Saturday, October 19, 2024
On a bright but windy day at Oxnard's Pacifica H.S., grandson Jacob's Camarillo Stingers Blue team started their 2024 GCYFL playoff run.
The Gold Coast Youth Football League's
Junior American Conference Playoffs
were our brackets of interest
Seed in the 12 team playoff
This first playoff game would be an
all Camarillo Stingers' affair between
the organization's Blue and Grey squads
Camarillo Stingers Blue Team
5 Wins - 2 Losses
#8 Playoff Seed
Season Results/Schedule
Santa Barbara Saints Black - Won 34-0
Simi Valley Bulldogs Orange - Won 38-14
Ventura Packers White - Won 30-6
Oxnard Knights - Won 36-28 OT
Simi Valley Bulldogs Black - Lost 8-20
Santa Clarita Wildcats White - Lost 0-8
Saugus Spartans Grey - Won 30-0
Oct. 19 vs. Camarillo Stingers Grey
Camarillo Stingers Grey Team
4 Wins - 3 Losses
#9 Playoff Seed
Season Results/Schedule
Saugus Spartans Grey - Won 36-0
Santa Clarita Grizzlies - Won 14-6
Santa Clarita Aztecs - Lost 0-32
Saugus Spartans White - Lost 12-24
Newbury Park Steelers Gold - Won 16-12
Santa Barbara Saints Black - Won 32-6
Calabasas Rams Gold - Lost 6-12
Oct. 19 vs. Camarillo Stingers Blue
Even with these two Camarillo teams playing each other, we still could not get the game played at Camarillo H.S., the Stingers' "home" field.
Theses two Junior teams were now participating in their combined 16th game of the season. The Blues have played one game at Camarillo H.S. and the Grey squad but two.
So much for home field advantage.
These two teams scrimmaged a few times in the pre-season in what were highly competitive, emotional and even affairs.
With lots of bragging rights on the line, the intensity today promised to fierce.
And it was.
One last pow-wow before we . . .
. . . kicked off the playoffs
The Blue team wore their all blue uniforms while the Greys were in all white.
Of course, both clubs were adorned by splashes of pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
#99, DE Jacob with last second
pep talk with his DT
Let the Pass Rushing commence!
It was physical in The Pit
Tackle for Loss
The Grey team threw well in the First Quarter
with a strong wind at their back
Great get-off by Blue D-Line
Grey RB turning the corner
Tackle for Loss by old #99
Battling for the Ball
The Grey DB was able to jar the ball loose on this acrobatic play.
Grey Down!
This Blue running play looks
quite promising
Hand-to hand combat
REVERSE!
Jacob stayed home and had a
big tackle for loss on the potentially
explosive reverse by the Greys
Excellent pressure on the Grey QB
Going DOWN!
Lots of movement of the ball up and down the field by both teams, but no scoring. The strong winds in their face made passing accuracy a tricky thing for the Blues.
End of the First Quarter
Camarillo Stingers Blue - 0
Camarillo Stingers Grey - 0
The Blues would have the wind now
Ground and Pound
Good tackle by this Grey defender
This Punt was the tipping point
Jacob provided a perfect long snap, as he would on all of our punts today, and our Punter boomed it down the field over the Grey return man's head. It would roll dead at the Grey's five-yard line.
The Blue crew had flipped the field and the game with one glorious Punt!
The Grey team's first play was a good one
Team Pursuit was the answer
This QB Sack put the kibosh on the drive
Michael was working both the
Down Marker and the Referees
Throwing into the now gale force
wind hurt the Greys on this pass
The Grey's turn to punt into the
wind meant only a ten-yard punt
The Blues were in business.
"BLOCK SOMEBODY!"
Don't you just love it when someone in the stands yells out this particular pearl of wisdom?
This might be a block in the back
Grey Down!
Again.
Big Run!
Deep into the Red Zone
More Blue's Ground game
This Counter play . . .
. . . to our right looks GREAT!
Grey Down!
Again.
Third and Goal at the millimicron line
The call was a pass out of a Shotgun formation which this Grey pass rusher totally disrupted forcing the Blue QB to scramble.
GO!
Grey Down in the End Zone!
The Grey Defense rallied to sack the scrambling Blue QB for a two yard loss.
This Fourth and Goal pass fell
harmlessly to the turf
The Greys had pulled off a gutsy Goal Line Stand.
The combined Contreras and Perez
Clans were in the house!
"Hey, George, how did you like the
Goal Line play calls?"
What would Paul Sabolić say?
It should be mentioned here that all of today's game photos were taken by my young bride, Laurie.
The team needed game management help, so I volunteered to act as the Spotter in the Press Box for Jordan, our game announcer.
Jordan did an excellent job and I was happy to have worked with him, sheltered out of the cyclone winds.
Jacob coming off the Edge
Keep BATTLING and something
GOOD WILL HAPPEN!
Here we go!
Attack and disrupt leads to . . .
. . . A SAFETY!
The Blues led 2-0 with 50.8 seconds left in the Second Quarter.
The Greys had to kickoff into the hurricane from their own 20-yard line after giving up the Safety.
This bode well for the Blues.
Good field position . . .
. . . plus good pass blocking. . .
. . . equaled plenty of time . . .
. . . for this play . . .
. . . that led to . . .
. . . a Blues . . .
. . . TOUCHDOWN!
The two-point PAT pass was complete as well, with 41.2 seconds left in the First Half, the Blues had extended their lead to 10-0 in a span of just 9.6 seconds.
WOW!
Back on Defense to stop any and
all Grey's Offense to end the Half
The Blue Defense answered the call
Halftime Score
Camarillo Stingers Blue - 10
Camarillo Stingers Grey - 0
The Blue Offensive Line looked
good but the Greys recovered a
fumble on this first play
. . . that was recovered by the Blues!
Grey Defense up to the task
Michael and others on the sideline were feeling ill at ease as the Greys would simply NOT GO AWAY!
Grey Defense still swarming
The Blue Offensive Line to the rescue
Grey Down!
Again.
Blues Punting one more time
This looks good for the Blues
Uh-Oh
The Grey team on a big run
PURSUIT is the answer!
Two blocking one does not seem at all fair
Ripping and Running!
Both Defenses played well in this stanza. The pace was fast and furious.
End of the Third Quarter
Camarillo Stingers Blue - 10
Camarillo Stingers Grey - 0
The Grey team would now have the wind at their backs for the final ten minutes of this high stakes game.
HUGE play to start the Fourth Quarter
Emboldened by the element finally being in their favor, the Grey team took to the air but the Blue squad's Free Safety intercepted an errant aerial and returned it to mid-field.
The finish of the Blue's interception return
Wisely, with the wind in their face,
the Blues opted to run the ball and
eat up the clock with a two score lead
Grey Down!
Again.
Turn the corner and
STAY IN BOUNDS!
The Grey Defense continued to
play at a high level
Blocking and Tackling are still the
two basic fundamentals of the game
Run, Run, Run, Run, Run!
Grey Down!
Again.
A Sweep eating up time
and gobbling up yardage
Jacob might being doing something
illegal in picking up the ball well
before his next long snap
Good snap followed by a 15 yard punt
which, into today's wind, was good
Greys back to the air
Sacking the QB is the best way to
defend the pass
PASS RUSHING EVERY DOWN
Jacob and Michael on the sidelines
after the Blues got the ball back
Keep blocking and running the rock!
Another Punt long snap for Jacob
It was a short but time consuming drive. Everyone in a blue jersey was OK with it.
Another into the wind Blues' punt
was downed by a Grey
Another loss of yardage play for
the Greys to effectively end the game
YAHOO!
FINAL SCORE
#8 Camarillo Blue (6-2) - 10
#9 Camarillo Grey (4-4) - 0
This playoff win will surely lead to bragging rights being flexed at several Camarillo middle schools on Monday. That's the fun of playing and, more importantly, winning an intra-program playoff game.
With this playoff loss, the Camarillo Stingers Grey (4-4) team's 2024 season comes to an end.
Next up for our #8 Seeded Camarillo Stingers Blue (6-2) team is, guess what, another road game.
Next Saturday, October 26th we will drive to Sylmar to play the #1 Seeded North Valley Bears (7-0) in a Quarter-Final Playoff Game at El Cariso Community Regional Park. The Kickoff time has not yet been announced. The Bears should be well rested as they, along with the other three top Seeded teams, all had byes today.
It should be another good one.
As for the post-game afterglow of victory . . .
Grandfather Tito, escorting him to his
awaiting VIP stretch limo
at Topper's Pizza across the street
from Pacifica H.S. for a post-game meal
But where is Jacob?
the cap on his dome
Thank you, Vanessa for taking this photo with a much better angle than the one I had.
I seriously doubt it!
game experience for the Blues!
As for Jacob, I thought that he played a GREAT game with good long snaps 100% of the time on all of the Blue team's Punts and several Tackles for Loss and a QB Sack from his Defensive End position.
GREAT JOB BLUE TEAM!
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