With their ticket to the JCC of Bayonne’s Indoor Flag Football Senior Division championship round already in hand, the Eagles (7-2) had two more regular season games remaining. At (4-7), the Chargers had all the offensive and defensive weapons needed to make a title run, but a lack of consistency dodged them all season. In the early going, the Chargers looked sharp as James Johnson barreled in for the game’s first TD. The Eagles quickly answered with a 15-yard run by Anthony “TD” Morrone.
Tied at 6 all, the Chargers went to the air as QB Janaaron Aquino sailed a 30-yard TD strike to Jan Patrick Egan, making it 12-6, Chargers. Once again, the Eagles countered with a TD toss, this time via coast-to-coast missile from QB James Bajor to Anthony Morrone to knot things up at 12-12.Just moments before halftime, the Eagles’ defense turned the tide as Adrianna Morrone, Justin DeCicco and Ryan Ballance stalled the Chargers’ offense on three straight plays. The Eagles then cashed in as James Bajor hauled in a TD pass, followed by Anthony Morrone’s two-point grab, making it 20-12, Eagles.
It took the Chargers just two plays to deadlock the fray at 20 all as Michael Tedesco sprinted zone-to-zone for a TD and Malachi Smith tacked on a two-point catch. Neither team was ready to back down as the fireworks continued with fullback Ryan Ballance hauling the ball to paydirt and James Bajor reeling in a two-point laser. Leading 28-20, the Eagles’ Anthony Morrone spoiled the Chargers’ TD quest by picking off a pass at half-court. Moments after Morrone’s one-handed snare, the Eagles’ offense struck again as Tyler Cholankeril pulled in a 15-yard TD pass while James Bajor’s two-point catch made it 36-20, Eagles.
The Chargers weren’t about to go quietly into the night and after two key receptions by Jaime Betancur, the Chargers’ Malachi Smith’s 10-yard TD catch and James Johnson’s diving two-point grab made it an eight-point game at 36-28, Eagles. The Chargers found themselves with one last shot but a goal-to-goal TD attempt fell just out of reach as the Eagles survived for a 36-28 victory.