Football: Pioneers topple Haifa to clinch top seed

Modi'in comes out on top of a back-and-forth 36-32 brawl with the Real Housing Haifa Underdogs to avenge its only loss of the season.

By URIEL STURM
american football 298.88 (photo credit: Jay Abramoff)
american football 298.88
(photo credit: Jay Abramoff)
Tackle football took center stage in Israel over the weekend with a pair of rock-'em, sock-'em end-of-season matches, and the Kraft Family IFL emerged as the overall winner… although the finally first-place Dancing Camel Modi'in Pioneers and the now 4-3 Big Blue Jerusalem Lions could probably stake claim to victory as well. On Thursday evening in the capital, the Lions outlasted their city rival Blue Sun Jerusalem Music Kings, 26-22, in a delicious derby that wasn't decided until the secondto-last play of the game, and still kept the Kings' dim playoff hopes alive. The next day in Yokne'am, Modi'in came out on top of a back-and-forth 36-32 brawl with the Real Housing Haifa Underdogs to avenge its only loss of the season and leapfrog Haifa into first place at the most opportune time, clinching top seed for the postseason. The Pioneers, who finished the regular season at 7-1, continued their stunning string of victories following an opening-day loss to the Underdogs on their home field. On Friday, they rode superb performances from Tal Brown and Shmuel O'Neil and was able to convert for two points on three of its five scores to edge a suddenlyhuman Underdogs squad that also had five touchdowns but managed just one two-point conversion, providing the four-point difference in the outcome. The loss was the second in a row for Real Housing after blowing through the first six contests of the season with relative ease. Heading into the playoffs on a two-game losing streak is never a good thing and the Underdogs have two weeks to regroup before hosting a first-round match against their archnemesis, Big Blue. The Pioneers now have two weeks off before hosting