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Game 9 - May 14, 2008

Scripps D1B 9
Lakeside 1

TAKE A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
Since I have found myself on the sidelines with Coach Rob of late, I have been dying to recap the fantastic exploits of the D1B shredders. So, where do we start? There is just so much to cover.

Well, they won again; but it sure didn't look like it was going to be an easy one at the start. Lakeside came out tough. I have to hand it to that team. For a first year program, they were physical and gave us some trouble in the first half. They had a few BIG BOYS on that squad that never quit.

The scoring began in the 1st quarter after Anthony "Tailbone" Johnson took a sip of caffeine from Coach Smitty's Iced Coffee and gathered up a pass from Jacob "Super Sized" Cato to slam home the first goal on the day. What followed was the first of many Jacob to Jacob connections that happened throughout the game. "Super Sized" placed an order for the ball, then beat his man, but did the smart thing when another defender slid on him: HE PASSED IT! . . . Right to a streaking Jacob "Roadrunner" Marsaglia, who placed a shot low and outside to put Scripps up 2-0. These two attackmen both had big games locking down 2 goals and 2 assists apiece. Nice work! The man-down team did their job as well towards the end of the quarter, after Chris "Shoeshine" DeBolt demonstrated to everyone in attendance the textbook meaning of the word, "SLASH"! It was huge. I tried to find him coming off the field to give him some "What For", but the glare off his bright royal blue cleats blinded me so much, I feel I should have worn two pairs of sunglasses just to make him out.

The 2nd quarter went with neither team scoring. There were many opportunities for both teams, but nothing found net. It sure wasn't for a lack of trying. Joshua "Happy Feet" Marsaglia nabbed a couple rocket shots in cage that probably would have killed any common man. The position and footwork from this young Rockstar rivals any High School Goal Keeper in the county, I think. That's right. I'm not afraid to say it. This kid has the goods, and I am really glad he is on our team.

As the half progressed, the midfield saw many hard fought battles. One inescapable moment was when Nic "Storm Chaser" Sanchez and Alex "Salsa Verde" Vasconcellos teamed up for a perfect ground ball. Nic blocked out his man, while "Salsa Verde" scoped it up and took off. Awesome work you two. Those little things count. On the other end, Tyler "Bad Mojo" Marshall seemed to find himself in the wrong place at the wrong time constantly. Maybe it was the new "Rasta" stick head he wanted to break in. Perhaps it might be that I forgot to have a Voodoo priestess exercise the demons out of it after the new mesh was installed. Regardless, he got crushed numerous times: from behind, after shots and then the big blow to his shoulder (he's OK folks). No matter. He is a tough kid and has gotten so much better. Keep it up, Ty.

One great opportunity for Scripps to score was laid to waste when Brett "Gun Barrel" Loftus rifled a pass down the middle to a wide open Dustin "Little Lion Big Roar" Prehoden who leaped as high as his tendons would allow, but could not come up with the catch. Ahhhh, what could have been if only he would double down at dinner. "Grow Boy!" We need those goals. The half ended with the most obvious retaliatory push from behind by "Super Sized" Cato on Lakeside's smallest guy. Yes, even smaller than Dustin and "Roadrunner". At halftime, I was able to at least give Cato a short "What For", but all I received in return was the biggest grin since the smile from that cat in "Alice in Wonderland".

The 3rd quarter started with the Scripps Kids throwing the ball out of bounds with questionable frequency. "Super Sized" and Dustina had some difficulty adjusting to their left hands, which they have had since birth I would think. This type of play from everyone was enough to drive coach Rob "Bite My Lip & Close My Eyes" Warner to shave his head; but instead he simply called a time out to regroup the troops and remind them that this game could go either way.

After a mild tongue lashing, the lads put it in gear. It was a fired up Patrick "Restless Rabbit" Coyle who ripped in his first ever goal of his life after gathering up some garbage and twisting around for a perfect bounce shot. Ohhhh, the joy! The jubilation! The endless kidney punches from his teammates. It was just the spark the team needed.

What followed was an onslaught of scoring by the Scripps Shredders. But first, Zach "Scar Tissue" Wissing shot the ball so hard, it went right through the net. The ref denied the goal saying it went wide, and all the lobbying by the coaches and players (Scripps & Lakeside alike) could not reverse the call. Gee . . . a ref reversing a call? I think the Earth would stop spinning if something like that happened. No big deal though. "Roadrunner" popped in his 2nd goal after going helmet-to-helmet against a Lakesider twice his size and getting the knockout. It was like a little bull and a big bull fighting over a cow, and the little bull won.

"Scar Tissue" finally got what was coming to him and punched one in, and the goal counted this time. Nice shot, Zach! Not to be outdone, Cory "Halibut" Hughes stopped playing catch with the goalie and found the back of the net, after a very loud scream, "BOUNCE IT!" pierced the ears of everyone on the field from Coach Smitty. That's how we score folks. We bounce the ball past the goalie. Another goal from Cato put an end to a 6-0 run from Scripps.

The fourth quarter found many Scripps kids at different positions. David "The Hulk" LeBaron and KC "Rottweiler" Rodenbeck at face off, "Shoeshine" and others at defense. One spectacular play was when Johnny "The Cheetah" McCallum corralled a ground ball and ripped a pass across the crease to "Scar Tissue" for a quick stick negative angle shot and goal. Seriously . . . how did that ball get in? Maybe 5 degrees of angle at best. I can't even do that. Of course, Zach got CRUSHED after the score, but those ones feel good.

As the game was winding down, "Happy feet" Marsaglia finally got some action at his defensive end. He raked a ground ball into his crease, but rather than clear it, he flipped it back out in play for Lakeside to get it. This was strange, I thought. Then I figured it out. Josh was so bored that he simply was looking to create his own saves; and that is exactly what happened. Lakeside got the ball back and fired a missile off-stick side which was quickly snagged by Josh. Weird!

As the final whistle blew, Josh tried to run for his life as the team circled him like a pack of wolves and doused him with whatever water was left. Even Coach Rob got the remains out of the big jug. Good game, fellas! Let's keep it up, so we can make the Consolation Playoffs and make the season last forever.

Peace, Coach Smitty