School may still be out, and the pool may still be open, but that doesn’t stop the Thunder 8’s from hitting the gridiron. The Thunder Maroon 8s and the Thunder White 8s conducted a spirited scrimmage last Thursday night at St. Paul’s field.

Coach Blair of the Maroon team played it close to vest, keeping to the conservative style that is a Thunder trademark.

The first touchdown of the year, a ramble of 28 yards was scored by Anthony “Sweetness” Preziosi. The play was a 33 Power, known in the huddle as “the ole bread and butter.” Richie “Pancake” Matone made a textbook block to spring the Preziosi TD. “Sweetness” also had a 30-yard TD called back on a penalty.

After a key lead block from Joey “Bang-Bang” Burdi, Mike “Steam Train” Keating rolled over defenders and broke several tackles, turning a 3-yard gain into a 57-yard rumble for a touch down.

The Captains, rookies Alex “Flash” Umland and Mike “Smashmouth” Holland, both played a tough defensive tackle position.

Desmond “Blood and Guts” O’Malley and Matt “Fearless” Greene weren’t 100% healthy but toughed it out and played well.

The vaunted “Wall of Steel” played smashmouth football all day: Jack “No Pain” Kennelly, Brian “Big Country” Goulard, Ryan “The Intimidator” Guarino, JP “The Hammer” Moran, Kyle “Seek and Destroy” Harder and Center Peter “Precision” Luglio. Luglio, who after a week of extra practice with his Mom filling in as QB, connected on every snap with his battery mate QB Ryan “Big Game” Blair.

Defensively, Liam “Monster” McGuiness, Kevin “Crusher” Mullin, Drew “Mad Dog” Magdich, Chris “Bonecrusher” Connolly, Anthony “Speak softly and carry a big stick” Kritis, all made the kind of plays that make us really look forward to this upcoming season.

After a congratulatory handshake between both squads, pizza and cake was enjoyed by the players and their families.

Go Thunder!