Heading into the first game of the season, I was confident that we were a good team. But without ever seeing our guys in game action or having any clue what to expect from our opponents, I was not really sure how things would play out in our opener. I was hopefully because we had a great week of practice leading up to The Game and my quarterback was coming off of his best practice of the season. It was a clear, chilly day as the Briganti squared off against the Blacks from Torino on Sunday to start the 2010 campaign. Fortunately, we played well enough to come away with a 12-8 victory.
The Blacks are a team from the Northern Division and, at first glance, looked more like the teams I saw in Germany last summer while visiting Darmstadt than our team here in Naples. Initially, I was impressed with the physical size of the blacks and ounces The Game started, I was shocked by it! These guys were huge! If you're talking purely dimensions, the Blacks had an NFL-sized defensive line. The two defensive tackles were both taller than 6-6 and over 300 pounds. Going into Sunday, I was happy with our size up front on offense ... now I'm wondering if we're going to have to use our speed to beat teams.
The game started off slow. Our scouting reports suggested we'd see a 3-4 defense from the Blacks I know that's what we prepared for. Of course, they lined up in a four-front all day so that was an adjustment for us. They packed the middle of the line and slowed down our plan of running the ball right at them to start the game. Fortunately for us, they left themselves very vulnerable on the outside. On the first play of our second possession, we took advantage as our starting running back, Paulo Vettorel, ran the ball around the outside to the left for about a 75-yard touchdown. Our two receivers on the outside, Maui and Valerio, both did a great job of blocking all day and play on this Maui deserves the credit for springing such a long run by destroying the cornerback on that side. We botched the extra point to take a 6-0 lead.
Our defense played extremely well all day. The Blacks did not cross midfield during the first half and the offense had great field position most of the day. We got the ball close a couple more times in the first half, including a drive that stalled on the one-yard line just before halftime. At the break I told our guys that when we get that close we must find a way to get the ball across the end zone.
The defense continued to stuff the Blacks in the third quarter and the offense got close to scoring again. We moved the ball inside the 10-yard line but this time backed us up and penalties killed the drive. The teams punted the ball to each other most of the second half until we got the ball around midfield with under two minutes to go. We ran to the counter twice, which we had not yet, and picked up two first downs. After another play on the ground, Paulo bounced a run to the outside on the right and jogged into the end zone for his second TD. This time, Valerio gets the credit for handling the cornerback on that side.
The Blacks picked up a garbage touchdown against the second defense with just seconds remaining. The two-point conversion made the final 12-8 and my first experience with Italian football ended with a win. I felt the Briganti dominated the game and, if we would have played our best, we're probably three touchdowns better than the Blacks. But leaving those points on the field gives us something to concentrate on fixing this week.
I was impressed by the intensity and passion of the play on Sunday. At times, it was a little too passionate. There were several scuffles and two legitimate fights during the game. In fact, there was a fight with just seconds left that ended the game early. On one hand, I love to see the tough, fearless attitude of our guys ... there's some dudes on this team that you flat-out do not want to mess with. Paulo, for one, was at the center of both fights. After the game I commented that he had two touchdowns and two fights and in his broken English asked me if I'd prefer three touchdowns and zero fights next time. But on the other hand, we do not want to develop the reputation of a team that is out of control or that consists of a bunch of thugs. Sometimes that's a fine line in football. You need your players to walk along that edge of aggression without it spilling over into penalties or brawls on the field.
It was great to have my youngest brother, Dan, and good friend Dustin over here for the first game. There were a lot of funny nuances to Sunday's game that we were able to enjoy. For example, the head referee (and only legitimate referee at the game, I might add) tried to punt the football Blacks to their sidelines after a change of possession instead of throwing it over. Of course, he horribly shanked the punt and one of the Blacks had to run out on the field to grab the ball. Also Dan was a big help during the two practices he was able to attend as he worked with my QBs.
Dan and Dustin are here for one more day and I'll write a post soon about their visit! Until then ...
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento