Where I talk about the mess that is Ohio State & Urban Meyer, including how this university seems to value football wins over morality.
Category: Football
Why It’s Hard for Bears Fans to be Optimistic About Quarterbacks [Fangirlish]
Where I talk about why Chicago Bears fans and media are too quick to judge second-year quarterback Mitch Trubisky — and why they shouldn’t project past QB failures on him.
Hard Knocks: Cleveland Browns Vlogs [Fangirlish]
My vlogs covering Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cleveland Browns from August 2018.
Thursday Night Lights: Santaluces defeats Lake Worth 31-28
Well, this is new. Due to the Jewish holiday, it was Friday Night Football — Thursday edition. I was in Lantana for Lake Worth vs. Santaluces, which proved to be a nail-biter in the final seconds. And I found myself praying for the home team to hold on so that I wouldn’t have to face overtime with deadline looming. Lucky for me, it worked out.
My story from the Palm Beach Post:
LANTANA — Santaluces is known for its defense, but it was the offense that helped the Chiefs hold off Lake Worth for a 31-28 victory Thursday night.
Santaluces, which led the entire first half, trailed with less than six minutes remaining after two fourth-quarter rushing touchdowns by Lake Worth running back Donte Fils-Aime gave the Trojans a 28-24 lead.
Running back Bernard Eberhardt’s 22-yard touchdown run with 3:39 remaining gave Santaluces the lead back and the defense was able to hold on to improve to 2-0 on the season.
“It shouldn’t have been that close,” Santaluces coach Daryl Drinkwater said. “But we came back in the fourth quarter. I was real happy to see the offense come back and score, and then the defense held them twice. I told them, ‘A win’s a win. Great job finding a way to win.’ ”
Lake Worth (1-2) took an early lead when Jeremy Kennedy returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown.
Santaluces answered immediately with a touchdown drive of their own, capped by a 4-yard touchdown run by quarterback Luis Martinez. The Chiefs scored again on an 8-yard run by running back Bernard Eberhardt. In the second quarter, Martinez hit receiver Darrell Langham deep for a 57-yard touchdown to put the Chiefs up 21-7.
Fils-Aime gave the Trojans their first offensive points with a 3-yard touchdown run in the final minute of the first half. Santaluces added a late field goal in the final seconds to lead 24-14 at halftime.
Cause I’ve been waiting all day for Sunday night
Not really. I’d actually been waiting seven months for Sunday afternoon for the Chicago Bears season opener — a 24-21 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
But I’d actually been really excited for Carrie Underwood to take over Sunday Night Football singing duties for Faith Hill. And Carrie killed it…in a good way… unlike the New York Giants who killed any chance they had to beat the Dallas Cowboys after six turnovers (and they only lost by 5. Well, they were playing the Cowboys).
Friday Night Lights: Royal Palm Beach defeats Pahokee 21-14
After missing Week 1 of the high school football season due to my covering Florida Atlantic’s defeat to the Miami Hurricanes last Friday, I found myself in Royal Palm Beach for a matchup between the Wildcats of Royal Palm and the Pahokee Blue Devils.
There were so many penalties between the two squads that I made up a drinking game in my head in the second quarter. It’s safe to say that if I had been playing said drinking game I’d have been wasted before halftime. Anyway…
My story from the Palm Beach Post:
ROYAL PALM BEACH — In a matchup plagued by penalties, Royal Palm Beach outlasted Pahokee for a 21-14 victory Friday night. There were well over 300 penalty yards between the two teams.
“They’re happening after big plays and it’s momentum killers,” Wildcats coach Willie Bueno said about the penalties. “We’ve got to figure that out and get better at it.”
After a sloppy and scoreless first quarter, the Blue Devils struck first early into the second quarter. A fumble by Wildcats running back Demarcus Holloway on the Royal Palm Beach 8-yard line led to a 5-yard touchdown run by quarterback Rashaun Croney to give the Blue Devils a 7-0 lead.
The Wildcats swung the momentum in their favor in the final minute of the first half.
That’s when Royal Palm Beach (2-0) took advantage of a Pahokee pass interference penalty. Freshman quarterback Toddy Centeio then connected with receiver D’vonte Burden for a 22-yard touchdown with 43 seconds remaining in the half to tie the game at 7-7.
Royal Palm Beach added to its lead in the third quarter with a pair of touchdowns. It took agamble deep in Blue Devils territory in the third quarter on a drive marred with penalties on both sides. On 4th-and-17, Jimmy Moreland hit Alon Sims for a 25-yard touchdown to give the Wildcats a 14-7 edge.
“We just needed something to get momentum going,” Bueno said.
After a poor punt by the Blue Devils, the Wildcats took advantage of great field position. Charles Perry ran for a 13-yard touchdown to put them up by two scores with less than two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Pahokee (1-1) scored late in the fourth quarter when Croney connected with Malik Thompson for a 6-yard touchdown. Pahokee had a chance to tie the game in the final minutes, but its rally fell short.
“It’s a good win,” Bueno said. “We’ve just got to keep getting better.”
Alyssa Barbieri 