Team poll (please comment below with answers):

Which of the following Doctor Von Rhino players will be at finals?

a) Woodle

b) Justin

c) Becca

d) The Walkos

11/02/13 - Ouch, that's hot!

Game versus: "This Is Why I’m Hot"

In Anacostia

They went up 1-0 on a big huck on the first throw. We hucked to Geoff and then to Zach on consecutive points, each of whom needed just a little extra throw to get it in. 2-1 us. They tied it up, and then we turned out game on. At that point we realized they were playing only a deep game, and if we shut that down, they would have no game. We shut it down, and they were flustered.  Matt got a great run-through D on one of the first real in-cuts they made during the game and we started to put up points, forcing turns by taking away easy throws on defense and forcing them to turn over easy throws. They threw it away on the goal line more than once, and we worked it back, with Will and Micah putting up several hucks to the end zone apiece. The halftime score was 8-3, and we were riding high.

We came out after half on offense, but they threw a zone. We weren’t expecting it, and didn’t really have the sort of handlers we normally would want for a zone; we turned it over close to our line, and they scored. The next point was no better, as Geoff dropped it when switching grips, and they quickly capitalized. While we had a nice couple points spurred by the return of Justin, the prodigal son with his prodigious speed, we were unable to get the kind of sustained pressure we had had in the first half. There were highlights, I remember specifically a fantastic Janey catch of a high blade-y over-the-top throw, but many of us (Geoff!) quickly had run out of steam by the end, and were not able to keep up with their more well rested village of a team. We ended up losing 15-13, though we know that it is a game that will spur us to play harder against them next time. 

10/26/13 Double Horner

Game 1: Furry Tractor

Our first game was against Furry Tractor and it started out a bit windy and chilly as the fall season was starting to roll around. This team was pretty big with a few amusing costumes and quite a few UMD kiddos that played club around the area (DBJ, Scandal, Backhanded, etc.). The game started off neck and neck as we traded points. Then we started to throw a zone to take advantage of the early breeze and chilly hands. Their team was able to break through the cup a few times but had a few unforced drops that we took advantage of and marched down the field. We started low on girls, but we had our honorable Foxy return to us this beautiful day! In her first point in, Foxy made an awesome layout catch near the endzone for a very low and lacking in spin from Winston. It was a welcome back testing throw and she passed! I think half for this game was at 8-7 them.

The second half we refocused and really tried to take it to them so that we could build a stronger lead. We easily worked through their defenses, but we threw into a few of their baited/poached Ds a little too close to our endzone to let them pull ahead further. Some awesome throws by Micah and great deep cuts by Brad, where he always boxed out his taller defender, kept us in the game though. There was another moment of glory where Kate threw this great deep throw and Winston made a bid to try and catch it but was sadly unsuccessful L. Eventually we came to tie it at 13-13 and with 2 long points to end it the game ended at 15-13 with a Rhino loss.

LBP with the flick to Tits in the endzone near the end of the game.

There was no time to let the sorrow get to us as we had to pack up quickly and head over to the next game at Brooke Lee. We quickly packed up and headed out with most of us choosing the Georgia street. This normal 5-minute journey took 10-15 because of SILLY OLGA’S CLEANING SERVICE VAN! They had their hazard lights stopped at the intersection in the right lane thus causing a huge jam. Check out these ladies that had no consideration for the rest of the world with Saturday plans.

Game 2: Old Flames.

A game that was setup for a casual fun and with no bearing on record.

We came ready for this game on the dusty field of Brooke Lee (the one that if you ran hard enough you kicked up dust storms and the one that breads large ants in the spring/summer time). This team looked fresh and had been there a while at least since they were running some drills as we strolled up after the traffic. They looked athletic and ready to run.

The game started off rough for both sides with a long first point to start. This point had a lot of turns back and forth with us eventually taking first blood. The rest of the half continued in a trading fashion as their team made some big layout bids early on some in cuts that caused us to rush our throws, get a bit antsy in our decisions, and even a few drops. It was not the casual, chill Rhino. The wind had died down so was not as much as a factor, but we turned it on for our defense to really put the pressure on. This included a moment of great defense by all seven players on the field and the guy with the disc just throwing it to Winston as he played tight dump D (face guarding his man who was yelling “just throw it. THROW it. He’s not even looking.” and then conveniently turning at the right moment to catch the disc as it was thrown right to him.) In the end, we took half 8-7 with a great catch by Josh in the end zone where he caught it with his left foot in bounds and his right foot in the air just before it hit out of bounds.

Due to the delay in getting the game started, we decided to put on the soft cap after the first point of half. We scored this point making it 9-7 game to 11. Despite having old flames, they were a tenacious bunch getting some critical layout Ds and capitalizing on our drops. Eventually, the game was at 10-9 with us receiving. 

Our line for the final point

They threw a zone and we worked it down on them between Winston, Leslie, Walko as handlers, Micah and LBP as poppers, and Foxy and Josh as wings. The offense moved it smoothly up the field with swings and good crashes. Then near the end zone, with the feeling of anxiety, Winston tried to sneak it in to Josh for the final score. The disc hit his hands and then WHACK! Josh was taken out by their defender playing deep who trucked him. An unclear foul and definite injury call, some may consider it even to be a dangerous play… the other team kept the disc. Little did they know that when Rhinos smell the blood of their comrades, it fuels their energy to victory. Micah was on the mark and counting up the stall with no good option downfield due to vivacious D. The guy had to look for the dump. As he looked, Micah stopped the first break around with his quick shuffles and then BOOM he handblocked the dump throw. 

The aftermath of the amazing point block.

Winston rushed to pick up the disc with Walko yelling from behind to stay chilly (always good advice)… however, with a poor mark and a downtrodden defender that setup on the wrong side, a quick cut and smooth backhand ended the game.  We had doused the fire.

Micah getting ready to bust a move

Winston after he has made the throw to Micah with everyone eagerly watching for the outcome.

Of course, they were a fun team so we did cheer them with the following: “Good game Old Flames! Here’s some beer to fuel the fire!” (since they had another game coming up against Karma Kazi)