Upperclassmen Stop Freshman Winning Streak at Two
Published 10.08.2015
News
Athletics
On a cool, fall Wednesday night, the freshman flag football team vowed to keep alive its two-game Homecoming streak against the upperclassmen. On the other side of the line, the sophomores (last year's winning freshmen) wanted to extend their personal winning record and the seniors hoped to go out on a victory. The game began as a defensive battle; both sides moved the ball, but their drives stalled and each team twice turned it over on downs. The upperclassmen were pinned deep at their own end and, on a fumbled snap, the freshmen recovered in the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 halftime lead. The upperclassmen had possession to start the second half and it only took a few plays for Jalile Best to find Dustin Baughman in the end zone to give them a 7-2 lead. The freshmen took the kickoff and brought it back to midfield. However, going for the deep ball two plays later, they were intercepted by Baughman in the end zone to stop the momentum and give the ball back to the upperclassmen. Trying to make the most of the turnover, Best found Mike Pearl all alone for a touchdown, putting the upperclassmen up 14-2. The freshmen were determined to climb back into the game and Kevin Powell rushed upfield past all defenders to score the first touchdown for the first-year squad, which made the score 14-9. The upperclassmen were in control of the clock and looking to end the game with under a minute left ... until Philip Rioux intercepted the Best pass and returned it to the upperclass side of the field. The freshmen scrambled and threw a "Hail Mary" into the end zone and their prayers were answered by a touchdown with 12 seconds left. Unfortunately for them, one of the wide receivers started too early and the penalty ended the game – and the freshmen winning streak. Joining Powell and Rioux as members of the freshman team were Corey Fultz, Frantz Balan, Dylan Michna, Brian Gyampoh, Arik Leota, Winston Wright, Tucker Ruch, Justin Norman, Logan Firestine and Dakota Boyer. Upperclass players, aside from Best and Mike Pearl, were Chris Johnson, Charles Stankye, Josh Pearl, Baughman, Sean Reynolds, Steven Moon, Dylan Bennett, Carlos Anavitate-Bermudez and Gabriel Nepita-Mejia.Photos and game summary by Jeremy R. Bottorf, coordinator of intramural sports and campus recreation