What a game this week. Truly the most nail-biting game that the Catties have had this season thus far. Having successfully converted the Pick Em’s crowd over to our side (except for members of our own team of course), we prepared to face for the very first time the Dragonflies, led that day by the fearless Asa (RIP Devon, who failed to attend).
After scoring on our first possession, we proceeded to break them twice, eventually gaining a 3-1 lead. It was at that moment that I committed the gravest sin of Ultimate: I said to myself, we got this in the bag, no sweat, easy mode. I oh-so-conveniently forgot that the Dragonflies had hung tight on the rears of the Dump Beetles and the Cutterflies, only losing by 1 and 3 points. This was not a team to take lightly
Well, boy did I pay for my momentary hubris. Despite missing a good chunk of their team, the D’flies did not let that drag them down (pun intended). True to the scaly lizard that is their namesake, they rallied with fiery spirit, breaking us twice and keeping the pressure on well into the second half. Whereas in our first two games we managed to pull away after half, the D-flies kept it neck and neck until it was tied up at 11s. We scored our on-serve point, forced a turn on our own goal line (*wipes sweat off brow*), and then worked it back up the right sideline, culminating in a big gain by Nathan who was able to slide it around Aaron and into the waiting hands of Jiggins to go up by a break.
As if that wasn’t a huge moment in the game, the final point was the archetype of chilliness made physical. The Ultimate gods laid their blessing on the hands of TK, Steven, Oster, and the rest of the line, reminding them that they truly did not have purpose in life outside of completing 86 (yes you read right 86!!!)* passes to get the disc to the other side of the field to win the game. Tensions rose as they inched tiny pass by tiny pass up the field until eventually putting it in for the win. The children cried, the animals (well, Harry) howled, and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief that they could finally stop holding the stress of watching this long-ass final point in their bodies. We all witnessed a miracle that day (or maybe it was just me, and I’m just really easily impressed XD).
There were too many amazing moments in this game to list off individually, but the ones that immediately come to mind were from all the Caterpillar handlers this game, who not only had to move things past a zone, but a zone with KJ as the mark, a man well known for having the wingspan of a Mariner’s albatross. Smart throws and mad patience were what got us through. As for our cutters, we again had a wide spread of scorers, with Oster, Zach, Alison, Andrew, Brad, Jacob, Jiggins, and myself all on the board.
If anything (perhaps sacrilege to say), most of my memories of that game are the Dragonflies doing dope shhh(self-censored). KJ had a truly magnificent bid for a late game score, truly one of the best of the season so far (I keep telling people he’s way too young for this, he should be out playing around the world, not kickin it with scrubs like us). Not to be outdone, Aaron basically said, “Hold my beer”, proceeding to scoop up a full extension bid off of a stall-9 Evan O’Neill punt, then smoothly put it in for the score. The whole sideline went absolutely bonkers. Between the bid bros and crisp, clockwork cutting and scoring by Ani, Jacoby and Jack (stellar job y’all!!), there’s not much room in my brain for our own exploits (sans the first two paragraphs of course). And yet, what sticks in my mind is the sheer determination of the aforementioned fearless leader of D’flies: Asa, who not once, not twice, but three times challenged me for a floaty disc, expertly holding her space while making me employ every inch of God-given lankiness to come down with it. If I weren’t taller than any one person has a right to be, it would have been a very different story.
All in all, this was a game that made us work for our win. Even lacking many strong players, the Dragonflies clearly give it their all. I both eagerly await and tremble at the idea of playing them at full strength. Until we meet again Dragonflies! May teams whose resolves are not rock solid beware, these Dragonflies will drag you ‘cross our weedy fields.
*This pass count has been confirmed by Skool, certified member of the much-revered CUP (Counting Ultimate Passes) organization.