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Few were surprised when the Championship game of the "A" League tournament featured two of the most established and decorated teams of the IFFL in the CCR Novas and Lazy Sundae. Lazy Sundae entered the game undefeated, at the top of the polls all year, and was a slight favorite over CCR after surviving a 3 OT classic against the Rhinos in the semis. The Novas, who have made seven straight IFFL final fours, had the gang all back for their playoff run and were riding the momentum of a 6 game winning streak. Something had to give at Hook Rd. field on Sunday. CCR won the coin toss and elected to receive, a strategic decision aimed at getting an early lead and pressuring Lazy to keep up. A dropped kickoff put the Novas in a hole, but they recovered and went on a nice scoring drive with QB John Hering hitting C Chris Mack twice to get into scoring position. The disciplined Lazy Sundae defense held firm in the red zone though, stifling three straight attempts by the Novas from the 1 yard line. Without a reliable kicker, the Novas eschewed a field goal try and went for it on fourth down. They finally penetrated the defense when Hering avoided a hard rush and found RB Pete Angstadt all alone on the left side for a TD. The extra point kick was wide left though (validating the Novas decision to go for it on 4th down) and CCR had an early 6-0 lead. Lazy began the next drive at their 19 and marched down the field on the strength of their short passing game, converting a crucial fourth down along the way. Once inside the red zone, Sundae struck for the tying TD on a nice skinny post route between two Novas defenders. The extra point try was good and Lazy led 7-6. The Novas got the ball back with three minutes left on the clock and on the second play from scrimmage Hering hit WR Dan Lordan on an out-and-up pattern and Lordan was off to the races. It looked like Lordan was going in for the score, but Lazy DB Yusef (SEF81) ran him down in spectacular fashion and made the flag pull at the 1 yard line. CCR capitalized anyway on the next play when Hering scampered in on a QB keeper making the score 12-7. The Novas elected to go for two and converted when G Tom White hit WR Dave Szczesniak in the back of the endzone for the 14-7 lead. Lazy then went on a frantic, no-huddle drive in a desperate attempt to score before the halftime whistle. At about the Novas 20 with 12 seconds to go and no timeouts left, Lazy QB Von completed a sideline pattern and his WR eluded a flag-pull and got out of bounds with 5 seconds remaining. Within chip shot range, Lazy went for the field goal and converted to make the halftime score CCR 14- Lazy 10. Lazy took the second half kick-off with Yusef taking over the QB duties, and again the Novas defense seemed to have no answer for Lazy`s short passing game. Several nice catch-and-pitch plays put Lazy at midfield, and the drive culminated on a 50-yard, catch-and-run, double-pass play complete with another pitch and several missed flag pulls. The extra point was good and Lazy had a 17-14 lead. The Novas looked poised to respond as the offense trotted out for the next series. Starting at their 19, they went on a long, time consuming drive using an assortment of plays to get into Lazy Sundae territory. CCR looked to be in good position to tie or go ahead when they faced first and goal from the Lazy 19. That`s when the Sundae Defense stiffened starting with a key sack on first down that put the Novas in a second and goal from the 22 situation. More pressure from the defensive line forced Hering from the pocket and he slipped trying to shovel a pass to a CCR lineman. On third down Hering overthrew WR Ty Byrd which brought up 4th and goal. With no kicking option CCR called timeout to set up their final play. With the championship on the line, Hering took the snap, rolled right and then threw a screen pass back to G White who scanned the field desperately trying to find an open receiver. When the Lazy pressure finally came White rifled a pass towards the back of the end zone only to see it sail over the head of his well-covered receiver. Lazy took over with less than two minutes left and on third down QB Von scrambled for the clinching first down. Lazy kneeled on the ball and the championship was theirs while CCR was left to ponder and play the "what-if" game. Congratulations to Lazy Sundae on a fantastic season and a well-played championship game. It seemed that whoever`s defense came up with the first stop was going to win and that`s the way it played out. We look forward to seeing you guys in Arlington and Fairfax in the Fall.