San Tan Youth Football League Eagles

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”!

The Eagles Silver defense took to field to start the game and set the tone with a stout showing on defense.  The Rattlers looked, well… rattled as the Eagles swarmed ball carriers and wreaked havoc in the backfield.  When the Birds gained possession of the ball, they also seized possession of the lead as Josh Johnson danced and dashed his way to the endzone on a power sweep.

The Eagles Silver “D” took it to the Rattlers on the next possession as Tyler McGee, Bay Finch and Darin Elli made spectacular defensive plays to stop the Rattlers from moving the ball down field.  On the next possession Trevor Caron had an outstanding run to put the Eagles in striking distance.  On the ensuing play, Johnson again found a running lane to the outside and raced into the endzone to put the Eagles up 12-0. Triston Dalmolin bulled his way in to the endzone to capa dominating performance by the Silver team on both sides of the ball.

After a brief sideline celebration, the teams met at mid-field for the coin toss.  The Rattlers won the toss and deferred, so the Eagles took possession of the ball to start the first quarter.  The Rattlers were tough on defense and although the Eagles were moving the ball, the really did a nice job containing the Eagles power running game.  From the sideline, however, you got the sense that it was a matter of time before one of the Eagles broke into the secondary on a big run.  That person was Parker Holland.  Taking advantage of a great crack-back block from Anthony Saba, and a nice push from the left side of the line, Parker took off like a mud skipper down the sideline to give the Eagles possession near the ten yard line.  Unfortunately, the first game jitters got the Eagles on the possession as they were flagged with a penalty that halted their drive deep in Rattler territory.

The Black “D” took the field and dominated on the next possession as the first quarter came to a close.  The Eagles continued to move the ball with tough runs by Beaver, Saba, Holland, Arvay and Danielson, but untimely penalties prevented the Eagles from finishing the deal and reaching the end zone.  The Black “D” continued to assert itself in the second quarter as Mason Ardans absolutely leveled the Rattler QB on a failed pass attempt. The defensive line was routinely penetrating the Rattlers front line and the linebackers and secondary were flowing to the ball relentlessly.  It was a clinic folks. Straight up nasty defense.

Just before the half the Eagles “D” forced yet another “3 and Out” and took possession of the ball near mid field.  Coach Beaver dialed up an end around to the fleet footed and always dangerous Javin “Buddah” Wright.  Buddah juked his way into the open field and raced into the endzone for a would be go ahead touchdown.  Unfortunately, the touchdown was reversed due to a penalty.  Kind of the story of the half… the Eagles dominated, but the score remained deadlocked at 0-0 as the game reached halftime.

After a stern halftime speech from the coaches, the Eagles defense took the field to open the second half.  It was clear that they did so intent on setting the tone for the rest of the game.  Once again, Mason Ardans made a bone crushing tackle in the backfield which seemed to spark an avalanche of emotion for the rest of the defense.  On the next play, the Eagles laid a huge hit on a Rattlers ball carrier jarring the ball loose.  Drew Ball recovered the loose ball regaining possession for the Eagles near mid field.

Then… the moment we were all waiting for.  The Eagles opened their next possession with a great run by QB Brad Beaver on a bootleg. The left side of the offensive line dominated most of the game, but really played on another level in the second half.  After a couple of tough runs up the middle by Saba and Holland, Stephen Arvay took a pitch to the left and then with great vision deftly cut back against the grain and outran Rattler defenders to put the Eagles ahead 6-0 in the third quarter.

[Insert broken record]… the Eagles D dominated the Rattlers again and regained possession of the ball.  The next Eagle possession featured tough, tough runs by Danielson and Holland that placed the Eagles in scoring position as the third quarter drew to a close.  Sprung by a nice crack-back block by Anthony Saba and great blocking by the offensive line, Holland took a pitch from Beaver and outran the Ratters defense for a 12-0 lead.  The way the Eagles were playing on defense, this game appeared to be in the bag.  Ahem… game ain’t over till it’s over folks.

On the next possession, the Rattlers fumbled an exchange in the backfield.  It looked as though the Eagles were going to smack the Rattlers with yet another negative play.  Then out of nowhere, the Rattler RB grabbed the ball and got to the sideline.  The Eagles hustled and brought him down near the 5 yard line.  The Eagles rushed their black defense onto the field in an attempt to prevent the score, but the Rattlers executed a fantastic counter play to draw within six points, 12-6.  The extra point was stuffed, but suddenly we had ourselves a ball game.

With time running down, the Eagles knew that if they maintained possession they could run the clock out and win the game.  To their credit, the Rattlers played tough “D” and forced a 3 and Out.  The Eagles defense again took the field looking to put the game on ice.  Mason Ardans made two fantastic plays on defense in a row.  On 3rd and long, Chris Galloway busted thru the line and met the Rattler QB as he attempted a pass.  The hit forced the ball up in the air… and into the waiting arms of Wyatt “Playmaka” Harris for the interception.

The Eagles offense took the field and were stymied on first and second down and faced a critical 3rd and long situation.  Brad Beaver kept the ball on a bootleg and ran like a man possessed as he carried would be Rattler tackles beyond the sticks to earn a crucial fresh set of downs for the Eagles.  The Eagles dialed up another end around to Javin Wright on the next set of downs setting up the Eagles deep in Rattler territory.  Stephen Arvay then took a handoff off-tackle, stopped on a dime and cut across the field for his second touchdown of the game.

All in all it was an impressive showing for the Eagles.  They showed grit, determination and focus after shaking off a dominant, yet unproductive first half on the offensive side of the ball.  The defense was stout all day long and really brought it for four quarters.  The Eagles face the Cardinals at 10:30am on Saturday 9/12 at Queen Creek Middle School.  The Cardinals dropped their opener 14-0 to the Special Forces.  The other JPW matchup, the Rams dismantled the Six Shooters 25-0 to move to 1-0 on the season.

The PeeWee Eagles took it to the Rattlers 26-0 and the Mighty Might Eagles bested the Rattlers 27-0 Tuesday night.  Great week for the Eagles club!