Championship Preview:

Assassins (3) v WTDT (1) - 12:30pm

I don't think anyone would have been surprised to see these 2 teams facing each other for another championship. These are historically the 2 winningest teams in league history, and when it's all over, 1 of these teams will add another Championship to their collections. The Assassins won both regular season games against WTDT and are coming off a dramatic 25-24 win over the Gentlemen, which leads to believe that they should be favored in this game. WTDT is coming off a relatively easy 40-22 win over Dixie in the semi finals, and outside of their 2 losses in the regular season to the Assassins, they have been perfect. Both teams can put up points, and both can shut down opposing offenses. You don't make it to the championship without a complete team in this league. Timmy leads the high powered WTDT offense, and he has a plethora of weapons to spread the ball around too including: Jaurice who is coming off a 3TD performance in the semi-finals, Ashante, Joe, Dychel, Mango, Keegan, etc. Dallas leads the WTDT defense along with great pass rushers Lindsay and Lauren. The Assassins are also led by a star QB in Kyle who also has plenty of options to throw to including: Cam, Bower, Greg, Mando, Dave, and Wade. Cam and Wade anchor the assassins defense at corner, along with a lethal pass rush from Allison and Chelsea. This game can really go either way, and it should be thrilling to watch. But I must pick one team to win, that's how this works. My gut is telling me the Assassins. They are older and slower than WTDT, but they have that something special. They are winners. WTDT is loaded with talented athletes, but for some reason the Assassins have had their number over the last few seasons. My brain is telling me WTDT though. My theory is, the more talented team is bound to win at least 1 of the 3 games between these 2 teams, and since the Assassins won the first 2, what are the chances they can make it 3 in a row? So do I side with my gut, or my brain? I'm reluctantly choosing my brain this time. Bold prediction, Dychel makes the game winning catch.

Prediction: WTDT 32 - Assassins 30

Reminder*****
There will be an All-Star game at 11am on Saturday, for those teams who did not make it to the Championship Game. All are welcome to play. The end of the season party will begin at 2pm, so please come out, play in the All-Star game, watch the Championship Game, and then enjoy the end of the season party! Always remember to tip your bartenders! Especially those named Tammie! Thank you everyone for another great season and please spread the word about the Bar A Flag Football league! Ideally we can add a couple more teams for the Spring Season! Cheers - The Commish.

Playoffs - Players of the Week

Cam - CB/WR, Assassins AND Mando - WR, Assassins

It was extremely difficult to pick one player for the Assassins, so I chose 2. Even picking 2 I feel cheated, because I could have easily put some combination of Greg, Wade, Kyle, and Dave on here. But I settled on Cam and Mando. Why? Because I feel like they made the most big plays. The Assassins beat the Gentlemen 25-24 in the semi finals. They took a 25-6 lead into halftime and had to withstand an onslaught in the second half. I feel like if the Gentlemen got one more possession in this game they would have won. But they didn't get that possession, in part due to great clock management, and in part due to these 2 guys moving the chains and keeping the Gentlemen offense off the field. It felt as though every time the Assassins offense needed a big play in this game on a 3rd or 4th down Kyle went to one of these 2 downs, and they came down with the football. I wish I had better stats to explain why these 2 were chosen, but all I can say is that when their teams needed it most they came up clutch. That's championship stuff right there. Cam and Mando will look to continue to make the big plays in the championship game against WTDT on Saturday at 12:30pm. Congratulations guys!

Allison - TE/DL, Assassins AND Chelsea - TE/DL, Assassins

When you win a game by 1 point, every single play is important. Allison caught the first TD pass of the game for the Assassins giving them a 7-0 lead. Neither team converted a PAT attempt this game, meaning the extra point for Allison's TD proved to be the difference in a game where both teams scored 4 TDs. And by no means was this an easy catch. Kyle fired the ball through traffic just passed the outstretched arms of a diving Gentlemen defender, and Allison came up with it in the endzone. Chelsea was also a huge contributor in this game, as she was responsible for 2 of the biggest defensive plays for the Assassins. In the first half she jumped up to deflect a pass over the middle from the Gentlemen QB, she then tracked the loose ball and intercepted it. There are only a handful of defensive linemen in the NFL who can make plays like that, and here she is out there in beer league flag football absolutely dominating. And Chelsea wasn't done yet. With her team up by 1 point with 30 seconds left in the game she sacked the opposing QB on the game winning 2 point conversion attempt to seal the win for the Assassins. These girls have ice-water running through their veins, as no moment is too big for them. They will need to bring their A game again on Saturday as they square off against WTDT at 12:30pm for the championship. Congratulations girls!

Playoff Recap:

Dixie 32 - Legion 21

Legion was short 3 key players (Emmet, Forty, Demps) in this one, and their absence was felt on the field. They battled, but Dixie proved to be too much for them in this game. Dixie jumped out to a 13-0 lead after a great TD catch by Handsome Joe on a pass from Tyler, then a Tyler Interception, and a TD pass from Tyler to Grant. The game looked like it was going to get out of hand, but Legion came up with a huge goaline stop before the half to keep the score at 19-6. Zay then lead a charge back throwing for 3 touchdowns, despite missing 2 of his top receivers. Legion brought the score back to 25-21 before the comeback ran out of gas. Tyler's 40 yard scamper down the left sideline towards the end of the game closed out this one for a 32-21 Dixie win. Dixie advanced to the semifinals to take on the 1 seeded WTDT.

Assassins 24 - Sandy Cheeks 12

This game went about as expected. The Assassins seem to always take care of business and beat the teams that they are supposed to beat. Sandy Cheeks jumped out to an early lead, when Eli connected with D for a TD to go up 6-0. The Assassins answered quickly when Kyle hit Greg in the back of the endzone on a circus-like catch, where he was able to get a foot down in bounds after catching the ball off a deflection. Mando then had an equally impressive diving catch on the 2 point conversion to give the Assassins an 8-6 lead. Both offenses struggled throughout the rest of the game, but the Assassins defense made enough plays to get the win. Dave tipped a pass by Eli which was then intercepted by Wade to seal the win for the Assassins 24-12. The Assassins advanced to the semifinals to take on the Gentlemen.

WTDT 40 - Dixie 22

This game was closer than the final score makes it out to be. Dixie put up a good fight in this one, but fell short in the end to the more talented team. WTDT got off to a sluggish start, and was only leading by a score of 20-14 at halftime. However, they took over in the second half. Dixie got on the board first when Tyler threw a TD pass to Delzotti to take a 7-0 lead. Then up by a score of 7-6 Grant intercepted Timmy to give Dixie the ball back. Just when you began wondering if Dixie could pull off this upset, Ashante intercepted Tyler to get WTDT back on track. Timmy then connected with Jaurice on back to back TDs to put WTDT ahead 20-7. Tyler answered by throwing a TD pass to Tommy to make the score 20-14. WTDT came out hot in the second half, scoring on their first drive on a TD pass from Timmy to Mango. Joe then intercepted Tyler, to get the ball back to WTDT and Timmy threw his 3rd TD pass to Jaurice on the following possession to make the score 32-14. This lead was too much for Dixie to come back from as WTDT won the game 40-22. WTDT will play for another league championship this upcoming week.

Assassins 25 - Gentlemen 24

This game was a tale of 2 halves. The Assassins absolutely dominated the first half of this game and went into halftime with a 25-6 lead. Their lead was built on the back of forcing 3 interceptions defensively, including a pick 6 by Greg, and a J.J. Watt-esque tipped pass interception on the line of scrimmage by Chelsea. Offensively, the Assassins were extremely efficient, as Kyle threw for 3 TD passes, highlighted by a great catch by Allison for a critical 7 points (remember that extra point for a girl TD later). The second half was a complete 180 from the first half. The Gentlemen began to impose their will on the Assassins and out-scored them 18-0 in the second half. The Gentlemen offense regrouped at halftime and got things going as Keith led them with 3 TD passes. The defense also stepped up as they didn't give up another point the rest of the game, and forced an interception of their own. The Gentlemen scored a TD with about 30 seconds left to go down 25-24, and elected to go for a 2 point conversion to win the game. Chelsea sacked the QB on the play to preserve the lead for the Assassins. The Gentlemen's remaining hopes of a comeback were then crushed on a nice throw and catch from Kyle to Cam on 4th and short to clinch the win. The Assassins played a near perfect game. They had 1 dropped pass that sticks out, but other than that I would say they played mistake free football, and they did an excellent job at burning clock in the second half. The Gentlemen's comeback was impressive, and showed that this team does in fact have a lot of heart. However, they built too large of a hole to dig themselves out of. The 3 turnovers, several dropped passes, 0-4 on extra point conversions, and not enough plays made defensively are just some of what the Gentlemen left on the table in this one. All they can do now is hope for a better result next season. The Assassins advanced and will play rival WTDT in the championship on Saturday at 12:30pm!