Tackle Football: Hasharon powers past Haifa

Shmuel O'Neil recorded the Fieldturf Israel Football League's first-ever 100-yard rushing game and scored three touchdowns in the second half.

By JERUSALEM POST SPORTS STAFF
football 88 (photo credit: )
football 88
(photo credit: )
Shmuel O'Neil recorded the Fieldturf Israel Football League's first-ever 100-yard rushing game and scored three touchdowns in the second half to lead the Dancing Camel Hasharon Pioneers to a 28-13 victory over the Real Housing Haifa Underdogs at the Yarkon Sports Complex in Petah Tikva's Baptist Village on Friday. O'Neil finished with 115 yards, gained on a 60-yard long field, and scored two of his TDs in the fourth quarter as Dancing Camel broke open a close game. After a scoreless first quarter in the first Fieldturf IFL game at Baptist Village, Real Housing took a 7-0 lead with 7:37 remaining in the second period when quarterback Ori Shterenbach ran seven yards for a touchdown and then converted the extra point. After O'Neil scored the first of his three TDs on a 14-yard run to make it 12-7, he also was given the ball as Dancing Camel converted on its two-point attempt this time to take a 14-7 lead in the third quarter. The defenses controlled the game until Dancing Camel's Mike Levy returned a punt 40 yards, from his own 10-yard line to Real Housing's 10-yard line. On the very next play, the Pioneers handed the ball off to their workhorse, O'Neil, who ran the ball in for a touchdown and made Fieldturf IFL history by going over the 100-yard mark. With a successful extra-point kick, Dancing Camel took a 21-7 lead with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. Hasharon intercepted the ball on their own 10-yard line to stop a Haifa drive, and then at the end of a time-consuming drive, O'Neil ran five yards for his third touchdown of the day. The Dancing Camel Hasharon Pioneers and the Real Housing Haifa Underdogs are both 1-1. The Mike's Place Tel Aviv Sabres (0-1) host Big Blue Jerusalem (1-0) on Saturday, December 1, at the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer club's training facility in Kiryat Shalom. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.