Members of the Hollister and San Benito County fire departments
traded their turnouts and hoses for cleats and sweat pants as they
took the field for the first annual Fire Bowl flag football
game.
An interception with 30 seconds left doused the Hollister Fire Department’s chances of making a last-minute comeback and sealed a 14-6 win for the San Benito County Fire Department in the first annual Fire Bowl.
The interception broke up what appeared to be a sure touchdown that would’ve given the Hollister firefighters a chance to tie the hard-fought contest.
The win gave the county fire department bragging rights for a year and possession of the “Axe,” a trophy with a firefighter’s brass pickax on top.
“We never doubted for a minute that we could handle them without a problem,” said Mike “Doc” Scalmanini, the county’s emotional leader.
On Saturday, members of the Hollister and San Benito County fire departments traded their turnouts and hoses for cleats and sweat pants as they took the field at Rancho San Justo Middle School.
The contest, which started out as a good-natured game of flag football, quickly turned into an epic gridiron struggle between Hollister’s big-play, quick-strike offense and the county firefighters’ methodical, grind-it-out style.
Late in the first half, Hollister had a touchdown pass called back for having 12 men on the field. But their offense came back and scored on a 20-yard strike into the corner of the end zone. However, a 2-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the score at 6-0.
The county tied it up early in the second half with a 60-yard scoring drive but missed the extra point to make it 6-6. The score remained tied until a county receiver worked his way behind Hollister’s defensive backs for a 30-yard touchdown pass late in the game.
After the game, the teams put the competition behind them.
“I think it was a great way for the two agencies to come together,” Hollister firefighter David Young said.
Despite the heated competition, both departments said they have a healthy respect for each other.
“We’re fully supportive of each other and we work together in life-and-death situations all the time,” Scalmanini said. “But there’s always been a little bit of a rivalry between the departments.”
It was that rivalry that gave birth to the Fire Bowl. Several weeks ago, members of the two departments got into a discussion over which was the better. That discussion turned into a challenge that was played out on the football field.
The departments were so happy with the way the game turned out that they decided to make the Fire Bowl an annual event.
“This was just a little test run,” Scalmanini said.
Both departments said they want to turn the game into a charity event by pooling the members of the two departments and challenging a combined team of Hollister Police and San Benito County Sheriff’s deputies.
Firefighters said they want to get permission to use the San Benito High School stadium and charge a small admission fee, which would be donated to a charity chosen by the winner.
