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Ready to be graded, 1224 words
Welcome to the first edition of Dizzy’s Week in Review: Solar Bears Edition! As you might have seen, I did weekly recaps in my short time in Kansas City, but now it’s time to start covering Solar Bear news. To start off with, we had the draft where the Solar Bears walked away with an absolutely wonderful class of players. Offensively, the Solar Bears were able to get TE Michael Rood, QB Apollo Lange, RB Ludicolo Bigby, RB Ben Bortboy, TE Dan Wright, WR Nacho Varga, QB Gimmy Jaroppolo, OL Rahm Kota, TE Chase Jensen, and WR Andre Thornton. Defensively, the Solar Bears drafted CB Deon Taylor, LB Jameis Harrison, LB Rock Hardshaft, S Quentin Sinclair, DE Kahlil Sack, LB Thad Castle, S Fatih Terim, LB Guy Nikko, LB Tony Gabagool, and S Lamont McKinnie. We were absolutely amazed by the draft class that we were able to put together and are looking forward to what we can do in the DSFL this season. Now onto the preseason… which was not pretty to say the very least.
Game 1: Palm Beach Solar Bears @ San Antonio Marshals
So, this game got ugly and got ugly fast. Without updates and a depth chart that was less than ideal there wasn’t much that the new kids on the block could do against the established power house from last season. Jaroppolo got the start at QB for the Solar Bears where he went 9/28 for 83 yards and an interception. Conversely, Bigsby for San Antonio went 19/37 for 258 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception. Marshall led the rushing attack for the Marshals with 128 yards on 31 carries with 2 touchdowns. Basically the only respectable performance the Solar Bears on offense came from Bortboy as he ran for 98 yards on 19 carries. Baxtor and Willie combined for over 200 yards of receiving on 11 receptions for San Antonio whereas the leading receiver for Palm Beach was Westbrook with a mere 36 yards. Brown led the Solar Bears on defense with 11 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss. Gott led the Marshals on defense with 7 sacks, a sack, and 1 pass defended. All-in-all, there was just nothing that the Solar Bears could do right as the Marshals cruised to an easy win.
Final Score: San Antonio Marshals – 41 Palm Beach Solar Bears – 0
Game 2: Tijuana Luchadores @ Palm Beach Solar Bears
After the beatdown the Solar Bears got from the San Antonio Marshals, they were just lucky enough to get to play the defending DSFL champions in game 2 of the preseason. What could possibly go wrong with that? Once again, Jaroppolo got the start at QB from the Solar Bears despite his miserable performance against the Marshals, but to everyone’s surprise he managed to not have a terrible outing this go around. He went 16/27 for 133 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Meanwhile, DSFL standout QB Havran for the Luchadores went 32/46 for 360 yards and an interception. Tijuana had a marginal run game led by Anderson who had 46 yards on 10 carries. Bortboy for Palm Beach once again impressed with 110 yards on 12 carries which included a 79 yard touchdown run… it maybe wasn’t 87 yards, but 79 is still pretty dang long. Westbrook once again led in receiving for the Solar Bears with 52 yards on 4 receptions. The Luchadores wide receivers did some serious damage though. Swift had 132 yards, Ramero had 94, and Tacony had 77. Taylor led the Solar Bears on defense with 8 tackles and 1 pass defended. Tijuana was led on defense by Cheese Jr. who had 7 tackles with 2 sacks. The Solar Bears tried their hardest, but again, were just outplayed by a stronger team.
Final Score: Tijuana Luchadores – 19 Palm Beach Solar Bears 9
Game 3: Portland Pythons @ Palm Beach Solar Bears
Alright, so the Solar Bears find themselves at 0-2 in the preseason, but hey, at least the last game was close. Maybe they will be able to keep this one just as close or maybe even closer (HINT: they didn’t). For the 3rd straight game Jaroppolo got the start at QB over highly touted Apollo Lange. Similarly to game 2, Jaroppolo wasn’t good, but he managed to not be abysmal. He went 13/27 for 156 yards. Armstrong got the nod at QB for Portland where he went 17/25 for 185 yards with a touchdown. Smallwood-Chess for Portland had a workhorse day gaining 124 rushing yards on 37 attempts and knocked in a touchdown. Bortboy had his first quiet game for Palm Beach gaining 54 yards on 10 carries. Catchyman was the leading receiver for Portland with 66 yards on 4 catches. Alternatively, Thornton was the leading receiver for Palm Beach with 76 yards on 6 catches. Palm Beach was led defensively by Brown and Gardener who each had 9 tackles with Gardener also getting a sack. Portland was led defensively by Lee and Stokeley who 8 and 7 tackles with 1 and 2 sacks respectively. The Solar Bears again just weren’t able to overcome their own offensive struggles and fall to 0-3 on the preseason.
Final Score: Portland Pythons – 17 Palm Beach Solar Bears – 3
Game 4: Palm Beach Solar Bears @ Kansas City Coyotes
Here we are at the final game of the preseason, will the Solar Bears manage to claim one victory? Not even a hint this time, straight up the answer is no. Here he comes; the man, the myth, the legend… Gimmy Jaroppolo. This time out he was able to go 14/28 for 111 yards. Meanwhile, the supposed QB controversy in Kansas City didn’t seem to be much of one as Jenkins got the start and went 20/33 for 152 yards and 2 touchdowns. Rookie running back Taffy went for 123 yards on 35 carries with a touchdown for the Coyotes. Bortboy for the Solar Bears had another impressive day running for 105 yards on 19 carries. Thornton led the Solar Bears in receiving with 54 yards on 4 receptions while Nova led the Coyotes with 63 yards on 6 receptions. Mackworth Young hauled in both touchdowns from Jenkins. Defensively, Hardshaft penetrated the Coyotes with 8 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 sack. William Emerson led the Coyotes on defense with 9 tackles, 1 sack, and a forced fumble. The offensive woes continued for the Solar Bears as they dropped to 0-4 on the preseason.
Final Score: Kansas City Coyotes – 27 Palm Beach Solar Bears – 3
All I can say is that this was a frustrating preseason for my guys. We totally understand that sometimes shit happens, but without updates, a correct depth chart, or a correct game plan it was pretty much inevitable that the Solar Bears were going to go winless in the preseason. All of this being said, we are still super stoked about the regular season coming up. We have a group of guys that are trying really hard to get their TPE up as quickly as possible to make this squad competitive in the coming season. There are a lot of things to be excited about and we honestly just can’t wait to see how everything plays out! See you all next week for my coverage of week 1 regular season games! GO SOLAR BEARS!