The boys are missing two football practices during our getaway to Florida. Seems like a good time to catch up before we get back and school starts.
Cpher: As always, a year of experience makes a big difference. Like last year, he’s a fixture on the line. Seems to be playing right tackle. I’m sure he’ll end up on the defensive line as well, just by size alone.
Doing really well; he’s definitely impressing the coaches with his running and endurance (the other big guy has no endurance…so, there is quite a difference between the two). I watched one practice where he was just destroying the smaller kids across from him on defense; he pancake-d one kid, blew some other kids five or six yards off of the line of scrimmage.
First game is September 10.
Matthew: Surprisingly, also looks to be a fixture on the offensive line. I think part of this is he’s on the bigger end of the fourth graders, and part of this is that a lot of the skill players are coaches son’s, so, well, that’s how it is going to be. Looks to be lined up at guard, sometimes right next to Christopher, sometimes on the other side. He’s more than holding his own. Wants to run the ball (badly!) but I’ve asked him to wait for a game or two before asking to do that, especially with missing practice time for soccer.
But, duty on the offensive line comes with one perk…..you will play more on defense (it’s the coaches way of ‘thanking’ the kids for playing the OL….which everyone considers a thankless chore). I’ve seen him play defense a few times in practice….he’s lined up at linebacker.
Unlike Kevin, who was never really aggressive in football, and unlike Cpher, who is getting there, but wasn’t all that aggressive last year, Matthew…..he gets it. Ball is hiked, BOOM!, he’s moving towards the ball. I saw two plays I’ll recount here; one play he followed the running back outside and just missed getting the tackle….on the second play he shot through the middle and caught the running back 6 to 8 yards in the backfield with a shoestring tackle. Coaches and teammates mob Matthew after that play….pretty cool!
Soccer conflicts are going to be an issue…..it’s going to be a hectic 6 weeks coming up!
