Saturday youth sports

This past Saturday, instead of both football and soccer at Ft. Nugent Field, the sports were split, with all the OHYFL football games at Wildcat Memorial Stadium. Weather was a factor in the games, as it was quite windy all day, with gusts strong enough to move players around, and it rained during parts of at least 2 games, hard at times. During the last game, the sun came out, low on the horizon, and was causing problems for the team facing west.

We'd like to say thanks to OHHS announcer Jay Long for giving up his Saturday and spending his day in the booth announcing all 5 games in his usual professional manner. OHHS PE teacher Brian Farmer was also at the games all day, operating the scoreboard and putting team names up instead of just 'home' and 'guest'. It was a nice added touch for the players. One more 'good job', and that's for the people running the concession stand. They had to deal with a strong wind, rain, and a power outage, but kept the dogs and burgers coming. Thanks for your efforts as well.

Football first this week.

The first football game of the day was the Pumas vs Burlington. The Pumas did, however, come away with a 19-14 win, their first for the season. While there are no photos of the game (our photographer was at Ft. Nugent field for soccer), two Puma players were ball boys for the Wildcat team, and the photos of those two boys are posted HERE.

The next game was the senior Wildcats vs Orcas. This game did not count, as to field a complete team, Orcas was allowed to use several high school freshmen. Even then, Orcas only brought 11 players to the game, which the Wildcats won, 22-0. Towards the end of the game, an Orcas player was injured, so both teams finished the game with only 10 men on the field. 50 Wildcat photos are HERE.

The midget Cougars were next, and posted a 20-0 win over Arlington. The score was not particularly lopsided, but it could have been even higher if the coaches wanted it that way. This game was all Cougars all the way. 32 images can be found HERE.

Dropping to the pee-wee division, the Lynx hosted the Concrete Lions. The final score was 34-2. Concrete got the ball first and using a 'fumblerooski' type offense (4 players lined up behind the linemen, and the center usually rolls the ball to one of the backfield players, who picks it up and runs), but after gaining only 8 yards, fumbled on the Lynx 41. On their first play, the Lynx runner ran for a 59-yard TD. The PAT run was good, making the score 7--0 with 6:22 in the first. Concrete was forced to punt after only 3 plays on their next possession, but instead of using only one play to get to the end zone, this time it took the Lynx 2 plays. The first was an incomplete pass, the second a 45-yard run to pay dirt. The score now is Lynx 14, Concrete 0, still in the first quarter. Concrete was able to move the ball from their own 45 down to the Lynx 3 (thanks to 3 different offside penalties against the Lynx) where they fumbled on a 3rd down play. Oak Harbor started on the 5 yard line, but was backed down to the 1. There, the Lynx runner didn't run the play the coach sent in, and wound up being tackled in the end zone for a Concrete safety. OH then kicked to Concrete, and the Lynx defense forced another 3-and out. Oak Harbor ran the first play 59 yards to the end zone, but the PAT failed, making the score 27-2 with 2:51 left in the half. With the lopsided score, the Lynx were now kicking off from the 20 instead of the 40. The kick went out to the 38, then effective pursuit by the Lynx defense forced a 10-yard loss before time expired in the half. Starting the second half, Concrete got the ball first but punted after 3 plays. Oak Harbor drove the ball from the OH 28 down to the Concrete 1 yard line, but fumbled on a 4th and Goal play, giving the ball back to Concrete. Concrete was able to move the ball from their own 2 to the OH 42, taking the final 2 minutes of the 3rd quarter and almost 8 minutes of the 4th quarter (again, aided by 2 OH offside penalties, one on a 4th down attempt). The Concrete drive failed on the OH 42, the Lions unable to convert a 4th & 16. With 2:25 left in the game, the Lynx took the first play all the way to the house - 58 yards - to push the score to 34-2 for the Lynx. Concrete was only able to run 4 plays after the kickoff before time ran out in the 4th. There are no photos of the Lynx game, but look for some video clips by Monday afternoon. 8 video clips, including all 5 touchdowns are HERE.

The nightcap football game featured the OH junior Jaguars, coming in at 4-0 against the Bellingham Regulators. The Jags gave this game away, fumbling away their first two possessions deep inside their own territory, spotting B'ham a 12-0 lead. A punt return touchdown, and later a run from midfield to the end zone (with one made PAT), put the Jags ahead 13-12 late in the 3rd quarter. The Regulators pulled ahead again, 18-13, but Oak Harbor returned the kickoff 95 yards to re-take the lead 20-18. Then, the Jags recovered a kickoff that only went 7 yards, but was touched by a Bellingham player, and then the Bellingham coach gave OH another 15 yards due to unsportsmanlike conduct after the kickoff. The OH drive stalled, and Bellingham was able to score again with only 2:44 left in the game. The Jaguars were moving the ball, but an untimely interception by B-ham was returned for a TD with just under 2 minutes remaining, and the Regulators sealed their victory with another interception, this one at the Jaguar 1 with just 43 seconds left. Bellingham ran a couple of plays to move away from the goal line, then took 2 knees to end the game, winning 38-20. 64 photos are HERE.

Next Saturday, some OHYFL games here in Oak Harbor have been moved. The 3pm game with the Bobcats vs Arlington will be at Ft. Nugent Field, but the 5pm Cougars vs Sedro and 7pm Wildcats vs Burlington games have been moved to Wildcat Memorial Stadium. The Cougars game was not moved due to a HS girls soccer game at the stadium that afternoon.

Now for soccer.

The first game we looked at was a U-14 coed game between the Oak Harbor Dominators, sponsored by the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce and coached by Nathan Boss and the Oak Harbor Silver Bullets, sponsored by Eurosports and coached by James Whistler and Anthony Arboylea. The game was won by the Dominators, 3-1, but all the kids looked like they were having fun. Both coaches remarked that they enjoyed the co-ed teams, as it made the girls into more aggressive players, and taught the boys that even though boys may be stronger and faster, many of the girls have superior skills and finesse. 32 images from the game are HERE.

On a side note, for those who haven’t seen U-6 and U-8 soccer, it's nothing like regular soccer. The game is played on a short, narrow field with only 3 players per team, with the U-8 teams adding a goalie. This results in a lot of action close to the spectators, and LOTS of scoring. It's quite fun to watch.

The first U-8 game was the girls' Green Pixies, sponsored by Midway Florist, against Best Friends Vet Clinic. The Pixies are coached by Doug Waschak and Mark Rudesill, and you could see by watching the game that the coaches pushed the 'fun factor' of soccer first, but also, according to coach "we want them to try their best and at the same time be nice." 59 images are HERE.

Switching to boys, the Bu-8 Silver Bullets, sponsored by P&L General Contractors and coached by Andrea Knoll and Lisa Anderson, faced off against the "Kung Fu Pandas", sponsored by Martin Auto Electric and coached by Gerry Foppe. Coach Knoll said she had a "great bunch of boys" and that they were having fun and "learning a lot". Coach Foppe said his boys were showing his coaching philosophy of "Play Hard, Play Fair, and Have Fun" on the field in each and every game. 51 photos can be found HERE.

Back to the girls, the GU-6 Orange Cheetahs, coached by Bridget Middleton, a first-year coach faced off against the Bluebirds. It was an exciting game, with lots of goal scored by both teams. Both teams left the field winners, and Coach Middleton said "all by two of the girls are new to soccer, but they're all doing their best." When asked what she liked best about the girls, she said "We're having fun!" 34 images from this game are HERE.

Finally, the BU-11 "Galaxy" academy team vs Stanwood. This game wasn't even close. We don't have an exact final score, but it was on the order of 17-3, or something similar. Coach Mike Thornton is working magic with the boys, and it's showing on the field. 29 images are posted HERE.

Next Saturday at Ft. Nugent is another full slate of soccer, with games beginning every hour, starting 9am until noon. At least 14 games are scheduled, from U-6 through U-14. Come on down and watch a bit. It's free, and the Latte Lade will be there with hot drinks.