Week 8 Game Summaries (Week 2 Playoffs)

Week 8 Novice Game Summaries

Novice Blue 18, Novice Silver 14

The Blue Squad opened up an 18-0 lead at the half and held off a scrappy Silver team with a last minute goal line stand.  Blue improves to 2-0 in the double elimination tournament.  The Silver squad finishes their inaugural season after a very good showing in the regular season and the playoffs.

Novice White 12, Novice Burgundy 6

The Novice White squad opened the scoring on the first play from scrimmage with an end to end run by star runner Sean Murray.  A great catch late in the 1st half by Thomas Sullivan was enough for the White squad to hold off the Burgundy squad.  The White team improved to 2-0 in the post season tournament after an 0-6 regular season.  The Burgundy squad was eliminated with the loss but made great strides in their first season.

Novice Red 18, Novice Black 14

After an off sides call on the Black defense in the last minute of the game, the Red squad ran the ball into the end zone with Chase Gardner on the ensuing play to take the game and eliminate the Black squad who were undefeated in the regular season.  The heart breaking loss for Black puts Red into the next round vs White, who are both 2-0 in the double elimination tournament.  Novice Blue awaits the loser of the Red/White game in Week 9.

Week 8 Bantam Game Summaries

Bantam Red 25, Bantam Blue 14

The Red Squad stayed alive for another week, building on their strong showing in a defeat to Purple in the 1st round of playoff play.  Blue suffered their first loss of the tourney.  Both teams move on to Week 9 at 1-1.

Bantam Black 39, Bantam Silver 12

Bantam Black had another strong effort and improved to 2-0 in the post season.  The Silver squad suffered their 2nd defeat and are officially eliminated from the playoffs.

Bantam Purple 62, Bantam Burgundy 32

Defending champ Purple poured it on against Burgundy, who are now eliminated from the Bantam playoffs after their 2nd defeat.  Purple moves on at 2-0 in their defense of their title.

Week 7 Game Summaries (Week 1 Playoffs)

Week 7 Novice Game Summaries

Novice Blue 14, Novice Burgundy 6

The defending champion Blue squad got off to a good start in defense of their title with a 1st round win over Burgundy in the double elimination tournament for the Novice title.

Novice White 14, Novice Black 12

Novice White, competitive but winless in the regular season (4 losses by one score), shocked the undefeated Black squad in their 1st round contest by pulling off the upset.  Kai Higginson threw for 2 TD passes to Roger Erichsen and Om Serpico.

Novice Red 24, Novice Silver 12

Chase Gardner scored his 4th TD of the day on a spectacular cut back run to help put the Red Novice Team ahead for good in a hard fought 24 - 12 victory over the Silver team. Nick Boccadifuoco had some excellent runs to help the red team control the ball and time of possession. Nicole Cappa played outstanding man to man defense on Silvers best receiver Matt Faicco in the 2nd half to help slow down Silvers potent offensive attack.

Week 7 Bantam Game Summaries

Bantam Black 46, Bantam Burgundy 8

The Black team dominated from the start and look like a force in the battle for the Bantam division title.

Bantam Blue 20, Bantam Silver 13

In the 3/4 matchup, the 3 seed Blue team came out on top in a tough game with Bantam Silver team.

Bantam Purple 27, Bantam Red 18

The top seeded Purple had their hands full with a determined Red team, but pulled out the victory as they look to defend their Bantam division crown.

Week 6 Game Summaries

Week 6 Novice Game Summaries

Novice Burgundy 22, Novice White 14

Novice Red 48, Novice Silver 34
Tara McLoughlin, Sean Larson, and Jason Morales each scored on passing touchdowns from Matthew Bartholomeo and Jamie Wilson while Nicole Cappa scored set up by a long run from Louis Guerra.  Chase Gardner continued his dominant play this time scoring 2 offensive and 2 defensive touchdowns to give the Novice Red a 48-34 victory over the Novice White team.

Novice Black 24, Novice Blue 12


Week 6 Bantam Game Summaries

Bantam Black 33, Bantam Purple 32

Bantam Blue 30, Bantam Silver 19

Bantam Burgundy 46, Bantam Red 26

Week 5 Game Summaries

Novice Week 5 Game Summaries

Novice Burgundy 20, Novice White 18

Burgundy scored their first win in their inaugural season on a hail mary pass on 4th and long with less than 10 seconds left in the game.

Novice Blue 20, Novice Red 6
Novice Blue got back on track after a tough loss to the Black squad.

Novice Black 26, Novice Silver 18
Novice Black stayed undefeated in a closely contested contest with the young Silver team.

Bantam Week 5 Game Summaries

Bantam Purple 34, Bantam Burgundy 18
Bantam Purple continued their winning ways against the young, struggling Burgundy squad.

Bantam Blue 29, Bantam Red 12
The Bantam Red team took on Bantam Blue in a game that would allow the winner to control their fate in obtaining the three seed for the playoffs.  The Blue team started strong with a touchdown on their first possession.  The Red team answered back on a spectacular catch and run by Kellan Cohill.  The Blue team then gained back momentum with two consecutive scores.  Bobby Maloney was a big part of the Blue team's success.  His two interceptions kept the Red team off of the scoreboard and gave his team good field position.  Anthony Pollari threw for 129 yards and two touchdowns in his Bantam level debut.  He had completions to Vincent D'Abundo, Kellan Cohill, Kathleen Egan, and Andrew Rogers.  Kellan Cohill led the team with 6 catches for 72 yards and 2 touchdowns. Nicolas Fiocco and Vincent D'Abundo led the rushing attack.  The Red team will try to secure the 5 seed for the playoffs in their rematch with the Burgandy team next week.

Bantam Black 45, Bantam Silver 9

Bantam Black continued their surge against Bantam Silver and will take a shot at the undefeated Bantam, Purple in a marquee Week 6 matchup.

Blood Drive for Tommy Guardavaccaro - October 21st

Blood Drive

The St. Ephrem Youth Program is holding a Blood Drive on Oct. 21 in honor of Tommy Guardavaccaro, a child of our parish who has recently begun treatment for Leukemia. The drive is being chaired by Frank Spadaro, who has been the driving force behind our past very successful drives.

Tommy attends third grade at St .Ephrem School and participates in several of the sports programs at St. Ephrem, including Basketball and Flag Football.  He is currently undergoing treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in Manhattan.  As part of that treatment, Tommy will be receiving blood transfusions.

Over the last several years, we have had the opportunity to host blood drives for other sick children that had ties to the parish; Jack Rubin, George Fischetti and McKenna Coyle, all were diagnosed with serious diseases that required blood transfusions.  We are very happy to report that all three children are doing very well, and we know that with the help of the parish, Tommy will be able to have the same results.

The drive will be held in the St. Ephrem Old School Hall on Oct. 21, 2012 between 8:30AM and 3:00PM.  You can make an appointment to donate by calling either Frank Spadaro at 917-364-3323 or Joe Guarino at 718-833-6467; or you can just drop in. The people of St. Ephrem have always responded when asked to help others in need, as a matter of fact the parish was presented with an award in 2011 by Bishop Dimarzio for having the most successful Blood Drive in the entire diocese.

Please remember Tommy in your prayers and make an appointment to donate the “gift of life”.  Be a giver of life and donate a pint of blood on October 21.  We have successfully helped three of our own so far; let’s all help to make Tommy Guardavaccara another success story.

Week 4 Game Summaries

Novice Week 4 Game Summaries

Novice Black 20, Novice Blue 14   

In a thrilling game between the two undefeated teams in the Novice division, Novice Black (4-0) scored a touchdown in overtime to give the defending champ Novice Blue (3-1) their first loss of the season.


Novice Silver 18, Novice White 6

Novice Silver (2-1) jumped out to a 12-0 lead on their first two possessions and never looked back.  Novice White (0-4) got a late score when Kai Higginson hit Om Serpico with a short touchdown pass.


Novice Red 26, Novice Burgundy 18

MVP Candidate Chase Gardner scored 2 TD's, his last on a dazzling run with under 2 minutes remaining in the game to give the Novice Red Team (2-1) a 26-18 victory over Novice Burgundy (0-4).   Nicholas Boccadifuoco scored twice with a long run and acrobatic catch on a pass from Matthew Bartholomeo.   Bartholomeo also connected with Jamie Wilson on a 2 point conversion to help secure the victory.  Matthew Rogers, Vincent D'acierno, and Jason Morales played aggressive defense to help propel Red to an 18-6 lead before Burgundy staged a gutsy and valiant comeback that fell just short.

Bantam Week 4 Game Summaries

Bantam Red 40, Bantam Burgundy 14

The Bantam Red team (1-3) finally put it all together this week and cruised to a 40-14 victory over Bantam Burgundy (1-3).  The young Red team was led by one of its youngest players, Kellan Cohill.  Kellan had possibly the best all around game of any player this year, scoring a combined five touchdowns.  On offense Kellan had six cathes for 73 yards and three touchdowns.  On defense Kellan had four interceptions with two returned for touchdowns.  Anthony Pollari led the team in receiving with 7 catches for 92 yards.  Nicolas Fiocco had his first receiving touchdown of the year.  Jonathan Pappanicholaou continued his strong play at the quarterback position. He threw for 170 yards and three touchdowns.
 

While there was a wide margin in the final score, the game was very close until a pivotal pick six by Kellan Cohill.  With the Burgandy team leading 14-13 and on the verge of scoring another touchdown Kellan stepped in front of a Burgandy pass and went coast to coast changing the momentum and complexion of the game.  Kellan then continued to dominate all day on both sides of the ball.  It was a good win for the Red team, which seems to be improving each week.
 
Bantam Black 49, Bantam Blue 0   

Bantam Black (3-1) faced a well-respected Bantam Blue team (1-3) and put together a complete game on both sides of the ball to grab a victory.  It was another stellar start for George Mendez, with 117 receiving yards and two interceptions, and quarterback Mike Martell, who completed 18 of 22 passes for 207 yards.  The Bantam rookies Grace Campbell, Shannon McLoughlin, Jared Abrenica, and Nick Gonzalez all put in solid performances to help their team get the win.  Jake Higginson and Ryan Coad filled out the defense and Nick Maddaloni added a TD to the score.

Bantam Purple 58, Bantam Silver 6

Bantam Purple (4-0) continued their dominance of the Bantam division with a convincing victory over a very good Bantam Silver team (2-2).

Week 3 Game Summaries

Novice Week 3 Game Summaries

Novice Blue 40, Novice White 12

Novice Blue (3-0) were led by 2 touchdowns from Chris Coad and a TD catch from Stephen Stella.  Their defense continued to play strong.  For Novice White (0-3), Kai Higginson led 2 scoring drives, capped off with TD passes to Rocco Loccisano and Roger Erichsen.

Novice Black 24, Novice Red 6

Chase Gardner had several magnificent runs and scored Novice Red's (1-1) only touchdown.  Matthew Bartholomeo hit Jason Morales on several beautiful passes to keep Red in the game but the Novice Black (3-0) team's well balanced attack proved to be too much.

Novice Silver 24, Novice Burgundy 22

In a great game, Novice Silver (1-2) got its first win of the season over Novice Burgundy, who still seek their first win. 


Bantam Week 3 Game Summaries 

Bantam Black 24, Bantam Red 19

The game of the day was played between the Bantam Black (2-1) and the Bantam Red (0-3) teams. Jonathan Pappanicholaou turned in a stellar performance.  On defense, Jonathan intercepted two passes and returning one for a touchdown.  On offense, Jonathan threw for 96 yards and two touchdowns. He spread the ball around to six different receivers.  Kathleen Egan led the team with 4 catches for 41 yards.  Kellan Cohill and Dennis Rizzi each had a touchdown reception.

Red jumped out to a 13-6 lead which they carried to the halftime buzzer.  Black battled back and took an 18-13 lead.  Red then drove down the field and scored with 49 seconds left to take a 19-18 lead. The Black then drove quickly down the field and scored the go ahead touchdown with 25 seconds remaining.  A last ditch effort by the Red team was stopped by an interception with 6 seconds remaining.  It was a tough luck loss for a young Red team that had played well enough to win up until the last Black team drive of the day. 

Bantam Silver 28, Bantam Burgundy 12

After losing in a very close game against Blue, Bantam Silver (2-1) looked to bounce back against Bantam Burgundy (1-2).  Three of Silver's players were unable to attend the game, so all 7 players had to play the entire time. One of the missing players was part-time quarterback Michael Boccadifuoco.  Somebody needed to step it up and replace him at QB, and that somebody was Richie Evangelista.  Silver started off very strong by making Burgundy go 3 and out, and then scoring on a touchdown pass from Richie Evangelista to Michael Morano.  This touchdown was set up by a bomb from Richie caught by Christian Badillo.  They then got the 2 point conversion on a pass from Morano to Brandon Boeffer.  The score was quickly 8-0 Silver.  Later on in the first half, Burgundy had the ball on Silver's side of the field.  The Burgundy QB threw the ball up to Kyle Codespoti and he came down with it in the back of the end zone.  Then, Burgundy got the ball again after Silver threw an interception.  The Burgundy QB threw a pass right to defender Michael Morano.  However, the ball bounced out of his hands and landed in Kyle Codespoti's for his 2nd touchdown.  The score was 12-8 Burgundy at halftime.

The second half however, was all Silver.  It started off by Morano connecting with Chris Morales for a touchdown.  Richie then hit Morano for the 2 point conversionto make it 16-12 Silver.  Silver then forced Burgundy to turn the ball over on downs.  Richie then hit Badillo with a touchdown pass to make the score 22-12.  Burgundy turned it over on downs again. Richie then hit Michael Morano for a touchdown to seal the deal.  Burgundy then ran out of time and the game ended.  In his quarterback debut, Richie Evangelista was 13-22 with 122 yards.  He threw 3 touchdown passes and a 2 point conversion.  Michael Morano was 5-6 with 66 yards, a touchdown, and a 2 point conversion.  Brandon Boeffer had a big receiving day with 4 catches for 60 yards and 2 point conversion.  Michael Morano had 7 receptions for 76 yards, 2 touchdowns, and a 2 point conversion.  Christian Badillo had 2 very important catches for 34 yards and a touchdown.  Chris Morales had 4 catches for 21 yards and a TD.  Everyone played great for the Silver team.  They play the Purple team next week.  They look to give them their first loss since the 2010-2011 season.

Bantam Purple 38, Bantam Blue 0

The defending champs (3-0) stayed perfect after handling Bantam Blue (1-2).

Week 2 Game Summaries

Novice Week 2 Game Summaries

Black 22, Burgundy 8

Coming off of a slow first half in week 1, Novice Black (2-0) made sure not to do the same going up against an all-Rookie Novice Burgundy (0-2) team. The game opened up with the black defense stifling runs from Burgundy. Mark Albewi, Alexander Messina and Steven Diservi stopped the rushing attack of Burgundy in its tracks which led to a turnover on downs. On its first possession, Alexander Messina (who came back on the field after a collision with a team mate) took the ball on 3rd down and cut it up field. No one on Burgundy was able to catch up to the blazing speed and agility of Messina as he ran to the end zone to give black a 6-0 lead. Messina followed that performance by catching the 2 point conversion to put Black up 8-0. Burgundy offense looked slightly more potent on the next drive. Quarterback Theo Ridenouer  found Piece Gallagher for a nice completetion. However, the Black defense was too much to overcome. Pass deflections added up and a critical 4th down deflection by Luke Johnston the ball back. Novice-Black took control of the ball knowing Burgundy was keying on stopping Alexander Messina. It was time for another player to make a big play offensively. That player was Steven Diservi. DiServi took control of the drive, catching 3 passes from Quarterback Michael Nunnally. The last of those 3 catches resulted in a touchdown and a 2 point conversion pulling Black out to a 16-0 nothing lead at half time.

     

The second half picked up where the first half ended. Quarterback Michael Nunnally lined up as a running back and took a hand off all the way down the field on the first play of the half to give Black a commanding 22-0 lead. Burgundy refused to go away quietly though. They responded with a big touchdown run from Christopher Glynn and a successful 2 point conversion to cut the lead to 22-8. Black began to melt time off the clock with timely running plays from Angelo Menna, Adam Nash and Owen Nash. A big 3rd down pass to Mark Albedewi was the play that wrapped the game up. From there, Novice-Black took knees and extended their record to 2-0.

Novice Red 12, Novice White 6

Chase Gardener and Nick Boccadifuoco each scored a rushing touchdown to help the Novice Red (1-0) team edge Novice White (0-2) by a 12-6 score.  Jamie Wilson hooked up with Matthew Bartholomeo on 2 deep strikes to help put Red in scoring position.   Long runs by Nicole Cappa and Tara McLoughlin secured a crucial first down in the game’s final possession to secure the victory.   Jason Morales pulled his best Lawrence Taylor impersonation by dominating the game defensively never allowing the white team to get its running game going.  Kai Higginson hit Roger Erickson on a deep pass for the only White score.

Novice Blue 20, Novice Silver 0

The defending Novice division champs (2-0) continued their strong play as they shut out the young Novice Silver (0-1) team in their inaugural game.


Bantam Week 2 Game Summaries

Bantam Purple 50, Bantam Red 15

Bantam Purple (2-0) continued their championship quality play in defeating the Bantam Red (0-2) squad.  For Red, Kellan Cohill and Anthony Pollari had big days recieving. Kellan had 3 catches for 49 yards incluing a big gainer for a touchdown. Anthony had 4 catches for 33 yards, a touchdown, and two conversions. Jonathan Pappanicholau had an impressive day throwing for 91 yards, two touchdowns, and two conversions. Also, Jonathan just missed an early pick off that would have probably resulted in a pick six. He did an excellent job of calling the defenses and defending all game long.

Bantam Blue 12, Bantam Silver 7

Bantam Blue (1-1) beat a very good Bantam Silver (1-1) team.  Coming off a 40-0 blowout over the Red team, the Silver team was taken by surprise by Blue.  The Blue defense really came to play as they intercepted Silver's quarterbacks 4 times that game.  However, Silver's defense played very well. They were down 12-0 at halftime.  Nothing was going right for the Silver team but they never gave up.  Michael Morano took a handoff in the second half and ran it in for a touchdown.  The Silver team then got a crucial 1 point conversion to make the score 12-7.  The Silver defense shut down Blue in the second half, allowing no points.  With under 2 minutes left, Silver had the ball on their own 7 yard line. They needed a touchdown to win it, but Blue's defense never let up as the Silver team were unable to get a first down and Blue won the game 12-7.  Silver looks to bounce back against a talented Burgundy team next week.

Bantam Black 40, Bantam Burguny 14

Bantam Black (1-1) looked impressive in week 2 action against a tough Bantam Burgundy (1-1) team.

Week 1 Game Summaries

Novice Week 1 Scores and Summaries

Novice Black 20, Novice White 14

After bearing a storm (literally) Novice Black and Novice White began their season with a semi-final re-match from last season which was won by Black.  Returning Novice White members clearly remembered that loss as they came out swinging to start the game.  White opened up the game with big plays that were almost touchdowns if not for some key flag grabs from James Pollari and Steven Diservi.  White continued to pick apart the Black zone defense and managed to strike first with a touchdown pass from Kai Higginson and after a sucessful conversion White took a 8-0 lead.  After a stifling defensive drive from White in which runs from Alexander Messina and Steven DiServi were stopped at the line of scrimmage, Black was forced to punt the ball back to White.  White took control and picked up where they left off.  Kai Higginson marched them down the field for another score when he connected with Justin Quiles which made the score 14-0.  Black got the ball back with a minute left in the first half and desperately in need of a huge play.  Their prayers were answered when with seconds left in the half, Alexander Messina caught a screen pass from Michael Nunnally at mid field and juked through the defense for a touchdown to inch Black into the game.

   

The second half started with Black trailing 14-8. Black took control of the ball and led by the running of pre season MVP Candidate, Alexander Messina, got into the opponents territory. Once there, Michael Nunnally connected on a beautiful sideline pass to Luke Johnston who got the ball to the 2 yard line. After 2 unsuccessful tries to score from inside the 5 yard line (which is on the hardest components of flag football), Black lined up for a pivotal 4th down. Nunnally, playing his first game, looked like a seasoned vet scanning a clustered end zone and finding his open man. That open man was Jake Cadotte. Jake's touchdown tied the score at 14. Novice Black had turned the tide but still had trouble containing the precision passing of Higginson. However, on the next drive, Safety Luke Midthassel recorded his first careeer interception and put the Black team in great field position to take the lead. Michael Nunnally found Justin Cook for the eventual game winning touchdown catch. White tried to respond with a game tying touchdown drive of their own but fell short as time expired. After the game Justin Klug, second year Novice Black Head Coach, was quoted as saying "Today our team showed that its going to be a tough team to beat. We went down 2 scores early but didnt complain about it. We kept our head up and made adjustments. You dont know the character of a team until they face adversity and today we showed Novice Black has a ton of character."

Novice Blue 40,  Novice Burgundy 12

The defending champs opened the season with an impressive win against one of two new teams in the Novice division.


Bantam Week 1 Scored and Summaries

Bantam Silver 40, Bantam Red 0

The first game for the bantam division was a battle between the Silver team and the Red team. Both teams are very young and both coaches are new so nobody knew how this game would turn out. However,  this became very clear as Silver took an early lead and they never let up. Early in the game, Mike Marano  received the ball on a double reverse from Mike Boccadifuoco and hit Brandon Boeffer deep for a touchdown. Later on, Mike Boccadifuoco kept the ball and ran all the way to the goal line. Silver was lethal  both offensively and defensively in the first half taking a 32-0 lead into halftime. Silver would end up scoring one more time this game on a deflected pass from Mike Marano caught by Richie Evangelista. They were great on offense all game and even better on defense, getting a few interceptions and doing an amazing job of pulling flags. Silver ended up with a 40-0 shutout. They look to improve to 2-0 next week when they play the Blue team, who barely lost to the Burgundy team on a last second play.

Kathleen Egan led the Red team in passing completing four of nine passes for 22 yards. Kellan Cohill led the team in receiving with 3 catches for 17 yards. Dennis Rizzi led the team in rushing with 17 yards on 3 carries.


Bantam Burgundy 14, Bantam Blue 13

Burgundy defeated Blue in a closely played game 14 to 13. Touchdowns were scored by Klye Codispoti and Michael Albdewi. A key 2 point conversion was converted by Michael Albdewi late in the game to give Burgundy the lead. Two key interceptions by Brandon Jones and Steven Fadel  and a critical 3rd down sack  by John Barbieri late in the game sealed the victory. Anthony Pizzirusso and Thomas Blandino both played well in their debut as quarterback. Good game Burgundy.

Special mention goes to Bantam Blue Patrick for his outstanding play on the defensive line and Jack Slattery for a couple of impressive runs. Also, Bobby Maloney had several pass deflections on defense and anthony intercepted one of burgundy's two pt attempts.


Bantam Purple 34, Bantam Black 19

The defending champs came out strong in their first game of 2012.

THE 2012 FLAG FOOTBALL SEASON IS HERE!

To All Flag Football Parents and Players,

Our 11th season of St. Ephrem's Flag Football kicks off on September 8.  Please go to the website for 2012 team rosters (Novice and Bantam), league schedule, and league rules.

http://stephremfootball.webs.com/

We had a record number of registrants for the 2012 season, and have added two full teams to our Novice division (7-10 yrs).  The Bantam division remains at six full teams.

With the expansion of the Novice division, one game has been added to the schedule for each week.  First games for each week will start at 8:30am, as opposed to the 9am of past seasons.  Also, the last game of each week will kick off at 1:30pm, whereas in seasons past the last game started at 1pm.

Head coaches can answer any further questions you may have about your son or daughter's team, and if you would like to reach the league office with any questions or concerns you can do so by e-mailing Joe Guarino at joeguarin@aol.com.

Thank you all for being a part of St. Ephrem Flag Football for the 2012 season and we'll see you on the field!

End Of Our 10th Season

Last Friday night, January 13, 2012, saw the conclusion to our 10th season.  On that night, all of our players & coaches were remembered for a great year, at our annual Awards Night/Pizza Party.  Trophies were presented to all of the players (110 this past season) and to the 40 All-Stars.  Additionally, the champions of each division were presented with Championship Trophies and commemorative sweat shirts.  We presented MVP awards to one outstanding player in each division, and our third annual St. Ephrem Youth Program Scholarship was also presented.

We would like to again congratulate Frank Stella for a fantastic season.  In only his second year as head coach, his Novice Blue team completed an undefeated (9 - 0) season and won the Novice Division Championship.  Congratulations also go out to Assistant Coaches; Vinny DiCupillo and Larry Sarn, All-Stars; Kellan Cohill, Anthony Coccimiglio, Matt Faicco & George Zain and the rest of the 2011 Novice Champions; Chris Coad, Michael Coccimiglio, Chris DiCupillo, Hady Farhat, Brendan Lynch, Michael Marino, Greg Sarn & Stephen Stella.

The other Novice Division coaches and teams did a great job and can be proud of playing well and having fun.  So thank you to Novice Black and coaches Justin Klug, Ken Klug & Kevin Griffin; Novice Red and coaches Joe Heron & Joe Guarino; and to Novice White and coach Steve Loff & Philipe Higginson.

In the Bantam Division, congratulations go out to coaches Joe Cavalcante & Tom Gulino and their Bantam Purple team for compiling a perfect 10 - 0 record, becoming our 2011 Bantam Division Champions. They were led by All-Stars Julius Arcaro, Andrew Cortese, Ben Gulino & Joe Nugent.  Also to be commended were Thomas Cappa, Joseph Cavalcante, Louie Mariani, Alex Micciola, Kyle Twohig & Frankie Ungaro.

The other Bantam coaches and teams all did a great job and contributed to the success of the league this season.  So thank you to Bantam Black, coached by Steve Juliano, Mark Bramante & Philipe Higginson; Bantam Blue, coached by Tony Tartaglia & Anthony Gugluizza; Bantam Burgundy, coached by Mike Skarl; Bantam Red, coached by Keith Ferrer & Bantam Silver, coached by Angelo Gnerre.

Our MVP recipients were Anthony Coccimiglio in the Novice Division & Julius Arcaro in the Bantam Division.  Both players led their undefeated teams throughout the season with outstanding all around play.  Congratulations to both boys for great seasons, we're looking forward to nothing less from both of them next year.

Our final award of the night was presented to the player that has shown outstanding growth and commitment to the league, the parish and the community.  He is a roll model for all of the players of the league and shows a "Joy of the Game", the main reason that we play.  Congratulations go out to Matt Bramante, the receipiant of our 10th Aniversary and third annual St. Ephrem Youth Program Scholarship.  Along with the plaque that was presented to Matt on Friday, a check for $750.00 will be sent to Xaverian High School, where Matt is a Sophomore. 

During the award ceremony Angelo Gnerre delivered 36 pizzas from his DaVinci Pizzeria on 18th Ave.  The great crowd at the gym, quickly devoured them, along with the soft drinks that were on hand.

Finally I would like to thank all of the parents for coming to awards and for getting involved with our Flag Football program, we know that it is because of you that we attain whatever success that we do.  Special thanks to Joe & Linda Cavalcante, Frank Spadaro, Mike Skarl, Steve Fadel, Roseanne Devito/Boccadifucco and all of the volunteers at the concession stand.  Thank you to Mitch, Ralph, Dom & Anthony; our referees. 

Registration for our 11th season will take place in June.

The next event that we will be hosting will be our annual HOOP-IT-UP tournament.  HOOP-IT-UP is 3 on 3, co-ed,  half court basketball and it will take place in the St. Ephrem Gym on Friday & Saturday March 30 & 31, 2012.  Look for registration information in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks again for a great 10th season.