This week was an epic battle of the SOFA regulars vs. the newcomers and what a battle it turned out to be. Jason Wert brought his flag football buddies from their fall league onto the SOFA home field and it turned out to be a fight to the death for the Technicolor Trophy in Week 8.

I apologize for not remembering everyone’s name — that’s a good thing because we had so many new people, four I think this week — but I will recap to the best of my ability below.

With the wind kicking up, both teams found the going difficult in the first half. On our very first possession, I threw a pick intended for Jerome deep, but the ball deadened it and the Pros came down with the interception. They made good on it with a nifty double-option pitch to the right side from ten yards out on third down to take a 6-0 lead.

Matt then caught a wide-open 30-yard pass from Pete on our next possession to knot the score at 6-all. The conversion was good for a 7-6 lead, Joes.

The Pros promptly marched down the field to the eight-yard line, but failed to convert as Jason was called for flag guarding Emily on fourth-down. After another score for the Joes the score stood at 13-6.

A well-executed Pros pass threaded the needle and went for a 50-yard gain with one minute to go in the first half, but the clock ran out on their scoring chance as Jack just missed a pass from Jason in the back corner of the endzone. 13-6 at halftime.

The second half started out just as slowly, with neither team able to get anything going until the Pros’ second possession of the half in which they executed a bubble screen to the left side good for a twenty-yard touchdown. Conversion no good, the score stood at 13-12.

I apologize to the Joes for throwing off my back foot on the next possession…but on the very next play I covered the Pros receiver well and intercepted a pass that the wind caught. Did I mention the wind was nasty today?

Right after that, Jerome tried to catch Pete’s pass as he slipped and it took a weird carom off his chest right into the waiting arms of the defender. Pros march down the field and score, making the score 18-13 and they had all the momentum at that point.

Emily seems to come up with a huge play every week, and on second down she caught Pete’s screen pass at the 40 and slipped two would-be flag pulls, going 60 yards for a huge touchdown to give the Joes the lead back. Conversion good, score was 21-18 Joes with fifteen minutes to go.

Then the action ramped up BIG TIME. It was ESPN-worthy.

Pros go back up with a score…after having the ball on the 2-yard line and Joes stuffing them, they executed a well-timed quick pass for a touchdown to go up 24-21. One point conversion was good and the score stood at 25-21.

I have to praise Pete here for utilizing every single receiver on the next drive. Matt on the left side for ten yards, Jerome open deep for twenty, Emily for another fifteen, then myself on a bubble screen, slipping another flag pull and waltzing into the end zone for a 27-25 lead.

The conversion was the craziest thing I’ve participated in so far during the tenure of SOFA. All this for one point: Pete can’t find an open receiver in the endzone, so he scrambles, Jason comes in for the sack, he throws off his back foot and across his body to me after I had run behind him to fake my defender…I catch it then run up the middle for the score. All that for one point, and a pat on the head. 28-25.

With two minutes to go in the game, hijinx ensued as Joes held the Pros on three plays, but on fourth down the drag route worked to perfection and a fifty-yard TD run after the catch. Their conversion failed after their QB stepped past the line to throw and the score was 31-28 with a mere 1:12 to go in the game. We were up against it.

Pete initially fumbled the kickoff and it wassailed into the endzone, but he picked it up and took off like a man possessed. M-V-Pete kicked in as he ran up the right side, evaded two flag grabs, cut back up the middle and turned the corner up the left side for an eighty-yard kick return (we used 80 yards of the field today). Matt caught a beautiful pass in traffic, and he did a good job holding on as the Joes went up 35-31. Pros would have to score a touchdown, and they had 58 seconds left in which to do so.

The first pass was complete for a first down, but after that the Joes’ defense locked down in historic fashion. After a four-yard gain on first down and an eight-yard reception on second down, Pete knocked down a would-be first down catch to leave thirty-four seconds on the clock and put the Pros against the wall with a fourth down.

On that play, Jack threw a pass to the receiver who had it in his hands, then Pete came over and dislodged it and the football fell harmlessly to the ground. With twenty-seven seconds left and only two time-outs remaining for the Pros, Joes took over and that was your ballgame.

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WEEKLY SOFA AWARDS | Who claims a seat on the prestigious couch?

Middle Cushion Award (most valuable player) — The entire Joes team. Everyone had a breakout play, and covered their assignments well on defense. A total team effort was required to beat the Pros and overcoming three turnovers was no small feat either.

Right Cushion Award (grittiest performance) — Jason. He torqued his knee and played through the pain to keep his team moving downfield with four catches in the second half for eighty yards, a score and a one-point conversion catch. (There’s a lever on the side of the SOFA for a footrest, use it well Jason!)

Left Cushion Award (most inspirational) — Jack. Having not played football in twenty years before today, it was a huge lift to see a newcomer like himself step onto the field and perform very well. He had numerous catches for first-down yardage and also threw for a touchdown.

All in all, total team efforts from both sides resulted in one of the more exciting games of our time at SOFA and we hope to see everyone back out there next week!