I (Sal) remember the "good ole" days playing a pick-up game of football in my backyard (adjacent to a city ballfield park). I wasn't good compared to my peers, but I loved playing it! I've watched and played the game more as I got older, which I wish I could just go back and play.
Now, I just watch it on t.v.; however, I sometimes rather play then watch! I encourage you all to just pick-up a football and play a pick-up game with anybody you can get a hold of. It's good to keep that childhood in yourself as you get older!
College
UMAC Champions- Minnesota Morris
"the final play of the 2006 UMAC championship, Minnesota Morris beats Rockford 27-20 in OT"
High School
I took a friend of mine, who is an int'l student (Herman) from the Ivory Coast to his first ever "American" football game. It was a 9-man football game between Chokio-Alberta (CA) and Hancock. What made this game special was CA's Homecoming 2005 gamme, which Herman had the chance to see the excitement of the game (cheerleaders, rowdy mascots, and cheering fans)
Pastor Erdahl explaining the basics of football 101
Herman watching with intensity!
Herman with Cory posing together before leaving after 3 quarters, which CA was winning 21-6!
-CAHN 24 vs. Hancock 0 at the Fargodome-Fargo, ND on Friday, November 4th of 2005
Cory, Tony, and Brett mingle after the game
Spartans get past dangerous Hancock in playoffs Brian Williams 11/09/2005 Morris Sun Tribune
There was no comeback magic for the Hancock Owls in their game against the CAHN Spartans Friday in Fargo.
The Owls are a team that can never be considered down for the count, what with an explosive passing attack that lends itself to comebacks. This was shown most vividly in the team’s previous game against Wheaton.
The Owls came back against Wheaton but could not summon the same kind of form against a most determined CAHN Spartan team. The Spartans won the Section 3 nine-man championship on a strength of a 24-0 win over the Owls. It was the Spartans’ ninth win of the season against one loss.
Now the Spartans are focused on playing in state. The state quarter-finals present themselves on Saturday. An afternoon starting time is set for the CAHN vs. Lanesboro game to be played in Lanesboro. Fans have fingers crossed that the pleasant fall weather of late will last through another week.
The kickoff time is 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Lanesboro, home of the Burros.
The Friday game between CAHN and Hancock started slow for both squads. Coach Dave Hofland’s Spartans showed offensive punch early, driving all the way down inside the Owl ten yard line. But an untimely penalty snuffed out that scoring opportunity.
There were no more scoring threats by either team in the first quarter.
The Spartans began their first possession of the second quarter back at their own twelve yard line. From there they went to work, marching in a 14-play, 88-yard drive that ended with Jerod Lennox blasting over the end zone stripe from the one yard line.
Key yardage along the way included a 23-yard pass on third down from quarterback John Haupert to Andy Schuster. Jerod Lennox broke loose for a 14-yard scamper, and Haupert took off on a fourth down scramble that ate up 14 yards.
Halftime arrived with the score 6-0. The Owls were going to strive for a second half resurgence like what they enjoyed at Wheaton the previous Saturday, when they surged from a 0-18 halftime deficit to win.
But there would be no repeat of that on this day.
The Owls managed to reach the red zone early in the second half, but could manage no points from this opportunity. Then the CAHN offense went back to work again, churning out yardage.
The Spartans went to work beginning at the eleven yard line, marching with the help of Shane Fickes picking up 15 yards on the third play, serving to get the Spartans out of a hole.
CAHN then turned to the passing game, as Haupert connected with Schuster on a beautiful 77-yard counter touchdown pass. Now the score is 12-0. Then the CAHN defense had its turn in the spotlight, forcing a punt, and the offense got a fresh opportunity to assert itself.
Assert itself it did, as Brett Lennox took a handoff over right guard and zig-zagged his way to a 73-yard score. The big 81-yard drive included a key third down scamper of twelve yards by the signal-caller, Haupert.
The third quarter ended with CAHN in position to take command, up by an 18-0 score. Although the pass-oriented attack of Hancock can never be assumed to be out of contention. . .
The Spartans created breathing room on the scoreboard with a drive of 52 yards that required twelve plays. The drive ended with Haupert passing to Schuster from the five. Brett Lennox was a ballcarrying workhorse in this CAHN scoring possession. Brett bulled forward for gains of eleven, 13, eleven and eleven yards.
Coach Hofland turned to his JV athletes to play out this game, giving them the memorable opportunity of competing on the Fargodome turf.
The Owls suffered dropped passes under the roof in Fargo. Coach Adam Steege reported that “we had our chances against a tough Spartan defense, but we were unable to capitalize when we needed a first down. When we got in the red zone, we turned the ball over and had one touchdown called back on a penalty.”
Steege saw this game as being dictated by the defense. CAHN was buoyed by two particularly big plays in the third quarter, and these served to “really take the wind out of our sails,” the coach recalled.
Standout Owl receiver Nate Holleman played through the pain of a separated shoulder, experienced in the Wheaton game. Nate saw just limited action on defense at Fargo.
Although the final game was marked by frustration for Hancock, their fans can file away a ton a special memories from the fall just completed. The highlight was probably that Wheaton game, where the Owls surged to escape a 0-18 halftime deficit, playing on the road.
“We had a great year,” Steege said. “Nobody expected us here.”
Coaches Steege, Matt Hone and Cory Bedel join in saying “thanks to all the fans, parents and athletes.”
The final score may look one-sided from Friday, but the Owls were very much in this game into the third quarter.
Coach Hofland said of his CAHN team that “the defense played great all day, as they held an explosive Owl offense to 99 yards passing and 53 yards rushing.”
Brett Lennox was at the fore defensively for his CAHN squad with six solo tackles, one assist, a quarterback sack and an interception. Luke Claassen contributed two solos, three assists, a fumble recovery and a pair of quarterback sacks. Mitch Daly came through with two solos, five assists and a sack of the quarterback.
Coach Hofland had much praise for his team’s offensive line. The line led the ‘O’ unit to “an exceptional day,” Hofland noted, as the Spartans amassed 302 yards on the ground and 173 through the air for a total of 475 yards.
Those blocks in the CAHN line were dealt out by Mitch Daly, Andy Schuster, Luke Claassen, Dan Schmidt, Craig Stenger and Corey Quackenbush.
Brett Lennox was at the fore of the CAHN running attack with his 170 yards on 19 carries of the football, including a TD. Jerod Lennox charged forward for 73 yards on 13 carries of the ball, including a score.
Shane Fickes added his own dimension to the running attack with 45 yards gained on eight carries.
Passing the football, Haupert hooked up with receivers ten times in 21 attempts for 173 yards. Andy Schuster was a key receiver with 122 yards on receptions (six receptions in all) plus a pair of scores. Shane Fickes had two catches good for 35 yards. Brett Lennox hauled in two passes for 16 yards.
“This was a big win for the Spartans, and we’re hoping to build on it when we play the Burros on Saturday,” Hofland said. “We’re looking forward to a big day and hope there will be a huge following to cheer us on.”
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Owls - 0 -0 -0 -0 =
CAHN - 0 - 6 - 12 - 6=4
HANCOCK OWL STATISTICS
PASSING
Quarterback Darren Schaefer completed seven passes in 21 attempts for 134 yards. He was picked off twice.
RECEIVING
Casey Gramm was on the catching end of three passes for 72 yards gaind. Nate Holleman, playing at less than 100 percent physically, hauled in three passes for 26 yards. And Mackenze Grunig caught one pass for 36 yards gained.
RUSHING
Casey Gramm received eight handoffs and churned forward for 45 yards. Tanner Gramm charged forward once for four yards gained, and Corey Ascheman had two carries for three yards.
MISCELLANEOUS
Mackenze Grunig put his toe to the football for one kickoff, for 44 yards. In kick returns it was Casey Gramm with four, with 61 return yards (an average of 15.25). Tanner Gramm had one return which covered 21 yards.
Mackenze Grunig punted the football four times for 144 yards, an average of 36 yards. And in punt returns, Casey Gramm had two with 45 return yards (an average of 22.5 yards).
TEAM STATS
Passing yardage totaled 134 yards. The rushing phase produced 63 yards. Total offensive yards: 197.
ON DEFENSE
Solo As’t Rating
Mack Grunig 4 6 13
Jake Nohl 9 4 13
Casey Gramm 2 9 11
Mitch Grunig 8 2 10
Nick Giese 3 5 8
Nathan Hacker 2 6 8
Ben Hacker 4 3 7
Nick Mooney 2 4 7
Tanner Gramm 3 2 5
Nate Holleman - 3 5
Corey Ascheman - 2 2
Darren Schaefer 1 - 1
Nathan
Dahlman - 1 1
Andrew Evink - 1 1
“Dr. Thunder” winner: Mackenze Grunig.
Sacks: Mackenze Grunig, Nick Mooney.
Deflected passes: Mackenze Grunig, Nate Holleman 2.
Interceptions: Mack Grunig.
Playoffs Report: Saturday, November 12th 2005
The hard-hitting CAHN and Lanesboro teams met in southeastern Minnesota, a location requiring a significant time and travel commitment of the CAHN faithful.
Alas, CAHN fans had relatively few opportunities to cheer in the manner that is their habit. CAHN was dealt a humbling 40-7 loss by the Burros.
Related:
Pheasant Country Sports
Max Preps
First Win at "Big Cat" Stadium
With the threat of lightning and just some rain, the Morris Area High School tigers got the first win at this new stadium on Friday, September 15th of 2006..
Tim and Tony (tutor and student at the Morris Literacy Project-ESL Classes)hide under the cold (after the rain) at Big Cat Stadium
The popular Viking mascot-"Ragnar" (read more about him down below) was at Big Cat Stadium prior to the high school game as a fundraiser. I took my friend Mel to the game on September/October 2006.
"As a junior in high school, Joe started experimenting with marijuana. The summer of his senior year in 1981, Joe turned 19. Since he was of drinking age and still in high school, this was a perfect combination for disaster. As Joe became dependent on alcohol, he began to have numerous encounters with the law. During his weekend alcohol binges, he met the "love of his life", Laurie Baxter. She also had a severe drinking problem, mixed with various drugs. Soon after high school graduation in 1981, Laurie and Joe went their separate ways. In 1986 Joe reunited with Laurie and noticed a drastic change in her lifestyle. She told him how difficult her life had become with drinking and drugs. She realized there were no other choices left for her but to make a total life change committed to God. At first he was disappointed in her change, but the stress of his family, business and a severe drinking problem eventually convinced him to give his life to the Lord also. In 1987 Joe married Laurie."
Coach
Super Bowl coaches Dungy, Smith
known for Christian testimony
Jan 22, 2007
By Art Stricklin
Baptist Press
" MIAMI (BP)--Super Bowl XLI will feature two teams making their first super game appearance in two-plus decades, two Midwestern teams separated by only a couple hundred miles, but most importantly two coaches who are strong believers in Jesus Christ.
Head coaches Tony Dungy of Indianapolis and close friend and fellow Christian Lovie Smith of Chicago gave credit to God following their respective teams' victories in the conference championships Jan. 21.
“The Lord set this up in a way that no one would believe it,” Dungy said following the Colts' win over New England. “The Lord tested us a lot this year, but He set this up to get all the glory.”
The news that two witnesses for their personal faith in Jesus Christ would have a two-week international spotlight for their beliefs thrilled Christian leader William Pugh, executive director of sports ministry Athletes in Action, a branch of Campus Crusade for Christ.
“We are so excited to see the Bears and Colts in the Super Bowl,” Pugh, a close friend of both head coaches, said. “We could not have picked two better coaches to represent all that is good about sports.”
AIA organizes and runs the annual Super Bowl breakfast the day before the game. Last year, Dungy was the keynote speaker just weeks after his son’s tragic death, giving an inspirational message about God’s love in the best and worst of times.
Smith is in his first tenure as a head coach and hasn’t had the public opportunities to share his faith like Dungy, but he has told the Chicago media he believes in Christ, listens to Christian music when driving his car and does not smoke, drink or curse.
“I’m so happy for Lovie who does things the right way, without cursing and shows things can be done differently,” Dungy said of Smith. “We give God all the credit.”
Dungy has served as the cover spokesman for a special Super Bowl witnessing video and tract. Several of his players, including star tight end Dallas Clark, put out a special faith-based DVD titled "Power to Win" about their faith in Christ and their need to honor Him in all that they do."
Professional
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1991 Fleer Emmitt Smith #237, $1.25-$2.50 from beckett $1.75-checkoutmycards.com $2.00-cowboycards.com
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Related Sites:
Sean Porter true story, from chasing the frog
"Did the real Malcolm Moore like his job at Camp Kilpatrick?
The real Malcolm Moore considers his days as a coach at Camp Kilpatrick the best job he's ever had. "I could save somebody else's life," Moore says. "I was thrilled as hell when I made my first professional football team. I played with Steve Young, Ronnie Lott and Marcus Allen, but there's nothing like making a difference in a kid's life." Malcolm Moore is currently a deputy probation officer in Antelope Valley, California. -LA Daily"
Wikipedia
"Born in Hayward, California, Johnson first gained mainstream fame as a standout in the then-World Wrestling Federation. He was originally known in the promotion as Rocky Maivia, in homage to his father, Rocky Johnson, and his maternal grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia. [2] His mother Ata Maivia was a Samoan of royal lineage of Samoa."
Reviews:
Facing the Giants
Review by Josh Hurst | posted 09/29/06 (Christianity Today)
"One must also acknowledge that the film—made on a $100,000 budget by a Baptist church in Albany, Georgia—has its heart in the right place; there are good lessons here about honoring God in everything that we do, the importance of respect and leadership, and the power of prayer. Those are all things viewers could benefit from hearing. Whether they ever will hear them, though, is another matter—when a film is as unintentionally corny as this one, it's anyone's guess as to how many viewers can stomach all the schmaltz for the positive message at the end."
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Reggie White
