1998: '98 Alumni v '99
The first JDS Thanksgiving football game was born on a rainy Thursday in 1998. Seven man teams comprised of the 1998 alumni against the 1999 seniors took the field in frigid conditions. The alumni squad also had Mr. Blank and Ariel Oxman suit up. Oxman, a recent transfer from JDS to Walter Johnson, was shunned by his ‘99 brothers and forced to play against his former friends. The first half featured an aerial shootout and numerous sacks as the players acquainted themselves with line play. The 1998 alums spread out the scoring, as Elliot Totah, Mark Krakuer, Danny Schnitzer, and Darren Schnider each scored touchdowns. The 1998 alums had a revolving quarterback tandem as Mark and Elliot both had success throwing the ball. The 99’ seniors were quarterbacked by Noah Zimmerman who regularly connected with receivers Yoav Tal, Ellie Teichman, and Dan Fulop.
In the second half the ‘99 seniors were inefficient on offense as Ariel Oxman used double coverage to shut Fulop down, intercepting two passes to kill ‘99 drives. Noah worked underneath to Teichman who had 10 receptions as a possession receiver. Yoav Tal was able to find holes in the alumni secondary for two long touchdown catch-and-runs. The game turned into a blowout in the second half as the 1998 alumni scored at will, shutting down the seniors’ offense by sacking Noah seven times in the game and intercepting 4 passes. After the game Paul took everyone to the Silver Diner. It was noted that Dan Fulop ordered “Mom’s Chicken Soup” and steamed broccoli. No official stats were kept, and no MVP was awarded, but the game sparked the eventual creation of the “Paul Blank Invitational Thanksgiving Football Classic.”
1998 Alumni 49
1999 Seniors 28
