Thunder White 7's Complete 3-Game Road Sweep

Luke Connolly weaves and dodges through the Hicksville defenders

The GC Thunder White 7's marched eastward last Sunday to face the Hicksville Crusaders. Hicksville put a big team on the field, but the Garden City boys had their own crusade in mind - a third straight road victory. After a hard fought game on both sides, the Thunder emerged victorious again, with a 31-14 win putting them at 4-1 for the season.

The Thunder "D" was put to the test early, as the Crusaders ran several quick sweeps to the outside for positive yardage. Garden City's job was made even tougher as the Crusaders incorporated some creative use of the Thunder facemasks in pursuit of their noble quest. However, the Thunder D continued to fight the good fight, and ultimately prevailed as the defensive line of Casey Noonan, Tommy Poole, Ryan Feryo, Liam Glynn, Thomas Rice, and Kevin Tierney adjusted its rotations and quickly began to collapse on the Hicksville sweep. Meanwhile, the footspeed of the Thunder ends, corners, and linebackers (Luke Connolly, Aidan Byrnes, Liam Muldoon, Michael Handal, Liam Joyce, Tyler Wuchte, Alex Sutherland and Liam Curtin) proved too much and thwarted most Crusader attempts at meaningful advancement.

Liam Muldoon breaking free

Garden City's offense worked smartly throughout the day. The "white monster" front line of Sean Rode John McDonald, Liam Ferris, Matt Flanagan, Mark Di Pierro, Chris Michel, and Ryan Walsh, provided solid protection for QB Tyler Wuchte to get both himself and his speedy running backs (who looked a lot like those speedy roving defensemen - Joyce, Connolly, Byrnes, Muldoon, Handal and Curtin) to exploit holes both inside and outside. Tyler Wuchte efficiently quarterbacked the first half while scoring a touchdown himself. He managed successful drives culminating in scores by Michael Handal and Liam Muldoon. These boys are developing a serious habit of getting Thunder parents out of their seats and cheering for exciting end-to-end runs. Luke Connolly, alternating between running back and quarterback, scored on a keeper in the first half. In the second half, Luke guided successful drives which included a misdirection handoff to Aidan Byrnes for 30-yard touchdown run. Speaking for a number of Thunder players working both sides of the field, Connolly and Byrnes noted that Garden City's conditioning helped them wear down Hicksville and sour the Crusader's quest. "Superior conditioning has been a holy grail for us the entire year, and that mission served us well today."

Aidan Byrnes and Liam Joyce take down the Crusader RB

After spending three weeks on the road, the Thunder White 7's look forward to a return home this Friday, October 20th, for a 6pm game under the lights at Community Park.

Thunder Offensive Line Setting Up Sean Rode, Matt Flanagan, and Mark Di Pierro coordinate their attack