By John Evanko

Hundreds of avid supporters crowded the sidelines as Sigma Chi looked to cap off its undefeated season with a flag football championship and avenge last year’s semi-final loss to Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
SAE had different plans.
After losing in the championship game last year, they were settling for nothing less than first place.
Throughout the game, dominant pass rushes from both teams kept the offenses at bay.
“It was definitely difficult finding receivers with so much defense attacking,” said Joe Elliott, quarterback for SAE.
Pass rusher Gary Palmisano led SAE with three of their five sacks.
“In a game like this, you can lose the game on one play. I just tried to put as much pressure on the quarterback as I could so they wouldn’t have the opportunity to make that play.” Palmisano said.
The first decent shot at putting points on the board came late in the first half. SAE had the ball in the red zone, but Elliott’s pass was picked off by Andrew Warmath on the two-yard line.
The defensive showdown continued throughout the second half.
With little time remaining in the game, SAE had the ball on the Sigma Chi three-yard line on third down with a touchdown seeming imminent. However, a goal line stand sent the game into overtime with the score locked at 0-0.
In overtime, Sigma Chi scored on their first possession. Quarterback Brady Webster tossed a shovel pass to Tyler Gaebler who ran in for the touchdown.
Sigma Chi could not convert on the extra point and it was SAE’s turn to retaliate. A sack on second down by Kent Blackburn left SAE with third and fifteen. On the next play, Joe Elliott hit a leaping Justin Canty in the back of the end zone.
“That was the play of the game,” Elliot said. “We had to score right there. I had been overthrowing the ball all night, but he went up and got that one. Without that play, we lose the game.”
However, SAE was not able to convert on the extra point, and the game went into a second overtime.
In the second overtime, Sigma Chi’s attempt to score failed as Webster’s pass was intercepted by middle linebacker Taylor Everett.
“I had been reading his eyes all game, and I was finally able to get to this one,” Everett said.
Now it was SAE’s shot to score. On third down, Elliott hit Everett slashing through the middle of the end zone, to win the game.
“The play was designed to the corner, but that wasn’t open so I cut back to the middle and Joe hit me to win the game,” Everett said.
After an offensively frustrating regulation, Elliott credits his ability to stay confident to his fraternity.
“It’s easy to stay up with your entire fraternity behind you,” Elliott said.  
In the women’s closed division, Chi Omega quarterback Chelsea Bell left the game with a knee injury and her team down 7-6. Delta Zeta added another touchdown and went on to win 14-6.
In the campus division, Pi Kappa Alpha was able to avenge their regular season loss to the Unitas Tower Kings. The UT Kings were plagued by four interceptions as Pi Kappa Alpha coasted to a 25-0 victory.
In the men’s open A division, 3-peat won their third straight championship in convincing fashion, defeating The Syphers 32-7.
In the men’s open B division, Fully Equipped battled Team 4.0. Down 18-14 with just three seconds remaining, Team 4.0 had the ball deep in Fully Equipped territory. On the last play of the game, quarterback John Alford rolled out right and hit Ryan Nebel in the corner end zone to win the game.
Receiver Ryan Nebel was confident all along. “They still don’t have an answer for me,” he said.