Kings subdue Lions, Sabres dominate ’Dogs

Four turnovers doom Big Blue in Jerusalem derby; TA sets points record in bittersweet triumph

With the playoffs quickly approaching, the action in the Kraft Family IFL is crescendoing to a boiling point as the teams continue to jockey for favorable postseason seedings. A pair of “rock ’em-sock ’em” weekend contests saw a couple of familiar faces perform brilliantly in unexpected roles, with an upset and a rout tightening things up in the middle of the standings while creating some separation at the top.

On Thursday night in the capital, the Papagaio Jerusalem Kings came out on top of a riveting derby with the Big Blue Jerusalem Lions, notching their first-ever victory over their cross-city rivals in a 26-20 thriller that was not decided until the final play.

IFL rushing leader Jon Rubin anchored the Kings’ staunch defensive effort as a linebacker, reading the plays at the line of scrimmage with Ray Lewis-like precision and leveling Big Blue ball carriers with bone-crunching tackles all night long. It was Rubin’s intimidating presence across the middle as well as a pair of interceptions and recovered fumbles by the rest of the unit that gave David Jesselson and the Papagaio offense the chance to pull out the improbable victory and keep the Kings in the hunt for a first-round bye.

On Saturday in Holon, the Mike’s Place Tel Aviv Sabres lambasted the Real Housing Haifa Underdogs 76-40 in a true slugfest, becoming the second straight Underdogs’ opponent to set the IFL single-game scoring mark. Adi Hakami put in a virtuoso performance after coming in for the injured Alex Trafton at quarterback late in the first quarter, and his seven total TDs – as well as the slippery Underdog fingers – allowed Tel Aviv to pull away before the half  and coast to the easy victory.

The 24-year-old slickster – one of just four remaining Sabres from the initial roster that helped form the upstart league three years ago – finished 24-35 for 308 total yards and seemed to be in a impenetrable zone from start to finish for his second consecutive co-Player of the Game award. Watching Hakami connect with old-school buddy Liran Hovav for three touchdowns and two conversions was like wrapping that first-year Tel Aviv squad’s season highlight reel into one 40-minute scoring bonanza. Mike’s Place unbelievably scored on its first 11 possessions of the game, spreading the points between six different teammates and playing turnover-free football for just the second time all season to decimate a Real Housing club which now hasn’t won in more than two months.

While the Sabres’ victory improved their record to 8-1 and, combined with the loss by the Lions (6-2), put the club’s first-place destiny in its own hands, the season-ending loss of Trafton – even with the emergence of Hakami – is a bitter pill to swallow. The Berkeley native had been a vocal on-field general and a well of confidence for the club and had surfaced as the IFL’s top kicker, to boot. (He was hitting 45-yard field goals with ease during pre-game warm-ups) Although the Sabres do have the personnel to plug the hole left by his absence, it is Trafton’s aggressiveness that the team will try to incorporate in their hopeful run for a title over the next month.

They started that mission on the right note against the Underdogs. Even after going down early on a 34-yard Taylor Bearman TD reception – the only completion of the game for Haifa – the Sabres were not at all rattled. Trafton marched his team down the field for one final time this year before ironically passing off the ball (or baton) to Hakami for Tel Aviv’s opening score and fittingly powering in the two-points-after himself to give his team the lead for good.

It appeared as if it would develop into a tight battle as another TD from Bearman plus a first from QB Shahar Yeshurun sandwiched three more Sabres’ scores to make it 28-22 Tel Aviv with four minutes left in the first half. That six-point advantage would soon balloon to 34, however, courtesy of some long-range target practice from Hakami and four Haifa fumbles in a two-minute span, two of them setting up Mike’s Place first-and-goals.

Having bungled themselves out of the game, the Underdogs went into the interval down 56-28 and by then were already psychologically beaten. The Real Housing defensive players seemed helpless to reign in the Sabres’ aerial attack all night and, despite winning the battles at the line of scrimmage, were left fruitlessly chasing Hakami around the field. While they did somehow manage to score 40 points, a by-product of a good ground game that accumulated 250 yards, 5 lost fumbles and 4 sacks allowed are never going to be recipes for success, a lesson Haifa hopes to learn from by the playoffs.

Unless something miraculous happens very soon, it’s going to be an early offseason for the team from the North. Once sitting at 4-1, the hapless Underdogs have now dropped five straight and finished their regular season at 4-6, with absolutely zero momentum heading into a likely first-round matchup with the Kings.

For their part, Papagaio improved to 5-4 and a game above .500 for the first time all year with their electrifying victory over Big Blue on Thursday night in front of a wild crowd at Kraft Stadium. Highlighting the unpredictability of the IFL these days, in the past three weeks, the Kings have, in succession, just missed beating the Sabres, almost fallen to the winless Beersheva Black Swarm and toppled the Lions. With one more game left on their schedule before the playoffs, the Purple People Eaters still have a slight chance of overtaking Big Blue for the all-important second seed and free trip to the semifinals.

If the Lions lose to the Dancing Camel Modi’in Pioneers (2-6) this Friday, another Jerusalem derby in each club’s final game would be for a bye in the wild-card round. Here’s hoping that game is anywhere near as good as Thursday’s encounter, in which the fans were kept on the edge of their seats throughout.

Big Blue began with the ball and drove down field for the opening score on an Itai Ashkenazi keeper set up by a 37-yard deep bomb to Amichai Bergman. The Lions threatened a couple more times in the first half but a pair of lost fumbles (to Max Rivkin and Menachem Scherman), both on first-and-goal situations, spelled disaster for Hanan Stern’s usually sure-handed bunch.

Rubin seemed to be on top of every single play, hurling around the field like a one-man wrecking ball and doling out brutal punishment again and again to make up for all the hits he’s taken carrying the ball throughout the season. Proving that he will be a difference maker no matter where he lines up, the Kings’ superbly-hidden game plan had its desired effect, with Rubin exploiting the chinks in the Lions’ play calling and not letting Asheknazi or his receivers get comfortable. His 17 tackles and forced fumble were second only to the ridiculous total of 24 in a losing cause from Big Blue’s Scott Eisenberg, who packs quite the punch in his own right.

With time winding down before the break, Jesselson would take the ball into the house for the first of his two scrambling TDs on the game and knot the game at six with just two seconds left on the clock. Idan Yaron would pull down his 11^th receiving touchdown of the year for the only points of the third quarter to set up a frenetic final frame that saw the Kings outscore the Lions 20-8 to snag the victory.

On the first play of the fourth, Jesselson found Ari Wajsbort from five yards out for the tie and the Kings would take the lead less than three minutes later on a gorgeous 54-yard fake-pass-and-run for a score from newcomer T.J. Williams. For the most part, Papagaio seemed content to put the ball in the hands of fullback Leib Bolel, who bruised his way for 41 yards on 22 clock-eating carries to keep the ball out of the Lions hands as much as possible.

Ashekanzi would regain the upper hand for his club with a perfectly placed 27-yard strike to Or Jupiter over the coverage for a 20-18 advantage.  However, it was a rare string of mistakes from the all-star signal-caller that ultimately did his team in. Fourth-quarter interceptions caught by Matthew Markman and Eli Boylmegreen – the latter on a pass that was telegraphed right into the defenders’ arms – were just too much for Big Blue to overcome and it fell to its second defeat of the season, snapping a three-game winning streak.

On the last play of the game, Ashkenazi found Yaron deep in Kings’ territory, but the nimble receiver was quickly wrapped up by the trio of waiting tacklers and the latest twist of the 2009/10 IFL season was etched in stone.

This week sees a pair of Purim games in the IFL, with the Pioneers visiting Big Blue on Friday at noon in Kraft Stadium and the Sabres hosting the Black Swarm on Saturday at 8:30 p.m.