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September 20, Des Moines, G.O.A.T.S. Cedar Rapids - LeMars, IA
A mild, sunny and very, very, very windy day in the middle of corn-nowhere
on a short pitch proved well for Metropolis as they defeated Des Moines
57-0. Des Moines played hard, at least in emotion and their readiness
to scrap it up, but it wasn't enough to stop a blowout.
1st Half
Metropolis received the kickoff, facing the strong wind, and a 25 meter
return taken by Andy Renner set the tone immediately. The ball was recycled
and brought out to Jeremy Prahm who carried the ball to within 10 meters
of Des Moines' try line. A few phases of hard rucking by the forwards,
followed by a spin to the backs culminated with Ryan McDowell touching
the ball down for the first of 11 tries scored on the day. A period of
hard forward play by both sides followed for a solid 15 minutes. The 'draught'
was broken with McDowell taking a kick from well inside Metropolis territory
and advancing it inside Des Moines' 22, with good presentation and support
facilitating a swing out the other way to John Hromadka who swiftly made
the score Metropolis 10 - 0 Des Moines.
Again wasting no time off the kickoff, Metropolis quickly pushed inside
Des Moines territory. Metropolis then took a blow with the loss of Prop
Brad Padget with a head injury (he's OK now folks!), which put Kyle Kemmet
in the spotlight, who had already played two matches with the 2nd XV.
Kyle stepped in and played soundly, as the forward pack didn't miss a
beat. Hard rucking an pressure again prevailed, with Chris Babiash touching
down his first try of three for the day.
The next score was the try of the match. Some very good, hard running,
particularly by Mike Kreblin (watch out folks, looks like Krebs has got
his game full on again), set up a Metropolis line-out at the Des Moines
22. The forwards perfectly executed a British Lions call which evolved
into a 20 meter stampede to the try line, with Babiash touching the ball
down. The Best defense of the day proved to be possession, as Metropolis
had about 90% of it. Des Moines made one hard effort late in the first
half and drove to Metropolis' 5 meter line. Defense prevailed, however,
with Metropolis kicking and running to make short steps out of the hole
and driving again into Des Moines' territory, culminating in a Metropolis
penalty on Des Moines' 5 meter line. The kick was unfortunate as it went
out of Metropolis' try zone, setting up a Metropolis scrum on Des Moines'
5 meter line. Clean ball of the dominated scrum followed by stellar forward
support was followed with Kreblin scoring up the middle, breaking several
Des Moines' tackles. Metropolis 25 - 0 Des Moines at the half.
2nd Half
Metropolis now gets the wind advantage. Des Moines came out charged with
hard play for the first ten minutes of the second half. An unfortunate
Des Moines penalty broke the silence, however. Metropolis set pods at
30+ meters out, with the first ball going to Renner. He didn't need to
pass. Thirty meters later, it was Metropolis 30 - 0 Des Moines. The match
was turning into a blowout. Two more Des Moines penalties after the kickoff
with a precision kick from Kreblin set Metropolis up on Des Moines' 5
meter line. Clean ball off of the line-out and stellar support set up
a try under the posts by Nathan Waters. Finally, with the wind, the kick
was reasonably attainable, and made. Metropolis 37-0 Des Moines.
More hard play highlighted by hard takes and several phases produced another
try, this time Matt Langsdale cashing in on the day. Chris Togni inserts
for Kyle Kemmet after working out some fatigue left from the first two
matches, and brought the rest of the game home. Again the pack didn't
miss a beat. Shortly thereafter, Renner appeared to pop-kick to himself.
Jack shouts expletive. The match continues .. ... and another hard take
by Krebs produced his second try.
The next two Des Moines kickoffs proved deadly upon return, as Metropolis
used short passes and linking amongst the forwards to race down the pitch.
A few seconds put Metropolis again in scoring position on Des Moines'
5 meter line. A Metropolis penalty appeared to stop the drive, but McDowell
made short work of the Des Moines kick and passed to John Hromadka, who
in turn passed to Dave Heebner to advance the ball right back to Des Moines'
5 meter line where a high tackle perhaps prevented a try. On the penalty,
Babiash drilled it in for his third try, a hat trick on the day for him.
A 60 meter rumble off the kickoff by Tom Hromadka put Metropolis back
in scoring position, with support by Hohenstein and Langsdale facilitating
the ball being spun out wide to Waters and ultimately Heebner for the
score.
FINAL
Metropolis 57 - 0 Des Moines.
Tries: Babiash (3), Kreblin (2), J. Hromadka, McDowell, Renner, Watters,
Langsdale, Heebner.
For Metropolis: Andy Renner, Chris Babiash, Bradley Padget,
Tom Hromadka, Jason Hohenstein, Matt Langsdale, Isaac Johnson, Michael
Kreblin, Matt Shanahan, Jeremy Prahm, John Hromadka, Nate Watters, Dave
Heebner, Slim Shady , Ryan McDowell (Substitution: Kyle Kemmet (for Padget);
Chris Togni (for Kemmet)).
Man of the Match: The level of effort across the board
made selecting a Man of the Match impossible; however, a few deserving
mentions include: Kreblin's consistent takes and excellent presentation;
Babiash's three tries and solid play throughout; Renner's hard, hard running;
McDowell's steadying fielding of long kicks in the wind and solid play
overall; SUPPORT EVERYWHERE, ALLWAYS; and the pack's overall dominance
- the exclamation point being the 20 meter push from the 22 on a drive
off of a line-out all deserve mention.
Post match: The Phat Pheasant in Windom (Gorilla's purported
rearing grounds) proved a short host for several carloads of Metropolis
players. A few burgers, sandwiches and a double-Jager/pickled egg shot
were on the bill, Watters being on the unlucky end of a 'fair' round of
darts. Mullet patrol counted over 10, including the karaoke guy. [webmaster's
note: The mullet count seems a little low, but Saturday night
is race night at the nearby Jackson County Speedway .
. .]
Quotes of the day:
"You - can't - stop - me!" ... Chris Babiash (at the bottom
of the pile after scoring his third try)
"Kyle defined the word 'stud' today!" ...... Ted Harley, commenting
on Kyle's 130 minutes of rugby in a few hours time
In response to being asked if he was going to drink tonight, Big Pete's
answer .... "Maybe"
"Golden - Show - er" ......... Eric Curtin (taunting Darby's
brother on the pitch)
"We pushed 'em wherever we wanted" .... unknown forward
"Did you see the size of that muther&%!##!? .....one scared small-town
kid as Jack got his lotto fix
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