Rice University’s Student Newspaper — Since 1916

Thursday, March 28, 2024 — Houston, TX

Freshmen prepare for IM Flag Playoffs

By Juan Saldaña     11/12/14 2:27pm

As fall intramural sports come to a close, the College Freshman Flag Football season enters the playoff season. Six colleges are left  seeking the Freshman Flag Championship and President’s Cup points. Will Rice College and Hanszen College, historically top colleges at freshman flag, once again lead the pack this year — both completed perfect regular seasons and earned a bye in the first round of the six-team playoffs. This is the first year that freshman flag is using a six-team playoffs system, a change from the traditional four-team bracket used in the past. 

Outscoring their opponents by over 100 points on their way to a 5-0 record, Will Rice has put up points behind the play of quarterback Ben Herndon-Miller. En route to their No. 1 playoff seed, the freshmen shut out three of their five opponents, including two mercy rule victories to open the season against Lovett College and Martel College. 

Will Rice coach John Robertson said the winning culture at Will Rice is due to the team’s dedication and performance. 



“We’ve got a really close-knit group of guys who all take a lot of enjoyment in playing with each other and representing Will Rice,” Robertson, a senior, said. “The level of enthusiasm we play with is simply not matched by any other team out there, especially in our relentless flag-pulling. Going into the playoffs, our level of confidence is very high, and we expect to finish off the season the way we want to. We know we have a target on us as Will Ricers, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

Wiess College finished off the season with a 3-2 record, with losses against Will Rice and Sid Richardson College. Wiess sports a strong offense, which is focused around speedy quarterback Abhijit Brahme. This year, the Wiessmen improved from their one-win season last year and will be the No. 5 seed in the playoffs. 

Baker College, coming off a winless freshman flag season in 2013, managed to secure the fourth seed in the playoff with a 3-1 record. Characterized by an explosive offense that recorded the largest single game point total of any team with a 35-0 victory over Brown College, the Bakerites’ only loss came against Hanszen in the final week of the season.

Team Captain Lucas Jayne said he is looking forward to the team’s upcoming games and is looking for the team to show improvement. 

“We haven’t been playing to the best of our capabilities,” Jayne said. “But we’re starting to practice and gain chemistry as a team.”

Hanszen has picked up right where they left off last year to clinch a No. 2 seed with their undefeated regular season record. Leading the league in defense by allowing only 12 points all year, Hanszen’s defense has been a force in their 4-0 regular season. 

After losing their opener 34-0 last season and forfeiting their remaining games, Sid Rich has rebounded this season. Sid Rich began the season with a perfect 4-0 record that ended with a shutout loss to Will Rice. Regardless, the team earned the third seed in the playoffs. 

Sid Rich Captain Sameer Allahabadi, a wide receiver and safety, said the team’s unity and chemistry was essential to their season. 

“This season has been a blast,” Allahabadi said. “We came in as a whole bunch of students just looking to get some exercise but have become brothers on and off the field. We are excited about the playoffs. We are going to go far.”

Jones College joins the playoff picture as the sixth and final seed and the only north college in a playoff bracket consisting of five south colleges. After an 0-2 start, Jones won their remaining two games and got the final spot in the playoffs.   

Playoffs are set to begin Saturday, Nov. 14, at 12:30 p.m. when Baker will take on Wiess for a spot in the semifinal against Will Rice. At 1:30 p.m., Sid Rich and Jones will face off for a chance to match up against Hanszen in the other semifinal. Both semifinal games will then be played on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. For students wishing to support their colleges, all games will take place at IM Field 5, located behind the Rec Center.



More from The Rice Thresher

SPORTS 3/26/24 11:39pm
‘They weren’t afraid of the stage’: Owls fall 70-60 to LSU in close March Madness opener

In an arena with more than double the capacity of Tudor Fieldhouse, Rice women’s basketball forward Malia Fisher admitted that at one point the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La.,  was so loud she couldn’t hear herself think. “It was a different environment, but you get used to it fast and then you just kind of acknowledge it and put it out of your mind,” Fisher, a junior, said. “That's what we did.”

SPORTS 3/26/24 11:38pm
Rob Lanier named men’s basketball head coach

Less than two weeks after parting ways with head coach Scott Pera, Rice Athletics announced they have hired Rob Lanier as the program’s 26th head coach. Lanier was previously the head basketball coach at Southern Methodist University, a position he was dismissed from three days ago, on March 21. 


Comments

Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.