East Side Mafia Captures 4th Flag Title

OCEAN CITY- The Schell Brothers’ East Side Mafia captured its fourth straight Ocean City Recreation and Parks Department Fall Flag Football League championship last week, defeating Buxy’s Salty Dog, 26-6, in the title game.

The Schell Brothers’ East Side Mafia cruised through the early rounds of the playoffs, beating NAS/Three Brothers, Tequila Mockingbird and Buxy’s to head straight to the title game slot on the bracket. Meanwhile, Buxy’s had to take a more circuitous route to the championship game. After beating the Coast Guard and the FOP, Buxy’s fell to the East Side Mafia and had to go down to the loser’s bracket to earn a shot at the title.

Buxy’s beat the BACKers in the final loser’s bracket contest to earn a shot at the Schell Brother’s East Side Mafia, but it would have to beat ESM twice in order to capture the championship. However, ESM took care of business and downed Buxy’s, 26-6, to win its fourth straight championship. The following is a quick look at how the final games in the tournament played out:

(bullet) Buxy’s 21- BACKers 6: The BACKers scored first on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Andy Harstein to Trey Stokely, but the extra point failed and the BACKers led early, 6-0. Buxy’s answered with a six-yard touchdown pass from D.J. Draus to Nick Jones and converted the extra point to take a 7-6 lead into halftime. In the second half, Buxy’s took control of the game for good on a two-yard touchdown pass from Draus to Justin Howarth to go ahead, 14-6. Buxy’s sealed the game with a final score on a two-yard touchdown pass from Bart Talbert to Nick Jones to advance to the finals.

(bullet) Schell Brother’s East Side Mafia 26- Buxy’s Salty Dog 6: ESM got on the board first with a one-yard touchdown pass from Ray Taranto to Ron Strickler for an early 6-0 lead. Buxy’s responded with a six-yard touchdown pass from Nick Jones to Nick Soussain to tie the game at 6-6. ESM scored again just before the half on an eight-yard touchdown run by Taranto with 31 seconds remaining and Strickler converted the extra point to give ESM a 13-6 lead at intermission. In the second half, after ESM forced Buxy’s to turn the ball over on downs, Taranto ran it in from three yards out and Vince Stewart converted the extra point to extend ESM’s lead to 20-6. Late in the game, Buxy’s again turned the ball over on downs, this time on its own eight-yard line and Taranto ran it in from seven yards out to round out the scoring at 26-6 for ESM’s fourth straight flag football league title.