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| The Big Dogs defeated The Agents 39-36 to win the 2016 AFFL title and complete a perfect 12-0 season. |
There's nothing quite like going into a championship game undefeated. Just ask the Miami Dolphins...or the New England Patriots.
You win - perfect season. You lose - season lost.
That's what faced the Big Dogs last Sunday in the AFFL title game against The Agents - a team that matched the Dawgs firepower and speed and stood firmly in the way of the Big Dogs quest. But when the dust - or more aptly mud - settled, it was the Big Dogs who emulated the Fins to emerge perfect.
Both teams showed up
confident and ready to go, but both defenses struggled early with the rain and slick field conditions. The Agents' Tagir Assimov was twice able to run through the Dogs for huge gains resulting in points and the Dogs offense barley missed a beat as the Agents tried showing a number of different defensive formations. The Agents struck first via the field goal
and the Big Dogs answered with back to back touchdowns. The Agents then replied with a touchdown, but the Dawgs replied with a TD and FG for a 23-11 half-time lead.
Both teams came out firing
in the second half as the rain had let up and the ground was a little more
manageable. When it looked like the Dogs might run away with this one leading
by three scores with about 12 minutes left, the Agents once again found the
end zone once more. On the ensuing kick-off, Big Dog MVP Damon McLaughlin attempted an ill-advised, cross field over hand lateral to one of his
team mates. Unfortunately the ball popped out of his hand and ended up in the
hands of Assimov, who was then involved with a collision with Adam Spataro that prevented him from scoring, but forced Spataro to leave the game. The Agents capitalized on the turnover to punch in another TD, cutting the Dogs
lead back a field goal.
With momentum going the Agents way and the perfect season in the balance, the Big Dogs did went to the well in what has become a signature play for them this season. From midfield, they called a direct snap to fullback / quarterback Ryan Spataro, who
found a streaking Andrew Ferman from 40 + yards out. Ferman made an incredible
catch barley a step ahead of the Agents' Gord Bailey and was able to hang on in
the end-zone after a superman dive at full speed. This put the Dogs back up by
11 - but the scoring wasn't done yet.
With very little time left
on the clock, the Agents would again find the end-zone, closing the gap to 3
points with 5 plays remaining. That was as close as they would get as the
on-side kick was unsuccessful allowing the Dogs to down the remaining plays, making the final 39-36 for the Big Dogs.
With the win, the Big Dogs claimed their second AFFL title in a row and finished with a perfect 12-0 record. The Dawgs have won three of the last five AFFL championships. Question is - can they win three in row?
That question will start to be answered next September - when the Big Dogs start the season perfect - just like every other team chasing them.
POINT AFTER: In addition to a
perfect season, the Big Dogs didn't punt in this year's playoffs while putting
up 119 points in three games and were only intercepted 4 times in 12 games all
season...Big Dog QB Greg Moore won his 7th AFFL title on Sunday and has appeared in the championship game 12 times in his 21 seasons. He is still 2 rings behind retired player Neil Pendlebury, who won 9 titles...Chris Graham of the Golden Beavers was named 2016 AFFL MVP at the 35th Annual AFFL Banquet...The Untouchables defeated the Beavers in the "B" Championship while the Redskins defeated the Jokers to take the "C" title...Earl Elliott has retired his stripes after officiating in the league for the last 25 years. Earl is well respected and has been a great contributor to the AFFL and the ongoing evolution of its rules and culture of play. He'll be sorely missed.
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