Maryland State

State News and Updates

1st Annual Early Bird Invitational was a Success!

TOURNAMENT PICTURES ON YOUTUBE.COM

Congratulations to the Baltimore Scorpions for winning the 1st Early Bird Invitational at Rockburn Branch Park February 16 &17 2008.

The Baltimore Scorpions held off the Baltimore Blaze 12-8 in a vicious nail biter under the lights to take home the Gold….

Tournament Accolades:  “These guys are good!”

Early Bird Tournament MVP – Scorpions QB Greg Proctor aka “G”:

Proctor came thru in the clutch each and every time his team needed him. G was calm and cool throughout the tournament and led the Scorpions to the end zone in each game when it counted the most, including a triple overtime victory on a 4th down miracle to come from behind against the Blaze in the Semi Final “undefeated” match-up. Great job Ambassador!

Co-Defensive Tournament MVP’s – Jacques Laboon DB  “Young Joc” & Lee Folks DL “Big Lee”:

 For the Blaze, safety Jacques Laboon had at least five interceptions, but who’s counting?  His “Two a Game” diet makes the Blaze a threat in every game no matter the score and situation. Young Joc is for Real!

Co Defensive MVP Blaze DE/NG “Big Lee” unlike many big bashers who sometimes tire towards the end of a long tourney, he seemed to get better as the games went on.

Menacing some of the best offensive lines from four states, while ripping off multiple sacks in each of the five games, speaking only three words the entire weekend; Let’s Go Blaze….. Big Lee leading by example like a true Veteran.

Co Offensive MVP – Lonzell Offut QB “Zell” from Ryde Out & WR Melvin Perry for the Scorpions:

Ryde Out Quarterback Zell had ten touch down passes, two rushing TD’s, and a ton of yards rushing/scrambling in five games. With solid play from Ryde Out’s offensive line, Zell tortured many defenses, rolling and scrambling all over the field. 

His craftiness in and out of the pocket was complimented by a strong arm once he got outside and the downfield coverage began to breakdown.  He did throw four “pickles” but they came in the 2nd half in each of two battles against the Blaze. This guy is definitely a baller.

Co Offensive MVP Melvin Perry of the Scorpions had seven touchdown receptions; many of them were game winners from the gutsy Greg Proctor.  Perry is a big time player and comes thru when the game is on the line.  It is no wonder that Mel is a favorite target for QB Greg Proctor.

Honorable Mentions (Top 4 Teams) 

Scorpions

Scorpion Offensive Line for protection when it counted

Kyle Johnson Def – Punishing Nose Guard

Alvin “Tiger” Booze for Special Teams Tackles

Brandon Scarborough – Leadership, heart, field coverage; and does he miss a tackle, and what about Special Teams?! 

Big Rick (00) for the game saving impossible tackle in the Championship Game on a Pick or was it a punt (great stop either way) that had six plus two written all over it.

The Blaze had there TD Celebration when Young Joc came thru the pack, flags still on with just one giant man to beat, which would have put them up two scores. Great tackle Rick!

Blaze

Derrick Dixon (Off/Def/Special Teams) and even trash talking, yes he can do it all.  Do you have to score every time you touch the ball Dawg?

Mike Fitzgerald QB poise under fire. Blaze line played tough but had some holes from time to time and Fitz took some shots throughout the tourney. But the offense stuck together and got the job done for the most part, they were just one score short of victory in the finals, and got the lead numerous times in a triple overtime loss in the UD game. 

Blaze Defensive Line for most of the tourney was just lights out. 

All-Met Rick for Offense and Defense, he came from the woods on both days and gave a full tournament worth of play in ¾ of the games, only to vanish back into the night before they could close the deal. Perhaps leaving the Blaze one or two plays short of a chance at Glory.

Ryde Out

Marlon Little (DE) - Average three sacks per game, bruising guards and tight ends on the corner.

Louis Baldwin (DE/KR) – Average three sacks per game, he also had several big kick returns, including one for a touchdown.

Jovelle Tillman (WR) – five touchdown receptions for the tournament. Not bad for two days work.

Martech           Detailed information to follow.

1. Special Thanks to our Early Bird Volunteer Staff

Lezette Young - Tournament Hostess with the smile that makes the whole world happy, Brian Adkins and Jon Karp, assistant Tournament Directors/Bracket Managers, the Lovely Blazettes in attendance and that jerk in the red hat who shut down field six one game early. Also, I would like to thank John McGraw for recruiting, Messay Hailemariam for securing the fields, and all nine team owners who helped with recruiting as well. I would like to send a special thanks to “Play it Again Sports” for their sponsorship and accessories.  Great job everyone!!

1. Thank you to everyone who attended especially the coaches and the players.

1. We conducted ourselves like professionals, and proved that comrade and competition can co-exist when the best of the best compete at the proper venue.
2. All nine teams of our respective leagues are the new class of 9man football and are ready for the next level.
3. We had an incident and injury free event.  Thank you!
4. There were 270 men crashing into and trying to pound each other into submission during each play and only seconds later helping one another off the ground in between the whistle and snap. For those who had to work on Monday and are in pain, but not injured, we should all thank each other for that.
5. We also had EMS/paramedics less than 3 minutes away, aware of our event in case of an emergency. We would not have had to dial 911, as we had a direct line to the dispatcher.
6. We kept the place clean and left it exactly as we found it, which is imperative for our future. The Howard County staff thanked me and would be happy to have us back.  We succeeded in the first step towards rebuilding Flag Football’s reputation, as it is not easy to impress Howard County when it comes to men’s sporting events. I now have access to those two fields and four others just like them in the area, and can begin to negotiate future scheduling. 
7. This will be a yearly event and due to popular demand, we WILL do it “Pool” play style next year.  I apologize to those who were confused by the elimination tournament style.  In the future we would request for all team managers to stay in communication with the booth at all times to avoid these and other issues. I will continue to distribute the brackets before the event and several times leading up to it.  They will also be handed out at the check in table.   Please make sure I have updated information on all persons who will need to receive such information.   I will also make sure I post the official game rules clearly on site so they are easily accessible.  Stay tuned for update on whether or not Union points will be awarded to all EB teams for WC2, or Regional/State Qualifier.

1. MCFFU World Championship 3 (WC3) Announcement:
1. The World Championships will be in VA Beach this year instead of Dallas
2. There will be 9man A & B
3. 4man, 5man and several other styles
4. Plan for this WC2 in VA Beach 2008 as the opposite of Orlando in January
5. Select winners from each state will get help with expenses for Dallas/Vegas in 2009

1. State and Regional Qualifier The State Qualifier will be sometime in the next 45-90 days (Our next 2 tourneys over the next 6 months).

1. Early Bird (EB) Discount - All Teams that played in the Early Bird will get $25 off entry fee at our State or Regional qualifier, and another $25 off for the top four teams from this tourney. (It may not seem like much but it will cost us $325)

1. EB Pictures/ Reduced Pricing – Team Owner Pricing: $75 for a Full CD ($65 if you made it to the final 4) and $65 for a Photo Album, $55 to the final 4 Owners.
1. Please call/email to discuss, as there are other options.
2. Here is a teaser link with some Low Res Saturday footage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OztQh8iJoE

1. Tournament Feedback Submission: Please submit all tournament questions, comments, suggestions for the future, etc to rbowman@mcffu.com and put EB Feedback & “Your Team Name” in the subject field.   All responses are welcome. Please forward this info to your teams. Please discuss the officials in your email, as we need as much feedback as possible moving forward.

Please contact me for more information or questions.  (If you call from an unknown or blocked #, I probably won’t answer so please leave a message)

Thanks to all who participated and please feel free to provide a copy of this to your respective websites and other media outlets. The more exposure the better!

9man Football is alive and stronger than ever…………

Thanks again,

Ryan Bowman

MD State Director

MCFFU/USSSA

www.mcffu.com

(443) 277-7418