Bulls slip by Sharks in flag football

By Mario Sarmento
SPORTS EDITOR

Just when it appeared the Spanish River and West Boca Raton flag football teams were headed to overtime, Bulls linebacker Melissa Matthews made the big play.

Matthews stepped in front of a Sharks receiver to intercept a Danielle Boyle pass at the River 23-yardline with four minutes to play in a scoreless game.

West Boca quarterback Rachel Espendez did the rest, running for eight yards on first down, completing a 10-yard pass to Nicole Tzikas, then jitterbugging away from two defenders for a 5-yard TD that gave her team a 7-0 win in a pivotal district game Tuesday night.

“This was a really big win for us, we needed this,” Matthews said. “It puts us in a good spot for playoffs.”

The Bulls defense was the difference between victory and defeat, as West Boca twice stopped Spanish River inside the 10-yardline on the first two possessions of the game. The Sharks came away with no points, and West Boca was able to keep Spanish River out of the end zone the rest of the game.

“I know eventually that was going to be big,” Bulls coach Frank Gambino said of the two red zone stops. “And if it wasn’t for that pick, we would have been in overtime 0-0. We just happened to catch a break and capitalize on it.”

It was not a good night for the Bulls’ offense, which struggled. Espendez wasn’t able to find many open receivers, and when she did, the ball sailed through their hands more often than not. She finished with just four completions in 17 attempts for 37 yards and an interception, but when the game was on the line she made the biggest offensive play.

“She’s a very special player, very gifted,” Gambino said.

The Sharks tried to mount a last ditch drive, but after moving to the West Boca 22-yardline with 16 seconds left, Boyle threw three straight incompletions to end the game.

She finished the night 13-of-28 for 135 yards.

The win kept the Bulls perfect at 4-0, and it was their third straight victory over the Sharks (2-2) in the past two seasons.

“To get a victory on the scoreboard would have been just that much bigger to give us a lead in the district,” Sharks first-year coach Derrick Milton said. “So now we just have to forfeit the district lead to West Boca, until we work on our offensive game, get our defense stronger and be able to play the running quarterback the next time we see a running quarterback.”

In other local games, Atlantic defeated Olympic Heights 24-13. Sarah Pasetsky caught for a touchdown and led the Lions (1-3) in receiving yards.

Boynton Beach edged Boca Raton 6-0. Tiffany Edwards scored on a 1-yard run as the Tigers improved to 3-0.