Imperfect, But Victorious

So far the weather has been ideal for Friday Night Football. The games start with sunny warm temperatures but by the time the second game occurs the temperature has dropped quickly. These low temperatures create a chill and aches and pains for those with arthritis. Dress warm!

The Norsemen began this game by kicking to the Riders and on one of their first plays a Norsemen player – Liam McLaughlin (#91) absolutely devastated the Myers ball carrier and stopped their run momentum.

On a subsequent play they made a pass which was intercepted by Shadvantay Watt (#18). Then Charles Geui (#15) made a strong 10 yard run for a first down but the Riders then  held forcing the Norsemen to kick. The ball was caught by Myers but the ball carrier was tackled in their end zone for 1 point.    

End of First Norsemen – 1 – Riders 0

The second Quarter began on a high note due to the field position that had left the Norsemen deep in the Riders end. A quick 20 yard pass that was bobbled and finally caught by Kingston Pappas  (#5) then a 15 yard run by Charles Guei (#15) earned a touchdown which was converted by Jean Marc Thompson Deschamp (#10).

Later in the quarter after completing a nice long pass down the center Myers seemed to re energize and they put together a successful combination of passes and runs that resulted in a TD. The 2 point convert attempt was not successful.

The much improved play of the Riders was evident by the low score at half time.

End of 2nd Norsemen 8 – Riders 6

Third quarter, Myers kicked to the Norsemen who pushed back deep into Myers end. When Myers was held deep and attempted to kick a bad snap sent the ball into their end zone and the Norsemen made the tackle for a 2 point touchback.

With 2:40 left Myers then had the ball on the Norsemen 20 yard line because of their play and a number of bad penalties by the Norsemen. The Norsemen defense then had to hold Myers for 4 downs otherwise the lead in the game could easily have changed. They did the job and began to look like the defense from the previous games.

Early in the 4th quarter a bad snap by the Norsemen created a turnover on their 30 yard line but their defense continued their dominance of the Myers offense from late in the third quarter. Then late in the fourth the Norsemen started to move the ball but the QB – Gabriel Zammar (#9) was injured and the substitute Kingston Pappas (#5) stepped in as the replacement.

Although he was  shaky at first he gradually began to have success moving the ball on the ground and later brought the team to Myers 8 yard line. After the RB’s  could not get to the end zone he took it himself behind their blocking for a TD on the 4th attempt. This was also converted by JMT Deschamp(#10). 

But the game was not over and Myers returned the kick to around center. On the first down with 44 seconds remaining 3 Norsemen Gavin Lapalme, Liam McLaughlin, and Nathanael Anna  (#54,91,92respectively) made a huge sack for a 10 yard loss. Then next down in the dying seconds a pass was intercepted by JMT Deschamp (#10) to end the game.   

Final Score – Norsemen 17 – Riders 6

This was a hard fought game that clearly demonstrated that all teams are improving and NO team can get complacent at this level. Penalties often can have a negative effect on any team’s performance and must be avoided.

Special thanks from the players to Carly Murray for the game snacks and Tori Borden for the refreshments.

Thanks to all the fans who came out, the announcer Steve Viau, the referees  and especially the players, coaches and staff who provided another entertaining “Friday Night Light “ game.

NEXT GAME – LATE

Sept 26/25 at 8:30pm – Sportsplex –  North Gloucester Giants @ Bel-Air Norsemen