The Rienow 7 Raptors are just one step away from the Residence Hall championship. The team of mostly freshmen defeated a quick but tired Dirty Burge team, 32-18, to advance to the finals on Wednesday night.

Both teams came in to the game at 5-0, but relied on different strategies. Dirty Burge succeeded behind the quarterbacking of Mark Kelly, a scrambler who will often fake the run and let a quick pass go. Rienow 7 is known for employing one of the few option offenses in flag football.

Sam Eble, the quarterback for Rienow 7, said it was all about strategy.

“It was our offense and our option play,” he said. “We just came up with a bunch of variations to the option play, and they couldn’t stop it.”

The team could also credit the play of Eble, who threw four touchdowns on the night to just two interceptions. The most important was likely a throw to freshman Josh Foxen with two seconds left in the first half giving the team the lead at 17-12.

On the receiving end of two of the team’s scores was Mike Faraone, who had an interception on a Dirty Burge extra point attempt that was returned for three points the other way. Faraone also caught a touchdown in the third quarter, and his late interception cemented the game.

“Our quarterback was throwing good balls,” said Faraone.

But it was not an easy game in the first half for Rienow 7. Dirty Burge came out looking tough, with a rushing touchdown on its first drive from Kelly. The drive seemed easy for the team with a combination of short passes and throws from the quarterback. Even after he threw the pick-three to Faraone on the extra point, Kelly came back on offense mounting a drive. Often finding junior Brandon Toth, the squad moved the ball down field. Kelly again rushed for the score to put his team up 12-10 in the second quarter.

Rienow 7 didn’t spend the second half at ease, either, after Kelly intercepted an Eble pass for a touchdown on the second play of the fourth quarter made it a one score game. But another drive made the clock run for Rienow 7, and led to a late touchdown pass to Brian Kucera, his second of the game.

Overall, the second half was the difference, though. Rienow 7 outscored its opponent 15-8 in the latter part of the game to pull away.

This may have been because of another factor for the team: its numbers. Rienow 7 had 12 players to Dirty Burge’s seven. Late in the game stamina played a part, with a tired Dirty Burge allowing the late touchdowns.

“Their depth really had a big part [in pulling away],” Toth said. “If we had our full squad here, we would have put up a better fight.”

The Rienow 7 Raptors will play the Dub Setters, who defeated the Silver Snakes on Tuesday, 20-13. The game is at 8:30 p.m. at the Hawkeye Recreation Fields.