It was a great return to the field for PIT Football’s Spring season, which was cancelled the previous two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
We had a remarkable 113 teams make their way back to play in the Spring season and challenge for 23 championship trophies. We could not have asked for a better response from the best membership in recreational sports. The championship finals, which featured a record number of overtime/games that went down to the final play, were worth the wait!
Flag Division
Provincial Women’s Team vs. the rest of Canada
Congratulations to our Provincial Flag team who competed in Ottawa at the Women’s Collegiate National Tournament.
Playing against much larger flag programs and players on flag football university teams, they finished with a very respectable 2-3 record, including knocking off the bronze-medal winning team in round-robin play.
Led by defensive MVP Natalia Candeias and offensive MVP McKinly Rochon, the team who only played together for a few weeks leading up to the tournament demonstrated that Manitoba is a force to be reckoned with on the National stage.
Congrats to our first ever female team to compete in the tournament. You made history! For any University or College registered women wanting to play for Team Manitoba next year, start your training!
Coed Division 1
FSP 27 Here for the Football 26
FSP captured their second-consecutive Coed Division 1 championship in a barnburner.
FSP jumped out to a quick lead using the unorthodox strategy of switching quarterbacks mid-series to keep the opposing defence guessing. It seemed to work as Kate Watson, the gunslinger, and Carter Kutzan, the runner, kept driving the field.
Here for the Football eventually adjusted and led a furious comeback in the final minutes to pull within one point. It came down to the final drive where Here for the Football had a chance to win from inside the five-yard line on the final play of the game. However, the FSP defence — led by Alicia Tarasiuk — made a tremendous stop to preserve victory.
An amazing game to kick off our championship night!
Coed Division 2
Murder Hornets 32 Unnecessary Ruff-ness 12
Every playoff team in this division came into the playoffs with identical records. The champion would be whomever brought their “A” game to the playoffs.
On championship night that would be the Murder Hornets!
Austin Favell and Trent Raven had identical stat lines for the Hornets, each going off for 12 points and an interception. Unnecessary Ruff-ness countered with six points and a sack from Messe Geddert.
With the W, the Murder Hornets end their championship drought and finally get to sip from the championship trophy!
Co-ed Division 3
Chek 9 Here for the Beer 8
Chek wins! Chek wins! Chek wins!
Chek is a newer team to the league and learning the ropes of touch football. After a couple of seasons of less than stellar results, Chek vaulted to the top seed in coed division 3 for the Spring season.
In a defensive battle, Chek took home their first championship title. John May scored the lone touchdown for Chek, who won with a couple of rouges — a rarity in the game of indoor football.
If Chek keeps improving season over season like they have, this team could have their name inscribed on the trophy many times in the upcoming years.
Co-ed Division 4
Stone Cold Dillos 20 Brunch Mimosas 6
The Dillos franchise has run the gamut from zero-win seasons, to now two-time defending coed champions!
Quite the redemption story for a team known more for their sportsmanship and pre-gaming than league championships.
Led my team mixologist Cara Isaak, who ran her patented out-and-up pattern for the winning touchdown, the Dillos pulled the improbable championship over the Brunch Mimosas. It is great to see more female participation in the sport.
With teams like the Dillos and Mimosas playing, the coed division should see continued growth in the future!
Division 1
P.C. 2 22 P.C. 1 21 (overtime)
Peg City split their team into two for the Spring season and their component parts put on a show in the Division 1 final.
It was a final that needed overtime to settle. In the regular season, P.C. 2 defeated P.C. 1 handily, pitching the shut out, but it would not be as easy this time around!
Both teams are led by two of the most mobile quarterbacks in the game, but both were shut down by some tremendous rushing leading to a more defensive battle than expected.
Overtime saw Drew Hawkins score all three points for the eventual winners. The Hawkins/Harris combination was deadly all Spring season, so it was fitting that these two would hook up for the overtime winner.
Division 2
Guild of Calamitous OCs 26 ODB 19
The Guild avenged their regular-season loss to ODB and ended their championship game losing streak at two to take home their first indoor championship of the year.
Dom Horvath had three touchdowns for the Guild, while Kevin Robson responded with 13 points and some incredible catches for ODB. Two old-school veteran quarterbacks did battle in the final in what must be the 20th time in their careers.
Both quarterbacks showed that they still have a lot of game left in them, we just aren’t sure if this game was better suited to be played in 2022 or 2002!?!?
Division 3
North Bay Elites 39 Big Baller Brand 37
Streak-Post. Game over.
Division 4
Razzle Dazzlers of North Bay 34 Tiger Kings of North Bay 33
Big shout out to Raza Butt for putting together a draft division in which players were drafted onto one of five teams. Great parity, great games, and a whole lot of fun – all hallmarks of what recreational sports should be.
All the games during the season were closely contested and the championship final went down to the last play in which the Dazzlers denied the two-point convert and the Tiger Kings a victory.
Ideally next Spring we will get a second annual “North Bay” division that can be even bigger and better (tough task!).
Congratulations to Arthur Garand who quarterbacked the Dazzlers to victory in his final PIT season. Arthur will be taking his talents (and hopefully a North Bay team name) to Calgary.
Division 5
Young Guns 20 Peg City Ballers 19 (overtime)
Two up-and-coming teams who both like to talk on the field met in what was being dubbed as the “trash talk” finals.
The two teams put away their rebukes for much of this game and put on a clinic on the field that had to be decided in multiple overtimes!
The Young Guns looked like their undefeated season would be safe as they jumped out to an early lead. However, a halftime change in quarterback for the Ballers changed the momentum of the game, as they battled back to tie the contest late.
Multiple overtime converts later — and with the Ballers needing a covert to keep things tied — defensive MVP Nick Lajoie picked off an errant pass to seal victory… and begin the trash talking anew!
Division 6
Avengers 31 Awesome Luck 24
The Avengers pulled off the three-peat, winning each of the Fall, Winter, and Spring seasons! A rare occurrence that only a few teams have ever pulled off.
Led by the brothers Loewen, this team just keeps skyrocketing up the standings and divisions. Jordan Loewen threw four touchdown passes, two to Ryan Loewen as the family connection kept clicking all indoor season long.
Patrick Smith kept Awesome Luck in the game with four interceptions, but it would not be enough in this barnburner of a game. The Avengers will continue to climb the divisional ladder come next indoor season.
Division 7
Fail Mary 30 Gang Green 20
Another team with a long championship drought that would come to an end.
The veteran Fail Mary squad defeated the up-and-coming Gang Green in a game that was put away on a Pick-6 at the end of the game as Gang Green attempted to drive for the winning score.
Derek Mills threw four touchdown passes for Fail Mary, an impressive performance considering Fail Mary was missing their most dangerous weapon on offence.
Carson Low had twelve points for Gang Green, a team whose players are going cross country to various USports football programs. We wish Gang Green luck in their tackle endeavours and hope to see them reunite in the offseason to play some more PIT Football!
Division 8
Enigma of Ligma 37 The VaudeVillians 24
Hard not to win if a single player scores six touchdowns and 36 points in a game.
That is exactly what Enigma’s Ethan Schnerch did in the finals, much to the chagrin of the VaudeVillians defence. Ethan accounted for 87.1% of Enigma’s playoff points, after accounting for 56.5% of his teams’ points in the regular season.
It is not much of an enigma where this team is going to through the ball, and teams would be nuts not to take note!
Division 9
Flying Squirrels 26 Necessary Roughness 24
Never count out the Flying Squirrels!
This converted coed team keeps winning, even when the chips (or perhaps nuts would be a better analogy) are stacked against them.
A third-place finish and up against an undefeated Necessary Roughness team who had roughed up teams all season long, it looked bleak for the Squirrels as they went down 12-0 in the first five minutes of the game.
However, the battle-tested veterans fought back, with Lauren Garbutt and Kathryn Heubner locking down the defence, and Ramey Goetz catching the winning touchdown with only seconds remaining on offence.
The ladies on this team can ball out and were the main reason the Flying Squirrels were able to squirrel-away another championship trophy!
Division 10
431 Shootaz 25 North Bay 23
Yet another championship game that was decided on the final play.
Shootaz’s quarterback Steinn McIntosh was cool under pressure, throwing four touchdowns to three different receivers including the final touchdown as time expired.
Ido Segal had 13 points for the Shootaz, while Abbas (the wedding crasher) Butt had 15 points for North Bay.
Another division where all playoff teams were separated by just two points in the standings and most games (including this one) were decided by a touchdown or less. Incredible parity!
Division 11
HSG 32 Andriys Dream Team 13
Both the top teams in Division 11 were upset en route to the finals, setting up a battle of the underdogs.
HSG had to first knock off the previously-undefeated and No.-1 seed Bleue’s Clueless to reach the final, while the Dream Team dismantled the number two seed.
Any given Sunday!
This game was all HSG however as quarterback Ryan Hassar threw three touchdowns and had three interceptions on defence for the eventual champs.
Ryan has won two consecutive championships with two different teams, another rare feat in the game of touch football!
Division 12
Gotham Knights 24 Saggy Balls 12
The Gotham Knights had an army of players qualify for playoffs as injuries played a major toll on the roster.
Despite the consistently varied lineups put out week to week, the team kept rolling to an undefeated season. The one consistent player was Jason Cassie, a veteran of over 1,000 PIT football games, who came in at quarterback when the Knights original quarterback was injured.
Defensively, the Knights were very stout giving up on average only 10.6 points per game. A veteran quarterback combined with an unforgiving defence? Sounds like the Gotham Knights are following the Winnipeg Blue Bombers winning formula!
Division 13
Young Wild and Free 19 Down to F…PDPR 9
Was Division 13 the best division in the Spring season? All four teams in the playoffs had identical records and took turns beating one another during the regular season.
It should not come as too much of a surprise when the “bottom” seeded Young Wild and Free ended up raising the championship trophy. Led by the two sacks from Shairone Omoerah and the two touchdowns from Miciah Stone, the Wild ones were able to shut down the PDPR offence and claim the top prize in a division that had parity in spades.
Division 14
Excessive Force 26 Sober Bros 25 (overtime)
Another championship game came down to the wire as Excessive Force barely escaped the Sober Bros.
These two teams have two of the best running quarterbacks in the league and the game would come down to who could contain the other quarterback better.
In the end, neither team could do so!
The result was an exceptionally close game in which the quarterbacks rushed for as nearly as many yards as they threw. Derrick Hrabarchuk threw three touchdown passes and had an interception for Excessive Force, while his quarterback counterpart Carl Alfaro ran for two touchdowns, threw for two more and added an interception.
A great game if you are a fan of mobile quarterbacks!
Division 15
I.R. 24 Banda Makers 6
It was a long time coming for I.R. team captain Patrick Gyles, who captured a well-deserved first PIT Football championship in an undefeated season!
In this defensive battle, I.R. defensive back Luc Laurin had four interceptions, while Ryan McDonald threw for one touchdown and caught two more.
The Banda Makers countered with game MVP Karndeep Gosal’s two sacks, one interception, and a touchdown. But on this day, the I.R. finally got off the championship I.R.
Division 16
Stone Cold Killas 26 Midnight Poutine 0
The Stone Cold Killas pitch a shutout in the Division 16 final, a season after winning the Division 18 final. Another two-division jump Is in the works for this team who capped off an undefeated season in style.
Nolan Jackson threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers, as the Midnight Poutine defence had no answers for the spread offence of the Killas.
Enjoy your O16 gentlemen!
Division 17
Spartan 33 Richard Dinger and the Hammer Rails 8
Don’t let the low division misrepresent the number of great games played all season long, as the top four teams were separated by just two points in the standings.
While the Dingers were the bottom seed in the division, they were able to dispatch the top seed in the division in the semis, but the Hammers couldn’t punch through the stout defence of Spartan, the long bombs from quarterback Kurtis Laframboise, and the season long MVP play of Nhan Nguyen.
Redemption Bowl
One Bourbon One Scotch and One Beer 38 #FreeJobo 9
Each season we offer two teams who may not have had regular seasons that lived up to expectations have a chance in a Redemption Bowl final.
A tale of two teams, as One Bourbon is perhaps our most veteran team, while #FreeJobo just completed their rookie season.
This season it would be the veterans who prevailed!
One Bourbon had a hot start and got up early on #FreeJobo and ended up cruising to victory. Bebo Innocent had an interception and three touchdowns for One Bourbon, while Brandon Boudreau had three interceptions and a touchdown pass for #FreeJobo.
Season MVP
Kate Watson: FSP/Women’s Provincial Flag Team
Congratulations to Kate Watson, who was voted as the season MVP by her peers!
Kate quarterbacked FSP to the Division 1 Coed championship and was the quarterback for the Provincial Women’s Collegiate flag team that represented Manitoba in the National Championships.
Kate is also our youngest ever season MVP and the third female player to win the award! Kate has represented Manitoba at the u16 and u18 age group, and now the Collegiate level.
The sky is the limit for this player!
The PIT Football league is the official touch football league of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. PIT Football would like to congratulate the Winnipeg Football Club on bringing the Grey Cup back to Winnipeg and for helping us grow the game of touch football in the province!
Check out some of the highlights from championship night here.
Registration information for the summer league can be found here.
Coed/5v5/7v7/free agent divisions available. All skill levels welcome! We are Canada’s largest touch and flag football league.
