Derech Etz Chaim Football Team

Letter from Steve Leibowitz

2012-02-10T15:43:00.001+02:00

Dear Rabbi Katz and the DEC Football Team,

I carefully read you account of the AFI quarter-final game and viewed the video of the "Five Down" incident a number of times. I also asked our Chief Referee and Game ref Dovi Rabinowitz to have our leading rules expert Avi Steinhardt review the "evidence" before a ruling was made about your appeal.

As far as I can tell from the video, a clear mistake was made by our referees in allowing a "fifth down" to take place. I think their confusion was caused on down two. After the play the refs had a discussion about ball placement or whether a penalty had occurred. Dovi may or may not have announced third down and fourth down on the next two plays. I could not tell by video. After fourth down there was clearly confusion on the field. DEC players were certain that it was now their ball and their offense huddled on the field. The announcement by the refs that it was fourth down coming up was argued, and the refs wrongly determined that it was fourth down and still Flying Pizza's ball. The DEC defense took the field. Based on the video I think that the Refs made an additional mistake by not allowing the DEC defense enough time to set up before allowing the snap. The play probably should have been blown dead.

I acknowledge the refs mistake(s), but the AFI rules do not allow for the re-playing of a game. During more than two decades of playing and refing in the AFI, I experienced more than a few calls that may have impacted the outcome of games. When I was on the winning side it felt like compensation for earlier calls against us. When it goes against us I would always feel like there should be a do over. As a ref I would just feel horrible if I got it wrong. Refs make mistakes and we all have to live with it.

The existance of a video proving the bad call makes the refs mistake that much clearer. But the fact is than not all AFI games are videotaped. Even if they were, we are not equipped to use video reviews to assist the referees. The video of the game is really only useful as a review of what took place, after the fact. The only way to efficiently run our league is to have the decision on the field by the refs stand. The most important thing is that we have refs that are capable, experienced and honest. Dovi is one of the two most capable and experienced refs, and is certainly one of the most honest men I know. He tries to do his best in every game. He is also human and makes mistakes. He made a crucial one in this game.

The DEC football team feels that they have been wronged and I can certainly understand their feelings. You had a great regular season and you were a very solid club heading into the playoffs with a real chance to win the title. It is possible that if the ball had been turned over to you after fourth down, you may have gone on to win the game. Unfortunately sports (and its refs) are not a perfect science, and it could be, that as a result, the better team was not the victor.

I applaud your team for its achievements on the field, both in terms of playing ability and more importantly in terms of sportsmanship.

With love of Israel

Steve Leibowitz
President
American Football in Israe

Official Decision

2012-02-10T12:33:00.002+02:00

Having reviewed the video (see posting) there was an official AFI meeting regarding the possibility of replaying the last minutes or entire game between Flying Pizzas and DEC. Prior to the meeting DEC requested of Flying Pizzas to acknowledge that they had won through official error and agree to re play. Their response was that even though they knew they received an extra down - and they admit knowing it at the time, that it was irrelevant being as they convinced the game officials so it makes no difference.
The officials ruled to up hold the game's outcome even while acknowledging the mistakes made (and hoping to do better next time).
Derech Etz Chaim can add this to a feeling that there is a list of discriminatory decisions made by the league over the years and know their season finished prematurely due to official error. They also can at least find some comfort in a great season and the fact that they know they are the better team.
Flying Pizzas can continue their playoff drive hoping for more help by officials to beat teams they otherwise cannot defeat.
Season Recap and other stories coming up before we close down the Blog for the off season.

Flying Pizzas 5 Downs

2012-02-09T23:46:00.001+02:00

Here is the video of Flying Pizzas 5 downs to win their playoff game against DEC this past Sat. night

DEC loses to Flying Pizzas on 5th down!

2012-02-06T14:27:00.002+02:00

Who said there is no 5th down in football! DEC lost in the quarter finals to Flying Pizzas when the officials mistakenly, and after protest, mis counted and granted Flying Pizzas a 5th down that began without the DEC defense on the field, where they went ahead and scored the winning touchdown.
It was a close game with DEC on incredible passing from Gilad Silverman leading by 1 point for most of the game. On Flying Pizzas (FP) opening drive they were forced to punt and DEC drove down field quickly but was unable to punch it in in the red zone. FP took scored on their next drive missing the extra point and DEC came right back to go up by 1. The teams each scored one more time to end the first half with DEC leading 14-13.
The second half contined as a defensive battle each team scorning one more time and DEC holding a 1 point lead late in the game. With FP in the red zone and 3 minutes left the DEC defense stopped them again. Chief AFI official Dovi Rabinowitz called 4rth down accurately, DEC held and as the offense was switching onto the feild the FP bench started claiming it was only 3rd down. After consulting with the other official FP was granted another down which they began while players were still protesting to the ref in spite of the fact that the clock had been stopped and the clock official was involved in the conversation and did not see the play start to start the clock. Video confirmation shows it was a 5th down. Fly Pizzas took advantage of no defense on the feild scored to go ahead 25-19 with less then 3 minutes on the clock.
DEC tried to drive and was forced with under a minute to go in the game to go for it on 4rth and long unsuccessfully and FP scored one more time from the DEC 20 to put the game away.
We hope to soon post video of the game as well as a season recap. This was another great DEC team whose season has unfortunately come to a premature end.
Stay tuned for more posts before we head into the off season.

Highlights DEC defeats Goliaths

2012-01-31T23:02:00.001+02:00

DEC defeats the Goliath's (Torat Shraga) 32-20 in the first round of the playoffs!

2012-01-30T10:07:00.003+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim defeated the Goliath’s (Torat Shraga) 32-20 in the first round of the Holyland Bowl upper tier playoff’s. On an off night for Gilad Silverman the defense took over making huge plays when necessary and the offense had enough to get the win.

The game began with DEC dominating. Torat Shraga who could not move the ball at all on their first set of downs and after punting DEC drove down field, a pass to Jacob Kon and the extra point to Raphy Kintzer and DEC took a 7 point lead. Torat Shraga came right back driving down field to score and tie the game at 7-7.

When DEC took over they were able to launch a drive but failed to score turning the ball back over to Shraga who threatened to take the lead but in the red zone the DEC defense came up big again with Dovi Pollack making a difficult interception in the end zone to get the ball back to DEC. Gilad took advantage of the turnover and drove down to score on a pass to Noam with 30 seconds left in the half. It looked like DEC would take a 7 point lead into the half but a Hail Mary found its target and Shraga tied it up to go into half time with the score tied 14-14.

DEC started the half with the ball and after a good return by Lior Goldstein, Gilad found Noam down field and then again for a TD to take a 20-14 lead. The defense held Shraga and DEC got the ball back. On 4rth and short Gilad under pressure made a desperate lob that turned into an interception taken to the end zone to tie the game for Shraga 20-20.

Things were tense with the game tied so late when Gilad found Jacob Kon open on a bomb, but the defender pushed Jacob and a pass interference call gave DEC the ball in the red zone. It seemed DEC was poised to take back the lead but another desperate pass by Gilad was intercepted in the end zone.

The turn over was soon redeemed by the dominant DEC defense. Coby Yudkowsky put intense pressure on the Shraga QB sacking him and forcing bad throws, this time an interception by Lior Goldstein who brought the ball back to the 2 yard line and DEC pushed it in to take a 26-20 lead. Another big sack by Coby forced Shraga to punt and what was almost a TD return by Lior gave DEC great field position and a pass to a leaping Jacob Kon in the back of the end zone sealed the game giving DEC a 32-20 lead.

The stars of the game were the defense and Coby in particular he had several blocked passes, a blocked punt and big sacks and constant pressure on the QB. DEC now moves into the next round where it will face Flying Pizzas a team it beat easily in the season’s second game but who have improved dramatically since and are one of the favorites to take it all. The difficult regular season schedule has had DEC previously face all of its potential upcoming opponents during the season and 4 of the remaining 8 teams playing for a spot in the Holyland Bowl.

This week should see the return of Doni Raskas and Levi Klein who have been out with injuries.

Stay tuned for highlights and to watch DEC’s latest championship drive

Highlights from DEC vs Jerry's Kids game

2012-01-17T03:05:00.000+02:00

DEC defeats Jerry's Kids to move on to playoffs!

2012-01-16T19:10:00.004+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim defeated Jerry's Kids in a thrilling double overtime game to move on to the upper tier, Holyland Bowl playoffs for the 5th straight year.
In was a tough game that found DEC having to make several comebacks and struggling in the red zone for the first time this season. Gilad Silverman threw 2 interceptions for the first time all year and Jerry's had good field position that they took advantage of.
Several players came up big with Noam Silverman making several big catches, and Jacob Kon, who is playing at CB in place of the injured Doni Raskas, made several big plays including an interception in the end zone a long bomb and several runs to keep DEC in the game.
Though the defense struggled for much of the game they also made big plays with Dov Polack blocking passes and Sammy Blivaiss picking up an interception on D-line!
At the end of regulation the score was tied 19-19 and the game moved to overtime with each team getting the ball at the 20 and having 4 downs to score. Jerry's won the toss and elected to go first, scoring on their drive and putting the pressure on DEC. A long run by Jacob Kon led by superb blocking brought the ball to the 1 yard line on the first play of DEC possession and the offense punched it in to tie the game. On Jerry's next possession the defense shut them down and Gilad Silverman was able to direct the drive that gave DEC the victory.
Derech Etz Chaim now moves on to the playoffs as one of 8 one seeds all who went 2-0 in the intermediate stage. They get next weekend off while we wait to see who the 2-1 second seeds are.
The 8 top seeds are Ateret Cohanim (Bitach), DEC, Flying Pizzas, and the Gov on one side of the bracket and Orli Print, Mevaseret, Lobos and Tifferet on the other side.
Stay with http://www.decfootball.com/ as we begin playoffs in a little under two weeks.

DEC rolls over Ziontours 48-18

2012-01-09T11:03:00.003+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim continued its annual push to the playoffs with a 48-18 thumping of Ziontours. The offense kept pouring it on, even getting regular center Aron Hertz an extra point, while running and passing well above Ziontours level.

DEC moves on this week to play Jerry's Kids. A win qualifies DEC for the upper tier playoffs.

Highlight reel:

Preview to the Intermediate Stage

2012-01-06T11:58:00.004+02:00

DEC and the rest of the AFI finished the regular season last week and now advanced to the "play in" stage. The teams with the top 32 records advance playing to win at least 2 out of 3 games to advance to the upper tier Holyland Bowl playoffs.
Here is the explanation of how it works from the AFI web site:
Intermediate Stage Format
The Intermediate Stage format is unchanged from last year. If you want the simple version, here's all you have to know: The top 32 teams make the Intermediate Stage (the remaining lower teams continue in a separate format). You play against three different opponents. Win at least two games, you advance to the Top Tier Playoffs. Lose two out of three, you go to a lower tier.
If you want the more complicated version, here it is. (Even this part isn't too hard to understand if you see it on a chart - we'll try to post it at the field.)
The match-ups in the first game of the Intermediate Stage are: 1 vs. 32, 2 vs. 31, etc.
(Note that standings tie-breakers are listed in the Rules - the computer doesn't automatically list tied teams in this order on the website.)
In the second game, the winners face winners, and losers face losers. Specifically, the winner of 1 vs. 32 faces the winner of 16 vs. 17, and the loser of 1 vs. 32 faces the loser of 16 vs. 17. Likewise 2/31 vs. 15/18, etc.
In the third game, teams that are 1-1 face each other. (Teams that are 2-0 or 0-2 have already either clinched a spot or been eliminated. They get a bye, and go directly to the appropriate playoff tier)
The bracket for this third game is a bit harder to understand without a chart. Think of it like this. "9 vs. 17, 10 vs. 18, etc."
That is, if all the higher seeds win the first two weeks, then 9 will face 17.
But remember, it's a bracket without reseeding. So "9" really means "the team that won the 9 vs. 24 game in week one, and then lost in week two when they faced the winner 8 vs. 25".

Derech Etz Chaim completed the season with a 10-3-1 record which created a 6 way tie for the 5th best record. DEC was given the 5 seed on its strength of record. DEC played 5 of the teams it tied with plus the #1 seed Ateret Cohanim. It is important to note that DEC probably had the strongest strength of schedule in the league and the #2,#3,and #4 teams all were Friday teams where the schedule is significantly easier then on Saturday night.

From this point in the schedule games are 50 minute two half games. If we look at the overall scores combined from both "half games" that the league played in the regular season, DEC did not lose even once! Having defeated Ateret Cohanim, Flying Pizzas and Lobos during the regular season DEC enters the post season with a good shot at another title.

The biggest cloud over DEC's title hopes is injuries. Levi Klein has been out all season and is hoping to return for the playoffs which would give a tremendous boost to the D-line. Doni Raskas broke his hand in the last regular season game and also hopes to return during playoffs, shoring up an important CB position.

This week DEC faces the #27 seed and possibly its easiest game of the year, but Ziontours should not be underestimated. They are a Saturday night team with veteran players who are out to upset Derech Etz Chaim.

Derech Etz Chaim vs Lobos

2012-01-02T12:28:00.002+02:00

In a match the league has been waiting for all season, Derech Etz Chaim took on Lobos in the final game of the regular season with seedings for the play-in round on the line. These are two of the leagues top teams and fans were treated to entertaining games, that started with Lobos in complete control and ended in a DEC rout of Lobs, with DEC’s defense overwhelming Lobos, but unfortunately getting caught again on a last minute bomb in game 1.
Game report:
Game #1
Game 1 began with Lobos quickly driving to take a 6-0 lead. DEC came right back but after a fumbled hand off which would have tied the game Lobos caught a tipped ball for an interception in the end zone and ran it back all the way to take a commanding 12-0 lead.
Derech Etz Chaim came right back and drove down field to bring the score to 12-6 and the DEC defense held Lobos to 3 and out and forced a punt. The only bad news of the drive was CB Doni Raskas going down with a broken hand after making a great stop on a pass. Doni will be out 2-4 weeks and hopefully will return for the playoffs. With Lobos backed up in their end zone DEC got good field position and quickly scored on a pass to Jacob Kon with Raphi getting the extra point to give DEC the lead 13-12.
Lobos came back and missed flags led to an easy touchdown to give Lobos a 13-19 lead.
Gilad got the ball back with a minute in the game and found Jacob Kon in the end zone on a bomb and Raphy again to give DEC the lead 20-19 with 48 seconds left.
Then the story of the year for DEC, the Lobos QB hooked up with Aryeh Rudman for an incredible catch to the 1 yd line and Lobos put it in to win 26-21.
Game #2
DEC received and quickly drove down field bringing it in on a run from Gilad Silverman and Noam catching the extra point. DEC 7 – Lobos 0
The DEC defense held firm and Lobos forced a throw into the arms of Gavi Guterson substituting for the injured Doni Raskas. Gilad Silverman turned it into points while running under pressure threw a beautiful pass to Jacob Kon with the extra point to Raphy gave DEC a 14-0 lead.
Lobos went 3 and out as the defense held again and though DEC started in good field position they failed to score and gave the ball back to Lobos, but Lobos could not capitalize and had to go on 4rth, did not get the 1st down. DEC got the ball back and a Jacob run followed by a Raphy TD gave DEC a 20-0 win.
Highlights:

DEC vs Ateret Cohanim (Bitach)

2011-12-25T16:37:00.004+02:00

It was a very rainy night in Yerushalayim in an anticipated game between two of the best teams in the AFI. The result was the same as last year and left many questions as to what would happen on a clear night!
In the first game DEC totally dominated ultimately winning 26-12 . The defense stopped AC and the offense clicked on every down. In the second game in a heavy downpour Bitach took advantage of their run and though the DEC defense stalled them on 3 sets, the offense without the passing game could not make a come back.
Controversy was involved prior to the game as Doni Raskas, the starting DEC CB was suspended for the game due to a roster violation. Gavi Guterson was added to the roster to replace him and did a great job on defense.
Game Report:
Game #1
The game began with AC driving down field and scoring first to take a 6 point lead . But Gilad Silverman led DEC back with a run from Jacob Kon, and good gain from Ephraim Addato on a broken play and pass to Jacob that he ran in for the TD to tie up the score.
The defense held AC to 3 and out and the heavy rain began. Jacob Kon took another pass by Gilad down to the 1 yard line and the offense pushed it in with Joseph Gomez running it in. A quick pass to Raphy Kinzter for the extra point and the score was DEC 13 - AC 6.
AC once again was forced to punt and Lior Goldstein returned the punt for a TD the extra point was good to bring the score to DEC 20 AC 6.
AC drove down field and was within striking distance to get the game close when Lior Goldstein intercepted a pass in the end zone and Jacob Kon ran it in for a TD on the next play.
AC got down field one more time and time expired with the score DEC 26 AC 12.
Game #2
At this point it was pouring and with DEC kicking off AC was able to take advantage of missed flags and sliding players to return the opening kick off for a TD.
DEC could not move the ball in the rain and AC was able to capitalize on a short pass and missed flags to take a 12-0 lead.
Gilad did not have control over the wet ball and AC kept running to take a commanding 18-0 lead. The DEC defense held AC forcing them to punt throughout the rest of the game and Lior Goldstein brought a punt way back and a Gilad Silverman run finally got DEC some points. It was a messy night with DEC losing 18-6.
Highlights:

Derech Etz Chaim defeats Klein Management 20-14 20-18

2011-12-18T08:54:00.004+02:00

In a rough game that saw two DEC jerseys shredded, and a number of injuries DEC prevailed for the 4rth straight time in 4 years over Klein Management (Medrash Shmuel) . The highlight of the night was the drive to finish the first game with DEC down by one point. With a minute left Gilad Silverman drove down field with catches by all the receivers to score with 15 seconds left and win the game.
In the second game with DEC leading by 8 Medrash put up a last minute drive helped by trick plays and bad calls to score but missed the extra point to give DEC the victory.
Lior Goldstein came up with two big interceptions including one in the end zone to end a Medrash drive and Doni Raskas had one interception and ran in two touchdowns.
Much credit goes to the DEC O-line , Aron Hertz and Ephraim Addato who dealt with dirty hits the entire night but gave Gilad good protection that led to the wins.
Game report:
DEC kicked off in the first game and on Klein's first drive Lior Goldstein intercepted a long pass to lead to DEC's first drive.
DEC starting at their own 10 was helped by on off sides penalty on 4rth to get the first down and keep the drive going. Raphy Kintzer caught a pass to take it to the 1 yd line. and DEC (literally) pushed it in from there. Raphy took care of the extra point and DEC was leading 7-0
Klein then got back into the game by a long run to set up a short TD pass with the extra point the score was 7-7
DEC then went 3 and out and Klein returned the punt all the way back to the DEC 15
with Klein poised to score again and take the lead Lior Goldstein made a big interception in the end zone to end the drive.
DEC took advantage of the turnover and drove down the field on passes to Noam, Gomez and on an end zone play the ball was tipped out of Addato's hands, then a Klein corner, and into the hands of Jacob Kon for a TD.The extra point was no good and DEC lead 13-7
Klein then came down field when a short pass turned into a big gain on missed flags. A quick pass and an extra point and Klein was leading 14- 13 with a minute to play.
Gilad Silverman calmly led DEC down the field with passes to Jacob, Gomez and Noam. A pass to Noam was tipped into the hands of Gomez who took it down to the 1 yard line. DEC pushed it in to bring the final score to DEC 20 Klein 14

Game 2
DEC received and on the opening play a long bomb to Jacob Kon who made an amazing catch plus the extra point gave DEC a quick 7-0 lead.
Klein used some running and trickery to bring the score to 7-6
DEC was forced to punt on its next drive . The punt was short and gave Klein good field position but Doni Raskas intercepted a pass and got DEC the ball back.
DEC began running the ball with Gilad Silverman running 35 yards into the red zone.
A pass to Noam brought it down to the 1 and DEC pushed it in again. The extra point was good and the score DEC 14 Klein 6
Klein was able to score on their next drive but the extra point was no good. Score DEC 14 Klein 12
DEC drove down feild again with Doni Raskas running in the ball behind blocking from Sammy Blivaiss and Daniel Romero the extra point was no good the score with a minute left in the game DEC 20 Klein 12
Klein still had some tricks in their bag and brought the ball down field and scored with 20 seconds left in the game but could not get the extra point final score DEC 20- Klein 18
Highlights

Bye weeks for DEC

2011-12-04T04:50:00.002+02:00

After the big win last week DEC has a bye both this week and next before finishing the regular season with three more games.

We want to congratulate QB Gilad Silverman on being voted AFI player of the week for his terrific game last week.

Stay tuned for more DEC football action in the weeks to come.

DEC crushes Bais 26-6 34- 14

2011-11-27T11:18:00.002+02:00

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:

Defensive Battle leaves DEC with a split against TJ

2011-11-21T14:35:00.001+02:00

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

DEC Defeats Flying Pizzas 21-0 13-12

2011-11-13T16:29:00.009+02:00

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

DEC Season Begins With a Wild One!

2011-11-06T22:11:00.003+02:00

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 :

Derech Etz Chaim football is back!

2011-10-31T21:22:00.002+02:00

After the heart breaking loss in the final moments of last season's Championship game DEC is ready to make another run. With many returning members of last years team everyone wants to go all the way this time.
Gilad Sulverman returns at Quarterback. Noam Silverman, Joseph Gomez, Levi Klein, Aron Hertz, Dovi Pollack, Jacob Kon, Ephraim Addato and Lior Goldstein are all returning from last year's team. New recruits include Doni Raskas and Gilad Bengio at cornerback. Raphy Kintzer and Zev Klein as wide receivers, and Sammy Blivaiss and Coby Yudkowsky on D-line.
The heart of the old team and the last remaining member of the 2009 Championship team, Pinchas Shwarzbaum is gone (though rumor has it he may be back in time for playoffs.)
The first game of the season is this coming week versus Jerry's Kids, a veteran team who should provide a challenge, particularly with star receiver Jacob Kon and D- lineman Levi Klein out for the week (Levi injured his ankle in a pre-season scrimmage and will be out for several weeks.)
We look forward to a great season once again for DEC. Please stay tuned to the web site www.decfootball.com to catch all the game reports and highlight reels.

Highlight Reel of 2011 Championship game.

2011-02-18T16:59:00.000+02:00

Recap of Championship Game

2011-02-16T19:57:00.000+02:00

In what will go down in AFI history as one of the most exciting Championship games Derech Etz Chaim was defeated by Big Blue in the final seconds on a “Hail Mary” pass that found a receiver.

The game began poorly for DEC with Big Blue receiving the kick-off and immediately driving down field. Missed flags led to a Big Blue touchdown and a 6-0 lead.

DEC offense could not get moving and turned the ball over on downs after a poorly thrown 4rth down pass and gave Big Blue the ball with great field position at the DEC 20. The DEC defense held and on 4rth down a Big Blue pass intended for Yona Mishan was picked off by Dovi Pollack and ran back for a touchdown. But in what would be a night of controversial calls the TD was called back. Big Blue still could not convert and DEC got the ball back. A long bomb to Jacob Kon is dropped in the end zone and the DEC offense cannot get it together with Gilad throwing an interception in the end zone. Gilad was under tremendous pressure all night with the Big Blue D line getting through on every play.

Big Blue went three and out as did DEC on their next drive, Big Blue finally got something going and on a long pass scored a TD and a crucial extra point to end the half with DEC down 0-13

Whatever was said and adjustments made at half time worked because Gilad and the DEC offense came out on fire. Going no huddle, a pass to Noam, another to Pinchas, two more passes to Sam Ash led to first down. Another to Sam then Noam then Sam again, set up a 4rth down TD pass to Pinchas Shwartzbaum. The entire drive of 7 plays took under 3 minutes to score.

Score Big Blue 13- DEC 6.

The DEC defense held and Big Blue went 3 and out and was forced to punt. DEC got the ball back and after two false start penalties brought the ball back to the DEC 5 Gilad went to work and on 3^rd and long hit Noam to bring the ball just short of a first down. A Big Blue offsides gives DEC the first down on the Big Blue 25.Two incomplete passes brings up 3^rd and long and Gilad hits Pinchas who takes it in for a TD. Again no extra point and the score is Big Blue 13 – DEC 12 with 13 ½ minutes left in the game.

Big Blue opens up its drive hitting a speedy receiver together with a DEC defensive breakdown and a controversial block gets to the end zone to score. Though a flag is thrown on the play for a block to the back, after a review the call is rescinded and Big Blue leads 19 – 12.

Gilad went to work again throwing long to Pinchas who brings the ball down to the DEC 20 another pass to Sam, another to Pinchas coupled with a holding call against the defense and that brings the ball down to the Big Blue 2 yd line. On 4rth down in a must score position Gilad falls while evading the oncoming defenders but recovers to hit Noam in the end zone for a DEC TD to bring the score to 19-18 with 5 minutes to play.

After Big Blue gets the first down on a long pass the DEC defense holds and DEC gets the ball back on their own 30 with 2 minutes to play. Gilad hits Gomez then Sam then Gomez for a 1rst down on the 10 . With 1:35 left DEC calls timeout with two downs to get the ball into the end zone.

On 4rth down Gilad throws to Noam who collides with the defender, but while catching the ball on the floor, launches the ball over the line for a TD

DEC has its first lead 24- 19 with less then a minute to play.

Big Blue’s drive stall and on 4rth and long just get the first down to stay alive, with 14 seconds left and no timeouts the Big Blue Quarterback launches a “Hail Mary “ to the end zone. Lior is there covering the intended receiver and Gavi is flying in with another Big Blue receiver who somehow in the middle of the pack comes up with the ball and Big Blue ruins DEC’s comeback and its dream of another title.

Gilad Silverman, Noam Silverman, Sam Ash and Pinchas Scwartzbaum played an outstanding second half . This game ends the Pinchas Shwartzbaum – Sam Ash era of DEC football and the newer talent will have to pick up where they left off.

If you wish to listen to the entire exciting game follow the link at www.israelsportsradio.com to The A.F.I. Flag Football Championship between DEC & Big Blue

DEC loses Championship to Big Blue on last minute TD

2011-02-12T23:20:00.002+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim came back from a 12-0 halftime deficit to take the lead 24-18 with less then one minute to play but lost on a "Hail Mary" pass with 14 seconds left to give Big Blue the championship. A full game report and highlight reel coming soon.

Get Ready for the Championship

2011-02-11T00:02:00.003+02:00

The excitement is building as Derech Etz Chaim gets ready for the Championship game. As we get ready we invite you to watch the highlights from the 2009 game .

DEC Football on the Radio

2011-02-10T11:51:00.003+02:00

If you wish to hear the broadcast from last Motzei Shabbat's game against Lobos it will be re-broadcast tonight 6:00 PM Israel time at www.israelsportsradio.com .

Last night Rabbi Katz was interviewed on the AFI hour. That interview should be up on the radio site soon as well so check back.

The "Big Game" this week Holyland Bowl Derech Etz Chaim vs. Big Blue will be broadcast live at 8:20 Israel time. A rebroadcast will be available and we will keep you posted.

All of the above should be able to be found in the "listen again section of www.israelsportsradio.com

Highlights DEC vs Lobos Semi Final Game 2011

2011-02-08T20:37:00.001+02:00

Getting Ready for the Big Game

2011-02-07T20:30:00.006+02:00

DEC 2009 Championship Team

As DEC prepares for the Championship it is worthwhile to recall some recent DEC football history.

DEC is preparing to play in its second Holyland Bowl in three years, winning in 2009, and "only" making it to the final four in 2010. This years DEC team has only one player who played in that game two years ago and is made up mostly of first year Talmidim! In the last three years DEC's record is 40 wins and 3 losses, and is one of the most dominant teams in the AFI. Year after year the DEC system seems to not only attract some of the top athletes but prepares them to succeed like no other Yeshiva team has succeeded, and all this from a pool of only 40 students.

They face a worthy opponent in Big Blue. They have won more championships over the years then any other team, consisting of Israelis who have been playing together for many years. Last year, to the shock of many, they did not qualify for the top tier playoffs and they entered this year with some younger additions to bolster their team.

These two teams met earlier this year with DEC winning the first game and tying the second (for an overall win) but both teams are much improved since then.

It should be a great game.

DEC crushes Lobos to move on to the Championship

2011-02-06T11:05:00.003+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim manhandled Lobos 40 - 6 to move on to the Holyland Bowl Championship next week against Big Blue.

Lobos, who knocked DEC out of the playoffs last year in the semi finals came into the game looking to do it again, but not this time. The game began with DEC going three and out and Lobos scoring on their first drive to lead 6-0 , that was Lobos last score of the game. Gilad Silverman marched the team down field spreading the passes around to Jacob Kon, Joseph Gomez, Pinchas Schwartzbaum, Sam Ash and TE Noam Silverman. DEC scored on their next two drives and the defense held Lobos to no gain, with the turning point coming on a Gavi Guterson interception that led to another score to give DEC the lead 20- 6 at the half. Lobos could not get anything going with interceptions by Dovi Pollack and Lior Goldstein and DEC kept rolling up the score. As the final minutes approached the fans went wild and DEC returns to the Championship game for the second time in three years.

Since losing in the intermediate round to Tov Pizza, DEC has been on a roll defeating GR Eagles, TJ, Joes Eagles (Torat Shraga) and now Lobos with the scores getting higher each game and the defense giving up less points every week.

Highlights will be coming soon and there will be several posts this week leading up to the championship game

We're going to the Ship' !

2011-02-06T00:09:00.001+02:00

DEC destroys Lobos 50 - 6 . Derech Etz Chaim is going back to the Championship for the second time in 3 years and will play Big Blue next week for the title!
Game report and highlights coming soon

DEC destroys Joe's Eagles moves on to Final Four

2011-01-30T12:27:00.002+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim completely controlled the game from beginning to end, to send Joe's Eagles (Torat Shraga) home 54- 12 to move on to the final four for the third year in a row.

On both ends the team played with intensity with Gilad hitting Pinchas, Sam Ash, Jacob, Gomez and Noam for touchdowns and Dovi Pollak and Lior Goldstein making interceptions to stop the only serious Joe's Eagles drives in the first half.

With the score 42 - 0 at the half the starters took a rest and Jake Moritz, Mendel Lazarous got some playing time.

Credit goes to Levi Klein, Ephraim Addato, Gavi Guterson and Ezra Isaacs, who played great defense from beginning to end to completely squash any hope for Joe's Eagles.

DEC now gets ready to play Lobos for the thrid year in a row and second straight semi final match .

Highlights coming soon.

The Playoff Picture

2011-01-27T14:39:00.002+02:00

As the AFI and Derech Etz Chaim enter the “Elite Eight” lets update the overall playoff picture.

This week DEC takes on Joe’s Eagles, (Torat Shraga), the team with the second best record this year (following DEC) and the #1 seed in the playoff’s. But that is a bit misleading as they were a Friday team and played a very weak schedule. DEC is the favorite to win, but, it is playoffs and upsets happen.

Including DEC the top 6 teams are still in the playoff picture. The playoffs on the same side of the bracket as DEC pit last years champions, Lobos, vs. Klein Management. The winner will play the winner of the DEC - Joes’ Eagles game. Both Lobos and Klein are very strong teams and the outcome is far from certain. Lobos are still led by QB Yitz Weider who lost to DEC 2 years ago in the Holyland Bowl and beat DEC last year in the semi finals and went on to win it all. Klein is a team that has usually fallen short and was knocked out in the playoffs the last two years by DEC, but this year restocked with a number of the players from the Lobos team that lost to DEC two years ago. Klein is widely viewed as the most talented team in the league.

On the other side of the bracket the 4 teams remaining include three of the leagues strongest teams. Bitach take on Tov Pizza. Tov is without their Quarterback Micha Muschel who was injured three weeks ago in the DEC game and is out for the season. Tov Pizza is still strong but without that mishap they would be favorites to take their bracket. Big Blue takes on Jerry’s Kids and are the strong favorite to emerge and go on to the Holyland Bowl, though Bitach or Tov Pizza could pull off an upset.

Stay tuned for Saturday night to see who goes on to the final four.

DEC Beats TJ 31- 19 to advance in the playoffs

2011-01-23T00:18:00.002+02:00

In the leagues most anticipated first round playoff match up, Derech Etz Chaim handily defeated the highly rated TJ (Tifferet Yerushalyim) team 31-19 and moves on to face Joes Eagles (Torat Shraga) in the playoff quarter finals.

The game began poorly for DEC with TJ scoring first. Gilad Silverman quickly got DEC back into the game with a long bomb to Jacob Kon to quickly bring the team down field and score. TJ leading 7-6 quickly scored as well on a long down field pass and it looked like it was going to be a difficult night for DEC at this point down 13-6.

The team drove down field scoring again to bring the score to 13-12. This time the defense held and TJ could not put up points getting the ball back to the DEC offense with 3 minutes left in the half. That is when the big turn around occurred.

DEC drove down field scoring just at the 1 minute warning to take their first lead 18-13 . TJ got the ball and on their first play from scrimmage, Dov Pollack picked off the pass giving DEC the ball with under a minute at the TJ 10 yard line. DEC quickly scored and looked to head into the half with a 24- 13 lead.

The TJ quarterback threw a long pass which was well defended by Lior Goldstein who tipped the ball, but the TJ receiver made a great effort and grabbed the ball to put TJ on the 5 yard line with seconds to go in the half. On the next play Lior intercepted the pass in the endzone and ran it all the way back for a touchdown as time expired. With the extra point DEC went into the half leading 31-13 having scored 19 points in the last minute of the first half!

The second half was all defense with TJ getting a meaningless touchdown late in the game and the game ended on an appropriate note with Ezra Isaacs intercepting the final TJ pass of the season.

Pinchas Shwartzbaum caught two TD's, Jacob Kon caught one and ran for one and Noam Silverman caught one for the DEC scores. Defense played incredibly well, Gavi Guterson made important stops and the D-line - Sam Ash, Levi Klein and Efraim Addato all kept the pressure on the TJ QB and made big stops.

Here are this weeks highlights:

DEC moves on to the Playoffs!

2011-01-16T14:37:00.004+02:00

In its first elimination game Derech Etz Chaim took on a determined GR Eagles in a physical game and handily defeated them 40 – 18. The game began very one sided and ended one sided. DEC’s first three touchdowns, on two TD passes to Pinchas and a Jacob Kon interception went unanswered until late into the first half when GR Eagles scored twice to bring the halftime score to 19- 13. Derech Etz Chaim dominated the second half with a 30 yard TD run by Sam Ash, a TD to Jacob and a trick play pass from Jacob Kon to Joseph Gomez. All went unanswered as the DEC defense held the GR Eagles to one touchdown at the end of the game.

It was a powerful second half showing from DEC who had been struggling late in games the last several weeks and it was a great win entering the Holyland Bowl playoff tier for the 4rth year in a row. DEC will face a resurgent TJ in the first round of the playoffs next Sat. night. Last year TJ lost in the finals and the same team is back. Though they did not perform well in the regular season, they have played strong in the post season and will be a challenge for DEC in what will again be the game of the week at Kraft Stadium.

Highlights of this past weeks game:

Online All Star voting underway!

2011-01-16T11:37:00.000+02:00

Online voting for the 2011 All Star Game is underway.Vote for the DEC nominees

The ballot is at www.afisports.weebly.com . The All Star Game is tentatively scheduled for Championship weekend, immediately preceding the Holyland Bowl.

The All Stars are chosen in a combined online poll and officials’ poll.

DEC loses a close one to Tov Pizza 21-19

2011-01-09T12:42:00.002+02:00

DEC suffered its first loss of the season to Tov Pizza in the qualifying round and now must beat the GR Eagles next Sat. night to advance to the playoffs.
In an extremely close game decided by extra points, DEC with 2 chances in the last 5 minutes to win the game could not punch it in.
On the first play of the game Gilad threw a TD pass to Pinchas to go up 6-0 but Tov Pizza immediately scored on their first two drives to take the lead 14-6. DEC came back with another touchdown and had the ball with time to score at the end of the first half but could not get into the endzone ending the first half down 14-13.
In the seond half the DEC defense stood tough giving the offense plenty of opportunities to score but the DEC offense sputtered to lose 21-19
Next weeks game is now a must win to get back into the playoffs. Hopefully the team will take some lessons from this week, win next week, and get it back together for a strong playoff run now going into the final round as a 2 seed.

DEC crushes Neve Tziyon in Group Stage opener

2011-01-02T14:31:00.002+02:00

In what is becoming an annual event, Derech Etz Chaim crushed Neve Tziyon 39 - 13 in their opening game of the group stage to once again move closer, to a playoff berth. Jacob Kon starred on the night with 3 TD receptions, one extra point, two interceptions as well as throwing a TD to Joseph Gomez to cap off the night.
Gilad threw 5 TD’s on the night, 3 to Jacob one to Noam and another to Pinchas. Levi Klein had a big night on D-line with some timely big sacks as well as applying pressure throughout the game.
Next week DEC moves on to play Tov Pizza, a team at the top of the league in a game the league is buzzing about. DEC is looking forward to Sam Ash returning to help with the playoff run.
Here are this weeks highlights:

DEC prepares for groups stage vs. Neve Tziyon

2010-12-29T02:50:00.004+02:00

This Saturday night DEC will face Neve Tziyon in its first group stage game. The format was changed this year so that to qualify for the upper tier playoffs, a team needs to win 2 out of 3 group stage games.

DEC has faced and beaten Neve Tziyon each of the past two years on their way to the playoffs, creating a yearly rivalry and thrilling games that have gone in DEC's favor. You can see great highlight reels of the games at :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRbY_Sn62Sc

and last years game at :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oxFGbz4uOI

Stay tuned for this weeks game.

DEC wins again but....

2010-12-21T19:22:00.002+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim handily won their last two regular season games against All the Kings Men 13-0 and 27- 6 to finish with a team all time best record 12-1-1 and 25 points and the #1 rank in the league.

After the game team officials reversed the results and granted DEC a forfeit, the reasons why are still unclear but here is what we do know.

During the game the officials approached the DEC team captain questioning the eligibility of a DEC player. The team Captain, Pinchas Shwartzbaum told the official that the player in question, began the year playing two games for another team and was removed from their roster. He also told the official that the player in question also played a game on another team without being on that teams roster, but that DEC understood that being as he was not rostered they could add him to the DEC roster as they did. The referee allowed the games to continue without requiring DEC to remove the player.

Following the game the league decided to reverse the decision, declare the player ineligible and grant DEC two forfeits moving them down the standings to the 9^th seed.

Team reaction was obviously one of shock having been accused of deceiving the league when the captain felt he had been up front with the knowledge he possessed.

The feeling around the league is that the teams that are being punished are essentially those who now have to play DEC with the new seedings, essentially taking teams that succeeded in a achieving higher seedings and forcing them to face the highest ranked team in the league, DEC, while rewarding the lower seeds (Canaan Bar-Am) by now giving them a weaker opponent.

Derech Etz Chaim is presently getting ready for their first second round game where they will face Neve Tziyon, an opponent they have defeated each of the past two years on their way to the playoffs.

DEC vs. Big Blue

2010-12-14T01:05:00.001+02:00

The highly anticipated match up of two of the best teams in the AFI did not disappoint, and DEC proved itself once again to be a serious contender to go all the way. The game was played to a packed Kraft Stadium, in spite of the cold, wet and windy weather conditions. The game did not stayed close and with clutch plays on both ends of the field.

Big Blue received the opening kick off and took advantage of DEC defensive confusion to score on the first play of the game, but that was to be the last time they would lead. Gilad Silverman took over for DEC and drove downfield and threw the first of 3 touchdown passes to Jacob Kon who played incredible despite being sick. The DEC defense then held Big Blue, who punting into the wind, gave Gilad great field position to set up his next TD. Pinchas caught the extra point and it was DEC 13- Big Blue 7 .

Big Blue drove down the field and on a play from the 2 yard line seemed to throw an interception to Lior Goldstein who took it all the way back. In what would be one of many controversial calls the officials called it back and Big Blue went on to score tying up the game 13-13.

Once again DEC drove down field with a TD pass to Jacob Kon capping the drive getting the extra point to bring the score to 20-13. Though the DEC defense held Big Blue to 3 and out the offense could not run out the clock and Big Blue had the ball for one final drive but threw an interception to Jacob to end the first game.

Game two began with DEC receiving and throwing an interception on the first play of the game. Big Blue could not turn it into points and both sides stalled with the game remaining scoreless through 15 minutes. Finally Gilad connected with Pinchas for a touchdown missing the extra point with Big Blue coming back and scoring on an incredible catch by Sammy Tover for a TD. With the extra point coming once again after officials called a controversial pass interference call Big Blue led 7-6 with under 3 minutes left . Gilad was able to find Gavi Guterson in the end zone for a TD and an great catch by Joseph Gomez made the score DEC 13- Big Blue 7 with under a minute remaining. Big Blue seem to stall but after DEC was called for a tackling penalty was able to get into the end zone with no time remaining. The final extra point to win it was intercepted by Dov Pollack to end the game tied 13-13.

Noam Silverman also playing sick had 5 incredible receptions, and Noam, Josh and Aron Hertz held the Big Blue line giving Gilad all the time he needed. Levi Klein and Efraim Adatto on D-line put pressure on and got key sacks to end drives.

With the win and only on week remaining in the regular season DEC is on track to finish in first place and their best record ever going into the group round.

Highlights:

Big Game with Big Blue

2010-12-08T11:27:00.002+02:00

Following the Chanuka bye week, DEC goes back into action this Motzei Shabbat with a huge game against Big Blue. (We have been waiting for this game for 3 weeks since it was last canceled). Derech Etz Chaim heads into the game with its best record (9-1) after 10 games, and hopes to improve and put themselves on the road to another championship with a big win.
The forecast is for rain and that will necessitate a competley different offensive scheme for both teams.
This will also be Josh Weisel's last game for DEC as he is heading back to the US. Josh who is considered the best kicker in the AFI, and who plays a big role in the red zone offense for DEC will be missed.
There are several other big games in the AFI this week with Klein Management facing Tov Pizza and Lobos going up against TJ. All these teams have already qualified for the round of 32 and are the favorites to make it to the playoffs. These games will have a major effect on the seedings going into the next round.
Check back on Sunday for the results.

Vote for Gilad for AFI player of the week

2010-12-01T11:22:00.002+02:00

Please vote for Gilad Silverman as player of the week at http://www.facebook.com/pages/AFI-American-Football-in-Israel/162865223739543 Click on the like for the comment that nominates Gilad.

DEC crushes Drimark 33-0 30-6

2010-11-29T10:02:00.001+02:00

Coming off of a two week bye, Derech Etz Chaim brought their record to 9-1 rolling over a Drimark team that talked big prior to the game. Drimark (a team made up primarily of South Shore Yeshiva students presently attending Ohr Yerushalayim) won the Five Towns tournament last year, came into the game with a winning record, but quickly found out that they do not belong in the same league with Derech Etz Chaim!
DEC scored 10 touchdowns, one for every possession of the night with Gilad Silverman throwing for 7 touchdowns and running for one. Jacob Kon besides catching and running for 4 TD’s threw to Pinchas for a long TD as well. Pinchas caught 3 TD’s on the night, Joseph Gomez 1, and Lior Goldstein had two interceptions one that he ran back for a TD.
Though there were some serious defensive lapses and flags missed, Levi Klein came through with two sacks, Mendel Lazarus came up with some important stops, and Ezra Isaacs intercepted a pass. Aron Hertz at center dominated at line and Josh Weisel filling in for an injured Noam Silverman at TE played great, blocking well, and catching an extra point.
With the group stage approaching (December 25th) DEC has asked to play Big Blue in an anticipated showdown of two league heavy weights following the Chanuka bye week.
Highlights:

Israel to Host Flag Football World Championship

2010-11-24T17:48:00.001+02:00

Israel has been named the host of the 2014 IFAF Flag Football World Championship. Although this will be the federation's first time hosting an IFAF sanctioned event, Israel has many years of experience in organized Flag Football.

"It is an exceedingly proud moment for all of us in Israel to be awarded what we know we will be an incredible event," said Israel Football League Commissioner URIEL STURM. "To bring the World Championships to the Holy Land is the continuation of a life-long dream for both our founder STEVE LEIBOWITZ and our close partners ROBERT AND MYRA KRAFT, and we thank IFAF for this wonderful privilege.

"We look forward to the perpetual growth of American football in Israel, and more than anything, we can't wait to welcome the world in 2014!"

American Football in Israel is the government-recognized federation and enjoys a unique partnership with New England Patriots owner ROBERT KRAFT, who built the Kraft Family Stadium to benefit the growth of the sport in Israel.

The Israeli Women's national team was established in 2002, and in 2005 the women shocked the flag football world with a first place finish at the 2005 Flag Oceane - one of the largest flag football tournaments in Europe. In 2008, Israel participated in their first IFAF Flag Football World Championship claiming fifth place then in 2010, the Israeli men took ninth place and the women finished in fifth.

Change of schedule - again

2010-11-24T12:24:00.002+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim's big showdown with Big Blue has been delayed as Big Blue requested a last minute bye due to a scheduling conflict. DEC will be playing Drimark this week. Drimark is a team from OJ that prior to coming to Israel played together in NY and won the Five Towns tournement so they should be a challenge. (Rabbi Katz has reported that he interviewed many of the guys for DEC before they made the mistake of going elswhere!)
It will be DEC's first game without Micha Rafkin, and Ezra Isaacs is expected to step up and fill his role at CB and Joseph Gomez at WR.
After a two week layoff the team is ready to get going. Stay tuned for the Game report and results on Sunday.

Another Bye Week for DEC - then Big Blue!

2010-11-19T08:25:00.002+02:00

Coming off of last weeks bye Derech Etz Chaim was looking forward to getting back to playing. Some confusion in league scheduling led the league to ask DEC to take another week off, so everybody gets another week to be edgy and look forward to the next game.
As the regular season approaches its conclusion, Derech Etz Chaim requested from the league to play some of the elite teams. After having already played Bitach, DEC will next week be playing Big Blue in what is certainly the game of the week in the AFI.
Big Blue has a long tradition as one of the top teams in the AFI and has not played DEC since the first game of the season three years ago.
The team is pumped up and looking forward to the challenge.

DEC splits with Bitach 21-6 0-13

2010-11-09T16:02:00.001+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim played their most difficult opponent yet in Bitach and came away with an overall win, winning the first game 21-6 and losing the second 13-0.
In the first game DEC was in control after Bitach’s initial score the defense held firm stopping Bitach twice inside the 20 on 8 downs, and the offense clicked with Gilad throwing two TD passes to Pinchas and another to Jacob Kon.
The second game was another story with DEC only having 3 possessions after kicking off the game and throwing an interception on another possession. Bitach utilized their size and ran down the entire field one play at a time to wind down the clock scoring twice with DEC having no answer.
DEC learned a few lessons this game, they are going to have to learn to defend the run better, but at the same time they put the league on notice that they are once again for real.
This coming week DEC has a bye.
Here are the highlights:

DEC dominant again in week 3 win

2010-10-31T23:22:00.004+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim once again dominated Moret Group (Torat Shraga Shana Bet) winning 26-6 and 27-14.

During the first two weeks DEC's defense had yet to give up any points, that changed quickly as Moret scored on the first play of their first drive after receiveing the kick off. DEC looked rusty as they went three and out on their first set but that changed quickly. After holding Moret on their next set, Gilad Silverman went to work with a TD pass to Jacob Kon. As soon as Moret got the ball back Jacob intercepted and this time it was Gilad connecting with Pinchas for the TD. From that point on Moret (Shraga) never had a chance.

Both games featured long touchdowns to Jacob Kon, Pinchas, Joseph Gomez (recording his first two TD's) with Gilad spreading the ball around to Micha, Noam and Weisel as well.

On defense Levi Klein dominated on D-line, Dov Pollack putting in another solid game and CB Lior Goldstein stopped everything coming his way.

With DEC's record a solid 6-0 they head into the coming week for what should be their first challenging game against a real contender when they face Bitach. The team is pumped up and looking forward to the challenge.
Highlights:

DEC crushes Yesod 20-0 & 30-0 in week 2!

2010-10-24T10:33:00.008+02:00

Week 2 of the AFI season had Derech Etz Chaim showing up even stronger then the great play of week 1.

Jacob Kon in his first appearence this year put on a show, running the length of the field for a TD on the opening play of the game and an acrobatic catch for another score in later action. Every one of the receivers played great with Joseph Gomez displaying his incredible ability on his first reception of the year making a diving catch. Pinchas Shwartzbaum, Micha Rafkin and Noam Silverman making big catches on scoring drives.

The story this season though is the defense. They have yet to give up a point! The CB's have shut down the opposing team's passing offense. Dov Pollak had two interceptions bringing one back for a TD, Micha had an interception for a TD, and Lior Goldstein made a big stop in the end zone on 4rth and goal for Yesod to stop their only potential scoring drive. Pollak plugged the middle stopping the run and sacks by the entire D-line Levi Klein, Jake Mortiz, Nassan Paul and Efraim Addato.
This weeks highlights (including defense)

DEC begins the new season in victory!

2010-10-17T19:05:00.006+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim is off to a great start in the new 2010-2011 AFI season. Playing their first games of the season without star CB/WR Jacob Kon, and with a team full of untested rookies, DEC made a powerful first week statement crushing the Medrash Shmuel (2) Shudaggs 13-0 and 19-0.
In the first game Gilad Silverman connected with Micha Rafkin for a long pass leading to a TD and extra point to Pinchas Schwarzbaum and later marched down the field on passes to Pinchas and another long bomb to Rafkin leading to a short run into the endzone by Rafkin to bring the score to 13-0.
The defense played extremely well, except for Nassan Paul they are all first year in the league, with Dov Pollack at middle linebacker directing the team and Lior Goldstein, Ezra Issacs and Micha Rafkin making amazing stops. The Shudaggs could get nothing.
The defense was even stronger in game 2 and Gilad connected with Rafkin on the very first play of the game for a TD. Two touchdown passes were caught by Noam Silverman with more down field passes to Pinchas who seems unstoppable.
It was a great start to the new season and the first time DEC opened winning two. Next week will be a bigger challenge playing an experienced team Yesod.
Here are the highlights from the game:

Welcome back to another year of DEC football!

2010-10-10T16:45:00.000+02:00

This upcoming Motzei Shabbos DEC football returns for another season with a new team look. Last years team posted the best regular season record in DEC history going 12-2 and made it to the semi finals to only to lose to Lobos who ultimately won the AFI championship. Lobos are back with even a stronger team and DEC is rebuilding with a great new group of first year players as well as some returnees.
The only member returning from the 2009 Championship team is team captain Pinchas Shwartzbaum. Gilad Silverman returns at QB and Aron Hertz, Noam Silverman and Josh Weisel are back on O-line with Nassan Paul stepping up this year on D-line.
An interesting addition this year is Jacob Kon who is back after a two year break. Jacob played on the DEC team that made the playoffs the year before the team gelled into Champions and we will see if he can bring with his experience and skill the extra push to both defense as cornerback and offense as receiver.
Newcomers include:
Micah Rafkin CB and WR
Joseph Gomez WR
Lior Goldstein CB
Ezra Issacs CB
Levi Klein and Efraim Addato D-line
Dov Pollak at middle linebacker
Yossie Edelman and Jake Moritz round out the team.

The team has played three scrimmages in the pre season and shows allot of promise. With the season starting this week we will have to see if they can live up to the DEC winning tradition.

All Star Game

2010-02-16T10:20:00.002+02:00

Four Derech Etz Chaim players, Kobi Schwartzbaum, Pinchas Shwartzbaum, Sam Ash and Jeffrey Mally have been nominated on the ballot for the first AFI All Star game to be held this Motzei Shabbat prior to the Holyland Bowl. Please use the link http://www.allstarisrael.com/footballPoll.html to vote for the DEC players!

Derech Etz Chaim loses Semi Final to Lobos

2010-02-14T16:27:00.001+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim’s season came to an end last night with a devastating loss to Lobo’s in the Semi Final round of the Holyland Bowl playoffs 45 - 14. From the very beginning of the game it was clear that this was not DEC’s night when Jeffrey Mally dropped an interception and Lobos went on to score in their first possession. Lobo’s clearly studied DEC over the season and came out on fire with QB Weider hitting all his receiver’s and DEC’s usually invincible defense had no answer. The defensive line penetrated and put pressure the entire night but Weider kept finding his receivers.
On the offensive end the DEC QB Gilad Silverman who had thrown all of two interceptions the entire season kept finding the Lobos CB’s for a night of five interceptions two in the end zone killing potential DEC touchdown drives. Though Kobi Shwartzbaum made some incredible catches it was not nearly enough as potential interceptions on the DEC side by Yochi Naiditch tipped into the hands of Lobos players for 2 TD’s.
It was the first loss for DEC in a full length game in two years, many players on the team had never experienced a loss and it ended a brilliant streak for Derech Etz Chaim that began last year through the Championship and all the way to this years semi final game.
With returning students and a good new class coming in DEC looks to continue to be one of the more dominant teams next season as well.
There is not much in terms of highlights but we hope to post once or twice more before shutting down the blog until next season. So check back.

Derech Etz Chaim vs. Klein Management

2010-02-07T20:21:00.003+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim defeated Klein Management (Medrash Shmuel)25- 24 in a nail biter that was not over until the last extra point attempt. Derech Etz Chaim now advances to the Semi Finals where they will face Lobos, a rematch with the opponent they defeated in last years Championship game.
The game started badly for DEC going four and out. Klein came right back and on their first play threw long for a touchdown into blown coverage.
Derech Etz Chaim marched down field penetrating the red zone but on four downs could not put it into the end zone turning the ball back over Klein who quickly scored bringing the score to DEC 0 Klein 12.
The DEC defense came alive holding Klein but the offense could not generate points once again getting into the red zone before throwing an interception on the 1 yard line.
But Klein could not capitalize and elected to go for it on 4rth when their receiver dropped the pass giving DEC the ball deep in Klein territory with less then a minute left in the half.Gilad threw to Avi to bring the ball into the red zone. Another pass to Sam to cut the distance and finally a touchdown pass to Sam Ash to put DEC on the board as the half came to a close. DEC 6 Klein 12
The second half Klein received and was held but was held by the DEC defense and was forced to punt.
DEC took over. Gilad ran to the Klein 40. A pass to Pinchas, one to Kobi and a TD pass to Sam brought the score to DEC 12 Klein 12.
On Klein's first play QB Yissy Ben Zaken threw an interception to Jeff Mally who ran it back to the 1 yard line. Touchdown pass to Josh Weisel.
The Extra point to Sam Ash proved later to be the game winner. DEC 19 - Klein 12
Klein the put together a scoring drive on passes to Kleiner and Koppelman no extra point DEC 19 - Klein 18
DEC began advancing up the field and on 4rth and short seemed to get the first down but a penalty of an extra man on the field called the play back and DEC was forced to punt.
Klein could not capitalize as Jeff Mally made another interception.
Gilad ran and passes to Sam and Pinchas set up a TD pass to Kobi to bring the score to DEC 25 - Klein 18 with a minute to play.
Klein came up field with passes to Koppelman and Kleiner and as they were about to turn the ball over Gilad Silverman was called for taunting penalty giving Klein 15 yards and a first down in the red zone. DEC held on for 3 downs on fourth BenZaken found Kleiner on the edge of the end zone for a score. Klein was now down by one point and elected to go for the two point conversion to win the game . The pas was no good with great defense by Efrayim Prero to end the game Derech Etz Chaim 25 Klein Management 24.
Highlights:

Pregame Report Derech Etz Chaim vs. Klein Management

2010-02-04T11:05:00.003+02:00

The Motzei Shabbos Derech Etz Chaim takes on Klein Managment (Medrash Shmuel) in the Quarter Finals of the AFI Holyland Bowl playoffs. The two teams met earlier this year with DEC winning but Klein is much improved, having started the year 0-6 then winning their next 8 games to make it into the playoffs. Derech Etz Chaim is also much improved with Sam Ash and Jeffrey Mally back on the team though Levi Naiditch will most likely be missing. Medrash features a high powered passing attack and a number of players who know DEC well. The QB from Klein lost in the Semi Finals last year to DEC while playing for Maimo Magic and several other players were members of the Lobos team that lost to Derech Etz Chaim in last years Championship game.
The winner of this weeks game will move on to face the winner of the Lobos vs. Tov Pizza game on the in the semi finals next week. Tune in Sunday to find out the results and to follow DEC as it looks to repeat as AFI champions.

Derech Etz Chaim vs. Armitron

2010-01-31T23:13:00.002+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim opened up their playoff drive with a statement drubbing Armitron (Netiv Aryeh) 52- 6 (this is the correct score!) The DEC defense clamped down and completely controlled the game while the offense came alive to score on almost every drive.
The game opened with Gilad Silverman hitting Avi Aryeh the length of the field on the very first play for a TD. That set the tone for the night. Levi Naiditch immediately intercepted the ball on defense and Gilad hit Kobi Shwartzbaum for a TD. Three minutes into the game DEC was leading 12- 0 .
Again Armitron threw an interception this time to Jeffrey Mally , with Gilad throwing to Levi for a diving catch and another TD. (Extra point Sam Ash)
The next drive Gilad hit Sam for a TD and extra point then another pass to Avi ending the half with the score 32-0
The second half began with DEC using the time for practice, unfortunately unsuccessfully, for the only non scoring possession of the game. Armitron finally got into the end zone for their 6 points.
DEC took the ball back down field with Levi running and on a missed snap Levi managed to shuffle the ball to Sam Ash who scrambled in for a touchdown.
Next TD drive included a pass to Gilad from Levi, then Gilad hit Pinchas Shwartzbaum to bring the ball down to the one yard line and a pass to Kobi for the TD.
DEC then successfully went for a two point conversion on a pass to Noam Silverman.
An interception by Yochi Naiditch and a pass to Pinchas finished the scoring at 52 points.
Derech Etz Chaim now moves on to the Quarterfinals next week against Klein Management, (Medrash Shmuel) having made a statement that they are back and everyone should look out as they are looking to repeat as Holyland Bowl Champions!
This weeks highlight reel is a bit more one sided then the past few weeks. (We also have been playing on South field and its a bit more difficult to see) Enjoy!

Pallorium Forfeits!

2010-01-24T05:14:00.001+02:00

Pallorium forfeited last nights game. Playoffs begin this coming week. Stay tuned for a playoff preview.

Preview to Pallorium

2010-01-21T22:19:00.002+02:00

This coming Motzei Shabbos DEC takes on Pallorium in a meaningless game. Derech Etz Chaim by virtue of their victories over Neveh and Karelitz own the #1 seed in Group C and will face the #2 seed in Group G next week in the opening round of the upper tier playoffs.
(Whoever wins the Karelitz vs Neve game this week will have the same record as DEC - 2 wins 1 loss but because they lost to DEC will remain the #2 seed in the group).
Because of this DEC plans on resting some starters and giving some other players a chance. QB Gilad Silverman hopes to use the opportunity to reconnect in his timing with his receivers whom he was missing in the previous weeks game vs Karelitz.
Do to the late hour of the game there may be no highlight reel this weekend as well.
Please stay with us and follow the playoffs as DEC makes another run at the Championship

Derech Etz Chaim vs. Karelitz

2010-01-17T20:18:00.001+02:00

Game Report;
Karelitz, the team that gave Derech Etz Chaim the most trouble in the playoffs last year once again had DEC on the ropes until the final minutes of the game when DEC’s defense stepped up and stopped Karelitz to win a close game 27 – 20. The win clinches the number one seed in the group for DEC, regardless of next week’s outcome, and once again a spot in the Holyland Bowl upper tier playoffs beginning in two weeks.
The game began with Karelitz receiving and they capitalized on their very first possession for a touchdown to take the lead 0 – 6.
Gilad Silverman lead Derech Etz Chaim right back with a touchdown pass to Kobi to tie up the score at 6-6
The next several sets both Karelitz and DEC could produce little offense until Karelitz pinned down on the 2 yard line by a beautiful punt by Josh Weisel got an incredible break with a controversial pass interference call on Efrayim Prero which put them in TD range. They took advantage and scored plus an extra point. DEC 6 Kareltiz 13
DEC got the ball with 45 seconds left in the half and Gilad led a drive downfield on a long pass to Kobi and a TD pass to Pinchas with Kobi running in the extra point to tie the game at the half 13- 13.
DEC received the ball and marched downfield only to lose it on an interception. Karelitz took advantage of the turnover to drive downfield and score to make the score DEC 13- Karelitz 20.
Once again DEC came right back a short slant to Sam Ash led to a long downfield run for a TD and an extra point caught by Pinchas to tie the game DEC 20 Karelitz 20
The Derech Etz Chaim defense took over. Jeffrey Mally intercepted a long pass but DEC could not convert the turnover and was forced to punt. Once again Efrayim Prero came up with the interception and this time DEC marched downfield and scored on a pass to Sam Ash and an extra point to Noam Silverman. In the final minutes of the game DEC’s defense held Karelitz as they approached the red zone to win the game 27 – 20

Here are the game highlights:

Derech Etz Chaim vs Neve Tziyon

2010-01-11T15:12:00.000+02:00

In one of the most exciting games of the season, Derech Etz Chaim held on to defeat Neve Tziyon 40 – 26 in the opening game of the group round. At the end of the next two weeks two teams from each group will advance to the Holyland Bowl playoffs.
DEC’s defense had trouble most of the night containing Neve’s physical and talented offense but the DEC offense was just too much for Neve only twice giving the ball back without a score.
Levi Naiditch last years championship QB filled in for Gilad Silverman showed no rust, and led a tremendous game taking DEC downfield over and over utilizing all of his talent and creativity at QB against a strong Neve defensive line.
Derech Etz Chaim kicked off and Neve drove downfield and scored on their very first possession. DEC came back with passes to Kobi, Pinchas and after a short run for first down and a TD pass to Kobi finished the drive.
DEC held Neve on their next possession forcing Neve to punt but with the game tied failed to capitalize as Levi on a long throw to Kobi gave up an interception.
Neve was held again turning the ball over on downs with the DEC defense holding them on 4rth and short. Levi attacked with passes to Avi, Sam and a TD pass to Sam again plus a beautiful diving catch for the extra point.
DEC now leading by 7 Neve drove all the way down to the DEC 10 but failed to punch it in turning over the ball. Levi led another drive with passes to Pinchas, Kobi, Sam and finally a short TD pass to Pinchas with Kobi making an acrobatic catch for the extra point. DEC leads 20 – 6 with less then a minute left in the half.
Neve not giving up before the half, throws a long bomb which is caught on the two yard line and this time they punch it in to bring the score to 20- 13 at the half.

The second half began with Neve Tziyon kicking off and Efrayim Prero making a huge return bringing the ball down to the 30 yard line. Three plays later Levi passes to Sam Ash for the TD and Kobi for the extra point. DEC 26- Neve 13
Neve began another drive down but just as they were stalling Yakov Hill was called for tackling with the penalty bringing the ball down to the 5 yard line. Neve utilized the opportunity to score bringing the DEC lead back to one TD. DEC 26 Neve 19
But DEC came back with a pass to Pinchas who out ran the entire Neve backfield for a 40 yard run to score. DEC 33 – Neve 19
Neve came right back with a quick slant pass and a number of DEC defenders missing flags to score bringing it back to a one TD game. DEC 33 – Neve 26
Here the DEC offense stalled with a dropped pass on third forcing the team to punt but the Derech Etz Chaim defense held Neve in their own territory forcing them to punt.
On the punt from Neve’s 20 yard line there was a penalty on the kicker and DEC got the ball back deep in Neve territory. After a few short runs Levi passed to Pinchas who hauled in the ball to give DEC a two touchdown lead with a few minutes remaining in the game.
Neve tried again for the long ball and Jeffrey Mally intercepted the pass to essentially end the exciting game.
Here are the game highlights:

Derech Etz Chaim vs Canaan Studio Highlights

2010-01-06T14:37:00.001+02:00

Regular Season ends with DEC ranked #3

2010-01-03T16:54:00.004+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim finished the regular season last night with 12 wins and 2 losses in the first 7 weeks of the season for the number 3 spot in the rankings. It is the best record in DEC history!
Next week begins the group play with DEC in the C grouping together with #6 Pallorium, #27 Karelitz and #30 Neve Tziyon.
During the next three weeks the 4 teams in each group will play each other with the two top teams advancing to the final 16 Holyland Bowl playoffs. From this point on the games are a full 50 minutes (two 25 minute halves as opposed to the previous weeks each game was 25 minutes). Each first and second place team will be assigned a predetermined slot in the playoffs.
The C1 will play the second seed from the G group and the C2 will play the top seed from the G group.
For more information go to www.israelfootball.net

Derech Etz Chaim vs Canaan Studios

2010-01-02T23:46:00.003+02:00

Game Report- The last game of the regular season was another DEC rout. Canaan Studios (Rabbi Center's Yeshiva) entered the game with 9 wins and a spot in the top eight teams but DEC was way to much for them knocking them down to the second rung by defeating them in both games.
The DEC defense showed itself in full form with Jeffrey Mally returning and making an immediate impact with two interceptions on the night. Efrayim Prero pulled in two interceptions as well and the Defensive line with Yakov Hill back in the line up gave the Canaan Studio QB no time to throw.
On offense the first game was QB'd by Gilad Silverman though playing without Kobi Shwartzbaum who missed the game, hit his other receivers to lead DEC to a 20- 0 victory in the first game. In the second game Levi Naiditch, a bit rusty this year but last year's championship QB led the team to a 20 - 6 victory. Sam Ash had a run for the entire length of the field for a touchdown.
Normally reliable TE Pinchas Shwartzbaum missed a number of passes and left the game injured after jamming his thumb.
Next week begins the group round of the AFI season we hope to have an intro on the blog some time this week as well as highlights from this weeks game

Derech Etz Chaim vs Lev HaTorah

2009-12-27T04:27:00.002+02:00

December 27, 2009
Derech Etz Chaim soundly defeated Lev Hatorah, once again controlling the game throughout the night. The explosive DEC offense put up over 50 points for the night with QB Gilad Silverman hitting all his receivers Kobi, Pinchas, Sam, Avi and Yochi for TD's.
On defense the D-line playing this week without Yakov Hill kept up steady pressure on on the Lev HaTorah QB and only a few defensive mistakes which led to line up changes let three touchdown's through for the night. Yochi Naiditch started at cornerback and after allowing an initial TD picked off three passes on the night. Eli Rafkin was brought in at CB and shut down the opposition receiver.
Final Score Game 1 DEC 26 - Lev HaTorah 13
Game 2 DEC 26 Lev HaTorah 6
Unfortunately there are no game highlights this week.

Derech Etz Chaim vs. Ohr Dovid

2009-12-15T12:27:00.001+02:00

DEC vs. Ohr Dovid December 12, 2009
Game report
This week was no contest with Derech Etz Chaim completely overwhelming Ohr Dovid. The DEC offense to put up an AFI single night season high total of 74 points and allowed Ohr Dovid only one touchdown- in fact only one first down all night.
Levi Naiditch was back and took some reps at QB giving Gilad Silverman some of the night off. With Avi Aryeh out again sick and an injury to CB Efraim Prero, DEC used back ups and still completely controlled both games from start to finish rolling to an 8 – 2 record with two weeks left of the regular season.

In game one DEC recorded 6 TD’s beginning with Noam Silverman running back the opening kick off for a TD to get things started. Gilad and Levi each connected with Kobi and Yochi for two TDs, and Sam Ash intercepted a pass at the end of the game and ran it back for his first TD of the season. There was also a blocked pass interception by Yakov Hill that led to the 3rd score of the night.
Final score Derech Etz Chaim 41- Ohr Dovid 6

In the second game with DEC kicking off it was more of the same. On DEC’s first drive a long pass from Gilad to Kobi set up the first of 3 Pinchas Shwartzbaum TDs. The extra point saw Sam spin his way into the end zone for the score.
DEC drive #2 was a long pass to Pinchas to set up another scoring reception by Pinchas.
The third drive had Levi Naiditch behind center and scoring on a long throw to Kobi.
The defense took its turn with Sam Ash intercepting a lateral taking it down field and lateralling it to Yakov Hill for another score.
To finish the game Levi threw long to Kobi to set up a short pass to Pinchas for the final TD.
Final score Derech Etz Chaim 33- Ohr Dovid 0
Here are the game highlights

Derech Etz Chaim vs. HAS

2009-11-30T12:28:00.004+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim football had a big night putting up 50 points on offense and winning both games. QB Gilad Silverman connected with Kobi Shwartzbaum for 3 Touchdowns including a thrilling play at the last second of the second game.

DEC received the kick off and dominated in the first game. On the very first drive of the night Gilad found Kobi for a touchdown with Josh Weisel getting the extra point, and that set the tone for the rest of game 1.The defense dominated HAS who went 3 and out with no yardage gained on their first drive.
Gilad took over and once again threw a long bomb to Yochi Naiditch for the second TD of the night connecting with Kobi for the extra point.

HAS then come back beating the DEC backfield with a long TD pass.

Gilad went back to work hitting Pinchas Shwartzbaum with a long pass to set up a touchdown to Yochi. The next DEC drive was set back by penalties but ended on 4rth and goal with a TD pass to Kobi with Yochi getting the extra point.

Game 2 was a bit of a different story with a thrilling ending.
DEC kicked off and on HAS’s opening drive they were able to score and get the extra point. HAS 7 DEC 0
DEC came right back on the very first play on a long pass to Kobi for a TD plus the extra point with Kobi running it in on a screen.
HAS and DEC traded punts with HAS turning it over on downs deep in their own territory. Gilad throws another TD pass this time to Noam Silverman to take the lead. DEC missed extra point which will come back to haunt them. DEC 13 - HAS 7
HAS gets the ball back and once again turns it over on downs deep in their own territory but DEC failed to put the game away as Gilad threw his very first interception of the season in the end zone.
HAS capitalized on the turnover and marched down field to score and get the extra point with only 37 seconds left on the clock. DEC is down 14- 13
Gilad calmly took over at the DEC 20 . First play a long pass to Yochi for a first down to stop the clock. Gilad runs on the next play getting out of bounds to stop the clock. With only 6 seconds remaining Gilad finds Kobi on a leaping catch in the end zone DEC wins 20 – 14.

Game Notes:
Sam Ash was back on D line for a large part of the game getting himself back into things after a long lay off due to a torn ACL. The team is still waiting for Jeff Mally at cornerback, who is recovering from wrist surgery. Noam Silverman played receiver for an absent Avi Aryeh. This weeks game was played at the Bayit Vegan field. Next week DEC has their 4rth bye with one more off week the second weekend of Chanuka.
Here are highlights of the game:

Game Highlights DEC vs Yesod

2009-11-17T14:29:00.001+02:00

2009-11-16T11:00:00.000+02:00

Game Report – Nov 14th DEC vs. Yesod
In the third week of Derech Etz Chaim’s season (games 5 and 6) there were moments when they showed their championship form from last year, but still fell short through some glaring weaknesses on defense and offensive line.
In the first of the two 25 minute games DEC kicked off and Yesod using their speed marched down field using short passes and several runs to score. (Missed the extra point)
DEC game right back with QB Gilad Silverman connecting on a 40 yard pass to Avi Aryeh to tie up the game.
Yesod came right back with a long bomb of their own into blown coverage to take the lead 12- 6. DEC had another chance to win the game after an interception by Efraim Prero, who played outstanding defense the entire night, in the end zone gave DEC the ball back with 5 minutes to play. Two passes to TE Pinchas Schwartzbaum another to Kobi, and a run by Gilad put DEC on the 5 yd line but they were unsuccessful in two downs to get it into the end zone and lost the game 12 – 6 .
Protection issues on O-line led to the Center Josh Weisel being pulled for back up Aron Hertz who did a great job of keeping out the speedy Yesod defensive line.
One highlight was the tentative return of Sam Ash who came in for a few plays and made a difference in bolstering the defense. Sam suffered a season ending torn ACL last year during the playoffs and had to watch the DEC championship run from the side lines helping with play calls. Having recovered from off season surgery he is hungry to win it again.

The second game DEC received and made significant adjustments and dominated both on offense and defense. Using their size to run and a number of passes to Pinchas led to a TD in the opening drive. With the extra point caught by Josh Weisel.
Yesod went three and out with DEC again driving down field on passes to Kobi, Pinchas, and Avi leading to a diving touchdown by Pinchas on 4rth and goal form the 10.
Yesod again capitalized on a long bomb with Prero getting the flag on the 5 yd line. DEC defense held strong through 3 downs but Yesod was able to find the end zone on 4rth to score and convert the extra point score DEC 13- Yesod 7.
DEC came right back with a run, and pass to Yochi Naiditch who took it way down field. Another pass to Avi, then Gilad found Avi alone one more time in the end zone for a touchdown. Final score DEC 20 Yesod 7

Stand out on offense was Pinchas Schwartzbaum and on the defense Efraim Prero who has proven to be one of the leagues top CB.

Highlights coming soon.

Meet the Team

2009-11-09T12:18:00.003+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim has a number of members of the championship team back.

Returning veterans from the Championship team include
QB Levi Naiditch who will be in the army for most of the season
Pinchas Shwartzbaum – TE
Kobi Shwarzbaum WR
Yakov Hill D-line
Sam Ash and Jeff Mally are on injured reserve until December
Gilad Silverman who switched to the Yeshiva in mid season was Quarterback for a team that went to the Semi finals last year and will be the starting QB this year at DEC

Newcomers to the team include:

Rookies
Adam Kass CB

Eli Rafkin Corner
DEC Alumni Efraim Prero CB
Noam Silverman D-Line
Nassan Paul Middle LB / CB
Aron Hertz Center and D line
Josh Weisel Center – TE
Yochi Naiditch WR
Avi Aryeh WR

The league is expecting big things from DEC and the team has allot to live up to!

Derech Etz Chaim Football is back!

2009-11-09T12:09:00.004+02:00

DEC Football is back! The 2009- 2010 season with Derech Etz Chaim defending its AFI Championship title began with games on October 24, and 31. After a sloppy opening in the first game DEC has won 3 straight against Excalibur and Klein Management. After two byes this coming Motzei Shabbat DEC gets back to work against the Yesod Cobras.
Yesod split their two games with Big Blue and are a formidable opponent. From this point on DEC will be playing every other Sat. night until Chanuka after which they will be playing every week. Follow all the news right here.
Here are highlights from week 1

Quarterfinal Recap

2009-02-25T01:24:00.008+02:00

With starting quarterback Levi Naiditch in the army this week, Yerucham Pliner grabbed the reigns of the offense in Derech Etz Chaim's quarterfinal matchup against Orli Print. During DEC's first possession, Pliner followed beautiful blocking down the length of the field for a touchdown. The DEC offense stalled twice more in the red zone and did not find the end zone the rest of the first half. After halftime, a long pass to Kobi Schwartzbaum led to a touchdown reception by Pinchas Scwartzbaum. The following drive was capped by a catch and run by Sam Ash for the touchdown.

With Sam Ash returning to the defense, DEC repeated their shutout performance against Orli Print during the group stage.

The weather was wet and stormy and effected DEC's ability to run up the score on long throws. Instead, they marched up the field five times, scoring on two of those drives. The weather also impeded our film crew from recording footage of this game. We apologize for this; in place of highlights from this week, here is a highlights remix from the game against Orli Print during the group stage...

Next up: Miamo Magic, who defeated AH Schrieber to advance to the semifinals, as you can see from the updated playoff brackets...

Round of 16 Recap

2009-02-20T15:09:00.008+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim entered the first round of the playoffs hoping to have their entire team available for the first time since December. Sam Ash, the teams leading defensive lineman, was an idiot and injured himself playing basketball the Friday before the game, hurting the DEC defense and making the game against Karelitz a bit scarier then expected.

Karelitz took advantage of the depleted DEC defense and scored on their first three drives while holding DEC without a score. Karelitz led DEC 19 – 0 with less then 3 minutes in the half. At that point the DEC offense sparked by Yerucham Pliner and Kobi Schwartzbaum started to get on the board and DEC was down 19 – 7 at the half.

Receiving the ball to begin the second half, DEC put up another touchdown to cut the deficit to 19 -14, but Karelitz came back with another score to lead 25 – 14 with under eight minutes to play. At that point DEC came alive. Levi Naiditch ran the ball and threw two perfect passes as DEC drove downfield to bring the game within reach. The score was 25- 20 with under four minutes remaining.

The defense held and Karelitz made a tremendous mistake on 4th and 20 attempting a fake punt which failed, giving DEC the ball with great field position and an opportunity to take the lead. DEC scored on an accurate pass from Naiditch and a great catch to Pinchas Schwartzbaum. The stadium went wild after the successful two-point conversion gave DEC the lead 27-25 for the first time all game with under two minutes to play.

DEC held on to win with a crazy crowd and a relieved team to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time! Their quarterfinal opponent this motzei shabbos will be Orli Print, a team DEC defeated 33-0 during the group stage last month.

Here are the history making highlights...

...and here are the updated playoff brackets...

Group Stage Recap

2009-01-28T06:50:00.003+02:00

After beating the top seed in the group, Neve, in the first game of the group stage, Derech Etz Chaim beat Orli Print in the second game 33-0. Here are the highlights...

DEC entered the third game, against D&B, without its two starting wide receivers and our starting quarterback. Because D&B had defeated Neve the previous week, a loss would keep DEC from winning the group and would make them dependent on other teams to assure them a spot in the Holyland Bowl playoffs.

Last year's quarterback, Yerucham Pliner, ran the offense with a new playbook that relied more on the ground game and screens. The greatest threat to a DEC victory was the fact that five players were playing both offense and defense requiring them to spend more energy than they were used to.

The game began with DEC sacking the D&B quarterback for a safety . Unfortunately, Pliner could not get the offense moving and D&B took a 7-2 lead with a touchdown.

DEC came back on the next series; on first down, Pliner threw a bomb to Sam Ash to take back the lead 9-7. DEC scored again on a couple of good runs and a pass to Pinchas Schwartzbaum to take a 15 – 7 lead.

D&B benefited from our tired defense and missed flags and came back to score and convert a two point conversion to tie the game up 15-15 at the half.

A tired DEC re-energized and re-focused during halftime, received the kick off and quickly converted to take the lead 22- 15. On the next drive Pliner intercepted a D&B pass and returned it with a great block from Ash for a touchdown. From that point D&B lost their composure and DEC held on . One more touchdown run by Pliner and the score was 35 – 15 .

With the win DEC wins the group with a record of 3-0. This means that DEC will enter the Holyland Bowl playoffs as one of the top eight seeds for the first time. We have three weeks to recover form all the injuries. DEC will learn which group runner-up they will face in the Holyland Bowl round-of-16 when the draw is held Motzei Shabbos February 7; that game will be played on February 14.

Recap - Group Stage Game #1

2009-01-18T06:36:00.010+02:00

The calendar has turned to 2009, which means that AFI has moved on to the group stage. Derech Etz Chaim played their final regular season game against Neve Tziyon. A rowdy affair ended in a split of the two games. The split kept DEC out of the top eight teams in the standings meaning that DEC would have to settle with a #2 seed in the group stage. As luck would have it, DEC was paired in the same group as Neve, and scheduled in the first game of the group stage to face their opponent from the previous week.

This time DEC game out prepared and completely shut down the Neve offense while opening up for a crushing 67-12 victory.

The DEC defense, ranked first in the league with the fewest points allowed, shut down Neve so completely that in the first half they gained only negative yardage and did not even complete a pass until late in the second half when the game was basically over. The ferocious front line of Sam Ash, Yaakov "Diesel" Hill and Adam Seibsener got through Neve's offensive line and shut down every play either sacking the quarterback, stopping the run, or pressuring the quarterback into interceptions or bad throws.

Jeffery Malley returned one interception for a touchdown and great blocking let Yerucham Pliner return a punt for another.

On offense, with #1 receiver Chaim Gross sidelined with an injury, Kobi Schwartzbaum stepped up, catching seven touchdown passes from quarterbacks Levi Naiditch and Yerucham Pliner.

DEC next faces #3 seed Orli Print to clinch a spot in the Holyland Bowl playoffs. DEC stunned the crowd this past week and if they keep playing like they did in this game, they will have a great shot at going all the way! Remember to save all those nickels, dimes and arugot so you can book a ticket on the group flight to the Holyland Bowl. More details to follow as the playoffs progress, but in the meantime enjoy the highlights below, which is the best quality footage we've seen in a long time. (Tip: if the video stutters, click pause until the video buffers.)

Week 7 Result

2008-12-19T21:40:00.002+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim played Lobos, one of the best teams in the league, in Week 7. They showed their potential and issued a warning to the rest of the league that DEC is not a team to underestimate. DEC won the first game 14-6, and even though they lost the second game 13-12 on a controversial call, they came away with a moral victory on the night.

Next, DEC takes on Ohr Dovid in Week 9.

Here are the highlights from Week 7 vs. Lobos...

AFI Weeks 1-6 are in the books

2008-12-05T23:01:00.000+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim are keeping pace with the front-runners after 6 weeks of play in the AFI season. They currently sit in tenth place with two games in hand on the leaders. You can now find current standings on the blog.

DEC has posted the following results:

Week 1: DEC 15-7 Dan Cohen/DEC 6-6 Dan Cohen

Week 2: DEC 12-6 Pizzeria Efrat/Pizzeria Efrat 13-7 DEC

Week 4: DEC 15-0 Klein Management/DEC 25-6 Klein Management

Week 6: DEC 33-0 J Caf?/DEC 26-6 J Caf?

This Motzei Shabbos DEC will play against fifth-place Lobos, the highest ranked team that has played only eight games, so the boys will have a great challenge in front of them, but also an opportunity to make a statement of their intentions this season.

Here are some highlights from earlier this season:

DEC Football Renovations

2008-11-02T09:44:00.004+02:00

In preparation for the new AFI season we've done some renovations to the DEC Football blog that we think you'll enjoy.

Keeping up to date with the team has never been easier. You can now subscribe to the blog's RSS feed through the widget found near the top-right of the page.

In our links section just below the RSS widget is a new link to a Google Map of Kraft Stadium and the yeshiva. For those who plan on visiting the yeshiva and catching a football game, the Google Map can be used as a tool to get directions to the stadium. Just click on the marker by Kraft Stadium, click "Get directions: To here", and then type in the address you want to start from. Even if you don't plan on visiting any time soon, the map gives you a good visual idea of where the yeshiva and stadium are.

We've also added a widget which makes sharing blog posts and videos with your friends and family easier than ever. Whether your preferred method of online communication is through email, instant message or Facebook, you'll be able to spread word of Derech Etz Chaim triumph across the web in seconds.

There's a fun map we've added as well which shows all the exotic places we're getting hits from. Believe it or not, we're getting hits from places as far away as Tasmania and Singapore.

We're well aware that everyone is waiting for news of the season's first few results, and that will be posted in the coming days. Until then enjoy the new features.

Round-Robin Stage Recap (Games 15-17)

2008-01-21T01:09:00.000+02:00

After the first phase of the AFI season, which consisted of fourteen "games", Derech Etz Chaim finished as one of the top 32 teams in the league, qualifying for the group stage. In contrast to previous seasons when the round-robin groups were determined mathematically using each team's position in the standings, this season the league took into account which day each team plays their games, either Friday or Saturday night, when forming the groups. Saturday night has historically been the day with the hardest competition, and so DEC ended up in what the league reported as likely the toughest group out of the eight.

The other three teams in DEC's group are Lev Hatorah, Croton Watches, and Tov Pizza, the defending Holyland Bowl Champions. The group stage would consist of one fifty-minute game against each of the other three teams in the group with three points awarded for a win, one point for a tie and zero points for a loss. The teams with the two best point totals after the six games played in the group would advance to the Holyland Bowl playoffs, a feat that DEC had never previously achieved.

After receiving byes the last few weeks of the regular season to celebrate the marriage of captain Eli Mirlis, DEC began the group stage in Week 13(December 29) against Tov Pizza without their honeymooning captain.

DEC walked the walk with the defending champs for a half. The defense's goal-line stand helped maintain a 13-13 halftime score. It didn't stay that way for long, though, as Tov Pizza came out firing in the second half and DEC could not come up with an answer.

A 40-13 loss was not the way DEC wanted to open the group stage, but if they could afford a loss, it had to come at Tov Pizza's hands. A loss in the first game meant that DEC's last two games would both be must-win games and they no longer held their fate in their own hands.

DEC's first must-win game was in Week 14(January 5) against Croton Watches. Some strategic alterations to the defensive lineup led to shut-out domination in the first half. The offense was in sync, posting 35 first-half points.

The nice cushion allowed the back-ups to see some playing time before the final whistle closed out a 56-6 statement-maker.

With the understanding that the chances of Tov Pizza losing to Lev Hatorah were minuscule, a DEC win over Lev Hatorah in Week 15(January 12) would almost certainly clinch a spot in the Holyland Bowl playoffs. Difficult as it may have been, the team overcame the butterflies in their stomachs and the weight on their shoulders to post an impressive 26-6 victory. Here are some highlights...

With Tov Pizza's win over Lev Hatorah in Week 16(January 19), DEC has officially qualified for the knockout stage of the Holyland Bowl playoffs for the first time in program history. Tov Pizza finished atop the group with nine points and DEC finished second with six points; Croton Watches and Lev Hatorah will fight out the last two spots in Week 17. The draw for the Holyland Bowl playoffs will take place following Week 17 play, with the playoffs expected to begin in Week 18. As a second place finisher in the group stage, DEC will be drawn against a team who finished in first place. Although it has not been confirmed, we believe that, because DEC plays on Saturday night, they will be drawn against a team who finished first in a group of teams who play on Friday.

We're going to try to provide bigger and better coverage for this special occasion. We've added interactive polls on the right side of this page; be sure to participate in the one which asks about improved coverage of the playoffs. If you are or someone you know is in Israel and interested in video taping a playoff game, please send an email to rak@ondec.net. We are always looking for volunteers to help record games; game footage is one of the best ways to offer our readers access to the game.

We'd like to thank our readers for remaining loyal through the lean years and hope that this playoff birth has made it all worth it. Feel free to leave comments and stay tuned for further playoff coverage.

Games 11-14 Recap

2007-12-07T21:47:00.000+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim closed out the initial 14-game portion of the season with doubleheaders against Ohr Dovid and Jump Gym.

After the defense held Ohr Dovid to a 3-and-out to begin the opener, Yerucham Pliner got DEC on the board with his legs and a 10-yard touchdown pass to Simcha Feldman. After a successful 2-point conversion, DEC had an 8-0 lead.

Ohr Dovid was held again to a 3-and-out, but they got the ball back at the 10-yard-line after intercepting a Pliner pass in the end zone. They converted the turnover into a 50-yard touchdown and a game-tying 2-point conversion.

DEC regained the lead with Jacon Kon's 30-yard touchdown catch, and the defense denied Ohr Dovid from tying the game back up, stopping them at the goal line.

Pliner found Kon once more in the end zone to give DEC a 20-8 lead. After the teams swapped scoring drives - this time Pliner running the ball in himself - the game ended with a 26-14 victory for the Trees.

In the second game, Pliner led the offense, rushing for two touchdowns and throwing a touchdown pass to Kon. The defense dominated Ohr Dovid, Josh Gersten got his first flag-pull...

...and DEC posted a convincing 18-0 shutout.

The first game against Jump Gym got off to a quick start as Kon returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Ensuing touchdowns were scored by Simcha Feldman and Pliner. Interceptions by Kon and Sam Ash helped DEC cement a 22-6 victory.

The latter half of the doubleheader was not such a walk in the park. Jump Gym opened the scoring but DEC tied the game on their first possession. However, Jump Gym jumped out to a 14-point lead with five minutes remaining in the game.

Pliner's touchdown pass to Kon reduced the lead to 8 at the 2-minute warning. The defense forced Jump Gym to punt. Pliner led the offense down the field for another touchdown and found backup tight end Mordechai Landesman on the game-tying 2-point conversion, salvaging a point in the final game of the first round.

2007-2008 Season Update - New and Improved DEC

2007-11-09T20:00:00.000+02:00

We apologize that our first post of the 2007-2008 Moshiko American Football in Israel season is coming several weeks into the schedule, but we have tremendous news to report for our first time readers, and especially for those who have subscribed to our blog for a few years now. Apparently, Derech Etz Chaim is the talk of the league. They find themselves at the top of the standings with 14 points after 10 games. Though the rest of the teams in the league do hold games in hand, DEC has put themselves in good position to make a run deep into the postseason.

In a clever money-making scheme, the league has set up a new doubleheader system this season whereby each half of what was a single game last season is now considered its own game. So whichever team is leading at halftime is awarded a victory and the scores revert back to 0-0 for the second half.

In Week 5 action last weekend, DEC played their ninth and tenth games against the previously undefeated Ner Yaakov Cobras. The DEC offense was forced into a 4-and-out on their first possession, and trailed 7-0 when Ner Yaakov scored a first-possession touchdown. DEC quarterback Yerucham Pliner was intercepted on the next possession, which the Cobras quickly turned into a 14-0 lead just four minutes into the game. Fortunately for DEC, there was still enough time to make a comeback.

The offense took the field and got it into gear...

A long pass from Pliner to Jacob Kon led to a touchdown. After a successful 2-point conversion, DEC was left with just a 6-point deficit at 14-8.

After the defense did its job and held the Cobras, the offense continued on their comeback trail...

DEC scored a tying touchdown, but could not take the lead as the extra-point attempt was not converted.

Ner Yaakov was left with two minutes to come up with a winning drive. However, on the ensuing drive, the DEC defense forced a timely turnover (the play is in the first ten seconds of the video)...

Eli Tabaria took the brunt of a correctly penalized tackle after intercepting a Ner Yaakov pass that was tipped by safety Sam Ash and cornerback Jacob Kon. DEC had one last opportunity to score and come away with the win...

The offense reached the brink of the goal line, but were unable to pierce their way through as time expired, settling instead for the tie.

The second game of the doubleheader started out with a bang...

Pliner connected with Ash for a 60-yard touchdown pass, and Kon converted the 2-point conversion with an incredible leaping catch for an early 8-0 lead.

The defensive squads dominated the remainder of the game until Ner Yaakov put together a lengthy drive in the final minutes to finally get on the board. But the DEC defense made the stop that really counted, and that was on the Cobras' two-point conversion. Ner Yaakov was out of luck after the unsuccessful attempt, as DEC ran out the clock and handed the Cobras their first defeat of the season.

DEC will have byes in Week 6 and Week 7, during which we will attempt to give our readers a better understanding of who the players on the team are and what kind of success we may expect from the team. Here's to a record-breaking season!

Game 4 Recap

2006-12-06T20:57:00.001+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim played Pizzeria Efrat at Kraft Stadium on November 25.

DEC received the ball to begin the game, but the offense had trouble building any momentum.
Meanwhile on defense, quarterback rushes and missed flags helped Pizzeria Efrat quickly build a two-score lead.

Finally reaching a 1st-and-Goal, the DEC offense stalled in the red zone. A dropped touchdown pass and a sack on 4th Down helped Pizzeria Efrat maintain their lead.

After DEC managed to score twice on acrobatic touchdown catches by wide receivers Sam Israel and Jonah Zisquit, it appeared the clubs would go to halftime with an even score. But two long rushes by the Pizzeria Efrat quarterback with under a minute left in the half gave them a 19-13 halftime lead.

DEC's first drive of the second half featured two long passes to wide receiver Jonah Zisquit, the second of which was for a touchdown.

Unfortunately, the defense was met with an immediate response and another Efrat touchdown.

After some confusion among the referees delayed the game for several minutes, quarterback Betzalel Gersten ran the ball into the end zone from the 12-yard line.

Holding on to a five point lead with less than a minute left to play, Pizzeria Efrat had 4th-and-Goal, which represented an opportunity to put the game out of reach. But a block by cornerback Yitzi Adelman gave DEC the ball at the their own 18-yard line and 35 seconds remaining.

The potential winning drive started steady, reaching midfield with 13 seconds left and a couple of opportunities to hit the end zone. Though an interception on the next play seemed to seal their fate, DEC was given renewed hope when a defensive pass interference penalty gave the ball back to them at the Efrat 5-yard line with two seconds remaining. But a blitz together with a covered Zisquit on the ensuing play proved too much to overcome to record a victory. An incomplete pass secured another stinging defeat. The final score was 31-26.

Here are the highlights...

Game 3 Recap

2006-12-06T20:57:00.000+02:00

On November 11, Derech Etz Chaim faced Kesher in their third game of the AFI season.

DEC received the ball to start the game, and tallied the first score when quarterback Betzalel Gersten threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Jonah Zisquit.

The first half saw the sides trade four touchdowns. DEC held a two point lead late in the half by virtue of their two extra-point conversions. Just before halftime, Kesher had an opportunity to tie the game up with a successful two-point conversion. However, they were denied by cornerback Dovi Zwebner, who made a diving play to prevent a catch.

On their first possession of the second half, DEC scored on a 50-yard touchdown pass from Gersten to wide receiver Sam Israel. A missed extra-point attempt kept it a one-possession game.

With Kesher driving, looking to tie the game up with a score and a minute remaining, Zisquit intercepted a pass at the Kesher 20-yard line, forcing a crucial turnover.

With point-differential in mind, DEC elected to try to score another touchdown, instead of just running out the clock. They accomplished their mission when tight end Eli Mirlis caught a pass from Gersten, and rumbled to the end zone, eluding several defenders. His second touchdown of the game gave DEC a 38-24 win.

Game 2 Recap

2006-11-12T21:10:00.000+02:00

On Motzei Shabbos November 4th, Derech Etz Chaim took on the defending Holyland Bowl Champions, Big Blue, in the second game of the season.

A tremendous upset seemed possible early when wide-receiver Jonah Zisquit caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Betzalel Gersten for the first score of the game.

The defense kept open the possibility of an upset with their play throughout the game. They held Big Blue to a slim 7-6 halftime lead and just 19 points overall, including three impressive goal-line stands.

Unfortunately, the offense wasn't able to keep their end of the bargain. Big Blue's defensive line harassed Gersten all night, keeping the offense out of rhythm for the entire game, and sacked him about ten times.

Here are the highlights from the game...

Game 1 Recap

2006-10-24T19:46:00.000+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim kicked off their 2006-2007 AFI schedule with a matchup against Vringo on Motzei Shabbos at Kraft Stadium.

Things started out well. After kicking off to start the game, DEC's defensive unit forced Vringo to punt after three unsuccessful downs.

DEC received the ensuing punt at the 12 yard-line, but began their first offensive drive from their own 7 yard-line after an illegal procedure penalty was enforced on 1st Down. The offense overcame the early setback when quarterback Betzalel Gersten found wide-receiver Amitai Scott for a first down. Three downs later, Gersten found wide-receiver Jonah Zisquit in the left corner of the end zone for the first score of the season. DEC went up 7-0 when Gersten connected with tight end Eli Mirlis for the extra point.

From there though, it was pretty much downhill. On Vringo's next possession, they took advantage of a botched blitz attempt , and scored on a long touchdown pass. DEC's lead was maintained, for the time being, when a Vringo pass was dropped on the extra point attempt.

At that point, Vringo successfully adjusted their defensive scheme from "zone" to "man-to-man". Center Dani Meisels was playing hurt and Gersten was met with plenty of pressure from Vringo's defensive line.

The teams traded punts until Vringo put together a lengthy scoring drive to put them on top at the end of the first half by the score of 13-7.

DEC received the second half kickoff and looked like they were gonna turn the game around. Three consecutive passes to Zisquit earned the offense a 1st & Goal at the 5 yard-line. That's when last season's problem of scoring in the red zone showed its ugly head. An incomplete pass, an illegal rush and a false start penalty set up 3rd & Goal from the 15 yard-line. DEC was given a new set of downs to punch the ball into the end zone after a pass-interference penalty was called against the defense. But an ineligible receiver penalty and a sack led to a controversial 3rd Down where Vringo's interception was upheld by a bold "non-call" of a seemingly obvious pass-interference penalty.

Vringo's momentum continued to grow as they went up 20-7 on their next possession. They scored a touchdown on a 1st & Goal that was a result of a pass-interference penalty in the end zone.

Still having enough time to make a comeback, the offense went back at it. They gained a first down when Gersten completed a shovel pass to wide-receiver Sam Israel on 4th & Inches. On the next set of downs, miscommunication between Gersten and the receivers resulted in another interception.

Vringo continued to out-maneuver DEC's "zone" defense, and tacked on another score to make it a 26-7 game.

With seven minutes remaining in the game, DEC made a strategic move that shows how serious they are about qualifying for the top tier playoffs. Instead of trying to get a few quick scores for the win that would have had to involve several high risk plays, they decided to concede the victory. In an effort to keep their point-differential to a minimum, thereby improving their overall standing, they concerned themselves more with putting together a single scoring drive of less risky plays rather than running the risk of their deficit being increased.

Running the "hurry-up offense", they earned a 1st Down at midfield with three short passes, and another with a sideline reception by Israel. Gersten threw a touchdown shovel pass to Scott on 2nd Down, and a defensive penalty on the extra point attempt made the final score 26-14 in favor of Vringo.

The first two drives of the game show us that this team certainly has the potential to do great things. But there are obviously a lot of glitches that need to be worked on. It seems that the offensive line needs to give Gersten some more time to sit in the pocket. The defense apparently just didn't have it this week. In order for the secondary to have a chance in the future, the line has to get better penetration of the quarterback. Rookie mistakes always happen, but the fewer that occur, the more successful this team will be. For their first game though, Israel and Scott played at a respectable level.

Here are the highlights from Week 1...

2006-2007 Season Preview

2006-10-18T08:41:00.000+02:00

Sukkos is over, and you know what that means: it's time for the AFI season to begin. After winning four of their last six games, Derech Etz Chaim looks to continue that success into the brand new season. Their first game will be on Motzei Shabbos October 21 at Kraft Stadium against Vringo.

If DEC is going have a successful season, they will have to be carried by the veterans. So let's meet the team's returning players and watch some of their finer moments from last season...

Last season, Isaac Manaster raised 367.5 shekels for tzedakah through his "I-Sack For Tzedakah" promotion. If you would like to pledge 5 shekels to tzedakah for every sack that Isaac records this season, please email isackfortzedakah@gmail.com to notify us of your pledege. At the end of the season we will email you how many sacks Isaac has recorded.

If you would like to receive an email alerting you that the DEC Football blog has been updated, just click here or send an email to decfootball-subscribe@googlegroups.com and you'll always know when the latest news on your favorite team or player is available.

Team News - Vol. 2.9

2006-03-01T01:25:00.000+02:00

With his 9.5 sacks this season, Isaac Manaster raised pledges for tzedakah totaled at 367.5 shekels.
As you might recall, we mentioned before the season began that how long it takes for the team to jell would be a big factor in determining what kind of season the team has. It indeed turned out that that was a big reason why Derech Etz Chaim finished with a 4-8 record. The team played at an extremely high level towards the end of the season, totally obliterating their opponents. But it took an extremely long time to get to that level.
There were several reasons why it took so long for the team to jell. The roster included many rookies, and they, just like all other rookies before them, took a while to get comfortable with playing in the league. For most it was their first time playing competitive football. Quarterback Betzalel Gersten, who has been out of the game for a few years, had to get reacclimated with the game and with his abilities. Another huge stumbling block was the extremely hard schedule that was given to us by the league. The team really wasn't able to get going until the final weeks of the season.
Though I won't name any specific players, it looks like there is a good core of players who will be returning for next season. Hopefully their history of playing together and the experience they have gained from this season will help them jell next season in a more timely manner, and ultimately put them in a position to fight for a bowl game.
I hope you've all enjoyed following the team this season as much as I have enjoyed supplying the coverage. Hopefully there will be someone here next year who will be able to take the pain...
...and give you the coverage you want.
Let's now take a look back at the fun we've had this season.

Don't fret though my friends. You can catch the Derech Etz Chaim softball team on our sister blog. The season begins this weekend!
Until next season, so long from DEC Football.

Game 12 Recap

2006-02-23T13:37:00.000+02:00

All eyes were on Kraft Stadium this past Saturday night for the slew of AFI's championship games. Only METV stood between Derech Etz Chaim and the Tier 4 trophy.

METV took control early by returning an interception for a touchdown. As was the case in their earlier meeting, the defense was unable to take care of business and METV took an 18-0 lead.

DEC finally made it a game when they scored just before the half.

Quarterback Max Gornish found wide receiver Elan Noorparvar in the end zone, cutting the deficit to 12 points.

The offense did their part by scoring two more times in the second half. First on a pass to tight end Eli Mirlis...

...and then on a pass to wide receiver Jonah Zisquit.

But in the end, METV was too much for the defense to handle, and the game ended with the disappointing score of 40-18.

Please enjoy the highlights from the championship game.

We're not finished quite yet. Stay tuned for the blog's season review.

Game 11 Recap

2006-02-22T13:15:00.000+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim continued their charge toward Tier 4 glory as they faced the #1 seed, Israel 21C, in a semifinal matchup.

The offense carried over its domination from last week to this week's game. They got the scoring started on their first drive from scrimmage.

Quarterback Betzalel Gersten found wide-receiver Elan Noorparvar, who then found his way past the defenders and into the end zone. A reception by wide-receiver Jonah Zisquit on the extra-point attempt gave DEC an early 7-0 lead.

DEC's next score was the only one that came from within the red zone. Gersten found Noorparvar again, this time in the back of the end zone, to take a 13-0 lead.

DEC went up 19-0 on a touchdown pass to wide-receiver Jonah Zisquit.

Israel 21C finally got on the board late in the second half on a pass that the defense should have been able to block.

Having witnessed Israel 21C get a score they shouldn't have gotten, the offense felt obligated to get it back for the defense.

Gersten found wide-receiver Max Gornish for a touchdown on another fake run.

Israel 21C tried to gain momentum before halftime with a score but Gersten would have none of that. Filling in at safety, he intercepted a long pass by making a terrific catch. Then, with just seconds remaining in the half, he threw a nice pass of his own...

...which ultimately found Noorparvar's hands, giving DEC a 31-6 halftime lead.

The second half continued with more offensive brilliance.

Another fake run opened up the field for Zisquit who ran 30 yards for the touchdown after making the catch at midfield.

Israel 21C refused to close up shop and managed to score a touchdown, cutting the deficit to 38-12.

The lawyers teamed up for the next touchdown and extra-point, to go up by a score 45-12.

Israel 21C kept working though, and earned a touchdown for good measure.

Everyone knew that DEC was butter 'cuz they were on a roll. While the game was well in their pockets, they continued to play.

After catching a Gersten pass, Zisquit ran 35 yards for a touchdown. Gornish caught a pass on the two-point conversion to make it 53-18 game.

The defense wasn't about to let the offense take all the glory. They decided to close the game by making their own final impression. On the final play of the game...

,/p>...Noorparvar intercepted a pass at the DEC 20-yard line. After running the ball back 20 yards, he made a lateral pass to Gersten, who subsequently ran the ball into the end zone, making the final score 59-18.

With the victory, DEC heads to the Tier 4 championship game where they will face METV.

Please enjoy the highlights we have prepared this week.

Condolences

2006-02-22T13:02:00.002+02:00

Condolences
Feb. 3, 2006 11:44
Yosef Goodman's funeral begins
By Yaakov Katz And JPOST STAFF
The funeral ceremony of Yosef Goodman, 20, began at Jerusalem's Mt. Herzl
military cemetery on Friday at 11:30 a.m.
Goodman, an IDF soldier from the elite Maglan unit, was killed Thursday in a
parachute training accident in a military base south of Ashdod. Goodman lived in
Efrat, but was originally from New York.
Goodman jumped from an IDF plane together with other soldiers in a training
exercise at the IDF's Nizanim base. When his parachute opened, however, it got
entangled with the squad commander's parachute. Both soldiers cut their
parachutes, and while one succeeded in opening his reserve parachute, Goodman
did not and fell to the ground. Magen David Adom medics pronounced his death at
the scene.
The mishap marked the IDF's first training accident of 2006.
The army said the Military Police planned to launch an investigation into the
accident, which would also be probed by Col. Harel Knafo from the IDF Ground
Forces Command.
Goodman was the second of nine children, and his parents Mordechai and Ann
ran the local Efrat pizzeria. Both father and son played in the American
Football League in Israel (AFI).
"Yosef was an amazing athlete," recalled Steve Leibowitz, president of the
AFI. "He was a fearless player and had great athletic ability. He was by far one
of the best players in the country."
But beyond his athletic skills, Leibowitz - who has known the Goodman family
for years - said that Yosef was a "true Zionist" who believed in contributing
all of himself to the country and the IDF.
"His athletic skills led him to become a combat soldier," Leibowitz said. "He
wanted to be a combat soldier and he knew he would be good at it."

The Derech Etz Chaim football team would like to express their condolences to the Goodman family.

We have put together a video as a tribute to Yosef.

Team News - Vol. 2.8

2006-02-17T13:22:00.000+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim will play in the Tier 4 championship game this Saturday night against METV. DEC lost 24-19 to METV a month a go, but the game ended on a positive note for DEC as they dominated the second half of the game.
With their semifinal victory over Israel 21C, DEC improved their overall record to 4-7.
Quarterback Betzalel Gersten is in America on a recruiting trip. He will be replaced this week by Max Gornish, who usually plays wide-receiver.
Linebacker Michael Deutsch will comes off the disabled list this week and will attempt to play in the championship game.
So far, Isaac Manaster has raised 287.5 shekels for tzedakah through his "I-Sack For Tzedakah" promotion. Please email isackfortzedakah@gmail.com before Shabbos if you would like to donate 5 shekels to tzedakah for every sack that Isaac records in the championship game.

Game 10 Recap

2006-02-09T22:41:00.000+02:00

Last Friday, Derech Etz Chaim opened their playoff campaign with a quarterfinal matchup against One Hour Cellular. The team's goal coming into the game was to prove that they don't belong in Tier 4.

After receiving the opening kickoff, DEC got straight to scoring. Their first drive culminated in a touchdown pass from quarterback Betzalel Gersten to wide-receiver Jonah Zisquit.

After the defense stymied One Hour Cellular, DEC put together another successful drive, scoring on another Gersten touchdown pass, this time to tight end Eli Mirlis.

DEC was rolling through the game. The defense didn't allow One Hour Cellular to gain any momentum, and even when the offense didn't score, Gersten's punt was downed at the 1-yard line.

Just before halftime, DEC increased their lead when Zisquit caught his second touchdown pass of the game. The score was 18-0 with an entire half still to play.

While the defense continued to deny One Hour Cellular of any offensive production, the offense continued to dominate the opposing defense. On their first drive of the half, Gersten found wide-receiver Max Gornish in the end zone, taking a 25-0 lead.

After yet another defensive stop, the law firm of Gersten & Gornish went back to work for a quick 50-yard touchdown.

Since the defense found the will to continue performing with the huge lead, the offense felt obliged to continue performing as well. They tacked another score on the board when Zisquit caught his third touchdown pass of the game.

And as if they were gunning for a point differential tie-breaker, they almost scored another touchdown, but the clock ran out on them just before getting off a final play.

By posting a 37-0 win, the team took the first step towards sending a message that they are better than Tier 4. They played with the no-nonsense attitude and confidence that the great teams in the league play with. After watching this game, we wonder why One Hour Cellular was able to score a touchdown against DEC a few weeks ago. A couple more performances of this caliber may do leaps and bounds towards convincing people that this season was overall a fluke.

Please enjoy the highlights we've prepared, which include a new feature this week.

Team News - Vol. 2.7

2006-01-30T14:10:00.000+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim finished the regular season with a 2-7 record and in 44th place out of 50 teams.
DEC is the 4th seed in the eight team Tier 4 Playoffs. Their quarterfinal game will be this Friday against One Hour Cellular, a team they beat four weeks ago.
Linebacker Michael Deutsch fractured his hand in Week 12 against METV. He will miss the rest of the season.
Quarterback Betzalel Gersten was knocked out of the game in the second half last week after suffering an extreme bloody nose. His condition was stabilized on the sideline, and was released from the Terem medical clinic after a short visit. He has been cleared to play this week.
Former team captain, Ari Gold, played in the last two games during his winter break visit to Israel. Last season's team captain, Zack Eisner, also played last week during his visit.
So far, Isaac Manaster has raised 235 shekels for tzedakah through his "I-Sack For Tzedakah" promotion. If you would like to donate 5 shekels to tzedakah for every sack that Isaac records this season, please email isackfortzedakah@gmail.com.
The team would like to wish a mazel tov to former teammate Ari Gold on his engagement to Rachie Jacobsen.

Game 9 Recap

2006-01-26T00:44:00.000+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim closed out the regular season with an exciting game on Saturday night. The team was trying to avenge the game they lost to the Ner Yaakov Cobras in Week 5.

Just like almost every other game this season, this one started off pretty ugly. On their opening drive, DEC went for it on 4th-Down from midfield. Ner Yaakov got good field position when DEC's 4th-Down attempt failed. Ner Yaakov took advantage of the opportunity by making a quick score, taking an early 6-0 lead.

And if anyone hadn't been convinced by then that it was going to be a long night, they were after quarterback Betzalel Gersten threw an interception on the next drive.

DEC got the ball back when Ari Gold intercepted a pass in the end zone for a touchback. Just a few plays into the ensuing drive, DEC got on the board when wide-receiver Jonah Zisquit ran 25 yards to the end zone after receiving a pass from Gersten. On the extra-point attempt, Zisquit made a highly disputed catch while he was on the ground, giving DEC a 7-6 lead at halftime.

DEC received the second half kickoff and pieced together a drive that culminated when Gersten found wide-receiver Elan Noorparvar in the back of the end zone to take a 13-6 lead.

While the defense continued to stymie the Cobras' offense, DEC continued to push. The offense added to the lead when Gersten found tight end Eli Mirlis, who rumbled in past several Ner Yaakov defenders.

Now down 19-6, Ner Yaakov made a comeback push. They cut the lead to 19-12 with 1:30 left in the game. When DEC was unable to run out the clock, Max Gornish was forced to punt from the back of the end zone. Luckily, the punt was not fielded and it rolled in DEC's favor. Ner Yaakov began their last attempt to tie or win the game from their own 20-yard-line with 30 seconds left in the game.

After two incomplete passes, and then a short gain on 3rd-Down, cornerback Mordy Kramer intercepted the pass on 4th-Down, and returned it 50 yards to the end zone, where he was mobbed by players and fans, who celebrated an enjoyable end to an otherwise frustrating regular season.

The most obvious thing that changed in this game was that the real defense decided to show up to this game and they stayed until the final whistle. They didn't show up late, nor did they leave early, which seemed to be the case for most of the previous eight games. They played with three games' worth of quality. It'’s as if they were accumulating a whole case of defense to spend on the last game. And spend it they did, amassing nine sacks in all, scoring a defensive touchdown, and virtually shutting down a team that beat them by two points earlier in the season.

On the other hand, the offense started slow and finished slow as well. They eventually got things going, and were able to put up a sufficient amount of points. On their second-to-last drive, it looked as if DEC was going to add to their lead before Gersten was knocked out of the game. A blow to the nose caused severe bleeding, requiring a trip to the emergency room. The offense, a little distracted, was unable to finish off the drive, giving up the ball on downs at the 5-yard-line. In order to win their tournament, the offense will have to play well from beginning to finish.

With the close of the regular season comes the playoffs. DEC is the 4th seed in the Tier 4 tournament. More details about the playoffs are coming soon.

We've prepared the first highlight reel from a game the team has won, woohoo! Enjoy.

Team News - Vol. 2.6

2006-01-15T13:23:00.000+02:00

On Friday December 23, Derech Etz Chaim lost 38-20 to Waxman Warriors.
On Friday January 6, Derech Etz Chaim faced One Hour Cellular (affiliated with Bais Yisroel). DEC got off to a poor start, going down by a touchdown after the offense didn't convert on 4th-Down deep in their own zone. Then the offense was unable to score after driving to the red-zone. They tied the game just before halftime on a gorgeous one-handed touchdown catch by wide reciever, Jonah Zisquit. Both the offensive and defensive squads put it into gear for DEC in the second half, finally winning their first game of the season by the score of 27-7. (They even converted on each of their extra-point attempts!)
On Saturday January 14, Derech Etz Chaim lost 24-19 to METV.
DEC is now 1-7, good for 3 points and 48th place in the league.
DEC will play it's final regular season game on Saturday night January 21 against the Ner Yaakov Cobras. It will be a rematch of the Week 5 matchup that DEC lost by 2-points. If DEC wins, they will qualify for the Tier 4 playoffs, but a loss will drop them into the Tier 5 playoffs.
So far, Isaac Manaster has raised 165 shekels for tzedakah through his "I-Sack For Tzedakah" promotion. If you would like to donate 5 shekels to tzedakah for every sack that Isaac records this season, please email isackfortzedakah@gmail.com.

Game 6 - Postponed

2005-12-18T07:00:00.000+02:00

Yerushalayim recieved plenty of rain over Friday night. As a result, the field at Ramat Eshkol was not playable on Saturday night, so Derech Etz Chaim's game was postponed. No make-up date has been scheduled yet.

Team News -Vol. 2.5

2005-12-16T13:33:00.000+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim is now 0-5 and in 23rd place in the Saturday Night Division. The team has been eliminated from the bowl game qualifying-round. After their sixth game this weekend, the team's remaining games will be against teams who are of the worst 20 in the league.
DEC's upcoming schedule includes a game in Week 8 against Waxman Warriors, followed by two consecutive bye weeks.
The team would like to wish a tzeischem l'shalom to team captain, Moshe Franklin, who is going back to America on Sunday to begin his studies at Lander College for Men.
So far, Isaac Manaster has raised 25 shekels for tzedakah through his "I-Sack For Tzedakah" promotion. If you would like to donate 5 shekels to tzedakah for every sack that Isaac records this season, please email isackfortzedakah@gmail.com.

Game 5 Recap

2005-12-12T22:14:00.000+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim played another exciting game on Saturday night against Olive at Kraft Stadium. The team was trying to win their first game of the season.

Olive gained possesion after DEC failed to score on 4th-and-goal. They put together a drive that culminated in a touchdown, giving them a 6-0 lead.

Later in the first half, DEC tied the game when quarterback Betzalel Gersten threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to wide-reciever Elan Noorparvar. On the extra-point attempt, Gersten found Noorparvar in the back of the end zone, giving DEC a 7-6 halftime lead. It was DEC's first lead since Week 1.

After recieving the kickoff, the offense was able to push the ball downfield. The drive was capped with a touchdown. Wide-reciever Max Gornish caught Gersten's tipped pass, doing so for the second consecutive game.

Up now by seven points, the defense still had alot of work ahead of them. Olive scored another touchdown with four minutes remaining in the game. The defense did not allow Olive to score on the extra-point attempt, retaining a 13-12 lead.

The offense had an opportunity to run out the clock by gaining a couple of first-downs, but was forced to a 3-and-out, giving the ball back to Olive with a minute remaining.

By then, the momentum had shifted towards Olive, allowing them to pull-off this last-minute drive. The drive ended in a touchdown, giving Olive an 18-12 lead with 20 seconds on the clock. Although there was enough time for a few plays, the offense could not come up with an answer, adding one more loss to their already frustrating season.

The offense had plenty of time to put the game out of reach. Their play after reaching 1st-and-Goal had improved in the last few games, but this week they scored just once in three chances. They could have won or tied if they had converted on one more of those chances.

Even so, the defense was playing well enough for the first three-quarters of the game for them to win by scoring just 13 points. Why the defense couldn't maintain their level of play for the last quarter of the game we will never know. Both units continue to play very well, but not for the duration of the game. How to fix this problem has been the mystery of the season.

The video crew didn't have any problems this week. We hope you'll enjoy the highlights we've prepared.

Game 4 Recap

2005-11-27T13:16:00.000+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim played its best and most exciting game of the season on Saturday night against the Ner Yaakov Cobras.

On the first drive of the game, DEC took a huge risk by going for a first-down on 4th-and-10 from their own 15-yard-line. When wide-receiver Jonah Zisquit had his defender beat, it looked as if the gamble would pay off, but the usually sure-handed Zisquit let the pass slip through his hands.

The defense was unable to stop Ner Yaakov from scoring on that drive. In all, Ner Yaakov scored three times in the first half to take a 20-0 lead.

When they regained possession with just minutes before halftime, DEC was determined to send a message that they weren't just going to bow down to the defending Holyland Bowl champs. Though they were able to drive downfield, it appeared that the offense wouldn't put up any points on the board before halftime as a 4th-down pass fell incomplete. Fortunately, the offense was redeemed when a defensive penalty gave them an extra play. This time, quarterback Betzalel Gersten found wide-receiver Max Gornish in the end-zone to make the halftime score 20-6.

Zisquit intercepted a tipped pass on Ner Yaakov's first drive of the half, but the play was negated by a roughing-the-passer penalty. They eventually scored a touchdown on that possession to take a 28-6 lead.

On the next drive, the offense looked to have had enough of the physical and emotional abuse they had taken from Ner Yaakov and their fans, respectively. The game seemed to be over when DEC lined up to punt on 4th-and-20. The same was the case even after a 5-yard penalty against Ner Yaakov. But when Ner Yaakov incurred another 5-yard penalty on the next play, the offense decided to go for a first down on 4th-and-10. Gersten first connected with Zisquit to gain a 1st-down and then again for a touchdown, making it a 28-12 game.

The defense made a tall stand and quickly gave the ball back to the offense. Gersten led a drive that culminated in another touchdown pass to Zisquit. A successful extra-point attempt made the score 28-20.

With just a few minutes remaining in the game, the defense had to make a huge stop if the offense was going to get another shot at the end zone. Ner Yaakov advanced towards the end zone, but the defense survived a few incomplete passes that could have ended the game.

The offense took over with a minute remaining in the game. They demonstrated beautiful clock management by gaining quick clock-stopping first downs and were aided as well by some defensive penalties. After driving close to the goal line, there was only time for one more play. Ner Yaakov was able to deflect the touchdown pass away from the intended receiver, but the ball was miraculously tipped directly into Gornish's hands. The comeback was not yet complete. DEC still needed to make a 2-point conversion. Gersten scrambled away from pressure, then threw a pass to his receiver. Ner Yaakov knocked the ball to the ground, escaping with a 2-point victory, their second straight win by 3 points or less.

So another game and another "coulda, woulda, shoulda." One thing that seems to be missing from this team, that is an evident attribute of the teams that are beating DEC, is a killer instinct. This is most likely because it's a team of nice yeshiva guys(which is a good thing).

DEC hasn't had a lead since they led 6-0 over Norman's in Week 1. They've been right there the last two games, but they just can't seem to get that extra little "umph" their opponents are getting.

This was the second game in a row where the team played very well, but for just one half of the game. They probably won't get a win until both units put in a solid effort for an entire 50 minutes.

The team will head into the bye week with a record of 0-4. They can really use a week off to regroup because if they're going to make the bowl game qualifying round with four losses, they're gonna need to make up the gap in their point-differential, the first tie-braking statistic, which currently stands at -82.

The video crew ran into some technical difficulties during the game, so the video quality, and the amount of video taken, are sub-par this week. At any rate, we do have a highlight clip.

Game 4 Preview

2005-11-25T12:20:00.000+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim will start on a trek to save their season from the fire-breathing dragon this Saturday night. Their journey will first take them to Ramat Eshkol Field where they will have to daringly dance their way past a throng of Ner Yaakov Cobras.

DEC, who sits at 0-3, is in a must-win situation because it is not likely that they will enter the bowl game qualifying round with four losses. Although they are coming off their best performance of the season, it will probably take an even better game to defeat the defending Holyland Bowl champions.

The Cobras are coming off an emotional 3-point win over Tiferes Yerushalayim(TJ) in Week 4 but are just 1-1 on the season as a result of their loss to Tov Pizza. They are DEC's first non-undefeated opponent of the season. Still, they are not the kind of team you want to face in a must-win situation.

Commentary 1

2005-11-25T10:40:00.000+02:00

Anonymous said...: Why do you guys have the hardest schedule in the whoooooole world!

Anonymous may have been asking a rhetorical question, but I'm going to answer anyways because it's not often that I get to write commentary in this fashion.
The schedule is made up mostly of teams that signed up to play in the same time slot as us. In other words, it's basically arbitrary. And even more so in our case because unlike every other team, we didn't get to choose our time slot; we were placed in a time slot by the league.
Within each time slot there are more teams than there are games. So we don't play every team in our time slot. Which teams you play and which teams you don't is also determined pretty much at random.
The only games that aren't scheduled incidentally, for the most part, are those that the league schedules because they are high-interest matchups. For example, in Week 2 a game featured a rematch of last year's Holyland Bowl.
So the answer to your question is that there is no answer. The sensible follow-up question to that is, "Why us?" There are 52 teams in the league, and somehow Derech Etz Chaim gets the hardest schedule.
The standings go by points. A win is worth three points; one point for a tie; and no points for a loss. I determine a team's Strength of Schedule Number(SOS#) by dividing the sum of all their opponents' points by the sum of all their opponents' games played(their average points per game).
The league has revealed the identity of four of DEC's opponents: Norman's has 6 points after 2 games; Tov Pizza has 9 points after 3 games; Pizzeria Efrat has 9 points after 3 games; and Ner Yaakov has 3 points after 2 games. The equation then is (6+9+9+3)/(2+3+3+2). That comes out to be a league leading SOS# of 2.7!
This is one of the reasons why we are so upset about the referees not giving us a safety against Pizzeria Efrat. The league has already given us the hardest schedule. We don't need the referees to make it even harder for us to win by taking points away from us. What's next? Three-down-sets for DEC?
The good news though, is that we may have a way of removing the randomness of the schedule. News about this development will hopefully be announced in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

If you have any more questions for us at DEC Football, we'd be more than glad to answer.

Team News - Vol. 2.4

2005-11-23T19:35:00.000+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim's loss to Pizzeria Efrat drops their record to 0-3. They are now in 22nd place in the Saturday Night Division.
DEC will face the defending Holyland Bowl champion Ner Yaakov Cobras in Week 5. It will be the league's first game this season at Ramat Eshkol Field. That will be followed with a bye in Week 6.
Before Week 4, Moshe Herzig was deactivated to open a roster spot for Eliyahu Kenigsberg.
With this sack, Isaac Manaster raised 25 shekels for tzedakah through his "I-Sack For Tzedakah" promotion. If you would like to donate 5 shekels to tzedakah for every sack that Isaac records this season, please email isackfortzedakah@gmail.com.

Game 3 Preview

2005-11-18T11:29:00.000+02:00

Derech Etz Chaim will face their third undefeated opponent in three games when they take on Pizzeria Efrat this Saturday night at Kraft Stadium. DEC will try to record their first win after dropping their first two games.

The record of the teams that Pizzeria Efrat has defeated is a combined 0-3, so it's difficult to tell how good they are just based on their record. But Pizzeria Efrat is a franchise that has existed since the days of American Touch Football in Israel. So old, in fact, that they could probably have a promotion where they wear throwback uniforms for one game. One has to assume that this is going to be a tough game to win because of Pizzeria Efrat's tradition of excellence.

In order for DEC to win, the offense will have to not only drive down the field, as they have shown to be capable of doing, but will have to punch the ball into the end zone once they get to the goal line. The offense's ineptitude in doing this is mainly why their record sits at 0-2. If they don't find a way to score more points soon, the top tier may become out of reach.