On Thursday night the top four teams in the intramural fraternity league squared off. On the far field Lambda Chi Alpha took on Kappa Sigma. On the near field Pi Kappa Alpha faced off against Phi Gamma Delta in a battle of two undefeated teams. Fiji walked away with a 13-7 victory and a virtual lock on the regular season number one ranking. Intramural director Chris Hutton was pleased with the night’s match ups.

“Both of the games had an impact on the top four spots in the league standings,” Hutton said. “The games were enjoyable to watch and both of them went right down to the last drive of the game.”

The feature game of the evening pitted the Pike’s against the Fiji’s, it which has turned out to be a respected rivalry between the two houses. The intramural department assigned a number of the top officials on staff to work the game. With an article in the Daily Campus a day prior to the game it was no surprise that over 200 students turned out to cheer on their respective teams. The players did their part and gave the students plenty of things to get excited about.

The Pike’s brought to the field a combination of speed and athleticism. The Fiji’s held an edge with high percentage play and few mistakes.

Starting the game, the Fiji offense came out with quick passes and high percentage plays. The receivers ran smart routes and the offense moved the ball down the field. The Pike defense held strong and the Fiji’s turned the ball over on downs.

The Pike offense wasted no time in getting started. On the first play from scrimmage Allen Ives hooked up with Rob Presthus for a 65-yard touchdown. The point after attempt was good and the Pike’s quickly lead 7-0.

The teams traded possessions over the next three drives before the Fiji’s finally found the end zone. Fiji quarterback Jeff Preston dropped back and threw a dump pass to Mike Sroka. The point after attempt was good and the score remained locked at 7-7 heading into the half.

Hutton was extremely impressed with the level of play during the first half.

“The regular season doesn’t mean as much to the teams,” Hutton said. “I thought it was great that both of the teams played hard and took the game seriously.”

Both teams had offensive troubles to start the second half. The Pike offense had trouble once inside the Fiji’s 20-yard line and turned the ball over on downs multiple times. Eight minutes into the half Preston removed himself from the game with an ankle injury. Neither team could manage to create a scoring chance and costly penalties killed each of the drives.

With two minutes remaining, Preston took back the quarterbacking duties and led the final charge. Preston found Tommy Hays on a 55-yard bomb to give the Fiji’s the lead. The conversion was failed and with less than two minutes left, the Fiji’s led 13-7. The Pike offense managed to move down the field in a timely fashion, setting up one last chance. Ives dropped back under heavy pressure and threw up a desperation chance that came up short.

Hutton felt the evening was a success.

“It is always nice to have a chance for students to read about students they know,” Hutton said. “The players enjoy the coverage because everyone likes reading about their team.”