Silas - Football -2021

 ** Guest Blogger **

Eric Hendrickson

Game 1 vs. Wellington

Silas is playing Jr Colts Football again this year and I am helping coach again.  I believe this year will be much more successful than what we experienced last year where we won one game.  We have 32 kids out, which is a lot, and we have a bunch of new talented kids.  Silas is starting at tailback.  We played our first game against Wellington in Wellington.  

Wellington had a big team and they were a pretty athletic team.  That being said, we were the better team.  We only gave up two touchdowns, both being on long plays, one near the end of the first half and the other near the end of the game.  We won the game 20-13.  We started off to a 14-0 lead and were never in a position where the other team could tie the game.  Silas had a few good runs and ran the ball in twice on two point conversions.  He did get to play some safety on defense.  He had the hit of the game on a runner trying to score on a two point conversion.  Silas played well and it was a great start to the season.

Game 2 vs. Ark City

Silas ran in two, two point conversions.  Had a long 30yd run and a physical 8 yard run.  Outside of a few players, the other team was not very talented.  Won 32-0.  Grandma Sharon was there to watch.

Game 3 vs.Winfield

We went into this game knowing Winfield would be good but thought we could compete.  We soon found out that we were overmatched, especially on the offensive and defensive line.

Silas is a pretty good blocker coming out of the backfield.

Since the other team got a lead early, we put our best defensive team in to try and minimize the scoring.  Thus, Silas had extensive time playing linebacker and safety.

Silas did have a fumble recovery and a good tackle behind the line.  He also had a tough run of about 3 yards, which was one of only a few positive plays that we had the entire game.

We lost the game 32-0.  Although the teams performance was disappointing, I was happy with how Silas played.

Game 4 vs. Clearwater

We played Clearwater this weekend.  They are normally a pretty tough win.

With October being breast awareness month, all the kids had pink on their socks.

Silas is a pretty good lead blocker.

One of the coaches got special breast awareness socks for all 32 of our players.

We played a touch game winning 19-6.  Silas had a good tackle while playing defense and had a good run of about 15 yards.  He had an opportunity to run in for a touchdown.  Unfortunately, are lead blocker double team blocked the end which left the outside linebacker free to tackle Silas.  Silas also had an opportunity to score on a two point conversion and was stopped about 6" short.  Clearwater had a running back that looked more like a lineman.  I thought our team defense did a good job of gang tackling him and limiting him to just one long touchdown run.

Game 5 vs. Westside

We played Westside team this morning.  They are a Wichita team that I believe are affiliated with Bishop Carrol.

Silas had some good, touch runs today.  He had a 10 yard gain where he broke through 5 tacklers.  He also had a few 6 yard runs and a 4 yard run.  He had two other running plays called for him but our team got penalties on those run calls.

Celebrating a touchdown.

Talking to the kids at half time.

This team was big and athletic but didn't play as well as they looked.  We won 18-7.  We played well on offense and defense and did a better job of getting playing time for all of our 32 kids.

Game 6 vs. Newton

We played a tough game against Newton.

Silas had three rushes gaining 20 yards.  The long run was 11 yards.

We were warned before the game started that the best player on the other team was a hot head and had even been kicked out of a game.  At the end of the first half, after he threw an interception, he did some unnecessary roughness to our player who intercepted the ball.  He was thrown out of the game.  We were down 7-6 at half but came back and won 18-7.

Game 7 vs. Andover Central

Silas played more defense than offense.  Overall, our team didn't play very well.

Silas is playing cornerback.

Silas did play some running back the second half of the game.  You can see this great block he had here laying the defensive player flat on his back.

Silas did not have any rushes for the game.

We fumbled the ball twice and had an interception.  We also gave the other team two first downs due to offside penalties when it was forth down.  It was not a good game for us.  This was a team we could have and should have beat, but we lost 19-7.

Game 8 vs. Circle

We played Circle at home this year.  Last year we were dominated by Circle.  This year was quite different.

Pancake block.  Silas has really become a good lead blocker.

This game was close, but we ended with a win, scoring a touchdown in the last few seconds to get the win.

Popee and Nanee came to watch this last regular season game win.

End of Season Bowl Games:

Game One Against Circle 11/6/21-

We played in an end of season tournament.  Our first game was a rematch against Circle, the team we just played the week before.

Silas was one of the captains for the game.

He called which direction we were going to kick the ball.

We had come from my Aunt Nene's funeral in Emporia so Uncle Bret was able to see the dominant performance.  We got the big win over Circle 34 - 0.

Game Two Against Rose Hill 11/7/21-

It was the final game of the year.  We will call it the Rose Bowl against the team, Rose Hill.  Rose Hill came in with the same record as us, 7-2.

This was Silas (above) getting announced before the game.

Look at Silas carrying the ball below...and NO ONE blocking for him...just standing watching. So Frustrating.

We had a long two point conversion try do to a penalty.  We ran a reverse to Silas that was ran perfectly.  We tried this call so many times in practice and never could get it right.  It was great to see it work one time.

Silas tasted the sweet nectar of the end zone (I stole this saying from the KC Chiefs play by play guy, Mitch Holthus)

Silas again did an exceptional job at lead blocking.  He put a few guys on their butts.  He also popped the best player on Rose Hills team stopping him in his tracks.  Coach Brandon got really excited about it, about as excited as I have seen him all year.

We played our best football of the year this game.

Since we all couldn't make the first team pictures, we had another one after the game.

All the players got trophies.

All in all, it was a good year.  There were disagreements and disappointments along the way, but there was also improvement and growth.  The team really came together at the end of the year.  Silas plays hard and has a drive to win.  Good job representing the number 83 on that jersey of yours.