THE ATENEO Blue Raiders placed fourth in the recently-concluded Intercollegiate 5s Tournament, a flag football tournament organized by the University of the Philippines (UP) Guerillas, on Sunday, September 23, at the UP Sunken Garden in Diliman, Quezon City.
Flag Football is a non-physical version of American Football that requires four to nine players on each side depending on the variation. Unlike American Football or “tackle football”, players are not allowed to tackle opposing players. Instead, the defensive team must remove a flag from the person carrying the ball, in a move called deflagging, in order to end a down.
Teams from different colleges and universities participated in this tournament which aimed to unite the collegiate flag football community. The seven teams that participated include the UP Guerillas, the De La Salle University (DLSU) Tyrants, the Immaculada Concepcion College (ICC) Blue Hawks, the New Era University (NEU), the Juggernauts Flag Football Team, San Beda University (SBU) Red Lions, and the Ateneo Blue Raiders.
The Blue Raiders kicked off the tournament in a jittery fashion as they fell to the UP Guerillas in a tight match, 12-18. However, gaining more composure, the Blue and White squad bounced back to dominate the ICC Blue Hawks, 57-0.
Following their commanding win, the Blue Raiders overturned a strong DLSU side, 20-0. The Katipunan-based squad then finished off the elimination round with a 20-12 drubbing of NEU.
Entering the semi-finals with a 3-1 record, the Blue Raiders had their sights set on the championship. An opposition touchdown in the dying seconds of their semi-finals bout against the Juggernauts relegated the Blue Raiders to a battle for third place as the match finished 19-20. Hoping to secure at least a third place finish, the Blue Raiders fought hard in the battle for third match but ultimately fell to NEU, 13-22.
Despite failing to achieve a podium finish, Defensive Team Captain Jerard Afable was happy with how his team fought, citing the resilience of his 15-man, eight-rookie team.
“We went up against UP, and it was obvious that we, as a team, were nervous, and I guess that was why we ended up losing 12-18. [But] the next three games would be memorable because we learned from our mistakes and penalties in the first game and won the next three,” he said.
Offensive Team Captain Avin Chugani shared the same sentiments, noting how the Blue Raiders fought hard against more experienced teams. “For a team that lacked experience, we didn’t play like it. Sure there were some mistakes but in the end we were glad to have held our ground and put up a good fight against these veteran teams.”
With the way they played, Chugani expressed his belief in the potential of the team. “Individually we have a lot of talent, both on offense and defense. We just need to learn to put it all together,” Chugani added.
After assessing the team’s strengths and weaknesses, the team’s focus will turn to developing everyone’s skills with the team planning to join more tournaments to gain valuable experience against tougher opponents. Recruitment to expand the team is another primary concern for the team as they look for more talents that can help the team.
Expect to see more action from the Blue Raiders this November as they try to improve on their 3rd place finish last year in the 2018 Philippine Beach Games in Lingayen, Pangasinan.
