Flag Recap Jan. 31, 2009

WEATHER: In a word – perfect. Sunny, warm, no wind. Made for a fast track and good game.

WELCOME: To new player Cody, who scored a TD on his first drive, and a welcome back to Felix, who last played with us in 1994 (back at Hollywood High).

NEXT: We are back at Penmar Park, noon, Saturday Feb. 7. Interest is high in the league and we now have two fields confirmed, so we have a place to play.

GAME: With Dark up by three TDs, I gently suggested to White that we could start over with a new game. After they practically bit my head off, White then proceeded to score two quick TDs and make a game of it until Dark pulled ahead for good.

THING OF BEAUTY: The prettiest TD came on a pass from Drew to Shaun from about 10 yards out. Shaun went up in the back of the end zone, one-handed it and scored. Very nicely done.

THING OF UGLINESS: My three consecutive drops of balls right in my hand. I was channeling a player from our league who I don’t have to name since everyone knows who I am talking about! :-)

PICK SIX: We had two interceptions returned for TDs. First was Marino’s great read of a crossing pattern that he returned for a score for Dark. Then came Drew, who got one of his own and weaved his way all the way for a score.

BALL HAWKS: In addition to those two, there were picks by Duffy (went low), Shaun and Toby (each went high).

HARD TO CATCH: Christophe played great at QB all game and several times made something out of nothing with his scrambling ability, allowing guys to get open. His best pass in my book was his bomb to Patrick for a nice long TD.

HORSEPLAY: Strangest site was turning around on the sideline and seeing Christophe have Brenton in a headlock. They did have their clothes on, so I imagine it was just a good, old American rasslin’ match, though Brenton did say, “Get me a towel” when it was over.

SACK MASTER: ZS was terrific all day as a pass rusher, getting three sacks against rather elusive QBs. And all without hitting the QB’s arm!

NOTABLE: Great play call by Brent to come into the huddle, call a play and watch it work for a score (Marino goes over the top, Christophe hits him in stride for a score. … Alejandro continues to improve in only his second game, catching both his passes (a higher % than me!). … I did have one TD on a crossing pattern that was thrown at my knees. … Felix has one nice catch and then tripped himself up to make a self-tackle on the play. … Cyd ran a nice misdirection play as QB, one of those that saw the entire defense go one way and a receiver catching one coming across the other way. … Best trickery was Christophe to ZS back to Christophe, a play that worked every time (except for when Duffy dropped one).