Wolves 20, Titans 0

On a raw, cold, windy, rainy Friday night under the lights, the Springfield Wolves made it two wins in a row as they made the Alexandria Titans pay for two costly fumbles that led directly to 14 unanswered Wolves points, en route to a weather-shortened 20-0 win.

David's team knew that for Alexandria, this game meant the difference for their season: lose and there's no way Alexandria could go to the playoffs.  So they came in ready to match the Titans in intensity, and on a soggy, frigid night, made the Titans make mistakes that cost them the game.

At gametime, the wind out of the north was biting, the rain stepped up, and the thermometer read 42 degrees.  The first quarter ended scoreless in a defensive battle; neither team made a first down for the entire first quarter.  But with about 3:00 to go in the half, the Wolves found their rhythm and, after recovering a Titans fumble, marched downfield and Tommy Salvato ran in for the first of his three TDs on the night.  Just before the half ran out, another Wolves fumble recovery led directly to another Wolves scoring drive, and so at the half it stood 14-0.

The third quarter opened with TE David Kleppinger (0 yards on 0 receptions tonight--a poor night to try passing plays) receiving the kickoff and returning it 8 yards.  It would have been a lot more if he'd been able to scoot around the one Titans defender who brought him down.  Then, the next play from scrimmage, the Wolves ran straight up the middle, and ran for an apparent 40-yard TD, that was called back for a holding penalty.  Undaunted, the Wolves then ran the exact same play, with the exact same result--minus the penalty.  Wolves 20, Titans 0.

As the teams lined up for the extra point, the referees consulted with both coaches, and informed us that Alexandria wished to resign, that their players were too cold and were getting too banged up to play.  The refs then stopped the game--an unusual move, but given the ages of the kids involved, and how the rest of the half was likely to go given the Wolves' sudden successes, it's certainly understandable.

Springfield now is 4-1 and has two underwhelming teams to play in the regular season schedule: Southwestern (1-3 headed into this weekend vs #1 McLean), and Fairfax (0-4, playing the second-place Chantilly Chargers).  If the Wolves win both, they would be in a strong position to go into the playoffs based on the points system used in the standings.