In the Island Air Flag Football League, there is no more storied rivalry than the one between the dms Hellcats and the Calabash Soldiers.
The Hellcats have won the league championship five times, two of which have come at the expense of the Soldiers. But for all their triumphs, dms have never beaten the Soldiers in a playoff game that was not the championship game. That all changed last Saturday when the Hellcats downed Calabash 12-6.
In the first half, the dms Hellcats started with the ball but didn’t get much done as they punted on their first possession. Shortly after, Calabash put together a marvellous drive that was capped off by a spectacular throw and catch from quarterback Glenn ‘INT’ Duran to wide receiver Will ‘T.O’ Peguero Jr.
With the Hellcats now on their heels, they did what has come to be expected of them: respond. The offense immediately orchestrated a deadly drive, capped off with a touchdown run by running back Oliver ‘Darkstar’ Parker that went for 80 yards to tie the game at six heading into half-time.
The second half was more of a defensive battle, which was lead for the dms Hellcats by defensive lineman Al ‘Red Bull’ Nixon and linebacker Craig ‘Country Warrior’ Frederick. On Calabash side, Brian ‘Bam Bam’ Moxam and George ‘F-Bomb’ Bustillo kept the Hellcats in check. The score would read 6-6 at the end of regulation, resulting in overtime.
Dms lost the toss and went on offense first. On second down, QB Jacob ‘Quick Hips’ Ebanks found his big tight-end Kevin ‘Scaffold’ Maxwell for the quick score which put the pressure squarely on Calabash, who had to score or go home. On the second down, QB Duran was flushed from the pocket by Hellcats defensive lineman Damian ‘Shark’ Barboram. The result was an ill-advised throw into the heart of the Hellcats defence as Richard ‘Sniper’ Allen came up with the game-ending interception. Allen was quickly piled on by his team-mates in celebration of vanquishing their arch-nemesis.
Hellcats head coach George ‘Teddy’ Hydes said afterwards, “We came out and did what we had to do, we did our talking on the field which is the Hellcat way. This game was decided in the trenches and it showed in our running game by getting some great blocks from Barry ‘Buffalo Bill’ Bush and company.”
The second semi-final match-up saw the Doghouse Bulldogs fall to the Cox Colts 12-7 in what was an entertaining game. The newly formed Cox team had to prove that a week 10 comeback win against the Bulldogs was not a fluke while the Bulldogs were trying to make it to their fourth championship game.
Cox opened the game up with the ball but, with backup QB Taj Haye at the helm, they had no success moving the ball and were forced to punt the ball to Doghouse. The Bulldogs took advantage right away when QB Chris Spigner connected with Zak Kepner for a 50 yard TD pass. The extra point was converted by Dave Velez, giving Doghouse an early 7-0 lead.
The Bulldogs defence again stood tall and got the ball back for the offence. From there the crowd went into a frenzy as Spigner found Jon Pump for a score but a crucial offensive holding call negated the score and forced Doghouse to punt. The momentum of the game changed in favour for Cox as QB Kevin Solomon came into the game and lead the Colts into scoring position.
Solomon capped the drive when he ran in for a one-yard touchdown; the extra point was no good giving Doghouse a 7-6 lead at halftime. In the second half both defences played exceptionally well with the Bulldogs being led by Chip Whitney with two sacks and the Colts defence featuring Andrew Frederick, Brad Conolly and Jeff Wight (one interception each).
In the final five minutes, Cox moved the ball into scoring position and was rewarded for their effort when Solomon found Andrew Frederick in the corner of the end zone for a 10 yard TD pass putting the Colts in the lead. Doghouse took possession of the ball and Spigner hit Chris Smith with a short pass and Smith made some nice moves to get the Bulldogs into scoring position. On a critical third down and goal play, Spigner’s pass was tipped up into the air and Cox defensive lineman Chad Leslie made the play of the day when he out jumped everyone for the ball and sealed the victory.
Saturday’s semis now set up the championship game for the Cayman Islands Flag Football Association featuring the Cox Lumber Colts and the dms Hellcats. The Colts will be looking to finish off their Cinderella story while the Hellcats will be vying for their sixth championship and third in a row. Kick-off is set for 3pm at the Ed Bush field in West Bay.
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