Saturday, September 28, 2024
It was a BEAUTIFUL day for American football, so we decided to go to two games today.
Our first game was Jacob's Pop Warner game played at Camarillo H.S. with a scheduled 3:00 p.m. kickoff.
It promised to be the Camarillo Stingers Blue team's hardest game to date.
Junior Black Team
3 Wins - 1 Loss
at
Junior Blue Team
4 Wins - 0 Losses
The Stingers received the opening kickoff
Although this play looked solid,
the Stingers were Three and Out
The Bulldogs had several tall players
Thankfully this Simi Valley pass
was incomplete
A solid Stingers tackle
Another good defensive Camarillo play
Stinger in the open field
Jacob long snapping
Camarillo punted five times in the game and Jacob delivered excellent snaps each time.
The ability to snap and punt with
confidence is such a big weapon at this level
The two teams were exploring each others strengths and weaknesses in the first ten minutes of play but the Bulldogs were looking as the better of the two to start the game.
End of the First Quarter
Simi Valley - 0
Camarillo - 0
Jacob #99 at Defensive End
Rushing off the edge
Battle in the Trenches
Gang Tackle on the Goal Line
Simi Valley scored first to take the lead at 8-0.
It was physical at the point of attack
Battling for the ball
Denying a Bulldogs two-point PAT
Simi Valley extended their lead to 14-0.
Trying to establish the running game
Getting to the edge
Running to the ball on Defense
Slingin' it down the field
Jacob working against a beefy
Bulldogs Offensive Tackle
Stingers Defense still playing hard
The Bulldogs were on the Stingers
doorstep once again
Another Simi Valley TD made it Bulldogs 20 - Stingers 0.
Stingers mounting one final
drive of the First Half
BOMBS AWAY!
Camarillo was moving the ball
as the Second Quarter concluded
Halftime Score
Simi Valley - 20
Camarillo - 0
Their pride severely bruised at the intermission, it was time for a gut check. How would the club respond to adversity?
They responded with renewed
Defensive ferocity!
Run and Hit!
The Stingers first play of the
Third Quarter was this . . .
. . . 55 yard TD run
Passing for the two-point PAT . . .
. . . which resulted with this fine
high point catch for two points
The Stingers were playing hard and had cut the Simi Valley lead to 20-8.
It is FOOTball after all
Both clubs were blocking and tackling
Great arm wrap
Swarming a Bulldog ball carrier
Sic 'Em Stingers!
Jacob vs. a Bulldog OT
A small bit speedy Stinger
An excellent Bulldog tackle
End of the Third Quarter
Simi Valley - 20
Camarillo - 8
It was good to see the Stingers competing despite the score as the pride and courage were both back.
Dusted Bulldog on the left
As I said earlier, the Bulldogs had
some size mismatches in their favor
.png)
Competition in the secondary
Making a play
Jacob pressuring the QB
This play had promise
Pancake/Dying Cockroach block
Off the edge again
I thought that Jacob's edge rushing technique in the Second Half was much improved.
See what I mean?
More pressure of the lanky
Simi Valley QB
Still throwing . . .
. . . still running
Jacob at Wide Receiver
On the last Offensive play of the game for the Stingers, Jacob lined up as a WR on the left side of the formation. The Camarillo QB threw a pass to the right which was intercepted setting up the following sequence of photos.
The Simi Valley DB tried to take the
interception all the way across the
field where he found Jacob closing fast
Time for a physical open field tackle
Keep your feet moving and
HANG ON FOR DEAR LIFE!
Don't let go
Excellent job hanging on
Finally taking the DB . . .
. . . all the way to the turf
Final Score
Simi Valley (4-1) - 20
Camarillo (4-1) - 8
While losing is never fun, I did like the way the Stingers responded in the Second Half especially in shutting out the Bulldogs Offense.
Up next for the 4-1 Stingers is a pivotal game on Saturday, October 5th at 2:00 p.m. at Pacifica H.S. against the 3-2 Santa Clarita Wildcats White team. Today the Wildcats had a 2-0 victory over the 0-6 Santa Barbara Saints Black squad. With that score, I'm guessing that the Saints may have forfeited the game.
I must mention that our long time University of Washington friends Loren and Sandy Brucker, plus their son Ryan and grandson Jack, were at our Stingers' game. A huge surprise indeed!
The reason for their visit was that Jack, a RB at Northwood H.S. in Irvine, CA, was on a recruiting trip to California Lutheran University that would include watching the Kingsmen's game this evening.
We enthusiastically joined them at the game for a fun DIII football experience that was the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
2 Wins - 0 Losses
at
0 Wins - 2 Losses
I must admit that I was taken aback to find out that for the first time in my history of going to CLU games, they were charging a fee to enter the game.
Tough economic times finally hitting the CLU Athletic Department I would surmise.
The Kingsmen entering the field
CLU Kicking Off to start the contest
Is that Cat Conti?
Indeed it was our longtime friend who was a pioneering trendsetter twenty plus years ago when she became the first female referee in the Ventura County area.
C-M-S Stags on Offense
A gorgeous sunset adding
color to the game
There was lots of action and excitement
provided by both colleges
It ended with a solid win for
the Stags (3-0, 1-0 SCIAC) over the
Kingsmen (0-3, 0-1 SCIAC)
Even though both of the teams that we were rooting for lost, we had a fun day watching football and visiting with the Bruckers.
