The intensity level was raised a few notches this past Sunday at Woodward Parkway Field as the playoffs unfolded in the PAL-NFL Flag Football League. Here are the highlights.

The Pee Wee Raiders pulled out a 30-28 victory in a tightly contested game against the Jets. The Raiders opened the scoring on a touchdown by John McCrystal. The Raiders played excellent defense throughout the first half with key plays being made by McCrystal, Jimmy Cavanagh, Kyle Hacker and John Cozzolino. A one-handed tip and interception by McCrystal led to a touchdown by Paul Mumolo from the one. It was Paul's first touchdown of the year. Cavanagh and Hacker made key stops on third down plays to regain possession of the ball. However, the Raiders were unable to convert these opportunities into points. The Jets followed with a long touchdown by Sean Timmons and a two-point conversion to close the gap to 12 -8. A long touchdown pass by the Raiders' McCrystal to Cavanagh closed out the first half scoring and increased the lead to 18-8.

The Jets came out strong in the second half. They quickly scored to close the lead to 18-14. The Raiders then took a 24-14 lead after a five-yard touchdown by Hacker. The Jets followed with two touchdowns and a two-point conversion to take their first lead of the game 28-24. The go ahead touchdown was scored with under two minutes to play. The Raiders then went the length of the field on a double reverse fake to John McCrystal with 40 seconds left for the 30-28 final score. A last second drive by the Jets fell short for the Raiders fifth win of the season.

The win was a great team effort and the remaining members of the Raiders, including Kevin Sheridan, Griffin Rhein, and Anthony Corsi played exceptionally well. The team looks forward to playing their final game this Sunday.

The Raiders and Falcons went head to head Sunday in the first round of the playoffs, with the Raiders winning a hard fought battle 25-14. Playing as a team, the Raiders were able to limit the Falcons offense to two touchdowns, while putting the ball in the Falcons end-zone on four long drives. Frank Lettieri, taking snaps from TJ Knight lead the Raiders on offense with several long passes to wide receivers John Ragno and Lucas Sall. Defensively, the Raiders grounded the Falcons aerial attack with fine rushing by Rob Tempesta and James Pich forcing the Falcons to short patterns in the Raiders secondary. Raymond Webb, Zack Yashnyk and William Hassett were assigned the task of covering these routes limiting the Falcons to short gains throughout the day. With the first round of the playoffs behind them, the Raiders now look forward to meeting the Giants next Sunday to decide who will play in the Super Bowl.

The JV Bengals waited until the playoffs to turn in their best game of the year beating the Jets 20-14 in triple overtime. It was a total team effort, with each and every player contributing in some way. Offensively, Vincent Mavaro, Kyle Garry, Matt Ingordo, Cara Kelly, Jen Sweeney and Denis Donovan led the way. Kyle grabbed a touchdown pass for the Bengals first score of the day. Vincent ran in for a second half touchdown to tie the game at 14 and it was Vincent who scored the winning touchdown. Matt, Cara and Jen all ran the ball well, while Denis did a fantastic job at quarterback. On defense, Brian Mazza, Frank Pelligrino and Paul O'Donnell grabbed flags early and often.

On their second drive of the game, the Bengals scored a touchdown and then completed the two-point conversion. The Jets came right back and on the very next drive of the game, Tyler Byrnes handed the ball off to Andrew Phillips, who handed the ball off to Evan Lenci, who handed the ball off to Angelo Mauro, for a perfectly executed triple reverse. Angelo then ran the length of the field for a touchdown. Andrew Phillips then took the handoff and, after faking the hand-off to Evan Lenci, ran past the goal line for the two-point conversion tying the game at 8.

In the second half, Joe Salonia took the hand-off from Brandon Friess and, with some fancy footwork, avoided the Bengals defenders and ran the entire length of the field for a touchdown. The Bengals defense kept the Jets from scoring again. The Bengals then scored a touchdown to tie the game at 14.

The clock ran out with the scored tied at 14 so the game went into overtime. In the third overtime, the Bengals were able to slip on past the Jets defense and win the game. Great job at quarterback by Tyler Byrnes and great job by Jack Persampire with a couple of receptions. Solid defensive coverage by Brandon Freiss, Evan Lenci, Jack Persampire, Andrew Phillips, Aaron Powell and Tyler Sullivan with another interception by Aaron Powell. Coaches George and Ted would like to thank the Jets players and parents for a great season.

Catching up on a game played on Oct. 31, the 49ers squared off against the Giants for the final game of the season. The 49ers with their new high powered offense dominated the 1st half. The 49ers used the shotgun snap all day. It proved well because the 49ers scored four touchdowns by abandoning the traditional center to quarterback snap. The 49ers high flying offensive game plan was really opened up. The 49ers offense kept the Giants defense confused all day. Touchdowns were made by James Grassi, Andreas Martinez, Vincent Fisher, and Nick Cappelino. Also, great contributions were made by Jeff Lopez and Trevor Clark. On the defensive side the 49ers were also strong stopping a lot of Giant drives and Jim Grassi had a key interception and also a blocked pass. The 49ers ended the season on a high note. All of the 49ers from the very first game to the last gave 100 percent of their efforts 100 percent of the time. Couch Cappelino and Simmons were very fortunate to have a fine group of young men to couch. Couch Cappelino and Simmons want to extend their deepest thanks to all of their players and parents, and a special thanks to Ray Webb and Denis Donavan for all of their efforts for a successful NFL Flag Football season.