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Gym Rats capture another championship

  • Published
  • By Mike W. Ray
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  In the clash between two ex-champions for the spring 2012 base flag football title, the margin of victory was one point.

After 59 minutes of battling up and down the football field May 17, the Gym Rats slipped past Reserve Gold, 21-20, on the last play of the game, as time expired -- and despite back-to-back penalties. It was the second time in four days that Reserve Gold was beaten by one point; in a Round 2 playoff game May 14, Gold lost to the 72nd Medical Group, 14-13.

For the Gym Rats, it was their third flag football title in four years; they won the fall championship in 2009 and again in 2010. The Rats team (which formerly was the Air Force Audit Agency team) has compiled a 25-13 record in the past four spring flag football seasons, a 66 percent winning average.

About half of Reserve Gold's starting lineup was comprised of players absorbed from Reserve White, which won the base spring season flag football titles three times in six years -- 2008, 2010 and 2011 -- and the 2011 fall season championship, too. (League Commissioner Ralph Hawkins disbanded Reserve White and consolidated its remaining players with the Reserve Gold team in mid-April, because of deployments, injuries, night school and children's T-ball.)

By midway through the second quarter of the championship match, Gold had "punted" three times, the Rats twice, when Gold's Brandon Thompson intercepted a Rats pass and returned it to the 6; a holding penalty advanced the ball to the 3-yard line, half the distance to the goal. Gold quarterback Larry Mansell pushed forward to the 1, and Mike Rosenthal tossed a spiral to Mansell in the end zone. On the conversion, Mansell ran the ball in for two points. Gold struck first: 8-0.

The Rats marched from their 5 to the Gold 30 before a pass from Chris Garza to Cody Brooks was intercepted by Gold's Brett Nims in the end zone as the first half expired.
The Gym Rats opened the second half with a scoring drive. Brooks gained 20 on a keeper and lobbed an 18-yard pass to Elbert Craig Jr. From the Gold 38, Brooks passed to Garza, who lateraled to Craig, who raced to the end zone. Brooks' PAT pass to James Callins was on target, and the Rats now trailed by just one: 8-7.

Gold went three-and-out. However, after Ro Russell made a diving catch of a pass to give the Gym Rats first down at their 22, Nims intercepted a Brooks pass and ran it back for a TD. The PAT pass to Rosenthal was broken up by Russell, but Gold had regained the lead, 14-7.

Entering the fourth quarter, the Gym Rats switched to a hurry-up offense. Quincy Boles gained 18 yards on two pass receptions, and another hook-and-lateral play -- in which Brooks passed to Craig, who pitched out to a trailing Garza -- moved the Rats to midfield. Brooks advanced 35 yards on two consecutive quarterback keepers, tossed a TD pitch pass to Garza, then tied the game, 14-14, on another PAT pass to Callins.
Reserve Gold countered with a sustained scoring drive. After Gym Rat Brandon Newhouse sacked Mansell for a two-yard loss, the quarterback covered 12 yards on a keeper and moved the Airmen into Gym Rats territory with passes to Nims, Rosenthal, Jim Sherman and Ken Sarsycki.

At the Rats' 29, Mansell faked a pitchout to Rosenthal and dashed to the 16. Rosenthal chewed up 13 more yards, and Nims clutched a pass in the end zone, giving Gold the edge once again, 20-14. The extra-point try failed.

The Rats took possession as the clock wound down, and quickly picked up 52 yards on a hook-and-lateral: Brooks passed to Boles, who lateraled to Russell, who was stopped at the Gold 23. Brooks added 13 on a keeper, then added nine more before Rosenthal stopped him at the 1-yard line.

With time running out, the Gym Rats were flagged for a motion penalty that moved the ball back to the 5. From there, Brooks tossed a shovel pass to Craig, who sprinted into the end zone to tie the game, 20-20.

On the extra-point attempt, the entire right side of the Gym Rats' offensive line was flagged for a false start and the ball was moved back to the 9-yard line. On his second PAT opportunity, Brooks rifled a pass into the right corner of the end zone and Callins grabbed it, sealing the victory and ending the game.