Friday, January 18, 2013

Jerry World State Champs, Game 2...

1221_ABLO_Stamford_FRONT
So, for the second and final game of the area teams' state championships Stamford was playing Mart in the Class 1A Div. I championship game. Of all the games involving area teams this was going to be the toughest and probably the best game, and boy did it ever live up to its expectations. Mart opened up the game swinging for the fences, throwing deep and scoring on the first play from scrimmage. After that Stamford marched the ball down the field methodically and scored to tie it up.
1221_ABSP_StamfordvsMart3
Things went back and forth. Then Mart started taking over building a big lead. It looked like Stamford just wasn't going to be able to do it and was going to come up short of a title again for the second year in a row. In the second half though, Stamford's QB, Hagen Hutchinson took the game over on both sides of the ball. It was an incredible effort by someone who just wasn't going to give anything up. Stamford ended up taking the lead for good with just over 30 seconds left in the game, with a great touchdown by Hutchinson just powering his way through defenders for a touchdown. Then on Mart's final drive he sealed the game with an interception as time expired. It was a really great effort by someone who literally left everything on the field. During the scrum after the game you could see him just leaning on his teammates, completely spent. It was one of the best state championship games I've seen. And, close games like these always make for nice photos.
1221_ABSP_StamfordvsMart0390

1221_ABSP_StamfordvsMart0974

1221_ABSP_StamfordvsMart5

1221_ABSP_StamfordvsMart2

1221_ABSP_StamfordvsMart0726

1221_ABSP_StamfordvsMart0485

1221_ABSP_StamfordvsMart0135

1221_ABSP_StamfordvsMart0023a

1221_ABSP_StamfordvsMart6

1221_ABSP_StamfordvsMart1196

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Remembering Newtown...

1220_ABLO_NS_RoseParkVigil
Ok, I'm a little out of order on this one... that's what happens when you're over a month behind, you lose track of things. Anyway, before leaving for Arlington to shoot state football I had to shoot a candlelight vigil at Rose Park to commemorate the shootings in Newtown Conn. The idea was good and meant well, there was supposed to be a candlelight vigil and a balloon launch. However, a cold front literally started blowing in at the start of the event and things, well, let's just say things didn't turn out quite as they were expected. The other problem was, the area that they were in, in the park has pretty much no light! But, I was able to manage that, just by using the VR on my 70-200mm lens and holding very still and using a very high ISO. So, that part went ok. The candlelight, pretty much just didn't work, the wind was blowing so hard the candles didn't stay lit. Then the balloon launch, I actually made a photo I liked before they let them go. However, after they were launched the wind sucked them right away and into a nearby tree popping the balloons. Despite all those issues it was a really nice event and made for some nice photos.
1220_ABLO_NS_RoseParkVigil2

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Jerry World State Champs, Game 1...

1221_ABSP_MundayvsTenaha1
Now that I'm nearly a month behind... Munday played Teneha in the Class 1A Div. II state championship game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. It was a rematch of last year's state championship. Last year Teneha won the game pretty easily, however, most of their best players had graduated while the majority of Munday's starters were returning. Teneha was loaded with underclassmen and had lost 4 of their first 5 games of the season, but had started playing a lot better since. Munday on the other hand had pretty much been beating every team they played, and beating them convincingly.
1221_ABSP_MundayvsTenaha4
This game opened up a lot like every one of Munday's other wins of the year, with the Moguls jumping out to a quick lead and showing the superior speed they had and not letting up. The defense was looking good too and it was obvious the results this year were going to be a lot different than last year. Both the offense and defense were looking great and Munday ended up winning 42-14. After watching most of our local teams lose in the state championship games last year it was nice to see things turns around this year with the third local team to win and one more game left.
1221_ABSP_MundayvsTenaha0388

1221_ABSP_MundayvsTenaha3

1221_ABSP_MundayvsTenaha8

1221_ABSP_MundayvsTenaha0245

1221_ABSP_MundayvsTenaha9

1221_ABSP_MundayvsTenaha2

1221_ABSP_MundayvsTenaha0936

1221_ABSP_MundayvsTenaha0786

1221_ABSP_MundayvsTenaha0078

1221_ABSP_MundayvsTenaha5

1221_ABLO_Munday_FRONT

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Fan of the Year?...

1216RSvsFollett0059
The first game of the six-man football doubleheader I was shooting was Richland Springs playing Follett. Neither one of these teams are area teams. I was really only shooting it because it was a state championship game being played locally. Also I had to shoot a fan feature for a news story we were doing about the two games. It was just going to be easier to get photos shot from the afternoon game than to worry about pushing deadline with the later game.
1216_ABLO_RSvsFollett1
The nice thing about shooting a game like this is I only really need one shot from the game and can concentrate on all of the other things going on like watching the crowd. Obviously when I walked on the field I could almost immediately tell who I would be shooting for the crowd story. When you see an old lady with a white and blue mohawk on and her face painted blue, you just can't ignore it! And since, I only really needed one action shot from the game I spent most of my time focusing on Ms. Superfan. The shot at the top was easily my favorite and I thought it captured the pure passion and fanaticism of many high school football fans in west Texas. It is not the photo we used for the news story though, I used a different photo of her that showed the crowd better as well.
1216_ABSP_RSvsFollett0390
After spending most of the first quarter shooting fans shots I decided to spend the rest of my time shooting the game. I love games like this since there is no pressure to shoot just one team or the other and I don't have a lot to worry about. I can take more chances and shoot from positions that may not be ideal because if I miss a shot or three it's not as big of a deal. I really only needed one shot for sports, if I had time or enough photos to do a slideshow that's just extra but there are no expectations. I ended up getting few nice photos plus my new favorite fan actually ended up making a nice gallery.
1216_ABSP_RSvsFollett0559

1216_ABSP_RSvsFollett0367

1216_ABSP_RSvsFollett0430

1216_ABSP_RSvsFollett0394

1216_ABSP_RSvsFollett0270

1216_ABSP_RSvsFollett4

1216_ABSP_RSvsFollett3

1216_ABSP_RSvsFollett0482

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Another State Champ...

1216_ABSP_ThrockvsAbbott2
After getting in late from Arlington I covered the six-man state championship doubleheader. The night cap was the more important game for us, Throckmorton playing Abbott in a rematch of last year's state semifinal in Throckmorton's run to the state title. This year was a little different from last year, Throckmorton wasn't supposed to make it this far. But, after the beat-down they put on a very good Water Valley team a couple of weeks ago the Greyhounds were certainly playing like the defending state champions.
1216_ABSP_ThrockvsAbbott1
Having seen this team play three times already this year, I didn't have a lot of doubt that they would win the game. It was just going to be a question of whether they would 45 Abbott or not. The mercy rule win didn't happen but it was close with Throckmorton winning 72-30. Abbott, though, did come out looking tough and it looked for a little while like it may be a dog fight. But, Throckmorton's passing offense just couldn't be stopped. The Greyhounds were just throwing the ball at will and weren't going to be denied their second straight championship.
1216_ABSP_ThrockvsAbbott6

1216_ABSP_ThrockvsAbbott0434

1216_ABSP_ThrockvsAbbott3

1216_ABSP_ThrockvsAbbott0677

1216_ABSP_ThrockvsAbbott5