Derech Etz Chaim vs. Klein Management

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

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

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!

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

Preview to Pallorium

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

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

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

Regular Season ends with DEC ranked #3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• 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

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

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

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

• 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

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

• 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

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

• 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

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

• 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

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.