Flag football champions decided at Romney Stadium
For the first time, on the new turf, the intramural flag football championship games were played at Romney Stadium on Thursday night – under the lights.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this,” Jessica Clugston, from Chi Omega, said. “It feels like you’re in a real game.”
“It’s exciting,” Greg Cole, of the Mutton Busters, said. “It gave us something to look forward to.”
Scott Wamsley, assistant director of recreation at USU, said it didn’t take much to be able to play at Romney Stadium. The only cost was the $50 per hour to have the lights on, he said.
The games themselves were well fought on the artificial surface.
To start the night, teams made up of both men and women faced off in the Co-Rec League Finals.
In not allowing a touchdown in the game’s final 30 minutes, the Free Agent team’s staunch defense secured the intramural crown.
Offensively, Jeremy Langston ran and threw for four touchdowns to help seal the victory for the Free Agents.
Despite Langston’s strong offensive showing Thursday, the Free Agents said they had a secret weapon.
“We decided to include the girls in the game tonight,” Langston said. “It was the ultimate surprise.”
The second game of the evening was the Women’s League Final.
A team comprised of members for the Chi Omega sorority took on the Littles, a group of girls who live in Pine View Apartments.
After two early scores from both sides, the game turned into a defensive battle.
The game was fraught with interceptions. Lindsay Meimtel returned one for a touchdown to give Chi Omega its only score of the night.
Brianna Barton had three interceptions for the Littles, but said the picks weren’t the highlight of her night.
“I hadn’t run it in all year, so that was my first score,” Barton said of the touchdown she scored during the second half to put her team up 18-6, giving them the win.
The Men’s Aggie League final came down to the very last minute of play.
Sigma Chi had a fourth down on the 35-yard line needing 15 yards for the first down with only seconds left.
The Mutton Busters were able to get pressure on Sigma Chi’s quarterback and a wobbly pass fell incomplete, allowing the Mutton Busters to run out the clock for a 22-21 win.
Greg Cole, a graduate student in accounting, was awarded the player of the game T-shirt for his efforts.
“We were just trying to come out and show that Sigma Chi could be beat,” Cole said.
In the future, Wamsley said he would like to expand on the intramural championships into a larger campus event.
“I’d like to turn it into more of an event for the students on campus, and that’s what we’ll shoot for in the next couple years,” Wamsley said.
-krn@cc.usu.edu
Chi omega´s Jessica Clugston runs past Brianna Barton Thursday night during the Women´s League Finals at Romney Stadium. (Photo by Ryan Talbot)