Bulldogs QB in trouble

Special Forces JHS Team wraps up the 2010 season with a win over their local rivals, the Queen Creek Bulldogs closing their record at 8-1. Great job Forces!

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Had to post an HD vid of Coach Marc’s post game talk, it was truly moving…

The Special Forces took the field for the last game of the season against their local rival team, the Bulldogs. For many of the players and coaches, it would be their last time. As 8th graders, the years of youth football are now behind them and High School Sports lie ahead. Looking through my lens over the years, I’ve shot some of these guys (my son included) taking the field as 7 & 8 year olds when it looked like they had more uniform and gear than body, and now I shoot them leaving the field as young men, whose character has been chiseled by the game of football, the Coaches that taught it and the Parents that supported it. While I saddened to see this time come to a close, I’m excited to see what these guys will do in their High School Careers, as always, from the sidelines, and through my lens.

Thanks for a great Season Guys.

#43 Seth Moore lets loose after an emotional win over the Argos (Click Picture to view more pictures)

Wow, What a game! The Forces were back in Scottsdale this week to battle one of their toughest opponents of the season, the Argos. Coaches were putting in the overtime working the kids this week in preparation for this game. Their changes in the defensive set really paid dividends by keeping the Argo’s powerful running game from establishing any kind of explosive momentum.

With that said, it was one heck of a back and forth battle and a real nail-biter to watch with some really great plays executed by both teams. In the end, it came down to the Special Forces goal line defense stopping a conversion attempt 1 foot short of the goal line to give them their 1 point victory over the Argos.

This was quite an emotional game as well (A majority of the gallery pics focus on this rather than game play this week) It was great to see the young men (from both teams) keep that emotion positive with excellent sportsmanship and zero taunting – a testament to the coaches and parents! Excellent work! And I’ll close this post with the after game words of Coach Marc of the forces… (excuse the audio quality and shaky cam – it was shot on my cell phone)

I also met the Argo’s team photographer, Robert Farthing, who took some really great shots of the game. Check them out on his website, www.teamspiritgallery.com / Argos Fall 2010 gallery.

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We caught up late in the game to watch the 6-0 CPA Titans roll past one of their toughest rivals, the GPA Griffins. CPA’s muddy home turf added some drama to the game and grime to the pics… enjoy!

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Today, we followed Anthem Prep’s A and B JH Volleyball Teams in their division playoff’s at Chandler Prep. Although neither team passed to the next round this season, their team spirit and camaraderie shined brightly throughout the gym. Good luck next season ladies.

#2 Austin Williams Leaping for the extra yard

The Forces hit the road this week to face off against NW Christian. While the Crusaders put up a fight, the Forces came home victorious and extended their record to 6 – 1.
Click the picture above to see the rest of the photos in the gallery.

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ASC faced up against the AZ Thunder in Chandler where the Ref’s let these competitive 11u athletes play to the limit. Most of the thunder was coming from the coaches looking for fouls but what we saw was grit and toughness coming from some seriously talented young ladies. In the end, ASC walked away with a 6-2 W but I’m sure the Thunder want another crack at them sooner rather than later.

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#8 Tala Aunese trucks toward the goal line with 6 Cyclones in tow.

The Casa Grande Cyclones come out to Queen Creek this week to face off against the STYFL Special Forces. I’ll have to admit I was a bit worried that the Forces were in for a world of hurt when I saw the Cyclones offensive line, they had a real size advantage. But the SF Coaches rotated the defense often to keep the boys fresh and really kept the Cyclones from mounting any lasting momentum. In fact, the SF defense played one heck of a game, keeping the cyclones out of the end zone and helping their team extend their record to 4-1.

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The Chandler Titans met up with Glendale Griffins at Gilbert Christian’s football field for some action packed JHS Football. Although CPA had a lopsided win having several high caliber players who scored almost at will, GPA kept the game exciting  by never letting up and playing with big heart throughout the game.