TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --
You could call the 424th SCMS Thunder and the 552nd MXS
the “overtime twins.”
The intramural flag football teams were so evenly matched
this season that all three of their meetings required overtime to determine the
winner.
In the last meeting of the season Nov. 10, the 552nd won
by a yard. That’s because the game ended in a 10-10 double overtime tie, but
the 552nd gained one more yard than the Thunder, which is the tiebreaking
standard under intramural rules.
The 552nd’s Eric Zach said the win was another that was
“too close for comfort.”
“When we play each other it’s always super, super close,”
Zach said. “For whatever reason, we’ve got each other’s numbers. We play
defense and low-scoring games, but it’s definitely fun.”
The two teams met in the playoff semifinals last week. The
season championship game between the 552nd and Reserve Gold was played earlier
this week. The outcome will be in the Nov. 25 Tinker Take Off.
The teams traded interceptions right off the bat. The
Thunder’s Derrick Williams pulled down a pass to put his team on the 552nd’s
12-yard line. The 552nd’s Orlando Widow returned the favor three plays later,
setting up his team on their own 27.
QB Darren Massey’s huge 63-yard run got the 552nd into the
red zone. They threatened fourth and goal on the 4 before Brandon Appolonio
shut down the run at the 1 yard line. The Thunder mounted a steady march to the
552nd 29 when the team turned over the ball on downs with an incomplete pass.
The Thunder soon got the ball back thanks to a Thomas
Smith interception. The team got the game’s first score, a field goal, after a
552nd red zone stand. Widow nabbed a second interception before halftime.
Kelvin “Coach K” Ervin blasted off with a 43-yard run in
the Thunder’s first possession of the second half. Both teams couldn’t post
points in two possessions until Keegan Biasi intercepted to put the 552nd on
their own 34.
The 552nd pieced together an 11-play drive to the Thunder
15. A 27-yard field goal tied the game 3-3 – the last score heading into
overtime.
The 552nd got the first shot to make the most of four
plays 20 yards from the goal line. Massey hit an unguarded Alex Reeder for a
9-yard TD, followed by the extra point.
The Thunder’s Williams pulled down a 6-yard TD pass as the
team matched the 552nd 10-10.
The 424th got the ball first in the second overtime. Three
incompletes led to a field goal attempt that winged just outside the right goal
post.
After losing yardage to the 22 yard line, the 552nd moved
forward with a short pass to the 19. The 1-yard gain turned out to be the
winner after an incomplete on fourth down.
Ervin was disappointed with the outcome for the Thunder.
“I think the guys are really disheartened
because of how hard they played,” he said. “The way both teams played was out
of control (more than a dozen penalties), but the overtime thing is not good enough,
not in the playoffs. It makes it too simple.”