I had the great honor to be a participant in the Christoff family’s annual Turkey Bowl. The sacred game has been played since before the days of all three Christoff children being born.  The game, played against the Christoff’s neighbors, was a high scoring game.  A game that saw a final score of  44-43.

The game started less than ideal for the Christoff team.   The heart and soul of the team, Steve “Scuba” Christoff, suffered a dislocated finger after laying out to stop the opposing team’s 2-pt conversion. Despite the injury, Scuba powered through.  The team marched into the red-zone and the drive was capped by a TD pass from Nic Christoff to a wide open Scuba in the end-zone.  The game went back and forth but lacked crucial momentum changing plays such as sacks, turnovers,  and big play TD’s.

Offense was not an issue for the Christoff’s during the game.  The Christoff’s were able to score on every offensive drive.  The defense was unfortunately able to get the crucial stop that was needed to break the deadlock.   Overall the takeaway from the game was positive, a high powered offense ran effectively and scored at a high rate.  The defense was plagued by communication issues and a lack of speed on the outside.  The trophy will return to the Christoff household next year.

Here’s how it played out:

TD Neighbors, 2pt Conversion failed: 0-6

Scuba TD from N. Christoff, Will Nolan kick good: 7-6

TD Neighbors, 2pt good: 7-14

Nolan TD from Angelo Christoff, Nolan kick good: 14-14

TD Neighbors, 2 pt good: 14-22

N. Christoff TD from Scuba, Nolan kick good: 21-22

TD Neighbors, 2 pt good: 21-30

Nolan TD from Nic Christoff, 2pt failed: 27-30

TD Neighbors, 2 pt failed: 27-36

A. Christoff TD from Scuba, 2pt good: 35-36

TD Neighbors, kick good: 35-44

N. Christoff TD from Scuba, 2 pt good: 43-44

End of game.