Sean Tariche breaks the plane of the goal. Last Sunday the Thunder O'Connor 7s traveled a few miles south to take on the Uniondale Knights. With daylight savings time coming to end it was thought the boys would be well rested for the 9AM battle that was to ensue. Little did they know that not only were their clocks turned back but so were their thermometers. This was by far the chilliest game to date!

It became clearly apparent that the frozen tundra of Uniondale High School was not going to be a friend of the Garden City Thunder. The boys were clearly cold and with Halloween still on their minds there were a few ghosts and demons to contend with! Captains Brendan Campbell, Matthew Conelli, and Jack Cobb did manage to shake of a few goblins by winning the opening coin toss and getting Garden City the ball. Garden City started out on offense and the Uniondale Knights made sure Garden City would remain "frozen in time" with a three and out. Uniondale took over and had a few tricks of their own up their sleeves. Two runs and bang! Uniondale was in the end zone. A converted extra point made the score 7-0. Garden City was clearly on their heels and a bit shocked about the avalanche that just hit. The Thunder 7s coaches quickly called a timeout and brought the entire team into a huddle. Stirring and motivational comments with excerpts borrowed from some of the most famous motivational speeches in history appeared to break the ice our players were encased in. It was now Thunder time! A large bang echoed the field The Uniondale players and coaches were looking in the cloudless sky to see where the noise was coming from. It was coming from 27 Sweep on 1, 27 Sweep on 1, ready, break! Justin "I'm lustin' for the End Zone" Coppola broke off left end and scampered 45 yards into the end zone. A successful extra point knotted the score at 7-7.

Offensive Gets Ready to Attack Now that the Thunder 7s had finally thawed out it was time for the vaunted Thunder Defense to step up. The secondary of Jack "O'Lantern" Cobb, Matthew "The Mummy" Marooney, Paul "The Vampire" Varano and Richard "Smashing Pumpkins" Petrone all delivered a scare into any Uniondale Knight that touched the ball. The half came to and end with the score knotted a 7.

Defense Makes a Play With the temperature rising the Thunders 7s were eager to start the second half. With some tricks up their sleeves the Thunder "D" continued to dominate the second half. Colin " I Deliver the Hart-Ache" ensured the Uniondale Knights stayed huddled in their own backfield. The defensive line of Liam "The Goblin" Griffith, Matthew " No Recover'n From My Hits" McGovern, Matthew "The Creature" Conelli, Dylan "I'm Willin' To Hit" McDonald, Alex "Rake the Leifs" Erickson", and Aidan "Lights Out & Pull Down the Shadins" O'Connor made sure the Uniondale Knights spent the entire second half with no first downs! It was now time to shed some daylight savings on the Thunder offense. With a robust offensive line of trick or treaters that included Jack "Pack a Punch" Ryan, Teddy "Move Over Here Comes" Ferzola, Brendan " The Joy of Hitting" McEvoy, Riley " The Pancake Maker" Coughlin- Roberti, and Brendan "I Feed My Hunger with Chunky" Campbell opened holes all day long in the Uniondale defense. As the game approached the five minute mark Jack "I Go Boom in the Night" Muldoon lead the Thunder offense on a sustained drive. Hard runs culminated in an explosive Sean "Screeching" Tariche touchdown run to make the score 13-7. That score remained "frozen in time" on this Sunday morning for the Thunder 7s. This was a hard fought physical and at times nasty game. All the coaches were proud of the perseverance and character the boys exuded.

Good Game Boys! Come see the Thunder 7s take on Hicksville November 9th in their final game of the season. November 9th is also play-off day for our Thunder teams. Send your players in their maroon jerseys to come out and cheer on the Garden City Thunder this Sunday!