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.

#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.
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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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All I could say after this game is ‘Wow’, this was one heck of a physical game, there’s going be a lot of sore young men Sunday morning. The glorious sounds of crunching, popping pads could be heard play after play from the sidelines. Unfortunately, for the Forces they came up short on points and were handed their first loss of the season by the Bears. Even though they were down on points, these young men never let up on their intensity and continued to make some excellent plays, including some monster sacks and an a interception (see video below).

Another thing that I really loved about this game is the level of CLASS exhibited by both these teams, as physical as this game got, once that whistle blew, they were helping each other up and patting each other on the back with real respect. Amazing to see someone who just got laid out with a big hit get up and tell the opponent ‘good hit’ – a real testament to the maturity of these young men and the principles their coaches and parents instilled in them. Excellent, excellent job guys.

STYFL Opening Day

This year I have the honor of following a great group of young men , the STYFL Junior High Special Forces. The team has looked really good in all the scrimmages so far, but this coming weekend is the season opener against the a team from Anthem, which is probably one of the toughest opponents on the entire schedule. But the Forces have some talent, some speed, some size and a great group of dedicated coaches that have been honing these young men into football players so I think it’s going to be one heck of a game. Can’t wait.

Sunset Reception

The Forces trekked out to Casa Grande this weekend to put some of their first week’s of training to the test with the first scrimmage of the season. From my seat in the sidelines, I was REALLY surprised at how strong this team looked after just a couple of weeks of training together. Looking forward to some great games this year shooting under the lights – can’t wait.

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Eagles host the Special Forces for the last game of the season – and what a way to close the season. Last time these teams met, the Special Forces dominated – not this time. Eagles defense was tough and played smart, containing the Forces running game and putting enough pressure on the QB to keep the ball on the ground. The Eagles’ offense also was tough with a power running game that just pounded through the line. Half time found these teams tied at 6 a piece.  The forces came back in the second half with an excellent drive to put 7 up on the board.   While Eagles weren’t able to score in the second half, they never dropped their level of intensity – both teams played there hearts out and for the Forces, a well deserved win was their just reward.  I just can’t wait to see the rematch for the championship!