The Wake

There are no trophies, no medals and no award ceremonies involved. All that’s on the line for the intramural flag-football championship is pride and a t-shirt.

It was the Spartans and Juice box battling it out for the championship on the dirt of Bierman fields on a chilly October 26th night.

Juice Box lost twice during the regular season, both ending on the last play of the game. So when the A-League Championship came down to the last play, anxiety filled the winter air.

And that anxiety soon turned to disappointment after a converted extra point gave the Spartans a 27-26 victory in double overtime.

With the game tied 20-20 after regulation, the Spartans got the ball first in the overtime period. In overtime, each team gets four plays from the 20-yard line to try and score followed by an extra-point conversion. Both teams’ defenses held strong in the first overtime and forced a second.

Juice Box wasted no time in the second overtime. Quarterback Mike “Dubs” Winegar scrambled in for the go-ahead touchdown. But the critical extra point attempt went incomplete leaving an opportunity for the Spartans.

And they took full advantage.

On fourth and one, Spartan quarterback Matt Hoese fired a strike to Chris Alba in the side of the end zone tying the game at 26. Hoese then lobbed a pass in the end zone to Dan Niebuhr for the extra point and the championship.

“I basically just ran an out and Matt [Hoese] threw it to my outside shoulder. I dragged my foot and fell on my face,” Alba said of his touchdown catch.

Hoese, who teammates jokingly call “the new-age Mike Vick” because of his speed (or lack there of), got into an early rhythm with a 55-yard gallop for touchdown on the first Spartan drive. Winegar struck back with a touchdown pass to Bobby Riepe in the back of the end zone but the extra-point attempt failed leaving Juice Box behind 7-6.

The first half ended when Spartan bad boy Ian Gilquist halted a Juice-Box drive by intercepting a Winegar pass. Gilquist, who is renowned for his multiple-penalty performances, came off the field emphatically claiming he has some speed despite his burly 6-foot-3-inch, 240-pound frame.

Gilquist continued his athletic play with an extra-point reception after Matt Sullivan hauled in a 35-yard strike from Hoese on the opening drive of the second half. Then Winegar was sacked on consecutive plays by Gilquist, who teammates say makes the big plays but leads the league in penalties.

But Winegar didn’t succumb to the Spartan lead or rigorous pass rush. He scrambled in for one of his four touchdowns of the contest and completed the two-point conversion to Justin Fritz tying the game at 14. And after an interception, Winegar continued the barrage by completing another touchdown pass giving Juice Box a 20-14 lead.

The Spartans answered quickly with a sharp drive down the field, tying the game at 20 heading into overtime.

And the rest was an all too familiar ending for Juice Box.

“This was the best team we’ve played all year and it was a helluva good time,” Winegar said. “We don’t play in overtime too often but we ran out of gas and didn’t convert our extra points.”

The Spartans attributed their victory to a grueling off-season workout regiment.

“Those two-a-days in October were tough but they paid off,” Niebuhr joked.

This championship victory served as redemption for the Spartans who bowed out in the first round last season.

“After a tough season, it feels good to be on top,” Chris Zobrack said.

Though the Spartans won’t need to build trophy cases anytime soon, they already have their uniforms for next season; shirts that read, “2003 Intramural Champions.”