This has been a rough season. A rebuilding season with something like 70% rookies. I browse my photos looking for happy ones. And I find a few. And I'm going to post some here today.
First I want to look on the sunny side just a little bit. Saturday the Outlaws lost to the Dallas Diamonds. The Outlaws scored six points. In four of their six previous games the Diamonds held their opponent to zero points. Two teams scored eight - which I take to be a touchdown with two-point conversion. The Outlaws scored six.
But there's more - establishing your offense is the most difficult job when building a new team. Defenses do stunts, line up in funny places. You'll think you're making the block and someone is sneaking around behind your back. Offense takes a long time to get organized. This season the Outlaws scored in their first game and were then shut out in four straight games. Like I said, offense is difficult. Last Saturday we scored nineteen points at Tulsa, against a team about evenly matched with the Outlaws. This Saturday we scored six against the toughest team in the league.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is progress.
Okay, let's take a look at some photos from the Mustangs game, four weeks ago. I'm starting with two two-photo sets. They're going to look a little alike but they're two separate plays. I'm posting them because of good blocking by the Outlaws. This season has seen a lot of problems keeping tacklers away from the ball carriers but in these two photo-sets, the blocking was good!
In the first photo below, notice where the ball is and where the Mustang defender is, just to the left. I suspect she is offside. Generally the ball gets to the quarterback before the defense. Cookie hasn't even caught the snap from the center and she's already in trouble.
But there's some help for Cookie. Look at the photo below. Number 56, Maile Capers-Cristobal, made the block and gave Cookie time to throw her pass. Notice, too, the blocking on the right side of the Outlaws line is effective. They just have to hold the attackers for about three seconds. Sounds easy. It isn't.
The two photos below tell a similar story. In the first, the would-be tackler is well ahead of the ball. Definitely offside. But Maile gets between tackler and quarterback. In the second photo the official gets between the camera and the action - I keep telling them to stop doing that! But you'll see the blockers are protecting the quarterback.
Next is a series showing Cookie's talent at quarterback. The blocking is pretty good in this series but Cookie's elusiveness and quickness is what intrigued me most. There are four photos in the series. The first has Cookie slipping out of the backfield while her blockers occupy most of the would-be tacklers. I see one threat, a sneaky tackler between Outlaws numbers 55 and 62.
In the second photo, Cookie swerves left attempting to avoid the Mustang linebacker.
I find myself cheering at my computer as I run these photos in sequence. Even though I was at the game and I know this didn't go for a score, I'm cheering for Cookie. Even though, in the photo below, she appears to be in the grasp of the tackler.
She almost escapes. Almost. In the next and final photo of the series I'm showing her appearing to get loose.
The tackler has enough of a hold on her that Cookie hits the turf. I'm not posting that photo (see my opening paragraph to this blog.) It was exciting even several days later away from the field and in front of my photo-editor.
One more just for fun. Cookie had a tough day against the Mustangs. The blocking didn't always hold. The Mustangs were good.
I think I'll call this final photo, "Soft Landing." If you're going to be stopped by the tacklers, it is good if you can find a soft place to land.
Last game of the season is coming up Saturday. Let's support the Outlaws. They're getting better with experience. It would be great to end the season with a win.
1 comment:
Excellent writing that tells the truth about our fabulous team. You are correct about 70% are new to the team. I can't wait to see them grow with experience.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful story.
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