The GC Thunder Maroon 7 year old boys took their 2-0 record on the road to square off against the Franklin Square Warriors last Sunday morning. The Thunder offense took the field first and they continued their impressive performance. Luke "catch me if you can" McDaid began the action with a dashing outside run for 15 yards and a first down. Mark "boom" Prevete then powered his way for another first down run. Timmy "see ya" Schmelzinger then electrified the Thunder faithful with a 30 yard run which saw him stiff arm two Warrior defenders on his way to the first down inside the 10 yard line. Timmy then capped off the drive with a 5 yard dash for the touchdown. Mark Prevete ran in the extra point giving with a powerful off tackle run giving the Thunder a 7-0 lead.

The "Maroon Monster Defense" then took the field breathing fire. John "sack machine" Wotczak set the tone on the first play by crushing the Franklin Square running back in the backfield for a 10 yard loss. The defense then stopped the Warriors on the next two plays causing them to "punt" the ball back to the Thunder. Strong tackles were made by linebackers John "flash" Simmons and Brian "big game" Haeffner. The defensive lineman Dominick "hammer" Avitabile, Christopher "crash" Halka, Ian "crush" Guarino, Bendan "bash" Schick, Andrew "pancake" Wood, Michael "bulldog" Goulard, Matthew "monster mash" Muscarella Peter "no mercy" Larsen and Bobby "just bring it" McLoughlin did a terrific job stuffing the Franklin Square running attack all day as well as making numerous big tackles. The defense did not allow the Warriors to gain a first down the entire first half.

Late in the first half the Thunder offense scored their second touchdown. Max "slash" Webster began the drive with an impressive 13 yard first down run. The drive was capped off by a 20 yard run around the left side by Luke McDaid giving the Thunder a 13-0 lead.

The "Wall of Steel" offensive line deserves great credit for the success of the team's offense. They are all making their blocks and opening holes for the boys to run through. The members of the Wall of Steel are Thomas "rock solid" Casciano, Patrick "smash" Plunkett, Christian "crunch" Coppola, Ian Guarino, Brendan Schick, Christopher Halka and John Wotczak. The anchor of the line, center Thomas Casciano, has been perfect in the difficult job of snapping the ball to the quarterback.

The second half began with the Thunder boys on defense. Once again they were able to stop the Warriors without gaining a first down. Max Webster highlighted the defense with a great pursuit tackle of the Frankin Square runner on 4th down giving the ball back to the offense. The terrific day for the Thunder boys was capped off when Timmy Schmelzinger broke around the left side for a 50 yard touchdown run. The final score was Thunder 19- Warriors 0.

Congratulations to all the Thunder boys for another great game, you are making your families very proud. Thanks again to the fantastic coaching staff, all your hard work and dedication is really showing up in the boys play on the field. Please come out this Saturday evening October 1 at 6:00 pm GC Community Park to cheer on these great group of boys as they face a tough Baldwin team in the Thunder version of Saturday Night Lights.

GO THUNDER!