NEFL RULES IN HARVEST BOWL

BROOKLYN,NY- In their final game of the season, the Connecticut Bearcats save their best for last with their last second comeback win against the Long Island Tribe in the 16th Annual Harvest Bowl.

“It’s a tough game to prepare for; at the end of the day we just wanted to get the win” said Aaron Hairston. The Harvest Bowl matched up the NEFL champion Bearcats against the New York-New Jersey based Five Star League Champion, the Long Island Tribe. “We’ve been idle for 30 days and the Tribe is a great team, we needed all four quarters to pull this one out”.

After a 7-0 halftime deficit, the Bearcats receiver Naciki Reid put the offense on his shoulders. Reid pulled in a 44 yard reception between two defenders to put his team on the scoreboard. After the Tribe return of a punt for a touchdown in the third quarter, the Bearcats had only one quarter to defend their North Atlantic Regional crown. “Naciki could be one of the most acrobatic receivers in the country if you ask me” said Hairston, “he showed that tonight”. Needing another big play quarterback Rich Snowden once again found a covered Reid and allowed him to out leap a Tribe defender for his second touchdown of the night. A missed two point conversion preserved the Tribe one point lead with less than three minutes to play in regulation.

Scoring 49 points in the Five Star League championship game, the Bearcats defense held their own against the high-powered Tribe offense. Needing a big play defensive lineman David Reese stopped a Tribe runner on a short third down conversion giving the ball back in the Bearcats to set up a historical ending. With just over a minute to play Snowden located an open Kevin Taylor for a 65 yard gain while setting the ball up on the Tribe’s eight yard line. “How he got behind the secondary is beyond me” said Snowden. With just seconds to play and all the momentum on his side, Snowden’s touch pass to Aaron Ellison in the back of the end zone gave the Bearcats an unbelievable win in front of a shocked New York City crowd. “No doubt its’ one of the best victories I’ve ever been in” said Snowden, “I have faith in our team whenever we step on the field; this game is an example of that.”

The win gave the Bearcats their second consecutive Harvest Bowl victory. Last season they defeated the Empire State Demon Knights. “This game means a lot because we represent the New England Football League” said Snowden, “it means a lot to win not only for us but for our entire league.”