Pioneers plaster Hammers; Sabres shine with a smothering conquest of Haifa.
By JERUSALEM POST SPORTS STAFFTel Aviv Pioneers2_311(photo credit: (Adlai Maschiach))
Week 6 in the Kraft Family IFL featured a trio of lopsided affairs, although there were plenty of thrills and spills to keep the action entertaining despite the 37-point average margin of victory over the three contests.Thursday night saw the Big Blue Jerusalem Lions climb back on top of the South Division with a convincing 36-6 home triumph over the Travel Leaders Beersheva Black Swarm.Itay Ashkenazi returned with gusto to take part in all five of his team’s touchdowns and Binyamin Schultz continued to dazzle in his rookie campaign with three more TDs as the three-time finalists overcame an early Brandon McDounald score to notch their third victory in four tries.Friday at Tel Aviv University featured the Dancing Camel TA Pioneers taking on Leo Bloom’s Herzliya Hammers in a Northern showdown, with the hosts coming away with a 56-18 statement- making conquest over the precocious first-year franchise. Chaim Schiff threw three TDs – two on long-distance deliveries to Yoni Rubin – while Shmuel O’Neil traded in his clipboard for cleats to come out of “retirement” with a pair of scores and a fumble recovery to propel the Pioneers back to .500 at 2-2.“It feels so good to be back in uniform. Playing is so much more fun than coaching, and to get a win like this with the team – just a great day all around,” quipped O’Neil just before the skies opened up.The next night under the lights of a wildly windy Wolfson, the Arthur’s Tel Aviv/Jaffa Sabres stayed unbeaten on the season with a bang-it-out 54-12 blowout of the Real Housing Haifa Underdogs, another precision-like outing in which the reigning champions swiftly executed their all-hands- on-deck game plan and outgained the now 0-4 Underdogs 249-18 in total offense.The Papagaio Jerusalem Kings (1-3) and Gush Texas Judean Rebels (3-1) each had bye this week, however both will be back in action in Week 7, when the Rebels host the Black Swarm (1-3) in another Southern rivalry on Thursday at Kraft Stadium and the Kings travel to the Sabres’ new digs in Neve Golan on Saturday night.Jerusalem Lions 36, Beersheva Black Swarm 6 Big Blue’s Matan Lavi set the theme for the evening on the opening drive in the capital when he lost the ultra-slippery ball on his very first carry to give possession back to Beersheva. McDounald would make the hosts pay with a 39-yard touchdown burst up the sidelines for the first points of the day and a 6-0 lead for the Swarm.Unfortunately, that was the only cause for celebration from the visitors’ sideline all night as the Lions’ 36 unanswered points would plummet the second-year team’s record to 1-3 after it opened the season with a win.Tel Aviv Pioneers 56, Herzliya Hammers 18In the absence of key contributors Shabby Shavit and Ady Totah, the Hammers committed five turnovers to Tel Aviv’s two, although the Pioneers were ultra-hungry to show the expansion franchise who’s boss and ran away with it early.The Pioneers had 217 yards rushing on 43 attempts for over five yards a carry, racking up almost 400 total yards of offense. The Hammers also compiled 324 net yards, although 126 of those were on a half-dozen kickoff returns after Tel Aviv touchdowns, not the type of yardage teams typically enjoy. Tel Aviv/Jaffa Sabres 54, Haifa Underdogs 12The Sabres completed the weekend string of blowouts with a smothering conquest of Haifa, who is still in search of its first victory of the season.The Underdogs barely moved the ball all night and the disparity in total offense would have been much larger if not for the 126 yards in penalties assessed to the Sabres.For more information about the IFL and tackle football in Israel, please visit www.ifl.co.il
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