forward momentum and score by Moss Builders, taking the game to the second half of play.

Neither team having a weak player set the stage for a close matchup in the game of the week. With the start of the second half of play and a one point lead for Tyler's Ice Cream, the first play of the second half to L. Sato set the stage for final 20 minutes of the game. L. Sato's reception was met with a fired up E. Moss. Ready to chase her opponent down, E. Moss snagged the waiving flag preventing the L. Sato score.

Finishing the game with 140 passing yard, elder Sato hit L. Sato and Josh Sato in the next two plays to gain the first down. In an unfortunate play, Jason Sato's pass was tipped up by teammate R. Alderson, giving R. Moss the opportunity to intercept the ball in a heads up play. R. Moss raced down the length of the field for a Moss Builders touchdown.

After snapping the ball, Gillum sprinted into the end zone for the extra point, taking the score to 13-7.

With a Moss Builders lead of six points, both teams were unsuccessful during their next possessions. Regaining the football, Tyler's Ice Cream's Alderson nabbed the third down catch just over the first down line, with Terman holding on to the pants of the receiver and getting the holding penalty call.

L. Sato made the next catch with speedy lateral yardage to get within five yards from the score. The diving catch attempt by L. Sato was called incomplete. The unending fight of L. Sato resulted in a one-handed catch, pinning the football against defender E. Moss in the end zone for six points, tying the ballgame.

The extra point jump catch by Josh Sato in the corner of the end zone gave Tyler's Ice Cream the 13-14 lead.

The game clock had ample time for the experienced and calm R. Moss to take his team to victory. Terman was R. Moss' go to man for three consecutive plays, giving Moss Builders the first down with 90 seconds left on the clock.

Despite the effort by a determined Moss Builders, Tyler's Ice Cream maintained the lead as the last second of the clock ticked off giving the Sato/Alderson family team the one point win, closing out the fourth week of the eight week season.

Sun Scoreboard

Tuesday, Sept. 13

Youth Basketball
Five-to Nine-Year-Old League

Sugar Beach Digital 10 (6-0)
Harry's Grill 6 (4-2)

The Waterfront 10 (2-4)
Salty Printing 2 (0-6)

Thursday, Sept. 15

Adult Co-Ed Flag Football

Beach House Real Estate 25 (3-1)
Anna Maria CrossFit 6 (1-3)

Progressive Cabinetry 25 (3-1)
Coldwell Banker 13 (1-3)

Blake Medical Center 18 (0-4)
Mason Martin 20 (4-0)

Moss Builders 13 (2-2)
Tyler's Ice Cream 14 (2-2)