By Nathan Mayberg
LOCH SHELDRAKE — November 25, 2003 – Currency Club captured the 2003 championship of the Sullivan County Flag Football League with a 13-12 win over McCabe’s Sunday at Sullivan County Community College.
Both teams will now go to the National Flag Football Tournament in Boston.
Pete Pagan caught three passes for 130 yards for Currency Club, including two big touchdowns. The first was a 50-yard pass from Joe Stout, which Pagan caught in the end zone in the first half. Near the end of the second half, a pass interference call on McCabe’s led to a 30-yard pass from Stout to Pagan and Pagan then ran an additional 30 yards to score the game-tying touchdown. Tim Mills caught the game-winning one-point conversion pass from Stout.
Jamie Arroyo ran for 40 yards for the Currency Club and Stout threw for over 150 yards.
Matt Stoddard threw two touchdown passes for McCabe’s. The first was an 18-yard pass to John Bell in the first half. The second TD was a 4- yard toss to Matt Black.
However, the Currency Club defense sacked Stoddard six times.
The McCabe’s defense sacked Stout twice and Black had one interception.
“It was a hell of a season,” said Ed Cruz of Currency Club. “We started off strong; towards the end of the year we got organized, Bill Stoddard started coaching. John McDonough joined. We lost a couple of close games. Our team came together and beat the number-one-seeded team.”
Currency Club was 9-1 on the season. After receiving a bye in the first round of the playoffs, the team beat Bum & Kel’s 12-6. McCabe’s defeated the top-seeded team of the first round, Sidetracks (9-1 on the year), by a final score of 14-13. Prior to that game, McCabe’s beat the Sullivan County Community College (SCCC) team, 35-6.
This autumn, the Sullivan County Flag Football League had seven teams with about 16 players on each squad. League Coordinator Mike Greco, who is also the coach and defensive tackle for Currency Club, noted that the sponsor fee for each team is $250. The money goes towards field maintenance and the purchase of trophies and flags. In addition, each team must pay a $30 referee fee per game.