Underdogs dismantle Kings to remain perfect
They came, they saw, they conquered...then the Real Housing Haifa Underdogs went home, still unbeaten and atop the standings in the Kraft Family IFL.
In the league’s second annual Chanukah Bowl on Friday at Kraft Stadium in Jerusalem, the Underdogs soundly defeated the host Blue Sun Music Jerusalem Kings, 56-38, in a game that prominently featured the high-flying offenses and quick-strike capabilities of both teams.
The win moved the team from Haifa to 3-0 on the season and kept them in first place with a one-game advantage over the Dancing Camel Modi’n Pioneers (2-1). The loss sends the Kings to 1-2 and into fourth-place in the five-team league, heading into a two-week hiatus.
Rounding out the standing are the third-place Big Blue Jerusalem Lions, who sit at 1-1, and the bottom-dwelling Mike’s Place Tel Aviv Sabres, who are still winless at 0-3.
As has typically been the case in Kings’ games so far, the scoring got started quickly on Friday and never really stopped until, literally, the final play. The contest featured fourteen total touchdowns and just two punts. Most of the points came by way of good old-fashioned, playground-style, throw-it-up-and-catch-it pigskin, and this was one aerial assault that was refreshingly entertaining to all those in attendance. When it was all said and done, the game set an IFL record for most yards through the air for both teams combined, at 424, and affirmed the two primary signal-callers, both league-newcomers, as the best that Israeli football has to offer.
All in all, it was a fairly evenly-played match but for a number of crucial turnovers that ultimately doomed the Kings. In fairness, however, even though the score remained somewhat close until the very end, five minutes into the game the Underdogs had built a two-possession gap that they would never relinquish. The Kings never got any closer than 10 points from that point and it appeared, from the sidelines at least, that Haifa had come well-prepared to fend off anything Jerusalem could throw at it.
Underdogs quarterback Itai Ashkenazi came out gunning and found big receiver Idan Maor on Haifa’s first play from scrimmage for a 41-yard gain. That set up a two-yard keeper from Ashkenazi on the very next play for the game’s first touchdown. Ashkenazi would finish his day, one that was shortened due to a recurring thumb injury, 5-7 for 131 yards and three TDs in addition to the one on the ground. He paved the way for backup Ori Shterenbach to come in for what amounted to mop-up work. Shterenbach himself had quite the afternoon, going 4/5 in extra point attempts and tossing two botched snaps for two-point conversions to alert power-back Niv Medlinger.
While Kings quarterback Joseph Marticius responded to the early score immediately with a two-play drive of his own, culminating in a 14-yard TD reception by Eli Boymelgreen, Ashkenzi skipped back onto the field and raised the ante with a 45-yard deep strike to Saar Barda that made it a 15-6 affair at the seven-minute mark. Another Haifa touchdown extended the lead to 22-6 after the first quarter and the game continued in the same vein, with the Underdogs and Kings trading scoring blows, but with the team from the North landing a few extra shots.
The Kings were plagued by fumbles, four lost out of six total, all credited to Marticius. While the Jerusalem QB threw for 230 yards and six TDs and ran for 92 yards, a paltry 44% completion rate and two picks to go along with the slippery hands were, all together, just too much for his Kings to overcome. I’m sure he will take his lumps and come back after the break ready to make up for this one.
There were a number of noteworthy individual performances from both sides. For Jerusalem, Chaim Gross continued his torrid pace, catching four passes for 139 yards and three scores. He now has nine TDs on the season. For Haifa, Barda was in action on almost every play of the game, catching two touchdowns and playing on both sides of the ball, as well as handling the kicking and punting duties and returning a kickoff to boot. Shachar Yeshurun also had a pair of scores for the Underdogs and played his best all-around complete game in a while. Medlinger, as well, had a great outing with two fumble recoveries plus the two conversions from Shterenbach.
However the player that most stood out was Haifa’s Omer Kedmi, even while having to leave mid-way through the fourth because of a back flare-up. He was in the face of Marticius constantly and was the primary reason for the passer’s poor 11-25 showing. He also racked up two sacks and had a crucial 24-yard fumble-recovery-and-return for a score that made it a 37-18 game and swung the momentum back to his team’s side to open the second half. He is honored as this week’s Mike’s Place player of the game.
The IFL returns on Thursday, January 8, 2009 with the first-ever regular season meeting between the cross-town rival Kings and Lions at Kraft Stadium.
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