For the first time in extramural history, the women’s team representative from Anderson University, No Punts Intended, won the Backyard Brawl. The Backyard Brawl is an extramural event in which the regular season champions from AU, Huntington University, Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) and Taylor University compete in a tournament to determine the best IM flag football team from all four schools. The girls traveled to IWU for the tournament.
In the first game of the tournament, No Punts Intended defeated IWU 13-7 to advance to the championship game against Taylor. In front of a ruckus Taylor fan section, the girls took the championship home in a hard-fought 13-12 victory. With only 20 seconds to play, quarterback DJ Martz broke through on fourth and goal to give No Punts Intended the victory. A diving catch from Alexis Zook set up the touchdown plunge.
Casey Back knocked down multiple passes and saved multiple touchdowns from the safety position. She was ecstatic that AU was bringing the Brawl trophy home. “We were all told that AU never wins, so we expected to lose. Once we won that first game, it became a very real possibility that we could win. I was honored to be chosen to play on such a competitive team.”
The men’s representatives, the Retired Ravens, were defeated in the first round of the Brawl before winning the consolation game.