Photo By Cpl. Khoa Pelczar | Takelsho J. Gordon, running back for the Beast, reaches for a first down during the...... read more read more
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The lines have faded, jerseys covered in dirt, sweat runs down each player's face; the rematch was as intense as the first face off.
The 1st Marine Logistics Group football team, "the Beast," battled the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego "Titans" team once again at the 11 Area football field, Oct. 20.
The Beast was looking forward to repeating the previous outcome, defeating the Titans in their last game 19-14. However, the Titans came prepared to leave their mark. Both teams came in strong, showing no weakness to their opponents. Each second felt like hours on the field, leaving the scoreboard 0-0 as they began the second quarter.
On fourth and long, with the aggressive defense of the Titans staring them down, Beast chose to go for a field goal. As the ball snapped back to the place-kicker, the Titans' defense had already broken through the line of scrimmage in an attempt to block the kick. Despite the efforts of the Titans' defense, Brian Gunther, kicker for the Beast, successfully scored a field goal, putting three points on the score board for the Beast with only two minutes left in the first half.
Taking the lead in first half, Beast felt more confident going into the final half of the game. However, the outcome didn't turn out as they planned. Yellow flags flew up and down the field as penalties were called against the Beast in most of the plays.
The Titans scored a touchdown in the third quarter and maintained the score through to the final quarter of the game. The Beast struggled to keep their heads in the game as they were frustrated with the referees' decision making.
As they were down on fourth down and the end zone was in sight, Beast attempted to even the score with another field goal.
"The kick was good," said the announcer.
However, there was a yellow flag on the field. The Beast's audience nervously awaited the referees' decision on the call, wondering if their team had evened out the score.
As a moment of silence went by, the crowd cheered as a referee signaled the call was against the Titans' defense. Beast had a choice of accepting the penalty for a first down or declining it to keep the field goal.
"Penalty on the Titans, first down Beast," said the announcer as the Beast made their final decision on the call.
With a couple yards keeping the Beast from regaining their lead, they decided to go for it. For the Beast, these might have been the longest yards they've ever fought for. The Titans defense was tight, not giving any room for the Beast to breathe; the Titans claimed their territory and refused to move away.
With about ten minutes left in the game, Cameron Boone, quarterback for the Beast, squeezed through the line of scrimmage and reached out for as far as his arm could go to secure the ball inside the end zone, adding six more points on the scoreboard for the Beast.
Even though they had regained their lead, the Beast couldn't help but worry as penalties were called on them from left to right.
The Titans had one goal in their mind, to win the game, and they gave it everything they had. Ernest Diaz, the Titans' running back, gave hope for his teammates as he ran the ball to the Beast's 30-yard line and gained a first down for the Titans. After a long battle, Titans scored another touchdown. Then the defense intercepted the ball and ran out the time left on the official clock, ending the game with the score 12-9. Titans secured their victory in this match-up against the Beast.
"It's not over yet," said Carnell Martin, 41, from Los Angeles, a supporter of the Beast all season. "This game should make us stronger. We can't let the official decision get to our head. We lost, so what? Games like these happen all the time. That just means we know what we [have to] do next time."
The Beast was overwhelmed by this loss, but they're determined to practice harder to prepare for their next game against Weapons and Field Training Battalion's football team at 5 p.m., Oct. 27.
| Date Taken: | 10.20.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 10.27.2009 16:32 |
| Story ID: | 40757 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 349 |
| Downloads: | 247 |
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