5th Grade White Dominates a Bigger Opponent

Article by Shawn Shaffer

Saturday September 27th, the 5th Grade White Pittbulls stepped onto the gridiron prepared to do battle with a much bigger and more physical opponent.  Van Buren White came expecting revenge from an early defeat in the season.  However, Coach Shawn Shaffer had other plans for his Pittbulls. 

On Van Buren’s opening drive, they marched down the field with a smash mouth running game and scored the first points of the night, leaving the score 0-6.  Not letting that drive take their heart out, the Pittbulls opened their first drive with a tempo that would set the tone for the rest of the game.  On the Pittbulls second play of the game, #25 Ryan Padilla hooked up with #14 Noah Basham for a 25-yard pass.  The Pittbulls fell short on this scoring opportunity.   The defense came out fired up and stuck it right to Van Buren for only a 2-yard gain forcing a punt to the Pittbulls.  The next drive was capitalized by a 55-yard touchdown run by Andrew “The Thrill” McGill.  The same fired up defense came out again and held Van Buren to negative yardage.  The next drive was set up with a beautiful 25-yard run by # 21 Quinton Marrone followed by a 20-yard run by #25 Ryan Padilla, assisting in another Pittbull touchdown by #32 Andrew McGill.  With just a few seconds to go in the half and Van Buren knocking on the door for another touchdown, the Pittbulls stood strong and firm as #14 Noah Basham intercepted a pass right at the buzzer.  To start the second half, the Pittbulls used an awesome ground and aerial attack, which ended with a 35-yard touchdown run by #25 Ryan Padilla.  Van Buren gets the ball back on their own 40-yard line and the drive was quickly ended with negative yardage, again, resulting in yet another Van Buren punt.  Early in the fourth quarter #25 Ryan Padilla airs out a beautiful pass to #14 Noah Basham for a 30-yard touchdown. 

            Also contributing to the score was #28 Alex Elmore for 6 points on PAT kicks.  #21 Quinton Marrone led the defense with 14 tackles followed by #64 Brian Pullen with 8 tackles.  Other Pittbulls contributing on defense were: Ryan Padilla, Noah Basham, Zac Childress, Mason Archer, Alex Elmore, Travis Freeman, Andrew McGill, Dustin McGowen, Sheldon Vargas, Bailey Rogers, and Gabe VanBrunt. 

            The offensive player of the week is #32 Andrew McGill and the defensive player of the week is #64 Brian Pullen.  Congratulations on a dominating victory!!!    

Game Photos (Click Here)

(Below says John is the author only because John posted the story.  Thanks to Shawn Shaffer for writing the article.)