Flag Recap March 3, 2007

WEATHER: Much of western Iowa remained at a standstill with highways closed by heavy snow and blizzard conditions. Meanwhile in Venice, we were all wearing sunscreen as it was clear, sunny and 75.

WELCOME: Mat was on my e-mail list for two years and finally came out, bringing his friend Mike along. It was great to have them both, though they were both hobbling by game's end.

GAME: White jumped out to an early 12-0 lead as UCLA Brian quarterbacked a game for the first time. He started like the good Rex Grossman and ended like Grossman of the Super Bowl, and Dark pulled away to win by 20-something.

PHOTOS: Here is a link to photos taken a week ago.

OFFENSIVE MVP: Has to be Cody, who scored four TDs, and made some moves that were reminiscent of Demond. He had it going on. That new faux Mohawk has made him more streamlined.

DEFENSIVE MVP: There was no one worthy enough to win the award this week.

CATCH OF THE DAY: Mike made a brilliant grab along the sideline for a first down on a pass from Brian. He was running out of room and slid as the ball was arriving, and managed to cradle it in-bounds before his knee hit the line.

JUST KIDDING: I had to pull Jeremiah's chain. He was the Defensive MVP for great coverage all day, with a slew of PBU's and one nice interception. And he didn't even have to lobby for it.

RATINGS GAME: Oren threw two passes today, the first he's thrown with us. He was 2 for 2 for 35 yards. That translates to an NFL QB rating of 118.75. Not bad.

TRICK PLAY OF THE DAY: White caught Dark napping on defense and made them pay. The ball was spotted and Dark was in position, but the defenders were still trying to sort who was where. Since the offense never has to wait for the D, White hiked it quickly and Shon was open by 20 yards for an easy TD from Brian.

FOOLED HIM: Mat called his own number on one TD over his friend Mike. He ran out about 7 yards and yelled "ball!" Mike stopped on a dime as I pumped faked, and Mat then took off. I hit him in stride for an easy TD.

DROPSIES: At the start my Dark receivers must have had a lube party before kickoff. Drop. Drop. Drop. Slip slide … They finally kicked it into gear and made some terrific grabs.

VOICE COMMAND: I had JJ ahead of Brian for a deep pass into the end zone and put the ball in a perfect spot. "He'll never catch it!" Shon yelled and sure enough, drop!

GO DEEP: Dark hit several deep passes. My best long ball hit Mat in stride in the end zone from about 35 yards out. On another one, Cody made a terrific catch down the seam, catching the ball high and running in.

BALL HAWKS: Dark made several nice picks. JJ had his on a deep pass, Mat picked off two, including a one-hander, Cody snagged one, while Oren caught one low as White had the ball goal-to-goal at the Dark 2.

HEADS UP: Joe was in the perfect spot to catch a pass that ricocheted off of a teammate and a defender before he caught it in the back of the end zone.

SAY WHAT?: This happened at dinner later at an Italian restaurant. Cody had never eaten gnocchi, and wanted to know how it was prepared. "I need to ask the waitress how they make that granola," Cody said.

NOTABLE: Cody made a move that literally caused Shon to fall on his ass, eliciting gales of laughter from his team, as Cody made one of his TDs. … Peter had two terrific defense plays on conversions, ranging back and knocking passes away. … Brent had the best sound effects as he was rushing Brian, though he never was able to get his flag. … Oren had two nice catches, one on a conversion, the other on a slant. … JJ's best catch was along the back of the end zone for a 2-point conversion, as he went up high and held on. … Mike has a very nice sliding grab in the corner of the end zone for a TD.

NEXT: We are back March 10. See you then.