Blue Team holds on to win with goal line stand: 19-18
Dan Fulop, reporting from Rockville Pike - PBI XI was played to an improbable script that went down to the last heartbeat and saw the Blue team come close to losing a battle they deserved to win. It took almost perfect execution of Blue’s game plan and a less-than-scintillating effort by the Gold team’s offense to determine the final outcome. In the end, Blue walked away with the narrowest margin of victory in PBI history.
In the days leading up to the 11th Annual Paul Blank Invitational, sports enthusiasts from the Jewish Week, to the Lion’s Tale, to old Jewish sages congregating at bagel places up and down Rockville Pike, broke down the matchup. Although the Blue team’s roster was stacked with more athletic talent, the Gold team held the experience edge. The quarterback comparison, Noah Zimmerman for Gold and Ilan Fulop for Blue, led Daniel Israel Horowitz, the lone person to place a wage on the game, to bet the Moshav on Gold. The night before the game at Clydes Ilan was asked by a hot graduate of Churchill high school how he felt that nobody, including his own family, believed in him. "Personally I wasn't worried about having that much to prove. I knew Noach was better coming in, based on what he'd done for the last 10 years. From a team standpoint the hype bothered me a little. All we heard was 'Noah, Noah, how are you going to stop Noah? He goes to Stanford'.”
Amongst players, interest lay in the matchup that pitted strategic masterminds from both sides of the ball, Zimmerman and Ariel Oxman, against one another. The two, who had grown accustomed to working together as teammates year in and year out, finally agreed to cut the umbilical cord and the chess match was on. By Thanksgiving morning the Genius Angle had gotten a lot of mileage – Zimmerman’s genius against that of Oxman. It hyped up both captains, and put a nasty edge on their normally placid array of trash talk.
The game started on a high note for Gold, and when the Vegas favorites quickly raced out to a 12-0 lead it appeared the route was on. Blue soon settled down, fielding a defense that bent but never broke, while the offense did just enough to setup phenom kicker David May. For most of the day Gold moved the ball at will, but penalties, poor execution and three turnovers, which Blue parlayed into 13 points, were too much to overcome. Blue’s defensive captain Ariel Oxman orchestrated the team’s containment scheme in hopes of shutting off the outside running lanes and preventing the big play. Oxman mainly employed an alignment consisting of six defensive backs, two linebackers, and only three linemen, electing to drop nine defenders into coverage. The lineman all but ignored the interior line and hardly pressured Noah Zimmerman, giving this talented passer plenty of time to throw. Yet Blue’s coverage was so tight and so physical that Gold could mount only three scoring drives and had trouble converting third-down and fourth-down plays.
Despite the tactical success of Blue’s defense and Gold’s lack of offensive execution, things weren't settled until Gold’s last desperate possession. After David May’s 20-yard field goal put Blue ahead with 1:48 remaining, Gold quarterback Zimmerman had a chance to win the game with seconds remaining and his team on the one yard line before Blue staged a dramatic goal line stand to secure a 19-18 victory. While PBI XI will be remembered for its sloppy play, it certainly provided a wild finish and the closest of these Thanksgiving classics.
Afterwards players from both teams shared their reactions on their team’s play and the game’s exciting conclusion:
"It wasn't pretty -- it probably was ugly," defensive lineman Asaf Nagler said, "But this is no beauty contest, either. We turned this into the type of game we wanted. That was the key."
"Noah made some gutty calls; he was in control of the game at that point," Dan Fulop said. "But I hoped he'd be able to get us into the endzone. I hoped the outcome wouldn't have to come down to a goal try."
The Gold team’s postgame orange eating session was overflowing with despair -- and bewilderment. “If somebody had told me that we'd be held to 18 points," said receiver Elliot Totah, "I would have laughed." Zimmerman sadly admitted, "It's going to be tough to live with this one. I'm disappointed,” and echoed his usual catch phrase, “I hate myself.”
Game Recap
On its opening drive, Gold quarterback Noah Zimmerman (’99) used a mixture of short passes to Daniel Minerbi (’02) and Micha Weinblatt (’01) to march his offense 70 yards. The drive culminated with an 8-yard run touchdown run around left end by wide receiver Elliot Totah. Gold remained ahead 6-0 after Josh “The Hamburgler” Hamburger’s (’06) extra point kick fell short. Blue responded by going three-and-out and was forced to punt. With the Blue team lining up three defensive linemen flanked out wide, Zimmerman ran consecutive draw plays up the middle to counter the outside containment. The strategy lulled Blue’s defense to expect run, and Zimmerman looked deep and found a streaking Michael Feldman for a 45-yard gain. Zimmerman ran another draw 5-yards untouched up the middle for his second touchdown of the day. The 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete, giving Gold a 12-0 lead. On the ensuing kickoff Gold kicker Oren Oxman (’96) tackled David May, drawing a 15-yard penalty and giving Blue excellent field position. Despite starting their second possession at midfield Blue’s offense continued its anemic play, losing yards on a screen pass to Yossi May (’02) and a sack by Gold defensive end Dan Fulop (’99).
Gold’s red hot offense was quickly cooled off as the Blue defensive line of David “it rhymes with Oakes” Ochs (’02), Adam Heller (’00) and Asaf Nagler (’99) contained Zimmerman’s outside running lanes and began to pressure the veteran gunslinger. Capitalizing on good field position the Blue offense also began to show signs of life, twice driving inside Gold’s ten yard line behind the running of quarterback Ilan Fulop (’02) and a long completion to Daniel Feuer (’04), yet both possessions failed to yield any points as kicker David May hooked two field goals wide right. After the team’s traded possessions Gold took over deep in its own territory. Zimmerman made his first mistake of the game when under heavy pressure he rolled left and lobbed a pass which free safety Ariel Oxman (’99) intercepted and returned 25 yards – giving Blue possession inside the twenty yard line. As the half neared to a close Blue finally got on the board with a ten yard touchdown pass from Ilan Fulop to Feuer who made an acrobatic catch over the defender’s back. They gave me a chance to play Daniel Feuer-type football, to do the things Daniel Feuer’s capable of," said the deep threat receiver. May’s extra point kick made the score at halftime 12-7 in favor of Gold.
In the second half Gold regained momentum with a quick drive fueled on end around runs by receiver Elliot Totah. Zimmerman capped off the drive with his third touchdown of the day, this time from 7 yard over left tackle. Another missed 2-point conversion extended Gold’s lead to 18-7. During halftime Blue switched to seven man permanent offensive line, and the adjustment completely neutralized Gold’s vaunted pass rush. Nagler, Ochs and David May triple teamed defensive end Dan Fulop, while Heller and Jared Sichel (’05) plugged the inside pursuit of jumbo defensive tackle Oren Oxman. For the first time all day Ilan Fulop was Given time to survey the field and picked apart the defense with short passes to Ariel Oxman and John Leener (’05). When the drive seemed to stall and facing 4th down Feuer eluded the coverage and snared a 45-yard pass down to the 5 yard line. Two plays later Ilan Fulop threw a dart to Yossi May for the touchdown. David May, who switched to a kicking shoe at halftime, converted the extra point kick, narrowing Gold’s lead to 18-13.
With both offenses moving in high gear the outcome of this shootout seemingly would end in an array of points, decided by whichever team finished with the ball. Instead the next four possessions held witness to inconsistency, causing offenses to flat line inside the red-zone as a result of penalties and turnovers. Gold attempted to open up their conservative, yet effective offensive game plan, but a Zimmerman pass intended for Minerbi was read all the way by Ariel Oxman, who snatched his second interception of the game. His 20- yard runback setup Blue at midfield, but the turnover produced no points. Upon regaining the ball the savvy Zimmerman wanted to milk the clock on the way to padding his team’s slim lead. He methodically moved Gold down the field and found Dan Fulop, his old faithful target of the late 90’s, on two down-and-out patterns, but several plays later a slant pass ricocheted off of Minerbi’s hands into the awaiting arms of Leener, Gold’s third turnover of the day. Ilan Fulop almost returned the favor, lobbing a pass up for grabs, but Gold safety Eric Horowitz (’02) misjudged the wounded duck and the ball was cradled in by Leener. With their defensive line unable to mount any semblance of a pass rush the Gold defensive backfield rose to the occasion, batting three straight passes away from receivers and forcing Blue to kick a field goal. David May converted from 30 yards out, bringing his team to within two, 18-16.
On Gold’s next drive receiver Michael Feldman was called for off-sides, and after arguing with the officials, was penalized an additional 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct, turning a third and five into third and twenty five. Deep in their own territory and within May’s field goal range Gold was forced to punt. The snap from center Josh Hamburger barely left the ground and Zimmerman’s punt traveled only 5 yards. Blue was already at the 20 yard line, but Gold’s defense rose to the occasion and stiffened, and although Blue failed to advance the ball a single yard, David May setup for a chip shot field goal on fourth down. His 20-yard field goal gave Blue a 19-18 lead, but Gold would have one more chance to win the game.
Gold took over at their 30 yard line with 1:48 remaining, and Zimmerman guided his troops on one last hurry-up effort. A 12-yard reverse by Totah and a pass to Krakauer good for 15-yards gave Gold a first down at the Blue 20 yard line. With time winding down, an eight-yard scramble by Zimmerman followed by a five-yard completion to Feldman yielded another first down and moved the ball to the 3 yard line, but the Gold team had to use their last timeout with 12 seconds left. Lacking a reliable kicker, Gold was forced to try a touchdown, and with both teams in their goal line formations, Zimmerman bulled up the middle for 2-yards, but was stopped just short of the end zone. Amidst the frenzy while each team’s line quickly set for another quarterback sneak, Feldman shuttled out to his receiver position uncovered and unnoticed. Zimmerman took the snap, fired a pass, and for a brief moment secured his 10th straight PBI title. Yet in an instant the comeback and the pass were thwarted away by an alert and hustling David May; a moment that will go down as one of the greatest defensive plays in PBI history. The celebration following May’s heroics and Blue’s apparent victory were short-lived as the referees announced one second remained on the game clock. Again both teams stacked the line of scrimmage, two walls of bodies prepared to collide over of one yard of dirt for PBI glory. Zimmerman called his own number, ran behind center and tried to stretch the ball across the goal line, but was stuffed by a swarm of defenders stopped for no gain as time expired.
Player Statistics
Statistics:
|
Receiving |
Catches |
Yards |
TD |
|
Gold |
|
|
|
|
M. Feldman |
4 |
60 |
0 |
|
D. Manerbi |
2 |
25 |
0 |
|
D. Fulop |
2 |
20 |
0 |
|
M. Krakauer |
1 |
15 |
0 |
|
M. Weinblatt |
1 |
10 |
0 |
|
E. Totah |
1 |
3 |
0 |
|
E. Horowitz |
1 |
6 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Blue: |
|
|
|
|
A. Oxman |
4 |
45 |
0 |
|
D. Feuer |
3 |
85 |
1 |
|
J. Leener |
3 |
50 |
0 |
|
Y. May |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
D. Ochs |
1 |
5 |
0 |
|
Passing |
Completions |
Attempts |
Yards |
TD/Int |
|
Blue: |
|
|
|
|
|
I. Fulop |
13 |
35 |
186 |
2/0 |
|
Gold: |
|
|
|
|
|
N. Zimmerman |
12 |
30 |
139 |
0/3 |
|
Rushing |
Attempts |
Yards |
TD |
|
Blue: |
|
|
|
|
I. Fulop |
5 |
25 |
0 |
|
Gold: |
|
|
|
|
N. Zimmerman |
7 |
45 |
2 |
|
E. Totah |
4 |
25 |
1 |
|
Defense |
Sacks |
Interceptions |
Fumbles |
|
Blue: |
|
|
|
|
A. Oxman |
|
2-55yds |
|
|
J. Leener |
|
1-0yds |
|
|
Gold: |
|
|
|
|
D. Fulop |
2 |
|
|
|
M. Krakauer |
2 |
|
|
|
Kicking |
XPM |
XPA |
FGM |
FGA |
|
Blue: |
|
|
|
|
|
D. May |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
|
Gold: |
|
|
|
|
|
J. Hamburger |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
MVP: Jon Leener - 3 receptions, 50 yds. /1 int. 0 yds. 3 pass deflections
Referees: Zach Cytrin; David Friedland; and Thomas Gutterman.
Game Milestones:
-First time neither team cracked 20 points
-Lowest point total by winning team (Blue – 19 points)
-Smallest margin of victory (1 point)
-4 sets of brothers (Oxmans, Mays, Fulops, Hamburgers)
-Most diverse game (11 different grades)
Rosters
|
Gold
Michael Feldman Elliot Totah Jon Greene Stephen Krupin Micha Weinblatt Eric Horowitz Josh Hamburger Dan Fulop Oren Oxman Mark Krakauer Daniel Minerbi |
Blue
Daniel Feuer Miles Pell Jonathan Leener David Ochs Ariel Oxman Yossi May Ben Hamburger David May Ilan Fulop Adam Heller Asaf Nagler Jared Sichel |