The final regular-season weekend in the Kraft Family IFL featured four games
that each brought their own level of intrigue with the 2nd through 6th seeds all
being determined in a wild three-day flurry and another jaw-dropping Sabres’
blowout to cap it all off.
Week 16 kicked off on Wednesday with the Clal
Tel Aviv Pioneers thoroughly controlling the pace on the road against the
Hasharon Hammers in what was effectively a battle for second place and a
first-round bye. In his second game in blue, Josh Henry scored three touchdowns
in rushing for 106 yards as the Pioneers coasted to a surprisingly comfortable
48-24 victory.
Thursday night’s marquee had the ISD Jerusalem Kings at
Travel Leaders’ Beersheba Black Swarm, and the trip south didn’t seem to bother
the team from the capital, who grabbed the bull by the horns and powered into
the playoffs with a convincing 68-49 conquest.
That Kings’ W meant that
Nemo’s Haifa Underdogs were knocked out of postseason contention in excruciating
fashion prior to their contest on Friday against the Northern Stars. Haifa’s
64-12 triumph over its neighbor in Kibbutz Saar did little to console the
Underdogs, who finished with the same 5-5 record as the Kings and beat them in
Jerusalem to boot, but due to the Judean Rebels creating a three-way .500 knot,
were left on the outside looking in after the tie-breakers.
There was
still a fair amount of excitement heading into Saturday night’s original-four
battle between the Bourbon Street Tel Aviv/Jaffa Sabres and Big Blue Jerusalem
Lions, even though both clubs were already locked into their respective seeds of
1 and 4. However, Red Lightning struck again, with the Sabres proving themselves
the far superior side in rolling to a 72-12 win that completed their perfect
10-0 regular-season run that will continue in two weeks time in the
semifinals.
With all 55 regular-season games in the books, we can now
focus to the playoffs, where things always tend to get crazy. It was a tough
season for “periphery” and baby teams, as all three Jerusalem clubs made the
dance to go along with three clubs from the Mercaz to fill out the six-club
party list.
With the first two seeds being held by the Sabres and
Pioneers, who have a week off to rest and practice, the Lions and Rebels will
clash in the first-round with a Thursday night kickoff under the lights at Kraft
Stadium.
This one should be a doozy, as the Lions (6-4) will be looking
to avenge a 28-22 February loss to their Judean brethren while the Rebels also
seem to show up for playoff games against Big Blue.
The Hammers (8-2)
will host the Kings in a Friday morning extravaganza in Ramat Hasharon – a
rematch of both teams’ season opener which the Hammers won tightly 12-8 – with
the Sabres slated to host the worst-seeded team remaining with the Pios getting
the leftover winner the following week in the semis. Israel Bowl VI is on
Friday, March 22nd but plenty of hits and highlights remain before then that you
surely do not want to miss! For full Kraft Family IFL standings, stats and
schedule, as well as for more information on pigskin in the Holy Land, please
visit www.israel-football.co.il
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