Classic Raises Funds for Bronx Rebels

The Gridiron Elite Classic was well attended during the entire spring.  Read more

NEW YORK SPARTANS WIN CLASSIC!!!

Last year the Long Island Ravens were named the 2008 Gridiron Elite Spring Champion and in what will become tradition the torch was passed to this year champion the New York Spartans. The New York Spartans defeated the Empire State Demon Knights by a final score of 32 – 25.

It began under cloudy skies today at Gridiron Elite Stadium in the Bronx as the Spartans nearly took the opening kickoff the distance as Spartans return man #2 set the tone for the high scoring affair.  The Spartan recievers would play big on center stage on this day as #82 and #83 would compliment backs like #23 and #30 coming out of the backfield to chw up yardage and time.  The game almost got totally away from the Demon Knights, who are disappointed after a second straight appearance in the championship.  They closed the gap after menace #11 Divine Jackson hauled in a #3 pass to close the gap at the half.  The Spartan defense again played lights out when it was neccessary as they forced 3 turnovers and recorded 10 sacks on the day.  The front four led by Shawn Kellman (6 sacks) along with strong play by linebackers controlled the Demon Knights high powered ruhing attack.   

After the Spartans surrendered a late touchdown the Demon Knights attempted an onside kick to no avail and the game was sealed.  Dave Hom took home MVP honors with 4 touchdowns (3 passing and 1 rushing).  

 After the game the Gridiron staff interviewed Coach Patterson who said that the Classic was “Extraordinarily well run, a first class operation that we are proud to take part in.  This year the tournament had all of what you look for in the game of football, close games, rivalries, and good hard hitting clean play.  This is great and a major accomplishment to our entire organization, and we look forward to coming back next year”

Photos Taken by Frank Bettis, available 4 sale at games

The Gridiron Elite staff is back at work this week preparing to unveil its teams and schedules for the 09 season which includes weekly polls and standings to go along with a postseason tournament to crown a champion for the 2009 season.  Stay tuned for more announcements in the upcoming weeks.

DO OR DIE SATURDAY SEMIS

On a Saturday ”knight” in Brooklyn the Gridiron Elite Classic kicked off its playoffs in impressive style with two games that were packed with action.  The first round of playoffs mirrored the excitement of the regular season as the final four featured multiple leagues and areas being represented.  First up was the Connectcut Ravens and Empire State Demon Knights.  The Demon Knights came in as the favorite to make a return trip to the Championship. 

The evening started off with the Knights jumping out to an early lead.  The Long Islanders put up 19 points with their high powered and balanced offense and the visiting Ravens found themselves on the ropes.  If you think that action ended here it was actually only the beginning.  The Raven struck back as qurterback #10 went to the air and fired a bomb to bring the Ravens within 2 scores.  Then trading 60 yard passes the Demon Knights and Ravens both put up points with the vertical passing game.  The Ravens appeared to be climbing back into the game when #21 defensive back intercepted a Raven illadvised pass and raced down the home sideline to paydirect sealing the fate off coming up hort of the big game for the crew from the Constitution State, and setting up a date for redemption for the Demon Knights.  

Demon Knights 33 – Ravens 26 

Underdogs by everyones account, but champions by pedigree.  The Spartans did tonight what they have been doing in their very short history, winning when it matters.  The newest chapter in Spartan lore took place in Brooklyn against the 5-0 Bay Knights.  A team that not only had not seen defeat, but hadn’t even been challenged and an overwhelming favorite to take the Championship of the Gridiron Elite Classic.

The first half was very different from the first time that these two teams met.  After Bay Knight quarterback #4 scrambled around across the field he heaved a prayer up that was caught for a score.  Bay Knights 7 Spartans 0.  This is where the game could have gotten away from the Crimson.  “We caught a bad break on the jump ball and with the holding going on up front there wan’t much we could do.  We just sucked it up and worked to get it back.” said Coach Patterson after the game.  Indeed the partans would again work their way back from a deficit when Dave Hom connected with Rashid Darrisaw on a 65 yard touchdown pass, The conversion was stopped and the score remained 7-6. 

As the teams battled back and forth for field position through the fourth quarter, the defense locked the potent Bay Knight spread attack down, not surrendering a second half point for the second time against the Bay Knights and for the fourth time in the last five games.  Solid performances were put in by the front four, with Stefon Luckey back from injury, Skyler Hayes, Ed Mantell and Louis Sabeuteur providing pressure that the Bay Knights had not dealt with this spring.  Pete Morerva sacked MVP candidate Gerald Wilson 3 times, and cornerback Cody Green came up with a interception that set up the thrilling final drive.  Dave Hom found Elliot Swint for a huge first down deep in enemy territory.  Then Hom found Sheldon Davis over the middle to paydirt and all of a sudden the boys from Brooklyn found themselves trailin for the first time in the Classic.  A last gasp drive resulted in Rashid Darrisaw intercepting a pass to clinch the win and a spot in the Championship game.  A third place finish last year, 2nd in the BNEFF last fall,  ?  Whats next for season 3?  Coach Patterson on the win, “The guys came ready to play, they knew that nobody thought they could win, but hey your never an underdog if you knew you could win from the beginning”.  The Championship is a rematch between the Spartans and the Empire State Demon Knights.  Last week the Spartans came back in thriling fashion after being down 14-0 to upend the Knights 22-14.

GET YOUR DVD TODAY

Gridiron Elite Football in conjunction with, Frank Bettis Photos, InMotion Sports and GE Films is bringing you “SEASON 2″ a complete DVD on the 2nd Annual Gridiron Elite Spring Classic. Get all the mini shows in full scene video, exclusive photos, behind the scene interviews, full game video and nobody does highlight films better than InMotion Sports. Follow the teams into the playoffs and watch the Gridiron Elite crown its second champion all on video. Over 2 hours of video and tons of photos get your copy of “SEASON 2″ Today.

 

Order your copy for 19.95

Please allow 3-4 weeks for delivery.

Spring Classic – Mini Show #4 from Gridiron Elite on Vimeo.

LET THE PLAYOFFS BEGIN

The 2nd Annual Gridiron Elite Spring Classic will come down to the wire take a look at the playoff match ups below:

Game 1: 5PM – May 9th – Kings Bay Field

CT Ravens (3-2) host The Empire State Demon Knights (3-2)

This will be the first match up for these 2 teams as the tourney heats up so do the games.

Game 2: 8PM – May 9th – Kings Bay Field

Bay Knights (5-0) host The NY Spartans (3-2)

Can the young Spartans playing better into the playoffs derail the Bay Knights in playoff action.

Please promote this game as NYC Spring Football hasn’t been this exciting in some time.

NEW NAME – SAME RESULTS – PUNISHERS BIG

The Nassau Punishers a new program out of Long Island looked so much like the LI Ravens the smash mouth right in your face group from Roosevelt on Sunday at Gridiron Elite Stadium. If you felt the same way no fears as the Punishers are the current product by Coach Jim and his staff, so many of the same faces the same results as the Punishers tamed the Lions in a 31-7 victory. The Punishers looked like a polished group as the rival that was the Ravens versus the Pitbulls seemed to pass on to this macthup. The Punishers punt return game put them in great position all day as Travis Jinx #9 continued to do what he has been known for help his team win anyway possible.

 

The PUNISHERS PLAY BIG from Gridiron Elite on Vimeo.

WEEK 5 – COMEBACK SUNDAY

After a tough first quarter in the Bronx, the skies opened up and so did the Spartan attack.  The Spartans knew coming in that the playoffs were a lock and the Bay Knights are the opponent next week.  With that in mind, the only thing the Spartans had to play for was pride, and that was enough on this day.  The Demon Knights, who handed the Spartans their first loss last year in their inaugural game last year on a last second score were back for round 2.  The rematch looked as though it would go the way of the visitors from Long Island as the Demon Knights came out and blocked a punt for a touchdown (Demon Knights 7- Spartans 0).  The Spartans had a second punt blocked and this time a Demon Knight tailback scampered on a toss play from 30 yards out (Demon Knights 14- Spartans 0)

The first quarter ended and so did Spartan futility, with quarterback Dave Hom moving the Spartans down the field behind an offensive line that started to dominate the line of scrimmage.  LA Augustin, Charls Hutchinson, and Naheem Henry running hard.  Reuben Kearse dropped the hammer from the fullback position and ran through the Red line of the Demon Knights and momentum started to shift (Demon Knights 14 – Spartans 6).

The Spartans defense stood strong before the half, and with under 2 minutes left gave the ball back to the offense to work.  In a  masterful two minute drill, Offensive Coordinator Dion Young mixed in the runs and passes and the Crimson offense executed.  Culminating with Sam Akinrinade, 2 time player of the week, to haul in a touchdown pass from Hom.  After Kearse barrelled into the end zone on the conversion try, the game was suddenly knotted at 14.

The third quarter saw a tense battle for field position as both teams turned over the ball multiple times in the second half as the rain fell.  The Demon Knights drove deep into Spartan territory twice, with the Spartan defense yielding no points.  The offense had turned the ball over inside their own red zone, again the defense held.  After penalties put the Demon Knights in field goal range, the attempted kick sailed wide left, still no points.  The Spartans got the ball back late in the fourth quarter.  On a big 3rd down and long, Derrick Harris took an inside route and found his way past the sticks to keep the drive alive.  Rookie Elliot Swint showed he is going to be tough to deal with as well when he caught a screen and picked up valuable yardage.  After 3 near misses on the Hom to Akinrinade connection,  a familar sight as number 83 sailed by a Demon Knight corner and raced 50 yards for the for ahead score.  Kearse again provided the power on the conversion Spartans 22- Demon Knights 14).  Cody Green intercepted the attempted comeback prayer as the Spartans go into the rematch with the Bay Knights on a high note.  “We came out flat and the first quarter was as bad of a start as you can get, these guys showed a lot of character and are maturing by learning how to manage changes in momentum and staying focused on the task at hand ” said Coach Patterson, “you see the guys that you can rely on and go to war with when you experience tough times, these guys that we have here are guys that we are confident can work together to overcome obstacles and stick together, thats what worked for us today”.

Article provided by the New York Spartans Staff

Stay tuned for coverage on the Hudson Valley – NJ Spartans Game.

Spartans win 16 – Cowboys 14

WEEK 5 – WIN OR GO HOME

The Tourney has been a dog fight as some times came out of the gate strong and others fizzled at the end but one thing is for sure every game on the schedule needed to be played to name the playoff teams this season. “The tournament was great, each team played hard and they are to be commended for their efforts”, says tournament staff member Billy Badson. The tournaments last weekend began with a chance with 4 different teams to make the playoffs.

BROOKLYN BULLDOGS VERSUS CT RAVENS

We start our coverage with the Ct.Ravens hosting the Brooklyn Bulldogs at Kings Bay. The Ravens jumped out to a early lead during the first half scoring early and often. The Ravens seemed to have the game clearly in their grasp. Early interceptions by #23 from the Ravens and stingy defense would open up a huge 20-0 halftime lead.

The Ravens an exclusive Gridiron Spring Classic team are a gritty bunch from the Central Ct. area who came with the mission of securing their conference championship may have put it in cruise control a little too early. The Ravens came out secured a quick score and just like that the score was 26-0. “You were watching the game and couldn’t help but to think this one was over”, said a Bulldog fan after the game.

In classic Gridiron fashion the underdog Brooklyn Bulldogs owned and lead by Eric Johnson refused to quit and fought right back into the game scoring what seemed like a drop in the bucket being down by 26 points the score was soon 26-8 Ravens. But wait the Bulldogs picked up their defense and just like that they were threating to score again and quickly pulled the score to 26-14. Could the Bulldogs get it done could they come all the way back.

The Ravens seemed to struggle to match the intensity of the Buulldogs during the second half and after an interception the Bulldogs had the ball back and marched right down the field scoring on a long run off the left side pulling within a TD to the CT Ravens, 26-20. “If the game was broken down into 2 halfs you would 2 winners as the Ravens played great during the first half and the Bulldogs played just as well during the second half” said Charles Moore a Ravens Fan. The Ravens struggled again and were forced to kick the ball right back to the Bulldogs with time running out. The Bulldogs had there final hopes at winning the game squashed by #23 pulling in his third INT of the game sealing the fate of the Bulldogs and moving his team into the Gridiron Playoffs for the first time with the win.

Stay tuned for additional coverage here at Gridiron Elite

NY VENOM VERSUS BAY KNIGHTS

The weather was chilly tonight but the Bay Knights seemed unaffected by the chill and actually came out on fire versus the Venom. The score added up quickly as within a few short plays as regular season tournament MVP #4 Gerald “G-Block” Wilson broke free on a QB run of 45 yards for the games first score. Knights 7 – Venom 0. No worries if you haven’t made it to your seat or arrived at the game as the Venom who were clearly under staffed had no answer for Mr. Excitement. “The Venom played hard all night, never complained and played clean” said staff member James Simpson. Wilson controlled the game in so many ways running and passing for multiple touchdowns during the first half.

The Knights were firing on all cylinders with tough running from #36 Nicky “DA N-Train”, and great defense by the Knights. Interceptions by several players capped any chance for the Venom to pull close in this game as Kevin “The Snake” pulled a ball out of the sky and deep and dogged his way to the endzone securing a perfect record for the Knights and a #1 seeded. Final score Knights 35 – Venom 0.

REGULAR SEASON 2 IN THE BOOKS

The Gridiron Elite Staff would like to thank all the teams and fans for supporting the 2009 Spring Classic. As the tournaments regular season has drawn to a close  all the games entering week 5 needed to be played to name the teams that would move into the playoff rounds. This tournament is successful not because of the people running the event but each teams pride in representing their organizations during play. In 2 seasons the tournament will have played 44 great football games and helped hundreds of young children experience the dream of playing football. On behalf of the Bronx Rebels and Kings Bay Youth Football we would like to thank the NY Venom, Empire State Demon Knights, Hudson Valley Cowboys, NJ Spartans, Bay Knights, CT Ravens, NY Spartans, LI Panthers and the Brooklyn Bulldogs on a job well done.