So if you couldn't tell Wildcat11 has been hip deep in the archives the past few weeks in tracking down plays for our Number Series. I'm very happy with how "61" came out and think those 12 minutes go by pretty dang fast. Thankfully we had the radio call (albeit fuzzy and faded) but it was great to have Daryl Aune and Dave Hanson's voices to help bring home that clip.
A couple of items that I thought stood out to me about that clip:
-I completely forgot about how great the bleacher configuration in the End Zone looked during the Whitworth and SOU clips (TDs 17-25). This set up only lasted a few game but it made an intimate 'Catdome even more so with having a wall of bleachers and fans that enclosed the south end zone. However it wasn't meant to be as the portable bleachers were too tall and causing issues for the players and officials on the field in seeing the 24 second clock and scoreboard so they made to be moved to pretty much the configuration you've seen at every home game since. Too bad because it was a fun set up.
-When interviewing Brandon Hazenberg for the clip he asked me what my favorite TD was of the clip and that's a hard question for me to answer. However, if I had to narrow it down it has to be two for me and they came on back-to-back TDs. TD number 41 the 57 yard bomb vs Willamette just stands out in my mind. I was on the sideline around the 50 when I watched Brett 1/2 roll to his left and came to a stop, pivot, and dropped a dime to Carter all in one motion. Being so close it was a jaw dropped. The next is number 42 and for a different reason. Tyler Kaluza caught a magnificent 20 yard fade with the Frosh pivoting and making a twisting grab. Being a video nerd I just loved how Videographer Mike Rhodes captured that TD. It was a piece of art.
-While pouring over the tapes I came across a couple of other plays that I had to post up as one-offs:
The 1st is this 92 yard punt return TD by Hazenberg (still a school record). The clip struck me funny for a few reasons. 1st it was just a hell of a return by Haze. Poor Menlo was just so beaten down by the end of this one. The 2nd reason I posted this up was a great reminder how our fan base wants nothing, zero, zilch, to do with going to a Linfield hosting Menlo football game. Seriously, every home game in 2004 was packed with fans except for Menlo. I think our fans would rather spend the day at the DMV than watch Menlo play football.
This is just a flat out sick one-handed catch by George Cater vs Oxy. Loved that Oxy was running their bring the house blitz that left single coverage on our outside receivers. This defense worked out so well the next year Oxy ran a defense where they dropped all 11 defenders in pass coverage and Linfield still hit for a TD pass. I'd wager a small fortune that the Oxy D.C. from those two years still wakes up in pools of sweat having nightmares of Elliott and Company rattling holes in the Tigers secondary.
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