Two Fake Field Goals, One Touchdown, One Flag, One heck of a game.
Shortly after converting a fake field goal touchdown that was called back after an offsides call, the Wardogs lined up again, and faked, again. The difference, they converted without a flag. After a play that took them one foot from a score, with the clock running, the few Wardogs fans there were going crazy, owner Andrew Alexander was in the owners box sweating bullets, and the Wardogs were down on the field, scoring.
39-36, College Station with the upset over Corpus Christi.
The on-field celebration was huge, and when asked, all coach Sherrill could say was "What a game, I could not be more proud of these guys, we busted our tails all week, and we knew we could bring home the win. Now it's time to go back home and celebrate the rest of the night, but then it's back onto the practice field in preperation for San Antonio."
So no post-game press conference tonight, but Andrew did say that after they had time to study the game, he and the coaches will meet with the press sometime this week to talk about the win and their upcoming game against the Rattlers.
Jackie Sherrill stands in front of a podium on a stage in the Reed Arena press room. No other coaches or players are present.)
Well...0-1...what else can I say. It's not something were used to in this organization, but then again, this is the big leagues. We came out and played our hearts out, but we were out-matched, I'll even say that we were out-coached. Dallas is one hell of a team, and I have the upmost respect for them, and they played a beter game tonight. Im not going to B.S. you and make excuses, we were outmatched. I gotta give a hand to Jamie, he was getting hell all night, yet he still threw a couple of scores. We were so focused on the defensive side of the game, we failed to put a lot of concentration into Dallas' All-Star line, and they beat us, both ways. Their offense is very talented, we knew coming in that Madray and Mintz were going to give us trouble, we thought out best bet was to man up on them and put our 2 best defenders head-to-head, it was a gamble, but I wanted that rather than trying to have guys run the zone and have mix-ups here and there and get burned. We put Schmyic on Mintz, that was his job, it just didn't help, Mintz ran us over and was a huge key to their success. It was a few lapse in judgments coaching wise which led to some bad play by the players.
We started this week under a huge cloud of doubt and had a wave of critics and all we wanted was more than anything was to come out and win this game. And in my opinion, these guys still played a hell of a game, they were obviously over-matched but still kept it close. Yet, we keep hearing more and more putting us down. And I'll be damned if we walk out of here tonight with our tail between our legs, and keep taking this crap. And right now I will personally ask our fans to keep their heads up and keep coming to the games. Come out, and I'll say it, as corny as it sounds, be our 9th Man. I want that by the time non-division games come around that every owner in the OIFL will be talking about the fan support in College Station and the 9th man. Just as by the end of this season, the Wardogs will not be the other team in the Texas Division but rather, a team to be dealt with. We will walk into every game from hear on out with our heads held high and throw our hearts into this game, and that is a promise.
But onto something else, tonight I will ofer the official invitation to anyone interested to our first annual "9th Man Dinner". We discussed doing this last saturday but decided that it's best we keep the distractions to a minimum. But now they got a game under their belts so this thursday at 7 we will have our team diner. We will have every player out their signing autographs and eating with the fans. And for all the old Wreckin' Crew fans, if you have an old team Jersey, bring it, and we'll give you a brand new Wardogs jersey as our gift to you, and we won't even take your old one. We will also have a fans Q&A where any fan can ask any member of the Wardogs organization a question, you could even ask the groundskeeper what exactly he does. So save the date and I'll see you there.
So thank you to all the fans who came out and supported the team, and just keep your head up, these results will not become commonplace.
Things are looking eerily similar to the way they were only a few short months ago in Brinkhaven. After victories by both College Station and Venice the "Duel of the Dueces" Championship will look a lot like that of the OIF2 Cup last year.
The Wardogs managed to defeat The Blaze on the shoulders of their running backs and behind the power of their linemen. "We had some really good holes to run through all day, even old Baron Dockery had a long touchdown...with the extra weight of the oxygen tank he has to carry, you have to admit that's quite a feat." Darius Fitzgerald said, holding back a chuckle. "We told our lineman to leave it all on the field, to just let loose. Because the starting spots are wide open and these games will decide." Coach Ray Childress said.
The Wardogs managed 127 yards of rushing on the shoulders of three running backs. With Baron Dockery and Rob Greene each getting a touchdown, and Darius Fitzgerald running it in twice. Jamie Brooks was 8/14 with 101 yards and a touchdown while Mark O'Donnell was 10/15 for 132 yards and 2 Touchdowns. They looked really good offensevely," Coach Appel said, "we really got what we wanted to out of this game.
College Station will meet up yet again with Venice this week to end the pre-season tournament. The Wardogs are 3-0 against venice, including a big win in the OIF2 Cup last year. "This is a really tough team and always has been, we might have come out on top all three times, those were not easy by any means. It took a full team effort and maybe even a little luck to pull them off." Coach Jackie Sherrill said. The question for this week, is will this be looked at like a real game? "You bet. I have talked personally to Nestor and we both agreed to take this like a real game. Not only will it be needed experience for both teams, but it's also going to help add fuel to the rivalry." said Andrew Alexander, Wardogs GM and Owner.
So the word from College Station is look for a lot of starters and an intense game this week as the Wardogs look to continue the streak and the Waveriders try and change their luck.
"I think we finally have this whole training camp thing figured out," said Coach Sherrill with a laugh. "But seriously, these guys are busting their butts out their. The onlything I've showed them media wise this past week was the early division standings, and we were dead last in every one of them. They weren't happy to say the least. And they are really driven to get better and show everyone that we are not just a joke in this league and that we are a team to worry about. We have a lot of groups working out, and for the most part there is no such thing as a position this week. Everyone works out together as a unit, and we will get better as a team. And in the words of Mark Twain, It' not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. And afterall we are the WARdogs."