Saturday, February 6th 2016
Kevin Pakos - S&E News / ASPN Radio
Special for the AzFL.
Crusaders Invade Cave Creek,
Slay Dragons!
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The mountains of Cave
Creek could not spare
the horde from the
blade of the Crusaders
as they hunted down
and without mercy,
slayed them all. After
the smoke cleared and
the 28-7 victory was
won, they all went
together to Denny's
because that's how
they roll. The Head
Coaches of the the CRU
Byron and his wife
Lynn came prepared.
Last season they made
it the State
Championship game and
finished as
runners-ups. They
started the 2016
campaign with
something to prove.
Scottsdale added some
new coaches, Garrett
Norris as DC and
Bronson Bartlett
OL/DL, the men brought
leadership to a very
young squad and helped
pick up the win in
week one. |
The Cave Creek Dragons made
some off season adjustments as
well. Head Coach and owner
Sean "Dragon Master" Enna
invited Steve "All I do is
Win" Pappas to come run the
offense. He agreed and the
team is already seeing postive
results on the field in
performance and leadership.
Time of possession, an issue
in 2015 saw big improvement.
It appears that the injury bug
still makes it's home in the
dark, misty valleys of Cave
Creek. By the time the fourth
quarter had arrived the
Dragons were on their third
quarterback. The starter, Chad
Harris (Boulder Creek HS,
PVCC) fell and was replaced by
Jorge Guterrez then he
was wacked. Finally in came
Jerome "Rome" Dumas to see if
he could help the team. He did
and an aweseome TD drive was
the result.
Now Steve is a good
coach but he cannot
play a man that is on
the sidelines being
repaired. Even with
the setbacks, he and
his final hope "Rome"
put together a nice
scoring drive late in
the fourth quarter. A
series of runs
followed by a 40
yard pass completion
and they were at the
five yard line of the
Crusaders. The CRU
defense is made up of
some pretty big
fellas. Things did not
look good for the beat
up Dragons offense. In
fact, they looked
Dismal. Which, as it
turns out can be a
good thing. |
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The Dragons played the
percentages and ran the ball
between Big, Bigger and his
Brothers. What could go wrong?
The big running back, a
veteran of the turf wars, James
Dismal took the hand off and
suddenly found himself stuck
between 900 pounds of granite.
Some how, some way, he kept
moving, fighting and popped
into the end zone for six
points. An amazing run that
should not have happened gave
the Dragons some fire. They
added the extra point and
managed to stop the CRU from
using the remaining time for
any more scores. It was happy,
happy, joy, joy in Dragon
Land. Yes, they lost the game,
but they won the battle of the
mind, the heart and the proved
they were a no quit team.
Somewhere in the mist stood,
the Pappas, smiling. Knowing.
It is a good thing to be the
Pappas, and a Dragon.
The Crusaders played a good
game on both sides of the
ball. Their defense was solid,
forced turnovers and set up
scores. On offense for the
CRU, the points came from QB
Xavier Hicks (2 TD) and Skylar
Bowman (2 TD) I don't want to
forget the footwork of one
Parker Brubaker (Ironwood HS,
Kicker, Punter, kick offs, BU
QB, WR, DB) and his four
extra point kicks. It was a
good start for Scottsdale and
gives them a chance to focus.
They have a lot of new players
at new positiions and
returning players at new
positions. The strength of the
team is both it's offensive
and defensive lines. On the
"O" Todd Felte
(Indiana U) is the vet that
sets the pace. He and Andy
Bandin (Agua Fria HS) have been doing this
for a while now in the Arizona
Football League. On the "D"
the pace and tone is set by
the anchor, literally, Sefita
Vaki. He and his band of
brothers stalk, stop then
destroy their prey.
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For the Crusaders the
MVP's were QB Xavier
Hicks (Washington
State) for offense he
threw for two and ran
for two touchdowns. On
the defensive side
Sefita Vaki (Mesa CC) with five
tackles for a loss and
about a dozen "Uh
Oh's" that you could
hear from the stands
when a ball carrier
realize who was in
front of him.
(language changed to
uh oh's to protect the
sensitive eared ones)
|
|
The Dragons had some
players step up on
opening day and we at
ASPN Radio took notice
and hereby grant them
these honors. Like the
CRU the Dragons have
their own larger than
life beast on the
defensive line.
Someone we all have to
look up too. G or
Guillermo Reyes
(Peoria HS) was seen
running, pushing and
even flying in on
tackles, he finished
with 6 tackles and 1.5
sacks. Then the
Wrecker, James Dismal
(Northern MD, PCC) tho
he ran into the valley
of death, he punched
through to give his
squad a new identity,
punishers, they now be
know as..... To see
the video of the TD
run, go to
FB. Also shining
for the Dragons were
Anthony Winston with 8
tackles. Plus WR David
Miller with two
catches for 59 yards. |
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