Jamboree 1-1-1
ABSOLUTE HURRICANE FORCE WINDS AND RAIN… Ollie and our other two players who played tackle last year were leaders today… it’s great to see the kids looking to them for help and support!
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Week 1: Branford 25 – Guilford 0
First game of the season for #11 Oliver ran hard, literally through defenders and had a little Barry Sanders shiftiness out there!
He was also all over the field on defense… Like Coach says, “Football is supposed to be fun,” and while a win always makes ir more fun it was nice to see him and his G4 teammates out there this weekend working hard! It was also great to see 11 back out there doing what he loves!
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Week 2: Monroe 14 – Guilford 6
It’s one thing to watch your son play football, but to be able to coach this kid really is not just an honor, but it’s so exciting. He’s absolutely all over the place all game long. He made multiple tackles in the backfield, multiple tackles across the field and ran HARD (left a few Monroe players with broken ankles too!)
After the game a parent/coach came up to Stephanie and I and asked if #11 belonged to us. (lol)… “that kid is all over the place. He’s so exciting to watch.” and the coach mentioned they’re, “not looking forward to playing him for the next four years!!!” I know a win is coming soon for this team and I’m really honored to be part of it.
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Week 3: BYE
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Week 4: Guilford 19 – Bristol 36
Ollie and the boys turned in another hard fought performance in hurricane force rains the past weekend. We had a lead… played tough and MOUNTED a pretty furious comeback in the second half… but we’re still searching for our first win!
Oliver was named Team Captain and went on to play lights out on defense (although that hook and ladder fooled us all!) and… HE SCORED HIS FIRST TOUCHDOWN!!!!
He took this loss really hard.
Sometimes I forget he’s just nine years old. He takes the weight of the games and the team on his shoulders. I’m proud of this kid. He’s a leader and a competitor in every sense of the word.
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Week 5: Guilford 0 – Shelton 26
We literally could not get anything going offensively. The weather was horrific and our boys just didn’t play a great game across the board.
However, the highlight of the game came offensively facing a daunting 4th and 12 in miserable, pouring rain, the offense dialed up a clutch 26 Flood Pass play to keep the drive alive.
While the defense dropped back to to protect against a first-down throw, Oliver slipped seamlessly out of the backfield undetected. Leaking out past the line of scrimmage, he found the soft spot in the coverage.
Despite the slick ball, soaked turf, and terrible visibility from the heavy rain, our QB delivered the pass to Oliver just slightly out of his reach. Oliver stretched out and reeled in the 15-yard reception and immediately tucked the ball into his chest to secure it, diving to the turf as defenders closed in moving the chains and picking up a massive first down.
That was our first completed pass of the season!!!
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Week 6: Guilford 0 – Newtown 25
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Week 7: Guilford 0 – Milford 31
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Week 8: North Haven 0 -Guilford 18
We got that first win!!! What a dominant performance from the entire team on all phases of the game!
11 WAS AN ABSOLUTE DEFENSIVE MONSTER TODAY. 😤 He made plays all over the field. None bigger than when NH was driving for a score down 6. Oliver came through with two UNBELIEVABLE back-to-back stops on defense!
He was also an absolute menace out of the slot. Between the razor-sharp cuts and dropping Barry Sanders-style spin moves on defenders, he was completely unstoppable on offense. To top it all off, he pulled down a massive catch for a huge gain to keep a big drive alive.
The pure passion and energy after those plays set the tone for the entire team. You can’t teach that kind of heart!
Over all he played his most complete game this week. Pure highlight-reel energy all game long! None of that happens without the line blocking as well as they did!!! MOST IMPORTANTLY- WE GOT THE WIN!!!
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Week 9: Southington 24 – Guilford 0
We went into the game knowing what we had to do to shut down a very beatable Southington team. We just were FLAT out FLAT across the board. Not much more to be said.
With his new visor sparkling in the morning sunlight, #11 had a couple of big tackles and almost sprung a big one down the left side. With four defenders in the backfield when he took the jet sweet handoff, he smoked two guys to with a quick outside inside cut to get the corner, but with Southington playing their defenders wide all day he lowered his shoulder and ran over two more defenders to at least pick up a big gain before being “brought down.”
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Playoffs Round 1:
Guilford 14 – Cheshire 6
Back where it all started… we traveled an hour to the home of the Rams where our season began with the Jamboree.
It wasn’t a dominant win. Maybe it should have been, but it was a win all coaches dream about. Playing tough in all phases of the game. Coming up with HUGE plays when we need them and not letting a big play by the opponent get us down (something that plagued us this year).
One of my favorite things about Oliver is he doesn’t need to be carrying the ball to make a big play. I’d venture to say he’s one of the best blockers on our team… and none bigger than his bulldozer of a block on QB1s first touchdown of the season. Putting him in motion the entire other teams coaching staff screamed out, number 11 watch outside don’t let him outside of you it does make a dad feel good knowing other people are scared of what your son can do with the ball in his hands). But it was a perfectly called play by our head coach: Put 11 in motion as a lead blocker. After demolishing their cornerback and forcing their safety to take a bad angle, the QB did the rest. To go up with the first score of the game in a playoff on the road is huge!
He had multiple stops on defense and a big run to pick up a first down early in the first half. But it was his devastating down field block that would spring the game winning touchdown that would define our day and lead us to the championship game this weekend.
What an absolutely phenomenal played game across the board Ollie showed you don’t have to be the one making every play all game to be a leader and that’s what I love about this kid!
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Championship:
Guilford 8 – Monroe 6
The season literally went down to the last play of the game… and whose shoulders does it all fall on when the season is on the line? With the championship on the line and everyone knowing that it’s going to their best player, Oliver lined up one on one against their best player at WR (who had multiple touchdown catches the week prior). To this point Ollie had held him without a catch all game.
With 0.2 seconds on the clock on a fourth down and forever, Ollie locked their WR down, forcing the quarterback to have to hold on to the ball and roll out to buy more time for his WR to get open, only it never happened. By that time our DL forced a fumble which we recovered to end the game and bring the trophy back where it belongs!!!
CLAW COUNT: