Verizon: Can you hear us now?

After finishing the season without a single victory, the Verizon Nitro did what many in the community thought was unthinkable: defeating the Miller Barbarians 14-13 last Saturday at the CPA Airport Field to advance to the championship of the Commonwealth Football League.

Though they had improved steadily throughout the season, there weren’t many people who gave the Nitro team a chance in the one-game playoff, if any. Rather than suffer another defeat, the team of two islands relied on their defense to provide the spark that carried them through to their first victory in the team’s history.

“No one did this before—from 0-6 to the championship [game]. This is history right here. I am glad that I am on the Verizon Nitro,” said lineman Cecil Dela Cruz.

“This is a dream man, this is a dream. I told you that this could happen—that we could come back!” said offensive line mate Gus Romolor.

After both teams went through the first without scoring a point, the Nitro defense put the first points on the board when Juanis King intercepted a Plasido Tagabuel pass and took it 22 yards into the endzone. Cabrera handed the ball off to Simon Sebuu for the two-point conversion, which gave the white and red an 8-0 lead.

The Nitro defense continued to come up big, temporarily knocking Tagabuel out of the game, but they allowed his replacement Josh Stein to move the Barbarians down field until he capped off the drive with a 21-yard pass to Alison Kaipat for a touchdown.

Two Nitro defenders were unable to cover Kaipat when he made the over-the-shoulder catch for six, but the squad tightened up to foil the two-point conversion attempt.

On the next drive, the Nitro began to take the ball down field when a botched handoff resulted in Barbarian defensive back LeRoy Sablan scooping up a loose ball and taking it about 50 yards into the endzone to give the Barbarians the 12-8 lead. The CFL’s all-time leading kicker Chris Guerrero came out onto the field and kicked the extra point to give Miller the four-point advantage.

That’s the way it remained until a Barbarian miscue allowed Henry Hofschneider to fall on a fumble in the end zone to give the Nitro the 14-13 lead in the third quarter. From that point on, the Nitro defense turned the screws on the Barbarians’ offense until safety Blake Manibusan intercepted another Tagabuel pass to allow Verizon to run out the clock.

“It feels good—like we’re the champs,” said quarterback Carmen Cabrera.

While earning the first win in club history may feel like winning a title, the Nitro still have to face the undefeated Shell Chiefs. Over the course of the regular season, the Chiefs led the league in yards gained (1,213), yards allowed (102), points for (134), and points against (24). The Nitro, on the other hand had the least yards gained (230), yards allowed (1,200), points for (38), and points against (140).

Next Saturday, Nov. 27, the match up between David and Goliath will take place on the CPA Airport field at 10 am, and while coach Winston knows that the Nitro has a tough game ahead of them next week, he offered that the outcome of the championship is not predetermined.

“Hey, if the Boston Red Sox can come back to win the World Series, who knows what the Verizon Nitro can do?”