Saturday
Das Wrench came truckin' into ENE Open Sectionals as the 3rd seed overall, behind Garuda and Jerk Factory (both teams we had lost to early in the year). As is tradition, Saturday was an exercise in composure, considering that we faced a number of young, inexperienced teams. We faced Boston College first, and let's just say our excitement got the best of us. Phrases like "patience", "chilly o", and "same 16th of the field" didn't seem to apply to our decision making, resulting in some unnecessary although not exactly costly turns. Despite this, we punched in a number of goals, won the game and had some stellar performances along the way. In his first tournament with Big Wrench, GOP alum and professional dog walker Pete Rodgers (@petahrahgas) proved himself a viable deep option. After palpable excitement built from his Chesapeake Invite antics Tyler Chan gave the people what they wanted with his follow-up piece, "Ode to A Roofing", a refined little ditty in which he nearly jumped over a kid then threw the winning goal.
Our next game was against a team of Bates players and we reeled in the decision making this time (much to the chagrin of the fans on the sidelines). A small blunder and a break for them on the first point of the game was the only hiccup as we rolled to another victory. Corndogs all around.
Last we faced Red Circus, the 2 in our pool, and brought our most resounding effort of the day. Ty again brought the ruckus with an absurd D in which he chased down a huck intended for the other team and laid out around the offender for the block. The O-line faced some zone and the handling core of Eric Shaw and Mark Vandenberg (weighing in at an aggregate 200 lbs) got to do all the fun things that handlers love to do (and did them well). After taking half 7-5 we ran away with the game on the heels of our d-line, winning 13-6.
Our next game was against a team of Bates players and we reeled in the decision making this time (much to the chagrin of the fans on the sidelines). A small blunder and a break for them on the first point of the game was the only hiccup as we rolled to another victory. Corndogs all around.
Last we faced Red Circus, the 2 in our pool, and brought our most resounding effort of the day. Ty again brought the ruckus with an absurd D in which he chased down a huck intended for the other team and laid out around the offender for the block. The O-line faced some zone and the handling core of Eric Shaw and Mark Vandenberg (weighing in at an aggregate 200 lbs) got to do all the fun things that handlers love to do (and did them well). After taking half 7-5 we ran away with the game on the heels of our d-line, winning 13-6.
Sunday
Sunday morning we rose bright and early to finish pool play against one of approximately 7 Bowdoin teams at the tournament. They were short on numbers, and we were super aggro despite the hour, so we pulled this one out with ease.
In the semifinals we faced Jerk Factory -- who beat us in consolation at Boston Invite. Needless to say we were excited to come together as a team to face this challenge. The breaks came fast and we jumped out to a 4-1 lead. Elias Kahan (fresh off a frisbee-less Saturday of Yom Kippur) had a massive layout D in a point that ended with Charlie Kannel laying out for a score at the cone. They struggled to figure out our zone, and Dan "Funboy" Forseter racked up the blocks in the front wall. Couple hammers later and we were on to the finals, 13-3.
Once again we lined up against Garuda, hoping to finally get a W in our third matchup with them of the season. We traded early, but dropped a break after a quick turn gave them a short field. Although we struggled to handle a trap man look, our defense gave them a bit of trouble as well. Down 7-5 at half we came out with a renewed sense of energy, generating more turns and punching in a few breaks to bring the score to 11-10. Great man D from Robby Perkins-High and Jason "Tang" Schnipes were key in forcing the turns. Unfortunately we were unable to keep the streak alive at the end and we fell 13-10 after they got a quick break of their own.
In the semifinals we faced Jerk Factory -- who beat us in consolation at Boston Invite. Needless to say we were excited to come together as a team to face this challenge. The breaks came fast and we jumped out to a 4-1 lead. Elias Kahan (fresh off a frisbee-less Saturday of Yom Kippur) had a massive layout D in a point that ended with Charlie Kannel laying out for a score at the cone. They struggled to figure out our zone, and Dan "Funboy" Forseter racked up the blocks in the front wall. Couple hammers later and we were on to the finals, 13-3.
Once again we lined up against Garuda, hoping to finally get a W in our third matchup with them of the season. We traded early, but dropped a break after a quick turn gave them a short field. Although we struggled to handle a trap man look, our defense gave them a bit of trouble as well. Down 7-5 at half we came out with a renewed sense of energy, generating more turns and punching in a few breaks to bring the score to 11-10. Great man D from Robby Perkins-High and Jason "Tang" Schnipes were key in forcing the turns. Unfortunately we were unable to keep the streak alive at the end and we fell 13-10 after they got a quick break of their own.
Other Notes
- Josh Fries, William Dean, Pete Rogers, and Mark Vandenberg all shined in their Big Wrench debuts.
- Elias Kahan was 1-for-1 on hammers on the weekend. And his Backyard Football spirit animal is Pete Wheeler.
- Tang found the only other player on the field with orange high socks and guarded him for a point.
- Funboy's precision hammers were clutch all weekend.
- Spies showed off his speed and air acrobatics again, also claiming "I don't need to play defense"
That's all for now folks. See you in Devens.
- Elias Kahan was 1-for-1 on hammers on the weekend. And his Backyard Football spirit animal is Pete Wheeler.
- Tang found the only other player on the field with orange high socks and guarded him for a point.
- Funboy's precision hammers were clutch all weekend.
- Spies showed off his speed and air acrobatics again, also claiming "I don't need to play defense"
That's all for now folks. See you in Devens.