This was an awesome game to say the least.
Unfortunately because of the small number of guys we decided early on to not film. So, for those of you on our team who weren't there and are interested in the details I'd thought I'd write a recap.
Here we go:
So we arrive with nine players- Bates, Ostro, Luke, Brooks, Lonnie, Rumbly, DP, and the Fergus Bros- and the decision is made to play in the nice Downer's Grove North Football stadium. At first they only have 8 dudes so numbers are pretty even though I think they picked up like three more guys or something by the end.
We get a pretty good warm up in and start play pulling to them. The first three points were very shaky. We were playing as we have been the past few games- making dumb throws, and then getting beat to the force side or beat in a quick huck. They go up 0-3, mostly on quick movement and deep throws. It would have been oh so easy to crumble here and get destroyed.
But we didn't. We got all the rust off ourselves and started playing real offense. Our first point on the board came off a midlevel huck I believe and then we scored again. Score 2-3.
For the rest of the first half we fight with them and begin to realize our potential. Defense begins to look real good as we adjust by shading them deep and running hard with them, beginning to tire them out. From this point on we were able to force a turnover or two every time they got the disc. Yet early on we were still having trouble exploiting it. Offense looked better but still had a few problems. Score goes 2-4 then 3-5 then something like 4-5, 4-6. They score a point and then call a time out because they are getting tired. We are running them hard. We score right after that time out and eventually take the lead 7-6. They tie it up 7-7. And then we push and take half 8-7. At this point we really are beginning to get pumped.
We come out of halftime getting the disc and knowing what a huge point it is to hold. And we score. 9-7. Then we bring up the intensity again realizing how huge it would be to break them. And we score. 10-7. And it continued like that. We kept up the intensity, focusing on every point critically, making every play big. The offense really begins to gel and have very few turnovers. We even go through their zone defense a few times. Our Defense is still dominant. We go on a seven point run.
They took only one point that half and it wasn't until the score was 14-7 and I had disc slip off my fingers. We fight out a last point and have a huge win 15-8. Great game.
Reasons we won:
1. Intensity. Soooo much better than the previous games. We sprint down on every pull (and there were a lot of good ones) and play hard D, get a turn and get open down the field. We wanted it more and showed it.
2. Precision. Handling was great this game from a limited number of dudes and the offense was able to move the disc efficiently without many mistakes at all.
3. We played our game. DP brought it up early that we needed to play our game regardless of what happened. And we did. No matter our mistakes or what they did, we were able to stay calm and yet focused and intense.
If we play like that every game we can go undefeated for the rest of the season.
Highlights that will now exist in our memories only:
Bates- good cutting, was able to come in and shut his man down on defense.
Luke- Great cutting, finally saw use of his speed as he got down quick on pulls, played great D, and got open a lot on offense, running down and reading some important hucks.
Ostro- Great defense in the air, pivotal part of the offense, solid throws.
Brooks- two huge D's in the air, in the endzone, at the end of the game and a handblock on game point and then bookends for the final score. Also had some good handling especially during the zone points
Lonnie- Huge layout D during the second half to keep our momentum, extremely great cutting, especially near the endzone, shut down his man on defense every time, and some hot pulls
Rumbly- great bid and D that was just barely a strip, catch of a couple of hucks, timeout and then strike throw for big break on endzone, good d/cuts
DP- great D overall, and extremely great handling and throws all day long, really pushed the team, got open on the big strike from Rumbles
Casey- more great handling, including some sick hucks for points (finally found his forehand jk), good pulls
TFerg- Shut down his handler, even got a big poach D near the endzone, more sick throws including some important breaks in tough situations, good pulls
Comment if I forgot any good plays or such.
Let's focus and do this for the rest of the season
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Stalling/ One Month
STALLING
OK boys, it is time to be brutally honest with ourselves. We have kind of been stalling out the last couple of weeks; the team which grew so drastically in the beginning of the season seems to have hit a brick wall. The last few games we have played were not pretty. Old problems continue to persist.
The last three games really haven’t been quality. We just haven’t risen to our highest level or (as we all hoped) grown at all. Now these games were victories, and yes, in the end the win is all that matters (that and having fun of course), but we have a string of tough games ahead of us, and if we played like we did in the past three weeks (shooting ourselves in the foot) we will be crushed… and it will not be fun. The game against Go Pre was lackadaisical, and it began the rocky streak. I think most of all that has bugged me. We should not be a lazy team. We pride ourselves on being fast, on being fit, and on wanting it more than anyone. So why are we jogging around the field casually? Why are we letting them throw five easy upfield passes off the pull? So many of our problems- getting beat to the force side, not attacking the disc by running through, throwing it away or dropping - can be contributed to a lack of focus and effort! I have seen it in myself and I personally refuse to let it happen again. We can have fun and try hard, the two things aren’t mutually exclusive.
The game against Tator Touts was especially evident of the lack of intensity. We came out slow, they made it close by making great plays and pushing hard, and we suddenly realized “oh we have to run now”. We actually started playing our game second half and did really well.
Screw that. We should come out wanting to show our best from the first play.
The game against Final Boss proves how all of these close games weren’t merely the result of our problems. Captain Casey and I basically called this near upset because we knew this team was itching for a surprise victory. We let them get into our heads after they were being douches and we started freaking out and making really dumb mistakes (just like last year). We should be proud that we got it together, but our goal should be to not let it happen again.
ONE MONTH
OK enough of my stating the obvious problems. Now we go about fixing them. We have one month until the final tournament of the season. That gives us a whole month to improve on everything we need to, to up our game so that we are playing at a top notch level, so that we can accomplish our goal of doing well at the end of the season tournament. To do that we need to really push ourselves these next few games, showing the Untouchables and Moustache Moonshine that we aren’t some weak high school team that will crumble under pressure or will kill itself with mistakes. Let’s be the ones who do the upsetting this time.
And we need to come to practice! I can’t emphasize this enough. Casey, DP, and I have come up with a lot of ideas to improve our game (fixing our mistakes) but they involve drills and team practice. Show up and play as hard as you would in a game. I’m tired of scrimmaging with five people.
Alright let’s go.
OK boys, it is time to be brutally honest with ourselves. We have kind of been stalling out the last couple of weeks; the team which grew so drastically in the beginning of the season seems to have hit a brick wall. The last few games we have played were not pretty. Old problems continue to persist.
The last three games really haven’t been quality. We just haven’t risen to our highest level or (as we all hoped) grown at all. Now these games were victories, and yes, in the end the win is all that matters (that and having fun of course), but we have a string of tough games ahead of us, and if we played like we did in the past three weeks (shooting ourselves in the foot) we will be crushed… and it will not be fun. The game against Go Pre was lackadaisical, and it began the rocky streak. I think most of all that has bugged me. We should not be a lazy team. We pride ourselves on being fast, on being fit, and on wanting it more than anyone. So why are we jogging around the field casually? Why are we letting them throw five easy upfield passes off the pull? So many of our problems- getting beat to the force side, not attacking the disc by running through, throwing it away or dropping - can be contributed to a lack of focus and effort! I have seen it in myself and I personally refuse to let it happen again. We can have fun and try hard, the two things aren’t mutually exclusive.
The game against Tator Touts was especially evident of the lack of intensity. We came out slow, they made it close by making great plays and pushing hard, and we suddenly realized “oh we have to run now”. We actually started playing our game second half and did really well.
Screw that. We should come out wanting to show our best from the first play.
The game against Final Boss proves how all of these close games weren’t merely the result of our problems. Captain Casey and I basically called this near upset because we knew this team was itching for a surprise victory. We let them get into our heads after they were being douches and we started freaking out and making really dumb mistakes (just like last year). We should be proud that we got it together, but our goal should be to not let it happen again.
ONE MONTH
OK enough of my stating the obvious problems. Now we go about fixing them. We have one month until the final tournament of the season. That gives us a whole month to improve on everything we need to, to up our game so that we are playing at a top notch level, so that we can accomplish our goal of doing well at the end of the season tournament. To do that we need to really push ourselves these next few games, showing the Untouchables and Moustache Moonshine that we aren’t some weak high school team that will crumble under pressure or will kill itself with mistakes. Let’s be the ones who do the upsetting this time.
And we need to come to practice! I can’t emphasize this enough. Casey, DP, and I have come up with a lot of ideas to improve our game (fixing our mistakes) but they involve drills and team practice. Show up and play as hard as you would in a game. I’m tired of scrimmaging with five people.
Alright let’s go.
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