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WEEK
7 - CLAYMORES 24 at GALAXY 27
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PREGAME
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| Week 7 and it was off to Frankfurt to try and avenge last week's disaster. Also trying to avenge were the United Kingdom in Eurovision 04. We managed some points this year - but Ukraine ran away with it. The two horse race between Albania and Poland predicted by Preston never emerged. Still would Ukraine have fared so well if Germany had voted Scooter into the contest? |
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Game Day The 4pm kickoff meant an early start in the Waldparkplatz this year. But tents were soon erected and BBQ's were lit and the party was ready to begin. |
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Once the cooking starts in the Waldparkplatz you cannot escape the wonderful smells that drift across it ... |
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And who better to cook some dead things than Harry (left) and his trusty back-up chef. Due to new NFLE regulations Harry was cooking the 1st and 3rd set of steaks, while his back-up took the 2nd and 4th lot. Great food as always - many thanks! |
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Waldparkplatz also means catching up with old friends and drinking their beer. Once again Thomas provided us with the "German Technology Beer"! |
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And when the beer was done ... There was Sangria!
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It was a H.O.T. day and Sitges Sack were back in the Waldparkplatz to make some of Montse's Monster Sangria! |
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Which once made, can be safely transported to the stadium as 2 litres are allowed to be taken inside. Of course 2 litres of MMS is generally enough to tranquilize a horse! |
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Feel The Phrankie! Once again please check out the FTP weekend wrap to find out their take! |
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With Colvin unable to attend last weekend's game, the onus fell on Ben Saunders to drink for 2 to make up for his absence - and he did this in fine style thanks to the introduction of bucket sized beers at the Power Party. |
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Everybody decided to put the sangria down for a moment or two and enjoy the bucket sized beers! |
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Inside the mostly rebuilt Waldstadion. Both end zones are now mostly functional, and the old 'paper throwing' sideline where we used to stand and get hit by the paper, is also up and running for 2004 ... |
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But the old "Frankfurt Galaxy" sideline is still in the process of being rebuilt and that was the Claymores sideline this year. Would it bring us any better luck?
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| THE GAME | ||
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Kickoff. Mark Jensen looks like he mis-hits his kick and TE Chris Edmonds catches it at the Galaxy 32 and runs it back to the 44 giving them excellent field position. |
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Galaxy QB J.T. O'Sullivan hits his 1st 3 passes for short gains, but once again its his elusiveness that makes the Claymores D pay. On a busted play he manages to scramble 15 yards down to the Claymores 24 yard line. |
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On the next play Galaxy WR Drew Haddad appears to run into Claymore LB Jimmy McClain and goes down like he's been shot just as the ball is thrown. Could we escape a foul? Wait a minute who is the Back Judge lurking in full sight of the play? It couldn't be could it??? It's 13... 3! All round Claymore hater Steve Freeman was back to help oversee another Claymore loss. So of course it was pass interference and a 22 yard penalty. Freeman knows we're after him. He's gone into the NFL's witness protection program. The official gamebook now lists him as Greg. We reckon he's officiated in at least 7 Claymores games the last few years - and we've lost them all. Coincidence? |
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Next play, Skip Hicks barrels in from 2 yards out and just like that the Galaxy are up by 7. GALAXY 7-0 |
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But just like last week Herb Haygood ripped through the Galaxy's special teams - this time for 51 yards all the way to the Frankfurt 37 yard line. |
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This marked the 4th time this season that Nate Hybl got to start inside the opposition 40 in the 1st quarter, and so far we've only managed 3 total points. And when he got beheaded on a 3rd down scramble that came up short of the 1st down it looked like we would have to settle for 3 again ...
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But then we pulled off a surprise fake field goal and hearts were in mouths at what unfolded. On 4th and 4, holder Nick Murphy picked the ball up and rolled to his right. Lead blocker Rob Hart tried to clear a path for him and tried gallantly to get in the way of a Galaxy defender. Murphy managed to turn the corner but was soon in the sights of another Galaxy defender who dived for him. But he managed to surge forward at the last second and get a valuable 1st down! |
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And if that was surprising, then we almost fainted at the next play. From the 6 yard line Ahmad Galloway scythed through the Galaxy defense and into the end zone. A RUSHING TOUCHDOWN!!! But wait ... 105 has tossed his yellow hankie and it's holding Claymores and no touchdown. |
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And we did have to settle for 3, when Hybl was sacked for the 2nd time on the drive by Galaxy DE Corey Jackson. Rob Hart was good from 34 yards and we were on the board courtesy of a hard earned 12 play 21 yard drive. GALAXY 7-3 |
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| The Galaxy wasted no time getting back down the field on their next drive. First off Skip Hicks took a little dump off 5 yards. Another short pass to his TE Edmonds got a first down. Then a reverse to Drew Haddad got 11 yards before O'Sullivan fired a 36 yard deep strike to Derrick Lewis to the 8 yard line. |
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Then on 2nd and goal from the 8 O'Sullivan fired a pass over the middle where Jason Willis (#84) tried to catch and almost tipped. He missed, which was pretty fortunate for the Galaxy as O'Sullivan was throwing to TE Chad Hayes in the back of zone who was so wide open that not even the nearest Claymore's shadow can stop the touchdown. GALAXY
14-3 It was 3 and out for Hybl and the Claymores on their next possession, ending the 1st Q. |
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2nd Q Kirk Farmer came in at QB for the Galaxy and immediately had them moving but the D finally stepped up when Jimmy McClain and Alan Harper sniffed out a reverse and tackled Derrick Lewis for a loss. The Galaxy punted 2 plays later and pinned the Claymores back to their own 14. |
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| Deja vu for Curt as he takes over in bad field position yet again .. and then proceeds to fumble the ball away when hit by Galaxy DL Clenton Ballard. |
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And 2 plays later it's 21-3 Purple as Skip Hicks charges in from 9 yards for his 2nd score of the day. GALAXY 21-3 |
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| Curt's not done though. On 3rd and 6 here he escapes from trouble and rolls out right and fires a 1st down strike to forgotten man Scott Couper. |
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| It's back to back strikes to the Scotts as McCready pulls in a 11 yard catch from Curt on the next play ... but Galaxy S Chris Kern strips the ball and dives on it for yet another frustrating turnover for the Blue and Silver. This made Galaxy +12 on the season, while Claymores were -9. |
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| Farmer
hit Haddad for a 22 yard gain straight away but the D tightened and Jamie
Rheem missed his 48yard FG. Curt went back to work, and McCready made up for his error with a clutch 9 yard grab over the middle on 3rd and 7. Anes then got loose for a 20 yard gain to get the ball to the Galaxy 30 with 1:17 left in the half. |
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| But a sack on 2nd down left Curt facing 3rd and 15, but for the 3rd straight time he converted 3rd and long - this time launching a ball down the left sideline to DeAndrew Rubin who had got open at the 2 yard line. A deep pass! |
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Twister Half Time. Could the Galaxy end the Claymores unbeaten run? Click below to find out!
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The Claymores got the ball in the 3rd and came out running. Maurice Hicks's 4 straight carries for 28 plus a facemask on the Galaxy had the Claymores at the Frankfurt 30. Galloway ripped off a 8 yard run, and then Hybl took advantage of the shell shocked D by hitting McCready for 12 yards and Haygood for 11 yards. On 2nd and goal from the Galaxy 4, Maurice Hicks got his reward for kick starting the drive. He took a pitch from Hybl and sprinted right ... He then cut back behind some good blocks and ran through 2 Galaxy would be tacklers before surging into the end zone. Suddenly we had our 2nd rushing TD in less than 5 minutes of play! GALAXY 21-17 |
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But Skip Hicks again made a key play to stop the momentum turning. On 2nd and 10 from his own 33 he broke down the right sideline for 59 yards all the way to the Claymores 8 yard line before Ryan Myers chased him down.
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| But the D refused to give the Galaxy a TD. On 2nd and goal Damien Gregory charged through the middle of the Frankfurt O-line and pulled J.T. O'Sullivan down for a sack. Gregory then made sure O'Sullivan's 3rd down scramble went for naught by escorting him out of bounds. |
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| Want more evidence the Galaxy are jammy bastards? On 4th down, Ralf Kleinmann pushes his field goal wide - but wait a minute there's flag thrown. It's a false start on Frankfurt, which we can't decline of course ... |  |
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And of course on the next play you could bet your life savings that Kleinmann from 5 yards back would drive the retaken FG through the uprights. What can you do? GALAXY 24-17 |
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The Claymores next drive went 3 and out. Once again it seems that when Nate Hybl is in at QB our idea of converting 3rd and longs involve throwing passes well short of the 1st down marker. It may look like only his shadow will catch Ian Smart in the picture, but sadly the Galaxy were waiting for the screen pass and it was Nick Murphy time again. |
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Our D that hadn't leaked big plays all year was suddenly getting toasted under the German sun. Claymores nemesis Drew Haddad caught a short pass over the middle on 3rd and 3 and raced 64 yards to the Scotland 8 yard line. Only a hustling Gerald Dixon saved the touchdown. |
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| Dixon's play was worth 4 points, as the D held tight again. On 2nd goal O'Sullivan tried to scoot around left end but Howard Clark pushed him out of bounds. And doesn't that look like a late clip on Alan Harper by #84? |
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Aden Durde and Ivory McCoy then wrap up Galaxy RB Jeff Chaney on 3rd and Goal and it's Kleinmann time again. Who is good from 23 yards without the aid of a yellow hankie this time. GALAXY 27-17 |
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Nate Hybl's 3rd quarter propensity of going 3 and out on offense continued again as he couldn't hook up with Scott Couper on 3rd down and the Claymores punted as the 3rd quarter wound down. 4th
Q |
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| Curt immediately brought life to the offense hitting Ron Bellamy for 32 yards and 2 plays later finding Scott McCready who weaved his way for 15 more all the way to the Galaxy 15 yards line. |
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And then on 3rd and 10 it was another Houdini escape that brought the Claymores a 1st down. As he initially dropped back to pass the right side of the Galaxy defensive line broke through and look to have him cornered ... But somehow (and even after watching it on tape, we're still not sure) he managed to escape the grasp of multiple Galaxy defenders and sprint back across to his left ... Only a desperate tackle by Galaxy S Ricky Sharpe stops a diving Curt from getting into the end zone! |
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On the next play, Maurice Hicks take the hand-off up the middle and dives over right guard for his second score of the day and the Claymores are within 3 points with 10 minutes to play! GALAXY 27-24
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| O'Sullivan however looked set to seal the game on Frankfurt's next drive as he marched them back down the field to the Scotland 7 yard line, but we finally caught a break when a fumbled snap finally found Claymores hands in the shape of Damien Gregory. |
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| With under 6 minutes left it was a chance for Curt and the offense to take charge. Initially he kept his string of converting 3rd and long going, by finding McCready for 11 yards on 3rd and 9. That was 5 straight conversions. But faced with 3rd and 6 3 plays later, he was unable to connect with McCready again when forced from the pocket and as the QB and WR appeared to mis-communicate with each other. | ||
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We needed the ball back right away but were denied the opportunity on 3rd and 3 when Alan Harper was called for being offsides. The bobblehead impression by O'Sullivan in drawing him offside had nothing to do with this of course. Out
of timeouts, the D could only watch as the seconds ticked away ... |
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Yes Curt got the ball, but with only 1 second and 85 yards to go there wasn't a lot of hope. His heave down the sideline fell incomplete and once again the Claymores had come up just short. FINAL GALAXY 27-24 |
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Maurice
Hicks.
Ran hard all day and finished with 43 yards on 8 carries and 2TD's.
Led 3rd Q scoring drive.
