This past Saturday we once again defended our home field, this time against the Nokia Ghosthunters. Nokia is the team that we played in the first week, while I was still in Hartford. We started the game off on the wrong foot, as the Ghosthunters returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. On the ensuing extra point I hurdled the center and blocked the PAT, I returned it a little ways but got caught so the score remained 6-0. Our offense immediately responded with our use of the wildcat offense. I stepped in at Quarterback, with the help of Nick Jones running effective sweeps, and great blocking all over the field, we marched down the field in just 5 plays. I capped the drive off with a 2 yard run for a touchdown.
Nokia, better known for their cell phones, responded by running the ball down our throats. Our defense simply couldn't deal with the onslaught, as Nokia methodically went down the field to score. Following a successful conversion the score was 13-7. The offense did not have a great amount of success for the rest of the half, but with just 30 seconds remaining Nesi Carpelan heaved the ball down field to Matt Shepherd, who made a great catch and run to put us up 14-13 going into halftime.
The team felt that we played one of the worst halves of football yet this season in this game, and we came out determined to play closer to our level of football. Defensively we switched to a 4-4 defense to stop Nokia's running attack. They never got into our red zone for the rest of the game. Our offense opened the half firing, and easily drove the ball deep into Nokia's red zone. Once there we called in the wildcat offense, and with some great blocking I had an easy time dashing 17 yards into the Nokia endzone to push the score to 21-7.
Defensively we continued to play strong, giving up minimal gains in the run game, knowing that the Ghosthunters did not possess a potent passing attack. In the fourth quarter our offense was on a good drive, and as we got into Ghosthunter territory we once again utilized the wildcat offense. A few plays into the drive I was running to the right hand side, as I jumped through a players arm tackle I landed on my left leg and tried to push off to my right. As I did this I felt my knee twist, and heard a loud pop come from my left knee. I immediately dropped the football and went down yelling and grabbing my injured knee.
The offense finished the drive with another touchdown catch by Matt Shepherd, and the Indians closed out with a 28-13 victory. I've visited with a doctor this week who drew blood out of my knee and explained that I either have damage to my Meniscus or ACL. One issue is that I cannot get an MRI done on my knee due to the metal plate that was inserted into the fibula of my left leg last november. My next scheduled visit is with a doctor on Tuesday, as well as a ultrasound test to try to see into my knee. I've been told that Finland shuts down during the month of July because everyone goes on vacation, it seems that is true of the medicine practice as well.
I put together a highlight reel predominantly of myself from this past game, it can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oePKp0Twg6w&feature=channel_video_title. I added Matt's long touchdown, and an interception by Jukka Lautamatti mostly for the celebrations that follow. My personal stat line was 7 rushes for 63 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 solo tackles along with 6 assisted.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Picture Blog
Matt in Stockholm: 
Views from the farm house in Moss, Norway
Pictures of/from the beach house in Norway
Small town on the coast of Norway
Something dyed the water green, sure the fish loved that.
Changing of the guard at the royal palace in Stockholm
Inside Stockholm's Royal Chapel
Monday, July 4, 2011
Game Five: Indians 4-1
This past Sunday we began our second half of the season with a home game against the Helsinki 69ers. Our first game against the 69ers was my first of the season and we won 13-7. Going into the game we were 3-1 and the 69ers were 2-2. The winner of this game would most likely lock down the #2 slot for the playoffs and host the first playoff game.
We began the game on defense and forced an immediate 3 and out. Our offense took the field and picked up two quick first downs. We got stopped short of the first down on 3rd down and decided to go for it on 4th and 1. The 69ers thought we were going to run a quarterback sneak so they brought everyone up to the line of scrimmage and forgot to cover Jukka Lautamatti. Jukka was able to scamper the rest of the way into the endzone for the games first touchdown.
The 69ers responded with a 14 play touchdown drive of their own, our defense did not have much of a solution for what the 69ers were doing, and they were able to move the ball at will during this drive. We were missing players on both sides of the ball due to injuries and vacations. In addition to this our newest import Nick Jones, RB/S, was not able to play because his paperwork from the United Kingdom had not come through yet.
Following the 69ers tying score our offense was able to get a first down, but was stopped on another 4th and 1. The 69ers were once again able to move the ball effectively down the field, but our defense stopped them finally and forced a 23 yard field goal attempt. The attempted kick was blocked, although it was basically kicked into the linemen in front of the kicker and had no legitimate chance of going in.
The following drive I came in on offense for almost the entire series and we started to move the ball pretty well. A nine play drive seemed like it would be a great one when Nesi Carpelan found Jani Keinisalo for a 35 yard touchdown. Unfortunately, this was brought back due to a holding call, and the drive fizzled out from there. We punted to the 69ers and they only had 30 seconds left on the half so they decided to take a knee, and we went into the half 7-7.
I started on offense for the second half and we again moved the ball effectively with a nine-play drive. Unfortunately, it once again ended in a failed 4th and 1 attempt, so the 69ers got the ball once again. Both teams then exchanged punts as no offense was able to find any room, and the 3rd quarter ended with the score still deadlocked at 7.
Early in the 4th quarter the 69ers had good field position and took advantage by throwing the ball down the field behind one of our corner backs for the go ahead touchdown. On the extra point the snap was too high so the holder had to try to run it in himself. He failed, which proved to be a pivotal play in the game.
We responded with an eight-play drive of our own, that was capped off by a pass from Nesi to Jani to tie the game at 13. As our kicker Ari stepped in to take the kick, he said to our holder Matt Shepard, “This is pretty important huh?” Matt responded, “Yeah, if you make this we will probably win the game.” He did make the go ahead kick, and these points ended up being what won us the game.
The 69ers were not able to do much offensively, and we were helped by a big interception by Jani as well. Offensively we tried to run the ball and grind the clock, but this resulted in only one first down for us in our final two drives. The game ended when the 69ers quarterback heaved the ball deep into our territory, and I was able to come down with the interception. After that it only took one kneel down by Nesi to end the game. The game MVP was given to Jani for his efforts on both sides of the ball.
This Saturday we host the Ghosthunters of Nokia, this is the game that I missed in the first half of the season, so it is a new opponent for me. Personal stat line: 15 rushes net 74 yards, 3 solo tackles, 1 assist, 1 interception.
We began the game on defense and forced an immediate 3 and out. Our offense took the field and picked up two quick first downs. We got stopped short of the first down on 3rd down and decided to go for it on 4th and 1. The 69ers thought we were going to run a quarterback sneak so they brought everyone up to the line of scrimmage and forgot to cover Jukka Lautamatti. Jukka was able to scamper the rest of the way into the endzone for the games first touchdown.
The 69ers responded with a 14 play touchdown drive of their own, our defense did not have much of a solution for what the 69ers were doing, and they were able to move the ball at will during this drive. We were missing players on both sides of the ball due to injuries and vacations. In addition to this our newest import Nick Jones, RB/S, was not able to play because his paperwork from the United Kingdom had not come through yet.
Following the 69ers tying score our offense was able to get a first down, but was stopped on another 4th and 1. The 69ers were once again able to move the ball effectively down the field, but our defense stopped them finally and forced a 23 yard field goal attempt. The attempted kick was blocked, although it was basically kicked into the linemen in front of the kicker and had no legitimate chance of going in.
The following drive I came in on offense for almost the entire series and we started to move the ball pretty well. A nine play drive seemed like it would be a great one when Nesi Carpelan found Jani Keinisalo for a 35 yard touchdown. Unfortunately, this was brought back due to a holding call, and the drive fizzled out from there. We punted to the 69ers and they only had 30 seconds left on the half so they decided to take a knee, and we went into the half 7-7.
I started on offense for the second half and we again moved the ball effectively with a nine-play drive. Unfortunately, it once again ended in a failed 4th and 1 attempt, so the 69ers got the ball once again. Both teams then exchanged punts as no offense was able to find any room, and the 3rd quarter ended with the score still deadlocked at 7.
Early in the 4th quarter the 69ers had good field position and took advantage by throwing the ball down the field behind one of our corner backs for the go ahead touchdown. On the extra point the snap was too high so the holder had to try to run it in himself. He failed, which proved to be a pivotal play in the game.
We responded with an eight-play drive of our own, that was capped off by a pass from Nesi to Jani to tie the game at 13. As our kicker Ari stepped in to take the kick, he said to our holder Matt Shepard, “This is pretty important huh?” Matt responded, “Yeah, if you make this we will probably win the game.” He did make the go ahead kick, and these points ended up being what won us the game.
The 69ers were not able to do much offensively, and we were helped by a big interception by Jani as well. Offensively we tried to run the ball and grind the clock, but this resulted in only one first down for us in our final two drives. The game ended when the 69ers quarterback heaved the ball deep into our territory, and I was able to come down with the interception. After that it only took one kneel down by Nesi to end the game. The game MVP was given to Jani for his efforts on both sides of the ball.
This Saturday we host the Ghosthunters of Nokia, this is the game that I missed in the first half of the season, so it is a new opponent for me. Personal stat line: 15 rushes net 74 yards, 3 solo tackles, 1 assist, 1 interception.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Sweden Trip and Midsummer
This past week we had no game on the weekend, and no practice leading up to the midsummer weekend. Matt and I decided to use our free time the best we could so we jumped onto a cruise ship for a trip to Stockholm. The boat was a lot of fun, and very nice for how cheap it was. It was an overnight trip over to Stockholm from Helsinki. Then we had about eight hours to explore Stockholm before an overnight back to Helsinki. Stockholm was a very cool city, although the weather was pouring rain the entire time we were there. We did see the palace and all of what they call old town, which was very interesting to see.
When we got back we immediately were summoned to the midsummer celebrations at our teammates Tatu's house. This celebration consisted of many backyard games including Molkky, which I think I need to bring back to the states. Other than our daytime celebration we also did many Saunas and trips down to the lake to go swimming. At nighttime we went out to an obscure bar in Orelampe (sp?) This was a lot of fun, but consisted of taxis to and from the bar that ranged from 80-100 Euros, not cheap. Some pictures included here to show us having a good time during midsummer.
I’m writing from Oslo right now where I am meeting up with Tony Torres as well as a few Norwegian friends, ought to be a great week. There will be more to report on the trip by the end of the week. We have our 5th game this Sunday at home against the Helsinki 69ers, an important game for us as we continue to chase 1st place in the league.
When we got back we immediately were summoned to the midsummer celebrations at our teammates Tatu's house. This celebration consisted of many backyard games including Molkky, which I think I need to bring back to the states. Other than our daytime celebration we also did many Saunas and trips down to the lake to go swimming. At nighttime we went out to an obscure bar in Orelampe (sp?) This was a lot of fun, but consisted of taxis to and from the bar that ranged from 80-100 Euros, not cheap. Some pictures included here to show us having a good time during midsummer.
I’m writing from Oslo right now where I am meeting up with Tony Torres as well as a few Norwegian friends, ought to be a great week. There will be more to report on the trip by the end of the week. We have our 5th game this Sunday at home against the Helsinki 69ers, an important game for us as we continue to chase 1st place in the league.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Indians Third Win
Our fourth game went much better than the third game. We played at home for the second straight week, against the Kuopio Steelers. We started the game off strong offensively, easily driving down and scoring on our first possession. The touchdown was a great catch by fellow American Matt Shepherd, he was pretty far out of bounds, but luckily for us our side judges were 14 years old and from Kouvola. Unfortunately, the Steelers reciprocated that and knotted the game 7-7.
Our offense moved the ball effectively all game, but we struggled inside our opponents 30 yard line. We scored once in the second quarter to move to 14-7 on a nice pass from Nesi Carpelan to Jani Heinisalo (Picture right), his first of two touchdowns on the game. After the first drive defensively we decided to switch to a 4-4 defense rather than our normal 3-4. Essentially we added a defensive lineman since the Steelers really only ran the ball in an option attack all game.
This new defense did very well, and we didn’t allow the Steelers to score again. I came in on offense a good amount mostly as a running back in the I formation. Thanks to some great blocking by our offensive like and fullback Ville Lindsten. I carried the ball 12 times for 113 yards, unfortunately none of them landed me in the endzone. I also added 6 solo and 4 assisted tackle on the defensive side of the ball.
I also did a few plays as a wildcat quarterback, and on one roll out pass I saw an open receiver about 10 yards in front of me. The ball was complete and it seemed like a great gain. Unfortunately, the player I threw it to was none other than Perttu Kontkanen, our right tackle. For those of you not familiar with the rules, that is not exactly street legal.
As time winded down in the 4th quarter the Steelers continued to try to run the ball, and did so with a little bit of success. When they did try to throw, they showed that they were unable to do so. We made them pay with great interceptions by Tatu Niemi, and Jarno Uitto. Perttu was given our team MVP of the game, and Jani was given the game MVP. That is it for this week, we now enter our midsummer bye week sitting in 2nd place at 3-1.
Our offense moved the ball effectively all game, but we struggled inside our opponents 30 yard line. We scored once in the second quarter to move to 14-7 on a nice pass from Nesi Carpelan to Jani Heinisalo (Picture right), his first of two touchdowns on the game. After the first drive defensively we decided to switch to a 4-4 defense rather than our normal 3-4. Essentially we added a defensive lineman since the Steelers really only ran the ball in an option attack all game.
This new defense did very well, and we didn’t allow the Steelers to score again. I came in on offense a good amount mostly as a running back in the I formation. Thanks to some great blocking by our offensive like and fullback Ville Lindsten. I carried the ball 12 times for 113 yards, unfortunately none of them landed me in the endzone. I also added 6 solo and 4 assisted tackle on the defensive side of the ball.
I also did a few plays as a wildcat quarterback, and on one roll out pass I saw an open receiver about 10 yards in front of me. The ball was complete and it seemed like a great gain. Unfortunately, the player I threw it to was none other than Perttu Kontkanen, our right tackle. For those of you not familiar with the rules, that is not exactly street legal.
As time winded down in the 4th quarter the Steelers continued to try to run the ball, and did so with a little bit of success. When they did try to throw, they showed that they were unable to do so. We made them pay with great interceptions by Tatu Niemi, and Jarno Uitto. Perttu was given our team MVP of the game, and Jani was given the game MVP. That is it for this week, we now enter our midsummer bye week sitting in 2nd place at 3-1.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Ben's Third Week
In week three I am now fully in the groove of what life will be like this summer. We coach the junior team 3 times per week, and we practice four times per week. Usually these are all in the evenings, sometimes as late as 8 pm since the sun doesn’t go down until midnight. During the daytimes Matt and I usually work out at a local gym, and enjoy our homemade Finnish food at Kulma’s Monday-Friday.
This past weekend was a lot of fun besides getting our butts kicked on the football field. Following the game a few teammates came back to our apartment and we showed them ‘beer pong’ (Beirut). This was the first time these Finns had played and we whooped up on them pretty good. Then there was a private party for our team and Indians alumni at a bar. Since the Indians were celebrating the 25th anniversary of the team a lot of alumni came back to celebrate. It was fun and interesting to meet players from the past, and hear about how different the organization used to be.
On Sunday we took a trip down to the city of Kotka, which is on the coast of Finland. Our Qb Nesi has a summer cottage on an island just off the shores of the city, so we went down there for the day. It was beautiful weather, and the island was very nice. We took a ferry over, and once there we enjoyed some backyard games, and riding a four-wheeler through small trails on the island. One of the games reminded me of the game Kubb (a version of which was created by my sister Meghan and hopefully many of you have or will enjoy a game sometime), where players attempted to knock over pieces of wood in order to score points.
Looking forward to the next few weeks as we have another game this Saturday against the Kuopio Steelers. Then the following weekend is midsummer celebrations. This is the all-day, all-weekend party that happens every year on the weekend closest to June 21st. This is because the sun is out for the longest during this day, which I guess in turn means we shouldn’t be sleeping that weekend.
This past weekend was a lot of fun besides getting our butts kicked on the football field. Following the game a few teammates came back to our apartment and we showed them ‘beer pong’ (Beirut). This was the first time these Finns had played and we whooped up on them pretty good. Then there was a private party for our team and Indians alumni at a bar. Since the Indians were celebrating the 25th anniversary of the team a lot of alumni came back to celebrate. It was fun and interesting to meet players from the past, and hear about how different the organization used to be.
On Sunday we took a trip down to the city of Kotka, which is on the coast of Finland. Our Qb Nesi has a summer cottage on an island just off the shores of the city, so we went down there for the day. It was beautiful weather, and the island was very nice. We took a ferry over, and once there we enjoyed some backyard games, and riding a four-wheeler through small trails on the island. One of the games reminded me of the game Kubb (a version of which was created by my sister Meghan and hopefully many of you have or will enjoy a game sometime), where players attempted to knock over pieces of wood in order to score points.
Looking forward to the next few weeks as we have another game this Saturday against the Kuopio Steelers. Then the following weekend is midsummer celebrations. This is the all-day, all-weekend party that happens every year on the weekend closest to June 21st. This is because the sun is out for the longest during this day, which I guess in turn means we shouldn’t be sleeping that weekend.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Game Three
Our third game was a disappointing loss to the Vantaa Taft 36-6. The game started off well, we decided to try to surprise them with a little wildcat. I was playing quarterback for the first 5 or 6 plays of the drive, and we were running the ball pretty effectively, and caught them off guard with one pass. We went back to our regular offense and unfortunately failed to move the ball further than our opponents 25 in the drive. On fourth down our quarterback was hit as he was throwing causing a bad pass, which was intercepted and returned to our own 3 yard line.
Taft was able to score in just two plays with such good field position. Our offense was never truly able to move the ball deep into Taft territory for the remainder of the half. Defensively we tried to stop the bleeding, but we still went into the half down 16-0.
Defensively we were able to slow down Taft’s offense, but we couldn’t make the necessary plays on 3rd down in order to get off the field and put our offense in good position. Offensively drives were falling apart, and we were not helped by our four turnovers to their zero turnovers. Our only glimmer of hope was a 10-play 65 yard drive that ended with me running into the end zone from 1 yard out. This made the score 23-6 as we failed to make the extra point.
Taft went on to methodically score 14 more points in the 4th quarter, as we continued to be plagued by turnovers on offense. It was disappointing to see such a lopsided score as the Indians were celebrating this being its 25th season, and there were many alumni in attendance. After the game my teammate Jukka Lautamatti, (picture right) was awarded MVP of the Indians, and I was awarded MVP of the game. My personal stat line was: 45 yards rushing on 8 attempts, 1 td. Passing 2-2 for 41 yards, 5 solo tackles 1 assist, with one tackle for loss. It was interesting to see awards be given out on the field directly after the game. It wasn’t done after our game in Helsinki last week, so perhaps it is a Indians tradition.
Overall there are tons of mistakes for us to learn from if we are going to have a hope of beating this well coached Taft team. It is certainly not impossible though, and we will see them again in our last regular season game July 25th.
Taft was able to score in just two plays with such good field position. Our offense was never truly able to move the ball deep into Taft territory for the remainder of the half. Defensively we tried to stop the bleeding, but we still went into the half down 16-0.
Defensively we were able to slow down Taft’s offense, but we couldn’t make the necessary plays on 3rd down in order to get off the field and put our offense in good position. Offensively drives were falling apart, and we were not helped by our four turnovers to their zero turnovers. Our only glimmer of hope was a 10-play 65 yard drive that ended with me running into the end zone from 1 yard out. This made the score 23-6 as we failed to make the extra point.
Taft went on to methodically score 14 more points in the 4th quarter, as we continued to be plagued by turnovers on offense. It was disappointing to see such a lopsided score as the Indians were celebrating this being its 25th season, and there were many alumni in attendance. After the game my teammate Jukka Lautamatti, (picture right) was awarded MVP of the Indians, and I was awarded MVP of the game. My personal stat line was: 45 yards rushing on 8 attempts, 1 td. Passing 2-2 for 41 yards, 5 solo tackles 1 assist, with one tackle for loss. It was interesting to see awards be given out on the field directly after the game. It wasn’t done after our game in Helsinki last week, so perhaps it is a Indians tradition.
Overall there are tons of mistakes for us to learn from if we are going to have a hope of beating this well coached Taft team. It is certainly not impossible though, and we will see them again in our last regular season game July 25th.
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