Story and photo by

Randy Dela Cruz
Contributing Writer

After capturing the ashore intramural flag football regular-season championship with an outstanding 13-1 record, Naval Station Pearl Harbor (NAVSTA) kept its run to the base title alive and well by stopping the Seabees, 28-0, in the finals of league playoffs at Ward Field, Naval Station Pearl Harbor, on Jan. 28.

NAVSTA will square off against the winner of the Afloat League playoffs, which is being rescheduled by Morale, Welfare and Recreation after the games were canceled on Jan. 30 due to rain.

While NAVSTA's entry into the ashore championship game took no one by surprise, the Seabees, which rode into the playoffs as the eighth and final seed, raised quite a few eyebrows when they beat Joint intelligence Operation Center (JIOC), the league's No. 3 seed, before winning in the semi-finals over Navy Information Operations Command Hawaii (NIOC), who finished the regular season in second place behind NAVSTA.

The Seabees struggled early in the year and were about to pull out of the league before an influx of free-agent players at mid-season breathed life back into the squad.

Ensign Doug Hawk, who started off the season as a member of NAVSTA, was among the players who helped resurrect the Seabees, which, with Hawk at QB, slowly turned the tide heading into the playoffs.

However, in the title finale, the Seabees' quest for a fairy-tale ending came to a screeching halt as NAVSTA unleashed a torrid attack on both sides of the ball to earn a mercy-rule victory.

Although quarterback Personnel Specialist 3rd Class Aaron Jackson had an ominous beginning by throwing an interception on his second pass of the game, the elusive signal-caller quickly put NAVSTA back on track by coming up with two big third-down conversions enroute to the team's first TD of the game.

"We got off to a slow start, but getting those conversions kept the momentum going for the game," admitted Jackson. "Once we got those, it was downhill from there."

The drive, which started on NAVSTA's own 27-yard line, culminated with Jackson taking it in from 10 yards out. The team converted its point after touchdown to take an early 7-0 lead.

With NAVSTA's offense coming around, it was the defense's turn to shine as Chief Fire Controlman Ryan York immediately got the ball back by picking off a Hawk pass to set up first down at the Seabees' 30-yard line.

Three plays later, Jackson tossed a one-yard pass to Ensign Rod Smith for a touchdown – giving NAVSTA a 13-0 advantage at halftime.

NAVSTA continued to roll in the second half and even benefited when the Seabees came up with a big play.

With NAVSTA at the Seabees' one-yard line, Jackson's pass was batted at the line of scrimmage by defensive lineman Mass Communications Specialist 2nd Class Robert Stirrup – another late-season addition to the Seabees - only to have the ball ricochet back into the hands of Jackson, who calmly threw the ball to Smith for a touchdown.

While the Seabees argued that the play was an illegal forward pass, the game's referees threw no flag.

Throughout the game, the Seabees struggled to gain ground on offense against an active NAVSTA defense, which used a strong pass rush from Operations Specialist 2nd Class Donte East and an airtight secondary led by York.

"We just play disciplined and stay at home," explained York about NAVSTA's defense, which held the Seabees without a first down until 40 seconds remained in the first half. "We're not doing anything fancy. It's just basic defense."

Jackson stated that while the dominating performance should give NAVSTA a huge boost as they await the outcome of the Afloat playoffs, he and his teammates realize that there is still one more game to win.

"I've been here before and never won it," said Jackson. "I'm taking nothing for granted. We got to finish strong."

Master-at-Arms Seaman Brandon Thomason of Naval Station Pearl Harbor stretches out to haul in a pass during the team's showdown against the Seabees in the Afloat Intramural Flag Football League championship game at Ward Field, Naval Station Pearl Harbor on Jan. 28.