In the first game of San Diego American Flag Football League action, the Bacchus House Gladiators rallied from an early deficit to beat the Bourbon Street Hurricanes 20-14 on April 22.

The Hurricanes jumped out to an early 7-0 lead as Abe Velarde led his team down the field on the opening drive and threw a short touchdown pass for the first score of the game.

The Gladiators drove down inside the 10-yard line on their next possession, but were unable to convert. The Hurricanes almost scored another touchdown on their next possession off of a long touchdown pass to Danny Muñoz, but it was called back for taunting.

The Gladiators tied the game later in the half, and took the lead for good on a touchdown pass from Billy Van Raaphorst to Doug Kalenic. The Hurricanes scored late in the game to pull in a touchdown, but could not regain possession of the ball.

Although the Hurricanes have now lost four games in a row (0-4) they played well as a team. The Gladiators improve to 3-1 with the win, and are in a three-way tie for first place in the league.

The Flame Knights continued their dominant play with a 31-13 victory over The Brass Rail Longhorns in the second game of the day. Captain Shon Anderson had a phenomenal game for the Knights with two long scores. The Knights also had two interceptions, and were in control of the game from start to finish.

The Knights improved to 3-1 overall, tied for first place, while the Longhorns fell to 1-3.

The Martinis Above Fourth Eagles defeated the Pecs Gators 26-19 in the last game of the day.

The Eagles drove down the field to start the game, but the Gators’ league-leading defense stiffened and kept them out of the end zone. The Gators moved the ball to midfield on their ensuing drive until Todd May made a spectacular interception that ricocheted off two players before he snagged it out of the air.

A few plays later, Jesse Remar connected with H.T. Bennett in the flat over the defender. Bennett made it down the sideline for the first score of the game.

Gators quarterback Dave Digaccamo led his team right back with a quick-strike long pass to Julius Williams. The Eagles responded with a long pass of their own from Remar to Jason Wang. During the last play of the half, Remar found Bennett for a 1-yard touchdown pass to increase the Eagles’ lead to 19-6.

In the second half, the Gators came out fired up on both offense and defense, and scored to close the gap to 19-13. Defensively, they kept the Eagles out of the end zone the entire second half. With about 10 minutes left in the game and the Gators threatening to take the lead, Rich Costanzo intercepted Digaccamo’s pass and returned it for a 55-yard run and touchdown and a 26-13 lead.

The Gators scored to cut the lead to 7 and got the ball back for the final four plays. The Gator’s comeback fell short when May intercepted Digaccamo for the second time, ending the game.

The Eagles improve to 3-1 overall, tied for first place, while the Gators stand at 2-2 in fourth place.

This weekend’s games start at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 29, at the Doyle Park Recreation Center, located at 8175 Regents Rd.