As Hurricane Sandy made its way up the eastern seaboard, the wind steadily grew over the second day of club nationals. The impact of the wind on nationals-level club teams isn’t as great as you might think – good throwers can adjust and deliver sharp throws even in the worst conditions – but it does change the overall flow of the game and the pattern of breaks as teams fight for upwind breaks. Both Johnny Bravo and Doublewide have great throwers and like to look deep, which the wind can disrupt somewhat – but we also saw a little of Doublewide’s four-man cup on Thursday and knew to expect it in the afternoon.
Game 1, Johnny Bravo (15-11)
Our morning matchup was against Boulder’s Johnny Bravo. The wind was strong enough even early that this was an upwind-downwind game from the start. The first break came for our defense at 2-1, with Mac Taylor finding Zach Travis deep upwind, who, after a quick dump and swing, caught the around break for the goal. We secured the break with the next downwind point off a Martin Cochran deep D. However, Bravo took advantage of a Revolver turn to try and force it upwind, and after making a fortuitous grab after Josh “Iceman” Wiseman tipped up a huck, they had earned back the upwinder themselves. They quickly grabbed the second break to bring the game back on serve. We fought to 7-6, at which point we put in a strong D-line to try and grab the break into half. The effort paid off, with a hard Sam Kanner mark forcing a first-throw turn and a quick strike on the short field for half, 8-6.
We were happy with the half – it was a tight game and we had grabbed a break – but we knew that one wasn’t enough, as an upwind-downwind pair was all JB needed to take charge. Out of half, they threatened to just that as they held on O and then broke upwind to even the score at 8-8. Our offense was unfazed, though, and held the upwind point, allowing our defense to immediately earn the break back. We traded downwind to 11-10, along the way earning TMFs for our hard marks and our sideline (four total – 2 marking, cursing and rushing the field…) before sealing the game with a final break pair at 12-10 on the back of Martin Cochran, who had two great blocks and the goal for the first break and a Bart Watson layout upline for the downwinder. With this late cushion, we were able to close it out 15-11.
Game 2, Doublewide (15-3)
Our final game was against Doublewide, who was also 2-0 in the pool – we had both secured bracket spots but the quarters matchups and, more importantly, the mental edge going into the final 8, were still on the line. This game was streamed live and we had friends, family and fans watching (which is always exciting) – and you can watch it all in replay (first half / second half). We were fired up for this game, and we knew after our previous nationals matchups, DW would be as well. Texas elected to start on offense upwind – perhaps gambling on their offense to hold giving them an early downwind opportunity, or perhaps hoping the wind in the second half would be even worse. The game started in the best way possible for us – DW dropped the pull in the wind and we had the disc on the goal line. However, both teams were sloppy – it took us 3 or 4 turns before we could finally punch in the break. Now, with the single break in our pocket, we came out with an offense-oriented defensive line, and it paid off as Cassidy Rasmussen hit Beau Kittredge with a long hammer and we worked it in for a second break. We worked in the downwinder and then another patient upwind/downwind pair and were suddenly on a 5-0 lead. Doublewide answered back with their first offensive goal on a deep look downwind, but our offense survived a Rasmussen drop in the endzone to hold. Our d-line forced another long point out of the DW offense, who finally scored on a deep shot to Kiran Thomas with two defenders closing. Our offense held again, and our defense got another upwinder off of great handler defense by Taylor Cascino. Half at 8-2 was beyond our expectations, but we knew we had to continue to press in the second half.
We were coming out on offense upwind, but although the wind was still blowing strong, our offense worked it well and held, giving our defense the chance to convert downwind again. On the next upwinder, Russell Wynne got an incredible around layout point block, and we kept rolling – more blocks and scores both ways, as Doublewide started to let it go. They scored one more downwind O, but we never let up on route to a 15-3 win.
Saturday marks the start of elimination games, and with seasons on the line the level of play just continues to rise. We had a great showing today, but we can’t take pleasure in it yet. On to quarters vs. Machine…