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Coast hosts final home game of year on Friday
F ootball and travel were key components last weekend for this reporter, and though the two games I witnessed—Coast Union vs. Tranquillity and the Green Bay Packers vs. MinnesotaVikings— were hundreds of miles apart and juxtaposed high school sports with the NFL — the two contests shared striking similarities.
It all began Halloween eve, Friday night, Oct. 30, with a two-and-a-half hour trek over to Tranquillity High School in the Central Valley. Coast Union got off to a rough start and fell behind the Titans 14-0. It was not a good first half for the Broncos and the third quarter did not go well either.
But with a couple breaks and some tough running by Zach Brooke, Jake Machado, Omar Catalan and Sam Rivera—who had returned from an injury absence of several weeks — the Broncos kept their chances alive by fighting, clawing and scratching for every inch of turf.
Early in the fourth quarter, boom, the Broncos reached pay dirt, to make the score 20-6 (the point-after was missed, which has been a fairly consistent inconsistency). Instead of a deep kickoff, the Broncos went for an onside kick, recovered the kick, and with the momentum from that break, marched down and scored again.
With a successful 2-point conversion, the score was now 20-14, and hopes were raised among the Coast Union faithful that the Broncos could maintain the energy level and pull off a valley victory.
However, Tranquillity doused Coast Union’s enthusiasm by scoring again; the final tally was Tranquillity 27, Coast Union 14. The Bronco players boarded the big yellow school bus and headed back to the coast with a 1-8 record and some bruises, to boot.
After arriving back in Cambria and grabbing a couple hours’ sleep, this football reporter drove into San Luis Obispo, boarded a 6:20 a.m. flight for Phoenix, made the connection to Minneapolis-St. Paul and was picked up by a childhood Wisconsin friend who owns a 160-acre spread east of the Mississippi River.
On Sunday, Nov. 1, we drove to Green Bay to witness the much-hyped clash between the Packers and Vikings. The quarterback for Minnesota, future Hall-of-Famer Brett Favre, had starred as a Packer icon for 16 seasons.
Would the Packers make him pay for retiring, then un-retiring, retiring and un-retiring once more —and signing with Green Bay’s hated nemesis the Vikings? Packer fans showered a rousing chorus of belligerent “boooooos” on Favre, but the grizzled 40-year-old veteran responded by leading his new team to a 17-3 lead at halftime.
Like Coast Union two nights earlier, Green Bay was pushed around in the opening half. Not much went right. But wait — just as it had happened in Tranquillity for Coast Union, it happened in Green Bay. The Packers suddenly got hot in the third quarter, putting up 17 points and drawing to within 24-20.
However, in a scenario strikingly similar to Tranquillity’s response to Coast Union’s late resurgence, the Viking re-claimed the thrust and beat the Packers 38-26.
Still, for a football fan, whether it is traveling to and from the San Joaquin Valley or to and from Green Bay, Wis., whether it is a win or a loss, the dynamics of the game itself rise above the score. The energy of the players on the field, the cheers, the groans, the trajectory of long passes and punts, those elements — in theory — transcend the final numbers on the scoreboard. Theory notwithstanding, in reality, getting beat always cuts like a knife. Ask the Broncos and Packers.
Meantime, on Friday, Nov. 6, the Broncos close out the season with a game against Firebaugh at Coast Union. The 7 p.m. game is broadcast on KTEA-FM (103.5) and streams on www-ktea-fm.com.
— John FitzRandolph, special to The Cambrian
VOLLEYBALL
CU played hard in losing efforts; set sights on ‘10
Closing out a challenging season in which her Lady Broncos volleyball team posted a 2-12 record, Coast Union Coach Pam Kenyon nevertheless praised her young players for their intensity all season.
“So many hours are spent together,” Kenyon explained, “and as a coach you just hope they will listen and that they do play hard.” She is pleased that she did indeed receive that kind of commitment from her team.
“We played some very large schools with very strong volleyball programs and I am proud of how our teams played against them,” Kenyon continued.
As to next fall, the coach sees young talent stepping up. “Their abilities develop so quickly,” she said, “but more than anything I am looking for coachability and a desire to improve.” Moreover, players must have “a love of the game.”
Kenyon said she loves witnessing talented players coming into their own as mature and disciplined players. That talent must be accompanied by a willingness to follow directions, Kenyon continued, and when those elements come together, it could lead to a successful campaign in 2010.
— John FitzRandolph, special to The Cambrian
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