Rice passes on a tie, gets the win

Team Sanders spent much of the game trying to match the more offense-minded Team Rice squad, but it was Prime Time’s men who finally broke the 14-14 tie midway through the fourth quarter thanks to Philadelphia quarterback Nick Foles.

Eventually named the game’s most outstanding offensive player, Foles needed only five plays to go 57 yards for the go-ahead score. The Eagles quarterback got things started with a 39-yard completion to Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown, who made a nice over-the-shoulder grab to set up first-and-10 at Team Rice’s 13. Two plays later, Foles hit Cleveland receiver Jordan Cameron in the corner of the end zone from 12 yards out. Justin Tucker added the extra point to make it 21-14 Team Sanders with 4:41 left in the game.

Prior to Team Sanders taking the lead, Team Rice had a nice drive that ended with a missed 53-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski that hit the right upright. On that drive, Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith proved his worth, completing passes to Cleveland’s Josh Gordon and Atlanta’s Tony Gonzalez, then scampering for 13 to set up a first-and-10 before the drive stalled.

It was a portent of things to come for Team Rice. After Team Sanders took the lead, Smith and Team Rice put together one last drive to seal the comeback victory. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback got things started with a 24-yard completion to Gordon, who led all wideouts with six catches for 66 yards. Two plays later, Smith found Chicago’s Alshon Jeffery for 14 more to set up a first-and-10 from the 20.

From there, Smith found an open DeMarco Murray of Dallas for a 20-yard catch and run to cut the margin to 21-20 with 41 seconds remaining. But instead of going for the tying PAT, Rice opted to try for 2, aiming to win the game outright.

But instead of passing it, Smith handed off to fullback Mike Tolbert of Carolina, who plowed in from the 2 to give Team Rice a slim 22-21 margin. Not to be outdone, Team Sanders did everything it could to get Tucker in field-goal position, but his 67-yard field goal came up 3 yards shy in the thick, humid air of Aloha Stadium and Team Rice celebrated the win in fine fashion.