Rich "Mr. Clutch" Friend

Does He Ever Drop a Pass?

Macky "5 TD" Lopez

Can He Be Stopped?

Oct. 18, 2003

Game #6

The Most Controversial Game in HBL History

This weeks game has so much stuff happen I have no idea where to start.  Just to show you how much, not only did we have 3 controversial plays (Each could have changed the outcome of the game if it had been called the other way), but each team also touched the ball 17 times.  Normally it's around 13-14.  I'll do the best I can to recap, but some things might get left out.

It started out easy enough with Blue winning the toss and deferring to Red for the opening drive.  The game quickly looked like it was going to be a replay of the previous week as Red score 3 straight unanswered touchdowns due to Interceptions by Cesar and Shaun.  All 3 touchdowns were score by passes from Manny to Macky. - Red 21 - Blue 0

Blue was finally able to get things going as Eric engineered a nice drive and ended it with a 20 yard TD pass to Daniel.  Red came right back and scored on a 15 yard pass to Shaun from Manny.  Blue hit right back when on the second play of their drive Eric hit Steve for 60 yards and a touch down.  - Red 28 - Blue 14

This started the flurry of scoring that we seem to always get.  Each of the next 6 drives took no more than 5 plays.  Red scored on a 37 yard TD pass to Cesar.  Blue scored on a 60 yard pass to Rich.  Red scored on a 3 yard pass to Macky.  Earl scored a 40 yard TD for Blue.  Manny hit Aaron in the back of the endzone for Red.  And Macky pulled down an interception on Blues first play of their next drive, just before half. Red 49 - Blue 28

The second half started with Blue having the ball and taking it right down the field to try and get back into the game.  They ended their drive with Eric hitting Steve for a 10 yard TD.  Red came right back though as Manny hooked up with his favorite target for the day, Macky, on a 10 yard pass for a TD.  Blue never gave up and in just a couple of plays, Eric found Jon all alone in the secondary and hit him in stride for a 40 yard score. Red 56 - Blue 42

With just over 40 minutes left in the game, Blue made a defensive stance and Daniel pulled out a sack on 4th down, giving Blue the ball back.  Just a few plays later, Eric hit Rich in stride for a 20 yard touchdown.  The teams them traded interceptions as Earl actually tipped a pass by Manny and then caught the tipped pass.  And Demetrious intercepted a pass in the endzone as Blue was looking to tie the game.  Red 56 - Blue 49

Cesar then tried his hand at QB and move Red right down the field.  Ending the drive with a nice 10 yard scamper for a touchdown.  Cesar then Pulled down and interception on Blue's next series.  And as Red looked to go back up by 3, Daniel gabbed his own interception to bring Blue back into the game.  1 play later, Eric pitched it to Steve who then hit Eric in stride as he streaked down the field for the score.  Red 63 - Blue 56

Red then took their time and moved the ball down the field.  However Blue's defense held and got the ball back when they couldn't convert a fourth down play.  1 play later, Eric and Steve tried the Halfback option again as Steve Hit Eric for another 60 yard TD and tied the game up. Red 63 Blue 63

Bound and determined not to squander their 3 touchdown lead, Red moved the ball down the field.  And on 3rd down, only 10 yards from the endzone, the first controversial play happened.  Manny threw a pass to Aaron who was right at the endzone line.  As he caught it and looked to score, Eric came up and tagged him.  Thinking he scored, Aaron was startled when he heard that the down was now fourth.  He pleaded his case, and even though several of his teammates also said he had at least a first down, the consensus was that he was short of the touchdown and first down.  This play would come back to haunt them as a pass to Macky was dropped in the endzone on the next play. 

With just about 4 minutes left in the game, Blue took to make Red pay for their mistake.  And on the second play of their drive, Eric hit Jon as he was speeding down the field and scored a 60 yard touchdown.  And for the first time in the game, Blue had the lead.  Red 63 - Blue 70

Red then was not even close to giving up.  And they quickly moved right down the field.  And with 12 second left in the game Demetrius in the back of the endzone to tie the game back up.  Or did he.  His feet came down extremely close to the endline in the back of the enzone.  And to not cause any more controversy, and since we don't really have the back lines marked in the endzone, it was decided that the score was good.  Red 70 - blue 70

With the score tied, the new overtime system comes in to play for the second time this year.  A full 15 minutes, no matter who scores first.  This way both teams get a chance at scoring as opposed to "Sudden Death" where whoever scores first wins. 

Blue won the toss and got the ball first.  Eric methodically moved his team down the field.  Taking his time in the huddle to make sure he called the right play and hitting his team mates on perfect patterns.  However, on a fourth down play, Eric hit Steve over the middle and what looked like a first down to Blue also looked like it was 2 yard short to Red.  After a little bit of discussion, it was decided that Steve was short and that the ball would go to Red. 

Manny went right to work and moved the ball down the field with 5 and 10 yard passes.  Ending the drive with a 15 yard TD pass to Aaron as he slid along the ground in the endzone to put them up by 7 points with 2 minutes left in the game. Red 77 - Blue 70

Eric got his team back up to the line quickly and started moving his team right back down the field.  And after 3 plays, they were at midfield.  And with only 30 second left, Eric lofted a pass to Earl in the endzone and it was picked off by Aaron. 

RED WINS

Red 77 - Blue 70

 

Red Team	Blue Team
Macky Lopez Aaron Goodmiller Manny Mendoza Cesar Galang Shaun Singh Demetrious Parker	Daniel Ramirez Jon Pettyjohn Eric Espejo Earl Espejo Richard Friend Steve Kovach
Rotator - Koos Mbai

Number for the Game: 4

The number of 4th down clutch catches that Rich had.

Did You Notice?

Manny threw the ball 102 times.  And he didn't even play QB on 2 series.

Everybody scored a TD except Manny and Koos (who was rotator).

There were 6 TD's that were 40 yards or longer.

There were 9 series that were 3 plays or less.

Quote of the Game:

Play of the Game:

Last Weeks Polls:

Quote of the Week:

Manny: "When is Eric's birthday so we can all go in together and get him a watch" (when Eric was about 15 minutes late)

Steve to Macky: Steve throws an underhanded pass to Macky for a 3 yrd TD that looks like he is Bowling. Red 49 Blue 56