By Alex DUPLESSIS

Head Coach James Mustain had a message for his team after another flag football victory: “Offense wins games, defense wins championships.”

The Rosemont Spartans (5-1) held off another valiant comeback attempt in a 13-12 victory over Toll Middle School (2-4) in flag football on May 9, winning the league championship for the 2013 season.

Things started off slowly for both squads. Neither team was able to get anything going offensively on its first few drives. Late in the first quarter, a bad punt from Rosemont set Toll up with great field position. From there, Toll hit pay dirt on a shifty touchdown run and went up 6-0 over the Spartans.

Rosemont’s offense didn’t get going until later in the second when quarterback Tyler Hill (who missed a week of practice due to injury) was subbed in. The difference his presence made on offense was like night and day.

He completed two quick passes to get Rosemont inside Toll’s 10-yard-line. From there he powered it into the end zone for the touchdown. Following the conversion (which Hill also took in), the score was 7-6 Rosemont.

Toll had one last chance to score before halftime. They drove inside the Spartan 20, but an interception by safety Andrew Traber kept them out of the end zone.

After a defensive slugfest in the third quarter, Rosemont found the end zone again. Wide-receiver Brandon Beardt caught a pass over multiple defenders and outran them down the right sideline to increase Rosemont’s lead to 13-6.

Rosemont appeared to have the game all locked up after intercepting another Toll pass on the following drive, but they ended up giving it right back as Toll hauled in an interception of their own.

After the turnover, Toll was able to drive the length of the field and put the ball in the end zone. Trailing 13-12, they decided to attempt a two-point conversion for the win.

Toll tried to run a toss play to the right pylon, but was met by a host of Spartan defenders who swarmed to the football and stopped them short. Rosemont had won, 13-12. For photos of the game, visit this story online at cvweekly.com.