The San Quentin Golden Bears scored a touchdown with 13 seconds remaining, defeating All-Madden, 21-18, to capture the Intramural Flag Football League championship.“It was fun; we won,” said Golden Bears quarterback Royce Rose.
With time running out, the Golden Bears had the football, but were losing, 18-14. A blitzing All-Madden defense pressured Rose to throw a high wobbly pass toward the end zone.
All-Madden cornerback Satinder “7” Singh misjudge the pass and missed the interception, leaving Cleo Cloman wide open. Cloman made the touchdown catch, which gave the Golden Bears the victory.
“I just waited on my number to be called; I did not play well, but it’s a team sport,” said Cloman.
The Golden Bears and All-Madden traded leads all game. With 38 seconds left in the game, All-Madden backup quarterback John Windham found wide receiver Kevin Carr on a slash route for a five-yard walkin touchdown, giving them the 18-14 lead.
This touchdown came after a miraculous catch by All-Madden wide receiver Kent Craig for 40 yards, setting up red-zone position.
Craig was All-Madden’s most explosive player, making leaping and diving catches. He had seven catches for 198 yards and one touchdown.
“Even though we lost, everybody played hard-nose football. It was the mistakes that killed us,” said Craig.
Early in the third quarter, Craig caught a fantastic 30-yard pass from Windham, leaping over Golden Bears’ cornerback Donald Ray “Texas” Walker. As Walker fell to the ground, Craig ran for an additional 40 yard, into the end zone, edging the Golden Bears, 12-7.
The first half of play showed both teams at their defensive best. All-Madden’s defense frustrated the Golden Bears running game. D. “Zayd” Nicholson, the league defensive player of the year for All-Madden, sacked Rose five times, three in the first half. Nicholson had 18 sacks for the season, averaging four per game.
The Golden Bears did manage to score before half-time. With three minutes left in the half, Rose found tight end Mario Washington on a cross play after faking a run to running back Christopher “Cutty Bo” Smith to tie the score 6-6. The Golden Bears made the one-point conversion, giving them a halftime one-point lead.
Windham stepped in to run the offensive because starting quarterback Antonio “Boobie” Cavitt was out recovering from surgery. His passing game timing was off due to little or no practice. The Golden Bears bought their own sets of blitzes and tight end coverage that helped box All-Madden in.
Golden Bears defensive end Shatka Wells sacked Windham three-times and cornerback Walker intercepted Windham once.
Like any good team, All-Madden made the proper adjustments. Windham settled in the pocket and found Craig for his first 25-yard reception, moving the chains down the field. The next play Windham used his speed and athleticism to weave though the Golden Bears, pressuring defense for a 30-yard touchdown run to open up a 6-0 lead in the first quarter.
All-Madden failed to complete any of its one-point conversion attempts, which ultimately contributed to losing the game. Those three points could have sent the game into overtime.
The Golden Bears went undefeated at 3-0 for the championship, while All-Madden finished the season 4-1.
After the game on this warm and sunny day, all the players and officials formed a circle and thanked All-Madden head coach and league Commissioner Chris Markham for salvaging the football season.
