The Burger King Panthers were the Cinderella of last year’s flag football season. This season the script reads of a team fighting to stay relevant.
In 2010 Burger King came back from an iffy 3-6 start to win three straight games and advance through the playoffs before losing in the championship game. This year the side had to rebound from three and two-game losing streaks to scrape together a 5-7 record, good enough for the sixth and final playoff seed and a third place finish in the East division of the Island Air Flag Football League (put on by the Cayman Islands Flag Football Association).
Captain Brendon Malice, who has done it all from quarterback to linebacker, states his side has overcome plenty of adversity.
“We may have finished sixth in the league but we’re happy we made the playoffs,” Malice said. “We’re a competitive team that lost a lot of games by close scores. I’m confident in our team. The postseason is what matters as we can show who we are. We’re pulling together now.
“We had only five wins because we had a lot of holes to fill. We had new guys to work into new positions. Now with five or six games under their belts we can be a cohesive unit. We had some personnel and tactical mistakes in the season. But we felt if we made the playoffs we’d pull together and that’s what happened.
“The playoffs present a learning curve for some guys. But the way I see it, the regular season was the test and the postseason is where you find out if you passed or failed.”
At a glance it would seem that Burger King are a veteran team finding their way. Ryan Smith remains the star of the squad and the heart of the offence. Anthony Chin is a featured wide-out alongside Simon Rivers, the defence remains anchored by Tito Solomon and Neil Clements holds it together at quarterback.
Their losing streaks and final record also contrast their standing on paper. Their defence is rated fourth, squarely in the middle of the pack, with 121 points allowed. Their offence was mediocre with 135 points scored, which ranked fifth. Malice states that his experienced players will have to step up.
“For us it all starts with Ryan Smith. Once we can get him going, a lot of things can happen. He brings pure energy to both sides of the ball. Jonathan Carter and Alex Angel are also key. In fact Alex is one of the longest-serving players in the league. He’s been doing this 10/12 years now and with this being his last year we want him to go out with a bang. He’s a big reason why we have a good run game as we run behind him under centre.”
In any case, Burger King will have to play up to their potential this Saturday, 17 September. The Panthers face the Cox Lumber Colts at 3.30pm at the Ed Bush field in West Bay. Cox had a stellar rookie campaign, sporting a 7-5 record and a second place finish in a tough West division. The statistics sheet shows the Colts as an up-tempo group that scored a league-best 197 points while allowing 141 points (third most in the league).
On the field it was a potent mix of veteran stars and rookie role players. A methodical running attack featuring Brad Conolly was mixed in well with deep balls to the likes of Rhys Ebanks and Andrew Frederick. Malice is well aware of the game-plan to stopping the Colts.
“Facing Cox is about being aggressive but not overly aggressive. You have to play the run but not bite too much or else you’ll get burned on play-action passes. Their quarterbacks (Kevin Solomon and Taj Haye) can make something happen. We have to be disciplined and make adjustments on the fly. They also have good coaches on their sideline, something we don’t have.
“Personnel-wise, Chester Hurlston is a difficult player on offence and defence. He gives 100 per cent, he’s a good athlete and the team can build off of that. Celester Anderson is a hard worker, does all the dirty work and doesn’t seek any of the credit. From there you got Jeff Wight, who is under the radar. He’s always around the ball and he doesn’t get enough recognition.”
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