Eagles vs. Pirates

Nate had his first regular season football game on Saturday. The boys did a great job, however the referee could use some extra training.

I don't remember who won the coin toss, but the Pirates started off on offense. Our boys lined up on defense and managed to get a safety on the first play of the game. Coach Marcus was very proud of his defense.

The boys ran to the other side of the field and started our first offensive series. Nate got the first carry. The coaches made a comment that he always heads straight up the field and they can count on him to get some yards. They forgot to knock on wood, because Nate zigged and zagged behind the line of scrimmage. After a little direction from the coaches he was able to pull out about a 5 yard gain.

Thanks to Micaiah, the fastest little boy in the world, the Eagles made a touchdown on this series.

When the Pirates got the ball back the Eagles made another safety. At this point the parents on the other side started yelling about tackling. The league has a "playground rule." If it could happen while kids are running around a playground, its not tackling. I don't think our boys were tackling, but they are aggressive, so maybe they were.

There were a lot more plays that I don't really remember, because this is were the officiating started to go down hill and I remember more about the bad calls. Daniel, the coaches son, was running the ball. He was approaching the edge of the field and made a conscious effort to straighten up and not go out of bounds. The ref, who was on the other side of the pack of kids, called him out of bounds. Daniel looked heartbroken. He probably could have scored and definitely wasn't out of bounds.

Somehow the Pirates started out on offense in the second half too. We tried to remind the ref that the Eagles got a safety on the opening play, so the Pirates had to start the first half with the ball, but he obviously had a poor memory.

Nate took two hits and at least one of them should have been called something. On one play he was no where near the ball and a kid came up and pushed him down from behind.

The play continued around him. To add insult to injury they double teamed him on the next play.

Somehow, nothing was called on either of these plays. Nate was tough and got back up without crying or throwing a fit. He did tell us after the game that he was very mad. He was a good sport and played with one of the Pirates at McDonald's after the game. We were very proud.

I did think some parents were going to be thrown out. They're pretty strict on teaching good sportsmanship and say they don't tolerate yelling at the refs. There was a lot of yelling going on in our game. Luckily, no one was thrown out, but if it had progressed much more, I think someone would have been.

The final score was 26 to 8, with the Eagles winning. All of the boys had a good time and are ready for next weeks game.

Kenny may want to elaborate more on the plays in the game. If so, he can write another blog.

If you want to see more pictures (all 444 of them) visit my flickr page. http://www.flickr.com/photos/28479895@N02/sets/72157607179995885/

***Update***Kenny tells me there was a penalty when Nate was pushed from behind. However, one of our guys tackled the running back, so the penalties were offsetting. I knew I would get something wrong. ;)