HOHENFELS, Germany - Service members from across Europe spent a well-deserved weekend blowing off steam while competing for the first place trophy in the Installation Management Command-Europe Unit Level Flag Football Championship hosted by U.S. Army Garrison Hohenfels.
The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center team took home the title of IMCOM-E Flag Football Champions after beating Grafenwoehr's 561st Medical Co. 28-15 in the final game.
That final matchup was the third game of the day for the 561st, their second against LRMC. After beating the team from U.S. Army NATO 6-0, the 561st lost to LRMC 24-21 in the first game of the semi-finals. That knocked them down to the loser bracket where they met NATO again and managed to claw their way back to the final two by beating them 14-13.
Three back-to-back games against tough opponents had taken their toll on the 561st and LRMC was able to increase their winning margin over the 561st in their second, and final, showdown of the day.
"We didn't lay down. We fought hard and played with what we had," said Staff Sgt. Tommie Crumedy, 561st team captain.
"We gave everything we got and came out victorious regardless," Crumedy said of the Grafenwoehr team's second runner-up finish in as many years.
For LRMC, this year's championship was much kinder to them than in 2008 when a poor showing in pool play kept them out of the playoffs altogether. Master Sgt. Tyrone Taylor, LRMC team captain, said part of the drastic improvement was good field condition, better than the mud of last year's championship that hindered their offense.
"We said when we have good field conditions like this there's not a team that can beat us," said Taylor, explaining that the dry conditions allowed them to take advantage of their greatest asset, speed.
Both first place LRMC and third place NATO ended pool play with 4-0 records, though the 561st went into the tournament with one loss to the 535th Engineer Company from Bamberg. Despite a 4-0 pool play record, the 535th did not make it into the semi-finals after losing to both LRMC and NATO.
In addition to the 561st and 535th, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment from Hohenfels was the only other team of the nine Bavarian garrisons to make it into the playoffs.
After a 3-0 record in pool play, HHC, 1-4 Inf. lost their first game to the 561st. The 535th, 4-0 in pool play, won their first playoff game against the 589th Signal Battalion team from Baumholder, but lost their second round game to LRMC 19-0. The 589th then bumped HHC out of the playoffs by beating them 18-0, but were themselves knocked out of contention after losing to NATO 13-7.
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