FORT BENNING, GA - After going undefeated during a three-month season with an 8-0 record, the Spyder Monkeys took the Maneuver Captains Career Course Mega Bowl 5.0 title, bragging rights and a trophy after defeating the Roos 11-10 in an ultimate football game Saturday at French Field.
The MCCC Bowl is in its fifth season. It's a tradition at MCCC that has been going on about three years, said Mike Reber, Spyder Monkeys coach and MCCC instructor. So is the Toilet Bowl, which features the two-bottom ranked teams in the even and odd conferences.
"The event is a way for the students to blow off steam and relax before they take their big (end of class) test," he said. "We put our own little twist on the game to make it as fun as possible for the students. It's unconventional with rock, paper, scissors instead of a coin toss but it makes it more fun."
Both teams in the MCCC Mega Bowl were the two top ranking teams out of 11 teams in the even and odd MCCC conferences. Because the Roos and Spyder Monkeys were in different conferences all season, this was the first time this season they played against each other.
After an official rock, paper, scissors showdown, the Roos, seminar five, won with a rock over the Spyder Monkeys,' seminar four, scissors. The Roos gained the lead early with six touchdowns. The Roos' defense remained strong and held the Spyder Monkeys to
three touchdowns while they led 6-3 at the half.
The Spyder Monkeys made a comeback in the second half, capitalizing on eight touchdowns to take the lead, while the Roos scored four touchdowns and were one run short of tying the game. Before the Roos could catch up, the game ended, sealing the 11-10 win for the Spyder Monkeys.
"This is the first time we were behind all season," Reber said. "At halftime, I told the team being behind is nothing to be scared of. I told them to get the points back and play hard. When the chips were down, the boys did what they had to do and executed and they didn't get frustrated."
Spyder Monkey Dan Pace said he has been looking forward to the Mega Bowl all season.
"The Roos came out and played a whole lot harder than any team we have seen so far," Pace said. "I was pretty optimistic at halftime. I knew we were down, but I didn't think it would be a hard turnaround. Overall we played a good game."
Graham Genrich said his team's success was in the second half.
"We were told they were going to be our toughest opponent and we came out in the right mindset," he said. "We had a little pre-game jitters but got over it after the half. We gained our momentum in the second half which was key to our success."
The Spyder Monkeys have one more task - paint the trophy green, which is their jersey color.
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