A Madcap Weekend of American Football

Friday, September 21 -

Sunday, September 23, 2018

American football, American football and American football . . .

What else is needed to make it a BEAUTIFUL weekend one might ask?

Nothing apparently.

Let's start with another edition of . . .

Friday Night Lights

I was back on duty after a two week hiatus on the Ventura County Star's Game-of-the-Week podcast as the color commentator.

This week it shaped up as a good non-league contest, but shapes can sometimes be deceiving.

Simi Valley Pioneers (4-1)

Canyon League

at

Moorpark Musketeers (3-1)

Camino League

  

 The Musketeers march onto

the field through the home crowd

Very cool!

The Moorpark Band's Pomp

and Circumstance at Halftime

By this time, the game was a long time over.

How you ask?

Well, here you go:

Moorpark returns the opening kickoff 99 yards for a TD, 7-0 at the 11:49 mark.

Moorpark hits a 42 yard TD pass, 14-0 at the 8:55 mark.

Moorpark hits a 38 yard TD pass, 20-0 at 4:14 mark.

Moorpark hits a 5 yard TD pass, 27-0 at the 1:18 mark.

The First Period ends with the Musketeers ahead 27-0.

Moorpark hits a 49 yard TD pass, 34-0 at the 9:16 mark.

Simi Valley returns the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a TD, 34-7 at the 9:03 mark.

Moorpark hits a 73 yard TD pass, 41-7 at the 8:18 mark.

Moorpark hits a 26 yard TD pass, 47-7 at the 0:00 mark.

At Halftime, Moorpark 47 - Sim Valley 7.

Impressive team these Musketeers!

Thanks to a running clock in the Fourth Quarter, some of the Pioneers' pain was eased, but in the Third Quarter . . .

Moorpark has a 42 yard TD run, 53-7 at the 5:37 mark.

The Musketeers have a definite weakness kicking PATs.    

 Moorpark blocks a Punt that is returned

three yards for a TD, 59-7 at the 3:52 mark

Another missed PAT for the Musketeers and they were done scoring for the night. 

Battle in the Secondary

Moorpark made Simi Valley

look a bit silly on this night

 Lots of pressure on

the Pioneers' QBs all night

The Pioneers did push across two TD scores in the Fourth Quarter against the Musketeers' back-up players to make the Final Score a somewhat more respectable 59-21.

Both Moorpark and Simi Valley had one of those nights where nothing could go and everything did, respectively, go wrong.

It happens . . . on to next week for both of these solid clubs.

A Long Saturday

First up, a Red Robots soccer game in Camarillo.

Jacob wants to be a great

photographer ala Sue Valdivia

and Jason Johnson some day

 All the Red Robots sit out

one period per game

Today was Jacob's turn to not be a starter.

 Last minute coach's instructions

Going for the ball

Game Faces

Hair Flying

 Hey, what have you got there Joey?

Princess Mary at halftime

 Dribbling with a somewhat

Bohemian ref chasing the play

FULL SPEED AHEAD!

All the players had fun and the Red Robots played much better than in past weeks.

Ojai, California

After Jacob's game, I had to drive to Ojai for something that is happening more and more as I age, a memorial service for a good person.

Jack Smith was a long time football, basketball and baseball coach at Nordhoff H.S. in Ojai. He also served as the school's Principal for many years.

Jack was simply a good man who lived a life of service to others.

"Go Rangers!" 

After this moving service, I just did not want to go straight home so I checked with MaxPreps to find that even though Jack's beloved Rangers had played on Friday night, a 24-13 Citrus Coast League win over rival Fillmore, there was still one more high school game to be played in town on this warm Saturday afternoon.

8-Man American Football

Windward Wildcats (3-1)

at

Thacher Toads (0-2)

What a BEAUTIFUL setting for

an American football game!

 Lots of wide open spaces in 8-man

Yes, the Thacher field tilts seriously

towards this corner of the end zone

Wildcat Bomb to the corner

Incomplete.

I was happy to see Aaron Snyder acting as the Toads Head Coach this year while their long-time HC is on sabbatical.

I helped Aaron get a job as a player/coach in Zaragoza, Spain in 2016-17 when he and his wife went on a sabbatical of their own.

Final Score: Thacher 34 - Windward 20

"Go Toads!"

PAC-12 Saturday Night TV

Arizona State Sun Devils

0-0 PAC-12 and 2-1 Overall

at

Washington Huskies

1-0 PAC-12 and 2-1 Overall

The Huskies needed this one against a PAC-12 South foe.

As usual, the Defense played well and the Offense looked better this week thus . . . 

HUSKIES WIN!

I think our ranking is about right

given how we've played to date

Hopefully we'll keep improving, keep winning and keep climbing in the rankings.

The 20th ranked BYU Cougars (3-1) come to Seattle this coming Saturday for the Huskies final non-conference game of the 2018 regular season.

NFL Sunday

The Battle for Los Angeles

Los Angeles Chargers (1-1)

at

Los Angeles Rams (2-0)

And we had game tickets as the

Metro to the Coliseum awaited!

Son Mike joined us as well.  

 Once situated to tailgate properly,

we just had to throw the ball around

 Laurie at our shared table

Jacob and his new $1.00 toy

He had fun with it

If only the line wasn't so long

and the prices weren't so high . . .

Jacob heading up the stairs

to our usual . . .

 . . . nose bleed seats

Low in cost and high in shade on an 82°F/28°C day in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

DAMN IT!

They announced that Ollie Matson

wasn't going to suit out today

Let the Game Begin!

The Rams came out full of

piss and vinegar!

 Whose House?

RAMS HOUSE!

Actually, there were a lot of Chargers fans in attendance.

I would guess the Bolts' fans made up about 40% of the announced crowd of 68,947.

 Rams about to score first and often

A whopping 521 yards of Total Offense made for a fun day for all Rams fans! 

Laurie and Jacob were happy!

The Rams effort literally had

Jacob dancing in the aisle

 Blocked punt for a Rams TD,

a HUGE play to say the least!

It was indeed a BEAUTIFUL day

for American football!

Reading Is FUNdamental!

Another great read about

Sicily's most famous policeman

I literally can not read enough of Camilleri's books having read 18 of his tomes about one of Italy's greatest fictional crime fighters.