Sunday, November 27, 2011

DEC crushes Bais 26-6 34- 14

Derech Etz Chaim came back from a very mediocre performance in week 3 to crush a Bais team that until now had been competitive in all of its games. The defense provided pressure, sacks and turnovers. The O-line gave Gilad time – not one sack the entire game, Gilad Silverman hit his receivers with great passes and the receiving corps made great catches to put up 60 points on the night and win both games by huge margins. The big story on the night was the play of the first year guys. Daniel Romero, Sammy Blivaiss and Coby Yudkowsky on D-line. Doni Raskas and Gilad Bengio both had interceptions. And Raphy Kintzer emerged as a clutch receiver with a couple of touchdowns and extra points. The other area was kick returns with Lior Goldstein returning the second half kickoff for a touchdown and a punt down to the 2 yd line. DEC heads into 2 weeks of byes (next game December 17) having reestablished themselves as the team to beat.

Game report:

Game #1

Bais received and was held by the defense to 3 and out but DEC failed to capitalize on their first 4 downs allowing Bais to take a 6-0 lead with a long bomb to the end zone. But that was to be the defense's last mistake.

On the very next play Jacob Kon with the help of great blocking ran the field for a touchdown to tie up the game at 6

Bais once again was forced to punt and Lior Goldstein returned the ball to the 5 yard line.

Gilad connected with Noam for the TD with the extra point going to TE Ephraim Addato to give DEC a 13- 6 lead.

Bais was shut out again and turned the ball over at mid field with Gilad hitting Raphy Kintzer for the TD and Jacob for the extra point. DEC 20 – Bais 6

One more time Bais could not get anything and Gilad hit Noam to get the ball down to the 2 yard line and Joseph Gomez ran it in behind the blocking of Aron Hertz, Ephraim, Noam and Gilad.

Final score DEC 26- Bais 6

Game #2

The second game picked up right where the first one left off with Lior Goldstein returning the opening kick off for a TD and Raphy catching the extra point.

On Bais’s opening drive they were helped by a pass interference call bringing the ball way down into DEC territory. The scored. DEC 7 Bais 6.

Things got a little scary when Bais intercepted a pass and made a 2 point extra point to take the lead 14 – 7 but that was the last time they would score.

Gilad calmly marched the team down field to bring the score to 14-14

On Bais’s next drive the D-line applied tremendous pressure backing Bais up into their end zone and forcing an interception by Doni Raskas. Gilad connected with Raphy for the score and Doni ran in the extra point DEC 21- Bais 14

Once again tremendous pressure on Bais and a tipped ball led to a Gilad Bengio interception. Gilad to Jacob for the TD and Raphy for the extra point 28-14

One last TD by DEC brought the final score to DEC 34- Bais 14.

Highlights:

Monday, November 21, 2011

Defensive Battle leaves DEC with a split against TJ

Derech Etz Chaim’s offense stalled handing a game to Tifferet (TJ) and thanks to the defense, which played outstanding, particularly in the second game DEC finished the evening with a split.

Game #1

The first game began with DEC dominating, driving down field to score on a couple of great receptions by Noam while the defense held TJ to nothing forcing them 3 and out on their first two drives. On DEC’s next drive Gilad forced a long pass that led to an interception but the defense held and TJ could not capitalize on the turnover.

DEC then drove down field again and on a long pass to Jacob scored to bring the score to 12- 0 DEC. That is when things began to fall apart.

TJ managed just one short pass but missed flagsby DEC turned it into a TD

Score: DEC 12 – TJ – 6.

On DEC’s next possession Gilad threw a bomb to Jacob for what seemed a touchdown but it was called back on a controversial call, when the ref claimed R’ Katz was still on the field! That penalty plus an offsides backed DEC up to the goal line. On the next play a safety was called as Gilad was sacked in the end zone (replay footage shows that Gilad passed the ball just before the sack but the AFI does not use video replay!)

The safely brought the score to DEC 12 – TJ -8 with TJ getting the ball at midfield. The defense held for the first 2 downs but on third and long a short pass with missed flags brought TJ to the 10 yd line where they were able to pass for an easy TD to win the game 14-12 giving DEC its first loss of the season.

Game #2

DEC received in the second game and worked their way down field. On a pass to the end zone the ball was tipped into the hands of a TJ receiver for a turn over. But on TJ’s first play Lior Goldstein intercepted the pass to give the ball back to DEC. But on the first pass from scrimmage, Gilad’s pass intended for Noam was tipped and TJ got the ball back yet again!

Here the DEC defense totally held TJ to nothing and DEC was able to drive down field and get the ball into the end zone on a pass to Rafi Kintzer who made a nice move and took it in.

Score:DEC 6 – TJ – 0

TJ could not move the ball at all not even getting a first down but when one of their punts pinned DEC at the 2 yard line the TJ defense was once again able to sack Gilad in the end zone for a safety bringing the score to DEC-6 TJ- 2.

DEC’s offense could get down field but could not get the ball into the end zone and after Joseph Gomez pulled a great move on his defender he caught a long pass from Gilad and scored only to have it called back due to a missing flag! (A call the refs had to figure out the rule for a long time – our opinion and that of many officials is that they called it incorrectly.)

The defense held TJ to not even a first down and the game ended with a DEC win 6-2

Sunday, November 13, 2011

DEC Defeats Flying Pizzas 21-0 13-12

Flying Pizzas entered the game calling themselves the “dream team” and left having had a bad nightmare. Derech Etz Chaim thoroughly dominated the New York team of star basketball players who just found out what it takes to win at football.

To give credit, Flying Pizzas had what must be the most dominant defensive lineman in the league and kept the DEC O-line battling all night (great job by Aron Hertz and Ephraim Addato).
Though DEC won the first game handily the second game they only held on to the win due to a great defensive play in the last seconds.

Game #1
In the first game the DEC defense held Flying Pizzas to not just a shut out, but really gave up nothing. All three corners. Lior, Doni and Gilad Bengio shut down their receivers. Flyng Pizzas went 3 and out without even a first down for most of the game, giving up sacks to Sammy, Cobi and Levi and an interception to Doni Raskas. The offense clicked on all cylinders. On the very first play Jacob Kon following excellent blocking ran for a TD, and Doni Raskas ran in the extra point.

The next time DEC got the ball, Noam Silverman caught a pass in the end zone from Gilad Silverman with Joseph Gomez getting the catch for the extra point. And to finish off the scoring Gilad hit Jacob Kon long for a TD followed by and extra point to Raphy Kintzer.

Final Score DEC 21-Flying Pizzas 0

Game #2

In the second came Flying Pizzas seemed to calm down and after DEC scored on its first drive on a pass to Noam they were able to come back down field and even the score 6-6.

DEC got right back down field on a long pass to Jacob but got stuck in the red zone on dropped passes.

The defense held with Coby Yudkowsky blocking a Flying Pizza pass but DEC could not turn it into points.

Once again the defense held with and with the game tied DEC got the ball back after a Flying Pizzas punt at the one minute warning. Gilad went back to what was working and threw a long pass to Jacob in the end zone for a TD. DEC got the crucial extra point to take a 13-6 lead with under a minute to play. All the demons of the last game came back and no one wanted to give up a last minute TD. When Flying Pizzas overthrew long on 4rth down everyone thought the game was over – but there was a flag on the play! Lior Goldstein was called for pass interference on the DEC 30 yd line and with 40 seconds left Flying Pizzas still had a chance. They scored and with almost no time remaining the score was DEC 13 – Flying Pizzas 12. Flying Pizzas elected to go for two points and the win. On the final play the QB found an open receiver in the corner of the end zone but Gilad Bengio got tough and ripped the ball away and the game ended as a DEC win.

Final Score DEC 13 – Flying Pizzas 12



Sunday, November 06, 2011

DEC Season Begins With a Wild One!

DEC opened the new season against a very tough Jerry’s Kids and came away with a win 20-13 and a tie 21 -21. The game had the intensity of a playoff game even though it was just the regular season opener. The stadium was full of fans wanting to get a look at this year’s version of Derech Etz Chaim football.

In the first game of the post Shwartzbaum era (no Koby no Pinchas) new stars arose, with Noam Silverman and Joseph Gomez carrying the load making crucial catches as time expired in both games. DEC’s vaunted defense, playing without the injured Levi Klein, was hot and cold, stopping Jerry’s Kids important drives, but having trouble pulling flags and pulling down the long bombs.

Game 1 began on a sour note with Gilad Silverman throwing an interception on a trick play to start the game, but the defense held and Jerry’s Kid’s turned over the ball on downs giving DEC its first drive starting at mid field. Gilad connected with Noam and DEC was up 6-0.

The defense held once again and DEC drove down field scoring on a run by Gilad and an extra point to Ephraim Addato to make the score 13-0.

Jerry’s Kids taking advantage of missed flags drove down field and scored on a throw just over the head of defending corner Gilad Bengio making the score 13-6. DEC then went 3 and out not converting on 4rth down on a no call on an obvious pass interference (the Jerry’s Kids defender leaped over the intended receiver by pushing down on his shoulders!) and Jerry’s Kids had the ball with great field position. They scored and made the extra point bringing the score to 13-13 with under a minute to play.

Gilad Silverman calmly took the team down the field and after Noam was forced out of the game with an injury Gomez caught two long passes to score and get the extra point.

Final Score DEC 20 Jerry’s Kids 13

Game 2 began well for DEC with Jerry’s Kids going 3 and out on their first possession. Gilad drove DEC down field but two dropped passes in the Red Zone sent DEC home empty. Jerry’s Kids got the ball but threw a long interception to Doni Raskas who ran the length of the field with a great block from Sammy Blivaiss to score with the extra point to Noam DEC 7-0.

Jerry’s Kids came back throwing a long bomb to score and bring it to 7-7

DEC went 3 and out and missed flags gave Jerry’s kids another score bringing the score to 7- 13 . On the next drive Jerry’s sacked Gilad for a safety and now lead 15- 6 with a little over a minute to play. Then began the wackiest minute of football.

Good clock management by DEC and a defense that held gave Gilad back the ball with a little under a minute to play . DEC drove down field scoring with 35 seconds left in the game and making a 2 point conversion to Noam bringing the score to 15-15 . But it was not over.

Jerry’s trying to get something threw an interception to Lior Goldstein who ran it back to give DEC the lead 21- 15 with 15 seconds left in the game.

But a Hail Mary by Jerry’s, tipped by a DEC defender fell into the arms of a receiver to tie the game, but the defense held for the extra point to end the game tied 21-21.

Highlights :