Sunday, September 29, 2024

Saturday Football Doubleheader: Stingers vs. Bulldogs and CMS Stags vs. CLU Kingsmen


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

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.

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