With two-thirds of the adult football season at the Center of Anna Maria Island completed, there appear to be three main contenders for the title.
The Fish Guy Aquarium Services holds down the top spot with a 6-0 record, closely followed in the standings by Coaster Continent and Reel Coastal Properties, both 5-1. Beach House Real Estate, Salty Printing and Solid Rock Construction follow with 3-3 records, while Moss Air Conditioning and Sandbar Restaurant hold down seventh. Edible Cookie Dough Café at 1-5 and 0-6 Slim’s Place complete the standings.
Action Feb. 26 kicked off with Reel Coastal Properties crushing Beach House Real Estate 39-15 behind six touchdown passes from Chase Richardson, including three to Connor Ludwig. Evelyn Long added a pair of touchdown catches and Julian Bejarano added a touchdown in the victory.
Tuna McCracken threw a pair of TD passes to teammate Kevin Roman, who also added a 2-point conversion and an extra point to the Beach House loss.
Salty Printing held on for a 26-19 victory over Sandbar Restaurant in the second game of the night. Miguel Rodriguez threw three TD passes to lead Salty Printing, which also received two touchdowns from Travis Bates and one each from Rex Kesten and Connor Morse in the win.
Dominick Otteni connected with Jaden Grant, Ben Jones and David Lopez for TDs for Sandbar.
Jeremy Cruz Rodriguez threw six TD passes, including four to Christian Hampton to lead The Fish Guy past Solid Rock Construction in the third game of the night. Chris Johnson added a pair of touchdowns to complete the scoring for The Fish Guy.
Ryan Moss led Solid Rock Construction with five touchdown passes, including two to Audrey Guess and one each to Jackson Hayes, Logan Heath and James Roadman.
Moss Air Conditioning outscored Edible Cookie Dough Café 38-20 behind six touchdown passes from Jonathan Moss, including two each to Noah Hatt and Jesse Skipper. Siena Kelly and Mark Long both added touchdown catches in the victory.
Dallas Buchholtz led Edible Cookie Dough Café with three touchdown passes, including two to Jacob Ferda and one to Steven Pavina in the loss.
Coaster Continent held on for a 46-39 victory over Slim’s Place behind five TD passes and a touchdown catch from Matt Manger. Tim Holly also had a big game, finishing with two TD passes and two TD catches. Ramon Guerrero IV, Olvin Iqquierdo, Anthony Mannino and Valery Rueda each added TDs in the victory for Coaster Continent.
Jonathan Soultatos led Slim’s Place with six TD passes, including three to Sequiel Marintez and two to Cameron Burke. Erica Nielsen added a touchdown and an extra point in the loss.
Key Royale golf news
Thirty-two players came out for the second illuminated night golf event Feb. 26 at the club on a modified par-three setup. The two-couple team of Jenny and Ron Huibers and Julia and John Fay combined on a 3-under-par 24 to win the event.
Other games played under the lights included a cornhole tournament won by Jim Bailey for the men and Kathy Riorden for the women. Matt Clemens won the bright putting contest for the men, while Ginny Goonan won for the women.
Flag football action
The girls’ 8-11 division in the center’s flag football league standings is tight at the top. Print Wizards and Sato Real Estate are tied with 4-1-1 records, comfortably ahead of third-place Emily Moss Designs. Poppo’s Taqueria is 0-6 to complete the standings.
Action kicked off Feb. 23 with Emily Moss Designs holding on for a 20-19 victory over Print Wizards. Elle Blackburn connected with Ruthie Ball for a TD and a 2-point conversion, while Lainey Reed added a rushing TD. Lemon Blackburn provided the winning score with an interception return for a TD.
Heidi Bannick threw for one TD and ran for another to lead Print Wizards, which also received a TD catch and an interception return for a touchdown from Willow Moss.
Sato held on for a 26-19 victory over Poppo’s Taqueria behind two rushing TDs from Quinlynn McCusker and a touchdown each from Juliette Sato and Williabel Welch.
Ariyah Carlton, Kirra Taylor and Sunny Howle each scored a rushing TD for Poppo’s in the loss.
Horseshoe news
Two teams emerged from pool play and settled things in a playoff during Feb. 25 horseshoe action at the Anna Maria City Hall pits.
Bob Lee and Bob Hawks teamed up for a 21-19 victory over Gary Howcroft and Steve Kriebel.
Action Feb. 28 saw four teams advance to the knockout stage. The team of Tim Sofran and Bo LaMura held on for a 22-15 win over Howcroft and Kriebel, while the other semifinal saw Hawks and Herb Schutt cruise to a 21-3 victory over Tom Skoloda.
The finals saw Sofran and LaMura skunk Hawks and Shutt 21-0 to earn the day’s bragging rights.
Play gets underway at 9 a.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Anna Maria City Hall pits. Warmups begin at 8:45 a.m., followed by team selection.
Adult indoor soccer action
After six weeks of indoor soccer action, Sato Real Estate holds a slim lead on Pool America in the center standings. Sato is 3-1-2, while Pool America is 3-2. Slim’s Place holds down third with a 2-2-1 record, just ahead of Solid Rock Construction, which is 2-3-1. Salty Printing completes the standings at 1-3-2.
Action kicked off Feb. 26 with Pool America outscoring Solid Rock 16-10 behind 12 goals from Daniel Hampton. Ethan Hampton added three goals and Christopher Klotz finished with one. Keith Mahoney helped preserve the victory with 10 saves.
Dean Hinterstoisser scored seven goals to lead Solid Rock Construction, which also received two goals from James Knowles and one goal from Niko Zamora. James Roadman finished with 11 saves.
The second game of the evening was declared a tie when Sato Real Estate and Salty Printing failed to field enough players for a match.
Perico islanders play national tourney in St. Pete
Two Perico Island residents recently achieved success at the Raymond James Level 2 National Tournament at St. Petersburg Tennis Center in St. Petersburg.
Islander sports writer and player Mark Malinowski reached the finals of the 55s singles consolation tournament.
After losing to the International Tennis Federation’s 56th-ranked George Newton of Orlando in the main draw 64 06 16, Malinowski defeated Christoph Vogt of Georgia, 61 62, Scott Suhrer of Fleming Island, 62 61 and Vong Keongvasa of Riverview, 63 63, before running out of gas in the final, 16 04 retired.
Jim Elder competed in the 80s singles and doubles. He won a round in the singles draw before losing in the round of 16 to top-seed Michael Beautyman of Lake Worth.
In doubles, Elder and partner Roger North of Portland, Oregon, finished in second in round robin group play, and then won the third-place playoff match 63 60 vs. Henry Steinglass and Edward Underwood.
The Feb. 23-March 1 tournament saw more than 340 players in age divisions from 55s-90s.
— Mark “Scoop” Malinowski