Flyers vs. Hawks, December 14th

Rudi MacKenzie · Post by **Rudi MacKenzie** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 12:57 pm

PREGAME

Bryan Baxter waited outside of the locker room in full gear, holding his helmet in his left hand and smiled as Sam rounded the corner geared up as well.

"Everyone decent?" Sam asked, nodding towards the boys’ locker door.

"Those guys will never be decent," he quipped back, causing her to chuckle as she leaned up against the wall next to him. "We're just two games out, Sammy."

"I know," she replied back. "This season, we go to State. We bring home the trophy."

Inside the locker room, Stephen Reed flipped a football in the air while looking over the team. Some were goofing off, some were reviewing the playbook with Scott Sanders, and some were busy getting their game faces on. He felt good going into this one, having watched tapes of the Hawks from last season. They were no pushovers, but his team had it in them. He'd make sure of it.

Frank Argillo was locked in a head-butting contest with Biff Hannigan. Miguel Rodriguez absently played with his mouthguard. Ty Cloud admired himself in a mirror and Noah Ryder sat off to himself a bit, kicking a cleated foot against the bench.

Coach Waters sat calmly in his office, steepling his fingertips together on his desktop. Outside and nearby were the sounds of metal doors slamming and boys being rowdy enough to psych themselves up for a good game. It was a rough season with injuries shifting the team around, transfer students coming in mid-season, and yet still they’d managed to pull it off. Just two more games, and they'd be going to state.

"One game at a time, Jeff," he reminded himself. "Counting your chickens before they’re hatched usually leaves you with nothing but scrambled eggs." Taking a deep breath, he stood and left his office, motioning for Douglas and Baxter to follow him into the locker room.

The day was cold, but they still pulled a decent crowd. A large gathering of SJS students and faculty filled the stadium behind the marching band. The brass section reflected on how their instruments numbed their hands, but when the announcer called for the Flyers, the whole band played loud and strong and the chilled stadium came to life.

- The Saint Joseph's Flier sports desk

Stasis Kiss · Post by **Stasis Kiss** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:14 pm

Stasis stomped her feet, more for noise than anything else because its not like the cold was a problem. Sitting in her tank top in the middle of winter was its own sneaky reward. She cupped her hands and hollered something encouraging over the heads of the guys in front of her.

The band's horn section took that moment to screw up spectacularly and everyone broke out into razzes and cheers.

"Go, Flyers! Take these turkeys down!"

Frank Argillo · Post by **Frank Argillo** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:14 pm

"Hey Richie!" Frank shouted to the fullback as he walked over to him.

"CUP CHECK!" he shouted as he smacked his friend in the groin.

Frank and Biff laughed as Richie groaned. Richie slugged Frank in the back as payback.

Rudi MacKenzie · Post by **Rudi MacKenzie** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:18 pm

FIRST QUARTER

Biff Hannigan won the coin toss and clapped his hands in triumph as he trotted back to his spot. The team captain and middle linebacker received a thumbs-up from Coach Waters on the sideline, and the game was underway. Ty Cloud stood ready for the opening kickoff, catching the ball cleanly and returning it 28 yards. The fans cheered him on as the play gave St. Joe’s possession at their own 40-yard line to begin the initial drive of the game.

"S-J-S!" came the cry, spearheaded by the Flyer’s Cheer Squad.

Quarterback Stephen Reed took his hands from their warmer and rubbed them together, surveying the field and the Hawks' formation. They seemed to have Argillo and Anderson covered pretty well. Passing would be the best bet.

"Red Thirty-One! Red Thirty-One! Hut! Hut!" Reed's 20 yard pass found its mark, sailing straight into the hands of Bryan Baxter. The receiver was pushed out of bounds before he could gain additional yardage, but Reed wasn’t finished. He followed that play with an 11 yard pass to Zack Aiken, moving the ball to the Jaynestown 20. The Flyer’s pivot pushed his luck one more time and it paid off when he found tight end Miguel Rodriguez for a 17-yard gain to advance the ball to the Hawk’s three-yard line. Frank Argillo got the call and on the second down, drove his way into the end zone. Samantha Douglas tacked on the extra point and the Flyers had an early 7-0 lead.

The next few possessions were stalemates, neither team giving up more than a second first down, and neither crossing the midfield stripe. Coach Jeff Waters was proud of the way his defense was playing. Alexander deflected two passes, and newcomer Noah Ryder chased down and stopped tight end Tim Duncan after just a 3 yard gain.

On what would be the last drive of the first quarter, Cloud returned a punt 19 yards to give the Flyers the ball at their own 30. Reed hit Aiken for a 15-yard gain, then went to Rodriguez again for a 31-yard pick up to place the ball at the Jaynestown 23-yard line. After a seven-yard Anderson run and an eight-yard quarterback sneak moved the ball to the eight, Reed and Baxter connected once again, this time for an eight-yard touchdown. The crowd stood in anticipation of Baxter's antics, but the wide receiver instead offered a subdued wave while tossing the ball back to the official.

"You all right, B?" Sam called in passing as she took to the field.

"Be better if you get the point," he called back, pointing to the goal posts. Reed placed the snap on the ground as Douglas wound up and sent the ball sailing through the cross bars, cheering with the crowd as it did before pointing to her best friend, telling him that point was for him. The play gave the Flyers a 14-0 lead as the clock ended the first quarter.

SCORE: FLYERS 14 HAWKS 0

- The Saint Joseph's Flier sports desk

Double-Cross · Post by **Double-Cross** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:26 pm

"We're doing good guys" Noah said to the defense, "but since when have we ever been satisfied with "Good"?"

Noah was wearing black gloves with a skull and crossbones on the back of the hands as he pounded his fists together, "We're stopping them, but we ain't hurting them. Stopping them is any defenses game, but stopping them and bringing the pain is OUR game!"

"These guys are clowns! They were born clowns, and they're gonna die clowns!" Noah shouted, "Lets get out there and make sure they'll be recovering until next season when we kick their asses again!"

Gravwarp · Post by **Gravwarp** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:29 pm

As the offense came back to the sidelines, Bryan clapped Stephen on the shoulder. "Great toss, man."

Coach Waters called over to Bryan and motioned for him to come closer. He hussled over from his place on the bench. Leaning in the Coach spoke to the reciever. "That's what I want to see. You, keeping your mind on the game and not a highlight reel."

"Just doing what we talked about, staying alert and staying focused, Coach."

"Good man. Keep it up." The Coach clapped the boy on the back and returned his focus to the field.

Erika Raeder · Post by **Erika Raeder** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:39 pm

"WOOOOOO!!!! Way to go, Wrongway!" Erika screamed as Bryan scored the Flyers' second touchdown of the game. "Keep it up! Go Flyers!"

"YAY SAM! Way to kick that ball!" she added a minute later as the extra point was made. The team was off to a great start, totallly dominating the first quarter. Erika gave her friend Barrier an enthusiastic smack on the back as she returned to her seat, receiving an even harder smack in return. Some of the other fans sitting nearby winced at the blows, but the two tanker girls were laughing it up, smiles plastered across their faces.

As the teams switched sides for the second, Erika's cellphone rang. A minute later, she politely made her goodbyes and shuffled towards the exit.

Post by **Mimi** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:43 pm

Mimi got there late.

She really wasn't normally at football games, but the last week had made her realize how much she had grown accustomed to seeing their faces-- and now she found she missed those faces terribly. And if she couldn't see them on-campus, well, this was the next best thing.

The Flyers were already up by 14, and Mimi smiled.

Then she spied Erika on her way out as Mimi was coming in. She smiled. "Hey Erika-- what's up?"

Stasis Kiss · Post by **Stasis Kiss** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:49 pm

She blinked, a little taken aback. After a second she turned to Jester on her right, pale eyebrows rising into her hairline.

"What's up with Wrongway?"

The girl shrugged. The drawn tear at the corner of her eye winked morosely.

"Maybe his feet hurt."

Stasis snorted. "As if. That guy does that dumb dance in the middle of socials class when he gets a passing mark on a test."

Jester smirked, kicking her feet against the bleacher in front of her. "Then maybe he's just trying to impress us with his newfound maturity. How do I know? Maybe his girlfriend used her claws the other night and he's having a hard time staying upright."

"Jes-ter!"

The brunette shrugged but her point was made. Stasis turned back to the field and tried to figure out if the guy was limping.

Rudi MacKenzie · Post by **Rudi MacKenzie** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:49 pm

SECOND QUARTER

Once again, the SJS defense was spot on. Jaynestown was unable to move the ball on their next possession and had to punt, giving St. Joes the ball at their own 23-yard line. Unfortunately, the Hawk's defense was just as tenacious and the Flyers had to punt from their own 29-yard line on a fourth-and-four play. Harrison took the field, but never got the kick off as the Hawk's defense closed in and he was clotheslined by lineman Tyler Hill. But Jaynestown's celebration was short-lived as referees threw flags on the play. A roughing the punter penalty kept the drive alive, giving St. Joe’s the first down.

Reed helped Harrison up and Coach Waters took to the field. The kicker had been out last season with an injury, and the last thing the Flyers needed was another benched player this late in the season, but Harrison assured him he was fine.

Shaking off what could have been a disaster, Reed called for another passing play and found Zack Aiken for a 23-yard completion to advance the ball to the Hawks 33-yard line. But after gaining only one more yard on three plays, St. Joes was faced with a fourth-and-nine from the 32. Reed called for the special teams and Samantha Douglas once again took to the field. Despite Hill’s slit-throat motion meant to intimidate the placekicker, Douglas managed a 34-yard field goal to extend the lead to 17-0 before getting brought to the ground by the all-star lineman.

On their next possession, the Hawks were able to get the ball to the Flyers 48 and seemed to be finding their rhythm. But on a third-and-seven play, Jaynestown quarterback Mike Falken was picked off by Nigel Barlow and St. Joe’s took over on their own thirty-six-yard line. Another series of strong passing plays moved the ball downfield quickly, taking advantage of the disorganized Hawk’s secondary. In the end though, the Flyers were unable to cap off the drive with a touchdown. After three stalled rushes and a false start penalty set up a fourth-and-goal from the four, Douglas was sent in again for the 3 points. This time she couldn’t get the kick off and was tackled outside the end zone, keeping the score 17-0 with 9:49 left in the half.

A 27-yard return of the ensuing free kick gave the Hawks good field position at the Flyers 43 to begin their next drive. Falken hit Ned Johnston for two completions covering 12 and 13 yards to help the Hawks work the ball to the Flyers 18. A couple of attempts to move the ball on the ground were stopped by linebackers Biff Hannigan and William Briggs. When free safety Kasim Moamber knocked down Falken’s attempted pass to Wade Starling, the Hawks were forced to bring in their kicking team. Tom Schulman’s field goal put Jaynestown on the board and cut St. Joe’s lead to 17-3.

The Flyer’s next possession came up empty, actually losing some ground on a series of penalties. The Hawks went back on the offensive, finally getting their running game in gear and grinding out a solid drive, culminating in Schulman’s second field goal of the quarter and giving the visiting team a glimmer of hope as they went to the lockers for the half.

SCORE: FLYERS 17 HAWKS 6

- The Saint Joseph's Flier sports desk

Brianna Landers · Post by **Brianna Landers** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:51 pm

Bri grinned and huddled against Ingrid and Maureen against the chill in the air. It was only the end of the first half and already they were up by 11. Looked like a victory celebration in the making to her. Tonight was going to be a good night.

"So what are you two wearing to the after-party tonight?" she asked, smiling from ear to ear.

Double-Cross · Post by **Double-Cross** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:55 pm

Noah watched as the ball sailed through the air. When he saw Nigel snatch it out of the air, he had to remind himself that the play was still going.

When the play was over, Noah ran over almost tackling Nigel, "YEA!!!!! YOUR THE MAN!!"

Frigid Ingrid · Post by **Frigid Ingrid** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 2:01 pm

"Tonight, I'm going to wear something warm, dammit!" Ingrid called back with a laugh as the cheer squad headed out to the field. As the Flyers' players passed them on the way to the lockers, her eyes followed one boy in particular.

"Or maybe something downright hot..." she muttered.

Rudi MacKenzie · Post by **Rudi MacKenzie** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 2:14 pm

HALF TIME

"They're playing a good game!" Coach Waters warned as the team took to the locker room. "But I've seen you play better. You get there again and this game is yours. You let up, and you give it away.

“The lead you have is by no means comfortable. Two touchdowns and they’re on top and they have plenty of time to do it in. The choice is yours, people! Everyone has something to play for. This game is for keeps for both us and them, but I'm tired of talking about what we have to do. Now is the time we do it! We're gonna quit talking about the championships, we're gonna quit talking all together and we're going to step up.

“All of you, you made a commitment to this team, to the fans, to yourselves that you are going to give 100% out on that field. When you leave this locker room, you ask yourselves that question- am I giving it, or am I short changing myself? If you can honestly say ‘yes, yes I am giving it my all’, then you keep it up. If you aren't, then you ask yourself why you’re here. I'm here because I want to win, not to make it to the championship, but to win this one game this one day. Now you get back there on our field, and you make Jaynestown sorry they came!"

-The Saint Joseph's Flier sports desk

Double-Cross · Post by **Double-Cross** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 2:25 pm

Noah closed his eyes while he adjusted his gloves. He listened to the Coach talk about giving 100%, and took a deep breath.

Coach was right, they couldn't relax. In fact, it was just the opposite. It was time to turn it up a notch.

He looked over at the other guys in the locker room. Biff looked ready to tear someones head off. Nigel looked focused and determined. Bryan had been taking his play to a new level, and Stephen looked relaxed and ready. The whole team was playing like they really wanted it.

Noah stood up, cracking his neck to the side, "Lets finish this" he said to himself quietly