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|  | IFL Photo: David Cohen IFL
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Football: Real Housing Haifa handles Mike's Place Tel Aviv
Saturday's Field turf IFL thriller ends in 35-30 victory for Haifa team
Ynetnews
By the time the final whistle had blown in Saturday's Fieldturf IFL thriller between Real Housing Haifa and Mike's Place Tel Aviv, it was clear that every one of the more than 50 fans in attendance had certainly gotten their money's worth, having been treated to a fast-paced, energetic football game in which two evenly-matched teams battled each other toe-to-toe for the full 48 minutes.
In the end, Real Housing Haifa emerged triumphant, with touchdowns from five different players en route to a 35-30 victory over Mike's Place Tel Aviv at Kibbutz Ein Hashofet. The win was huge for Real Housing, which rebounded from back-to-back losses to even its record at 2-2, while Mike's Place, once again, played a valiant game in which it could have come out on top, but are, today, left wondering what went wrong as it fell to 0-3 on the season.
From the opening kickoff, both teams' offenses came out ready to play, and touchdowns were scored on the first three combined possessions of the game as Tel Aviv jumped to a 12-7 lead after the first quarter.
The game quickly turned into a seesaw affair, as the lead changed hands an unbelievable seven times, with neither team being able to harness any kind of sustained momentum before a quick counterattack by the other team.
After Haifa went up 13-12 on a bruising, nine-yard touchdown run by Idan Maor, Tel Aviv responded with two straight scores to take a 24-13 lead into the half and appeared to be on pace for its first victory, being led by receiver Leron Hovav and his pair of first-half touchdown catches.
However, Haifa came out with a vengeance in the second half and scored 14 points in a two-minute span to take a 27-24 lead, capped by Dagan Sadrinas snatching an attempted Tel Aviv handoff out of mid-air and taking the fumble 20 yards to the end zone.
Tel Aviv, though, refused to surrender and marched downfield on a long, six-minute drive, culminating in quarterback Adi Hakami's second touchdown run of the day to go up 30-27 after three.
Haifa answered with another score early in the fourth quarter and held off a furious Tel Aviv attempt to get the last points of the day. Indeed, the outcome of the match was in doubt until the final play of the game, when Hakami was pressured out of the pocket and unable to get off a deep pass into the end zone, which would have given Tel Aviv the victory.
The game was defined by the ability of both Haifa and Tel Aviv to execute their game plans, almost to perfection. Real Housing, which completed only three passes in 10 attempts, was successfully able to pound the ball on the ground, piling up yards, led by Niv Medlinger and Roey Ziv, who combined for 136 of a team total 212 rushing yards on the day.
Even when it was behind, Haifa did not abandon its run-first strategy and relied on its prevent defense, which held Tel Aviv to only six second-half points, as well as scoring a touchdown of their own, to give it enough time and possessions to come away with the win.
Tel Aviv, as well, for the most part, was able to give Hakami time to look downfield and he was stellar all game, passing for 245 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions to go along with his two rushing scores. Star receiver Leron Hovav almost single-handedly kept Mike's Place in the game with his 12 receptions for 165 yards and two scores of his own.
Ultimately, however, the Haifa attack was too balanced and their defense just unrelenting enough to hold off two final Tel Aviv drives in the final three minutes and it managed to escape with the tight, 35-30 victory in a game that, but for a couple of bounces, really could have gone either way.
After two tightly-fought games between the two squads, both of which ended in close victories for Haifa at home, look for Tel Aviv to play with special purpose in their third and final exciting matchup of the season when it hosts Real Housing on January 19 at Kiryat Shalom.
Game notes: The game was played on a field that was muddy from a night of rain and both teams' uniforms look forward to an extra trip to the laundry this week; Tel Aviv's Asaf Katz had a big day on both sides of the ball, catching a 45-yard TD pass and recording nine tackles and seven assists on defense; Haifa running back Niv Medlinger has recorded at least 60 yards rushing in all three games he has played; with his 12 receptions for 165 yards, Tel Aviv WR Leron Hovav takes over the Fieldturf IFL lead in both categories.
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