Football in the Dome

The boys got to play football in the dome we go to for the USD games!  They thought that was very cool, however it turned out to be a very long night.  Brayton's game was very difficult to watch.  The other team was all about winning, so they put their biggest guys on the line and they just plowed over Bray's team.  Not so fun to watch, but Bray thought nothing of it, so I guess that's good.  This was his last game because the one that was scheduled for tonight was cancelled by the other team.  These pictures are very difficult to get a close up, so I'll have to describe where he is and you can play "Where is Brayton?"  He is on the line and is the 2nd from the left (purple, in case you've forgotten) :D  He is wearing the new purple tie-dyed socks I got him (his black socks were never long enough to come to his knees and I figured he'd want that coverage playing on the turf).

Again, he's on the line, 2nd from the left, same socks 

 For whatever reason, Bray was often not where the ball was. . . In this play, I'm not sure what happened to him (he's on the very right of the picture) ~ looks like he's about to do a face-plant into the turf!

 Bray is about 3 players in from the left ~ he's the one being held by the Saders player (it's obvious, you can't miss it) :-)

 Bray, in the huddle (#84)

 Sorry this one is blurry ~ the boys walking to the line after leaving the huddle.

 Bray is the one in the frog position in the middle of the picture.  Conveniently, the "refs" (were from the other team) didn't call anything except for a face mask penalty on us that no one else saw so it couldn't have been very bad (as if they weren't winning).  Their players were holding severely on every play, but not one of their coaches corrected this behavior or said anything to the players about it. . . All is not fair in football

 Chris really wanted a picture of Bray on the field with his helmet off ~ it was not meant to be (he's behind the guy in the middle of the picture with the khaki pants on and light blue shirt) 

 Chris walked over to where the players were sitting to hear the last words from the coaches.  Bray is the one that looks like he's praying

Now you can see him with his helmet off, no hands in front of his face, but blurry.

And now for the 5th grade game.  Both boys played gamboree style (both teams will start on the 40 yd line and work towards the one end zone) and Brayton's opponent had enough 3rd grade players (they are all the Catholic schools in Sioux City ~ which explains the poor sportsmanship~ in our eyes, anyway) to have 4 full teams!  The 4th and 5th grades played at the same time and they played 8 x 15 minute quarters and each 5th grade Panther team would a full 15 minutes and then they would switch out.  By the end of the night, even the fans were trying to watch with glazed over eyes and dull cheering!  We had a great ride home, however!  I truly hope our boys remember times like that when we share lots of laughs and are just a happy family!!!

Taite's location in these pictures will be even more difficult to find than Bray.  He has long black socks on and is on the line wearing #52.

 In this one, you can see the '2' from his number on his jersey and he's the one at the top of the white helmet on #82 from the Saders team.  This was much easier to watch!  Even the 4th graders weren't walked all over like the 3rd graders, so we have hope for next years team (for Bray)!  Taite had some awesome playing! 

 # 55 lines up right next to Taite on the line and he's the one you can see with Taite behind him and to the right ~ you can see the '2' again.

 This one still amazes me that I snapped a picture of it!  The one with the ball is running on the left side (Sader's player) and you can see Taite getting away from his player and he made the tackle on that play!!  Can you see him??  It's so exciting!!  :D

 Taite's main position is on offense, but sometimes he gets in on defense and when that happens, they usually have 2 guys blocking him, which annoys him because he doesn't get to perform much, but it certainly frees up other players to get the tackles!!  We are so proud of him ~ no, not for how he plays football, for his attitude in all of this.  He plays hard all the time and when the others are complaining on the sidelines to the coaches, he is not.  When they other players are messing around on the sidelines, he is not.  When he is done playing, his legs feel wobbly because he's giving it his all. 

 I love this picture of him with his helmet up on his forehead and the coach is talking to some of the players

 Taite, lower left

 Brayton and his friend/fellow player, Joey.  They have almost the same colored hair and skin and if their face shapes were similar the might pass as twins.

 Enjoying Skittles

 Taite was a little down on himself at the end of the game because the other players were being tried in new positions because so many dads are coaching basically so their sons will get to play what they want to.  He didn't let that keep him down for long ~ we cheered him up in the car on the way home.

 Lining up for the handshake at the end of the game

 They kept score for the 5th grade team and had some difficulty getting the score updated for DV after the last touchdown.  I think it was supposed to be something like 40 or something and they worked for a long time to fix the score, but finally gave up :-)