PIT Football had an exciting return to indoor touch and flag football with
116 teams competing for 22 championship titles in one of the largest fall seasons on record!
This was the season of redemption as nearly every division had their champion avenge their regular-season loss to their opponents. The curse of the top seed might have finally started to reverse as for the first time in years the top seeds won more championships than they lost.
Will we see this trend continue or will the “curse” come back to take down the top seeds once again in Winter season?
Flag Football Division
Arrows 44 North Bay 13
The Arrows avenged their only regular-season loss and won the flag football division for the first time in their history in the process.
North Bay was coming into the game on a high note having defeated the Arrows handily a couple of weeks earlier using the deep ball to keep the Arrows defence off balance.
The Arrows took a page out of the North Bay playbook, throwing deep early and often, consistently hitting the home run ball. Arrows QB Andrew George saved his best game for last, throwing for six touchdowns in the contest and three to game MVP, Bryce Kraushar.
Co-ed Division 1
FSP 40 Coed Guardians 25
A three-peat for FSP as they won their third-consecutive indoor co-ed title, this time over the Co-ed Guardians.
Provincial Flag Team QB Kate Watson threw the lights out, throwing for a season-high five touchdowns, with four going to Payton Yakimishyn.
Kate had both the underneath and the deep ball working as she picked apart the Guardians defence. The Guardians tried to mount a second-half comeback when Provincial Women’s Team wide receiver Ramey Goetz went off for three touchdowns, pulling the game within a score. With the Guardians driving to potentially tie the game Shadrack Nkiasi-Nsebwir palmed the nicest one-handed interception in league history to end the threat.
FSP promptly marched the field for a score to put the game out of reach and another title on the mantle.
Co-ed Division 2
Please Lettuce Win 46 Looking to Score 36
Please Lettuce asked nicely for a victory, and they got it in the form of a co-ed shootout title tilt!
Please Lettuce Win went winless during the regular season but turned it on for the playoffs, ultimately knocking off the two top seeds in the division. Buster “biggest pythons in the PIT” Kroeger scored 26 points for Looking to Score, an incredible accomplishment considering he had scored only 6 points all season!
Big-game players flex for the big games!
Former league MVP Courtney Dyck had four touchdowns for Looking to Score, but it wasn’t enough to over come on offensive onslaught from the Lettuce-eaters.
Co-ed Division 3
Frank the Tanks Refueled 44 Running Pylons 24
Frank the Tanks were coming off an undefeated summer season, but thoughts of an undefeated fall season went off the rails quickly as injuries and defeats started to pile up.
The Tanks put it together for the final after barely squeaking by the DilloKeg in the semis. The Tanks knocked off the Pylons courtesy of three touchdown passes by McKinley Rochon and the 31 points by Ramey Goetz.
Both provincial girls’ teams managed to nab championships this season, which bodes well for their upcoming national championships where the team hopes to improve on its seventh place finish in 2022.
Co-ed Division 4
Throwing Ducks 25 Cleveland Steamers 12
Throwing Ducks were able to take ducking revenge on the Cleveland Steamers for their regular-season loss in a championship game that was punctuated with some great defensive plays.
Nicholas Lanyon had three sacks for the Ducks and kept the Steamers agile quarterback in check all game. Not to be outdone, Steamers’ rusher Michael Lee had a very rare interception while rushing the Ducks quarterback.
In the end, both defences were very stout, however the Ducks offence was able to break through at the end to give the water fowls their first championship — in their rookie season no less!
Division 1
Brampton Bagpipes 32 Buffalo Blasters 26
It was anyone’s game as the first division featured more parity than we have seen in several years.
The Blasters were the favourites coming into this game having nailed down the top seed and winning their semi-final game 55-54 in overtime over Peg City in the highest-scoring playoff game in PIT Football history.
However, scores were much harder to come by in this game. Cam Penner pied the pipers to victory with his three touchdowns and lone interception. The Blasters were led by Jeremy Kornelsen’s two touchdown receptions, but they needed at least a third to send the game to overtime.
Owen Kornelsen, brother and nemesis on this day, made sure that wouldn’t happen, intercepting an errant Danny Harris pass with time running out on the goal line to preserve victory.
Division 2
Seafood City 39 North Bay Elites 26
In 1989, the first Seafood City Supermarket opened in National City, San Diego, California offering quality and authentic Filipino specialties at the most affordable prices. For the first time ever, there was a grocery store where the Filipino-Americans could go to find exactly what they want as well as connect, re-connect, bond, and celebrate ‘true Filipino goodness’.
The response of the Fil-Am community was overwhelming! This quickly led to more stores opening all over California, followed by stores in Nevada, Washington State, Hawaii, and Chicago.
And in answer to the clamor of countless Filipinos to open stores in Canada, Seafood City established its first Canadian store in Mississauga in 2017. Now Seafood City has added a PIT Football championship to their storied franchise as they fish-slapped the North Bay Elites in the Division 2 final.
Division 3
MonStars 32 The Jeffery 12
Yet another redemption game as the MonStars avenged their regular-season loss to the Jeffery to win the Division 3 title.
The MonStars defence was stifling, recording three interceptions — two returned for touchdowns — in their upset of the top seed in the division. Deion Nelson led the MonStars with two interceptions and two touchdowns, while former Bison standout Xavier Johnson scored all twelve of the Jeffery’s points.
These two teams could be quite the rivalry in the Winter season, with the Jeffery now looking for their own redemption.
Division 4
The Kings 40 Big Baller Brand 20
The Kings were the Baller kryptonite as they handed triple-B their only two losses of the season.
The Kings played a very disciplined defence, forcing Big Baller to move the ball methodically rather than their usual offence centered around getting players downfield. That strategy paid off as the Kings had a couple of key interceptions, including a TSN turning point pick-six.
The Kings offence was also on point, with Kings QB Nick Jessamine turning back the clock to his MVP-days delivering four TD passes, two each to Nathan Koswin and speedster Charlie Jessamine.
The Kings regain their crown!
Division 5
Gym Class Heroes 25 The Rigs 15
The veteran Gym Class Heroes knocked off the top two seeds en route to the Division 5 championship, avenging both their regular-season losses in the process.
The Heroes came in with a great defensive game plan which worked to a tee. Game MVP Andrew Little had five quarterback sacks against Rigs QB Carter Hofer. This was an especially tall task considering Carter is one of the best running QBs in the league.
The QB pressure kept the high scoring Rigs offence off the field to allow Gym Class to put in four touchdowns for the upset victory!
Division 6
Rouge Gods 50 Fail Mary 45
If you are a fan of offence, this was the game to watch!
While four interceptions, two by each team, were thrown during the game, those might have been the only stops either defence made.
The Rouge Gods were not going to let their undefeated season go down in flames and having three receivers scoring at least two touchdowns will do that!
Derek Mills’ seven touchdown-pass performance wasn’t enough for Fail Mary as their playoff drought continued.
The Rouge Gods will continue their God-like performance in a higher division come Winter!
Division 7
North Bay QB Roulette 40 East Side Aztecs 33
North Bay QB Roulette threw analytics to the wayside as they used a different quarterback on every offensive snap.
On one hand, one could say consistently different quarterbacks will keep defences off balance. On the other hand, it could be said that no quarterback will get a great handle on what the defence is playing.
The North Bay QB championship seems to lend evidence to the former rather than the latter. The Roulette QBs from North Bay had a record 11 quarterbacks throw a touchdown during the regular season, thus proving that analytics have no place in the game of football!
Division 8
Endzone Destroyers 32 Necessary Roughness 30
The Endzone Destroyers destroyed many an end zone during the fall season, capping it off with a big comeback in the finals to finally hoist a championship trophy!
The Endzone Destroyers won their semi-final and final games by a combined six points, and both featured last-minute comebacks by the cardiac kids.
Tyler Haluik threw four touchdowns to four different receivers, recovering from a very slow start which saw Necessary Roughness up by 14 points early in the game. Cue the comeback as the Endzone Destroyers outscored Necessary Roughness 12-1 down the stretch to narrowly edge them for the ‘ship!
Division 9
North Bay Nation 34 Young Show 14
Zach Collaros – denied. Dalton Shoen – denied. Brady Oliveria – denied. The Nation was stacked across all positions and still tried to get multiple CFL all-stars “rostered” during the regular season.
Despite all the talent, the Young Show kept this game closer than the score indicates. The Nation scored a couple late touchdowns to push this game out of reach and keep their undefeated season intact.
Riley Hanssen and Mathew Gillespie from the u18 National championship flag football team anchored the offence and defence for the Nation, while resident highlander Jason Cassie had 13 points and two interceptions for his first of three championships this night.
Division 10
The Wickermen 38 Bleue’s Clueless 27
The Wickermen won their second-consecutive championship and fifth overall in franchise history by defeating the Clueless ones.
The Wickermen were led by game MVP Alex Park’s 18 points, while quarterback Tanner Smith almost hit all the stat lines with five TD passes, two interceptions, and a running touchdown on the night.
Pierre Feng shouldn’t be singing the Bleue’s with his 25-point effort in the loss, but he may ask what the rest of the Clueless were up to this game.
Can the Wickermen complete the elusive three-peat in the Winter season?
Division 11
Trigger Happy Bunnies 26 Smells Like Team Spirit 22
Trigger Happy started in the bottom division of the PIT. After a great run, the Bunnies may dip their paws into single digit division territory after their thrilling four-point victory over Smells Like Team Spirit in the Division 11 finals.
Danten Santos pulled the trigger on 19 of the Bunnies 26 points, while four different players replied on the scoresheet for Smells Like Team Spirit.
The Bunnies meteoric rise in the standings is a testament to how quickly young players can adapt to the game of touch football when playing four seasons a year!
Division 12
Bishop Sycamore 26 Down 4 Football 6
Bishop Sycamore finally gets this defunct athletic sports training academy from Columbus Ohio their first championship!
The top two teams in Division 12 squared off as Down 4 Football tried to cut down the Sycamores. Jordan DeMerchant put forth his best Paul Bunyan impression scoring Down 4 Football’s lone touchdown while intercepting two errant passes on defence. However, Bishop Sycamore learned from their two previous nail-biter losses in championship games and weren’t going to lose three finals in a row.
The Sycamores went up 14-0 with two quick touchdowns to end the first half and never looked back. Is Bishop Sycamore ready for a rematch against IMG Academy?
Division 13
Lizard Kings 39 Age Against 20
The Lizards were crowned Kings of Division 13 after their undefeated season and efficacious victory over the league’s most “veteran” team.
The Lizards were led by Rajwinder “Robert California” Dandiala’s 18 points and two interceptions, along with Mandeep “Bob Kazamakis” Gaidu’s seven points and an interception, and Armi “The Lizard King” Warha’s four touchdown passes.
Anyone think this team could get “blacklisted” for the Winter season? Perhaps the FBI should be notified of the Lizard Kings’ whereabouts? Age Against will try to be the first team to win a championship while spending their OAS cheques in the lounge.
Division 14
Sober Bros 46 Bullet Club 21
The Sober Bros unseeded the undefeated Bullet Club to win the Division 14 championship belt.
In a turnabout game from earlier in the season where the Bullet Club dropped the Magic Killer on the Sober Bros in a lopsided victory, it was now the Sober Bros who would leave the Bullet Club pinned on the mat.
Carl Alfaro led the Sober Bros to their highest scoring output of the season, throwing for five touchdown passes and running in a sixth score, while Alex Park chipped in 19 points of his own.
Jason Cummings did an admiral job rushing for the Bullet Club, registering three sacks and a score. However, it wasn’t enough to defeat the Sober Bros who along with their sister team the Wickermen had quite the weekend victory celebrations!
Division 15
RodsRFrauds 14 Banda Makers 8
Division 6 holds the title for highest-scoring game of the night, but if you enjoy defence then this was the game for you!
Neither team could get the ball moving consistently as both defences were very solid. While there weren’t many statistical plays made on defence, the defences always seemed to have the offence in third-and-long situations.
Ultimately, RodsRFrauds redressed their regular season loss to the Banda Makers thanks to Tony Ramos’ touchdown, two sacks, and a safety. The Frauds from the Rods were a very good rookie team and will look to move up the divisional ranks in the Winter season.
Division 16
TNT 29 Chanticleers 28 (overtime)
TNT and the Chanticleers couldn’t decide a champion during regulation time, so they went to a shootout to decide the victor in Division 16.
Knotted at 27-27, game MVP Diego Arruda scored the winner with his 15th point of the night. Teagan Lilley (TNT) and Colin Pich (Chanticleers) also scored in the shootout to conclude the best extra-time game of the weekend.
TNT won both games against the Chanticleers this season by a combined two points! Remarkable parity among these teams.
We hope to see them both back in the Winter season to continue the tremendous gameplay between these two juggernauts.
Division 17
Tokyo Smoke Free Agents 24 Back That Pass Up 13
A shout out to our free-agent team that prevailed in the toughest division of touch football this fall. The top three teams were all tied with 3-2 records, while seeds four through six had identical 2-3 records.
It was truly an “Any Given Sunday” division.
The Free Agents also had to overcome the loss of their starting QB prior to the season starting, and then missing the quarterback that brought them to the finals!
Third-stringer Brady Cove stepped up huge for the Free Agents in the final, throwing four touchdowns to four different receivers as the rag tag group of free agents became the last team standing in this remarkably competitive division.
Fall MVP
Jesse Olafson
Congratulations to Jesse Olafson who won the Fall Most Valuable Player award as voted by his peers.
After each game, teams pick the MVP from their opponents and the player that accumulates the most votes receive the MVP belt (and an array of prizes from our sponsors) at the end of the season.
This season the voting was tied between Jesse and Lauren Garbutt. Unfortunately for Lauren, her bid for a second MVP title was dashed due to Jesse winning the voting tiebreaker (less games played). Jesse was also able to hoist the championship trophy with his coed team Please Lettuce Win to cap off another great Fall season of football and his first MVP nod.
The PIT Football league is the official touch football league of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Registration for the Winter indoor league is now underway. Information can be found here or by following @PITFootball on Instagram and Twitter.
