ANNA MARIA – The youth flag football season is coming to an end, and semifinal playoff games dominated the sports schedule last week. The youngest competitive players took to the field Wednesday night.
After beating #3 team Slim’s Place the week before, underdog #6 team Bins Be Clean faced the #2 team Progressive Cabinetry in the semifinal game of the week. Coach Troy Kosteinik led the Progressive Cabinetry team to victory in a nail biter against Coach Joe Peery’s Bins Be Clean squad.
Early in the game the two teams put points on the scoreboard. Connar Henderson put six points in the statistics book with a touchdown for Progressive Cabinetry to start the scoring. Cyrus Ryan followed for Bins Be Clean, getting into the end zone for the touchdown and the point after, giving his team a one-point lead.
The Progressive Cabinetry defense covered the field and stumped the Bins Be Clean quarterback, forcing him play after play to make a play right at the seven-second count down by the referee.
The first half of the game ended with the score 6-7.
Going into the next 20 minutes of play, Kosteinik’s team started on offense. Henderson looked like he was going to weave in and out of traffic for the score but was stopped 10 yards from the Bins Be Clean end zone.
Mary Harrison put the football into action as the Progressive Cabinetry center on a number of plays. On the second down play, Gabriel Conn made a critical flag pull for Bins Be Clean, forcing a third down play that had to end in a touchdown.
The Progressive Cabinetry quarterback finally found Henderson at the front pylon for his team’s second touchdown, moving the score to 12-7.
Bins Be Clean started its next set of downs with a reverse to Conn, who sped down the sideline, taking the football just short of the first down. Conn’s team could not cross the midfield line, turning the ball over to the opponent.
Landon Snyder made quick work of the field with a touchdown. The Progressive Cabinetry point after conversion gave the team a 12-point lead in the game with the score at 19-7.
Assistant coach Josh Conn, along with Coach Peery, encouraged the Bins Be Clean to continue the fight on the field, resulting in a critical score in three snaps of the ball. The series started with a short reception and important yards after by G. Conn.
Connor Samblis was the quarterback’s choice for the third play of the possession. Samblis evaded defenders, with flags slipping through many hands, before finding the end zone. Going for two points, Ryan made the sliding catch taking Bins Be Clean within four points of the tie.
Back on defense, big brother Conn was assisted by Tyler Conn to box in the Progressive Cabinetry quarterback, preventing the first down. Despite the efforts of the Bins Be Clean defense, Progressive Cabinetry scored its final points of the game, taking the score to 25-15.
Working the clock with a never say quit attitude, the Bins Be Clean quarterback scored a touchdown with 45 seconds left on the game clock. G. Conn scored the extra point to make it a three-point game.
T. Conn, back on defense, rushed in to put the pressure on the Progressive quarterback, eventually leading to a key sack. The second down incomplete pass forced the third down push to the midfield line. Despite a nice pass, Progressive Cabinetry could not cross the line.
Bins Be Clean got the football back with 14.8 seconds on the clock. The team made every effort to get back into scoring position, but time was not on its side. On third down, Henderson made what might have been the most important flag pull of the game for Progressive Cabinetry to end the game, keeping the opponent from scoring what would have been the game-winning touchdown.
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