Big Blue bounces back to topple Tel Aviv

Lions and Sabres stage a thriller with Jerusalem holding on to take a share of first place

For a second consecutive week, the Big Blue Jerusalem Lions found themselves staring down the barrel of a shotgun (offense, that is) in the closing seconds of sublimely-played football game that was in danger of slipping away.

This time, however, they would not be denied and the resulting 32-26 triumph over the previously unbeaten Mike’s Place Tel Aviv Sabres shook up the entire structure of the Kraft Family IFL standings to set up a mouth-watering second half of the season.

Lions’ linebacker Aryeh Bauman let out a ferocious roar as his fourth-down sack of Yoni Rubin with under a minute remaining secured the tense victory and boosted Big Blue to 4-1 on the campaign following last week’s tough defeat to the also 4-1 Real Housing Haifa Underdogs.

The Sabres, sitting at...you guessed it, 4-1, were forced to relinquish their early stranglehold on top spot with the loss and now complete a trio of clubs occupying the suddenly-crowded IFL penthouse, with the up-next 3-2 Judean Rebels banging on the door as well.

While Tel Aviv’s Even Reshef (188 total yards, TD, forced fumble) and Hammude Kassas (3 TDs, 3 touchback boots) tried to carry their team double-handedly on what was certainly an off night for the red-and-white in the absence of seven injured starters, the Lions were able to successfully hang on for dear lives in the face of a furious comeback attempt after staking themselves to a seemingly-comfortable 24-6 advantage early in the third quarter.

Playing without veteran heart-and-soul Yonah Mishaan and pint-sized tackling-machine Scott Eisenberg, Big Blue got game-breaking performances from Itai Ashkenazi, Idan Yaron and Amichai Bergman on offense, as well as inspired outings from linebackers Bauman and Gani Medad on defense, to quash the latest bid for the league’s first-ever perfect season and pull out the character-building victory.

Ashkenazi – coming off a rare subpar outing that saw him leave the game vs the Underdogs after taking a hard blow to the head – bounced back in superb fashion on Saturday in front of a packed house at Hapoel Tel Aviv’s training complex in Holon, dissecting the Sabres’ secondary with an array of quick slants and deeper fades to propel his team.

The 30-year-old QB stood tall in the pocket all night, completing 13-24 passes for 167 yards and a pair of TD’s through the air, plus another on the ground, while not throwing an interception. More than the numbers, however, whenever the Lions needed a big play, Ashkenazi stepped up and tossed dagger after dagger into the hearts of a growing Sabres’ Nation that showed up in full force but, alas, was sent home disappointed.

Bergman and Yaron were the recipients of all but one of their QB’s completions, each snagging six balls and combining for 161 yards. While Bergman hauled in the two touchdowns passes, it was just as much Yaron’s field-spreading ability on the other side that kept the Sabres’ D on their heels and opened up the deep routes for Ashkenazi to exploit. While the receiving tandem may have to share the attention as well as the Mike’s Place Player of the Game award, each will enjoy his own beer and burger combo in recognition of the super effort to earn the all-important win.

The contest began as a defensive standoff, with each team getting great opportunities in the opening quarter that they were unable to capitalize on. Jerusalem’s Oren Nathan recorded an interception on the game’s second play from scrimmage, but the Tel Aviv defense staunchly held tight, picking up on a Yaron double reverse – clearly Big Blue’s darling choice of play-calls through five games, with it being attempted 3 or 4 times an outing – and forcing a turnover-on-downs.

The Sabres would then orchestrate an 11-play drive taking up the rest of the frame that ultimately stalled on the Lions’ three-yard line, when Asher Meckler was able to bring down Roni Srisuren in the backfield to keep the game scoreless after one.

Big Blue took over the ball at the start of the second quarter and marched from deep within its own zone for the first points of the night on a one-yard dash by Ashkenazi, who went 4-4 on the nine-play, 54-yard drive.

A couple of sacks and offensive penalties pinned the Sabres back before Reshef took a third-and-long handoff and sprinted up the sideline for a 57-yard touchdown, making it an 8-6 contest as the first half wound down.

However, the penetrating Jerusalem defense got to Rubin once again, with Bauman forcing a fumble that was recovered by the Lions’ Yaakov Gutman in the endzone for an improbable and unexpected six points. On the ensuing conversion, Matan Lavi barely outran his Tel Aviv defender to just shove the ball over the plane of the goalline before it was jarred loose to give the visitors a 16-6 lead heading into the break.

In truth, Tel Aviv was clearly hurting without its regular QB (Alex Trafton), running back (Tamir Elterman), center (Saud Kassas) and a whole other slew of ailing contributors. The 2-10 result in the passing game and the consistent inability to move the chains in the first half were definite reflections of missing bodies and the first vulnerabilities exhibited by Mikes’ Place thus far.

However, what did the Sabres in as much as anything on this night was a slip in the supreme discipline that characterized the club throughout their four-game tear. The 15 infractions for 83 yards – many of which could have been easily prevented – didn’t do the Sabres any favours in a game that ultimately came down to the wire, when an extra yard or two here or there could have provided the difference.

When Ashkenazi found a wide-open Bergman in the corner of the endzone on the opening drive of the third quarter, it looked as if the then-18-point advantage would be enough to allow Big Blue to go into cruise control.

That was before the 29-second premier episode of the “The Hammude Kassas Show” turned the game upside down and got the downtrodden home fans back up on their feet.

After Reshef returned a kickoff all the way to the Jerusalem 17, Kassas finished it off from there on a powerful display of running for his third TD of the season. On the Lions’ very next play from scrimmage, the omnipresent Reshsef forced a Matan Lavi fumble that was immediately turned into another six points by Kassas to make it a 24-20 nail-biter with plenty more excitement to follow.

Bergman’s second score of the night was an emphatic response from Big Blue that somewhat silenced the roaring crowd and restored a double-digit lead heading into the final stanza. However, what stood out from the third quarter more than anything was the primal will displayed by both Reshef and Kassas to bring the Sabres back from the dead and set up a thrilling finish.

Even while essentially dictating the pace while dominating the time of possession in a tough-as-nails environment on the road, Big Blue still found itself in a fourth-quarter dogfight that would require every last ounce of strength and determination to emerge victorious.

Tel Aviv stopped the Lions and then booked an impressive five-play TD drive, culminating in Kassas’ third score to bring it to within a measly 6 points with six minutes left, but those would hold up as the final points of the night.

Mike’s Place got one final attempt to send the game to an extra session – or even pull out the victory – and it truly seemed as if the Jerusalem defense was running on empty. With Coach Hanan Stern desperately imploring his drained players to “hang in there for just a couple more plays,” the stage was certainly set for dramatics by the hosts. In the end, though, the Sabres were finally subdued by a courageous Big Blue club that was able to summon up the magic when it mattered the most.

Bauman (five tackles, forced fumble and 1½ sacks) and Medad (13 tackles) were defensive leaders for the victors, although they got plenty of help from a undermanned unit that rose to the task. For the Sabres, Srisuren and Daniel Nissman (each with 10 tackles) stood out in a losing cause, but the team will surely benefit in its upcoming contests from the return of some of the wounded defenders.

The three-way deadlock atop the standings between the Lions, Sabres and Underdogs figures to settle itself over the coming weeks, with the midseason schedule heating up and all of the clubs expecting to face some tough competition in the near future.

On the more immediate horizon, the Kraft Family IFL gets back to the field this Thursday in Jerusalem with a matchup between the Dancing Camel Modi’in Pioneers and the Papagaio Jerusalem Kings. With the teams both sitting at 1-3 and tied for fifth place, the pre-New Years showdown ­ with an 8 p.m. scheduled kickoff time from Kraft Stadium ­ figures to be a take-no-prisoners slug-fest that no true football fan should miss.