MLS Football vs. St. Charles

JV Football

On Thursday, September 8, the Michigan Lutheran Seminary JV Cardinals played host to the 

Bulldogs of St. Charles.  The result was a 34-34 tie.

Depending upon your demeanor, you can say that each team had lots of chances to win the game, or both teams did what they could to fumble the game away.  Each team coughed up quite a few turnovers throughout the game.  So, while each offense was able to amass some yardage, drives often ended with the ball on the ground or intercepted.  

For MLS, perhaps the most heart-rending of those turnovers came deep in St. Charles territory with under a minute to play.  The score was knotted at 34-34.  MLS had gotten the ball after a turnover (surprise!) and drove down toward the goal line as the clock ticked down.  MLS has a kicker with a really good leg, so a field goal attempt was certainly in the picture.  There were about 30 seconds on the clock, so why not take a chance for the end zone and take even more time on the clock?  MLS threw a slant route which had been open pretty much all game.  This time, the Bulldogs were ready and it was intercepted around the 5 yard line.  A few plays later, it was over.  Tied.  34-34.  And since JV has no overtime, each team went to their locker rooms counting missed opportunities.  

I guess the Freshmen can say, "We'll get 'em next year," but no one really got anyone this year.

Varsity Football

On Friday, September 9, the MLS Cardinals traveled to St. Charles.  Seasoned fans know St. Charles as the place with the line of trees just behind the stands which demand large doses of Deep Woods Off, Cutter, Repel, or any other kind of insect repellent--and perhaps a combination of them all.  All things considered, the mosquitoes were not bad on Friday, though I did spray myself pretty well.  Other bugs, however, got torched by the lights and dropped on us throughout the game. 

Oh, the game.  St. Charles' offense was humming early in the game.  Two long runs (one for TD and the other to set up a short TD) and another drive meant the Bulldogs jumped out to a 17-0 lead.  The Bulldogs' kicker kicks straight on, not soccer style.  Old school.  Sweet!  

Fortunately for MLS, it was not panic time.

The entire Bulldog defense was targeted on Casey Williams, trying to contain him from doing any damage.  For the first half, they were pretty successful, stringing out runs and gang tackling him.  It looked like another one of those plays as Casey took the pitch and started the run to the left.  But Casey pulled up and threw down field to a wide open Jordan Hayes for the first Cardinals score.

After half time adjustments, the Cardinals defense got pretty stingy.  The Bulldogs did not see the end zone for the rest of the night.  But Casey Williams did--three times.  Two runs and a punt return meant 20 more points for the Cardinals, giving MLS the 27-17 win.

One side note.  Since teams do not like kicking off deep to Casey, two pooch kicks were fielded by Caleb who ran them back for about ten yards each.  I think Caleb had more kick return yards than Casey did.  Woo-hoo!

Since we forgot the camera, there are no photos from this game.

But you can read an M-Live article here.