2011

NSFFL back to back North East regional Champions

Sunday, Oct 16th the NSFFL sent 2 all-star teams to compete in the annual NFL FLAG regionals held in New Canaan, CT. The NSFFL Patriots entered the co-ed 9-11 division as defending Champions and the NSFFL Patriots also entered the 12-14 girls division and looking to improve on last years 3rd place finish. The North East regional had 52 teams compete from 9 different states all vying for a trip to the NFL FLAG Nationals to be held in Tampa, Florida, Jan 2012.

The girls 12-14 team was made up of 10 girls from 5 different towns of the NSFFL coached by Alvin Ross. The girls were placed in the "B" group along with the Wayne Falcons (defending Champions) and the CFFL Lady Bears.

Roster

There were 24 teams in the boys 9-11 division and the 8 NSFFL boys coached by Danny Batista and Jonathan Riviera were placed group "E" In their first game at 9am the boys went up against the Stallions of CT, the Patriots dominated both sides of the ball with Gustin (Peabody) scoring on a long run, Loizides (Peabody) converted the XP to put the boys up early 7-0. Then Loizides scored and Neville (Lynn) converted the XP just before the half. In the second half the Patriots found their groove and on the first defensive possession Loizides Intercepted the ball and ran it back for a TD and then Loizides converted the XP to put the team up 21-0. The offense was then stopped but when the Patriots went on defense Neville intercepted the ball and ran it back for a TD, the extra point was missed and then on the next possession Severence (Lynn) intercepted the ball and also ran it back for a TD. The game was over as the mercy rule is 28 points and the boys hit 33 with the last TD. In the second game the Patriots went up against the Hillcrest Juniors at 11am. The Patriots started on offense and on the first play of the game Echevarria (Peabody) ran the ball the length of the field for a TD with Gustin converting the XP. The juniors then went 3 and out with the Patriots strong defense. The NSFFL boys second drive lasted as long as the first drive as Gustin took it to the house on the first play and Neville converted the XP. Again the juniors went 3 and out and again the Patriots scored on one play, this time behind the long run of Neville with Loizides converting the XP. In the second half the NSFFL completely shut down the Juniors with sacks from Durant (Lynn) before Echevarria had another TD run from one side of the field to the other, Loizides converted the XP and then Neville sealed the game with a int for a TD to win the game 33-0. In the 3rd game of the day at 2pm the Patriots went up against the Runnemede Argentieri of NJ. Gustin scored the first TD of the day followed by Loizides with the XP, then on defense Perez (Salem) intercepted the ball, first play from scrimmage after the interception Perez scored on a deep pass to the endzone and Loizides converted the XP. Just before the half the Patriots again managed to put points up with another Neville TD this time with Echevarria on the XP. In the second half Echevarria scored on another long run and after a Loizides interception for a TD the Patriots won their final round robin game 33-0.

6 teams finished the round robin section of the tournament undefeated and all moved on to the playoffs, however the NSFFL Tornadoes also won every game 33-0 so their had to be a coin toss to decide which team would be #1 and #2 respectfully, the Tornadoes called it and lost so the Pats for the first time ever were the #1 seed heading into the playoffs. As a result of the top seed the Patriots had a bye until the second round at 4pm, where they faced the Wayne Packers that just won their first playoff game against the Red Storm of NH in OT!!! The Semi-final game was very tense as both sets of parents cheered on their team, the Patriots offense struggled for the first time as the fast Packers shut down the run in the first half. The Patriots had to rely on their defense as Neville came up big with a int returned for a TD and then followed it up with a XP conversion. The Patriots then gave up their first TD of the day as the Packers caught the ball in the Endzone. In the second half Gustin played a huge role with another TD run to put the Patriots back on top but the conversion was unsuccessful. With less than a minute left the Packers scored on a deep pass to tie the game and the Patriots stopped the extra point to keep the score at 13-13 with 28 seconds left. On the Patriots final possession Gustin ran the ball down to the 5 yard line and then on the last play of the game Foster (Lynn) came up big when he had to and hit Gustin for the game wining TD!!!

In the Championship game the NSFFL Patriots were matched up against the NHFFL Tornadoes and the Patriots started out stong on defense as Loizides intercepted a ball and ran it back for the TD with Neville converting the XP. Both defenses played great and moving the ball was not easy for both sides, Neville at safety recorded another INT to give the patriots back the ball to lead the way for Echevarria to score on the ground again, Gustin converted the XP and the Pats were up 14-0 at the half. The second half was similar to the first as neither team could move the ball but with time running out the Patriots went to Echevarria one more time for a last TD to ice the game and the Patriots were victorious 20-0.

The Patriots now move on to the NFL FLAG nationals which will be held in Tampa, FL on Jan 14th, 2012, the team will meet the 7 other regional winners from across the USA in the National tournament of Champions courtesy of the NFL. Last year at Nationals the Patriots failed to win a game coming up against the best competition in the country, this year they have more experience and returning players so we are very interested to see how they do in 2012. Congratulations to all the boys and even though every player played a huge role in the outcome the MVP's were Gustin, Loizides, Echevarria and Neville combined.