It was a West Side battle on Sunday night in the residence-hall flag-football championship.

On an extremely wet and muddy turf, the first flag-football champion was crowned with the Rienow 7 Raptors prevailing over the Dub Setters from Slater, 31-12, at the Hawkeye Recreation Fields.

The victory improved Rienow 7’s record to a perfect 7-0, and the loss ended the Dub Setters’ season with a record of 5-2.

The victory earned the squad a berth in the All-University championship, which is made up of the champion of the fraternity, residence hall, and two teams from the Men’s Open “A” league. The event will be played today and Tuesday in the Bubble.

Both Rienow 7 and the Dub Setters ran option-style offenses that were difficult to defend, but the muddy field conditions slowed both squads’ running games.

Solid quarterback play and a lack turnovers played a crucial role in the positive outcome for Rienow 7. These same things were the downfall for the Dub Setters.

Rienow 7 Raptors freshman quarterback Sam Eble completed 24-of-34 passes for four touchdowns. The Raptor signal-caller threw only one interception in the game.

Freshman wideout Conrad Metz was Eble’s go-to receiver, snagging four catches and two touchdowns. Fellow Rienow 7 Raptor wide receivers Brian Kucera and Mike Farone also added scores.

“We made a lot of big plays, and we didn’t turn the ball over,” Eble said. “That was a big key for us tonight.”

On the other side of the coin, Dub Setter quarterback Kyle Odneal struggled throwing the football.

The freshman quarterback had a similar performance to Ricky Stanzi’s in the third quarter against Indiana, completing just as many passes to the opposing team as he did to his teammates.

Odneal completed only five-of-17 passes, with several tipped balls leading to five interceptions.

His running ability kept the Dub Setters in the game in the first half, but the turnovers were too much to overcome. Junior Greg Carrillo and freshman Mitch Bade had the only two scores for the Dub Setters.

Rienow 7 Raptors freshman Kyle Pape played a little bit like Iowa safety Tyler Sash, anchoring the Raptor secondary with four picks of his own.

“I was just in the right spot at the right time,” he said. “The entire secondary played well for us tonight.”

An interception returned for a touchdown by Drew Matzen on the final play of the game sealed the deal for Rienow 7.

The Rienow 7 Raptors now head to the Bubble, where they will face a team from the Men’s Open “A” league, which will be no easy task.

But don’t take the freshman-laden residence hall champs lightly just because of their youth. The players plan to give opponents a tough test.

“We need to keep the same mindset that we’ve had all season,” Eble said. “Which is that we can compete with anyone.”

Others on the squad are just glad that the Bubble will provide a different atmosphere than the Hawkeye Recreation Fields.

“It’s pretty cool to be the residence-hall champs,” Metz said. “It will be nice to play inside again and not in the mud.”