Matt Albert
TFL Press
CHAMPAIGN--Team D overcame huge odds and an equally huge point spread to capture their first win of the season as they outlasted Team A 42-35. And it only took 5 overtimes to do it. The longest game in TFL history ended when Scott Wujek found Jon Huffman in the end zone for the go ahead score followed by a defensive stop to finish off Team A on the very next play.
It was the first victory of the year for Team D (1-1), and it also kept them in the hunt for the championship game. With an 0-2 start looming before the beginning of the game, a win was absolutely necessary for their league title hopes.
But it never would have happened if it were not for one of Team D's many rookies. Team D received a stellar defensive showing from Glenn Eikenberry in his TFL debut. Eikenberry dived and intercepted a Quinn Fuechsl pass in the end zone with 46 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime with the teams tied at 21. "I was thinking just make a defensive stop or else we don't go into overtime. I was in the right place and it turned out great. It was kind of nice," said Eikenberry. The pickoff was his third of the game and his second in the final five minutes of regulation.
Team A (1-1) won the toss before overtime and surprisingly decided to go against conventional strategy by taking the ball first. Usually, a team will choose to go on defense to start overtime to see what they need to meet or beat. But it didn't matter as Team A started the first overtime scoring with a 4 yard touchdown pass from Fuechsl to Andy Gradl. That made it 28-21. The touchdown came after 2 incomplete passes and a 6 yard run by Fuechsl.
Team D only needed one play to answer right back. Wujek ran the ball for a 10 yard score to tie the game at 28. Neither team was able to score in double overtime. But Team A nearly ended it when Eric Tolar caught a Fuechsl pass 2 yards from the endzone. Wujek made the game saving tackle. Triple overtime began with Fuechsl lofting a 10 yard pass to Brad Wheaton in the back left corner of the end zone to make it 35-28 for Team A. Team A had yet another chance to put it away as they forced Team D into a fourth down situation. But Wujek found the defensive hero Eikenberry for a 2 yard pass that tied the game at 35.
At this point, the college overtime rules were abandoned and the teams went to a one play sudden death format. The fourth overtime had no scoring as both Wujek and Fuechsl threw incomplete passes. The fifth overtime began with a 5 yard pass from Wujek to Huffman to make it 42-35 for Team D. Fuechsl had one last gasp, but his pass bounced off the fingertips of Brad Wheaton and gave Team D the much needed win.
"There were just too many dropped passes because I didn't throw the best balls today. It was a tough game to lose," said losing quarterback Fuechsl. Fuechsl was 11/33 for 64 passing yards and ran the ball six times for 35 yards. His counterpart, Wujek, also had a mediocre day through the air going 7/35 for just 32 yards. However, Wujek had more success on the ground with 9 rushes for 48 yards, none bigger than the 10 yard scoring play in the first overtime.
Wheaton had a great day catching the ball with the exception of the final play. He caught 4 balls for 36 yards and led all receivers. Huffman provided the spark for Team D as he had 5 catches for 26 yards. Wujek led all players with 3 touchdowns on the day, and he also passed for 2 more.
Game Notes
Team A was visibly hampered from the start of the game when they learned that last week's hero, Joe Griglione, would not play in the game. Griglione was suspended just hours before kickoff when he failed a random TFL drug test. He tested positive for 24 different kinds of performance enhancing drugs and also barely completed the test because of his heavy inebriation. He was also found to have some Oreo cookies and Pringles in his system, but neither are on the TFL's list of banned substances. Griglione could not be reached for comment and served his suspension today...Andy Gradl had a fine defensive effort for Team A with 2 sacks...The total attendance for the game was 3 in the first half, but it ballooned to 17 when Teams B and C showed up to watch the overtime. Also included were the 2 people who wanted to know what club we were...
Eikenberry's three interceptions are the second most in a TFL debut (Braker, 4)...The funniest trash talking came before the fourth overtime when Katrina Willitz complained about having homework to do and wanting the game to be over. A voice from the crowd immediately responded by saying, "You could just lose on purpose." Without a witty retort, Willitz was reduced to mere giggling. There is no word on whether it affected her gameplay in the fourth and fifth overtimes...The teams were treated to a fly over at the midpoint of the first half. No one seemed to care.
All photos courtesy of TFL photographer and scraped leg sufferer Michelle Lewis.
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