3rd MDSS pulls upset over 3rd CES

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Christopher Gross
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  The 3rd Medical Support Squadron went into Elmendorf's flag football finals as underdogs, needing two consecutive victories over the 3rd Civil Engineer Squadron Sept. 28. 

Sure enough, after blowing out the 3rd CES in the first game 22-7, they beat them again, but in a much closer game that resulted in a 20-14 victory with the 3rd MDSS coming out on top once again. 

"We played as a team," said Donnie Millas, 3rd MDSS. "We played good together, we did what we did in practice and we won." 

To be eliminated from Elmendorf's flag football playoffs, each participating team had to lose twice. After a team's first loss, they were placed into a loser's bracket where if they lost again, it ended their season. Since the 3rd CES had yet to lose Sept. 28, the 3rd MDSS had to beat them twice in a row to win the championship, because they had one loss already. 

Going into the game, the 3rd MDSS knew they would have to perform well to even get a shot at the second game. They did just that. Quarterback Millas stepped up for the 3rd MDSS completing nine of his 13 pass attempts for 136 yards with two passing touchdowns. He also had 30 of the team's total 34 yards on the ground and ran in a touchdown from one yard out. 

The 3rd CES didn't play bad defensively, causing two sacks for a combined loss of 6 yards, an interception and two forced penalties, costing the 3rd MDSS 15 yards.
However the offense had a hard time picking it up the first game. 3rd CES quarterback Earl Mason only completed eight of his 19 pass attempts for 87 yards with a 27-yard touchdown and an interception. 

The motivation was on the 3rd MDSS's side going into the second game. That didn't last long though, the 3rd CES came out strong defensively, forcing them to punt their first possession of the game. However, the 3rd CES couldn't capitalize on the punt and went four and out. 

Right off the bat, the 3rd MDSS ran an option play on their second possession that went 45 yards down field to put them mark them on the goal line. Millas topped it off with a 1-yard touchdown pass. This was his first of three for the game, including the game winner to Chris Walthall, 3rd MDSS, with 43 seconds left to play. 

Both teams went back and forth throughout the game. This time the 3rd CES's Mason came through completing 13 of his 23 pass attempts for 142 yards along with 33 rushing and two passing touchdowns. 

When it came down to it, the 3rd MDSS's defense just wouldn't let the 3rd CES score after its potential game winner with 43 seconds left. After 3rd MDSS's touchdown, Mason drove his team 40 yards down field to put them in a position to make a touchdown. 

Even though the 3rd CES had a fresh set of downs inside of the 20 yard mark, they still couldn't pull it off. The 3rd MDSS broke up two passes in the end zone including a potential game winner that was broken up in the corner of the end zone as time expired. 

"It was an outstanding win, we fought hard," said Walthall. "It was a good first game, we came out strong. In the second one, they gave us a heck of a game and we pulled through in the end. We made a good defensive stand to win the game."