HUNTER ARMY AIRFIELD, Ga. - Ditavien Brown scrambled to his left to avoid the pass rush. Ontario Washington saw his quarterback in trouble and broke off his pattern and headed for the sideline two yards past the goal line. Brown spotted him and fired a frozen rope to Washington's chest for the score.
With that five yard TD pass in overtime, the 3-5 Platoon of the 603rd Aviation Support Battalion became the 2009 Hunter Army Airfield Intramural Football Champions with a 12-6 victory over the 473rd Quartermaster Company.
In a fitting conclusion to a matchup that featured two defensive-minded teams, regulation play was not enough to determine who would prevail as champions on a chilly evening on the gridiron of the Squires Sports Complex, Oct. 21.
"Both these teams played with a lot of intensity tonight," said Mike Hughes, Hunter's intramural sports director. "These two teams featured fearsome pass rushes all year, giving opposing teams' quarterbacks to throw the ball downfield."
That style of play is what got the teams to the port-season, and it was that style of play that got them through the early rounds of the playoffs and to the title game.
The 473rd finished the regular season with a 6-2 record and beat Company E, 3/160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, 14-6 in the first round of the playoffs and Company E, 1/3 Aviation, 13-8 in the semifinals.
The 3-5 Platoon completed the regular season with two losses, as well. They survived their encounter with the other team from Company A, 603rd ASB, 14-6 in their first game and soundly beat the previously undefeated 514th Engineer Detachment, 24-6 in the semifinals.
The 473rd scored first when Michael Tyler eluded 3-5 Platoon's ferocious pass rush and scampered around left end for a five yard TD run. The 473rd got in position to score when Derrick Heard intercepted a pass and returned it yards to 3-5 Platoon's 24-yard line. Tyler took matters into his own hands when he ran around left end on a quarterback keeper for 14 yards then ran up the middle for six more yards, putting the ball on the 6-yard line. On second down, his pass in the end zone was incomplete before his TD scamper. The point after touchdown attempt failed.
The first half ended with the 473rd up 6-0.
3-5 Platoon and 473rd each had drives stalled to start the second half. With the ball at its own 37 yard line, 3-5 Platoon's Tyler connected with Jeruard Anderson wide open for a 33-yard completion to the 473rd's ten and a first down. After two runs for no gain, Tyler received the snap from center in the shotgun and danced around two pass rushers and scampered into the end zone to tie the game. The pass attempt for the PAT missed by inches as Washington's had a foot slightly out of bounds in the end zone.
The 473rd had a chance to win the game when, with 47 seconds left in the game, Gemyl Oliver intercepted a Brown pass deep in his own territory an electrified the crowd with a 44 yard return to the 3-5 Platoon 17 yard line.
The 3-5 Platoon defense stiffened. A swing pass was stopped for a loss of two and LaRone James dropped the quarterback for a five yard loss. James' Hail Mary Pass was incomplete and then 3-5 Platoon's Stervon Johnson sacked James as time ran out.
3-5 Platoon got the ball first in overtime. Starting from 3-5 Platoon's 20, Brown ran the quarterback draw for 15 yards. Brown then hit Washington for the score to put 3-5 Platoon up 12-6.
Because the post uses high school rules, the NFL's sudden death format for overtime was not used. Rather, high school rules are used. So the 473rd was given its turn on offense from the 3-5 Platoon's 20. Tyler gained seven yards on first down but was dropped for a two yard loss on the next play. His pass on third down was incomplete. On fourth down, he found a receiver at the five, but he his flag was immediately pulled by the 3-5 Platoon defensive back to end the game.
"It was an honor and a privilege to play these outstanding Americans and athletes," said Jesus Hawthorne, coach of the victorious 3-5 Platoon team, about his opponents. "There is a reason they made it to the championship game ... they are great athletes and a well-coached and disciplined team.
Though dejected, the 473rd team was equally as gracious toward their opponent.
"This was a good game, but the better team pulled it off," said Gerard Thomas of the 473rd. "Our defense has been the heart and soul of our team this year. Unfortunately, we came up just one play short tonight. But we're proud of our season, which we dedicated to a Soldier from our unit who was killed earlier this year."
Thomas enjoys playing intramural sports because he says "it brings everyone together on another level other than work."
As Hunter Army Airfield's 2009 Intramural Football Champions, the 3-5 Platoon, Co A, 603rd will represent Hunter against Fort Stewart's yet to be determined champion in the Marne Bowl.
How do the players of 3-5 Platoon assess their chances'
"We're going to win," said Johnson.
Social Sharing