Thunder 9s Conquer The Mineola Chiefs 13-6

Victorious Thunder 9s

Friday, October 6, 2006. Community Park Pool Field, Garden City. The Thunder 9s squared off against the undefeated Mineola Chiefs this past Friday under the lights at the Community Park Pool. The parking lot was filled and spectators from both towns jammed the side lines as the game day captains from Garden City, James O'Sullivan, Evan Nagel and Jack Murtagh met the Chiefs at the 50 yard line for the coin toss. The Chiefs won the toss and elected to receive, the Thunder defense was ready to roll, and roll they did Mike Brennan, Jack "Spoon" Brennan, Brendan Digan, and Jack Murtagh made up the tough defensive line and kept them out of the end zone for the entire first half. Evan Nagel effectively contained the sweeping offense of the Chiefs with some outstanding open field tackling, and Jay McNamara made a key fumble recovery on the 5 yard line to allow the Thunder offense to take over.

The Thunder put together an impressive drive resulting in a long run by Colin DeAngelo followed by the extra point conversion by Matt Thomas. The Thunder led 7-0 at the half. During the half time discussion between the coaches and players, Alex "Hammer" Wood asked to address the team, Alex, with determination in his eyes yelled out, "They can come to our house, and they can score in our house, but they can't beat us in our house". The entire Thunder team erupted and rallied around Hammer to do a final break down before the second half.

Overpowering Offense

The second half was even more intense then the first half, Mineola was able to pound away at the Thunder to put it into the end zone, but the Thunder stopped the Chiefs' attempt for the extra point. The score was 7-6 in favor of the Thunder. The Thunder offense led by Joseph William, Jack "The Bus" Tobin, Nick "Tank" Gray, Luke Armstrong, and James O'Sullivan cleared the way for running backs Brian Goepfert, and Brian "Moose" Colamussi and the Thunder were able to march back down the field and put it in the end zone to go ahead and stay ahead for a 13-6 victory.

A special thank you to all the parents, friends and family who came out to cheer the Thunder on, we realize that several teams scheduled earlier practices to cheer for the team, that made all the difference in the world, true Thunder spirit. The Thunder 9s travel to Uniondale for their next game this Sunday to meet the Knights at 11:30am. We hope to have George Petropoulos, Bobby Menges and Joe Morreale rejoin the team for this critical game. Go Thunder!