NW Sunday write-ups pt2 - backdoord semis and game-to-go
Pgoss 13 May 2005 20:09:05
Sunday
Men’s Backdoor Semis and Backdoor Finals
Backdoor Semis – Davis/UW, Cal/UO
I missed the beginning of the round to eat lunch. Rain has lightened a bit for the moment, but will continue off and on the rest of the afternoon. When I come back, UO scores to tie it 4-4 in their game. Cal answers quickly to go up 5-4. In the other, Davis went up two breaks early, but UW has worked back to 5-5. UO #4 with a great layout grab at goal line, but UO can’t get it in. Cal throws up the line, dropped by receiver. UO throw up the line too hard - #4 lays out but can’t catch up. Thrower and receiver exchange frustrated words, and as before, it appears UO may not be happy to be here. Teams trade quick turns – 2 more for Cal and 1 for UO leaves UO with possession and they persevere and get it in to tie 5-5. On the other field, UW hammer to endzone a little high but seems catchable - but the wet disc slides right through the receivers grip. Davis huck to #4 who makes a nice grab in traffic – comes down in the EZ for a 6-5 Davis lead. UO comes down in junk, but Cal is patient and works it up and in. 6-5. The rain at this point is coming down harder and I can’t take decent notes for a while as the notepad is soaked as soon as I pull it out. Cal breaks to 7-5, and UO fights through the next long O point to hang close at 6-7, but Cal comes down easily and takes half 8-6. Next door, UW takes their half 8-7. Davis receives to open the 2nd half, gets it down and calls time-out on the goal line to set up the tying score: 8-8. UW wastes no time and hits a quick strike to take the lead back. 9-8. Cal pulls to open their 2nd half and comes down in a zone. UO Dusty bad dump gives Cal the disc. Quick huck to Boo and Cal grabs another break: 9-6. UW gets a D in good position to go up a break but can’t capitalize – Davis takes advantage and ties it up again at 9-9. [More rain – sketchy notes]. Cal is up 11-7 with possession 5 yards out of the EZ – disc in the hands of a more inexperienced thrower and UO battles hard to keep all the looks cut off. He puts up a floater across the end zone at stall 9, which 74 goes up to pull down over the shorter defenders around him. Cal is pumped and feeling it at this point: 12-7. The UO keeps sending out their top line, but most of their fight seems gone. Cal is the team with the confidence and sense of purpose here. Cal pulls away big, UW pulls away small, but enough to close out Davis for the second time in the weekend. Setting up UW and Cal again for the game to go.
Backdoor finals - Game to go: Rain has lightened up a touch. Several spectators speculate that Cal is just happy to be here and will fold if UW asserts their will early. That theory could be tested as UW receives and scores quickly. Cal first possession starts with a bad throw that floats past the receiver up the line. The UW defender could hustle to make an easy play on the disc but assumes it’s coming down for a turn regardless – unfortunate for UW as the throw hangs in bounds long enough up the line for a 2nd Cal receiver hustling all the way over from the center of the field to clean it up. Cal keeps the disc and works it up for the answer 1-1. One chance to dominate early goes by the boards. UW huck – foul on reception sends it back. UW works it up and Cal#2 gets the D. UW’s #27 answers with a layout D on a Cal in cut. UW quickly picks it up and goes over the top to 99: 2-1. Next possession, bad dump by Cal #26. UW picks it up and executes a smooth dump & swing to an easy up the line throw for the score: 3-1. Checking in at the front-door finals, Stanford is up a break 4-2. UBC bad throw gets D’ed by Stanford#3. 10 to 4 for another break and a 5-2 lead. But qualifying is more interesting than seeding, so it’s back to the backdoor game where a long point is ongoing. I hear several fans note that Cal seems to be “starting to drag.” But Cal’s #21 hustles for a nice layout D in the EZ. On Cal’s possession, Boo doesn’t go to on his in cut and 99 lays out past him for the D. But Cal isn’t getting down on each other on the field - Boo admits his bad and the team plays on together, though UW finally ends the point: 4-1. The O teams trade points to 5-2, UW scoring on a huck from 4 to 27. Cal huck to EZ – 26 makes a great grab in traffic and hangs on despite getting clobbered. He stays down a while still holding the disc for a few minutes in the endzone, and then is helped off to the side where he lays for a bit longer without the disc. It’s now 5-3. Cal point-block creates the turn. Cal 23 long throw backhand down the right sideline to 7, prompting PW to break down the guy’s throwing mechanics, and PW also says the kid had a story written about him. It’s a good book – I’ve read it, but really, it’s mostly about his brother. Ogden Nash wrote a poem about my grandfather, but yeah, it’s not as good as that book and you’ve probably never heard of the poem. And I didn’t throw that score, 23 did. Cal pulls within one: 5-4. On the next possession, UW 20 throws it to Boo, who, not seeing any open looks from his cutters, draws a reset on the count. That guy is wily. Cal comes up the line and in to tie it at 5s. UW 20 long throw to 99 on the run: UW back in front 6-5. O teams trade to 7-6. UW tries to mix things up and comes down in a zone. Nice 18 yard scoober zipped by 21 over the cup opens things up. Cal works it back around to 21 who throws a little pass up the line to Boo for the score: 7-7. UW wastes little time on O – quick throw up the line to 20 who hucks to 3 for the score and the half. But Cal is still rallying – there talk is audible as they huddle for the half, and they’re staying positive and while they ARE happy to be here, they’re working hard and seem happy to be battling as well. 2nd half. Cal turns it over with a quick throw to defender. UW takes advantage of the short field – 4 to 99: 9-7. Next point, Cal with the high count punt. Boo D gets it back for Cal at half-field. Cal bad swing – nice layout bid by #2 but it goes off his outstretched fingers. UW huck to EZ too far. Teams trade turns. UW with the disc again – huck to 27 caught 10 yards out of EZ maybe 10 yards off of sideline – time out called. Set play, from stack UW #4 burns defender to live side, poach can’t get that far wide to help in time – easy throw and score. 10-7. Boo gives an instructional session on fast count violations, gets his count reset here as he seems to often with regularity. All markers are reminded that it’s not just dropping the count, but you have to restart with the word stalling, otherwise it’s a violation and count drops to zero. Wiggins (Ben, helping to coach Stanford) is suitably impressed - wouldn’t be surprising to see UW bone up on their rules the next few weeks to gain similar advantages. Play continues – UW with a bad defensive matchup on Boo in space in the middle of a spread O – you can see the gleam in his eye from the sideline. Cal recognizes it too- they wait for him to make a few jukes and he goes wide open down the dead side to pull to 8-10. UW 99 huck to 27 8 yards short of EZ – foul on continuation. Play restarts and UW with the quick score: 11-8. Cal 74 huck to 21 on goal line, swing to Boo who makes a questionable throw over the top, but UW can’t get there and 74 cleans it up for the score. 11-9. Cal in zone again. 20 nice forehand down the side to 44. 12-9 just like that. Cal hucks to UW #4 who makes the easy catch. UW works it around and hucks to #4 going the other way – he lays out going full speed but it’s off his hands. Cal huck to endzone too low/hard. UW 42 nice high backhand floater to 4 going out: 13-9. Cal time-out before pull. 74 with an early I/O throw to a UW defender. UW comes down quick – 44 has possession 2 yards out. Throw back to the middle after a stop in play – score. 14-9. Game point in the game to go for UW. Cal 10 with an early huck to 26 for the score: 14-10. Now UW’s O team has a chance to clinch it. Cal still in the zone. UW works it up to about the O brick, and the cup goes to a jumpy trap mark. UW’s zone handlers and poppers don’t come in to help out the thrower, and he gets it off after the T in ten. Cal disc. They work it back - long throw to 23 open in EZ: 14-11. UW still loose, but will they still be loose if the game goes to 14-14? Wiggins is working the sidelines trying to keep the players up – just fixing little things and trying to avert panic. I hear him talking to them and them to him more than I hear them talking to each other. Cal down in zone again, gets it on quickly. UW had been completing aggressive forehands through the cup early in the game and they try it again here without getting the cup moving side to side first. Bad idea. Defender in middle of cup short reach for an easy D. The Cal possession is slowed by lots of calls – finally Boo to 23 who gets his second straight score – 14-12. UW calls timeout. Cal down in zone again, UW turns it over. Cal turns it right back over, and rather impressively transitions from their offensive set into a zone on the fly. While it’s not in my notes, UW must have turned it over somewhere again, because Cal has it again. More fast count calls by Cal. Cal huck too high – and doesn’t hang long enough coming east as the wind is mostly behind the throw. UW hucks – complete but comes back on a travel. UW finds its groove and works it back up for the score, and a ticket to beautiful Corvallis. Congratulations to UBC, UW, and that other team!
When you come to Corvallis, remember that you can get burritos at La Conga 24 hours a day. Oh, and Stanford wins the championship, as a side note. If anyone besides Halverson reads all this, I’ll be impressed.
Chris Van Holmes 13 May 2005 23:47:14 [ permanent link ]
Pgoss> Now UW's O team has a chance to clinch it. Cal Pgoss> still in the zone. UW works it up to about the O brick, and Pgoss> the cup goes to a jumpy trap mark. UW's zone handlers and Pgoss> poppers don't come in to help out the thrower, and he gets Pgoss> it off after the T in ten.
No - it wasn't contested. The thrower might have thought about it for a second, or might have just been upset with himself or his dump, but he gave it up without fuss.
I was maybe 12 yards from the disc and behind the marker since he swung around to cut off the dump and then the sideline - not quite close enough to hear the actual count. It seemed like it was a quick possession/ten count (but that's not unusual) and I was surprised there was a stall on the play. I would have guessed it to be closer to 7, maybe 8.
The thrower was maybe 4 yards off the line and had a swing to the far side (but would have had to go over the top in the wind to hit him - too far for most folks' scoober, hammer could have been dicey) and a dump on the near side who had moved up along the sideline into a pretty tight space, but the mark swung all the way around to cut it off. Based on the call, it must have been right around 7 or 8 that the dump cut back up behind the thrower, but it looked like the thrower had been set on forehand and had to switch grips and then go high backhand to get it off over a very good jumpy mark that they hadn't been using earlier in the game - probably took the O by surprise.
Either the dump didn't hear the count either, or else I'd say he made his choice to go back up the field a little too late and would have been better off just crashing straight in.
The throw was completed, by the way, so the call and non-contest (depending on what the observer would have ruled) did affect possession.
Anyway, that's probably more than you wanted to know ;)
Chris Van Holmes wrote:
Pgoss> Now UW's O team has a chance to clinch it. Cal> Pgoss> still in the zone. UW works it up to about the O brick, and> Pgoss> the cup goes to a jumpy trap mark. UW's zone handlers and> Pgoss> poppers don't come in to help out the thrower, and he gets> Pgoss> it off after the T in ten. >
