Beach To Bay built a solid offense on the field

With a 2-2 record, Team Truly Nolan went into Thursday’s game looking for the win with a new quarterback at the helm. Jon Bell was picked up by the team and proved to be a strong offensive threat as QB. Facing a Kaletaless Beach to Bay Construction, Truly Nolan’s 220 passing yards and 45 rushing yards just was not enough for the victory.

The difference was the pass completions by Beach to Bay. The Shaughnessy family comprises just under half of the team roster. Lead by Mike Shaughnessy, who played for the Kent State Golden Flashes in the late 1970s, played quarterback Thursday night with a perfect passing record of seven passes and seven receptions for 80 yards. His youngest son, Tim Shaughnessy, hit nine of 13 passing attempts for 110 yard in the game.

The Shaughnessys completed passes and yards gained after the catch earned their team the 33-19 win in the adult co-ed recreational league at the Center.

Team Truly Nolan played with four players on the field for the entire game, giving them a one-player disadvantage on the gridiron. The team’s athletic powerhouse, Matt Morgan, had 165 receiving yards, two touchdowns and an extra point. Morgan and Bell’s combined 11 flag pulls kept the game close in the first half.

Both team’s first offensive possessions came up short. With no points on the scoreboard, Truly Nolan QB Bell hit Morgan for a first down catch on second down. Back-to-back catches by Amy Talucci and husband Nate took the ball to the one-yard line. On third down, the critical touchdown pass was caught by Morgan. The one point attempt was a hard pass off the hands of A. Talucci keeping the score at 0-6.

T. Shaughnessy quickly moved the field downfield with a catch and long run after the reception. On second down, the catch was made by Caleb Roberts. Beach to Bay’s third down play showed the depth and diversity of the team. M. Shaughnessy tossed the football behind the line of scrimmage to T. Shaughnessy, who also attended Kent State and played football for Delta State University. T. Shaughnessy patiently waited for the open player and found Brent Moss for the team’s first touchdown of the game. The extra point pass was caught by T. Shaughnessy, moving Beach to Bay ahead 7-6.

Chris Culhane applied defensive pressure for Team Beach to Bay Construction with the hot pursuit of Bell. On the rush, Culhane forced Bell to get rid of the ball throwing an incomplete pass to A. Talucci. Brianna Shaughnessy, sister of T. Shaughnessy, applied good man coverage on A. Talucci. On the third down play, Bell spotted Morgan all alone in the middle of the field for the first down. T. Shaughnessy raced across the field to pull Morgan’s flag, saving the touchdown.

Bell hit the hands of veteran Center player N. Talucci with an immediate flag pull by Moss, his first of four for the game. On the play, an impeding the rusher penalty was called on A. Talucci who plays center for Team Truly Nolan moving the ball back for second down.

Finding his favorite target Bell threw to Morgan for another long gain before the flag pull by Clay Spangler. Rushing pressure by Beach to Bay’s Culhane caused the Bell interception by Moss who ran the ball back to the 20-yard line.

Roberts, fiancé of B. Shaughnessy, rushed for 10 yards, moving the ball to the five-yard line. T. Shaughnessy took the option to run the ball after getting it behind the line of scrimmage. His nine-yard gain put Beach to Bay in the perfect position for a quick pitch just over the goal line to B. Shaughnessy for the team’s second touchdown. Moss caught the point after throw taking the score to 14-6.

Missing teammates Drew Mitchell, Mark Boltwood and Adam Mott, Truly Nolan could not make the first down on its next offensive possession.

Back on offense, Roberts moved the ball for first down yardage. Beach To Bay’s next play was controversial. Discussion among other league players and on-field comments by N. Talucci ensued.

In the Center’s league, quarterbacks will often handoff the football to the center with their hands behind the back to take possession of the ball. This trick play gives the center the ability to run the ball or gives the quarterback the option to take the ball back for an offensive play.

T. Shaughnessy, in the quarterback position, placed the ball on the stooped over back of B. Shaughnessy. With the ball literally balancing on her back, B. Shaughnessy’s hands never touched the ball. T. Shaughnessy took the ball off the back of B. Shaughnessy and ran ball to the two-yard line.

N. Talucci was called for unsportsman like conduct for impassioned argument with the referee. The penalty placed the football right short of the goal line for Team Beach to Bay. With 12.7 seconds left on the clock and first down, Roberts was wide-open in the end zone. The extra point took the score to 21-6 with 8.5 seconds left in the first half of the game.

The quick legs of N. Talucci and resurrection of his swivel hips moved the ball to just short of mid-field before the football fell out of his hands. Culhane’s flag pull on the second down play ending the first half.

Truly Nolan started the second half with a quick throw to Morgan for a 10-yard gain.

A running grab by A. Talucci earned the team important yardage five yards short of the first down in the pass only zone.

N. Talucci caught the first down catch. Moss earned another defensive statistic with the flag pull. First down for Truly Nolan matched up former teammates T. Shaughnessy and Morgan. With T. Shaughnessy on defense, Morgan caught the ball. Just missing the flag, T. Shaughnessy allowed Morgan to get into the end zone and score six points. Morgan scored the point after closing the point gap to eight with a score of 21-13.

Looking to put more points on the scoreboard, T. Shaughnessy threw to Moss for a completed pass. M. Shaughnessy pitched a short dump pass to Roberts. After a missed flag pull by N. Talucci, Bell made the flag pull preventing the touchdown.

After a loss of yardage by Team Beach to Bay, M. Shaughnessy went under center and handed off the ball to T. Shaughnessy. The fake handoff to Moss allowed him to wheel down the sideline for a touchdown reception. Morgan batted the extra point throw down before it could reach B. Shaughnessy.

With the score 27-13, Truly Nolan’s offense struggled to gain yards and complete passes. Turning the ball over on downs, Beach to Bay took over with 10 minutes left on the clock. Three quick downs later, N. Talucci found himself the offensive receiver again with a 10-yard gain. The defensive pressure of Culhane continued causing two incomplete passes by Bell.

Team Beach to Bay made handy work of the football field with catches by Moss and T. Shaughnessy. On third and short, the offense line up fooled the Truly Nolan defense. Expecting the short first down toss across mid-field, the defense lined up shallow, allowing Roberts to go deep with only one defender to beat before scoring the touchdown. Uncharacteristically, B. Shaughnessy dropped the extra point throw leaving the score 33-13.

Team Truly Nolan continued to fight for points with two minutes on the clock. N. Talucci gained yardage just short of the first down. Morgan gave his team another set of downs with the first down before Moss’ flag pull.

N. Talucci ran the ball to the one-yard line on second down. In one-yard line on second down. In a do or die situation, Truly Nolan scored its third touchdown with a third down pass to the hands and chest of N. Talucci. The point after was incomplete leaving the score 33-19 as the final seconds ticked off the game clock giving Team Beach to Bay Construction another win.

Sun Scoreboard

Tuesday, March 1

11-to 13-year-old league

LPAC 42
Truly Nolan Pest Control 18

Signarama 20
Air & Energy 21

Sugar Beach Digital 40
West Coast A/C & Heating, Inc. 20

Progressive Energy 6
Tyler’s Ice Cream 31

Wednesday, March 2

Adult league

Beach House Real Estate 14
Mason Martin 13

Moss Builders 40
Tyler’s Ice Cream 20

Moss Builders 40
Coldwell Banker 20

Truly Nolen 19
Beach to Bay Construction 33

Friday, March 4

8-to 10-year-old league

AMI Vacation Rentals 6
Tyler’s Ice Cream 13

14-to 17-year-old league

Team Cuva 20
LPAC 32

Team Mannino 46
Team Snyder 20

Saturday, March 5

8-to 10-year-old league: Quarter Finals

LaPensee Plumbing & Pools 21
AMI Vacation Rentals 6

Beach Bums 8
Heidi Johnston ReMax 15

Eason Builders Group 28
Bark and Company 34

Tyler’s Ice Cream 33
Miller Electric 12