Saturday, September 9, 2023
Our American football obsessed weekend continued today.
First, we had a bevy of college games on TV to watch in the morning before the big game of the day. Personally, I enjoy the color and pageantry of college football much more than NFL games.
At 1:00 p.m., we had Jacob's Pop Warner game to attend, the team's first road game of the campaign.
The Sophomore Stingers were
2-0 going into this Week #3 contest
The home team Knights were 0-1
and coming off of a Week#2 Bye
The game was played in south Oxnard
at Channel Islands HS
Home of the Raiders
Jacob with his patented "thumbs up"
gesture letting me know that
all was good before the game
Jacob would play Cornerback, Defensive End and Tight End today.
Jacob was one of the Co-Captains
for today's game
The Marquess of Queensbury Rules
will be used today
Gazing at the coin flip in mid-air
The game started off rather strangely without a Kickoff. The Knights' Offense started the game in possession of the ball at about 35 yard line.
The reason for this unusual start was a combination of Pop Warner safety concerned rules and simple mathematics.
With concerns for player safety, Pop Warner has weigh-ins before the season.
At the Sophomore level these weigh-ins are used to place young athletes into one of three age based categories:
Age 10, Maximum 130 lbs., unlimited X player weight
Age 11, Maximum 110 lbs., 140 lbs. maximum for X players
Age 12, Maximum 85 lbs., no X players allowed
If you are at or under the weight limit for your age, you may play any and all positions on the field.
For safety reasons, if you are over the weight limit as a 10 or 11 year old, you could still play as an X player. Since 12 year olds normally play on the Junior team, there are no 12 year old X players allowed on the Sophomore level.
A X player can only play on the Offensive and Defensive lines and are not allowed to play on any of the Special Teams. They also get to wear a large, highly visible X decal on both the front and back of their helmets for easier identification by the referees.
The Oxnard reserve players
taking a group photo, this would
be prove to be a bit problematic
The reason for no Kickoffs today was simple really. The Knights only had 15 players suited out at game time, up from only 12 when these two clubs played last year as Freshmen. Of those 15, a total of five Oxnard athletes were X players. Since X players can not play Special Teams, the Knights would only be able to put 10 players on the field.
Under these circumstances, the coaching staffs mutually agreed to not do Kickoffs today.
Another strange look to the game was having the home team Oxnard Knights wearing their white jerseys just like the road team Stingers.
Oh well, on to the game . . .
Oxnard played HARD!
The Knights came out battling, the Stingers main strategy was to weather the early Oxnard storm and let their superior numbers wear them out as the game progressed.
Knights FUMBLE
The Stingers recovered the ball to thwart the Knights opening drive.
The Stingers Offensive Line
has a few X players
A promising run was cut short due
to excellent Oxnard pursuit
Stalk block battle on the perimeter
The Stingers Defense was SWARMING!
The Stingers #23 is a known assassin
who, thankfully, did NOT take a knock
out shot on this Knights ball carrier
Why are they holding hands?
Great pursuit . . .
. . . leads to . . .
. . . GANG TACKLING!
End of the First Quarter
Camarillo - 0
Oxnard - 0
While there was a lot of activity in that First Quarter, both Defenses rose to the occasion to keep the game scoreless.
by the Stingers Offensive Line
after a pass reception
the same play
running to the ball
Is that legal?
the Stingers larger roster should now
be wearing the gritty Knights down
this time by the Stingers #11
on the same play leads to . . .
seconds left in the First Half
The Camarillo two-point PAT run fell just short of the End Zone.
play of the First Half fell incomplete
At Halftime
Camarillo - 6
Oxnard - 0
It felt like the Knights were running out of steam as the First Half was ending. Would they have enough energy to sustain there solid efforts into the last two quarters?
to start the Third Quarter,
GREAT job again by the O-Line!
open field as well
The combination of solid Stingers O-Line play and a tiring Knights roster were definitely coming into play.
in just a moment if you are
into that sort of thing
Left Guard, #96
end the opening drive of the
Second Half
The football is on the ground to the left, the Stingers recovered the Oxnard fumble to end the Knights drive.
Blood in the water?
the Stingers #27!
two Camarillo TDs!
That is not nice.
the Stingers Defensive pursuit heated up
As the Third Quarter came to a close, the Stingers had now scored on each of their last three Offensive possessions while the Defense continued its strong showing.
End of the Third Quarter
Camarillo - 22
Oxnard - 0
running attack to start the final quarter
the Camarillo RB
another solid gain
this Knights X player . . .
They are earning respect despite the score of the game.
while watching the interception?
were still pursuing with great effort
WOW!
a Knight in hand-to-hand combat
Jacob trying to play off of a block
for an American football game!
until the final whistle!
Final Score
Camarillo Stingers (3-0) - 28
Oxnard Knights (0-2) - 0
Up next for the 3-0 Stingers is a game on Saturday, September 16th at Saugus H.S. vs. the Saugus Spartans Navy team at 4:00 p.m.
The Spartans Navy team was 1-1 going into their home game today against the 0-2 Simi Valley Bulldogs Black squad. The score of that game is currently unknown.
The now 0-2 Oxnard Knights will travel to Chatsworth H.S. next week to play the Valley Rush. The 1-1 Rush played the 1-1 Santa Clarita Wildcats today but the final score of that game is also unknown at the moment.
GREAT JOB STINGERS!
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