Lions, Hammers victorious in IFL Week 3
The two Kraft Family IFL games this past weekend were a tale of opposites.
On Thursday night, the Jerusalem Lions scored a last-second touchdown to defeat the Petah Tikva Troopers 22-20, while on Saturday night the Ramat Hasharon Hammers waltzed to a 41-0 shutout of the Beersheba Black Swarm.
Jerusalem overcame a slow start in Maaleh Adumim to defeat Petah Tikva in thrilling fashion to open the Week 3 action.
The visiting Troopers took an 8-0 lead on a Chris Davis touchdown run, but the Lions tied the game with a four-yard David Abell QB keeper to start off the second quarter
Avrami Farkas found Dani Eastman for a score to make it 14-8 Troopers and Eastman forced a Jerome Wojtalik fumble at the goal-line to thwart Jerusalem’s next drive.
Down 14-10, the Lions put together an 11-play drive to start the second half but could not convert. Backed up at their own three-yard line, the Troopers inserted Eastman at QB for one play and it paid huge dividends as the three-time IFL MVP weaved and ducked for 41 yards, immediately setting up a 37-yard TD pass from Farkas to Aaron Karp, making it 20-10 near the end of the third quarter.
Eastman forced another goal-line fumble, this one by Abell, but Hillel Goldstein pounced on the ball for a Jerusalem touchdown to make it 20-16 as the fourth quarter got under way.
The Lions got the ball on their own nineyard line with 2:50 to go down four points and Abell methodically led his team down the field, milking the clock and setting his team up at the five-yard line before spiking the ball and stopping the clock with time for one last play.
Or so it seemed. Abell’s ensuing pass was broken up by Karp, but the Troopers’ Ahmed Abu-Gaber was called for roughing the passer, plus an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for removing his helmet.
Since a game cannot end on a defensive penalty, the two half-the-distance penalties brought the ball down to around the oneyard line for an untimed play. Abell’s pass fell incomplete, but Troopers’ rookie lineman Yohannes Okba was called for offsides, and the Lions got another untimed play.
Abell took the snap from under center and forced his way into the endzone) for the game-clinching score and the final 22-20 result.
Abell completed 22-of-37 passes for 214 yards and rushed 16 times for 48 yards and two scores for the Lions. Eastman had a ridiculous, record-tying 24 total tackles on the night, plus two forced fumbles, adding 52 rushing yards and a TD catch in defeat.
On Saturday, following a celebratory Hannuka candle-lighting ceremony, the Hammers cruised to an easy win with a career day by Ben Landon, who got the start at QB.
Landon’s passing stats were mediocre at best (5-for-20 for 36 yards, a TD and a pick), but he more than made up for it on the ground, with 16 rushes for 218 yards and five touchdowns.
The Lions (3-0) have a week off before traveling south to play the Black Swarm (1-2) next Saturday night, the Troopers (2-1) have a week off before hosting the Mazkeret Batya Silverbacks (0-2) next Thursday night, while the Hammers (2-0) head home to host the Haifa Underdogs (0-1) on Thursday night.