Vinchur Emerges as MVP in Jr. Raider Division I Game

Division I (Grades 7-8)

In Division I play, Pitt met Ole Miss at the Triangle Road Football Complex.  The first half was a defensive game, but the offense was off to a slow start.  Pitt gained some momentum when Chris Kimock blocked a punt, which gave them the ball at the 50 yard line.  Pitt couldn’t convert and came up empty on the offensive drive.  Later in the first quarter, Ole Miss had a fourth and short opportunity.  Justin Tubby and Trevor Pavenski stopped them short.  During the second quarter, Jack Casey intercepted a pass and ran for 20 yards.  It was a 40 yard pick 6 by Patrick Vinchur that finally put some points on the board.  The extra point was blocked by Ole Miss.  Ole Miss tied the game with a rushing touchdown by David Lynch.  They could not convert their extra point.  As a storm rolled in, the score remained tie 6-6 for a soggy, long quadruple overtime.  Vinchur and Tubby both scored the overtime touchdowns to bring Pitt their first victory of the season.  The defense worked hard to hold Ole Miss to just 12 points.  Key defensive plays by Evan Dunigan, Ari Weinberger, Kevin Diaz, Charles Amankwa and Keegan Minter led Pitt to the win with a final score of 18-12.  Patrick Vinchur was the game MVP for Pitt.

It was a defensive battle between the Division I Michigan Wolverines and the Texas Longhorns at the Triangle Road Football Complex.  The Longhorns offense led by quarterback Sean Jackson came out charging but was held to one touchdown by Tyler Boatwright.   The Longhorns defense put up a stellar fight led by Jeremy Shipley, Matt Toste and Michael Dooley.  They were ultimately defeated by Michigan by a score of 12-6.

Division II (Grades 5-6)

Rutgers met LSU in Division II play at the Triangle Road Football Complex.  Rutgers incurred two costly turnovers effecting their time of possession in the second half. The first stalled their drive on the 25 yard line as they were about to punch the ball in the early part of the third quarter.  The score remained 0-0 with just four minutes left in the fourth quarter. With three minutes left in the game, LSU scored on a sweep from the 15 yard line. After spoiling the extra point attempt, Rutgers had the ball back however ran out of time with just under a minute left in the game.  LSU gained the win with a final score of 6-0.

Division III (Grades 3-4)

In Division III play, the Princeton Tigers played a strong game against a formidable UConn Huskies team.  On offense Michael Hoffman played a solid game at QB for the Tigers.   Adam Movshin and Cole Psemeneki played well at running back with the Tiger’s sole touchdown being scored by Ryan Vierbuchen. Brett Cerenzio also caught a pass to help out the Tigers.  On defense, Luke Popaduik, Joey Schwarz, Ryan Diaz and Adam Movshin put up a strong stance against the Huskies.  Ultimately, the Tigers fell to the Huskies by a score of 26-6.

Facing USC, Alabama got out to a quick 13-0 lead, but USC fought a valiant second half come-back on touchdowns by Ethan McLaughlin and Ryan Sealander.  Alabama prevailed, beating USC by a score of 19-13.

Flag (Grades 1-2)

In flag play, the Lions had their first game of the season opening up against a fast Bears team.  The Lions were lead by Quarterback Tyler Van Cleef who after a long series of plays drove his team down to the 5 yard line.  He would later score a touchdown on a bootleg from center.  Blair Yusko had a 30 yard run from scrimmage to get the Lions to the 1 yard line.  The Lions defense was fired up by some outstanding plays at middle Linebacker by Carson DeRoner, who recorded six flag pulls on defense.  The Lions defensive line, led by Jack Miller, were able to break through the offensive line into the Bears back field on a number of occasions.   The Bears emerged as victors with a final score of 12-8.

In other flag play the Broncos met the Redskins and the first half proved to be a defensive battle.  Both the Broncos and Redskins did a great job of flag pulling and did not allow many first downs.  The Broncos defense was lead by the flag pulling of Logan Eilbacher.  Several other Broncos defenders such as Nate Kondratiuk, Lance Eilbacher, Richie Loniewski, Brandon Lobello and Jonathan Lobello pulled flags to help keep the Redskins out of the end zone for the first half as well as the second.  On offense in the first half, the Broncos gained some momentum on a 40 plus yard run by Lance Eilbacher on a Tight End Reverse. The Redskins defense held tough and the first half ended tied at 0 apiece.

In the second half, the Broncos offense started to find its rhythm.  With great blocking by the Broncos offensive line, Lance Eilbacher ran another Reverse for 60 yards and the first touchdown of the season and the game.  The Broncos defense continued its strong flag pulling in the second half to shut out the Redskins offense.  The Broncos scoring was completed on the last play of the game as QB Logan Eilbacher ran the Quarterback sneak for 50 yards and as he got tripped up he dove into the end zone for the final score of the game.  Coach Glen Eilbacher’s Broncos earned the victory over the Redskins by a score of 12-0.

For the Redskins, Peter Quandt and Kevin Shelton nabbed 5 flags apiece and rookie sensations Gavin Bailey and Connor VanCleef both had a couple of outstanding plays defensively, highlighted by Bailey’s touchdown saving open field grab on the Bronco’s Logan Eilbacher. All 14 Redskins managed to carry the ball at least once.

Also in flag, the Vikings played a strong offensive game against the 49ers.  The Vikings offense was led by Matt Gaspar, who had two key 20+ yard runs; Daniel Allen had a solid performance on the line, setting up the big running plays.  James Barone led the Viking defense with 12 flag pulls.  Solid containment on the corners by Jack McLaughlin and James Ruh was crucial to shut down the 49ers near the goal line.   Next up for the Vikings will be the Broncos (Wednesday) then the Bears (Saturday).  Team MVP for the Vikings was James Barone.