American football in Israel: Heritage Affinty AFI heads into 2nd round

The top 16 Friday teams, who have been split into four divisions, will play every other intra-division rival once.

By JAY ABRAMOFF
american football 298 88 (photo credit: )
american football 298 88
(photo credit: )
Heritage Affinty AFI heads into second round The second round of the Heritage Affinity AFI men's contact league begins this weekend. The top 16 Friday teams, who have been split into four divisions, will play every other intra-division rival once. At the end of the three-game second round, the top two teams from each division will qualify for the Holyland Bowl playoff bracket. The Friday divisions are: 1) World Class Travel, Amigo US, The Out-of-Towners, Oma's; 2) Joe's Eagles, Holy Bagel, Cleveland Friends, T.C. Farbmans; 3) Jump Gym, Waxman Warriors, Misha'an Plumbers, Norman's; 4) Pallorium, Mass Mutual, TLC Communications, Lobos. Saturday night teams are eagerly anticipating the results from four games that were postponed last weekend. D & D Sugar, Meridian Capital, and Seidemann & Mermelstein have all played their six first-round games, but do not yet know if they qualfied for the Saturday night top 16. Ziontours/Internet Cafe, Cobras, One Hour Cellular and Jerry's Kids are all in the hunt for a spot in the top 16, but had their sixth and final first round games moved back one week. Misha'an Plumbers rout Boston Friends/Havila in women's league In week five of the Fieldturf Women's American Football in Israel league, Misha'an Plumbers got their fourth win of the season in a rout over the winless Boston Friends/Havila squad 34-0. Despite the loss, the Boston Friends/Havila squad left the field with their heads held high because, according to their coach, the team continues to show improvement from week to week. Misha'an Plumbers 34, Boston Friends/Havila 0 Quarterback Meira Harrow led the Plumbers with five touchdown passes, including three to Estie "Baseball" Bernstein, and one each to Ayelet Wartelsky and Elissa Sugoskin. On defense, Adina Brickman had two interceptions while Jessie Sugoskin had another. Elissa Sugoskin recorded an impressive seven sacks. Ziontours 26, Cincinnati Friends 6 Quarterback Cindy Scarr threw four touchdown passes to lead Ziontours to a 5-0 record. TDs were caught by Emily Neilson (two), Esti Mandel, and Devorah Schwadron. On defense both Mandel and Scarr recorded interceptions. Jump Gym 15, Diamonds.com 6 After Diamonds.com got on the scoreboard first with an early touchdown, Jump Gym scored 15 unanswered points. Fourteen of those points were scored by Jump's Annie Montal. Montal began by running back an extra point the length of the field for a two-point score. She also scored on a screen pass, and ran back an interception for a TD. Sarah Pinon caught an extra point to insure a two-possession lead. Also last Wednesday, it was: Big Blue 46, Pueblo Nuevo Productions 6; and Cafe Rimon 25, Eden's Eagles 7. Fieldturf WAFI Standings after five weeks (wins-losses-ties): Big Blue (5-0-0), Ziontours (5-0-0), Mishaan Plumbers (4-0-1), Jump Gym (4-1-0), Cincinnati Friends (2-2-1), Cafe Rimon (2-3-0), Diamonds.com (1-2-2), Boston Friends/Haviva (0-5-0), Eden's Eagles (0-5-0), Pueblo Nuevo Productions (0-5-0). Oasis stays hot in high school league After starting the season at 0-3, things looked bleak for Oasis Management in the High School American Football in Israel league. However, Oasis maintained its composure and last week pulled to 3-3 after its third straight win. With just two games left in the regular season, teams are vying to secure their playoff positions. While all seven teams will qualify for the next round, only the top seed will have the luxury of a first-round bye to rest up before the single elimination round starts. Oasis Management 31, Bulldogs 6 On offense, Oasis quarterback Yoel Ross threw four touchdown passes; two to Elimeir Maltz and two to Shlomo Preiss-Bloom. On defense, Uriel Ross recorded two sacks. In addition, team captain Elimeir Maltz ran back an interception for a TD. Pizza Sababa/Superdeal 45, Dominators 12 Pizza Sababa/Superdeal kept all engines churning towards the No. 1 playoff seed with an impressive thumping of the Dominators. Quarterback Chezki Bendheim threw six touchdown passes to three different receives. TD's were caught by Justin Hess (three), Chanan Kupietzky (two) and Binyamin Greenberg. Greenberg also took a handoff the length of the field for a score. Also last week, it was: Chasmo Jaguars 31, Buckeyes 20. Standings after seven weeks: Pizza Sababa/Superdeal (6-0), Chasmo Jaguars (4-2), Thunderbolts (4-2), Buckeyes (3-3), Oasis Management (3-3), Dominators (1-5), Bulldogs (0-6). Big Blue ups the ante in co-ed league After Kfar Zippori escaped a close contest with Josh Shuman PR, Big Blue recorded a lopsided win over HUC-YA and took over first place in the Tuesday Night Football League - at least until this week's showdown between the undefeated teams. Last week's results: Kfar Zippori 21, Josh Shuman PR 15; Big Blue 66, HUC-YA 7. TNFL standings: Big Blue (5-0, plus-170 point differential), Kfar Zippori (5-0, plus-136), Josh Shuman PR (3-2), Pardes (2-3), HUC Mullet Men (1-3), HUC-YA (0-6). For more information on American Football in Israel, visit our Web site, www.israelfootball.net, or contact Jay L. Abramoff by e-mail, jay@israelfootball, or at 054-440-2659 (+972-54-440-2659 from outside Israel).