Lions, Pioneers to clash in Israel Bowl II this Friday

After a wild weekend of semifinal football in the Kraft Family IFL, two teams emerged from the scrum with a golden ticket to the championship game.  One will be looking to complete a remarkable single-season turnaround while the other will be trying to defend the title that is still rightfully theirs.

The top-seed Dancing Camel Modi’in Pioneers were tested at home on Saturday night by the Blue Sun Music Jerusalem Kings, but managed to assert control and claim their eighth straight victory in a chippy 38-22 affair.

At exactly the same time, in the capital, the most outrageous finish in IFL history ended in ecstasy for the hosts and agony for the visitors as the Big Blue Jerusalem Lions rallied from being down by 12 with under five minutes remaining to pull out an improbable 24-22 victory over the second-seed Real Housing Haifa Underdogs and book their spot in Friday’s final.

Big Blue continued its dominance of the Underdogs at Kraft Stadium, winning for the fifth time in five meeting between the two clubs there to keep its winning streak, now at four and counting, intact. Aryeh Bauman threw two fourth-quarter touchdowns to Akiva Rindenow, the second providing the margin of victory with two seconds left, and the Lions’ defense contributed with a safety and a TD of its own to overcome a courageous effort from Haifa’s Itai Ashekenazi in a losing cause.

The defending champions from Jerusalem now have a chance at a repeat when they meet a red-hot Dancing Camel squad this Friday afternoon at Kraft in Israel Bowl II. The Pioneers, who continue to distance themselves from the club that finished 3-7 last season, rode solid, if not spectacular, performances from pretty much everyone on the field to jump out to a 22-0 first-half lead in their semifinal on Saturday night, an advantage which they would never seriously jeopardize.

While the Kings pulled to within eight and kept on fighting until the end, Modi’in was simply too strong and added to a string of victories that began four month ago after a loss to the Underdogs in their very first game of the year. Tal Brown and Shmuel O’Neil combined for three scores on the ground and the Pioneers rushed for a season-high 196 yards to power their way into the championship match as a the decided favourites.

Befitting the overall quirkiness that the 2008/09 season has brought, both of Saturday night’s contests opened with safeties for the first points. The Lions’ Gani Medad staked his team to a short-lived 2-0 lead against Haifa while Asaf Katz got things going early for the Pioneers, tackling Kings’ quarterback Joseph Marticius on just the second play from scrimmage after an errant snap into the end zone. The Pioneers would tack on another eight before the first quarter was out when Uri Schiff and the sparsely-used Shai Gotlieb hooked up for an 11-yard TD that Kobi Nimrod converted.

In Jerusalem, the Underdogs would benefit from a Ben Kroll interception and return to the Big Blue one-yard line to get on the board with an Ashkenazi quarterback-sneak for a touchdown and a conversion for two points by Niv Medlinger. Ashkenazi would throw the ball only 12 times for the day, completing six of them for 76 yards and one TD with not picks. However, it was more what the not-such-a-rookie field-commander did with his feet that almost was enough to send his team to its second straight Israel Bowl. The Real Housing QB ran the ball for 82 yards on 10 carries and picked up three crucial first downs, two of them on rushes of over 20 yards. His aggressive, but almost error-free, style of play in which he makes great decisions under pressure in both his passing and running games will serve his team well for many years to come.

While Big Blue would briefly take the lead, at 10-8, on a defensive touchdown by Ido Ben Dayan that came after a botched snap on a punt attempt, Haifa would quickly go back on top before the half when Ashkenazi tossed a 39-yard touchdown bomb to Sa’ar Barda that he would convert himself for a 16-10 advantage. Barda was another bright spot for the Underdogs on the night, finishing with four catches for 51 yards and booting three touchbacks in four kickoffs and taking care of the punting duties as well. While he didn’t play in many games this season, his impact was wildly evident whenever he suited up and he is another of the lynch pins in Real Housing’s future plans. Barda also had a chance to send his team to victory on the last play of the game with a desperation 44-yard field goal attempt that would have pushed them to a one-point win, but his kick came up short and right to seal the Underdogs’ fate.  

Meanwhile, back in Modi’in, the Kings would have possession of the ball for a measly 90 seconds in the second quarter, but it was still enough for them to put 14 points on the board in a frantic final two minutes of the half that saw them pierce the goal line twice. After the Pioneers scored midway through the quarter and then immediately recovered a first-down Blue Sun Music fumble to set up another scoring drive on the first of Brown’s two touchdowns and a three-score gap, it looked as if a Dancing Camel whitewash was in the works and it had the potential to get ugly quickly.

However, the wily Marticius reached into the closet and pulled out some of the pixie dust that he used so often early in the season to establish himself as the IFL’s resident gun-slinger, tossing completions left and right and running amok between multiple tacklers with his quick jukes and sharp head fakes. He finally got back together with favourite receiver Chaim Gross, who had not scored a touchdown in four games but broke out for three on Saturday night to account for all of the Kings scoring. The first was a 13 yard strike that was perfectly placed and got Jerusalem on the board, and after an O’Neil fumble gave Blue Sun Music another opportunity, the two Kings game-breakers played toss-it-up-and-go-fetch for a 36-yard rainbow into the house to bring the score to a respectable 22-14 heading into the break.

After the interval, the scoring wave settled down and the Kings and Pioneers traded unproductive possessions which took up most of the third quarter. While the penalty flags began flying due to the heightened passion and intensity being displayed on the field, the eight-point gap kept the drama at full-tilt and the pace of play consistent. With two minutes to go in the frame, Brown broke free of the lock jam by finding a hole and bee-lining 27 yards into the end zone for his second TD of the game to provide a comfortable cushion once again for Modi’in, at 30-14, approaching the fourth quarter.

O’Neil’s 11-yard scoring run with 3:33 to go put the finishing touches on Dancing Camel’s offensive output and meant that the last couple of minutes were simply a formality. Mariticius and Gross would connect for another touchdown pass, this one for 11 yards, to round out the 38-22 final score, and the last couple of drives devolved into an on-field fracas and an assortment of personal fouls by the frustrated Kings, who played one of their best games of the season only to have their pie-in-the-sky title hopes finally dashed.

While the third and fourth quarters of Modi’in’s semifinal victory were somewhat anti-climactic, the second half of the Lions-Underdogs duel was a riveting 24 minutes of football, chock-full of drama, tension, and end-to-end thrills – basically everything you could ever hope for in a match of such magnitude.

Both Haifa and Big Blue settled in to a conservative frame of mind after halftime, with neither defense wanting to make a crucial mistake that would shift the game’s momentum. Each side was unsuccessful on a pair of third quarter possessions, and the Lions entered the final 12 minutes down six points.

Early in the final frame, with Jerusalem driving deep in Haifa territory, a ten-yard sack by Losha Ivlev would force another Big Blue punt and an Underdogs’ scoring drive on the ensuing set of downs. Running back Lior Subotnik, who was held relatively in check for the final three games of the season, all Real Housing losses, finally found some open room to run and break free for a 21-yard gallop into the end zone for what at the time appeared to be the nail-in-the-coffin blow for Big Blue, who were looking up at a 22-10 scoreboard, a 12-point deficit, with the clock reading just 4:18

This was the playoffs, however, the place where legends are made and heroes are born, and the defending champions weren’t about to let the Underdogs whittle away the clock and beat them for the first time ever in Jerusalem. Bauman, who quarterbacked his club to a late TD drive in its previous game, was as pumped as ever with a chance to do it all over again, this time with a trip to the title game on the line. Responding well to the late pressure, Big Blue’s QB made up for his two interceptions for the night by orchestrating a quick, four-play drive that culminated in a pass to Rindenow for an 18-yard TD, which Bauman himself topped off with a conversion to narrow the gap to four, at 22-18, with under two minutes to go.

Starting from their own 19-yard line, the Underdogs knew that a couple of first downs and then they could run out the clock for the victory. When Ashkenazi took off downfield for a 30-yard gain and a first and goal from the Jerusalem 10, it looked to be all over Big Blue. Forced to burn their remaining timeouts, they managed to stand up the Real Housing offense on four consecutive plays to regain possession of the ball deep in their own zone with just 50 seconds left in regulation and down four points.

A storybook ending seemed to be setting itself up and the Lions would not disappoint. The first two plays took over 40 seconds and resulted in a defensive pass interference call on the Underdogs and a pass incomplete in the end zone to stop the clock. On second down from the 15-yard line, Rindenow faked one way and broke the other to find himself open for a picture-perfect pass from Bauman for a touchdown with just two ticks on the clock that gave Big Blue a 24-22 lead and send its players streaming onto the field in glee.

The Lions’ celebration was a bit premature, however, and the excessive display of joy almost led to their demise when a penalty forced them to kick from further back. A Rindenow squib kick was immediately downed by the Underdogs to set up a rarely-used and arcane rule application whereby if time runs out in either half on a kickoff and the receiving team downs the ball without forwarding it, they will have one additional play which they can only use to attempt a field goal from wherever the ball is on the field.

The alert thinking by the Haifa coaching staff gave them the opportunity for a game-winning field goal try, the first such attempt in the IFL this season. The ball was set at around midfield, meaning the three-point try would be from almost 50 yards away. Although Barda put all of his heart and his foot into the kick, it was just a little bit too short and wide and Big Blue completed their furious rally to hold on for the two-point win that sends them into the championship game on an unparalleled high.

The weekend’s Mike’s Place players of the game awards go to Akiva Rindenow of the Big Blue Jerusalem Lions and Shmuel O’Neil of the Dancing Camel Modi’in Pioneers. Rindenow’s pair of late TDs were obviously the highlight of his night, but he also had a great all-around game, grabbing a team-high four catches for 75 yards and continuing his excellent work in the kickoff and punting departments. O’Neil was the leading rusher on his team’s record-day on the ground, finishing with 80 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown. He also returned three kickoffs and two punts for 91 yards to compile 171 total yards and added a tackle on defense. He continues to be a key veteran presence and leader-by-example on a Modi’in club which has no shortage of glue guys, the type of character and team players that are necessary on any title roster.

With an 8-1 overall record, an eight game winning streak and the combination of the IFL’s most potent offense and stingiest defense, Dancing Camel will be coming into Friday’s Israel Bowl as the safe bet to win it all. Big Blue will be no pushover, however, especially playing in their home stadium, where they have lost only once in 14 tries over the past two years. While the Pioneers won both of the teams’ previous meetings this season, each of the games went down to the wire and could have gone either way.

Modi’in thinks it has the Lions’ number. Big Blue knows how hard it is for a team to beat a closely-matched opponent three times in one year (recall Patriots-Giants two Super Bowls ago). It all shapes up for a mouth-watering treat of a game to top off an Israel Football League season which couldn’t have been scripted any better.

Friday’s IFL season-ending doubleheader finale gets under way at Kraft Family Stadium with a consolation game between the Underdogs and Kings at 10:30 a.m. That match, for third place, will be followed by the main event 1:30 p.m. when the Lions and Pioneers face off in Israel Bowl II for the Israeli Football Championship.