It was a great November morning for football…The air was crisp, the field was soft, and the spirits were high for the AH5 Cowboys!! They couldn’t wait to get started…And once they did, the AH5 Cowboys would dominate the opponent and play one of their best games of the season! The boys executed the game plan to perfection both on offense and defense…They were well prepared and it showed!!!

The Schaumburg Vikings won the coin toss and elected to receive…Our scouting report told us that this SCH3 team had an explosive return man and that player was also their big offensive play maker…Our game plan was to take the big plays away from Schaumburg; if they were going to beat us, they’d have to beat us in head to head, smash mouth football…And that would prove hard to do!

Johnny M executes his squib kick…the Vikings 2^nd tier man fields the ball at the 40 and sweeps across the field stepping out at the 50 as the Cowboys swarm…The Vikings QB takes the snap and hands off to #34, a speedy little back…He cuts up the middle and picks up 12yds before being taken down by an ever ready Richard Stubing! They go to the same back and to the same spot, this time it is Big Mack Rooney who takes the runner down after a short 4yd gain…Great job by our middle linebacker!! Mack had a big day with key stops…one of his best played games of the year!! Well Done Mack! 2^nd and 6…The Vikings Sweep left…this time with their very fast #43…he gets around the corner and picks up big yards before stepping out of bounds at the 24…Back to the speedy little back up the middle…He gets down to the 13 before Richard Stubing and Jake Siebert make the stop!! It took the Cowboys a couple plays to find their game…but they would find it! The Vikes try a cross buck…William Trossen and Johnny A are not fooled as they stuff him at the line…no gain! They sweep left again with the speedy little #34…Johnny A stays with him and William Trossen helps has they force the back out at the 10…Now back to the big guy…He cuts left and looses a grip on the ball; he dives to cover the loose ball…Johnny A is on him for a loss of one…4^th down and long…They pitch back to #43…He sweeps right…Jimmy Jastrowski and Chris Topalis combine in making the tackle and driving the runner out of bounds for a loss of three…Great job guys! As the Cowboy Defense has done all year…They have kept the opponent out of the end zone with their Red Zone D…Great Job…It all starts with plays like Evan "The Terminator" Beer made time and time again…Excelling into the backfield at the snap, sometimes spinning in, sometime just over-powering the guards…One way or the other Evan forces the line back!! Cowboys ball on the 13!

Cowboys 1^st and 10…Evan “nice & easy” Frank snaps the ball to Johnny A…Johnny A hands off to William Trossen…William sweeps right and then does what he has done so well all year…he cuts it back against the grain and then cuts again up field for a huge run…A 40yd pick up!! Sweet! Now to Johnny Maddox who sweeps left…George Carroll makes a great block as Johnny powers ahead for 11yds…Back to William T…#35 sweeps right and picks up another 12…Hard to stop this one two punch especially with the great holes opened up all day by the guys on the line…Danny Stubing, Jack Miller, Jack Marshall, Jimmy Jastrowski, Mack Rooney, Evan Frank, Evan Beer, and George Carroll…And the punishing lead blocks by Jake Siebert, Chris Topalis, Will Antonetti and Richard Stubing...We go to the reverse with William T handing off to Chris T…Chris picks up positive yards as it took 3 Vikings to pull this elusive runner down…Ball on the Viking 37…A high snap goes over Johnny A’s head, but an alert Richard S scoops up the ball and advances it ahead for great positive yards…Heads up play!! An illegal motion penalty pushes us back five…Johnny M picks up 15 getting the ball back to the 20 after a powerful run…William T has a great cut back; fighting through defenders…it looks like he may score but the ball gets striped and the Vikings recover with the ball on the 13yd line…

Vikings 1^st and 10…They go right to their big #43 for a cut up the middle…The Cowboys Mack Attack brought it up a notch today playing the way we knew he could!! Mack R stuffs the big ball carrier at the line and drives him back with powerful force! That set the defensive tone for the rest of the game! The Vikings now bring on their big play man #1…This player scored 31 points in a single game this year and was the Viking’s big playmaker…Our game plan was simple…Assign one of the most aggressive, brightest, and fiercest players in the league to cover this guy like a glove…It was our fortune that Jake Siebert was an AH5 Cowboy and he was the man to cover this Viking explosive player…Doing so would take Jake out of many defensive plays in the middle…an area where he made such a big impact all season…But the other guys would step up!! Jake would maul this guy at the line keeping #1 from going deep where their strong arm right-side wing back would get the pitch from the acting QB and complete several very long TD throws to this player throughout the season…Jake, you did an outstanding job all day with the game plan!! The other threat from #1 was the sweep…he was fast and shifty…And that was the Vikings next play…#1 goes in motion left…Jake S sweeps the line with him…He would not get across the line of scrimmage! William T also knew the Viking play and quickly gets himself into the backfield with his sights set on crushing the Viking speedster…And that’s exactly what he does as he takes #1 down for a 10yd loss…Well Played by the entire D!! The Vikings go to the cross buck with #34…Richard S played this very well as the speedy back swept right…Richard shook the defender and grabbed hold of the back taking him down…Richard has done this all season!! Well Played!! Jack Miller sees movement on the O-Line and absolutely explodes into the Viking backfield drawing the Viking penalty!! Earlier in the game Jack saw that he was being doubled team by two very good blockers…this was the side their strong arm wing back would pass from…Jack said that he was having trouble getting in…I told him he had to find a way and make it happen…He did not let down…The Vikes decide to go for it on 4^th down…They sweep #34 left…Will Antonetti was there and made an impact tackle at the line of scrimmage for no gain…Big Play and Cowboy’s Ball deep in Viking territory!!

1^st and 10 on the Viking 20…Johnny M gets the handoff…He gets around and speeds toward the TD marker…Johnny just gets knocked out of bounds at the 3yd line…Quarter Ends…2 and goal on the 3…We go to the cross buck with #35…The ball pops out and the Vikes recover…

 The Vikings have the ball 1^st and 10 on their own 2…They go to their big play QB pitch to the wing back who catapults it deep to #1…Jack Siebert has #1 slowed at the line and the Viking play has already been committed to the pass as the Wing Back is under pressure in the end zone…The wing back let’s the ball fly…The Cowboy’s Chris Topalis is deep in coverage and puts himself in place for the pick…Interception!! So well played Chris!! Chris also draws the face mask penalty and the Cowboys get the ball on the Viking 25!! WOW!

Cowboy’s 1^st and 10…Sweep with Johnny M left…Johnny picks up 8…William T gets the call with the cross buck…I think his brother Nick may have sprayed some PAM onto William’s gloves…The ball pop’s out…but Chris “Always in the Right Place” Topalis comes up with the loose ball…Whew! William takes the gloves off literally and figuratively…that won’t happen again! He’ll make up for it in a big way!! Johnny A just misses in connecting with Jake Siebert on Play 63…Back to Johnny M…Johnny fights his way up the field knocking defenders out of his path before stepping out at the 8yd line…We don’t want to be predictable…so we go back to Johnny on a cross buck…Well executed by our guys…Johnny Maddox carries the ball and 3 defenders into the End Zone for the 1^st score of the game…Finally! Now to a gloveless William T for the point after…He slices in with ease but there was a hold so we need to do it from the 13…We stay with William…He slices right and makes a great cut left for the extra point…and his brother smiles!!           COWBOYS 7     Vikings 0

Cowboys kick off…We go with the newly installed onside kick attempt…We load the right side with Antonetti, Stubing, Trossen, Stubing, and Siebert…Johnny executes a perfect onside attempt…#27 dives on the ball 12yds out…COWBOYS BALL on the 50!!! Excellent Job!! And the greatest thing; seeing all the Cowboy players congratulating each other for a well executed play!! We go with #40 who cuts and slices for the 50yd TD…But called back on a holding call that was not part of the play nor the fault of the player it was called on…No worries…We just had the feeling that we were in control of this game! We go to play 63…and as discussed during our practices…once the opposing team recognized the play and keyed on #27 and we would hear them alert each other by calling out and pointing to our #27…Johnny Asquini knew this was his key to run a QB bootleg…and that is what he did! It was perfect…Johnny picked up 6…and almost broke it for a big run!! Heads up boys!! We go to our TE inside sweep with Jake picking up huge yards…the play was called back to a motion penalty that we would later correct…Now we go to Play 10 Run…with William T bearing down after the Johnny A pitch…By the way…Did you notice the perfection of Evan Frank’s job at center all day and Johnny A’s flawless execution of the plays…You guys were perfect! Okay, back to William…William takes the pitch and heads right up field...#35 shows his speed as he burns by the defenders…William gets the ball all the way down to the 14yd line…Great run!! We hand off to Johnny M right…Putting Johnny M in William’s spot to give #35 a breather…Johnny sweeps along the line and then heads to the end zone…He sheds a defender and carries two more in for the TD…A powerful runner…Johnny A hits Jake S…Jake comes up with a great catch and the extra point!! What a team!!   COWBOYS 14   Vikings 0

The Cowboys squib kick away for the 3^rd time today…The ball is downed at the Cowboy 43…The Vikings sweep right…The Cowboy defense keeps them from turning it up the middle…Jake S sweeps with the play and takes down the back after a short gain…2^nd and 6…The Vikes try up the middle…The Linebackers read it well…William T and Mack R are met with Johnny A to stuff the runner for no gain…3^rd and 6…The defense jumps and gets the penalty…1^st down Schaumburg…The Vikes sweep left…Will A steps up along with William T they stand up the runner in the backfield when Bulldog Miller lays out the hit and knocks down the pile for a loss…They sweep left with their big back…Johnny M steps up and wraps the back up for no gain…The Viking QB goes back to pass…The receivers are all covered with Jack Marshall deep…His reputation as a pick-off artist makes all the opposing QBs think twice about throwing deep…Johnny M chases the QB down and with help from Jimmy J they sack the QB for a loss of 10…The Vikings punt away…Jimmy J was on fire today…I would have hated to be on the Viking offense!!!

Danny Stubing fields the punt at the 25…he makes a couple quick moves and then finds more room to run…Danny gets the ball all the way to the 50 on a great return!! Fantastic! We sweep right with William Trossen…A couple of great blocks has William cutting back…this was a beautiful run…#35 cut, sliced, and juked his way down the field for a big 35yd pick up…He looked like the great Walter Payton on that one! We try a tight end inside sweep again with Jake getting it inside the 5...but the motion draws the penalty…We’ll make the corrections in the 2^nd half…If William T runs like Walter Payton, you would have to say that Johnny M runs like Larry Csonka (you-tube him boys)…Johnny M gets the hand off going right…he stiff arms a defender out of the play and then battles his way to the one yard line for a nice 19yd carry…Back to William T sweeping right again as he slides in for the TD!! The snaps sails high on the extra point attempt; Miller covers it up.    COWBOYS 20     Vikings 0

The Cowboys kick it away from our 30…Evan Frank is downfield and makes a great open field tackle…Well Done Evan! 1^st down on the 50…The Vikings go to pass…William T almost makes the pick…2^nd down…They go to their big pass play with #43 launching the ball…Jake has #1 tied up at the line and the Cowboys corners & safeties have the Viking receivers well covered down field…incomplete. 3^rd and 10…They try their big play again with #43 trying to hit #1 deep…Johnny A has pressure on the passer and Richard Stubing puts himself in position for the INTERCEPTION!! COWBOYS BALL!! End of half…

The Vikings elect to take the ball on their 40 to start the 2^nd half…They try to sweep left but are mauled by Johnny A, Will A, and Jimmy J…5yd loss…#43 gets the call up the middle…he brakes through and is being chased by Maddox, Siebert, and Antonetti…but the big back has the speed and finds the end zone for 6…Give the player credit…Vikes miss the extra point…COWBOYS 20     Vikings 6

Up until that score, the Cowboys held Schaumburg to just 28yds…That says a lot about our Defense as the Vikings possess a very potent offense scoring 213 points on the season…

The Vikings try an onside kick, but miss execute and the Cowboys have the ball on the 42yd line…1^st and 10…William picks up 5 on a sweep…The Vikings begin their blitzing…Johnny M shakes a backfield tackle and sweeps around to get back to the line of scrimmage…3^rd and long…We try the TE inside sweep, but the blitz has men all over Jake Siebert…Jake does not go down easy…He is hit at the line by a couple defenders and carries them 5yds as he is hit by a couple more defenders and then carries them 5 more yards to get the 1^st down…Very Powerful Run…The Vikes send the blitz again…Johnny M looses his grip on the ball as he sweeps left…Vikings recover…

The Vikings cut to the right side…Johnny M and Evan Frank make the stop for a short gain…They try #43 up the gut again but Jack Miller and Will A stuff him for no gain!! Schaumburg jumps and draws the 5yd penalty…The Vikes draw another penalty…Cowboys decline…4th and very, very long…The Vikings punt downing the ball at the Viking 48…

With the Vikings committed to the blitz…We decide to run the Play 10 Run pitch to William T…Johnny A has the pitch down to perfection…William T tucks the ball away and then he is off to the races…Nobody will catch him on this very nice 48yd TD run...The kid is fast…Nicely done!! We miss the extra point… COWBOYS 26     Vikings 6

Schaumburg takes the ball at their 40…They hand off to speedy #34…Jack Miller explodes into the backfield and wraps up the runner for a 2yd loss…Great job Jack! Then it’s back to big #43 sweeping left…Will A is in the backfield and takes the big guy down for a loss of 8…Big Time Play! The Vikings run a stalled Cross buck with #43 getting the ball and a huge opening to run to…Off he goes…Johnny M is in pursuit…The Viking back gets to the 50, the 45, the 40, the 35, the 30…Johnny M dives for the big back and takes out his ankles…DOWN GOES FRAZIER…A nice run and a great defensive effort…Vikings 1^st and 10 on the 28….The Vikes shake their playbook and find the reverse…It goes to #1…Jake sweeps with him…George Carroll is home and plays it perfectly…And almost takes the speedy guy down for a big loss…great effort…But the back is stopped from making the big play with only an 8yd pick up…The Vikes try #34 up the gut…Bulldog Miller has him wrapped up and knocks the ball out…Maddox recovers…but the refs call the ball on the ground…But we’ll take the loss of yardage…They try running up the right side…Mack Rooney stuffs the runner and drives him back!! The forward progress gave the Vikes the 1^st down yardage…Then back to the reverse with #1 getting the ball…He sweeps back deep…George Carroll has the back in his arms deep…but the back just squeaks out…Jake Siebert and Company are there to force him out at the 30 for a loss…The Vikings go back to #43 for the big pass play…Johnny Maddox and Peanut sandwich him in the backfield with William T putting on the mustard…A 5yd loss!! COWBOYS BALL ON DOWNS…

Richard takes the 18pt offense onto the field and keeps it for a bootleg on a short carry…Ball on the 38…End of Quarter…Bulldog sweeps left for another 4…Back to Bulldog for another 5yds and a first down!! We had a few players on this Cowboy team that would be the featured ball carrier on any other Pac 10 team…Jack was 1^st among them! Will A gets the next carry and cuts up for another couple yards…Will A is another running back that could carry the ball on any team…Just a note…It is harder for these guys to run the ball on the 18pt offense since the other team is keying solely on the run…Jake S takes the ball into Viking territory on the next carry…Richard runs the bootleg for a nice gain down to the Viking 41yd line…A hold brings it back…A couple false starts has us back in Cowboy territory…Jake S runs the ball back up to the original line of scrimmage with a strong run..4^th down…Jack Miller adds a few more yards as he hops over a downed player…Vikings ball…

The Vikes sweep right and are absolutely swarmed with Cowboy defenders…The Cowboys could taste the Championship…The Viking QB throws a short pass for 5yds as the receiver dives to make the catch…Then big #43 cuts up the middle for 5…Richard S takes him down…The Vikes go deep to #1...Danny S and Jack Marshall have him in coverage in the end zone…Incomplete! They sweep left…Johnny A stretches them out…Stubing, Miller, and Trossen take the back down for a loss…The Vikes pitch the ball to #43…he throws deep and accurate with a receiver open at the 5…Richard S makes an all-star cornerback play…putting his hand on the ball just before it hits the receivers numbers…Richard swats the ball away…Outstanding!! The Vikes try again…This time Johnny M has #43 in his sites and explodes into the passer for a crushing 8yd loss…Cowboys Ball on downs…

Thanks to the stat keepers of Joe Rooney, Mike Trossen and Pano Topalis…Many thanks to our chain gang crew of James & Culleen Siebert, Scott Marshall, and Dave Miller…Thanks to Brian Frank and Mike Antonetti for another great job filming the game!! And thanks to the Beer Family for providing the half-time oranges and awesome football cookies!! This was a great Cowboy Family!! Thanks for all the great fan support throughout the season!! It makes a difference!!

Coach Maddox & Coach Asquini

Finally, a special thanks to Coach Asquini…His knowledge of football…His patience and always fun way in working with the boys…and his creative techniques in teaching the skills of the game…made this the best football team and experience in the entire Pac Red Division…Coach Asquini is a special and rare coach…I was proud to be on the sidelines with you coach!! Thanks for making this a great season!!!