The Apes yesterday dominated the Buccs 20-12 to claim the APEX5 Season 2 crown in five-on-five flag football at Taipei Medical University.
Kui Wang threw three touchdown passes for the Apes, with captain Richie Han, Hiromu Toshimitsu and Bryce Jacobs crossing for six-pointers for the champions.
Toshimitsu also executed four sacks in a big defensive effort.
Photo courtesy of @newjackphotography
“It was great,” Apes defensive linebacker Mike Nicholaides said. “A whole team win. I love playing for Richie and the Apes.”
“The Buccs played hard and made it really fun,” Nicholaides added. “I’m so happy to get the win.”
Flag football is to be played at the 2028 Olympic Games. Men’s and women’s teams are to compete in Los Angeles in the noncontact variant of football in which players remove flags attached to the ball carrier instead of tackling them.
The season in Taipei started with eight teams: the Apes, the Buccs, Beitou, Songshan, the Sonics, Mamahuhu, the Challengers and the Breakers.
The eight sides played 28 group-stage games over three months ahead of the playoffs over the previous weekend.
The Apes and the Buccs earned their shot to etch their names into Taiwan flag football history after advancing with upset wins over Beitou and Songshan respectively.
Songshan were the top seed from the group stage, with Beitou second, earning direct qualification to the semi-finals and skipping the quarter-finals played earlier on Sunday last week.
Both top seeds were knocked out.
Teams who needed to win two straight games did exactly that to force their way into the championship match.
The Buccs upset the fourth-seeded Sonics 20-18 in the quarter-finals, and then shocked Songshan 28-22 in the semi-finals.
The Apes took care of business in the quarter-finals against sixth-seeded Mamahuhu, winning 40-24, before defeating Beitou 43-20 in the semis.
People interested in playing can contact the league through Instagram, @apex5_football, the organizers said.
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