The Cartel
7-Man Indoor War Champions
The five team "7-Man Indoor War," concluded on Saturday, Dec. 30th. The final team standing with the hardware to take back to their sponsor, "Queen City Nutrition" (www.queencitynutrition.com) was The Cartel. The Cartel are co-captained by Dwayne Ballard and Shawn Kriby. Dwayne and Shawn brought a short handed but experienced team to the tournament ready to play. After being down 18-6 at half, in their first game vs. the Fighting Armadillos, The Cartel overcame the 12 point deficit and never trailed from that point forward. They capped off the tournament with an impressive dismantling of an undermanned and exhausted Eagles team captained by Ron Dossenback. When asked after the championship game about The Cartel, Ron summed up his opinion in two words: "damn good." He went on to say, "they were impressive and you could tell that they have been playing with each other for a while."
The Eagles found their way to the finals, with an impressive second half come from behind victory over the Fighting Armadillos. Andy Stuckert, captain of the Fighting Armadillos, brought a very game bunch of guys to the field. Many of them having college football experience at Hanover College and Vanderbilt. A former college roomate/teamate of Jay Cutler (Denver Broncos-QB), was making his flag football debut, starting on the offensive line for the Fighting Armadillos. Once again, fatigue and exhaustion played a role in their inability to hold off the Eagles in the second half of the consolation finals.
The Cartel named tournament MVPs: (Pictures can be viewed online at www.cincyflag.net.)
Offensive MVPs: The O-Line
Defensive MVPs: The D-Line
Other teams competing in the tournament were the Mud Dawgs, co-captained by Josh Griffin and Gordon Harrison. The Dirty Dawgs captained by Wes Carney rounded out the field of five.
Once again we would like to congratulate The Cartel. Good luck at the USFTL Nationals. We would also like to thank everyone that played a role in the tournament success; coaches, players, families and friends.