Saturday, February 22, 2025
Up and at 'em, bright and early, as it was . . .
. . . GAME DAY INDEED!
That is team leader and tough, 32 year old Middle Linebacker, Rober, on today's game poster.
I was awakened by my alarm at 5:00 a.m., showered, dressed and ate breakfast comfortably before leaving the apartment at 6:10 a.m.
I caught my ride with injured DB Iván Bravo without a hitch as we headed to the Stadio El Molinón's parking lot to board the bus to Madrid and today's game.
We departed at 6:50 a.m. and, after our usual stop for a bit of sustenance and a restroom break, arrived in Madrid's Coslada suburb at 12:30 p.m.
The Kickoff was set for 3:00 p.m.
2025 Serie A Results
Fourth Place - Western Conference
1 Win - 3 Losses
Lost vs. Coslada Camioneros 17-33
Lost at Las Rozas Black Demons 27-49
Won vs. Zaragoza Hurricanes 13-7
Lost to Osos Rivas 0-38
at
2025 Serie A Results
Third Place - Western Conference
2 Wins - 2 Losses
Won at Gijón Mariners 33-17
Lost vs. Osos Rivas 10-35
Lost at Las Rozas Black Demons 3-40
Won at Zaragoza Hurricanes 28-20
Our chariot awaiting us outside our
rest stop three hours into the journey
Because of the length of our roundtrip drive, our club always employs two bus drivers for safety reasons.
It is always fun to hear the two drivers, and we have had three different pairs of drivers on our three drives to Madrid this season, argue as we get near Madrid as to the best way to get to whatever field we playing at on a particular day.
The GPS system that they have been using for the last five hours is now considered inconclusive as compared to their personal route knowledge of the Capital.
It seems that the one who is not driving is the one that always wins these friendly debates.
We finally arrived at the field
Uh-Oh, McDonald's is a Camioneros sponsor
Funky Goal Posts on today's
80 yard field
The turf was less than pristine . . .
. . . a lot less
We had a late arriving crowd
The stands were full by the middle of the First Quarter.
FIRST QUARTER
Gijón: Three and Out, Punt.
Coslada: Two plays, 42 yard TD pass, PAT good. Camioneros take the lead at 7-0.
Gijón: A solid 14 play drive ends with a 30 yard Field Goal by the always reliable Calde but Coslada still leads 7-3.
Coslada: A five play drive ends with a 7 yard TD pass, the PAT is good and the Camioneros lead is extended to 14-3.
Gijón: The Mariners run one play as the First Quarter ends with Coslada in control 14-3.
SECOND QUARTER
Mariners: The Gijón drive continues but after four more plays ends with a Punt.
Camioneros: Coslada uses four plays to expose the Mariners secondary scoring on a 69 yard TD pass this time. The PAT is good as the Camioneros now lead 21-3.
Mariners: A gritty 12 play drive ends with a three yard TD pass from Spencer Moore to Ruben. Calde kicks the PAT and the Gijón squad is back in the game trailing 21-10.
Camioneros: Our Mariners defense does a nice job keeping everything in front of us for four plays as the First Half comes to a close with Coslada leading 21-10.
Both teams were playing good
run defense in the First Half
THIRD QUARTER
Coslada: A five play drive as the Mariners Defense comes out firing on all cylinders leading to a Camioneros Punt.
Gijón: Three & Out, Punt.
Coslada: A 48 yard run on the first play of the four play drive sets up a one yard TD run, the PAT was good and Coslada led 28-10.
Gijón: After four plays, the Mariners turned the ball over on Downs.
Coslada: A four play drive ended with a 25 yard TD pass, the PAT was good again and the Camioneros were in cruise control ahead 35-10.
Gijón: The Mariners were driving, six plays into a drive, when the Third Quarter came to a close with the score Coslada 35 - Gijón 10.
FOURTH QUARTER
Mariners: After five more plays, this 11 play drive ended again with a turnover on downs.
Camioneros: A one play drive thanks to a 65 yard TD run, PAT good, Coslada leads 42-10.
Mariners: An eight play drive with another turnover on downs.
Camioneros: Another one play drive, this time due to a 64 yard TD run. The PAT was wide right as Coslada's lead expanded to 48-10.
For the second consecutive week, the Mercy Rule was now in effect.
Mariners: Three & Out, Punt.
Camioneros: The Coslada three play drive ends when Mariners MLB Rober recovers a botched Camioneros snap.
This was the first turnover of the season for our Defense.
Mariners: Gijón ran one play and the game was over.
We continued to battle but it is
truly get hard to stay upbeat as we
gave up big play after big play
The Camioneros (3-2) cruised to
victory over our Mariners (1-4)
After the game, it was time to see an old friend.
With Alberto Martinez Talavera
proudly wearing the New Orleans
Saints jersey that we gave him as a
birthday present a few years ago
Alberto was a fine, young Wide Receiver for us with the Murcia Cobras back in 2015. He was also on one of our Europe Warriors teams that played in Texcoco, Mexico in 2017.
To work on his English language skills, Alberto spent the Summer of 2015 with us in Camarillo.
Today he is an officer in the Spanish Air Force flying attack helicopters.
Alberto gave me these three Spanish
military patches from his outfit for Jacob
He will love them!
With Camioneros QB Sergio Barbero
who threw four TD passes today
When I coached with the Osos Rivas in 2016, Sergio was our outstanding Junior team's excellent QB.
Post game meal at the McDonald's
that sponsors the Camioneros
Those are linemen Taye Courtney from Oregon and Mykhailo Hordiienko from Ukraine leading the way.
We finally left Madrid at 7:20 p.m. and arrived back in Gijón at 1:00 a.m. on Sunday. I was back in the apartment at 1:15 a.m. tired from the trip and mentally exhausted by our play.
Obviously, I need to come up with some better way to play Defense in our final three games of the regular season.
There were two other Spanish Serie A games today.
Two time defending National Champion
Las Rozas (5-0) beat Rivas (3-2)
for the second time this season in a
Western Conference game
In the Eastern Conference,
Badalona (4-1) routed L'Hospitalet (2-3)
The final Serie A game of the weekend takes place on Sunday. It is an Eastern Conference game between the Terrassa Reds (3-1) and Barcelona Pagesos (1-3).
Our Mariners (1-4) have two consecutive bye weeks before hosting the Las Rozas Black Demons (5-0) on Satuday, March 15th.
Time to re-group and re-energize.
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