Tuesday night’s early evening intramural flag-football game was an offensive thriller that took overtime to decide, as Dirty Money Island defeated Matt Chandler’s Team, 31-25.  

Dirty Money’s offensive play caller, Jake Richter, attributed his team’s success to its composure more than its offense or defense.

"I think we kept level heads — that was a big part of it," he said Richter.

The Dirty Money players had to keep their heads to overcome seven penalties during the evening, one of which took away prime field position late in the fourth quarter. With under a minute to go, Matt Chandler’s Team failed a fourth-down conversion at its 15-yard line, but an illegal contact penalty gave it ball back.

Matt Chandler’s Team failed to score after the penalty, and regulation ended with the score tied at 25.

Quarterback Alex Scheppmann’s scrambling run after a turnover ultimately sealed the deal for Dirty Money, which moves to 2-1 on the season with the win.

"We had an unfortunate call on fourth down that would have given us the ball on our own 15-yard line, but those things happen," Richter said. "We kept a level head, and we pulled it out in the end."

Offense was the theme for Tuesday’s game — both teams moved the ball well and used a combination of both short and deep passes. Both teams tallied seven first downs.

The first quarter belonged to Matt Chandler’s Team — on both sides of the ball.

Team quarterback Matt Chandler drove his squad down the field on its second offensive possession and jumped out to an early 6-0 advantage.

Its defense also started quickly, picking off starting Dirt Money quarterback Ryan Reinhart twice in the first seven minutes to preserve the lead.

Dirty Money then decided to switch Reinhart with Scheppmann. Once he stepped in, there was no looking back.

Scheppmann quickly found receiver Garrett Miller deep for a 40-yard score, a theme that repeated throughout the game.

Scheppmann also contributed on the other side of the ball, intercepting a pass late in the second quarter. He eventually scrambled into the end zone, and Dirty Money rode a 12-6 lead into halftime.

Matt Chandler’s Team started the second half in a promising fashion, taking advantage of good field position set up by Corey Mendoza’s second interception of the evening. Matt Chandler’s Team scored soon after when Chandler found Frank Higgins in the middle of the end zone.

Both teams traded scoring drives during the third and fourth quarters, but one thing remained constant: Scheppmann kept finding his favorite target, Miller, for deep gains.

Things looked shaky for Dirty Money late in the fourth because of a 99-yard interception return by Matt Chandler’s Team’s Brock Tracey, but a 45-yard pass to Miller on the ensuing drive knotted the game at 25-all with just over a minute remaining.

"He’s a fast kid, and I just threw the ball up to him, and he’d make a play," Scheppmann said. "He has a knack for the ball — he goes [up] and gets [it]."

Miller was quick to deflect any praise toward his teammates who got him the ball.

"Jake drawing up [good] plays and Schepp finding me, that’s how we do it," he said.