GEFNFL - 2009 Game Summaries

WEEK 1


An extremely nice evening for a football game with an outstanding turn out of 18 players for a 9 on 9 game. That would be a record turn out for a non-TLP game. The fan count was about 7 (6 tennis players and a dog walker).

I'm going to absolve myself of the team dividing responsibilities on this one. With 18 players, I just set out 9 Red and 9 Blue jerseys and had everyone grab a jersey until they were gone. I hoped everything would just average out.

Okay, 9 on 9 is just nuts. From the quarterback position, looking out at 9 opposing jerseys mixed with 8 of your own, it's tough to make good choices. We started by keeping in 3 blockers as ineligible receivers and allowed the defense rush with no count.

Red got itself back up to the end zone, but managed to work itself out to the 20 yard line. This didn't help much because Blue's rush forced Red's QB back to the end zone for a safety (0.33 points on our scoreboard). So Mike Duffek's safety was the first score and it was starting to look like defensive scoring might be the only scores in the game. It was apparent that the offense was going to need a little more help. We added a 2 count (and later a 3 count) to the defense for rushing and allowed the blockers to be eligible receivers. That broke the log jam loose. Well at least for Blue anyway. Blue went on to score 5 unanswered TDs. As we were getting to the end of the night, and called for last TD, Red finally scored on an interception returned for a touchdown. Red's defense ended up doing all of their scoring.
The final score was Blue 5.33 to Red 1.

The Plays of the Day: The first is Mike Duffek's safety by forcing Red's QB back 20 yards to the end zone ranks INT for TD, making him the 7th person to get a safety in this league...at least since we started recording the stats in 1996. The second was Pietro Norante's interception of a Blue pass at about the 25 yard line and returned for the touchdown to end the game.

Stat Leader: Andy Saugstad with 1 TD Pass, 1 TD Receptions, and 1 Sack.
 

WEEK 2

Another extremely nice evening for a football game with an outstanding turn out of 16 players for a 8 on 8 game. We started out with 10 for a 5 on 5 game and added 6 more players during the first quarter. The fan count was about 3 and there was 1 drive-by shouting.

I divided the teams early at about 6:00 when we had 10 players on the field, and I tried to allow some friends & brothers to play together. The scoring started out great with Red jumping ahead by 2 first, Blue rallied to tie it up and then punctuated it with Andy Saugsted's two 100 yard Interceptions for touchdowns, which were the Plays of the Day.

The 6 late comers were divided up as they arrived, and were all there by about the end of what I thought was the first half, but in retrospect it would actually have been about the end of the first quarter. Once there was 16 players on the field, there was not another score. By about 8:15 we had already been battling back and forth for about an hour without a score and decided play until last touchdown. Mistake! The battle continued scoreless for another hour and a half, until 9:45! At which point everyone was ready to throw in the towel. I felt like we had played 2 games.

So after about 3 hours & 45 minutes and with all the scoring in the first hour, the final score was Blue 4 to Red 2.

The Plays of the Day: Are both by Andy Saugsted and both are carbon copies of each other. Both were 100 yard interceptions returned for a touchdown! Uncle Dan had told him I was over-heard saying that Andy had lost a step. Not knowing that it was intended as a complement, because it was relative to how fast he was when he was 16 years old. With some help from quick thinking blockers on Blue, Andy was twice able to navigate the 100 yard return.

Stat Leader: Tyler Jones with 1 TD Pass, 1 TD Receptions, 2 INTs and 1 Sack.
 

WEEK 3

We almost called this one due to rain. It was slowing down as the tenth player showed up and eventually stopped during the first quarter. By the time we started we had 6 on 6, but ended up with another outstanding turn out of 15 players for a 8 on 7 game by the second quarter. Blue ended up rotating a guy out each series. The fan count was about 1.

I divided the teams early at about 6:00 when we had 12 players on the field. This time I tried to break up players that usually play together. Scoring continues to be sluggish as defense is still dominating the game. Andy left early, so rookie Kurt Omdahl switched to the Red team late in the game to keep the sides even. Although the scoring ended up fairly close Blue had the lead most if not all of the game. The final score was a 15 yard Will Stover to Kurt Omdahl pass to allowing us to end on a touchdown this week without going too long into the night.

The final score was Blue 4 to Red 3.

Sorry this is so late. It's been too long for my meager memory to recount much more of the game's activity. This has been sitting in my draft box waiting for more details that just weren't coming.


The Plays of the Day: In this case it back to back plays from about the ten yard line, the first play set up the other.

In the first play, with Todd Polczynski at QB and Tony Melchior lined up in the right slot, Tony pulled to the left crossing behind center as if to get the direct snap for a left side run. This brought Red team in to cover the right side run, instead the snap went to Todd, for a right side run for a couple of yards.

The next play was set up the same way, but this time Tony took the direct snap as runs from left to right, as Red closes in, he pitches back to Todd who rolls to the right side. Red has now over committed to covering the run. Todd pulls back and fires a pass to Dave Dubberstein waiting in the end zone.

Stat Leader: Tyler Jones with 2 TD Receptions, 1 INTs and 1 Sack.
 

WEEK 4

We tried to start this game early to beat the expected rain, but ended up waiting for enough players to get the game started. This was our first light game turnout of the season. The rain never amounted to more than a light misting. We played with 9 players, for a 5 on 4 game, with Red both rotating a man in and out to keep the sides even, and training a 15 year old rookie, Zack. The fan count was about 1.

The smaller player turnout, definetly had an impact of the scoring. Statman was pretty busy putting marks on that piece of paper he keeps under his hat. I haven't figured out if there is a curse on Red (or me), or if Dave Dubberstein is the lucky charm. Blue once again established it's dominance, keeping the ahead of Red by at least 1 and as many as 3.66 touchdowns. Yes that fractional lead was made possible by a Wayne Schott safety. That should break the log jam of 7 people with the life time record for safeties, Wayne now has the record with 2.

Upon Further Review: Red's young rookie, Zack, made a diving run at at the endzone on a 4th down short yardage play that was hotly contested by Paul. At the time, I let Paul's call stand, but after talking it over with a couple other players and being reminded that we normally give the close calls to the offense. (Why? Because, we play for fun and more scoring is more fun.) Since it has no real effect on the outcome of the game, Blue had the ball on the next play anyway. (And, because I can do it in a single keystoke.) I'm going Give Zack his rushing TD, and give the kid his props.

Final score was Blue 7 to Red 5 1/3

The Play of the Day: This one is a hats off to Blue's Ryan Andersen. On 4th and long to the first down marker, he catches a pass about five to ten yards short of the first down marker. With a quick up field move, he gets the ball across the first down line, then he makes a move laterally in front of the Red defender. The Red player missed, but didn't say anything, Ryan cleared him and paused (a fake) as if he have been tagged. The remaining Red players broke off pursuit, thinking he was down. At that moment, Ryan sprinted the remaining 40 yards for the TD. This is the the football equivalent of baseball's "Stealing home" play. Don Beebe and Antonio Freeman would be proud.

Stat Leaders: There were 3 players with 5 stats, all on the Blue team. I'd probably rank them in this order:
  Ryan Andersen with 2 TD Passes, 1 TD Reception, 1 Rushing TD and a Sack
  Dave Dubberstein with 2 TD Passes, 1 TD Reception, and 2 INTs
  Kurt Omdalh with 2 TD Passes, 1 TD Reception, 1 Rushing TD and a Sack
 

WEEK 5

It rained most of the day but let up in time for us to get our game in, we still had to play on a muddy field. We started out with 5 on 5 but were up to 7 on 7 by the end of the first quarter The fan count was 1, the girl in the red sweat shirt in the south end zone.

Red finally broke out of it's shell, thanks to it's new luck charm Dave Dubberstein, who has been on every winning team so far this season. The score started out fast a furious with Red in a 2 to 1 lead by the end of the first quarter. By this time we were up to a full roster of 7 on 7, and the scoring once again slowed down. Blue was training another rookie (Welcome to Gary Dahlee) and the field was full of defenders. The dog fight continued to a 3 to 3 tie by about the beginning of the 4th quarter, and soon we called for last touch down, to which Red responded on the very next play with a score. Okay, that was too quick, we needed go for a another score, so it went back and forth for another time or two. It all ended on Dave Dubberstein's second interception for a touchdown in this game. Blue was on it's own 20 and the throw over the middle was picked by Dave, who took it at a angle to the right corner of the end zone, untouched.

Final score was Red 5 to Blue 3

The Play of the Day: Andy Saugstad made up for a critical early drop of uncle Dan's beautiful 50 yard pass with another 99 yard interception returned for a touchdown. The pass was from about the 30 yard line to the right side of the goal. Andy side stepped the players in that area and took it up the sideline. It was evident to everyone on Red by the time he hit the 50 yard line that he was gone.

Stat Leaders: There were 2 players with 3 stats. I'd probably rank them in this order:
Dave Dubberstein with 1 TD Passes, and 2 INTs both for TDs
Ryan Andersen with 2 TD Receptions, and 1 INT
 

WEEK 6

It rained for a couple of days and quit Friday morning, allowing us to play, even if it was to be on a muddy field. I had no trouble getting back to start the game, from my meeting at RMI Gammex Inc. in Middleton WI, although I did have to pass on dinner at the country club with the CEO, Peggy Lescrenier and staff. And yes, this was how I started the first part of my vacation. We started out with 8 on 7 with Blue rotating out the extra man each series for a 7 on 7 game. The fan count was 6, no one stayed long.

Rookie Alex Schott joined the Blue for his first ever GEFNFL game and likely his first ever real football game. (Those nerf ball games with the neighbors in the yard, hardly count.) I have to say it was fun to have my son line up next to me to rush the passer. Zack & Gary are no longer rookies, you have to grow up fast in this league...you only get one game as a rookie.

This was a wild one. But not because it was high scoring, because it wasn't. The mud was flying on every down as your Blue and Red Warriors banged it out on the very slick grid iron. The first quarter had several long drives that failed to score, then finally, Blue scored on a Tony Jordan to Dave Dubberstein pass (The Play of the Day). Red responded quickly with a 30 yard, Pietro Norante to Tyler Jones touchdown pass. And once again, we were tied, now with a score of 1 to 1. It remained that way through the next three, hard fought quarters, until the final touchdown. There were several more long drives and several hotly contested close plays, that are starting to make me think we need a referee. (Ok, that thought lasted about all of a second, no one wants show up just be a referee, even if I do have a striped jersey and a whistle.)

There was point late in the game where I had hoped to break the tie and end it on a safety, but that was not to be. The final touchdown was a 5 yard, Wayne Schott to Steve Dubberstein square out, that crossed with Dave Dubbberstein's post pattern, just inside the endzone and nearly to the sideline. Final score was Blue 2 to Red 1

The Play of the Day: Goes to Dave Dubberstein for the falling down in the endzone, one handed "Donald Driver" style catch of a 10 yard, Tony Jordan pass, that was tipped at the goal line by a Red defender. Dave was only going to the ground because the tip had directed the ball to the very limits of his reach.

Stat Leaders: Stats were hard to come by this week, but there was 1 player with 3 stats. And this can only happen in a low scoring game, and I'm not normally a fan of muddy fields but sometimes it works to my advantage:
Wayne Schott with 1 TD Passes, and 2 Sacks (and multiple "Hurries"...not that they count for anything.)


Post Game: Alex & I stopped for a beer at Knucklehead's bar in Eagle, WI and saw a band there I think it was called "Jackie Brown and the Boyz". They performed a really interesting version of Gun's Roses; "Sweet Child of Mine". She did the entire vocal range of the song and the lead guitar part was played on a flute, by a blind guy, who looked like Ozzy Osborne. (I think the flute was mic'd through an effects box to sound like a guitar.) It was absolutely stunning. Tom, you should have seen the jaws drop when the other bar patrons noticed the leads were being played on flute. Found their web site. http://www.jackiebrownandtheboys.com/
 

WEEK 7 - Rained out

WEEK 8 

It rained for a several days and quit Friday afternoon, allowing us to play but on a very greasy muddy field. Plenty of players showed up for this game, all rested up from the previous bye week. We started out with 8 on 7 with Blue rotating out the extra man each series for a 7 on 7 game. The fans have abandoned us.

Red made up for all of it's loses in this one game and put to rest the curse of the red jerseys. In Blue's defense nothing was going their way, every tipped pass ended up in Red's hands, every close call went against them, every crucial pass dropped or completely unobserved by the receiver. Red scored on 3 touchdown passes, one rushing touchdown and 2 interceptions returned for touchdowns, all unanswered by Blue.

Final score was Blue 0 to Red 6.

I seem to have lost the name of the rookie that was on the Blue team (Leonard Nate? maybe) he had an INT but I need to make sure I have his name right

The Play of the Day: Deep in Red's backfield, Gary Dahlee picked off a Red pass that was batted up in the air behind the line and returned it 30s yard for a touchdown.

Stat Leader: Paul Vanschaick with 2 TD Passes, 2 Ints and 1 Sacks
 

WEEK 9

An excellent night for football, clear, only slightly cool and finally a game in which we didn't have to knock the mud off of our cleats between each play. The entire game was played with 7 on 6, with Blue rotating a man out for a 6 on 6 game. We had about a dozen fans who occupied their time with skateboarding on the nearby tennis court. There was one drive-by honking.

I had to set a new ground rule prior to the game. I suggested that any close calls made by Paul be confirmed by at least one other player. Since there were a number of players that felt like they had been victimized by questionable calls, there was overwelming support for the motion. The quote of the day was, "Contrary to popular belief, there are not stats for winning an argument." Now, I'm sure that Paul thought was picking on him, but I had every confidence that that everyone would make good calls with a little checks and balances. Sure enough, when Paul got his first stat of the night, the sack was confirmed by the very quarterback he sacked. The contested play count dropped to zero.

Blue got the first TD and was quickly answered by Red for each TD that it scored. This game was so evenly matched game, that even pass interference plays were traded. Pietro mugged a Blue receiver early on one series, and few drives later he, in turn, got mugged early on a play and remarked, "I deserved that one." As we started the third quarter the drives stopped ending in touchdowns. The battle raged as a 3 to 3 tie through the third and most of the extended fourth quarter. We we sort of playing for last touchdown for a while but really no one felt like ending the game. It was far to nice to go home. Blue did eventually have one person leave, so it no longer had to rotate a player out.

Finally Blue punched one into the endzone for a final score was Blue 4 to Red 3

The Play of the Day: This was an absolutely stunning play that left everyone, on both Blue and Red teams saying "Wow!" From their own 25, Red's quarterback Tony Melchoir faded back to fire a long one. He hit rookie Brian Kolenbeck about 70 yards down field, just a couple of yards short of the endzone. This might be the longest "in air" pass completion of the season, but that's not all. to catch the ball, Brian had leaped into the air at full speed and caught it while in a flying horizontal position about 4-5 feet off of the ground! He landed (or bounced) at about the 2 yard line and rolled the remaining distance into the endzone for the touchdown! It was a thing of beauty.


Stat Leaders: There were 2 players with 4 stats. I'd probably rank them in this order:
Dave Dubberstein with 1 TD Pass, 1 TD Reception, 1 INT and a Sack
John Bopp with 3 INTs and a Sack


Lost & Found: Sweat shirt with Jimmy Hendricks on it, and a Dark Blue Sweat pants. (I didn't think anyone got tackled that hard.)

 

WEEK 10 - Superbowl Game Summary

For our last Friday night game under the lights of the 2009 season, we managed to get yet another excellent night for football, clear, only slightly cool and dry. We started the game with 8 on 8, and soon added 2 more players to make it a 9 on 9 game. No fans, everyone wanted to be a player tonight. We identified last week's drive-by honking as Ryan August, who couldn't play that night but wanted to get into the game summary.

This game started pretty much the same way it ended, with Blue scoring a defensive touchdown on an interception. Ryan August grabbed that first interception for a TD on the first play from scrimmage. Red settled down and soon followed it up with a score of it's own. I thought we might be off to the races with a high scoring game but that was not to be. Both defenses flexed their muscles, knocking down passes and harassing quarterbacks with strong rushing, so the scoring slowed down to a crawl. Each team managed work their way through at least two entire rotations of their roster of nine players, at quarterback. And yet each team managed only to add two more offensive touchdowns to their score though the rest of the game.

And even those scores won't have been possible without some exceptional plays: Jacob Richmond's nimble catch of tipped ball thrown behind the intended receiver that was going in opposite direction for a 30 yard 1st down play to keep a Red drive alive. Tyler Jones' flat on his back, touchdown catch of a Tom Sweinberg pass that was knocked down in the back of the endzone. Zack Bopp finally nailing his first touchdown pass of the season without getting it called back.

The "Play of the Day" detailed below broke the tie for the final score of Blue 4 to Red 3.

The Play of the Day: Dave Dubberstein's game ending interception for a touchdown. He picked of the pass just short of the 50-yard line and danced down the sideline the full distance for the score.

Stat Leaders:
Andy Saugstad with 2 TD Receptions, 1 INT.

Stat Anomaly: I'm concerned that I may have missed one Blue passing TD in the stats. If I did, I think know who might thrown it, but would need help identifying the receiver. On the other hand it could be that a combination of my increasing farsightedness, and the lighting is giving me so much grief, that I inadvertently put an extra tally in Blue's Passing TD column without a receiver to catch it. ( =equal signs are starting to look like -dashes to me, so // might have looked like /. Fortunately a football still looks like a football.)

Lost & Found: Navy blue sweat pants from Week 9
 

WEEK 11 - Probowl Game Summary

Yes, the Probowl was a Saturday afternoon edition of the GE Friday Night Football League. Could these nighttime players make the transistion to the bright sun light and 60+ degree temperatures? We started the game with 11 players for a 5 on 6 game, and soon added 2 more players to make it a 6 on 7 game, with Blue rotating a guy for a 6 on 6 game. About 100 fans, including the Dubbersteins, most of whom cleared out when the Flag football team left.

We got there around 1:00 PM on Saturday. As I said above there was a Flag football team using our regular field. It seemed to be a Waukesha Park & Rec. event, so we marked off a field in the outfield of the adjacent baseball diamond. It's been a while since we have had to mark a field of our own, but with the help a few empty ice cream tubs and a few 5 quart jugs of Quaker State oil, we made a field of our own to get started on. Starting out with 5 on 5 the homemade field seemed to be on the small side, after a series each way, the matter became worse as 2 more players arrived and we started playing 6 on 6.

We considered making it bigger, then Todd Polcynski checked with the time keepers of the flag football game and found that they had about 4 minutes left. We played out our current series and moved to our regular field as the Flag game broke up, about halfway through our 1st quarter. Their fans became our fans when an errant Blue pass bounced off of the Red defender, Paul Vanschaick's head and back into Blue's hands. (I think Ryan Andersen got it, but I'm open to correction here) The crowd responded with cheers, but quickly dissipated.

Red held it's own for most of the game despite the youth program that the Blue had going for it, as well as the two fastest guys, Andy & Brian. Red stayed within a touchdown of Blue's score until about the early fourth quarter when the Play of the Day occurred. Prashanth left about that time, too, so Blue wasn't rotating players late in the game. Other than that, this turned into another one of our marathon games. No one really wanted to quit. We were still playing hard until that last touchdown was scored around 4:00.

Final score of Blue 7 to Red 5.

I don't know about anyone else, but I felt the effects of that long game for a few days.

The Play of the Day: With Red trying to make a long drive starting from their own 1 yard line, to even up the score. One pass got them out to the 25, the next was to a couple of open receivers at the 45. But this was to be denied by Andy Saugstad's interception as he came from the deep safety position, between the receivers and picked of the line drive throw. Somehow he avoided getting tagged at the catch and had only to clear the Red quarterback. No contest, Andy took it the distance for the touchdown, giving Blue a two touchdown lead that it never relinquished.

Stat Leaders:
Andy Saugstad with 1 TD Pass, 3 TD Receptions, 2 INTs and 1 INT for a TD.

Lost & Found: Navy blue sweat pants from Week 9