Division races heat up halfway through season

It is still anyone’s game at the midway point of the 2010 season, as the standings in each division are still tight with enough games left for a team to step up. The Tortilla Bay Dolphins lead their division with a 6-0 record and the Ross Built Raiders lead their league with the same record. The Tapes Tennis Titans picked up three wins this week and sit atop their division. This past week featured games on Saturday to make up for picture day previously scheduled and postponed for earlier in the season due to inclement weather. The conditions for the makeup games weren’t much better this time around, but every team played on Saturday to provide more exciting football action. For more scores, standings, schedules and information visit www.islandcommunitycenter.com.

Monday, Jan. 25
Division 3 (8-9)
Tortilla Bay Dolphins 18
BeachHouse Cardinals 13

A three touchdown game by Ethan Bertrand allowed the Dolphins to defeat the Cardinals and remain undefeated on the year. Bertrand had 68 rushing yards and 102 receiving yards, all of which came from passes by Joey Stewart. All of the Cardinals scoring occurred by Tyler Pearson, who had 127 rushing yards, two trips to the end zone and an extra point in the close loss.

Division 2 (10-12)
Walter & Associates Titans 18
Holy Cow Cowboys 14

A late touchdown by Michael Duffman and strong defense gave the Titans the edge over the Cowboys. Duffman finished the game with a pair of touchdowns and 121 rushing yards, with Jacob Talucci adding 50 rushing yards and a score to round out the scoring. Burke McCampbell-Hill led the Cowboys with 91 rushing yards, a touchdown and an extra point conversion. Zach Stewart threw for 72 yards and hooked up with Austin Morrow for a 12-yard touchdown pass for the Cowboys.

Division 1 (13-16)
Tapes Tennis Titans 38
Galati Yacht Sales Raiders 26

The Titans racked up points courtesy of two-touchdown games by Austin Ferrer and Chandler Hardy. Ferrer also picked off a pass on defense and threw for two touchdowns, one to Patrick Edwards and the other to Max Miller. The Raiders had receiving touchdowns from Aaron VanHook, Garrison Clark, Danny Doyle and Luke Shackelford. Doyle and VanHook accounted for the passing touchdowns and also each had interceptions on defense in the defeat.

Wednesday, Jan. 27
Division 3 (8-9)
Sparks Steel Art Eagles 26
Sandbar Saints 20

Both Jack Mello and Dylan Joseph, of the Eagles, had just over 100 rushing yards and combined for four touchdowns, three and one respectively. Joseph also caught a 40-yard pass from Truman Carlsen, had an extra point conversion and an interception on defense. The Saints had big games from Andrew Proctor and Michael Latimer, who combined for the teams three touchdowns. Benjamin Calhoun also had an interception for the Saints.

Division 2 (10-12)
Walter & Associates Titans 18
Mike Norman Realty Falcons 6

Michael Duffman led his team to victory on both sides of the ball, rushing for 173 yards and three touchdowns and also intercepting a pass on defense. The Falcons lone score came on a touchdown pass from Seth Walter to Jake Parsons as Walter finished with 80 passing yards, 66 of which went to Parsons. Gavin Sentman and Parsons each intercepted passes for the Falcons as well.

Division 3 (13-16)
Tapes Tennis Titans 32
Anna Maria Oyster Bar Panthers 14

Austin Ferrer was the Titans top performer of the game, as he completed nine of 11 passes for 97 yards and three touchdowns, including 67 rushing yards and two more trips to the end zone. Ferrer also picked off a pass on defense along with teammate Nick Papazian. Patrick Edwards caught two touchdown passes for 57 yards and Chandler Hardy added another score as the Titans picked up consecutive wins in as many days. Jordan Grabski and Lauren Hightower each caught touchdown passes from Christian Hightower, who finished with 160 passing yards.

Thursday, Jan. 28
Adult Division
Cowboys 19
Lions 18

The Cowboys narrowly held on to victory as the Lions drove down the field and failed to score as time expired. Charles Colson, Nate Talucci and David Zaccagnino each had receiving touchdowns on passes by David Johnston. The Cowboys defense held strong as Talucci had two interceptions along with Colson and Jesse Brisson picking off a pass as well. The Lions were led by Elijah Freeman, who caught two short touchdown passes and David Murphy, who returned an interception back for a touchdown on defense. Robert Cornell and Kevin Austin each had interceptions for the Lions as they fell to 0-4 and the Cowboys improve to 1-3.

Adult Division
Bengals 44
Titans 34

A high-scoring offensive attack allowed the Bengals to knock off the previously undefeated Titans team, as the teams moved to 2-2 and 3-1, respectively. Tyler Bekkerus led the Bengals by intercepting two crucial passes on defense along with two receiving touchdowns and a passing touchdown. Scott Dell completed 12 of 19 passes for 195 yards, including two touchdown passes each to Bekkerus and Jimmy Thomas and another to Andy Jonatzke. Jonatzke later had a rushing touchdown on a trick play and was successful on an extra point attempt as well. Will Bouziane threw for 175 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Titans and also intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown. Greg Ross had 94 receiving yards and a touchdown to round out the Titans scoring.

Adult Division
Raiders 24
Chiefs 18

The Raiders remained undefeated and in first place thanks to lone touchdowns by Shawn Kaleta, Larry Pearson and Lance Plowman. Mark Richardson was on the passing end of all of these touchdowns, finishing the game completed seven of 18 passes for 130 yards and three touchdowns. Pearson also intercepted a pass and ran it back to the end zone for a touchdown to seal the deal for the Raiders. The Chiefs’ Paul Kurtz threw for 175 yards and three scores, one each to Mark Anderson, Matt Bowers and Mike Brusso. Anderson led the team with 45 receiving yards and Bowers also picked off a pass as the Chiefs fell to 2-2 this year.

Friday, Jan. 29
Division 3 (8-9)
Sparks Steel Art Eagles 37
BeachHouse Cardinals 6

The Eagles looked spectacular on both offense and defense as they shut down the Cardinals and picked up their second win this week. Leo Rose completed 10 of 11 passes for 112 yards and three passing touchdowns, one to Marlin Ellis, Dylan Joseph and Jack Mello. Mello also had a huge game, combining for 175 total yards of offense and three touchdowns. Tori Walter also had a rushing touchdown in the Eagles win. The Cardinals touchdown came on a run by Masen Blandford, who finished with 57 rushing yards to lead his team.

Division 2 (10-12)
Ross Built Raiders 22
Island Real Estate Ravens 6

Joey Cucci had a pair of receiving touchdowns and Jake Ross reached pay dirt for another score to continue their undefeated season. Jack Shinn passed for 70 yards, almost all of which went to Tyler Yavalar who also converted a pair of two-point conversions to round out the Raiders scoring. Jake Ross also picked off a pass on defense to help shut down the Ravens. Josh Zawistoski accounted for most of the Ravens offense, rushing for 64 yards and a touchdown and Brandon Blandford intercepted a pass on defense in the loss.

Division 2 (10-12)
Mr. Bones BBQ Bengals 40
Holy Cow Cowboys 26

Logan Reiber had a career game for the Bengals, finishing with 95 rushing yards, 115 receiving yards, five total touchdowns, a pair of two-point conversions and an extra-point conversion. Noah Connors threw for two touchdowns and 77 passing yards and Ben Connors had a short rushing touchdown to recap the Bengals scoring. Reiber and Jean-Paul Russo each had interceptions as well for the Bengals defense. The Cowboys received help by two touchdown performances by both Austin Morrow and Henrik Hellem-Brusso. Morrow finished with over 120 total yards of offense and Hellem-Brusso also had an extra point conversion and interception as the Cowboys fell to 1-5.

Saturday, Jan. 30
Division 1 (13-16)
Tapes Tennis Titans 42
LaPensee Plumbing Ravens 13

The Titans picked up their third win of the week due to an all-around team effort on offense and defense. Austin Ferrer threw for 167 yards and four touchdowns while leading the defense with three interceptions as well. Max Miller finished with 97 receiving yards, three touchdowns and a two-point conversion and had help with big games from Chandler Hardy and Kyle Parsons. Hardy had two touchdown receptions, a two-point conversion and an interception with Parsons finishing with 60 yards of total offense, one touchdown and an extra point conversion. Chris Pate of the Ravens threw for 110 yards and two touchdowns, with Tommy Price on the receiving end of both scores and accounting for 100 of Pate’s passing yards as the Ravens fell to 2-3 and Titans improved to 5-1.

Division 1 (13-16)
Galati Yacht Sales Raiders 33
Anna Maria Oyster Bar Panthers 26

Danny Doyle led the Raiders to their second win with two passing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns. Garrison Clark, Michael Galati and Luke Shackelford each had visits to the end zone as well. Clark and Anna Maria Galati each had interceptions along with a sack by Aaron Vanhook to pull off the close victory. Christian Hightower and Jordan Grabski, of the Panthers, provided all of the team’s offense, as they linked up four times in the end zone for scores. Hightower finished with 242 passing yards, nearly all of which went to Grabski who also hauled in a pair of two-point conversions. Liam Cassidy also picked off two passes on defense as the Panthers fell to 2-4.

Division 2 (10-12)
Ross Built Raiders 34
Mr. Bones BBQ Bengals 6

The Raiders continued their winning streak by pouring on the offense and holding the Bengals to minimal offensive success. Jack Shinn completed 12 of his 14 passes for 163 yards while throwing for three touchdowns and catching another pass for a score as well. Jake Ross finished with two touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions, with Andrew Ross hauling in a touchdown as well.
Tyler Yavalar, Andrew Ross and Shinn each picked off passes on defense, with Shinn returning one back for a score. The Bengals top performer was Logan Reiber, who finished with 150 total yards of offense and the team’s lone touchdown.

Division 2 (10-12)
Island Real Estate Ravens 26
Walter & Associates Titans 6

The Ravens improved to 2-4 thanks a strong effort by Josh Zawistoski, who threw two touchdown passes and ran in two more. Brandon Blandford and Ati Dattoli each hauled in touchdown passes and had successful extra-point conversions. Zawistoski also recorded two interceptions on defense to hold the Titans offense to six points. Michael Duffman racked up 165 rushing yards and had a touchdown for the Titans in the loss, who fell to 3-3 on the season.

Division 2 (10-12)
Holy Cow Cowboys 18
Mike Norman Realty Falcons 14

The Cowboys received touchdowns from Mikey Ellsworth, Henrik Hellem-Brusso and Burke McCampbell-Hill which was enough to hold off the Falcons. McCampbell-Hill finished with 132 rushing yards and caught a touchdown pass from Ellsworth. Zach Stewart also threw a 40-yard pass to Ellsworth reaching pay dirt and a 10-yard rushing touchdown by Hellem-Brusso rounds out the teams scoring. The Falcons only offensive touchdown came on a 10-yard pass from Morgan Greig to Seth Walter, both of which also picked off passes on defense, with Greig returning one back to the end zone for a score. The Cowboys picked up their first win this year with a 1-5 record and the Falcons fell to 2-4.

Division 3 (8-9)
Tortilla Bay Dolphins 25
Sparks Steel Art Eagles 18

Ethan Bertrand compiled 95 total yards of offense and had three touchdowns to help his Dolphins team remain undefeated this season. Dylan Doyle ran for 105 yards and had one touchdown and an extra-point conversion to round out the team’s scoring. The Eagles fell to 4-3 with this close loss, but had great performances by Jack Mello and Dylan Joseph. Mello had 95 rushing yards and two of the team’s touchdowns, while Joseph had a receiving touchdown and picked off two passes on defense in the tough loss.

Division 3 (8-9)
BeachHouse Cardinals 30
Sandbar Saints 13

Tyler Pearson headlined the Cardinals offensive attack by rushing for 146 yards and scoring four touchdowns. Alexander Buttram had 87 rushing yards, one touchdown and an interception to help lead his team to earn their first victory. The Saints scored on touchdown runs by Andrew Proctor and Michael Latimer, with an extra-point conversion by Joe Rogers to recap the scoring drives as the team fell to 2-4.

Upcoming Week’s Games

Wednesday, Feb. 3

Div. 3: 6 p.m. – Tortilla Bay Dolphins vs. BeachHouse Cardinals
Div. 2: 7 p.m. – Mike Norman Realty Falcons vs. Holy Cow Cowboys
Div. 1: 8 p.m. – Anna Maria Oyster Bar Panthers vs. LaPensee Plumbing Ravens

Thursday, Feb. 4

Adult: 6 p.m. – Lions vs. Bengals
Adult: 7 p.m. – Cowboys vs. Chiefs
Adult: 8 p.m. – Raiders vs. Titans

Friday, Feb. 5

Div. 3: 6 p.m. – Sparks Steel Art Eagles vs. Sandbar Saints
Div. 2: 7 p.m. – Mr. Bones BBQ Bengals vs. Island Real Estate Ravens
Div. 2: 8 p.m. – Holy Cow Cowboys vs. Ross Built Raiders

Monday, Feb. 8

Div. 3: 6 p.m. – Tortilla Bay Dolphins vs. Sandbar Saints
Div. 2: 7 p.m. – Mike Norman Realty Falcons vs. Mr. Bones BBQ Bengals
Div. 1: 8 p.m. – Galati Yacht Sales Raiders vs. Anna Maria Oyster Bar Panthers

Tuesday, Feb. 9

Div. 3: 6 p.m. – BeachHouse Cardinals vs. Sparks Steel Art Eagles
Div. 2: 7 p.m. – Walter & Associates Titans vs. Ross Built Raiders
Div. 1: 8 p.m. – Tapes Tennis Titans vs. LaPensee Plumbing Ravens