NCR Tigers: Welcome

Football sign-ups for the 2008 Rinky Dink football season begin July 21st and go thru August 22nd. We need all our returners back from last year, so parents, please get them signed up ASAP. Thank you.

                                          Coach Johnny

Congratulations to NCR Tiger cheerleader Faith Harris. Faith was crowned 2007 Rinky Dink Queen at Optimist Day last Saturday. Great job to her escorts, Aaron Hubbard and Garrett Clark. We are very proud of you all.

Going into the last game of the season we really thought we were in good shape to reel off our 3rd win in a row and for a while it looked like that might happen. But as good as we played in the 1st half, we played equally as bad in the 2nd half. Three key fumbles and defensive breakdowns would turn a close game into a blow-out, as the Police Cubs ended our season on a down note with a 39-18 win over the Tigers.

       The Police Cubs jumped on us early in this one taking a 6-0 lead on their first offensive play. Our offense came right back at them and put together a nice drive that would end in a 39-yard touchdown run from Alex Warren to tie the game at 6. After another Cubs touchdown that would give them a 13-6 lead, our offense went back to work. This time it only took one play as we used a little trickery from our playbook and Aaron Hubbard scampered 60-yard for a touchdown. Our extra point once again failed and we found ourselves in a good one at 13-12. Our defense put up an awesome defensive stand to end the half, holding the Police Cubs out of the endzone and this one remained 13-12 at the break.

        The 3rd quarter would see the Police Cubs open the half putting together a 6-play touchdown drive to go ahead 25-12. We got the ball back and looked to be on the way to pulling within a touchdown but a fumbled snap would give the ball right back to the Cubs. They wasted no time getting back in the endzone and suddenly we were in a 32-12 hole. Our offense then once again looked to be putting together a nice drive but another fumble would give the ball back to the Cubs. After another Cubs touchdown, Alex Warren would scamper 59-yards on the final play of the 2007 season to make the final score 39-18. It was a disappointing end to a game that we thought we had a good chance to win.

       The wheels just came off in the 2nd half of this one. We couldn't hang on to the ball on offense and couldn't stop them on defense. The Police Cubs are a good team and they played mistake free football and we didn't. That would tell the story in this one. I was proud of the kids effort despite the loss. They never quit, even up to the last play. It was a frustrating season at times and we had to challenge these kids like we never had to a group before. These last three games they really responded like we wanted them to all season long. But today we just made too many mistakes and you can't do that against a good team. Hope to see all of you at the party in two weeks.

Our Offensive Player of the Week for the final week of the season is Garrett Clark. Garrett played a good game today versus the Police Cubs. He is a leader on our offensive line and has been all season long. Garrett wanted to play defense this season, but we had to move him to the offensive line earlier in the season because of all the problems we were having there. He responded like the champion he is and I am very proud of the way he played for us this season. We are certainly going to miss Garrett next season and look forward to hearing that he is doing well next year at Union. Great job today Garrett. We are very proud of you!

Our Defensive Player of the Week for our final week of the season is James Clayton. James played a good game today versus the Police Cubs. He made several good tackles and also did some things at his position that don't show up on the stat sheet. James started out the season at running back and did a good job there, but we moved him to defense mid-way through the season and he did a great job for us there also. Can't wait to see him next year and how much he improves in a year. His name will be called a lot on that loud speaker is my prediction.

                      Carries           Yards                  TD's

Alex Warren                              62                    782                       10

Aaron Hubbard                           36                    397                       5

Kohl Franklin                               17                    259                       3

Webb Energy Wildcats        7-0

National Family Bulldogs      6-1

Police Cubs                         4-2-1

YMA Cowboys                     3-3-1

NCR Tigers                          3-4  

Simmons 1st 49ers                2-5

McCutchen Razorbacks         1-6

Alfred's Pirates                   1-6

The NCR Tigers won their second game in a row today by defeating the McCutchen Law 49ers 19-7 to move to 3-3 on the season. We got started early in this one and while we hit a few bumps in the road along the way, we hung on for the victory. Aaron Hubbard and Riyadh Ananda made their presence known on the very first play in this one. Riyadh hit the 49ers’ quarterback in the backfield, causing a fumble that was recovered by Aaron and we got the ball at the McCutchen 40-yard line. It didn’t take long from there, as Alex Warren took the hand-off from Brevon Harper and scampered 40 yards around the end for the first touchdown of the game. Aaron converted the extra point and just like that we had a 7-0 lead.           

As easy as that looked, it would not come so easy the rest of the half for our offense. The next couple of possessions would see both teams exchange fumbles and the defenses started dominating for both teams. We had trouble stopping a couple of big guys on their defensive line and it really threw us out of sync on offense. Late in the 2^nd quarter, we would not convert on a 4^th and short at our own 20-yard line, giving the ball back to McCutchen in great field position. The 49ers would take advantage and score right before the half, tying the game at 7.           

We made a couple of adjustments at halftime on the offensive line and it didn’t take long for those adjustments to pay off. Alex scampered 15 yards for a 1^st and 10 at the 49ers 45-yard line and his partner in the backfield would do the rest on the very next play. Aaron took the hand-off from Brevon and found a hole to dart 45 yards for his first touchdown of the game. Our extra point failed and we held a 13-7 lead midway through the 3^rd quarter.            

Our defense really took over in the 2^nd half of this game. The held McCutchen to negative yardage for the half and allowed our offense to get the ball in great field position for much of the half. So many great plays by our defense was the key in the 3^rd and 4^th quarters. Riyadh Ananda and Aaron Hubbard had numerous tackles behind the line of scrimmage. When McCutchen did manage to get by those two guys, we had other players step up and make some big plays. James Clayton and Joseph Wittig both made some great plays on the corners and our linebackers also did a great job. Drew Yarbrough and Tyler Armistead also made a couple of nice plays in a second half totally dominated by our defense! Our offense managed to score late in the game to put this one away, as Aaron would score his second touchdown to make the score 19-7.           

We are very proud of the kids and the way they have really stepped up these last couple of weeks. We are finally bringing our practice to the games, especially on defense. We look forward to another good week of practice and will play our final game of the season next week versus a good Police Cubs team. See you all at practice on Monday @ 5:30.  

Our week 6 Offensive Player of the Week is Aaron Hubbard. Aaron had a great game this week versus McCutchen Law. Aaron had 5 carries for 83 yards and 2 touchdowns in the game. When he wasn't racking up yards on the ground he was doing a great job blocking for his fellow running backs. Aaron also played on defense in the game and done an awesome job there too. Great game Aaron. We are very proud of you!

Our week 6 Defensive Player of the week is Joseph Wittig. Joseph had a good game this week versus McCutchen Law. He had several good tackles, including a couple of open field tackles that helped save a touchdown or two. Joseph has really answered the coaches challenge to step up his game the last few weeks. He is a big reason our defense has played so well the last two games. Keep up the good work Joseph. We are very proud of you!

To see any of our old game stories or previous "Players of the Week", click the link above to enter the NCR News page.