OCEAN CITY- The Bull Assassins claimed the Ocean City Recreation and Parks Department’s Fall Flag Football League championship this week, edging five-team champ Eastside Mafia, 25-19, in the title game on Tuesday.
The Bull Assassins went undefeated in the championship tournament and cruised to the title game. However, Eastside Mafia, which had won the title five years in a row, took an early round loss and had to battle back through the loser’s bracket to get a chance to repeat. Eastside Mafia beat Seaquest, 38-16, in the first game on Tuesday at the 4th Street fields to advance.
The championship game went back and forth with the Bull Assassins ultimately holding on for the 25-19 win and the title. Eastside Mafia got on the board first with a 66-yard touchdown pass from Ray Taranto to Mac Williams. The Assassins responded with a one-yard TD pass from Charlie McCaffrey to Jay Manuel to cut the lead to 8-6. Taranto then hit Ron Strickler with an 11-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 10 points at 16-6, but McCaffrey responded with an eight yard touchdown pass to Tyler Boyle to cut the lead to 16-12 going into the half.
In the second half, the Bull Assassins took the lead on a five-yard touchdown pass from McCaffrey to Steve Monroe to go ahead, 18-16. Eastside Mafia’s Adam Rones then put his team back on top, 19-18, with a 31-yard field goal. Late in the game with his team trailing by one, McCaffrey hit Tyler Boyle with a two-yard touchdown pass to put the Bull Assassins ahead, 25-19. Trailing by just six points, the Eastside Mafia had one last chance late to tie the game or go ahead to defend their title. Eastside Mafia drove into Assassins territory before an interception by Boyle on the eight-yard line with 40 seconds left ended the comeback attempt.
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