Cops claim championship

  • Published
  • By Kevin Gaddie
  • Team Eglin Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The 96th Security Forces Squadron beat the Air Armament Center Directorate 19-14 to win the intramural flag football championship game Dec. 15.

The SFS team, who won the title in 2008, had a 6-0 record going in to the final game of the single-elimination playoff, while AAC entered the matchup at 8-1. Both squads displayed the ability to work the clock and get into scoring position on offense, which kept both defenses alert throughout the game.

On AAC's second possession, Brian Nagle, the quarterback, brought his team near the end zone in 11 plays. A lateral to Jimmy Herold led to a two-yard touchdown run. The one-point conversion made the score 7-0.

SFS also scored on their second possession, when quarterback James Baker capped a 13-play drive with a one-yard touchdown pass to Zerrick Haymond. They failed to convert the point attempt, and AAC remained in front, 7-6.

With under three minutes to go before halftime, SFS moved the ball to the two-yard line. Then, Baker threw another touchdown pass to Haymond to take over the lead, 13-7.

Hunter Harper, the SFS coach, was happy to have the momentum at halftime.

"We got a good chance to see what the AAC team has," he said. "I told our guys to just think of the score as 0-0 at halftime, keep the tempo up and play the last 15 minutes as hard as they can."

Herold, the AAC team coach, encouraged his team to stay in the hunt.

"We're hanging in there with them, and we're looking to come out strong in the second half." he said. "On defense we just need to shut down their top receivers."

SFS struck early in the second half, moving the ball down the field in 10 plays. Baker ended the drive with a two-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Lewis, which widened the lead to 19-7.

Two plays into the next AAC drive, SFS' Chris Smith intercepted a pass at midfield. AAC's defense held strong after the turnover and SFS couldn't convert the interception into points.

Back on offense, AAC pushed the ball down the field in seven plays, and scored on a four-yard touchdown pass from Nagle to Garrett Duff to narrow the deficit to 19-14.

The SFS defense held off a final AAC drive in the final four minutes to clinch the win and the championship title at 19-14.

"We couldn't get the ball to a man in the end zone in the time we had left," Herold said. "Our guys played well, but SFS was just too good today."

Harper acknowledged his team's winning effort as they lifted the championship trophy.

"We never gave up today," he said. "Our zone defense was able to read the trick plays thrown at us and they came through. We supported each other this whole season. This team is awesome."