PIT TOUCH and FLAG FOOTBALL in WINNIPEG MANITOBA - FOOTBALL!

3779 Posts

Some great games, performances, and comebacks punctuated the 2011 championship games. Congratulations to all our divisional championship winners. 2011 was quite a rush as the PIT became Manitoba's largest outdoor touch football league in just its third year of existence. The incredible growth necessitated 9 championships, each crowned on the artificial turn of East Side Eagles field. Here is a quick rundown of the games.

Elite: Avengers 18 Manitoba 0
A perfect 18-0 regular season, an elite championship title in the Labour Day Classic Tournament, and a #5 ranking in Canada sets the Avengers up as the team to beat in Manitoba. The open challenge to all other contenders’ remains, but before the Avengers can answer any of those challenges they will make a run at a National touch football title in Calgary Thanksgiving weekend.

Division 1 (2) Guild of Calamitous Intent 16 (1) Iced Earth 12
The Guild of Calamitous Intent spent the majority of the season simply trying to outscore opponents as their much maligned defense gave up an average of 25+ points per game. Come playoffs however the defense carried the team to a baseball-esque 16-12 victory over the #1 seeded Iced Earth. Rumor has it the Guild will be cutting their QB shortly to bring in someone who can put up some points to support the suddenly stout defense.

Division 2: (3) Love Hitmen 12 (1) Titans 6
The juggernaut Titans were once again in the final vying for a championship three-peat, however they were thwarted by The Love Hitmen, who could state claim to being the fastest team in touch football. All signs pointed to a shoot out between the two high scoring teams but just like in Division 1 defense reigned the day. Both teams were without arguably their best offensive players who were down with injury. The TSN turning point was the ability of the “neon-green horror” Polish Mike Paluszek to keep Titan QB Gavin Panchuk in check which ultimately made the difference in this one.

Division 3: (2) Woodys 34 (1) Rebels 13
The Rebels and the Woody’s faced off in a match-up of top divisional seeds. Both teams were veteran laden, with the Rebels players leading many of the statistical categories in the division. The Woody’s countered with a secret weapon by the name of Tyler Lamerante who made some huge plays in all facets of the game (offense, defense, and special teams). The Woodys nickeled and dimed the Rebels all day, including throwing three TDs to Owen Nagy on simple hook patterns near the goal line. Both the Woody’s and Rebels will fit in well in Division 2 next year. Good luck to Tyler Lamerente who is moving to British Columbia, you left the PIT outdoor league in style with your MVP performance.

Division 4: (4) Bondiddy Bengals 19 (9) da Killa Beez 15
The Bondiddy Bengals were the hottest team entering playoffs, having started the season 1-6 but finishing with 10 consecutive victories. The win streak was ultimately stretched to 13 when Bondiddy defeated da Killa Bees in the championship game. Da Killa Bees had a bit of a disappointing regular season finishing 9th in the division with a record of 4-14, but the playoffs are a chance for redemption, and redeem they did, knocking off the top-seeded Face Kick in the quarterfinals, and the second-seeded Blitzkrieg in the semis. A nice run that fell just a little short.

Division 5: (1) Brewers 21 (3) Deep Pockets 19
The Brewers went wire-to-wire in the division posting and impressive 16-2 season, however the championship game was nothing but easy as the Brewers edged Deep Pockets by a score of 21-19. The Deep Pockets had the lead with under a minute left but Brewers QB, and game MVP, Jesse Clarke led a drive for the ages culminating with a TD strike to Brett Thurston for the game winner with only seconds left. The Brewers proved they are ready to move up to Division 4, while Deep Pockets put Division 5 on notice that they are the team to beat next year.

Division 6: (3) Roughnecks 35 (4) Barracudas 8
The third-seeded Roughnecks and forth-seeded Barracudas split their seasonal series 1-1, however the rubber match turned a bit lopsided as new scoring record holder Evan Panchyshyn crossed the stripe 4 times while also recording 5 sacks. The Roughnecks will be moving on up to Division 5 while the Barracudas were bridesmaids once again. We in the PIT are sure that the Barracudas will break through one of these seasons to record their first championship.

Division 7: (1) Cheeseheads 24 (4) System of a Touchdown 0
The Cheeseheads set a PIT record by blanking all three of their playoff opponents and outscoring them 81-0 in the process. Their stout defense was complemented with some “wildcat” offense and clutch catches by Sean Demetree. Countering for System of a Touchdown was QB Chris Mailey who earned the game MVP by throwing strikes all over the field. Unfortunately it was not a great “hands” day for System as they missed some great red zone opportunities. This game was much closer than the score may indicate; a learning experience for the young System of a Touchdown team.

Division 8: (6) Slobberknockers 27 (9) North End Hawkeyes 7
The Slobberknockers win their first outdoor title after a successful Spring session which saw them win the Division 5 Indoor title. The Slobberknockers have come a long way from their 1-17 outdoor record last year. The North End Hawkeyes were the 9th seed in the division winning just 4 games during the season, but with their full squad out they were able to knock off both the #1 and #2 seeds before finally succumbing to the Slobberknockers. A great game was had by both teams and a good demonstration of the parity amongst teams in each of the divisions in the PIT.

Division 9: (10) Real Friends 32 (10) Hardesty Wreck Shin 25
The battle of underdogs turned into perhaps the best final as the Real Friends edged Hardesty Wreck Shin with a touchdown in the last minute of the game to take the inaugural Division 9 Championship. Jordan Pastushenko caught three second half TDs from QB Sean Godard, including the winner, while Ryan Ferland of Hardesty threw touchdowns to four separate wide outs in the crowd pleasing barnburner.

Here is some additional photos of each team in all their championship glory: http://www.pitfootball.com/albums/425-2011-outdoor-championship-photos

For the players, by the players

31 Posts

Just wanted to give a big thanks to both Jon and Scott
for all their hard work this year making the Pit the best league to play in this province.
What a great venue to have the championship games. The turf is awesome!!!!
Truly was a great day for football. The weather cooperated, and definitely temps were the
best we have ever played in for a championship game. Unreal day for football.
The pit championship shirts and all the extras you guys do are truly appreciated.
Looking forward to Nationals. Hopefully we can have the same success as we did here at home.
Gonna b a great time either way. Good luck to the Avengers as well.

thanks again
Woodys

Joey

58 Posts

Best of luck to the Pit teams(Avengers/Woodys) going to Nationals! Wish I was there, but Vegas calls!

Represent and run the shoe!