If defense wins championships, then ILLmatic has a legitimate shot to take home the co-recreational crown for flag-football.

After a dominating defensive performance that included four interceptions in a 39-6 win for ILLmatic, the team members feel confident going forward.

“We have definitely improved from our last game, chemistry-wise,” senior Alejandro Alonso said. “Last game, we didn’t even know each others’ names.”

Some important names were missing from the Scranton Bears’ sideline. Both captains, including regular quarterback Mike Venzan, were no-shows Sunday afternoon along with two other key players. This year’s squad lost six pivotal players from a year ago, making the transition much harder.

“We had to kind of push people around to try to fit things together,” senior Chong Shao said.

It was apparent throughout the game that the Bears weren’t in sync, even though junior Michael Mulligan intercepted a pass during ILLmatic’s opening drive. Penalties, fumbled snaps, and turnovers plagued the Bears for most of the game.

A touchdown pass from Mulligan to senior Harrison Wheeler was negated because of an illegal forward pass. And just before the half, the Bears were unable to get a play off deep in the red zone before time expired.

“It’s early in the season, and we have some fine-tuning to do,” Wheeler said. “We just have to come back next week stronger than the week before.”

That could be a little bit harder with the status of senior Crystal Moody up in the air.

In the second quarter, Moody had a collision with an ILLmatic player that sent the two tumbling to the ground. During the fall, Moody’s elbow was mangled in the throng of bodies.

“I dove for the ball, and someone landed on my back and elbow,” Moody said with an ice pack resting on the injured arm. “It’s definitely tweaked.”

ILLmatic had some problems with the women on its team as well.

The team was short one woman for the game. With co-recreational rules, which dictate that a “closed play” must follow every successful “open play,” having fewer females can prove to be a difficult obstacle to overcome.

Closed plays require a female to either throw or catch the ball; open plays allow anyone to be either the quarterback or receiver.

“We think mixing it up is the best thing we can do,” ILLmatic freshman Marcus Lang said about the strategy of using the women as quarterbacks and receivers. “Give the defense different looks and different routes.”

The strategy paid off on a few occasions. One drive in particular culminated in an athletic falling-down touchdown grab by Habre Timbo. She also put constant pressure on the Bears’ quarterbacks throughout the game.

The defensive pressure wasn’t nearly so strong for the Bears, though.

Late in the fourth quarter, an ILLmatic quarterback was able to scramble around in the pocket for nearly 15 seconds before heaving a long bomb to Alonso for the final score of the game.

Members of ILLmatic hope the game is the start of a successful season.

“The more we get to know each other,” Alonso said, “the more we will improve.”