One Score Makes Four

A long touchdown pass from QB Henning Alstrup to WR Marc Sørensen proved to be the difference maker in this afternoon's contest as your Aarhus Tigers narrowly bested the visiting Esbjerg Hurricanes 7-0. With the win, the Tigers improved to 4-0 on the year.

I was actually a spectator for the lone scoring play of the day. It occurred on our first possession after the half, which I decided to watch from the sidelines to see what was going on with the defensive fronts we were getting. In weather conditions just as sloppy as our last game, the first half was mired by sloppy performances by both teams. It became apparent that we were having some difficulties with their defenders up front, who relied heavily on slants and stunts to make up for a lack of size and strength. I didn't think to remove myself from the game to see firsthand what was going until after halftime and when I did, I saw what I had anticipated. Their defenders in the box (linemen and linebackers) were simply exchanging gap responsibilities (who covers which hole we run to) and we were not doing a great job recognizing this. That didn't matter on the fourth play of the second half though, as the OL provided good protection and Henning delivered a strike to Sørensen in stride from midfield en route to a TD.

Some frustrations would continue on offense, as they had in the first two quarters. We were able to move the ball for a string of plays and then we seemed to fall flat for a few. Adjustments will be made in the next few days in anticipation for this week's game and the second half of the season ahead. With some of these in place, our offense will no doubt look to sustain and more finish more drives than we have been recently; all part of the fun in being a coach, I suppose.

Hats off to the Tiger defense once again. They have not been scored on in fourteen consecutive quarters of football and show no signs of letting up. They forced two key turnovers today; a fumble recovery inside our own five-yard line and an interception with under twenty seconds to play as the 'Canes were threatening on our side of the fifty.

It was definitely strange to be playing a game on a Sunday. I think I might have only once before, a JV game eight years ago when I was sophomore in high school. I could be mistaken, but nonetheless, still a little weird. I'm just happy the weather held up and it only hailed for about two or three minutes during the third quarter. My bag on the sidelines got totally drenched yet again, including the bag inside holding my wallet, iPhone and iPod. I looked in after the game to find said bag at the bottom of a small lake. However, thanks to my folks back home and the cases they've sent (one for each electronic device), they remained safe and dry; crises averted.

Felt good to be out on the field again. Some of their guys did a little more talking than we saw last game. I'm sure they were saying very tough and meaningful things but since they were speaking Danish, I just smiled and waved at them before each play. They were probably just lonely and I thought to myself that you always catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Actually, since I didn't say anything back, they probably thought I was hard of hearing or something. Good times, but it wasn't quite enough to qualify for this week's "WTDAFM" (Welcome to Danish American Football Moment ... I guess it doesn't form the cleanest acronym, but it's an awful lot to keep writing it out like that).

Anyways, this week's WTDAFM (eh, it's not so bad) is really more for all the football strategists out there (Smitty, Coach B and all the other MHS guys, I hope you're taking notes). At today's coin toss, I was going about my business and staying warm and loose during the monsoon and I peaked over and saw that we won the toss and deferred to the second half. Now, even the casual football fan (I hope) knows that when your team defers their option as we did, the other team is presented with a few choices. Among these are whether they want to kick or receive the ball to start the game. Common sense would dictate that you would want to receive because the other team put off making that choice until the second half (which almost always means they will receive then). Each team therefore has a chance to start off a half with the ball and look to set the tempo as they see fit. Well, today, I think a new strategy was employed. The Hurricanes opted to kick to start the game, essentially allowing us to start each half with the football. This confused even our special teams units, as our kickoff team had already started to run on to the field and then had to be replaced by the kick return squad; I know it sure threw me for a loop. I guess it almost worked as we only managed seven points but generally speaking (call me crazy), I'm a fan of free possessions.

That's about it for now. I'm going to relax to a movie tonight and enjoy the win. Tomorrow starts preparation for the next game. We play again on Saturday so it's a short turnaround this week. Come on back again soon; I'll be here.