[Poli]

Thanks, guys. It's a little frustrating. I wish I could be watching game film right now.

We arrived on the field and began warming up at 9:30, with the 10 am start...which actually was pushed back to 10:30.

Connor and Nathaniel were the captains and were the 'home' team for today's game. We won the toss, Connor deferred, and we were kicked the ball. Sweet.

Our kick return unit is a 6-4-1 look, with the 4 backs being 10 yards behind the other 6. Hands, hands, hands. After instructing the boys routinely to fall on any ball that's not kicked to our returner, David takes the opening kickoff 2 yards as an upback and is tackled.

24 Toss is the name of the game, and Bryce apparently forgets that the 4 means to head over the right tackle. He bounces outside, we lose a yard. 45 Toss is the next call and we gain a few yards with it. We sweep outside and gain more, netting a 4th and 2. We go for it, since it's near midfield. I hear a lot of commotion, which surprises me considering what I've heard about the league. We wedge and get it plus some. First down.

Our next play is a counter to the left, and it's horrible. JD fumbles the ball, but Hunter, who failed to make the block, recovers. We come back with the sweep the other way, and Carlos takes it to the 5 yard line.

We're in business. Connor runs the Wedge on SET instead, and we score from 5 yards out, his first touchdown ever. We botch the snap on the wedge for 1 point, and we go to kickoff.

We nearly recover the kick, which incidentally was too deep. It went about 20 yards downfield, another special team wonder.

They score 2 plays later, running to our sideline and outside.

We take the next squib kick and recover it near our 45. After 3 plays of, well, 2 yards or so, we punt. Hunter, the punter, fails to punt the way I'd like, which is out of bounds to our sideline. Instead, he punts the ball about 15 yards down the middle.

The boy out there doesn't fair catch and is hit as the ball arrives. The ball pops out, and we recover.

We take over on their 45 and wedge to the 37 or so. That's when we run a sweep that was quite interesting. Bryce had a helmet issue he didn't bring up until he got to the line of scrimmage. Carlos runs in for him, I whisper the play to him...all while our 25 second clock is running. Carlos takes the ball and scores, only to have the play called back for a block in the back by our tight end, Nick C.

We still gained enough for a first, but we wouldn't move the ball past that. On 4th and 7, we get 5.

45 seconds left, they run two more plays or so, and pop outside down our sideline again for a touchdown.

12-6 at the half.

We take the 2nd half kick at our 45 again, only we don't move the ball again. 4th and long, I have Hunter punt to our sideline again. He does a better job of it, though it's shorter. Ray clobbers both the returner and Layne. They're both down for a bit, before getting back up.

They get a big run for a score, but it's called back for three penalties: a coaching penalty for telling a player what to do during the play, a hold down the field as well as a block in the back down the field. The coaching penalty, while only 5 yards, benefits us the most and we take it.

They follow that 1st and 15 play with a sweep that's actually stopped. He runs back the other way into Nick C. Nick dumps him for a 15 yard loss. They get a decent play on 3rd, but it's still 4th and 12. For whatever reason, they go for it and fail. We take over again, about on our 40.

As our offenses are eating up a lot of clock, at this point, we're in the 4th quarter. Bryce pops out on a sweep and gets to the 12 yard line before being tackled. Bryce goes off to the sideline, in comes Jacob.

Mind you, Jacob has yet to carry the ball, and I'm determined to get him a carry a game to pacify his father. That, and to clearly show he has no business running with the ball, either.

First down, we wedge and gain about 5. 2nd and 5 on the 7. We counter, and we completely screw it up. Nathaniel is tackled waiting for the wing to take the ball, and in the process is hurt. Enter Noah, the backup.

It's 3rd down, and I know I need to get Jacob the ball here. Time's running out, there's only about 3 minutes left. I give Jacob the best pep talk he's ever had, he tells me he's ready. Jacob takes the ball on the sweep, stops, thinks about what he's going to eat after the game, wonders if he has his homework done, contemplates the meaning of life, and is plowed by a linebacker for a loss. Additionally, surprisingly, he's also hurt.

He would pout the rest of the game, head down, seemingly asking for another shot.

4th down, Carlos and Bryce in, we'll sweep left and score. We can do it. Bryce blocks the end perfectly, if Hunter blocks the corner we're in business. Wait, where's Hunter? He ran the wrong way. The corner stops us for no gain.

They run the clock, breaking another big run outside on us in the process. We call timeouts inside a minute...when I learn that I actually have 3 timeouts per half, not the two I thought I had. I learn that lesson, unfortunately, after about 20 seconds have passed.

We take over around our 40, with 10 seconds on the clock. Carlos sweeps outside to the right and gets 20. Superior clock management shows only 2 seconds off the clock and Carlos stepped out of bounds. Sweep it one more time, Carlos may break it. He tries his hardest, but is stopped at the 20.

Game over.