The T-Devils flag football team, made up largely of New York Sharks players, returned home hands-down champions from the WAFFF Sunshine Classic Flag Football Tournament held in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida this past weekend, February 6-8th. Coached by longtime Sharks veteran, Lynn Lewis, the T-Devils (also known as “TNT”) played a total of 6 games in 3 days to emerge winners. The team scored the most points (88) and gave up the fewest (24) of all the teams in the tournament.

Among the former and current Sharks who contributed to the win were: Anna “Tonka” Tate, Courtney Eaton, Natalie Jufer, Monica Marsh, Jennifer Blum, Beth DeVito, Missy Marmorale, Christine Hilla, Lori DeVivio, Donna Spilotras, Dana Donahue-Sparling, and Ridley Sperling.

Lynn Lewis started the team back in 1993. Most of those same players were still there on Sunday, some ten years later, giving it their all to win yet another in a long line of championships. Clearly, the edge hasn’t been lost with age!

The team battled it out and won 7-0 against the BADD Girls from Virginia in the semi-final. Having been dealt their only loss during the weekend by this same team the day before in triple overtime, the T-Devils were ready to beat the BADD Girls and leave no question who deserved to be in the championship game.

The 1st place game against Houston Fire and Ice came down to the final 4 minutes of the game where the T-Devils had been trailing 12-0 since the first half. Lori DeVivio came up big with a huge reception for a touchdown with 4:16 left on the clock. The conversion was missed, however on the next possession, Courtney Eaton came up with the second touchdown following center Anna (Tonka) Tate right into the endzone on a quarterback sneak. The game was now tied 12-12 with under 2 minutes left on the clock. Lori DeVivio once again came up big with a diving catch in the endzone for the extra point, putting TNT ahead 13-12. The seasoned and tough TNT defense held Houston at bay for the remainder of the game, culminating in this amazing, heart-stopping (literally in several cases) win for TNT.

CONGRATULATIONS, CHAMPIONS!!!

–by Dana Donahue-Sparling