Dusty fields and blustery winds in middle-of-nowhere Stevinson set the stage for Tide’s clash with the top.

Saturday

The dust can’t settle on the driest, dustiest fields in the all of the Southwest. That’s where the Tide found themselves, back in Stevinson, CA, on a brisk Saturday morning, seeded third in their pool with games slated against Washington, USC, and Grand Canyon University.

Tide started slow against UW’s Sundodgers, going down early 0-2 to begin the game. The O-line, led by captains Xavier, Barry, and Jason, wouldn’t be fazed though, as they immediately worked it up the field with chilly O to pull the Tide back into the game. While the O continued to hold, the Defense attempted to strike back a strong Washington offense. UW would remain unphased, however, as they took half at 4-7. That trend would continue on into the second half, as their offense remained calm and their tenacious defense attacked at Tide’s weak spots, and UW would go on to take the first game, 13-8.

Despite the loss, the Tide kept looking forward to their next game, wanting revenge after a loss against USC back at Pres’ Day. More chilly offense kept the Tide in the game, and despite the intense aggressiveness of the D, we were unable to convert any of our D’s to a break. Eventually, a miscommunication caused USC to strike, and without enough time to strike back, Tide lost another one to USC, 13-10.

For their last game against GCU, the wind had picked up enough to be a factor for zones to significantly slow the pace of the game down. Trades against zones back and forth continued point after point until GCU takes half at 4-5 (due to halftime cap). That would be the story of the whole game, as hard cap went off and Tide, yet again, didn’t have a chance to punch back, and they fell for the third time today 7-6. Frustrated, but undeterred, the Tide would push into Sunday looking to dominate the consolation pool.

Sunday

Four games in store for Tide in the consolation pool, which filled up as teams dropped from the Championship bracket. Sunday started off bright and early at 8:00 AM against University of Texas, Dallas. Looking for a more team-building focused day, Tide worked on keeping spirits high by generating new cheers and getting hype on athletic plays no matter what was thrown at them. A 10-8 win to start off against Dallas kept them up against their rematch against a Stanford team bloodthirsty for revenge. Despite the hype and the fight, looser lines resulted in losses against both rematches against Stanford (13-8) and GCU (10-7), but Tide would end the weekend clutching out a win against Santa Clara SCAB (10-9).

Spirits remained high despite the weekend’s record (probably cause they could finally get the hell out of Stevinson), and Tide expects to show up at Centex in two weeks with renewed vigor, new cheers, and more athleticism.