THE NOSE

Any way you slice it, it was a Black and Gold day.  It started out like hockey without sticks and ended as a muddy abyss.  In between, Old Gaelic thought and executed well enough to win their opener at Harrisburg, 28-7.

Both teams wiped out on the icy pitch and turned the ball over repeatedly at the outset.  The Griffins' left wing Brian Clements took a beautiful pin-and-pass from Scott Lindsey and celebrated his return to the lineup with the first try of 2007.  The trusty toe of Skipper Dan Roth made it a 7-0 lead.

Harrisburg, playing for the first time at William Penn H.S. in the north end of the city, answered when Jeff Cook (no relation to the narrator) finished off a rolling maul with a power plunge.  The kick was good and the score remained knotted after the first period.

Old Gaelic broke loose in the second frame.  Brian Ogle skirted right wing and grubbed a kick out of bounds off a Harrisburg player.  He then immediately threw a strike to the hustling Matt Hart on the throw-in for the nifty dot-down.  Ogle added a pair of tries to complete the triumph -- a long kick that he covered in goal and a weakside foray started by Curtis Brillhart and finished on a feed from Chris Botto.  Roth added three more conversions.

The format called for three 30-minute periods.  We count the last period as the "B" game.  The only Griffin who might complain is John Kroesen, who covered a kick for the score of the match in a 5-0 sweep.  (two wins are better than one!).

 

T:  Brian Clements, Matt Hart, Brian Ogle 2.

A:  Scott Lindsey, Ogle, Chris Botto.  C:  Dan Roth 4.

 

1 - Troy, Speese

2 - Dimitrovich, Graham, Morris

3 - Smith, Lentz

4 - Pomraning

5 - Hart, Tunis

6 - Ivey, Repka

7 - Speese, Holloway

8 - Brillhart

9 - Botto

10 - Roth, Botto

11 - Clements, Beard

12 - Cooley, Kroesen

13 - Kroesen, Reisman
14 - Ogle

15 - Lindsey, Stefanon