A perfect day for football, turning at kickoff to the perfect night for football. Offensive drives run with precision. Defensive game plans executed with intensity. Big pass plays that made you gasp in awe. Bone-crushing hits that made you wince from the sight of them. Good, hard and -- above all -- clean play. Celebrations of success, and silent agony over what seemed to be costly mistakes.
Yes, there were mistakes -- but redemption, too. North Attleboro's Brett Mastropoll fumbled twice in the third quarter, and Mansfield seized upon both to mount an 11-point lead with 4:23 left to play. Yet when it came to make a play and keep his team alive, Mastropoll was there to smother a loose ball on an onside kick, giving the Rocketeers possesion with 1:17 to go and 51 yards to cover.
I saw all of the emotions that a football game can generate. I saw players from both teams celebrating wildly when touchdowns were scored, but I also saw Mansfield linebacker Matt Schafer -- a kid who left everything on the field Saturday -- walk silently by me with tears streaming down his face after a sweep by North's Dylan Rayburg barely made it to the left pylon of the end zone for the two points that rounded out the wild scoring frenzy of the last four minutes.
I also saw Ryan Van De Giesen, again in his familiar place along the sidelines, coaching the kids and imploring them to keep their spirits high. The young man had attended his brother's funeral the day before, yet everything he could muster in his heart and his soul was being devoted to the this generation of Red Rocketeers.
Indeed, all of these moments transpired under the backdrop of tragedy. The Rocketeers were present at the candlelight vigil for Ryan's brother, USMC Capt. Kyle Van De Giesen, former quarterback of the Rocketeers and helicopter pilot who lost his life almost two weeks ago while serving in Afghanistan. It was only slightly less than a year after Mansfield lost one of its own, Army Spc. Corey Shea, who died in Ithe service of his country in Iraq.
For generation after generation, Americans at home have had to go on with their lives after loved ones died half a world away in one conflict or another. Much as we wish the cycle would end, it never does. Perhaps we honor our fallen heroes best by continuing on, enjoying the freedom that they sacrificed themselves to preserve. I just hope we all appreciate the price that has been paid for that freedom.
This scene probably transpired in several American cities and towns today. But in this instance, it wasn't some faraway place. It was here, and now. And I will never forget what I saw Saturday because, even though some might have seen it as just another football game on another weekend in a long season, I saw it as another example of how precious our lives are -- and how amazing it is that others would sacrifice themselves to preserve what we sometimes find so easy to take for granted.
On to the football thoughts:
** There are times that I just have too much on my plate to be jotting everything down, much as I find I regret it later. So it was in the third quarter at Alumni Field when the winner of the 50/50 raffle was announced. As I reported during the week, the proceeds from the raffle were going to be donated to a fund that's been set up to help Capt. Van De Giesen's family, and as I and many others had hoped, the crowd was very generous and created a pool of more than $2,400, of which about $1,200 would go to the winner.
Understand, not even your best-attended Thanksgiving games create a four-figure 50/50 pot. So the winner was going to be a very lucky individual indeed.
Regrettably, I did not jot down the individual's name when it was announced after play resumed in the third quarter because I was busy charting plays. But I did hear that he donated more than $600 of his winnings back to the fund for the Van De Giesen family, thus putting $1,800 into the bank for them. My hat is off to that person, and I'm sorry I can't offer more recognition here.
** I know no one understands the NFL passer rating, and it would take me almost as long as what I've written already to explain it. But I have it stored away on my computers in spreadsheet form, and with a few imputs and clicks, I can tell you that both North Attleboro's Joe Kummer and Mansfield's Nik Busharis had games Saturday that most NFL quarterbacks would envy:
Joe Kummer -- 15 completions, 21 attempts, 265 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, 153.3 passer rating.
Nik Busharis -- eight completions, 15 attempts, 233 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, 120.8 rating.
Seriously, Google "NFL passer rating" and somewhere it will be explained how that number is derived.
** I guess what surprised me the most about the game was how well Kummer could pass against the Hornets, who had played near-perfect pass defense against Brandon Howard and the powerful King Philip passing attack. Especially with Danny Lang out of action, Kummer needed his receivers to run their routes to perfection and get separation.
So, Dan Johnson (four catches, 144 yards) played the Randy Moss role and stretched the field, and Ryan Flannery stepped into the role of a larger Wes Welker and ran the possesion routes. Flannery, a junior, had the game of his life -- seven catches for 94 yards, and three big catches of 9 yards apiece at the start of the Rocketeers' first fourth-quarter scoring drive.
** Let's look at third-down and fourth-down conversions, shall we?
Mansfield converted five of nine third downs (56 percent) and its only fourth-down try.
North converted four of seven third downs (57 percent) and both of its fourth-down tries. The big difference? Both of the North fourth-down attempts produced touchdowns.
I think that qualifies as "brinksmanship."
** There's a lot more I could put in here, but I'll sign off with a comment from a fellow who met up with me during the chase for post-game interviews. "This is why they should never get rid of the leagues," he said.
As you may be aware, there's a proposal before the MIAA that would eliminate football leagues to create a statewide playoff system, and a lot of traditional league rivalries would be eliminated if that comes to pass.
With games like this one, I wholeheartedly agree that I'd rather see more Hockomock League football over the next 20 years than some convoluted and soulless playoff system.
No comments:
Post a Comment