Two shutouts and a triple overtime game. On Monday, Oct. 18, the flag football championships took place at Bobby Bowden Field. The two best of each male, female, and coed teams came and displayed their talent for their titles. Champions “Sigma Chi,” “Chi Omega,” and “Samford Flag Football Team,” all won the greatest triumph possible for a Samford intramural athlete: bragging rights.
Sigma Chi, led by co-captains Reed Bristow and Kyle Ryczek, shut out Assault and Battery, a team made up of Cumberland School of Law students. The Sigma Chi team, however, claims to be made up of something else.
“This team is made up of champions,” said Bristow, a junior and the team’s quarterback. “What we have is a bunch of guys just wanting to have fun. Just going out there and competing every night. We’ve just got guys diving all over the field, getting turf burned, just eating it up baby.”
Co-captain Ryczek said the team relished their victory.
“Oh my goodness the shut out was such a good feeling,” he said, before admitting to having some nerves during the big game.
“When I was going into it, I had a little bit of butterflies, not going to lie, because they’re law students and they seem to be really angry all of the time,” he said with a laugh, “but it all turned out pretty okay.”
A 25-0 shutout win is much more than pretty okay. Ryczek said the reason they were able to pull out the win came down to the entire team.
“To be honest, the chemistry between the entire team, it was honestly a team effort,” he said.
Bristow went on to add the positivity and support they were able to glean from the crowd.
“It means a lot to win for a Sigma Chi team and the support we have is amazing,” Bristow said. “Our fans were out there just cheering us on and encouraging us.”
Chi Omega followed suit as they came and held their opponents scoreless. Playing the team “Virginia’s Besties,” they were able to easily score 31 points. Samford junior and coach of the champions, Grace Turner, beamed with pride over her team’s win.
“The Chi Omega team is filled with talent,” she gushed. “Our depth was unmatched all season and we faced some great competition but we’re always able to succeed.”
The coed teams, however, had much closer games in their fight for victory. Having evenly matched offenses and defenses, the game was back and forth the entire game. The eventual champions, the Samford Flag Football Team, led by a touchdown going into the last minute of the game while their opponents, Gentlemen and Gentlemen, had possession of the ball. They took full advantage of that possession, tying up the game at the end of regulation. Holding each other back, the game progressed into a third overtime during which the champions scored on an amazing pass. Brent Taylor, a freshman, stepped up as quarterback when the starting quarterback was unable to be at the game. In the third OT, Taylor made a pass to senior Garrett Peyton.
“Garrett Peyton literally saved the day making a one handed catch in the back of the end zone in triple overtime,” David Yancey said.
Peyton, as humble as the day is long, revelled in his team’s victory.
“I was flying high. It was such a relief to win after thinking we blew the win,” Peyton said. “All of the nerves just turned straight to joy!”
All three teams can be seen around campus sporting their coveted IM championship T-shirts.
Samford Campus Recreation still has several fall sports available for students to join, including volleyball, dodgeball and billiards. Softball, basketball and more will begin in the spring.
