Heading into the Playoffs!

This week Derech Etz Chaim heads into the top tier Holyland Bowl playoffs for the 7^th straight year, this time with the number 1 seed.

This years team which has a combination of veterans and as well as great new additions has faced most of the top seeded teams during the regular season and has a good idea what to expect going into the playoffs.

While it is hard to project who the favorites are sentiment seems to feel that Mishaan Plumbing, Meridian Capital, Big Blue, Lobos, Mercaz and of course DEC are the favorites going into the playoffs. Barring an upset next week’s quarter-finals should be a showdown with Big Blue and possibly DEC’s most difficult game to make it back to the Championship.

QB Gilad Silverman has been out injured for the past several weeks but is due to return for the playoffs.

It should be an exciting couple of games coming up. You can follow right here at www.decfootball.com and see the bracket matchups on the AFI web site www.israelfootball.net

Derech Etz Chaim Defeats Bais in first game of intermediate stage

Saturday night found DEC without starting QB Gilad Silverman for the first time in 5 years, but Dani Eastman stepped in and soundly defeated Bais in the the first game of the intermediate stage.
This week DEC takes on a Shraga Team - The Weathermen, in a rare Friday game (scheduled dues to conflicts) with Eastman at the helm again and a win moves DEC on to the Holy land Bowl Tier 1 playoffs for the 7th year running.
Here are the highlights. Once again it is a Ben Spear production!

Derech Etz Chaim Finishes Regular Season with Big Wins Over Mishaan Plumbing to Grab the Second Seed!

Derech Etz Chaim completed the regular season with two outstanding victories over a highly rated Mishaan Plumbing 12-7 and 13-7 to grab the #2 seed as we enter the intermediate stage playoffs.

With QB Gilad Silverman hurt and throwing three interceptions on the night the defense played outstanding and held Mishaan to only one offensive touchdown. Shlomo Berman had two interceptions and Dani Raskas one. The D-line kept up steady pressure and the cornerbacks made big stops.

Dani Eastman back from missing the last two weeks games gave a highlight reel worth of plays with Gilad connecting with him for three touchdowns and when Gilad had to come out with less than a minute left in the game, Berman threw a bomb that Eastman hauled in between two defenders while keeping his toes inbounds to set up the winning touchdown.

The intermediate stage playoffs begin this week with DEC playing a Bais team they defeated earlier this year. In the intermediate stage a team needs to win 2 out of 3 games to advance to the upper tier playoffs with the teams that go 2-0 being the #1 -#8 seeds (based on regular season standings) and the teams that go 2-1 getting the #9-#16 seeds. (The 16 teams that lsoe 2 games are eliminated).

This week with Ben Spear visiting Israel we have a great highlight reel produced by Ben Spear productions! Enjoy

Video Highlights from the Big Blue Game

With DEC Football in the middle of three bye weeks we are catching up by posting the video highlights from the games against Big Blue.

Highlights from Derech Etz Chaim vs Mercaz HaTorah

UNDERMANNED DEC SQUAD EARNS SPLIT, MOVES INTO 1ST-PLACE IN THE STANDINGS

Entering the night against one of the best teams in the League without DEC's best player, Dani Eastman, would be quite the challenge. But the team stepped up and nearly came away with both victories, ultimately settling for a split.

Game 1

Mercaz received the ball to start the game. Though they drove down the field and picked up a couple of first downs, the defense held up and kept them out of the end zone, with Meyer Tennenbaum intercepting the pass (his 3rd of the season) on 4th & goal.

The offense was missing their go-to receiver, but that didn't keep them from moving the ball. On their first set they drove all the way down to the Mercaz 5-yard line before a costly interception in the end-zone gave Mercaz the ball back in a scoreless game.

The next time with the ball, an unfortunate slip by a DEC corner lead to an easy pass & score for Mercaz. But DEC bounced back, Dani Strauss went to the ground to make a difficult catch, he bounced back up and got an additional 10 yards after the catch. This lead to DEC's first score of the night, a TD pass to Avner Denicoff. The PAT was good to Shlomo Berman and the score was tied at 7-7.

The ensuing drive by Mercaz lead them back down the field. Scoring again in the front corner of the end zone. They missed the extra point to make the score 13-7. The DEC offense turned the ball over with 1:20, but the defense held on to get them the ball back with 23 seconds and 1 timeout. Playing a deep prevent defense, QB Gilad Silverman was able to run for 20 yards to set up the final play of the game with 7 seconds left. He was unable to connect on a hail mary.

Final Score Game 1

Mercaz: 13

DEC : 7

Game 2

Not willing to back down, DEC was ready to earn a split in the 2nd game. Receiving the ball to start, the offense went to work connecting on a huge bomb to Zak Lenik who was caught and tackled at the 5 yard line. Unfortunately the red-zone INT-bug struck again, and Mercaz once again picked the ball off in the end zone.

The defense would come through, a couple of interceptions, one by Shlomo Berman (his 2nd of the season) and Doni Raskas (his 1st) set up shorter fields which DEC took advantage of. Scoring 3 times, including a beautiful Eastman-esque leaping grab by Lenik. After the game, Rabbi Katz commenting on the rookie's stellar game, which earned him the game ball, said "looks like we now have two #1 receivers."

Final Score Game 2

Mercaz: 7

DEC: 20

This win brought DEC's record on the season to 8-1-1, moving them into a 3-way tie for 1st place in the AFI Standings. DEC will look to continue their early season dominance following a 3-week break. Stay tuned...

The clash with Big Blue lived up to its billing, in a tough pair of physical games.

The clash with Big Blue lived up to its billing, in a tough pair of physical games.

Game 1

After exchanging punts, the DEC offense moved the ball downfield with a couple of receptions to Dani Eastman. Unfortunately the drive was thwarted with an end-zone interception by Big Blue negating the offensive progress.

The defense, which overall on the night was a bit inconsistent, held Big Blue to another punt. This time QB Gilad Silverman and Eastman connected on a 40 yard bomb for the first score of the game. Eastman, however, could not stay inbounds on the point-after attempt making the score 6-0.

As mentioned, the defense was at times stellar leading to 2 early Eastman sacks, but other times could not muster the pressure giving Big Blue enough time to pick apart DEC's man-to-man defense. On this drive Big Blue went over the top and connected on a long play down to the 5-yard line. A holding penalty pushed them back out of the red zone, but ultimately they scored on a pass to a WR crossing through the back of the end zone. They made their PAT to take the lead at 7-6.

Another bomb to Eastman gave DEC the lead right back, and another failed PAT left the score at 12-7. The defense held the rest of the way, forcing a turnover on downs to end the first game.

Game 1 Final Score

Big Blue: 7

DEC: 12

Game 2

The second game saw both teams moving the ball with little opposition. The 2 sides pretty much exchanged scores throughout the game. Both teams missed 1 extra point leaving it in a tie 13-13.

DEC remains undefeated! 

This week they face more stiff competition going up against the 7-1 Mercaz team, whose lone loss was to Big Blue 2 weeks ago.

Game 2 Final Score

Big Blue: 13

DEC: 13