Derech Etz Chaim began its 2005-2006 schedule on Friday October 28 against Norman's Steak N' Burger at Kraft Stadium. The game was highlighted by veteran Moshe Franklin's first career start at quarterback, necessitated by the absence of Betzalel Gersten, who will be the starting quarterback when he returns from America.
The game started on a positive note when the special teams unit only allowed Norman's to return Franklin's kickoff to their own 5-yard-line. The defense then held the Norman's offense to a three-and-out and took possession at the Norman's 23-yard-line as a result of a botched punt.
DEC's first drive began with a rush by Eliyahu Kenigsberg for 7 yards and a rush by Franklin for 10 yards which brought a 3rd-and-3 from the 6-yard-line. The Norman's defense held for the next two plays and DEC had to give up the ball on downs.
The defense gave up some yardage to Norman's on the ensuing drive but was able to keep them from scoring, regaining the ball at their own 6-yard-line. Even with the entire field in front of him, Franklin led the offense to a quick score, throwing a 50-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jonah Zisquit. DEC took just a 6-0 lead when a pass went right through the hands of receiver Moshe Ephron during the extra point attempt.
On their next possession, Norman's was once again able to drive down the field, but Franklin intercepted a pass at the DEC 2-yard-line to keep them from scoring. After the interception, the offense first avoided the threat of a safety with a 9-yard pass to tight end Eli Mirlis. Then Kenigsberg gained a first-down with a 9-yard catch and a 3-yard rush. The offense was unable to muster another yard on the drive, so a Franklin punt through the end zone gave Norman's the ball on their own 10-yard-line with about two minutes remaining in the half.
Though they were successful in keeping Norman's out of the end zone, the defense felt that the Norman's quarterback was able to run more than they were comfortable with. Subsequently, the defense switched schemes from a man-on-man to a zone defense. Although the quarterback was unable to run as much, he was able to find his receivers in the cracks of the zone. This was the case when he found an open receiver in the corner of the end zone from the 10-yard-line on 4th-down. A missed extra point attempt left the game tied at 6-6.
The DEC offense had the intimidating task of driving 50 yards in 17 seconds. The first play was a 25-yard pass to Zisquit, followed by a 23-yard pass to Kenigsberg, leaving enough time for a final play. As Franklin rolled right, it appeared that they might pull off the amazing feat, but he was sacked just before he released the pass as the clock ran out.
Mike Deutsch started the second half with a 22-yard kick return to the DEC 23-yard-line. Kenigsberg carried the offense on this drive with a 26-yard catch and a 6-yard rush to get the offense to the Norman's 5-yard-line. The offense was again unable to cash in from short distance on three consecutive plays.
After the teams exchanged interceptions, Norman's put together a scoring drive from their 10-yard line. Another missed extra point attempt put the score at 12-6 with just minutes remaining in the game. DEC wasn't able to formulate another scoring drive, and had to take a loss in a game they pretty much dominated.
This one will sting for a while as the team will have bye in week 2 of the AFI season.
The offense was able to advance the ball the entire game, and in that sense they looked great all day. Franklin put up a solid performance, considering the circumstances, gaining chunks of yards on the ground and going 8 for 15 in the air. But no team is going to win when they don't score in the red zone, like DEC, who was 1 for 4 from within the 10-yard-line.
There was some controversy after the game when it was revealed that Norman's used a few ineligible players, but long discussions with league officials have not resulted in the altering of the outcome.
The loss puts DEC's record at 0-1 on the season, good for 17th place in the Saturday Night Division.
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