First real game of the season for the Norfolk Seawolves. We have only three returning players; myself, Adanda Anyan, and Xmus Flaxon Waxon-Jaxon. Our team is pretty decimated by the draft. We do have some promising new bloods coming into the team. Mr. Forty-Two slots in as our new starting running back and Dogwood Maple as a safety to play alongside Xmus. We also get some receiving threat from wide receiver Raphael Delacour and tight end Tom Teboat. We also got another defensive end in Dimitrius Rogers and a pair of cornerbacks, Shaq Shack and Royce Anderson. Lastly we have our new starting quarterback, Emi Rune. I’m not entirely sure what to make of the lot of them. I know we aren’t as strong as we were last year without Ramza and Rogers but I have hope for the season.
We start off the year traveling to Portland. We fly out Thursday afternoon at 1pm and land at 5pm. After an 8 hour flight. We all head to our hotel and unpack. Coach gives us the run down on the weekend. We’ve got a walkthrough of the stadium tomorrow at 10am along with equipment checks. In the afternoon starting at 1 we’ve got practice. Saturday we have walkthroughs and practice for most of the day. Sunday is gameday. But for now it's Friday night. We’re all fairly tired after the flight but still head out for dinner, all 15 of us. We decide on the Portland City Grill. I don’t think they were quite read for 15 football players and a few team staff to waltz into their fancy restaurant but here we are. It had good reviews and we wanted steak. I got myself a 10 oz american wagyu top sirloin because why not, it’s week 1 of a new season, treat yo self. And because little did the rookies know but they are paying for mine, Anyans, and Waxon-Jaxon’s food. The food was delicious and well worth it. The rookies begrudgingly covered my bill and we covered the tip. Sucks to be a rookie right? Afterwards we head back to the hotel and hit the hay. Morning comes around and we get hotel breakfast before we head to the facility. It was a good time watching the rookies as they get to see the stadium for the first time. We got to walk around and see the cafeteria, locker rooms, the field, etc. For lunch we headed back to the cafeteria and they were serving club sandwiches. Pretty solid. Friday for practice was pretty standard stuff. Started with positional group drills. The defensive line really focused on exploding off the line and staying low to maintain leverage. Towards the end of practice we worked with the offensive line on engagement drills to win the trenches. It looked like the rest of the offense was practicing plays while the defense tried to stop them. Standard stuff. That night we went to a restaurant called Lechon. Once again to using google reviews and yelp to decide where to go. The rookies made sure we were paying for our own meals this time. I guess they pick up things quickly. I had myself a bacon wrapped duck breast. Was very good. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel and played ping pong in the lobby. Had to put some rookies in their place. The usual.
Gameday. Sunday morning we met at the facility for breakfast, pancakes and eggs. We then went to a large meeting room to talk over last minute gameplan things. Make sure everyone is on the same page and such. We then broke off into positional groups to talk and look at some film from the past few days. Our film looked pretty good. Problem with week 1 is there isn’t any film on the opposing team yet that you can try and counter. Especially in the DSFL where the turnover in players is so high it's hard to know how the rookies play. Our game was at 1pm, the first game of the day. At noon we started getting ready, making sure our equipment was checked and good to go.
We got the opening kickoff where Jaxon-Waxon returned it 30 yards to the 39 yard line. The first quarter was pretty rough as we couldn’t get anything going on offense due to penalties and poor efficiency in the passing game. Portland got a touchdown on a 15 play drive where they essentially just ran it down our throats 11 of the 15 plays. The end of the first quarter and we were down 7 - 0. At the start of the second quarter once again we gave up a touchdown drive as Portland ran us into the ground. We get the ball and start moving down the field before throwing an interception. Portland gets the ball in great field position but the defense holds them to a field goal attempt from 45 yards away. The kick was no-good. Later in the quarter we get into position for a long field goal attempt, 50 yards. Missed. Game is getting pretty ugly. We head into the locker room down 14 - 0. Third quarter opens up and they get the ball. They start a long 5 minute drive down to our 7 yard line where we finally hold and force a 24 yard field goal. Missed once again. Now we’re pinned in terrible field position and go 3 and out. We manage to make them punt and were once again in bad field position and are forced to punt it back. It’s rough as we can’t get out from behind our 20 yard line. This time Portland drives down the field to attempt a 46 yard field goal, which they once again miss. We finally get the ball at the 29 yard line but go 3 and out once again after a monster sack from Portland. Portland drives down the field a little bit but are ultimately forced to punt. We start mounting a decent drive that starts from our 2 yard line. However then on a rush from Forty-Two Torres forced a fumble that Portland recovers. Portland then drive down the field for another touchdown with 3 minutes left in the game. We spend the rest of the game trying to get something going on offense to no avail. Final score of 21-0.
It was a rough game for the offense and the 3rd down efficiency really tells the tale of the game, 2/13 for us, 7/19 for them. Neither team really played well and the kicking was very rough. We fly back to Norfolk that night after a locker room meeting about the game. All we can do is keep our head up for next week at home against the Kansas City Coyotes.
We start off the year traveling to Portland. We fly out Thursday afternoon at 1pm and land at 5pm. After an 8 hour flight. We all head to our hotel and unpack. Coach gives us the run down on the weekend. We’ve got a walkthrough of the stadium tomorrow at 10am along with equipment checks. In the afternoon starting at 1 we’ve got practice. Saturday we have walkthroughs and practice for most of the day. Sunday is gameday. But for now it's Friday night. We’re all fairly tired after the flight but still head out for dinner, all 15 of us. We decide on the Portland City Grill. I don’t think they were quite read for 15 football players and a few team staff to waltz into their fancy restaurant but here we are. It had good reviews and we wanted steak. I got myself a 10 oz american wagyu top sirloin because why not, it’s week 1 of a new season, treat yo self. And because little did the rookies know but they are paying for mine, Anyans, and Waxon-Jaxon’s food. The food was delicious and well worth it. The rookies begrudgingly covered my bill and we covered the tip. Sucks to be a rookie right? Afterwards we head back to the hotel and hit the hay. Morning comes around and we get hotel breakfast before we head to the facility. It was a good time watching the rookies as they get to see the stadium for the first time. We got to walk around and see the cafeteria, locker rooms, the field, etc. For lunch we headed back to the cafeteria and they were serving club sandwiches. Pretty solid. Friday for practice was pretty standard stuff. Started with positional group drills. The defensive line really focused on exploding off the line and staying low to maintain leverage. Towards the end of practice we worked with the offensive line on engagement drills to win the trenches. It looked like the rest of the offense was practicing plays while the defense tried to stop them. Standard stuff. That night we went to a restaurant called Lechon. Once again to using google reviews and yelp to decide where to go. The rookies made sure we were paying for our own meals this time. I guess they pick up things quickly. I had myself a bacon wrapped duck breast. Was very good. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel and played ping pong in the lobby. Had to put some rookies in their place. The usual.
Gameday. Sunday morning we met at the facility for breakfast, pancakes and eggs. We then went to a large meeting room to talk over last minute gameplan things. Make sure everyone is on the same page and such. We then broke off into positional groups to talk and look at some film from the past few days. Our film looked pretty good. Problem with week 1 is there isn’t any film on the opposing team yet that you can try and counter. Especially in the DSFL where the turnover in players is so high it's hard to know how the rookies play. Our game was at 1pm, the first game of the day. At noon we started getting ready, making sure our equipment was checked and good to go.
We got the opening kickoff where Jaxon-Waxon returned it 30 yards to the 39 yard line. The first quarter was pretty rough as we couldn’t get anything going on offense due to penalties and poor efficiency in the passing game. Portland got a touchdown on a 15 play drive where they essentially just ran it down our throats 11 of the 15 plays. The end of the first quarter and we were down 7 - 0. At the start of the second quarter once again we gave up a touchdown drive as Portland ran us into the ground. We get the ball and start moving down the field before throwing an interception. Portland gets the ball in great field position but the defense holds them to a field goal attempt from 45 yards away. The kick was no-good. Later in the quarter we get into position for a long field goal attempt, 50 yards. Missed. Game is getting pretty ugly. We head into the locker room down 14 - 0. Third quarter opens up and they get the ball. They start a long 5 minute drive down to our 7 yard line where we finally hold and force a 24 yard field goal. Missed once again. Now we’re pinned in terrible field position and go 3 and out. We manage to make them punt and were once again in bad field position and are forced to punt it back. It’s rough as we can’t get out from behind our 20 yard line. This time Portland drives down the field to attempt a 46 yard field goal, which they once again miss. We finally get the ball at the 29 yard line but go 3 and out once again after a monster sack from Portland. Portland drives down the field a little bit but are ultimately forced to punt. We start mounting a decent drive that starts from our 2 yard line. However then on a rush from Forty-Two Torres forced a fumble that Portland recovers. Portland then drive down the field for another touchdown with 3 minutes left in the game. We spend the rest of the game trying to get something going on offense to no avail. Final score of 21-0.
It was a rough game for the offense and the 3rd down efficiency really tells the tale of the game, 2/13 for us, 7/19 for them. Neither team really played well and the kicking was very rough. We fly back to Norfolk that night after a locker room meeting about the game. All we can do is keep our head up for next week at home against the Kansas City Coyotes.