Timbo T-Rex Capture Brazil’s First Ever CBFA Superliga Title!
After 6 months and 200 games, Brazil’s 31 team Superliga, with squads spanning a staggering 3,757 km (2,335 miles) from North to South, and and 3,305 km (2,254 miles) from East to West, came to a roaring climax with two squads that had been on a collision course all season long.
Timbo’s smothering defense took on Flamengo’s explosive offense in Rio de Janeiro to decide who would be named Brazil’s first unified national champion.
CBFA Superliga Final
Timbo T-Rex: 36 – Flamengo: 24
Heavy game-week practice schedule pays off for Timbo en-route to their second consecutive national title.
An emotional Well Garcia shares a moment with Timbo Head Coach, Amadeu Salvador, after winning the Superliga national title. Garcia rushed for three touchdowns in the game. Photo credit: Jayson Braga
The work paid off. Coach Amadeu Salvador and his Timbo T-Rex held 18 practices between their semi-final win over the Cuiaba Arsenal and the CBFA title game against Flamengo; five in the week leading up to the game. After a rough start, the extra reps that the Catarinense squad put in began to show, and the T-Rex used an explosive second half to pull away for good, with a 36-24 victory.
Flamengo’s veteran squad didn’t go down easily, though, and led for most of the first half. Flamengo defensive end, Denis Barros recovered a Timbo first quarter fumble, and on the ensuing Flamengo snap, quarterback KC Frost hit hit his favorite target, Patrick Dutton Tavares, for a score. Frost would connect once more with Dutton Tavares in the end zone, and also run for another touchdown. Flamengo nearly took a two score lead into half time, but late in the second quarter, Timbo’s Luiz Bassani chucked a screen pass to Guilherme Meuer, who rumbled 27 yards to the end zone, making the intermission score 24-17, Flamengo.
Although Flamengo managed some drives into the Timbo red zone in the second half, the games final two quarters belonged to Timbo, with Bassani doing a masterful job of managing drives, and the T-Rex running attack chomping up yardage. Claire Jose Simoes Jr. ran for a score, and Well Garcia continued his superstar campaign, by scoring two of his game-high three rushing scores in the second half.
Timbo’s defense swarmed Flamengo, shutting out their potent offense in the second half. Photo credit: Jayson Braga
The Timbo defense also stood tall in pitching a second half shut out against one of Brazil’s most potent offenses. Nose tackle, Caio Perreira, handled double teams all day, and his D-line-mate, Andrey Perreira, continued a stellar post season by notching a sack. Linebacker Dariel Suares was everywhere, intercepting two Flamengo passes and recovering a fumble.
This was Timbo and Coach Amaedeu Salvador’s second consecutive title (They won the TTD in 2015), and Brazil’s first unified title. The game marked the second trip to a first division title game for Flamengo for Flamengo since 2013.
