EASTMAN RAIDERS 52 CRESCENTWOOD GRIZZLIES 12
It was a pretty breezy day and young #81 Tyson B. came up to me before the game and said that his goal was to get a touchdown in his first game playing offence in Atom football. Well, he did that and more. In fact, his first run was a 40 yarder for a touchdown. (6-0 Raiders) That got the ball rolling in the right direction and here we go. #8 Parker had a big tackle on their kick return and #82 Taran stopped them solid on the line of scrimmage. #22 Logan had a solid catch on the kick and returned it well. #2 Marianna pitched in with a fast 1st down run. #81 TB recovered a fumble and gave us the ball back. #40 Paxton got some serious speed going and fired the butt crack play right up the middle and followed that with some great blocking to get #10 Mason over the 1st down marker. The ball went back to the Grizzlies until #8 Parker forced another fumble and recovered it – to which you could hear Coach Lepp with a resounding, “See how he was HUNGRY FOR THE BALL?!?!?!?!?” We were hungry for more touchdowns — and #81 TB got his second touchdown on the day with some key blocks by #10 Mason. On the convert kick, the snap went a little low, #15 Tyson K. had a great pick up and pin to help #10 Mason kick it through the uprights for a big 2 point conversion (14-6 Raiders)
They got the ball back but were stopped with a huge solo tackle up the left side by #64 Kade Lepp. #6 Anthony stopped the quarterback in his tracks and #8 Parker followed that right up with a hug tackle to turnover the ball on downs. Our offence was on again. #10 Mason took the ball 65 yards for a touchdown (20-6 Raiders) — thanks to some HUGE blocking by our offensive line — protecting our quarterback and our handoffs all game long! #10 nailed the kick through the uprights for 2 more points. (22-6 Raiders). On the kick off, #15 Tyson K. had an amazing shoe string tackle to stop their return, and if I remember correctly the Grizzly was slow to get up. Next #82 Taran took a turn at a fantastic low tackle and then, #8 Parker hunted another Grizzly down for a tackle. Great defence boys – so much fun to watch!! But wait, the defence wasn’t finished yet — #31 Caleb pursued the quarterback and #64 Kade finished off the tackle for a huge turnover on downs.
Offence came in ready to go. #22 Logan had a super block to help his brother, #10 Mason a 35 yard run a big first down. The work of #71 Caleb, #91 Jayden and #33 Zach did not go unnoticed as our quarterbacks remained untouched the entire game!! #3 Nyk, great run on the reverse play and then, TB and TK put on an acting display as they sold both teams on the fake and #15 Tyson K. just waltzed into the end zone for 6 more points. (28-6 Raiders) TB added a nother touch down run, slid out of a few tackles and it was 34-6, just like that! #17 Kyler got his best hit of the game in just before the 1st half ended and #4 Matthew saved the score with a solid tackle to stop what could have been a huge run!!
The 2nd half continued much like the 1st – especially after Coach Marlin reminded us all that the first half means nothing if you don’t play just as hard in the second!! The boys listened and went out there like it was 0-0. Tackles by #64 Kade and #17 Kyler and then a fumble recovery by #8 Parker got the 2nd half rolling in our direction!! A MASSIVE stand on defense to turn the ball over on downs and we were headed to their end zone again. #15 Tyson K. completed a 10 yard pass to #40 Paxton and after that first down, #10 Mason was “gone” as he ran 90 yards for the touchdown. (40-6 Raiders). A big tackle by #3 Nyk came next, and with great pressure, #8 Parker got himself ANOTHER fumble recovery. Offence came back on the field and #81 TB had a great 60 yard run for a touchdown and not too long after that #10 had an amazing run – with changes of direction, twists and turns, slipping out of tackles – all for a 45 yard gain when we really needed it! (46-12 Raiders). A great snap by #33 Zach – right to #81 TB to add another 6 to the score (52-12) and the game was just about over… but not until #6 Anthony had a strong tackle up the middle to force a third down for them, #31 Caleb tackled to deflect their player in #6 Anthony’s path and #71 Caleb P. had a great push at the end to clear the way for a run up the butt crack by #40 Paxton.
Congratulations boys!!
Let’s keep working hard every day so that we can see results like that more and more often!! Well done!!