The PIT Football Spring season has just drawn to a close with a record 84 teams having competed for 22 divisional championships.
Congratulations to Cara Isaak, Jason Cassie and Kurtis Yakimoski who played in and won three different championships!
Registration for the summer outdoor season ends Saturday May 20th for any teams wanting to test out the outdoor game. Skill levels range from beginner to elite with divisions available for both coed and men’s. (More information can be found at www.pitfootball.com)
Here’s a recap of our divisional champions:
Coed Competitive Division:
Bloodbath and Beyond repeated in their second season, knocking off the top-seeded Two Minute in a talent-heavy co-ed final. Quarterback Andrew Dargie was stellar in both the pass and run game, Kayla Cruickshank was queen of the yards-after-the-catch driving the field on a series of short passes that she took for huge gains and Brett Anderson pulled in 20 points for Bloodbath.
Although Two Minute couldn’t complete the perfect season, the final game included highlight-reel catches from Nick Liang and Jordyn Campbell.
Bloodbath’s reign of terror over the coed division continues!
Coed Recreational Division:
In one of the most-dramatic finishes of the night, the Super Dillos and Coed Free Agents demonstrated the camaraderie of the coed division by deciding to share the divisional trophy rather than play overtime to decide a victor, ending the game 27-27.
The head Dillo, Mike McCheyne, threw a touchdown pass to Lianna Bestvater and hit the convert to put the Dillos up by eight with only two minutes remaining. The Coed Free Agents responded with a touchdown on the final play and, on the ensuing two-point convert attempt, Draygan Pilgrim threw a perfect no-look pass and Rob Noel jumped over the defence to make the catch and toe tap at the back of the end zone for the tie. After some discussion between the teams, they decided that a tie would be a fitting end to the coed championship and both teams held the trophy high.
Amazing sportsmanship!
Women’s Flag Provincial Team:
Tryouts continued for the Women’s Provincial Flag Football team which will represent Manitoba in the National Championships in Waterloo, Ontario in August. Based on the way this game went, Manitoba should be a threat for the medal podium. Melissa Bailey and Courtney Dyck led all scorers with 19 points each, with Mel giving a clinic on the post-corner route and Courtney administering the ‘catch-under-double-coverage-and-spin-out- for-the-touchdown’ clinic. In the end, Team Manitoba #1 defeated Team Manitoba #2 36-27. Some tough decisions are upcoming in order to bring the roster down to the ten who will travel to Nationals!
PIT Football is proud to be the host for the women’s tryouts in their first year of competition at the National level.
Men’s Flag Provincial Team:
The PIT Football League hosted tryouts for the men’s provincial flag team for the second season, with the 2017 squad hoping to improve on the bronze medal won in Halifax last year. The men will compete the same weekend as the women in Waterloo this August. This game went down to the wire with Team Manitoba #2 driving the field with under two minutes to play, culminating in a Jon-Franklin-to-Dave-Robson game-winning touchdown. This game was back and forth and the crowd was treated to a demonstration of the skill and talent of the players in this province. Team Manitoba #2 defeated Team Manitoba #1 33-30.
Masters Division (Over 40):
Frankford Yellow Jackets defeat Tonawanda Kardex 32-6.
Parity reigned in this division as each of the Masters teams took turns knocking each other off during the regular season. Frankford brought their ‘A’ game to the championship final as Kirk Paquette scored 18 points and Jason Cassie added three interceptions and a touchdown of his own as the Jackets punched Kardex’s ticket home in a battle of the over-40s.
Some great skill and veteran play to go along with some great sportsmanship. The Masters draft will now be the way teams will be picked going forward as it was a huge success in its first year.
Division 1:
Knights defeat Guild of Calamitous Intent 42-39.
The Division 1 final was dominated by the offences. The difference in the score was the Knights’ scoring a perfect six for six on converts. The Knights win their second consecutive Division 1 championship with the Guild and Knights playing each other for the title in each of the past three indoor seasons. Each game was decided by 4 points or less demonstrating how evenly matched these two teams are!
Division 2:
Beerhawks defeat Mapetown 25-14.
Mapetown historically has owned the Beerhawks however the last couple of seasons, but the Beerhawks closed the gap and finally broke through with a victory on championship night. Injuries brought Mapetown down to just five players but that shouldn’t damper a resounding victory for the Beerhawks, who were led by the four touchdowns passes of Keith Bourgeois, including a pair to Kurtis Yakimoski.
Division 3:
Flying Squirrels defeat Knighthawks 31-27.
The Flying Squirrels ascent on the record books was completed as they became the first team in league history to have five perfect seasons (undefeated through regular season and playoffs), overtaking the legendary Avengers and Guild teams. The record didn’t come easy as the Squirrels got the winning touchdown with only seconds remaining after having to drive the ball end zone to end zone in under three minutes. This former coed team is taking the men’s division by storm and the ladies are proving they can play in any division!
Division 4:
Law Firm defeats Dez Dropped it 36-12.
Dez fought the Law but the Law won. Dez Dropped was looking to repeat as champions and looked poised to do so, finishing first in Division 4, but this playoff season was not kind to the top seeds across divisions. The Swerid brothers were too much to handle on Saturday night as they combined for 5 touchdown passes, 9 points, and three sacks leading Law Firm to their first indoor championship!
Division 5:
Blue Bongers defeat The Dark Side 28-22.
Top-seeded Dark Side was bonged by the Blue Bongers! The Blue Bongers took a year off from football to help populate the football world but upon their return did not skip a beat, winning the Division 5 crown in their first indoor season. The Dark Side were cursed by finishing first in the regular season, as this night was ruled by the underdogs. Garret Waldbauer threw for four touchdowns for the Bongers, one each to Justin Derouin, Matt Gulakow, Steven Skehar and Steven Ulrich for a very well-rounded stats sheet.
Division 6:
MooseKnuckles defeat Anvils 38-6.
Another top seed falls as the Anvils are fed a Mooseknuckle sandwich. The defence of the Mooseknuckles herded the Anvils offence all night, accounting for a sack and three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. Mooseknuckle QB Jason Gibbons was on point, throwing for three touchdowns and avenging his earlier loss in the Masters final, while Chibueze Uzoruo proved to be the alpha-moose scoring three touchdowns, two on offence and one on defence.
Division 7:
Ten Toes Down defeat Danger Zone 32-6.
Ten Toes Down enters the Danger Zone and not even Kenny Loggins himself could have stopped them from taking home the trophy. Danger Zone had knocked off the top-seeded Tribe in the semi-finals but they could not stop former Stanford standout Andrew Dargie who threw for five touchdowns on championship night. Andrew was incorrectly quoted as saying that winning a Division 7 PIT Football championship was the biggest football accomplishment of his life. Ten Toes down will be a team to watch as they move up the divisional rankings.
Division 8:
The Snipers defeat the Boozers 12-9.
Defence ruled the day in this game as the two teams combined for five interceptions and two sacks, however the Snipers would eke out a victory on the back of game MVP Shawn Pachet who scored twelve points and hauled in two interceptions. Perennial bridesmaids, the Boozers, were once again left at the championship alter while the Snipers add to their very extensive hardware collection.
Division 9:
The Outlaws defeat Unwanted All-Stars 1-0.
Top seeded Unwanted All-Stars were set to win their second consecutive championship final when they took on the third seeded Outlaws in the final, however injuries, work commitments, and early Mother’s Day celebrations, and maybe the fact that the only defeat they suffered during the regular season was at the hands of the Outlaws doomed them to default. The Outlaws sneak out of town with the Division 9 trophy in hand!
Division 10:
Touched by Angels defeat Fail Mary 38-19.
Another Divisional Champion goes down in flames in the playoffs as Touched By Angels knocks off Fail Mary to win their first championship in three years. Angels QB Travis Irvine had himself a day, throwing for six touchdowns to five different receivers while also playing some lock down defence. Derek Mills hit Mike Taylor for three touchdowns in Mike’s return from injury but the top-seeded curse could not be overcome.
Division 11:
The Dragins defeat Team Potato Wedges 32-27.
The Dragins defeated the top-seeded and undefeated Potatoes in a barnburner! The gameplan for the Potatoes worked perfectly as they held Chris Dobson to just two points after he had set a divisional record with 118 during the regular season, however they didn’t account for Rene Bosc and Selwyn Gauthier who picked up the slack scoring 18 and 12 points respectively. Kory Veschoore answered with 19 for the Potatoes but it wasn’t enough to overcome the multi-facet offence of the Dragins.
Division 12:
The Avengers defeat Julio Think You Are? 38-12.
Despite the success the Avengers had found vanquishing supervillains from the planet, they had never captured a PIT Football championship in their five years of playing…until Saturday when they went wire to wire to not only win the championship but beat the top-seed curse in the process! Ryan and Jordan Loewen has breakout performances, with Ryan scoring 18 points and intercepting three passes while Jordan had an interception, a touchdown and threw for six touchdowns. Great to see the Avengers name live on with the next generation of superheroes!
Division 13:
Medal and Company defeat Loose Cannons 45-20.
Hard to defeat a team whose quarterback throws for seven touchdowns in a game and that is exactly what Clint Wiebe did for Medal and Company. The three Medals, Zach, Michael and Chris, combined for 32 points and a sack in victory. The Loose Cannons came onto the scene in the Winter and have been to two championship finals, and while they have yet to win one these guys are already playoff tested and have put other teams on notice that they are here to stay.
Division 14:
The Rocks 2.0 defeat Young Wild and Free 18-6.
Another newcomer to the PIT pantheon of teams, the Rocks proved their worth by taking home championship gold in their rookie season. The defence lived up to the team’s namesake playing solid as a rock. The Rocks had the stingiest defence in the division during the regular season, averaging only 9.6 points against per game and then proceeded to get even better during the playoffs only yielding a grand total of 12 points combined in their two games. Defence does win championships!
Division 15:
Suckskatchewan 2 defeat the TD Twisters 19-1.
Suckskatchewan didn’t suck on this day as their defence was stellar and the offence capitalized on their chances in a very stingy defensive game, as both teams gave their opponents’ quarterbacks fits all day. Tim Jones lead the Suck attack with three touchdowns while Kris Bulat had four sacks to keep the elusive Connor Gilhuly in check. In a battle of the rushers, TD Twister stalwart Meghan Kjartanson had three sacks and pressured the quarterback all night showing no ill effects of a serious knee injury suffered less than a year ago.
Division 16:
The Lens defeats TTD 29-0.
DJ Fagerstrom had himself a career night scoring 19 points and hauling in an interception for the Lens which proved to be more than enough as they held the TTD offence in check all night. Marc-Andre Longval had three sacks, a safety, and threw for a touchdown and Cole Havens threw for four touchdowns in the rout. Big ups to rookie team TTD who battled hard all season but just couldn’t overcome the seasoned vets on this day.
Division 17:
The Bill Arnotts defeat Swamp Water 6-0.
If you like defence this was the game to watch, as for awhile everyone thought this game would be decided by overtime converts in a zero-zero tie. However, game MVP Sean Wagner broke the goose eggs with the game’s only touchdown and then proceeded to ensure Swamp Water wouldn’t score by hauling in four interceptions! Congrats to both teams who came out firing on all cylinders on defence. The Bill Arnotts avenged their regular season loss to Swamp Water and take home the final championship of the Spring season.
