Despite
finishing 2nd in two out of the three USFTL Major NIT's of
2007, the Blue Devils found themselves seeded 14th out of 16
teams in the "A" Division at the Referee's Cup. The
Devils were pleased with their draw despite the low seed being
that their part of the bracket contained talented, but inexperienced
teams that were new to the "A" division.
In
the opening round of the tournament, the Devils were matched
up with True
Playaz (Clinton, MD). QB AJ SAUL led the
offense to the games first touchdown to put the Devils ahead
7-0. The defense took care of the rest as a key interception
by WILL CUPP and constant pressure by the
defensive line kept the True Playaz from getting into scoring
range as the game ended in a Devils victory, 7-0.The
Devils met up with Aftermath (Chicago,
IL), the 2006 USFTL "B" National Champions in the
next round. Once again, the defense proved to be the difference
as they were able to get their second shutout in as many games
and lead the Devils to the next round with a 22-0 victory.In
their third game of the day, the Devils finally got a shot
at All
Met (Landover, MD), one of the only "A" teams
in the USFTL the Devils had yet to face. This would be a true
test as All Met has proven that they are amongst the nations
best. SAUL was able to lead the offense down
the field and into scoring range as he connected with WR JASON
HAGERTY for the games first touchdown. JAKE
STEWART tacked on the extra point to put the Devils
up 8-0. All Met scored before half to cut their deficit to
8-6. In the second half, All Met's rush proved to be the difference
as they forced SAUL to make a costly mistake
as an All Met defender stepped in front of a pass for a key
interception in Devils territory. All Met capitalized on the
good field position to take the lead 14-8. The offense had
one more chance in the games final minutes but All Met's rush
proved to be too much as SAUL could not get
the Devils into scoring range and the game ended in a 14-8
victory for All Met.
In
the opening game on Sunday, it looked as if the Devils would
meet up with Sudden
Impact (Chicago, IL) as they led by a touchdown against
True Playaz as time winded down, but a long score on a tipped
pass on the games final play was the difference as True Playaz
eliminated Sudden Impact from the tournament and forced a rematch
of the opening round game. On the games opening play, LB PETE
DAVILA intercepted a True Playaz pass to give the
Devils some much-needed momentum. The defense shutdown the
True Playaz offense once again and led the Devils to another
victory, 11-0.
The
tournament was down to it's final four teams, as the Devils
were matched up with Dominion (Upper
Marlboro, MD). The last time the Devils met up with Dominion
was the 2005 USFTL National Championships, and the Devils prevailed
8-0. This game proved to be much different than the first as
the Devils offense was unable to get anything going from the
beginning and the Devils defense made costly mistakes and missed
flags that led to big plays for Dominion in a disappointing
28-0 loss.