Football / Underdogs roll over Kings in super-soaked thriller

The Real Housing Haifa Underdogs jumped out to a 24-0 lead on Friday in week two of Israel Football League action, then almost watched their opponents and the weather wash it all away.

When it was all said and done, however, despite a plucky performance on the road by the Papagaio Jerusalem Kings, who scored three touchdowns in less than four minutes to close out the first half and get back into the contest, the host Underdogs escaped with a 30-22 victory.

On a day in which the passing game was basically nullified by the inclement conditions on the natural-grass field in Yokne'am, both the Kings and Underdogs resorted to their more-than-able running attacks and chewed up yards on the ground throughout the game.

Combined, the teams racked up 375 yards rushing to just 84 yards through the air on a paltry five completed passes overall. In fact, there wasn't even a pass attempt from either side in the entire third quarter.

The game was defined by the adjustments made on both sidelines to deal with the rain. While the opening kickoff took place under a relatively clear sky, by the middle of the second quarter the clouds had moved in and opened up. By the start of the second half, the torrential downpour rendered the playing surface a slip-and-slide slop-fest for much of the third frame.

Haifa's Shahar Yeshurun - a two-time all-star - scored a pair of touchdowns while rugged veteran Itamar Levin got his first career score to push Haifa's lead to 24-0.

However, Papagaio's lethal running back tandem of Jon Rubin and Leib Bolel took matters into their own hands and willed their team to within striking distance.

Rubin scored on rushes of 26 and eight yards, while Bolel took one in from the five-yard line. Papagaio made two-of-three two-point conversion attempts to close the score to 24-22, but that's as close as they would make it.

Real Housing QB Roey Ziv rounded out the scoring with a five-yard third-quarter scramble to open the gap to eight points.

While Jerusalem would keep it interesting throughout the second half, even driving deep into Haifa territory late in fourth quarter for a would-be game-tying touchdown and conversion, the Underdogs' defense buckled down and prevented the Kings from completing their improbable comeback bid.

Even the refs managed to get in on the muddy fun, with officiating newcomer Or Sher at one point taking a spill on his way to set the ball at the line of scrimmage. Some 40-plus fans braved the elements to witness the home team win.

On Saturday night, tackle football made its first foray into Holon as the revamped Mike's Place Tel Aviv Sabres inaugurated their new home field by utterly dismantling the defending-champion Dancing Camel Modi'in Pioneers at the Hapoel Tel Aviv training grounds.

The 22-10 final score didn't reflect the nature of the thrashing the Pioneers (1-1) took, as they were beaten by the Sabres (1-0) in almost every facet of the game - from passing and receiving, to discipline and coaching, not to mention a smothering defense that didn't give an inch all night.

It was 22-0 with under three minutes left before an iffy safety and a penalty-aided drive in the final minute spared Modi'in from suffering an embarrassing shutout following their week one home victory.

The overhauled Sabres, directed by coach David Miller and a trio of superb assistants, certainly looked new and improved in their schedule-opening triumph.

Led by their take-no-prisoners defense and a pair of inspired offensive performances from Tamir Elterman and Alex Trafton, Mike's Place's take-no-prisoner, confident style of football paid off.

After two subpar seasons, the Sabres seem to have shed the bottom-feeder stigma for good and should be a force going forward, a fact clearly evident even after just one outing.

A new winning mindset based on full-team responsibility has pervaded the squad and the "next-in-line" approach toward playing time on a packed-to-the-gills roster ensures that there is always a ready and willing group of hungry players ready to step in and perform.

On Saturday, that unified outlook was on full-display on both sides of the ball. On offense, Tel Aviv had four different players complete passes out of a variety of formations and had eight separate players account for double digit yards in net production.

The defense, led by Said Abulafia and Daniel Nissman, were in full gang-tackle mode right from the opening whistle, not letting Modi'in see any open field all night.

Not a single Modi'in rusher had a run of more than eight yards - none topping 24 yards total on the night - while five individuals on the Sabres broke through on jaunts of at least 10 yards.

There were three interceptions forced by the Sabres - all from different defenders - on errant throws by the usually sure-handed and accurate Tal Brown, who was made to look out of sorts all night.

As well, Tel Aviv racked up a franchise-high 17 first downs, while holding the Pioneers to just eight.

All in all, aside from two lost fumbles, a inconsequential interception, and a couple of unnecessary penalties, it's hard to think of what else Tel Aviv could have done right in its first season-opening victory in the club's three-year history.