’Dogs outlast Kings in super-soaker

Real Housing holds on for opening 30-22 victory over Papagaio after almost blowing huge lead

The Real Housing Haifa Underdogs jumped out to a 24-0 lead on Friday in Kraft Family IFL Week 2 action... then they almost watched their opponents and the weather wash it all away in the blink of an eye.

When it was all said and done, however, despite a plucky performance on the road from the Papagaio Jerusalem Kings which saw them score three touchdowns in less than four minutes to close out the first half and get back into the contest, the host Underdogs escaped with a 30-22 victory in a wet and wild regular-season opener for both clubs.

On a day in which the passing game was basically nullified by the inclement conditions on the natural-grass field in Yoqne’am, both the Kings and Underdogs resorted to their more-than-able running attack and chewed up yards on the ground throughout the game. Combined, the teams racked up a 375 yards rushing to just 84 yards through the air on a paltry five completed passes overall. In fact, there wasn’t even a pass attempt from either side in the entire third quarter.

Haifa’s Shahar Yeshurun – a two-time all-star – scored a pair of touchdowns while rugged veteran Itamar Levin got to the house for the first time in his career in the victory. After Papagaio’s lethal running back tandem of Jon Rubin and Leib Bobel took matters into their own hands and willed their team to within striking distance through a display of power, guts and agility that was a sight to behold, Real Housing QB Roey Ziv would round out the scoring with a five-yard third-quarter scramble to dash the visitors’ hopes.

While Jerusalem would keep it interesting throughout the second half, even driving deep into Haifa’s zone late in fourth quarter for a would-be game-tying TD and conversion, the Underdogs’ defense buckled down and prevented the Kings from completing their improbable comeback bid.

The game was defined by the adjustments made on both sidelines to deal with the rain. While kickoff took place under a relatively clear sky, by the middle of the second quarter the clouds had moved in and announced their presence by depositing a couple hundred, if not thousands, of bucketfuls of water onto the field. By the start of the second half, the downpour had reached torrential proportions, rendering the playing surface a slip-and-slide slop-fest for much of the third frame.

Even the refs managed to get in on the filthy fun, with officiating newcomer Or Sher at one point taking a spill on his way to set the ball at the line of scrimmage. Kudos to the 40 or so fans that braved the elements with upside-down umbrellas flying above their heads in the wind to witness an instant IFL classic and cheer the home team to triumph. Some of the other squads in the league sent representatives to scout the affair as well, and the convoy of cars overlooking the field in a drive-in movie style formation just added to surreal feel of the encounter.

However, despite the deluge, there was a game of football to be played, and what a game it would turn into! To be sure, from the way things started, no one would have guessed that this would be a match that would go down to the wire. In fact, initially, images of the Kings’ most recent trip to the North, last season’s 62-14 spanking at the hands of the Underdogs, began to creep into the minds of those who were in also attendance back in February.

Papagaio’s first offensive possession resulted in a turnover, and while the Kings’ D got off to a strong start by holding Haifa on a 1^st-and-goal situation, Jerusalem quarterback Ronen Danino would toss an interception just two plays later that Yeshurun easily returned 22 yards for the pick-6, which was converted by Ziv into an 8-0 Underdogs’ lead.

With a troop of running backs to carry the ball – 11 Haifa players in total got rushing attempts on the day – Real Housing was able to get the Kings’ defense on its heels. Ziv efficiently orchestrated a 10-play 55-yard scoring drive on its second possession, culminating with Levin’s lunge into the end zone on a five-yard sweep and a 16-0 advantage on Taylor Bearman’s conversion.

Bearman led the Underdogs in rushing yards, and carries, on the day, plowing for 66 yards – every one of them earned – on 10 attempts for a deadly 6.6-yard average. In total, of the teams 50 offensive plays from scrimmage, 45 of them were run calls, for an unbelievable 90-10 pass-run split. The weather certainly played the primary role in this decision by Jay Armstead and his coaching staff, and it will be interesting to see how they distribution is altered in a dry-game situation.

After Yeshurun’s second TD, on a 12-yard pass from Ziv that was converted by the wide receiver’s younger brother Tal, Rubin burst out of the shackles to infuse some life into the deflated Kings. He powered his way around – and many times right through – groups of hungry ’Dog defenders on multiple occasions and went lower-than-low to break out of sure tackles in a Houdini-like fashion, although with much more ferocity.

First Rubin barreled through the middle for a 26-yard touchdown to get his team on the scoreboard, before being quickly put back to work when the Papagaio defense recovered a fumble almost immediately. He bobbed and weaved for 18 more yards before giving way to Bobel, who bounded over the goalline to make it 24-14 after Danino found a wide-open David Jesselson for two extra points.

The trifecta of Kings’s touchdowns, right out of the playbook under the “miraculous 4-minute-drill” category, was completed in the most peculiar fashion. When a Real Housing drive stalled in the Jerusalem red zone with under one second left in the half, it appeared that there would be one last-ditch play before heading for the locker rooms. However, a 50-yard-bomb from Rubin to Ari Wajsbort resulted in a personal foul infraction on the tackle, adding an additional 10 yards to the play, and gifting the Kings with an extra play, as a half (or even quarter) cannot end on a defensive penalty.

On the ensuing play, from the Real Housing eight, Rubin dragged two Haifa defenders on his back the final four yards and, with a primal scream, thrust his body the extra few inches and nudged the ball just far enough for the six points, which Danino converted on a two-point dance to send the jubilant Kings into the interval with just a 2-point deficit, down from 24 only minutes earlier. Even in defeat, Rubin’s extraordinary effort, with 132 yards rushing and a pair of TDs, was more than deserving of Mike’s Place Player of the Game award and the gift voucher that goes with it.

However, unfortunately, the Kings’ fortunes would run out there and they could not manage to get any closer, despite a well-executed second-half game plan from coach David Goldstein that neutralized the Underdogs’ attack and held them to just one more score. While the Kings may have lost the game, they were definitely not a beaten team by the end and will take many positives out of the gutsy performances put in by basically the entire roster.

Despite the short lapse before the break, Haifa, for its part, had a very successful opening game, all things considered. It dominated the time of possession by more than 10 minutes – a virtual eternity – and notched 13 first downs to keep the game in its control, even managing to overcome an unacceptable 5 fumbles (three of which were lost). While a game affected so much by the forces of nature is not one on which to base any long-reaching conclusions, the Underdogs demonstrated their resiliency and team strength in this one, and the opening victory injected a confidence in the players that will surely serve them well going forward in their quest to return to the top of the IFL totem pole.

Both the Underdogs and Kings are back in action after a short rest-week on Thursday in the capital. The Kings (0-1) will be playing host to the expansion Beersheva Black Swarm (0-1) in what should be a tremendous matchup of two teams in search of their first win of the season to kick off the evening’s doubleheader at 7 p.m. Real Housing (1-0) will be on the road to face the other new team in the league, the Judean Rebels (0-1), also at Kraft Stadium, immediately after the early contest, getting under way at about 9:30 p.m.