It took teamwork

Jeff Hayward hates losing. More than that, he hates losing to Lightz Out, the biggest rivals of his squad, Bridgeport Wrecking Crew, in the Spokane Recreational Flag Football League. For more than 10 years these two teams have battered each other on fall Sundays, competing for the league title, the state title, and most of all, pride.
So when they combined to win the FlagMag National Open Tournament in Las Vegas on Jan. 14 it came as a surprise – mostly because they genuinely do not like each other.
A story, told by Hayward and Lightz Out’s Ryan Buth, illustrates that. There was a time one Sunday when Lightz Out led Bridgeport 35-0 late in the second half at Andrew Rypien Field in Hillyard. The Lightz Out quarterback took the snap from center and dropped back to pass. Finding few options in the face of Bridgeport’s onslaught of linemen, he finally threw the pass only to be pummeled into the ground by a Bridgeport player.
The quarterback thought it was a cheap shot, and said so.
The game ended after that play as the teams circled for their respective cheers. “1-2-3 LIGHTZ OUT!” thundered across the field, echoed by “Who the hell are we? CREW, CREW, CREW!”
The whole time, the QB never took his eyes off the defender who drove him into the ground.
He followed him to the parking lot to offer a piece of his mind.
“Yeah it was a cheap shot,” the player admitted. “But you don’t run up the score on us.”
No one saw the first punch thrown. All Lightz Out captain Buth, 34, remembers is hustling over to break up the scuffle.
“We didn’t hate the players,” Buth explained. “But we hated the team.”
Until a month ago.
The national title had eluded 39-year-old Hayward, captain of Bridgeport, for his 17-year career. He and his team came close on several occasions, including a few runner-up finishes and a few third places, but they couldn’t land the big one. Lightz Out had also been to nationals, but didn’t come back as champs.
Then the idea of combining Bridgeport and Lightz Out came up with Buth. Merging teams is a common practice in the national tournament, since it is an open format in which anyone can register.
“We had talked about it for years, but we could never come to an agreement as to who would play where,” Buth said.
They decided to do it, despite scoffs from both sides.
“You guys missed your chance, you’re past your prime,” one player from Bridgeport said.
“I can’t believe you’re going to play with those guys,” another player from Lightz Out said in disbelief.
But Hayward and Buth were tired of losing at the national level.
The morning of Jan. 13, the Spokane Outlaws, including six players from Lightz Out and eight from Bridgeport, took the field in Las Vegas for their first game of pool play.
“Now some of you are going to have a difficult time with this,” Hayward said with the team circled around him. “Who the hell are we?” “CREW, CREW, CREW,” was the resounding response.
The Outlaws won both pool matches and advanced to the eight-team A Division championship bracket where they circled around Buth. “Here we go. 1-2-3 LIGHTZ OUT!”
They won the first round, then upset the defending tournament champs in the second round for a berth in the finals where they faced Las Vegas TMT.
In the championship, TMT struck first with a touchdown in the first half and maintained its 6-0 lead down to 2 minutes left in the game. The Outlaws recovered the ball and drove the length of the 80-yard field to the 2-yard line with 35 seconds left and scored to force overtime.
In overtime, the Outlaws had the ball on the 2-yard line needing a TD to tie, the extra point to win. Quarterback Tim Vigil handed the ball to Matt Hooper on third-and-goal and Hooper scooted into the end zone for a 12-12 tie.
For the title, Vigil took the snap from the 5-yard line and looked to pass. J.C. Frandsen, 37, was streaking across the end zone, a defender draped all over him. Vigil released the pass under heavy pressure. Frandsen stretched, and came down with it for a 13-12 win.
When the dog pile untangled and the hugging abated, the Bridgeport and Lightz Out players huddled, Tim Kreuch with his arm in a sling, everyone with a huge grin, for one last cheer:
“1-2-3 SPOKANE!”