Anyone who comes by to catch a glimpse of the future of football in this area, will see a few changes this year. RJFL added a second tackle league and will not be broken down as Sr Tackle (5th/6th) Jr Tackle (3rd/4th), Flag (1st/2nd) and Ultimate (PS/K). It should be exciting for the 3rd and 4th graders who, for the past 10 years, have had to play flag; and we think it will better prepare these young kids for the Middle School programs.
The season did kick off on Thursday night with a full slate of games in the Sr. Tackle division. In the first game, it was a rematch of the last game of 2007, the championship game. Both the Packers and Cowboys were preseason favorites coming into this season, but neither team really appeared to have shown up for this contest. The Packers took an early lead when Chance Mathes broke one outside for a 30 yd touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, however, Tristen White got to the corner and took it to the house to tie the score. In the 3rd quarter, the Cowboys drove it 10 yards, after a Packer turnover, and Jordan Mills pushed in from the 1 yd. line. Other than two perfect passes from Brandon Fullerton to Steve Roenig and Chris Quayle for 31 and 25 yds repectively; there was little offense from either team.
In the night cap "The Ax Man" Mike Axthelm started his coaching debut with a very impressive win over a very good Bears team. Using a lot of counter action to nuetralize the Bears size advantage, the Niners skilled people of Mike Axthelm, Keeton Zancanella, and Zach and Jake Anderson had their way with the Bears building a 24-6 lead after the Bears opened the scoring. The Bears scored late to close the score to 24-12.