Flag football playoffs set to kick off

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Joel Langton
  • 47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
LAUGHLIN AFB, Texas --  Some things change, some things don't. 

Last year, 47th Civil Engineer Squadron won their second intramural flag football championship in a row. 

One thing is certain: 47th CES will not win the championship this year. However, the 47th Installation Support Squadron, the result of a merger between 47th CES and 47th Communications Squadron clearly has the inside track with the league's best record at 12-2. 

The teams are divided into two four-team divisions, called East and West, but could easily be called Support and Flying Squadron Divisions. The East is comprised of 47th ISS, 47th Security Forces Squadron, American Federation of Government Employees and 47th Force Support Squadron (until they recently disbanded). The West's teams are 47th Operations Support Squadron, 86th Flying Training Squadron, 87th FTS and the 84th and 85th FTS have merged into a single team.
 
The 47th ISS has once again proven themselves the team to beat, except for one week in September when they dropped back-to-back games to 86th FTS 7-0 Sept. 25 and 47th OSS 13-6 Sept. 29. They later avenged both losses.

"Our team has played together for three years. Our offense isn't scoring as much as it has in previous years but our defense is really steadfast," said Kendrick Cloud, coach of 47th ISS. He said the merger has helped them. 

"We picked up five players from Comm and they've all filled in holes that we had so we definitely have something we didn't have before." 

Coach Cloud's agenda is very simple in their remaining game before the playoffs start. "I want to reestablish our quick-strike offense but one thing is certain, we are going to win it all again," he said. "We won it all when we were CES and we're going to keep winning it all when we're ISS." 

They'll have to notch three wins in the playoffs for a trifecta and Mr. Cloud doesn't foresee a problem. However, others see them as quite beatable. 

"We're going to have to have our entire team show up but if we do, we can win," said Shawdale Ervin, 47th Operations Support Squadron coach. "We have to stop there quarterback. He's got a great arm but he's not that fast. We can catch him and force him to make faster decisions than he wants to we're going to be okay. 

The 8-game play bracket kicks off Nov. 13.