MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- The preseason Intramural Flag Football Tournament came to an end Sept. 28 at the Penny Lake fields here with the All Stars winning the championship against Five-O 33-12.
Five-O had a hot start, winning the first game of the night against IYAOYAS 36-19.
“The game didn’t start off too well, but we stepped it up during the second half and came out victorious,” said Seth Stringham, wide receiver and safety for Five-O.
IYAOYAS scored the first touchdown of the night in hopes of setting the tone six minutes into the game.
IYAOYAS didn’t keep the lead for long with Stringham scoring a touchdown just 10 minutes later and Mikal Patterson scoring immediately after that, bringing the score to 12-7 in Five-O’s favor.
The next touchdown was made by Joseph Brown, putting IYAOYAS in the lead by one, 13-12.
Jacob Mays, defensive back for Five-O, made an interception, which set up a Stringham completion for a touchdown at the end of the first half, putting Five-O back on top 18-13.
The second half of the game was rough for the IYAOYAS, and the team was only able to score one mor touchdown.
Five-O prevailed with strong defense and good containment against the IYAOYAS.
“We did what we had to do to put points on the board,” said Stringham.
Stringham scored the last touchdown of the game making the final score 36-19 and leaving the IYAOYAS as the third-place finishers.
“There were a lot of mistakes made,” said Stuart Sylvester. “We’re a better team then we played; now we can work to improve for the regular season.”
After winning the first game, Five-O went on to compete in the championship game against the undefeated All Stars.
Being a double-elimination tournament, the end result would determine whether another game would be played the next night.
On their first possession, the All Stars’ offense marched the ball down the field for a touchdown.
By half time, the All Stars were up 13-6 with no plans on letting go of the reins.
The second half started right back up for the All Stars when they scored a touchdown, making the score 19-6.
Five-O came back quick with a touchdown, making the score 19-12 and giving hope for the rest of the game.
After some trouble moving the ball down field, the All Stars caught a break, but it didn’t last long when an interception was thrown right into Five-O’s hands.
After a penalty on Five-O, the All Stars got the ball back and scored again, raising the bar and the score 25-12.
Five-O took the ball back down the field and scored, bringing them within touchdown range of tieing the score.
With only three minutes left, the All Stars stopped Five-O and got the ball back.
In those three minutes, the All Stars made all the right plays to bring the championship game to an end and come out victorious 33-12.
“The lock tight defense is what got us through,” said T.J. Ferguson, wide receiver for the All Stars. “We held up the game only letting them score 12 points."
“It was our first time playing together, but our chemistry was bliss,” he added.
Regular season flag football begins Oct. 18.