San Tan Youth Football League Eagles

The Eagles (4-2) took the field on Saturday to face the Cardinals (0-6) in a rematch from their Week 2 overtime thriller.  The Cardinals have struggled this year and had yet to record a victory, but the Eagles were well aware that the Cardinals are a much better team than their record would indicate.  Coming off a tough win over the Rattlers with a bunch of players sidelined with the flu, the Eagles were back a full strength and looking to make a late season statement.

Once again, Josh Johnson set the tone early with a 50 yard TD scamper in the opening quarter.  The Eagles Silver offense and defense did an outstanding job getting the birds on the right track and  setting the tone for the rest of the game.

The Eagles picked up where the Silver units left off as they kicked off and began the first quarter on defense.  Javin Wright started things off with a brutal tackle for loss that forced the Cardinals into a 3rd and long situation.  Maison Ardans recovered a fumble on the next play to gain possession for the Eagles.  The Eagles wasted little time capitalizing on the turnover as Anthony Saba found the end zone on a 37 yard scamper to put the Eagles up 6-0.  The extra point attempt failed, but the Eagles had seized the lead and the early momentum.

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You know that flu thing that’s all over the news? Well, it showed up in Queen Creek this Saturday with a bang as 7 Eagles were unable to dress for the Eagles rematch against an improving Rattlers squad.  In their first game, the Eagles handled the Rattlers with relative ease by a score of 18-6.  To be honest, the score could have been much more lop-sided if Coach Beaver hadn’t decided to take the foot off the gas in the second half.

With all the missing players, the Eagles were going to have to gut this one out and do whatever it took to get the “W”.  It was one of those, “Just Win Baby” games.  No need for style points, just get the win and for gosh sake… don’t cough on anybody!

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The Eagles took the field this Saturday in a huge game against the undefeated Rams.  Win and the Eagles would draw even with the Rams and Special Forces for first place in the division.  Lose and the Eagles would join the other 4 teams that the Rams had disposed of in the first half of the season. In fact, to this point of the season, the Rams had outscored their opponents 87-0.

The Eagles came out slugging in the first half on both sides of the ball.  The offense was able to move the ball effectively on the ground and the defense was doing a great job stopping the Rams triple option offense.  The game remained tied 0-0 as the first quarter drew to a close.  The Eagles had the ball and were marching into Rams territory.  Then it happened, Parker Holland took a handoff and raced into the end zone for the games first score as the Eagles sideline erupted with emotion.  There was much left to accomplish, but the Eagles had just accomplished two things that no other team had done to this point in the season… scored and held a lead over the Rams.  The extra point attempt failed, but the Eagles led the game 6-0 and man it felt darn good.

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Man… two weeks, two overtime games. One manic win… one depressive loss.  One had to wonder what the football gods had in store for our young feathered friends this week.  One thing’s for sure… Coach Ardan’s heart probably couldn’t withstand another nail biter for a third week in a row!

The Eagles (2-1) took the field to face the Six Shooters (1-2) in a pivotal game that could get the Eagles back on track and re-establish the team as a front-runner in the STYFL Jr. Pee Wee Division.  Coming off an emotional loss to the Special Forces and given next week’s showdown with the undefeated Rams, the game felt very much like one of those “trap games” where good teams occasionally fall prey to inferior opponents.  The Six Shooters gained their first win of the season the previous week over the Cardinals and came into this game with confidence and momentum.

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The unbeaten Eagles (2-0) took the field this Saturday to face the once beaten Special Forces (1-1) in what figured to be a great game between two of the elite teams in the STYFL Jr. Pee Wee Division.  Coming off a 19-0 loss to the Rams the previous weekend, the Special Forces needed to win this game to pull even with the Eagles for second place in the division.  The Eagles were plenty motivated themselves coming off a 13-12 overtime win last week over the Cardinals.

The Eagles took the opening kickoff and marched down the field against a stout Special Forces defense led by starting MLB Sam Orem.  The yards didn’t come easy, but the Eagles found a way to move the chains with tough runs by Parker Holland, Brad Beaver, and Anthony Saba.  The Eagles eventually moved the ball into the red zone, but an untimely holding call forced a long down and distance situation for the Eagles which ultimately stalled the drive.  The Eagles gave up the ball on downs as Coach Matt and vaunted “Black Defense” took the field.

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Well the title of the story is kind of a giveaway, isn’t it?  I’ve gotta be honest here… this article is going to be a bit of a struggle, but there were several silver linings in the Eagles 18-12 double overtime loss to the Special Forces.  That said, I thought I’d change up the format here a bit and talk less about the actual game and more about the game within the game.

Folks… if you thought last week’s overtime win over the Cardinals was exciting, then this game was straight up “off the damn chain”.  24 young men left it on the field last Saturday and fell just inches short of their objective.  Thing is… they may have lost that game on the scoreboard, but they won on so many other levels that the outcome really doesn’t matter.

Much like our Eagles, the Special Forces are a well coached, well oiled football factory. They brought their “A Game” Saturday, and if weren’t for a nickle here and a dime there, the pendulum could have easily swung in the Eagles direction.
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The Eagles gathered this past Saturday at Queen Creek Middle School for what turned out to be an epic battle of wills with the Cardinals. Coming off a convincing Week 1 victory over the Rattlers, the Eagles were primed and ready to notch another “W” in the win column. As it turned out, the Cardinals had similar intentions.

The Silver Defense began the opening stanza and set the tone early as Bay Finch and Triston Dalmolin arrived in the Cardinal backfield with bad intentions making several solid plays behind the line of scrimmage. Ultimately, the Silver D overwhelmed the Cardinals with a swarming defense and solid gang tackling shutting out the Cardinals in the opening quarter.

The Silver Offense was led by QB Trevor “T-Money” Caron who showed some fancy footwork eluding would-be tacklers and outracing Cardinal defenders into the endzone for the periods only score.  Triston Dalmolin put the cherry on top with a nice romp up the middle for the extra point.  The period ended with the Birds in the driver’s seat 7-0. It was an outstanding effort by the kids in black that set the tone for the remainder of the game!
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In a game that almost wasn’t, the Eagles opened the 2009 season with an emphatic 18-6 victory over the Rattlers.  After an uncharacteristic morning thunderstorm rolled through the Queen Creek area Saturday morning and threatened to postpone opening day, it became clear that the Football Gods had something else in mind for our young feathered friends… a Mud Bowl of epic proportions!

And so it was… the Eagles took the field at 10:30am primed with a purpose as they stared across the gridiron at a Rattlers team with similar ambitions.  Although the Eagles had faced the Rattlers during last week’s round-robin scrimmage session and fared relatively well… the Eagles are a young team that had not yet established it’s identity.  Queue the intro music… it was as they say “On Like Donkey Kong”!

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The Eagles have fought through the uphill battle that is the pre-season and are about to reap the rewards of the efforts as the regular season approaches.  Earlier this week the Jr. Pee Wee Eagles announced their regular season schedule which opens on Saturday, 9/5 at 10:30am at DMP #2.  The list of victims are as follows:

9/5/09: @Rattlers – 10:30am – DMP#2
9/12/09: @Cardinals – 10:30am – QCMS
9/19/09: @Special Forces – 10:30am – DMP#1
9/26/09: Six Shooters – 10:30am – QCMS
10/3/09: Rams – 10:30am – DMP#2
10/10/09: Rattlers – 10:30am – DMP#2
10/17/09: @Cardinals – 10:30am – DMP#1
10/24/09: Special Forces – 10:30am – QCMS

Go Gettem’ Eagles!!

Having made it through the first week of practice, the Birds are at it again in what looks to be another promising year for the club.  The boys have been running their butts off and sweating like dogs in a Chinese restaurant as they prepare for the upcoming season.

I’ve personally been focusing on the Jr. Pee Wee team as my son Drew plays on that team, but I’ve certainly taken notice of the Mighty Mights and Pee Wees as they drag various objects across the football field.  I couldn’t help but think of the grueling training scenes in Rocky IV when Rock was training in a barn out in the middle of nowhere. (queue Eye of the Tiger)

Practice resumes Monday after a well deserved weekend rest for the club.  Keep driving boys… your rewards await you.