TAKE 7 PLAYERS, THROW IN SOME MUD, AND WHAT DO YOU GET? A
TIE.
The remnants of the snow of a week earlier had conspired to turn Ben Roa
Field into little more than a quagmire of mud and slush. Rocks were no
longer a concern, as barely a step could be taken without sinking nearly an
inch deep in the muck--mud so severe that in many areas full puddles
continued to lie. Those worried about dirtying their clothes could have
taken one glance at the surface, turned around, and went straight back to
bed.
Those not worried about it were ready to get it started, despite one of the
lowest turnouts of the year. Manny, Earl, and Rich donned the blue jerseys,
while Donnie, Steve, and Macky wore red. Cesar arrived shortly into the
first half and gamely served as rotator on offense.
The Red Team started off with the ball, with Steve at the helm. A bit of
confusion ensued early on, as it was deemed that with only two available
receivers, no blockers would be necessary. This afforded the defense a
rusher who could pursue the quarterback untouched. Needless to say, Steve
made the situation work, handing off to Macky for a 10-yard pickup, and
later pushing the ball downfield with a long strike, also to Macky. Making
it to the red zone, Steve once again called on Mack Daddy to put the first
points on the board with a 20-yard end around run that capped a 10-minute
drive. Red was up, 7-0.
Blue took their first offensive possession with Manny at QB, and he saw a
huge gain on an unlikely play-a short crossing pass to Earl that the Jedi
Master turned into a 40-yard completion. Just as Macky had done for the Red
Team, Earl cashed in on his efforts with a 5-yard touchdown catch from Manny
to tie the game at 7.
On the next series, the Red Team learned the hard
way that mud doesn't always slow defenders down. Earl reached in and snagged
his first interception of the game on a pass that Steve tried to stretch in
to Macky. Blue gladly reclaimed the ball, but Macky seemed determined to
take things back into his own hands-literally. On first down, Manny lofted a
pass to Rich along the left sideline. The ball drifted out of reach, but
Macky was deep enough to pull in what appeared at first to be an
interception of his own. It was soon evident that he'd caught the ball out
of bounds, so Blue maintained possession. Just two plays later, however,
Macky got a piece of a short third down pass to Rich-a pass that Dr. Evil
all but tipped right into his hands-and returned it to the house to put Red
up, 14-7.
The defensive score fired up the Red Team, and they wanted even more. As
Manny gambled on a long pass to Earl, Steve managed to come down with a pick
of his own. He returned it 15 yards before pulling a little razzle-dazzle
out of his pocket, lateralling the ball to Macky who took it the rest of the
way. The Red Team had built a more comfortable lead, 21-7-with two of those
scores coming from their defense.
Pressure up the middle from Donnie was taking a toll on the Blue passing
game. Cesar arrived in time to take over quarterbacking duties, and the
offense gained a much-needed blocking game. Mufasa connected with Manny on a
nifty 35-yard pickup, moving Blue down the field. But the Red Team defense
was more than up for the challenge. Once again, it was Macky who was in the
right place at the right time, as he hauled in his second interception and
returned it 30 yards, deep into Blue territory.
With Red threatening to jump to a three-score lead, Earl would save the day
with his own second pick. With the Blue Team back on offense, Cesar took
advantage of Earl's hot hands and hit him on a huge 40-yard passing play,
and later on a 15-yard score. Red's lead was cut to 21-14.
Cesar rotated onto the Red Team, and looked sharp at quarterback for both
sides. Moving Red past midfield, he found himself faced with a 4th and long
situation. Steve ran a brilliant up-and-out route that met up with a
perfectly thrown pass from Cesar, but the planets were aligned for the Blue
defense on this instance. More accurately, the Sun was aligned directly with
Steve's vision, causing him to lose sight of a ball that sailed right
through his cradled fingers. The game's first turnover on downs couldn't
have come at a better time for the Blue Team.
Manny suggested that Blue utilize Cesar more as a receiver, to help match up
better with the Red Team's defensive speed. Moving the ball efficiently,
Manny hooked up with Mufasa on a 5-yard touchdown pass that tied the game
21-21, only 4 seconds before the buzzer sounded to end the half. With that
score, the Blue Team went confidently into halftime with the knowledge that
they'd start the second half with the ball and the chance to retake the
lead.
The momentum shift was apparent, as everything seemed to go smoothly now for
Blue. On what seemed to be a broken play, Earl ran a sweep left behind
almost non-existent blocking for a nice 10-yard gain. Moments later, it was
Cesar once again on the receiving end of a Manny touchdown pass-this time on
a deep ball. The Blue Team went up, 28-21.
Anyone who expected the Red Team to roll over would have been wrong, as
Steve made what should qualify as one of the many plays of the year. On a
screen pass at the line of scrimmage, he managed to go from a dead stop to a
30-yard touchdown. More impressively was the manner in which he did
it-somehow splitting between all three Blue defenders, all of whom pulled up
short of colliding. The unlikely touchdown tied the game, 28-28.
A mud game is rarely without controversy, and this one was no exception. A
4th-down pass to Cesar appeared to be a 40-yard touchdown, but the play was
called back when it was determined that Mufasa had pushed off on Steve.
Manny was unable to complete the 4th down redo, and the Blue Team turned the
ball over on downs. This would begin a series of turnovers that rivaled any
seen this season.
The Red Team managed to drive inside the Blue 10-yard line before going 4
and out.
The Blue Team gave up a crucial 4th-down sack to Macky, turning the ball
over to Red once again.
Red still failed to kickstart its offense, and again turned the ball over on
downs.
When Blue took over, Manny focused on maintaining possession. He opened up
with a 30-yarder to Cesar, and finally quenched the scoring drought with a
touchdown pass to Earl. The Blue Team was back on top, 35-28.
They wouldn't have much time to enjoy the lead, however, as Steve still had
some of that screen magic. He somehow turned another screen pass into an
80-yard jaunt to tie the game, 35-35.
Manny stayed the course, knowing that time was winding down. He started the
drive off with a 10-yard pass to Rich, picking up the first down. What
happened next will most certainly go down as one of HBL Football's most
memorable plays. Manny tossed a short pass to Cesar, who doubled back behind
the line of scrimmage in search of better running room. Skipping back and
forth behind rapidly collapsing blocking, he continued to evade would-be
tacklers. "North and South, baby-North and South!" cried Rich, for fear of
seeing the run end with a loss of yards. Instead, Cesar somehow dodged
everyone on the Red Team not once, but twice, and broke through for an
amazing 70-yard touchdown to put Big Blue back up, 42-35.
The Red Team dug in, and started a drive going. A 40-yard connection to
Macky seemed to have them on the verge of something big, but once again,
they turned the ball over on downs. Likewise, Blue had a golden opportunity
to put the game away on their next possession when a wide open Jedi Master
also lost one in the sun-Manny's pass was right on the money, but drifted
though Earl's arms as if it were a QB Challenge event. The Red Team defense
then came up big with yet another Macky interception deep in the red zone.
With time running down, Red continued to go to Steve, who seemed to be the
kryptonite to the Blue Team defense. With another short pass over the
middle, Kovach slipped a lone defender and again took a long one to the
house. The game was tied, 42-42.
When the Blue Team saw a long drive fizzle out, Red jumped on the
opportunity to win the game in the closing seconds. Sensing the deep threat,
Rich dropped back in coverage instead of rushing the quarterback. The shift
paid off when he was there to pick off a long pass from Cesar and return it
15 yards, all the while urging Blue to scramble and strike as quickly as Red
had hoped to.
Taking a cue from the Blue Team defense, Steve also hovered back in the
safety spot and managed to intercept Manny deep. The Red Team had just under
a minute to put together a winning play. A sideline pass intended for Donnie
threaded two defenders, but proved to be just out of reach. As the ball
landed in the mud, time expired. Lacking the motivation to play an overtime
period, both sides settled for a tie, 42-42
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Did You Notice?
the halves were cut to 45 minutes, due to lower number of players and
field conditions
exactly 1 minute was lost in the second half when newcomers Ric, Carlos, and
Sebastian inquired about the game. (Two minutes were later added)
Macky, Earl, and Steve each had multiple interceptions
Quotes of the Game:
"Hope he has a good washing machine..." (Cesar, commenting after Rich's
landing in the mud)
"Finally!" (Cesar, thinking he'd finally thrown a completion to
Donnie--several attempts had sailed too far wide--but as soon as he said it,
the ball slipped through Donnie's hands.)
"Manny, he's open!!" (Macky, screaming frantically on defense while trying
to bait Manny into throwing to Rich)
Plays of the Game:
Steve's 30-yard touchdown after a screen pass at the line of scrimmage,
splitting all three defenders
Cesar's 70-yard touchdown after a screen pass, dodging tacklers twice while
running left/right/forwards/backwards
Macky's interception return for a TD after having an INT overruled two plays
earlier for making the catch out of bounds
Rich's near-catch crash landing in the largest mud puddle on the field
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