We knew this was going to be dog fight and it definitely lived up to the hype. We had been very excited to play this game. Both sides know each other well. Each team has players that formerly played on the other team. We play our games within a 20 minute or so drive from each other. We were both undefeated, us at 4-0 and Tacoma at 3-0.
It was a Sunday game which is interesting. We usually play on Saturdays and I think I’ve only played on Sunday 2 or 3 times. It definitely throws you off a bit. Typically we play in Saturday evenings but Sunday games are earlier in the afternoon which pushes everything up. Instead of being at the field at 3:30PM we had to be there at 11:30AM. Which means you have to wake up earlier, don’t have as much time to eat and get energized.
The game was at Lincoln High School in Tacoma. The school itself resembles Hogwarts in Harry Potter. The field was a little bit older turf but manageable. It was a slightly warmer day compared to what we have had lately here in the Northwest. We won the toss and decided to take the ball first. We obtained some yardage but it was physically earned as Tacoma has improved defensively from previous years. Our defense played pretty well and we ended the first quarter 0-0 but driving in their red zone.
The 2nd quarter we exploded and scored 28 points. We had a touchdown, a recovered an onside kick, scored again, had a pick 6, and then had a bomb of a touchdown. On defense we were flying around and making the quarterback uncomfortable and doing a great job on the run. We had momentum on our side going into halftime.
The 2nd half was pretty intense and physical as we were pushing to put the game away and Tacoma was pushing to stay in it. The game ended 49-17 with both teams exhausted.
My adrenaline was pretty high until I started driving away from the field. Personally, I love games like this. I think I feed off of it. I like to be challenged. It just makes me go harder. That being said it was a great lesson for some of our less experienced players. Each game you play you learn from and I think this was one people will learn what it’s like to play in a dog fight. You learn a lot about yourself. How you react to situations. If you pay attention to it, it will help you in the long run so that you can try to put yourself in the best situation possible to be successful. Sometimes the only way you know what you have is when you have to fight for it.
That being said, our journey is really just beginning. We have a bye weekend this week for Memorial Day which we will need to get ready for the end of our season which includes 2 games against the Portland Shockwave and another against Everett. We will certainly find out what we are made of.