Sabres staunch rising Rebellion
Tel Aviv regroups after wake-up setback to trounce Judeans by 18 points, retake top spot
Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Sabres? Not if they’re healthy, it doesn’t look likely!
The Mike’s Place Tel Aviv Sabres restored order in the ranks on Thursday night as they marched into Jerusalem and throttled the previously streaking Judean Rebels 50-32 to reclaim sole possession of first-place in the Kraft Family IFL.
Welcoming back QB1 Alex Trafton and all-around playmaker Tamir Elterman, both of whom had missed time with injuries, Tel Aviv was back to its usual supremacy, following a disheartening loss to the Big Blue Jerusalem Lions, and became the first team in the league to five victories.
The Rebels suffered a bit of a letdown at home after a month of high-quality football and saw themselves drop back to .500 at 3-3 on the season. Joe Martisius tossed as many interceptions (2) as touchdowns, while only scrambling for 33 yards and one score in addition to his 133 through the air, and the defense was assaulted for 462 yards and 16 first downs as the expansion franchise’s two-game surge was brought to a grinding halt.
After a more-than-chippy encounter between the two clubs in Holon a month earlier, it was refreshing to see the raw intensity and passion of both clubs not at all compromise the higher value of sportsmanship, which was in full display throughout the hard-fought rematch. The forty pies of pizza that arrived at Kraft Stadium midway through the fourth quarter were promptly devoured by the ravenous – and intermingling – players after the teams briefly went into their respective corners for a post-game briefing session.
There was no friendly fraternizing between the lines, however, with both teams recognizing the importance of each and every contest in a 10-game, 7-team league, and the need to show up ready to play, especially in the second half of the season, when no opponent will have any mercy.
Thursday’s first quarter belonged to the Sabres, even though it ended with them only up by six points, courtesy of a one-yard keeper by Trafton. The Rebels needed a strong start and, even after forcing a turnover-on-downs on the game’s first possession, they were unable to find their rhythm offensively and quickly found themselves playing catch-up.
It was all Trafton once more at the start of the second, as the Krav Maga specialist kung-fued his way into the endzone on the first play of the quarter for a 14-0 TA lead. The 27-year-old Berkeley alum was transcendent in his return to lineup, contributing in almost every aspect of his teams’ romp to earn a third Mike’s Place Player of the Game award. In addition to his four scores on the ground and one through the air, Trafton booted booming touchbacks on seven of his eight kickoffs to pin the Rebels in their own zone for most of the match, a significant, if underappreciated, piece of the lopsided-victory puzzle.
The Sabres went up by three scores when Trafton sliced through a hole in the line and was off to the races for a 36-yard TD, which was converted for two points by bruiser Hammude Kassas, who rumbled for 73 yards on the
night and was the perfect inside complement to Elterman’s bounces to the outside for large gains.
Martisius would attempt to rally the Judeans, and his long strike to Matan Goldberg set up a first-and-goal that was quickly turned into eight points by speedsters Zack Miller and Tzvi Kotler (on the conversion) for a 22-8 scoreline with five minutes left in the half. However, even after being stopped on the ensuing possession, the Sabres would retake 20-point lead just before the break on a gorgeous touchdown snag in double coverage by rising receiver Eric Spitzer from 17 yards out.
The hosts came out after the interval determined to make a game of it and were rewarded for their efforts almost immediately, when Martisius hit Stephen Kornbluth in stride for a 45-yard touchdown on the very first play from scrimmage to make it a two-score game.
Tel Aviv would respond with a mammoth 12-play, six-and-a-half-minute drive that was punctuated by a 10-yard burst to the house by Elterman, who finished with 97 yards of total offense and two touchdowns while displaying his multi-faceted versatility that the team had been missing for the past three outings.
Trafton’s final TD of the night, following a Liran Hovav interception and long return, would extend the advantage to 44-16 and the rout was officially on. An absurdly impressive backhand flip on the run from Trafton to Dan Berger (3 receptions, 23 yards) for two points highlighted the type of pinpoint execution that Tel Aviv was able to count on all night from the entire roster, and really all season when the team has fielded a healthy lineup.
The Orangemen would regroup and snatch back some measure of respectability with consecutive scores that brought the game back to within 12 points. Goldberg’s fourth score of the season closed out the third quarter before Martisius took one in himself after the defense forced the Sabres’ only punt of the night.
When the usually sure-handed Kassas (73 yards rushing) put the ball on the ground midway through the fourth quarter, it gave Judea an opportunity to get within a score and set-up a tense finish. However, the momentum was immediately reversed when Evan Reshef (5 tackles, INT, forced fumble and recovery, ½ a sack) popped the ball out of Martisius’ hands and gave his team the ball back with no harm done.
Elterman’s 21-yard tear for his second score of the game, and 8th of the campaign, put the finishing touch on the neatly wrapped gift of a performance in Jon Sharon’s first game calling the plays from the sidelines. The Sabres dominated in virtually every important category, winning the turnover battle (3-1), rushing for 313 yards and holding on to the ball for almost 30 minutes with almost 20 more plays than their foes (as well as the aforementioned records for total yards, first downs and special teams), while mounting sustained pressure on D. Overall, a great day at the office.
In sum, the Rebels just ran into a hungry buzzsaw of an opponent on a night where their own star just wasn’t in his usual zone. A tough match against a well-executed game-plan by a top-notch team primed for the hunt. Nothing to set the alarm bells, but certainly something the still-fourth-placed club will want to put in the memory bank and move on from quickly, with a crucial meeting with Big Blue this Thursday night.
That Lions-Judeans clash is the opener of a winter doubleheader at Kraft, immediately followed by the Papagaio Jerusalem Kings (2-3) taking on the Real Housing Haifa Underdogs (4-2), who essentially traded places with the Sabres after a surprise loss on Friday to the Dancing Camel Modi’in Pioneers. On Saturday night, those Pioneers get a second straight crack at the IFL’s first-place team when the Sabres come to town for an 8:30 visit.
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