Local six-man flag football team finishes second in Fireman’s
Olympics
VENTURA – Even without Captain Paul Butler at full strength due to an injured hamstring, the Gilroy Fire Department six-man flag football team brought home a silver medal in the four-on-four competition at last week’s Fireman’s Olympics in Ventura.
“We almost had that gold,” said firefighter Josh Guerriera, whose squad did one better than last year’s bronze medal performance. “We got together a handful of times (before the event.) We’re going to try to make more of a commitment next year.”
The six-man unit of Guerriera, Butler, firefighter/paramedic Heinz Maibaum, firefighter Mike Pardini, firefighter/paramedic Troy Dooley, and firefighter/paramedic Robert Silva want the gold in next summer’s games – which are going to be held in San Jose.
“We’re hoping to,” said Guerriera of winning the gold. “That’s the plan.”
In the five-team field, the garlic fire squad – calling themselves Catch Deez – finished with a 3-1 record after pool play tied with two Los Angeles County teams. Going by most points scored, Gilroy headed into the championship game against LA County 13.
But the firefighters from the Chestnut and Ninth Street Station in Gilroy dropped a tight 14-13 decision to take second place. After clinging to a slim 14-13 lead with under four minutes to go, Gilroy could not hold on – allowing a late LA County touchdown to fall by a 20-14 margin.
The annual event – which also has three-on-three hoops, softball, water skiing and wakeboarding competitions – uses a four-on-four format with two substitutes for each team. The Gilroyans, however, hung around with only one sub since Butler could only be used very sparingly.
“It would have definitely been nice to have more of a break,” Guerriera said. “The other teams could sub in two guys. I don’t think it hurt our chances, but with only one sub you’re constantly running sprints.”
There were two teams from LA County, one from Ventura, one from Barstow, and one from Gilroy – which used an eight-play playbook to get the job done throughout the tournament.
After an opening loss to LA County 13, the garlic firefighters rebounded with a tight 16-14 win over the LA County Blaze to avenge a loss from last summer.
“We weren’t ready. We were still cold,” said Guerriera of the first game.
But the Gilroy gridmen were ready in the second game – heating up to hand the Blaze only their second loss in four years.
“It was kinda nice coming back to beat them this year,” Guerriera said. “We won with a sack at the end of game that secured the win for us.”
Guerriera and Hines pulled the quarterback’s flag to give Gilroy its first victory over the competition. The offense has three downs to get to midfield for a first down. Gilroy’s sack stopped the Blaze on third down before they could get a new series of plays.
The Gilroy firestoppers then won their next two games – topping Barstow 20-13 and dominating host Ventura 50-13.
“We just dominated over them. It was good that we ran up the points,” said Guerriera, knowing the high-scoring attack got them into the championship game.
