The Shorthairs scored first, but after a sputtering first drive, the Longhairs had tied it early, and they had just grabbed an interception. But two plays later, Gator grabbed an INT off Fil's chest, and returned it for a putative Shorthair TD. This reporter called out-of-bounds, but was overruled from the sideline by returnee Keith L. Watch the play and decide for yourself.

Fortunately for the Longhairs, it was not a tide-turner; instead the game was a barn-burner. Tied at half as well, the game featured the return of three longtime DBowl participants: Bob Mitchell, who played like a man possessed at times, Keith L, who scored a touchdown and abetted another with some sideline officiating, and Frank Warren, whose "blocking" (along with Keith's), gave the Shorthair QBs plenty of time to throw. The Shorthairs also featured their own Johno, a rookie, who scored on a Gator audible, late in the game, closing the gap to 7.

When the Longhairs stuck with what they do best, pitching and handing off and suchlike, they struck gold, with the Johno/Fil tandem especially productive. The Longhair D also had several goal-line stands. But they missed a lot of opportunities to bust it open, and with a one TD deficit and 3 minutes to go, the Shorthairs' hurry-up offense took advantage of some disarray and mismatches, and scored the tying TD with 20 seconds left.

It was the largest turnout in a long time, and the most argument-free game in years.

If you're brave enough, and have the bandwidth, you can download the whole game here. (Be careful of the "ending." 40MB file.)

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