Coaching for Pizza: A Typically Wild Apple Cup Game and a C.I.F. D5 Football Championship Game

Saturday, November 25, 2023

Years ago, a wise old coach said, "People remember the games in November."

Because of the high stakes at this time of the year for college and high school teams, I believe him to be 100% correct!

These rivalry games today all

had elements of greatness to them

Our family zeroed in on just two of them to view on TV. We would run the entire gamut of emotions during the great ebbs and flows of both contests.

First up was what many consider

to be college football's #1 rivalry

in the BIG-10 Conference

Ohio State Buckeyes

#2 Ranked

11 Wins - 0 Losses

Michigan Wolverines

#3 Ranked

11 Wins - 0 Losses

There was a good chance that the loser of this game would not make the College Football Playoffs.

Talk about a high stakes game.

It was a GREAT game indeed!

We were riveted to the TV from 9:00 am to Noon as these two heavyweights traded knockout blows.

In the end, Michigan prevailed as the better team. It was the Wolverines third straight win in this fabled, historic rivalry.

Michigan thus extended their lead in the series to 60-51-6.

Predictably, Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day, is facing tons of criticism for this third consecutive loss that severely wounds all true Buckeye fans to the core of their Scarlet and Gray hearts.

Coach Day's record as Ohio State's leader is 56-7 overall and 40-3 against all Big-10 opponents. Unfortunately, all three of those BIG-10 losses are against "that school up north" as the Buckeye faithful refer to the Wolverines.

Of course, some of these OSU fans have called for Day's firing in the wake of this completely unacceptable lack of coaching acumen.

On to our big game of the day at 1:00 pm . . .

The 115th Apple Cup

The Washington Huskies

#4 Ranked

11 Wins - 0 Losses

vs.

The Washington State Cougars

Unranked

5 Wins - 6 Losses

This is a great rivalry too where you can expect intense play regardless of their records.

A win by the Cougars would make then bowl eligible and would simply make every Cougars fan's heart swell with pride knowing that victory would ruin the Huskies' perfect season and, most likely, a spot in the College football Playoffs.

Again with the high stakes

This Huskies team beat the Cougars,

24-7, 100 years ago in Seattle

Jacob brought his version of the

Apple Cup with him to our

family viewing party

It fit perfectly into our

Purple and Gold motif

Now, if Washington's QB,

Michael Penix, Jr. could just

find his mojo again today . . .

THE DAWGS DID IT!

The UW's non-scholarship kicker Grady Gross hit a 42 yard Field Goal with no time left in the game to win the game!

In the locker room after the game it was announced that Gross was now a scholarship kicker. CONGRATULATIONS!

Also, it was announced that he would never have to pay for a beer in any bar with at least one Husky fan in it in gratitude for his monumental Apple Cup winning Field Goal.

The Huskies now lead the

Apple Cup series 76-33-6

The first game between these

two rivals in 1900 ended in a

5-5 tie in Seattle

Looks GREAT but . . .

In the Huskies/Cardiac Kids last eight games, we have a total victory margin of a mere 49 points which is an average of just 6.1 points per victory.

Lots of close shaves and great Second Half Defensive efforts to be sure.

None-the-less, this is what all

Husky fans are feeling at 12-0!

Saturday night we bundled up for a chilly night of high school football with Michael and Jacob . . .

The C..I.F.-Southern Section D5

Championship Game

Orange Vista HS Coyotes

Ivy League Champions

#2 Seeded in D5 Playoffs

10 Wins - 3 Losses

Newbury Park HS Panthers

Canyon League Tri-Champions

#1 Seeded in D5 Playoffs

10 Wins - 3 Losses

This championship match boiled down to the Coyotes punishing ground game trying to impose their will over the vaunted Panthers aerial circus.

Orange Vista H.S. opened its doors in 2016 and this was their first ever trip to a C.I.F.-Southern Section Finals Game.

As for Newbury Park H.S. which opened in 1967, this was the Panthers fourth trip to the finals.

In 1993, Newbury Park defeated Hawthorne, 22-14, at Moorpark College for the DIII title on the legs of QB Keith Smith's improbable 97 yard TD run.

The Panthers were back in the DIII finals in 1995 but lost to Diamond Bar, 30-21, again at Moorpark College.

The 2014 NPHS squad lost the Northern Conference Championship Game, 13-10, against Paso Robles at their rain soaked, muddy home field.

How would the Panthers 2023 team fare tonight?

It was a BEAUTIFUL night for

American football!

The Panthers linemen warming up

Jacob having fun before the

game behind the end zone

High Pointing the ball

The Panthers last few words of

wisdom before leaving the field

The Coyotes were . . .

. . . ready to . . .

. . . hit the field running

And so were . . .

. . . the smokeless Panthers

The game started with this

fielding of a Coyotes pooch Kickoff

The action from our End Zone seats

The first of many Panthers passes

Time for NP to Punt . . .

. . . it was a good Punt

The Coyotes Running Attack

immediately on display

End of the First Quarter

Orange Vista - 14

Newbury Park - 10

A Coyotes PAT attempt

Another Panthers bomb about

to be launched into the night

Halftime

Orange Vista - 21

Newbury Park - 17

It was at about this time that I got a message from one of my all-time favorite people, David Lassen. He asked about the crowd size at the game, so I sent him these two photos.

The Home stands were PACKED!

The Visitors stands were quite full too

As David so eloquently replied about the Coyotes fans who traveled to the game from Perris that were in attendance, "Not too bad considering that, by the most direct route to Newbury Park, Perris is 7.2 miles past the end of the earth."

Perris is actually only 115 miles from Newbury Park.

End of the Third Quarter

Orange Vista - 40

Newbury Park - 20

The Coyotes were backed up but

were able to move the ball effectively

Newbury Park simply could not stop the Coyotes big play running attack.

And yet another Coyotes TD

Final Score

Orange Vista - 55

Newbury Park - 34

Congratulations to Orange Vista HS. They were easily the better team tonight.

Meanwhile in EuroBall and beyond action . . .

The Badalona Dracs won one

of the Copa de España Tournament

Semi-Final Games

While the Las Rozas Black Demons

won the other one

Only 99 more days until the

Opening Weekend of the 2024

Italian Football League season

GO SKORPIONS GO!

Big Tournament this coming week

in Brasilia, Brazil

I was committed to coaching the Special Teams in this tournament for the Brazilian National Team but the uncertainty about my Mother's health made me resign my position about two months ago in order to give the team plenty of time to replace me.

The Brazilian squad will play Team Columbia next Friday and then Team Chile on Saturday.

Brazilians are TOUGH people!