Most have seen this commercial...Payton Manning is in a long hallway with multiple doors. He is looking to get rid of the football, thinking of the many options that a quarterback has before releasing the ball while he is being approached in a wild fashion by Miami Dolphin Jason Taylor, a monster of a man. He opens one door and he sees himself going up and down stairs as if the decision he makes will lead him to so many finishes. He opens another door and he sees Marvin Harrison being covered by three dolphins. He looks around, almost nervously, trying to think of what to do with the football...and then the child in him, the boy he once was, whispers from afar – “Clark” – at which point Payton Manning releases the ball to his tight end, Dallas Clark.

The Panthers fresh off their painful loss to this year’s NFL champs and in the championship game at the annual U-tourney found themselves up against a formidable opponent. The Cowboys from the Bronx have been runner-ups in the NFL Giants Regional two years in a row. The Panthers had dug themselves into a deep hole. Down by 12 points with 3 minutes to play, they somehow managed to come back with big pass plays to Nicky Athanasopoulos and have the ball on their opponent’s three yard line with three seconds to go in the game, down only by 5.

The championship in the 15-17 division had ended with Sal Mancuso’s DAC team defeating the Matt Reimel’s North Penn older team. In their usual classy way, the DAC older boys and parents, as well as many of the North Penn players and parents, stayed to watch the end of the DAC Panthers championship game. There were plenty of people on both sidelines...it felt like the NFL Nationals all over again.

Coach Jimmy sent in the play. As the DAC boys broke their huddle, you can feel the tension in the air. The play did not work as the Cowboys covered all the routes as Panthers QB Yianni Gavalas scrambled to buy time to find an open receiver. As the referee counted off the 7-second clock, someone from the sideline, in a soft whisper, like in the Payton Manning commercial, said “Eddie” as he must have seen what Yianni saw when he released the ball to Eddie in the back of end zone for the TD and the victory.

The Little Panthers did not do as well as their older counterparts. They dominated pool play and the first round of the playoffs but lost a tough game in the semi-finals 14-6. The younger Panther team has not been together that long. The roster was only put together three weeks before the NIT Tournament. Returning players Alex Zimmern, Michael Rodriguez and Santiago Agosti anchor a team that has added some quality players to the roster.