One of the greatest games I've seen...in Division III?
Nov 23, 2013 19:57:19 GMT -5
MarchingOn likes this
Post by DPNormanReturns on Nov 23, 2013 19:57:19 GMT -5
Today, my father, some friends, and I went to a thrilling football game that most likely none of you heard anything about. In the first round of the Division III playoffs, Johns Hopkins hosted Wesley, and while Hopkins lost in rather spectacular fashion, it was probably the greatest college game I have ever seen.
Hopkins was ranked eighth and Wesley fifteenth, and it was a horribly unlucky draw for Hopkins to have to play the 8-2 Wesley in the the first round. Hopkins had several opportunities to really step ahead but universally screwed them up, notably fumbling in the second quarter when they had a chance to take the lead and failing to move the ball right before the end of the first half when they could have scored. Wesley took a 17-14 lead at the half and after an unproductive third quarter, the score was the same in the fourth. At the start of the fourth quarter, after some very strange plays including a terrible Hopkins interception, Wesley scored to make it 23-14 but then missed the extra point. Hopkins returned to kick a field goal to draw to within six with ten minutes to play.
Hopkins was able to get the ball back after the score but failed to do anything, although the team did avoid disaster after a fumble when the officials strangely called "dual possession" on the loose ball, giving it back to Hopkins. Hopkins controversially decided to punt on fourth and five from about midfield still down by six with five minutes left, meaning that Wesley would have a chance to seal it. Wesley couldn't and had to punt, resulting in one of the weirdest plays I've ever seen. The Wesley punt was badly shanked such that we initially thought it was partially blocked. It was only a twenty-five yard punt in the air, and then it actually bounced all the way back to the line of scrimmage. The punter had kicked it from his own ten, and the ball had already made it back to the fifteen when a Hopkins player idiotically tried to pick it up and run it in. He was immediately hit and he fumbled, causing the ball to go further back into Wesley territory. Another player nearly corralled it for the possible touchdown and dropped it and a massive scrum on the goal line resulted which could have meant a Hopkins touchdown, a Hopkins first-and-goal, a safety, or Wesley ball at its own one; it ended up being the latter. This happened with three minutes to play, and the whole stadium thought the game was probably over. However, Wesley ended up punting anyway, giving Hopkins the ball with two minutes left.
Hopkins quarterback Robbie Matey launched a forty-yard pass to receiver Dan Wodicka who took it all the way into the red zone with about a minute remaining. From there, the game almost ended again when Matey and running back J.D. Abbott fumbled a handoff, but Matey dove to recover it, nearly stealing it from a Wesley player. Hurrying up, Matey stepped up and avoided the pressure on the next play to fire a bullet to Wodicka for the touchdown with 49.7 seconds left. The extra point was good and Hopkins, unbelievably, had the lead.
All Hopkins had to do was stop Wesley on the next drive, who had no timeouts. Wesley was down by one, but as Division III field goal range is a different thing than the N.F.L. or Division I, this was even harder than it would seem. Wesley's quarterback Jim Callahan fired two twenty-yard passes downfield to start the drive, already putting Wesley at the Hopkins 35 and needing only one more first down to be in field goal range. On the next play, Callahan's pass was low and incomplete, but the crowd grew irate when the officials missed a blatant holding penalty on Wesley. Without a timeout, Callahan went for it all and hit the jackpot. He found Steve Koudossou open at the back of the end zone who made an excellent catch for the winning touchdown with 12 seconds left. Wesley prevailed 29-24.
It was an amazing football game and a great experience, and I hope the N.F.L. games tomorrow will be as fun as this was. Since it is Division III, the game was indeed plagued with errors by both sides, notably on special teams and officiating; however, Wesley deserved to win more and still made the big play when it mattered. Another Division III moment that was not really associated with the game but still hilarious occurred when the referee, in the third quarter, amusingly didn't turn off his microphone after a penalty call. We heard all the things he was saying to the players and other officials right up until the next penalty, where, after careful deliberation with the other officials, he prepared to make the call in the middle of the field by turning the mic off as he started speaking, apparently not realizing or having been told that it had been on the whole time.
Hopkins was ranked eighth and Wesley fifteenth, and it was a horribly unlucky draw for Hopkins to have to play the 8-2 Wesley in the the first round. Hopkins had several opportunities to really step ahead but universally screwed them up, notably fumbling in the second quarter when they had a chance to take the lead and failing to move the ball right before the end of the first half when they could have scored. Wesley took a 17-14 lead at the half and after an unproductive third quarter, the score was the same in the fourth. At the start of the fourth quarter, after some very strange plays including a terrible Hopkins interception, Wesley scored to make it 23-14 but then missed the extra point. Hopkins returned to kick a field goal to draw to within six with ten minutes to play.
Hopkins was able to get the ball back after the score but failed to do anything, although the team did avoid disaster after a fumble when the officials strangely called "dual possession" on the loose ball, giving it back to Hopkins. Hopkins controversially decided to punt on fourth and five from about midfield still down by six with five minutes left, meaning that Wesley would have a chance to seal it. Wesley couldn't and had to punt, resulting in one of the weirdest plays I've ever seen. The Wesley punt was badly shanked such that we initially thought it was partially blocked. It was only a twenty-five yard punt in the air, and then it actually bounced all the way back to the line of scrimmage. The punter had kicked it from his own ten, and the ball had already made it back to the fifteen when a Hopkins player idiotically tried to pick it up and run it in. He was immediately hit and he fumbled, causing the ball to go further back into Wesley territory. Another player nearly corralled it for the possible touchdown and dropped it and a massive scrum on the goal line resulted which could have meant a Hopkins touchdown, a Hopkins first-and-goal, a safety, or Wesley ball at its own one; it ended up being the latter. This happened with three minutes to play, and the whole stadium thought the game was probably over. However, Wesley ended up punting anyway, giving Hopkins the ball with two minutes left.
Hopkins quarterback Robbie Matey launched a forty-yard pass to receiver Dan Wodicka who took it all the way into the red zone with about a minute remaining. From there, the game almost ended again when Matey and running back J.D. Abbott fumbled a handoff, but Matey dove to recover it, nearly stealing it from a Wesley player. Hurrying up, Matey stepped up and avoided the pressure on the next play to fire a bullet to Wodicka for the touchdown with 49.7 seconds left. The extra point was good and Hopkins, unbelievably, had the lead.
All Hopkins had to do was stop Wesley on the next drive, who had no timeouts. Wesley was down by one, but as Division III field goal range is a different thing than the N.F.L. or Division I, this was even harder than it would seem. Wesley's quarterback Jim Callahan fired two twenty-yard passes downfield to start the drive, already putting Wesley at the Hopkins 35 and needing only one more first down to be in field goal range. On the next play, Callahan's pass was low and incomplete, but the crowd grew irate when the officials missed a blatant holding penalty on Wesley. Without a timeout, Callahan went for it all and hit the jackpot. He found Steve Koudossou open at the back of the end zone who made an excellent catch for the winning touchdown with 12 seconds left. Wesley prevailed 29-24.
It was an amazing football game and a great experience, and I hope the N.F.L. games tomorrow will be as fun as this was. Since it is Division III, the game was indeed plagued with errors by both sides, notably on special teams and officiating; however, Wesley deserved to win more and still made the big play when it mattered. Another Division III moment that was not really associated with the game but still hilarious occurred when the referee, in the third quarter, amusingly didn't turn off his microphone after a penalty call. We heard all the things he was saying to the players and other officials right up until the next penalty, where, after careful deliberation with the other officials, he prepared to make the call in the middle of the field by turning the mic off as he started speaking, apparently not realizing or having been told that it had been on the whole time.