Eric Espejo Shows up for Game 2

And he is on Fire

Miguel Returns from Med School

He looks to pour fuel on Eric's Fire

Sept. 14, 2002

Game #2

The Red Team puts up 9 TD's, but can't put the Game away until the final minutes.

Week 2, and already we have a ton of Firsts for the HBL.  There were the yellow sidelines, the shortened field, and an Official 700 yards in passing for one QB.  The Ball changed hands an amazing 33 times during the course of the 2 hours of play on Saturday.  Which leads me to tell you that some things are just going to have to be summarized with Rich's "Flurry of scoring" tactic, otherwise you would be reading this until this Saturday's game.

The Blue Team Won the toss and with JP Lindo at the helm, they drove down the field to the 10 where Earl Espejo snagged his first interception of the season.

With Eric Espejo on the field for the first time this year, he took command as the QB for the Red team.  Though a bit rusty from his week off, he was only able to drive to their own 30 where they turned the ball over on downs

After receiving the ball back, Blue used the Halfback option and Jon Pettyjohn threw a 30 yard TD pass to Macky Lopez making the score 7-0.

With Eric still a little rusty, Red went 4 and out, giving Blue a chance to go up by 2 scores early in the game. Blue tried to go to the well once to often as the Halfback option play turned into an interception for Daniel Ramirez.

As Red start up their 3rd possession, Eric is bound and determined to shake the cobwebs and does so in fine fashion. On the second play he threw a strike to Miguel Reyes for a 70 yard tying the score at seven a piece.

Blue takes over, but only for a couple of plays as Steve Kovach intercepted on a pass that bounced off Sarah Davies' back.  Though Red mounted a drive, it stalled around Blue's 10 yard line and they turned the ball over on downs to Blue.

Blue wasted no time as JP hit Macky for an 80 yard TD on the first play putting Blue up by one score at 14-7. Though it would be short lived.

This when Red took over.  Eric took command again, starting this series of downs with short methodical passing with a couple of long strikes here and there to keep Blue on it's toes.  At one point, he threw a long ball to Daniel, and Aaron Goodmiller couldn't take it any more and had to sit out of the game for a bit. Two plays later Eric hit Miguel again on a 35 yard TD pass tying the score at 14 up. And this seemed to open up a flood gate f Red scores.  A forty yard pass to Miguel, a 10 yard catch from Earl, and a 20 yard strike to Steve put Red up 35-14. 

Just before the half, Blue got the ball back and Aaron stepped back into the lineup.  JP hit him with a 35 yard toss then another 35 yarder to Macky and ended the drive with a 10 yard pitch and catch to Aaron for a TD bringing the score to 35-21. 

Eric ended the half with another HBL first.  The Kneel Down Clock running play.

At the half it was Red 35 and Blue 21

Red started off the second half where they ended the first.  Scoring touchdowns. A 30 yard pass to Miguel resulted in Eric's 6th TD of the day and brought the score to  42-21.

JP wasted no time himself, taking Blue straight down the field with a 30 yard strike to Macky that setup a 10 yard pass to Aaron for a TD bringing Blue back to within 14 points.

Eric was still unrelenting as he drove Red down the field.  Hitting Earl for a 25 yard but he was stopped on the 1 yard line. Eric responded with a quick drop pass to Donnie Conty for the TD taking the margin back up to 3 touchdowns.

JP never gave up and took Blue right down the field on a 40 yard pass to Rich, and then a 10 yard corner pass to Cesar Galang. for a TD. 49-35

Red struck right back. Two 40 yard pass plays to Miguel and they were back up by 21. And then 5 plays later, Eric intercepted a JP pass over the middle.  Sensing this would be the end of the Blue Team.  Eric handed QB duties over to Steve.  Unfortunately, Steve was unable to mount any drives, and in a few quick possessions JP was able to bring Blue back to within 7 points, with a 40 yard TD pass to Richard Friend and a 10 yard corner route in the back of the endzone to Aaron.

Eric took up QB duties again for Red and started a long drive that consumed a bit of the little remaining time left. At one point though it seemed that Blue had gotten the break they needed when JP thought he had intercepted a pass that seemed to just sit on Steve's shoulder.  However it was ruled that the ball in the ground first (And in reviewing the footage later, it was confirmed that the ball had hit the ground first).  Then with their back against the wall, on fourth and 10, Eric threw a sideline pass to Steve and he kept his tip toes on the ground and just inside the new sideline markers for a first down. Three plays later, Eric hit Steve again for a 20 yard TD to give them a 63-49 lead with only 10 minutes left in the game.

JP wasted no time though.  He got Blue Down field by going no huddle and getting 10 and 15 yards at a clip. He got them all the way down to the 10, when he threw a pass that slipped through Aaron's fingers and landed right into Daniel's hands for an Interception.

Red ran some time off the clock by getting a first down, but finally turned the ball over on downs.  One play later, JP hit Rich for a 20 yard TD bringing them back to within 7 points.  But alas, there was not enough time.  With one minute left, Red took their time and ran one last play.  A 10 yard pass to Steve, who announced that this would be his last game this season due to a new job he would be starting that Monday. 

The Final score was 63-56

Did You Notice?

Eric and JP accounted for over 1400 yard passing.

Eric Had 9 TD's, but threw for no Interceptions.  He also Intercepted JP Twice

At one point the Red Team scored 4 unanswered touchdowns.

It took longer to find a field and setup then it did to Play the entire first half.

The Field was actually only 90 yards and each team started out on the 10 yard line.

Miguel had half the catches that Cesar did, but had twice the amount of yards

Play of the game

Eric: With Red up by 3, Eric Intercepted a pass the seemingly put the nail in the coffin for Blue.

Steve: 4th and 10, Blue down by only 1 score.  Steve made a leaning sideline catch with his toes just inbounds to keep the drive alive.

Daniel: With the Red team up by 2.  Blue was in scoring position. The ball passed through Aaron's hands and right into Daniel's in the back of the endzone.

Miguel: After having missed all but one game last season, he came back and averaged 32 yards per catch, scored 4 td's and had an Interception.

Quote of the game 

Eric 1:
"You tripped over your own rope!"
(after Aaron stumbled going out of bounds)

Eric 2:
"You're a victim of your own sidelines"
(same scenario)

Donnie:
"I'll find 'em for five; and I'll kill 'em for ten..."
(holding the rope-spool thingie in a menacing fashion)
 

Rich:
"Gusto mo ng pump fake?"
(asking JP to pump fake in Tagalog, after someone noted that the Blue Team was calling plays in Tagalog)

Quote of the week:  Sarah: "You know, I could have had you." (60%)

Play of the week:  Macky, with 3 Touchdowns and 3 Interceptions.  (70%)