Matthew Muscarella and Brandon Holloway on "D." Thunder 9 Maroon won their home opener last Sunday with an impressive 19-12 victory over a very tough Uniondale team. Executing sophisticated plays, the Thunder Offense was able to out-wit and out-run the noticeably bigger Uniondale team, rendering them scoreless in the first half; Thunder led 19-0 at halftime.

Uniondale stepped it up several notches in the 2nd half, scoring back-to-back touchdowns, but no extra points, bringing the score to 19-12, GC. The "Big D" Thunder Defense answered and promptly shut Uniondale down in the 4th quarter. Final: 19-12, Thunder.

Some Highlights:

• Thunder executed a sophisticated toss-right to the Fullback as their first play of the game, which successfully gained them a 1st down!

• Long touchdown runs: Halfback Brian Haeffner, Fullback Dan Confort, and QB John Simmons.

• Outstanding blocking on the "O" Line to make these TD's possible: Christian Coppola, Howie Miller, Brendan Schick, Matt Quinn, Thomas Casciano, Michael Goulard, Brandon Holloway, Bret Bello, Brian McKenna, Max Webster.

Howie Miller, Brian McKenna, and Bret Bello celebrate a Thunder victory! • Hard and tough Defensive Line and Linebacker tackles: Matt Muscarella, Ryan Galioto, Patrick Hosford, Christian Coppola, Matt Quinn, Brandon Holloway, Brian McKenna.

• Take-downs by the Cornerbacks and Safeties: Andrew Wood, John Simmons, Scott Kiley, Jonston MacIntyre, Stephen Moran, Bobby McLoughlin.

• Huge defensive tackles in the backfield for loss: Brendan Schick, Stephen Moran, Dan Confort, Max Webster.

• Bret Bello recovered a Uniondale fumble, which is just so much fun!

• Kyle Thornton was missed! We'll see him next game.

Come out tonight (Fri., Sept. 28) for "Friday Night Lights" at Community Park to watch Thunder 9 Maroon take on Hempstead! GO, THUNDER!

Howie Miller, Max Webster, Thomas Casciano, and Christian Coppola go in for the tackle.

Scott Kiley, Brendan Schick, and Bobby McLoughlin "exhale" after a tough 2nd half. Brian Haeffner outruns the Uniondale D 40 yards for the first GC touchdown. The Defensive Line sets up: Matt Quinn, Max Webster, Matt Muscarella, Dan Confort. QB John Simmons takes it all the way for a 35-yard touchdown run. A perfectly executed "fake" and outstanding blocking helped Dan Confort run for a 30-yard touchdown.