This week’s spotlight game takes us back to the Henry Hoebel field in Leonia. Cardinals were looking to secure their first win of the season against the Jaguars, ahead of next week’s playoffs play-in for the 2/3 grade division. After trading three-and-out drives to start the game, the Cardinals got on the board with a long run by Elisha Kravitz—toe-tapping the sideline before getting his flag pulled inside the 10 yard line—setting up a touchdown run up the middle by Yaakov Felsenthal to take the lead 6-0. However, the Jaguars stormed right back, with Ezra Safier taking a double reverse on third down and executing a Barry Sanders-esque cutback to run the length of the field for a game-tying touchdown.

The Cardinals were not to be denied: Chunk runs by Ari Field and Aryeh Teigman set up another long Kravitz run, this time getting into the endzone to give the Cardinals the lead with just over three minutes left in the half. Jaguars QB Ezra Block executed an excellent two-minute drill, marching the Jaguars down the field with a series of reverses, breaking a big run down to the Cardinals’ five yard line, with just over a minute left before halftime. But the Cardinals defense stiffened, with Yehuda Schussheim and Josh Gelbtuch making crucial goal-line flag pulls, and the secondary deflecting a fourth down pass to pull off the goal-line stand and giving the Cardinals a chance to take a two-score lead with less than 30 seconds before the half. A huge chunk run by Yehuda Schussheim set up the Cardinals at mid-field with two seconds left in the half. With the Jaguars playing a prevent defense, the Cardinals ran a draw play to Gelbtuch who weaved his way through the defense before a miracle flag-pull by the Jaguars inside the five-yard line to prevent a Cardinals score to end the half. The two teams did not miss a beat in the second half, but when the dust cleared the Cardinals walked away with a well deserved first win of the season. As luck would have it these two teams will meet again next Sunday in round one of the postseason. Can the Cardinals repeat or will the Jaguars be able to rebound and advance?

In other action the Sapphire Wealth Advisory Group Broncos showed their grit and determination in a hard fought game with the Eagles. The Sapphire Wealth Advisory Group Broncos were playing with the minimum and did not have the luxury of substitute players. The Sapphire Wealth Advisory Group Broncos have shown tremendous improvement each game. Through repetition of practicing drills, and listening to each other, they have developed a bond playing together. Despite coming up a bit short to finish this game, each player showed their determination to work hard and stick together. Despite the poor conditions, and being cold and wet, they stayed focused. One example of how well they played was when Ezra Hill ran a sweep-right play, running perfectly up the sidelines during the first and second half, and scoring a touchdown both times. Tyler Secemski gave his all when stopping the Eagles from scoring within a short distance of scoring and forcing them to punt. Wishing the Broncos and all of the teams the best of luck in the playoff this upcoming Sunday!”