Third place Bills upset first place Bears

The Sun sports Game of the Week was a Division I game between the first place Beach Bistro Bears and the third place 1st American Bank Bills. This was also the concluding game of the regular season schedule.

The 1st American Bank Bills set the tone early. The team was primed and ready to take on the challenge of the first place team. On the Bills first drive, Jack Shinn took a handoff and scampered in for a 10-yard touchdown. The point after failed and left the score 6-0. On the ensuing next play, there was a bad snap for the Beach Bistro Bears which turned into a safety and just like that the score was 8-0.

The Bears defense held strong, forcing the Bills to a three and out led by Katie Holiday, who finished the game with five flag pulls and two sacks. But the Bears second offensive snap of the game resulted in the exact same safety as the first snap, which now made the score 10-0.

The Bears finally got some positive plays on offense thanks to Thomas Pears. Pears intercepted a pass and ran it back to the 10-yard line. On first and goal, Henry Bernet passed to Pears to the 3-yard line. Then on third and goal, Bernet threw to Pears again for the touchdown. The point after was no good and made the score 10-6. The Bills looked like they might score again before the half when, with no time left on the clock, Nick Mello intercepted a Bills pass and ran it back 30 yards for the pick-six touchdown. The point after failed and the halftime score was 12-10 Bears.

The Bears looked to extend their lead in the second half, but the Bills defense came up huge on the first two possessions. On the first Bears' possession, Garrison Clark, of the Bills, had a pick-six interception for a touchdown. The point after was good on a Jack Shinn pass to Jake Parsons. On the second Bears possession, Destin Sparkman intercepted a pass and took it to the house for a 20-yard touchdown. The point after was no good and within the first two minutes of the second half, the Bills were up 23-12.

Both defenses played hard the rest of the second half and included another Bills interception, this time by Pierce Hogan. The score remained the same though until with only 23 seconds left in the game, Nick Mello took a handoff and ran 45 yards down the sideline for the Bears' touchdown. They used the same play and Mello scored the two-point conversion. With only 23 seconds left the Bills took a knee to run out the clock and the upset victory was complete 23-20 for the Bills.

To see or purchase more pictures of this and other games go to www.amisun.com.

Game Scores:

Division III (8-9-year-olds)

Island Real Estate Saints 7
Beach Bums Seahawks 19

Connelly Marine Falcons 18
Island Real Estate Saints 24

Division II (10-12-year-olds)

Mr. Spiffy Cleaning Chargers 18
Eat Here Jaguars 14

LPAC Cardinals 37
LaPensee Plumbing Falcons 12

Walter & Associates Steelers 25
Eat Here Jaguars 6

Ross Built Construction Vikings 21
Southern Greens Buccaneers 18

Division I (13-16-year-olds)

Bassett, Vita, Vining & Hermann Group Raiders 46
Beach Bistro Bears 0

Bassett, Vita, Vining & Hermann Group Raiders 28
Mr. Bones BBQ Eagles 27

Beach Bistro Bears 20
1st American Bank Bills 23

Adult Co-Ed League

Slim's Place Jaguars 19
Sato Real Estate Browns 34

Rotten Ralphs Packers 22
Duffy's Tavern Buccaneers 20

Bob Vita Landscaping Cowboys 12
MartiniVille Bears 33

Jessie's Island Store Vikings 33
Beach to Bay Construction Rams 7

Hurricane Hanks Patriots 6
Walter & Associates Steelers 13

AMICC NFL Flag Football Schedule:

Instructional League (5-7-year-olds)
Awards - March 14, Monday, 6 p.m.

Division III (8-9-year-olds)

Awards - March 14, Monday, 6 p.m.

Division II (10-12-year-olds)

Awards - March 14, Monday, 7:30 p.m.

Division I (13-16-year-olds)

Awards - March 14, Monday, 7:30 p.m.

Adult Co-Ed League

March 10, Thursday, 5:30 p.m. Jessie's Island Store Vikings VS. Island Sun Falcons

March 10, Thursday, 6:30 p.m. Duffy's Tavern Buccaneers VS. Walter & Associates Steelers

March 10, Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Hurricane Hanks Patriots VS. Slim's Place Jaguars

March 10, Thursday, 8:30 p.m. Sato Real Estate Browns VS. Rotten Ralphs Packers

March 10, Thursday, 9:30 p.m. Beach To Bay Construction Rams VS. Bob Vita Landscaping Cowboys

Senior Games redux

I originally got on Facebook to make sure my kids were alive and well. I also wanted to keep them posted on my life. Scattered all over, it was the only way. I am very grateful for the ability to do that easily.

Then as my literary agent began shopping my book around a few years ago, she told me all publishers cared about was how many friends I had on Facebook and how many Tweets I twitted on Twitter. Whatever.

You may have seen in last week's Sun that I won a couple of gold medals at the Gulf Coast Senior Games at Bayshore High School. The Senior Games are held all over the U.S. in local communities sponsoring competitions in everything you'd expect to see at the real Olympics. The only qualification is you have to be 50 or older. I didn't know anyone locally who had competed.

When I posted on Facebook that I had competed in the Senior Games, one of my childhood friends (yes I am connected all the way back to nursery school) said, "I remember the Senior Olympics with old people participating, not anyone that looks amazing, like you!!"

I feel better now. My friend's memory was correct, though. The Senior Olympics started in our hometown of St. Louis, Miss., in 1980. The major objective of Senior Olympics is to encourage older people to remain active.

Florida and other states developed similar games and in 1992. In my Google searches, Senior Olympics and Senior Games are often used together. But the Florida Senior Games Website makes no mention of the Senior Olympics.

Whatever they are called, somewhere I got the idea that they weren't very competitive. Perhaps I figured that any organization that allows horseshoe, bowling or cribbage competitions can't be serious competitions.

I also could only find one person in the Runners Club who had run in past games. Since she had run in the 5K race and didn't know about track events, which were in a different location. Most runners I know compete in races that are strictly running, or triathlons which include swimming and biking. In addition, the Gasparilla races in Tampa were the same day for the second year in a row, much to the annoyance of some who said they might have competed in the Senior Games.

I called Manatee County Parks and Recreation. "So how many are registered for the 5K (3.1 miles) race this year?" I asked.

He left the phone for a long time and came back, "One."

"How many do you need to have the race?" I astutely followed up. "We're there," he answered. "We usually have about 40-45 people for the 5K. But you gotta understand. Most people who do this have been wanting to run just one race in their lives. This is not serious."

I decided to get out of my comfort zone of 5Ks. I already knew I could run a 5K well since I placed in my age group in most local 5Ks last year. But I had never done a track meet in my life. When I went to high school, the only sport for girls was field hockey. I signed up for the 800 and 1500 meter races.

At the games, I was the youngest participant and the only woman in my age group. The first race was the 1500. I did the entire first lap ahead of the men. We competed in all races together. I kept expecting to hear the patter of feet behind me, and eventually, I did. But it was thrilling to be out ahead of the men for an entire lap.

I learned that I have more fast-twitch muscles and should enter shorter sprint distances. I finished the 800 in 4:02 and the 1500 in 8:03. If I had been competing in the national games in 2009, the last year they were held, records show I would have comin 8th and 7th respectively. I won't ever approach the national all-time records, but not bad for a first-timer. It was downright fun!

Join us every Friday at 8 a.m. for a free hour of walking and/or running. We meet at the Manatee Beach playground.

Ellen Jaffe Jones is an Island resident, accomplished endurance runner, cook-book author, Aerobics and Fitness Association of America certified personal trainer and RRCA certified running coach. Questions on training? Contact Ellen at ejones@vegcoach.com, 941-704-1025 or at Island Fitness most weekday mornings (next to Eat Here).