On Friday, April 11, HL Flag Football hosted its third week of games in Cambridge Common park, all from their “Just for Fun League” (JFF) division of play:
- Coates Little Thugs (1-1) vs. Section 1 (0-2)
- 4 Score (1-0) vs. Risers and GREINERS (1-1)
- Large Language Models (0-1) vs. Todd Squad (0-1)
- Torts R Us (2-0) vs. Zero to Hero (1-0)
Additionally two games from the more competitive “Gunner League”, Robb’s Avengers (1-0) vs. Washington Renanders (0-1) and AFA (1-1) vs. Ask What You Can Juke (0-0). Robb’s Avengers (2-0) and AFA (2-1) won their respective matches, with their adversaries forfeiting each.
Harvard Law’s flag football league enters its 4th year of existence, and its third year formally crowning official champions. Founded by Robb Dehney Jr, J.D ‘23, the intramural has brought HLS students of varying athletic backgrounds together for camaraderie and amusement away from their studies.
PBG does it all as Todd Squad (1-1) outlasts LLMs (0-2), 6 to 5
The veteran Todd Squad eked out a victory over the incipient Large Language Models (LLMs), in a tit-for-tat matchup. The LLMs, being entirely made up of international students, had little experience playing American-rules football. Their players nonetheless delivered a number of remarkable performances, especially their ad hoc quarterback Manu Iribarne, who was the spouse of one of the LLM players. Iribarne threw four touchdowns, and fit a number of clutch passes into tight windows to keep the underdogs in the game. Despite having only briefly played flag football in London before, he stated that his play came “naturally.”
The excellent play might have been enough, if it weren’t for the unbelievable display of Peter Bell-Goeckner, HLS ‘25, who had three interceptions and scored multiple touchdowns on offense. “I feel like I’m in a flow state after Barrister’s Ball last night,” said Goeckner after his second interception of the day, “I’m here to win, but I’m more importantly here to have fun.” His positive attitude yielded just enough major plays to put the Todd Squad just out of reach.
In the final minutes of the game, the LLMs drove down the field for a touchdown to bring the game within one score. A crucial tackle by Isabella Leal Aguilar, LLM ‘25, gave the LLMs one more chance to tie the game with seconds left. Fortunately for the Todd Squad, they managed to drive Iribane (now a receiver) out of bounds just short of the endzone to secure the win.
Aguilar, whose sister created the first female flag football club in her home state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, still seemed to enjoy her first time playing the game. Describing it as “amazing,” she noted that “doing sports in the cold weather is better, you don’t get as tired.”
Torts R Us (3-0) and Patel trounce Zero to Hero (1-1), 9 to 4
Torts R Us managed to play a strong game from bell to bell, taking a commanding lead early and never letting go. They were led by the flawless play of Parth Patel, HLS, 27, who threw eight touchdowns to an assemblage of his teammates over the course of the match. “Tom Brady #3, Pat Mahomes #2, Parth Patel #1” said Timothy McDonald, HLS ‘27, of his signal caller Patel. One of Patel’s favorite targets was Matt Brandi, HLS ‘27, who caught multiple scores, including an acrobatic deep touchdown pass in the first half. Their quarterback’s precision appeared to bring the best out of his colleagues, who hoped to match his quality efforts. “I was thinking ‘don’t drop it, don’t drop it,’” remarked Kaitlyn Long, HLS ‘27 of her thoughts while scoring in the first half.
The offensive onslaught was paired with stingy defensive play, which kept Zero to Hero scoreless long into the contest. The lopsided outing led to some mild controversy, as Brandi called a timeout late in hopes of extending their lead when the game was no longer in doubt. “The other team played a great game, but there was a bad timeout at the end, it wasn’t very sportsmanlike, so our guy will be running laps later” joked Carson Whitesell, HLS 27, captain of Torts R Us. Brandi wasn’t just trying to run up the score for its own sake, however, as point-differential is a statistic considered in the final playoff rankings.
Torts R Us finished up in high spirits nonetheless, especially proud of Patel’s play. Rebecca Suh, HLS ‘27, described catching a touchdown from Patel as “the most exhilarating feeling I’ve ever experienced in my life” and thanked her ““an equal opportunity quarterback” for his faith in tossing her the ball. With an impressive 3-0 record, Torts R Us is in strong position for the playoffs.
Other Results from the Day
The earlier JFF games were not short on points or excitement either, as Section One (1-2) defeated Coates Little Thugs (1-2) in a high scoring clash 8 to 7. Additionally, 4 Score (1-0-1) played Risers and GREINERS (1-1-1) to a 6-6 tie. All teams will try to make postseason pushes to keep hopes of a championship alive.