Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades; the term does not apply to flag football. For two years the KSU flag football team has left the flag football season empty handed. This year the team left the season as national champions.
It’s fourth down, and goal! One more play, and The Greatest Show on Turf earns a win against flag football powerhouse the University of Central Florida. Seeding in the national championship tournament is on the line. The issue is that the team has been in this position before.
Quarterback Zachariah Desmarais remembers the team having encountered struggles in the past. Playing both defense and offense, Desmarais has fought to stay healthy. Two years prior to the tournament, Desmarais pulled his hamstring rushing 70 yards to the house in the semifinals of the national championship tournament in Texas. The injury left the team without its leader. Last year, Desmarais injured his knee on a defensive possession in the national championship. It was all or nothing and once again The Greatest Show On Turf left with nothing. This year was different. This year the team wanted to finally own up to its name.
UCF led the game by two points and KSU needed a touchdown to win. “We knew they were going to bring their best team,” said starting outside linebacker Aaron Harrison.
“I was kind of nervous to be honest, we were like this is a tough road we got.”
In the huddle, The Greatest Show On Turf suffered distraction and confusion as the crowd tried to encourage panic to settle in on the team. Calming the team with a stern face, Desmarais said, “Shut up; we got this. Let’s do this and a guy will be wide open.”
Time drained off the clock like sand through an hourglass. Starting center Ryan Oubre hiked the ball. Zoned in, Desmarais found open receiver, Andre Madison, in the end zone. “Our go-to guy is Andre. If there is anyone that is a Julio Jones or Randy Moss on our team it’s him,” Oubre said. In response to the statement, Madison said, “I just try to get open and do my job. Most of the responsibility is stopping their offense.” Excitement and cheers filled the air as the team defeated UCF and helped their chances in the national championship tournament.
The Flag Football American Collegiate Intramural Sports National Championship tournament was held at the University of West Florida located in Pensacola, Fla., from Dec. 29-31. It was there that the team began to prove its name.
At 9 a.m. the team played North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and quickly advanced with a win. An hour later at 10:30 a.m., The Greatest Show On Turf played Angelo State’s B-team in the quarterfinals. KSU’s team defeated the team without trouble, but their A-team still stood in the way of a national championship birth. Harrison made an interception that ended the game. “We really hit a hot streak from that Monday on,” he said. “We had perfect balance; we were an all around great team.”“Angelo State was a powerhouse. We weren’t necessarily the underdogs but the semifinals were really where the championship occurred,” Oubre said. The starting center and corner for the team looked straightforward with a smile.
“If you could relate anyone to Ray Lewis on the team it would be Ryan Oubre,” Harrison said. “We usually hear hyped up speeches from Oubre before the game and then we put on the Randy Moss song. That’s how we get ready.”
“We are all best friends; the team is perfectly balanced with different personalities,” Oubre said. “I see teams getting in fights but we don’t. The great thing about us is our synergy. It is what has led our team to great success.”
Harrison commented on Angelo State‘s A-team. He sat up firm, stretched his arms for a minute and said, “Angelo State had just been stomping folks. They’re a good team.”
The semifinal against Angelo State was another shoot out. Harrison caught an interception thrown toward the middle of the field. The play caused the game to end in a victory for KSU. Chuckling, Harrison said, “It was really a bad pass. It wasn’t even my guy I was supposed to cover. I just figured they were going to throw it to their best receiver and they did. The guy threw a bad pass. The only thing I remember was thinking why did he throw that pass? So I just went up and got it.”The final score of the shoot out was 30-24. The Greatest Show On Turf had earned another chance to back up their name.
The team played the University of Nebraska in the finals. Momentum fell in KSU’s favor from the beginning of the game. Nebraska’s quarterback threw a bomb to the left side of the end zone. Dallas Hall, starting safety for the team, intercepted the pass, ending the quarterback’s hopes of adding seven points to the board.
“I knew he had a big arm; he threw it deep on the left side and I just kind of dropped back, came over and picked it,” Hall said. Oubre commented on the interception, saying, “We were only up 14-7 at halftime but it felt like more. Once Dallas got the interception the game was pretty much over when it started. We all had the mindset that we weren’t going home without being champions.”
The Greatest Show on Turf proceeded to create a blow out. The final score of the national championship was 27-7, declaring KSU victorious.
KSU’s flag football team pulled a monkey off their back and lived up to their name. “The Greatest Show On Turf” now truly is the greatest show on turf. The team held an aspiring record of 37-2 this year, a record that will never be forgotten.
Desmarais was named MVP of the tournament. “Zach is literally the backbone of our offense without him I don’t know what we would have done,” Oubre said. Desmarais responded differently when asked how he felt about winning the MVP title. “Yeah, I’m MVP, not a big deal. I mean, honestly its not. I would be nowhere without my teammates. We proved this year that just relying on each other could win a national championship,” he said.
Every year KSU’s flag football team is going to have to overcome challenges. The team is losing three important players next year, including Hall. “We are going to have to go back to the drawing board a little bit, the game is all about speed and agility. You can get people that have played football before and they are absolute studs, but then they turn out to be not the best football players,” Oubre said calmly. The team will have to overcome obstacles, but it will make them stronger. KSU expects to get better every year.
“The Greatest Show On Turf” proves to be the greatest show on turf. The flag football team forever leaves its mark on KSU. Hall described his last year with the team and said “The best thing that has ever happened to me in college is being on this team. We are all brothers, everybody knows everybody.”The team will not be remembered this year for their championship title alone, but because of the synergy and persistence they had amongst each other.
