The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Flag Football League (BFFL) semifinals saw both defending champions ousted from the playoffs this past weekend. The day of upsets at the Winton Rugby Field started with the Fidelity/Money Maxx Phoenix Fire toppling the Paradise Games Wildcats. Avengers, the men’s defending champions, saw their chances of repeating thwarted by the Oasis Team Red Dot. Among the other teams to advance to the finals were the EDLC Lions and the Caro Contractors Lady Avengers. The finals are now set for the Lady Avengers to match up against Phoenix Fire. For the men’s division, the Lions will battle Team Red Dot for a chance to be crowned the 2023 BFFL champions.

Game one

The Wildcats came into their matchup against the Phoenix Fire on a quest to collect their fourth straight title win. As the pennant winners and the first women’s team to go undefeated in the regular season, expectations were high. However, the Phoenix Fire stomped out their chances of making history after defeating the team 8-6. The Phoenix Fire got to work early in the first half after scoring a safety to go up 2-0 on the three-time champions. In the second half, the team completed a pick six to go up 8-0. The defending champions scored a touchdown late in the second half but ultimately were unable to get over the hump.

Jayson Clarke, head coach of the Phoenix Fire, talked about the upset of the defending champions.

“During the season I have been telling my players I believe we have the talent, the skill, and the coaching ability. The first time we played them a lot of their scores were low percentage and the second time we played them we held them 0-0 at halftime and 8-0 in the second half,” Mr Clarke said.

The coach added each time they played the defending champions they gained more confidence and yesterday’s message was to trust the coaching, trust our strategy, and trust the plan to be executed. Although the team closed this season’s title window for the Wildcats, the coach said that game is now behind them and while it was a great victory they cannot get relaxed.

After coming up short in their championship quest, Wildcats’ general manager Dwight Marshall talked about the loss.

“Phoenix played an excellent game they executed a good game plan and it was obvious that they wanted to control the tempo of the game… we made a lot of mistakes our defence played well and we had a lot of chances on offence but once you lose momentum in sports its hard to get it back but respect to the Phoenix Fire they beat the three-time defending champions,” Marshall said.

Game two

The Avengers were unable to book their ticket to another finals after Team Red Dot closed them out 29-0. Team Red Dot were aggressive from the start of the game. In the first half, the team put 20 points on the scoreboard which went unanswered by the defending champions. However, in the second period of the game the Avengers looked to score on multiple occasions but the game belonged to Team Red Dot. The team added another nine points to their second half total to advance to their first flag football finals.

Edward Campbell, head coach of Team Red Dot, talked about how it felt to knock out the defending champions.

“It feels really good that’s a great team [that] I have battled for many years trying to get out of the semifinals round so it feels good to beat the defending champions to advance to the championships for the first time,” Campbell said.

The team’s mindset going into the playoffs was to forget the regular season records and pennant winners because it does not matter in the postseason. The coach said the team is not satisfied just yet and will look to claim another win.

Game three

In a competitive matchup, the Lions took down the Predators 10-6 to solidify their spot in the finals. Despite the score, the game went right down to the wire as both teams battled ferociously to advance to the finals. The Predators and Lions finished the first half 6-3 after they scored the first touchdown of the game but the opposing team followed it up with a field goal. In the second half, the Lions followed up their field goal with a pick six and extra point to make the score 10-6 giving them the lead. The Predators tried to score late in the game but were unsuccessful.

Travis Thompson, head coach of the Lions, said it felt amazing to get the win because all season they had some ups and downs with the league but overall they preserved and stayed together as a unit and will now play in the championships to finish the job.

Game Four

The Lady Avengers won against the Sands Passion Fruit Hawks 7-6. The Avengers scored a touchdown early on in the first half and completed the play for the extra point. The team went up 7-0 going into the second half of play. Although the Hawks were able to score a touchdown to make the score 7-6, the Avengers did not allow them to score again sealing their spot in the finals.

Shericka Sands, team captain of the Avengers, said it felt good and it has been a long time coming for the team to make it to the championships. Sands said the overall strategy in the win or go home game was to play their game and execute their plays and that strategy will remain unchanged for the finals.

The BFFL playoffs will take a brief hiatus and will resume on Sunday, June 25 for the men and women’s championship games.