Plaids Clash at Marian Vs. Duchesne Football Game
by Brenna Egan
Yes, the team will admit that they were a tad bit clueless in the football category (Duchesne forfeited a coach over to Marian to attempt to lead the chaos), but this loss cannot be attributed to a lack of gusto by the players. "I could not even believe how sore I was, I had to pull one whole side of my body over to get out of bed," senior player Erin Millea complained.
Actually, the loss can be blamed on lack of organization by Marian. We had exactly 11 senior players: Katie Beller, Erin Carlin, Erin Carmody, Mickey Dice, Brenna Egan, Maggie Greenwood, Kelley Irvine, Erin Millea, Katie Niemann, Beth Placek, Jill Peitzmeier, along with almost 11 fans. The list of players was thrown together the day before the game, and the only actual planning was a practice that consisted of a few plays right before the game that were forgotten by most, and the crucial decision of whether to wear tutus or not.
This was in contrast to Duchesne's entire senior class adorned in coordinated football uniforms, and very close to their whole student body in attendance. True, these advantages may be minor, but when Marian's players' lungs were popping out of their throats after one half, Duchesne was obviously advantageous. "It seemed like every five seconds they changed their teams," said senior Suzanne Stryker. It was also said that Duchesne held multiple practices, and planned specific plays. "Mr. Kenny, our coach, made a play book with a bunch of x's, o's, lines, and arrows. At first I didn't understand it, but after we ran the plays it was pretty cool to actually know what we were doing," Duchesne senior Alison Zeilinger said.
This may be a misconception, but it seemed as if our Crusaders were not quite as serious about the game as Duchesne's Cardinals. The game actually capped off Duchesne's entire first ever homecoming week, so their spirit soared much like ours at the commencement of Gnimocemoh. "There were more people teachers, students, and families at our homecoming game than at regular season Varsity games. Our spirit was just through the roof," Zeilinger commented.
Actual excitement was first shown when rumors of the game were confirmed the day before the game, and Duchesne team members risked coming to what they called the "bowels of north Omaha" to challenge us. Marian was filled with trash talking and flexing of muscles that day, but most of it wasn't backed up by fans at the actual game because the announcement was so tardy. Lisa Cuttle would have been there if she had known about it earlier because she needed to request the day off of work. "All of us would've been a lot better prepared, and probably played a lot better with the moral support of a crowd. I think it could be a huge event even in Omaha, especially if it was more like we were the team playing Duchesne and not the football being kicked around," she said.
This did not detriment Marian's playing, though. "Despite our lack of fans, we found spirit within ourselves, and by the end of the end of the game we ended up kicking some booty!" senior Katie Niemann said. In fact, Duchesne didn't score the whole second half due to our exquisite blockers, Tina Marcuzzo and Beth Placek!
Many wondered whether this game would stick to just pulling flags and not beastly tackles, but for the most part the girls kept their cool. Erin Carmody was one of the few girls who enjoyed the tackling. "It was a different experience. The whole fact that some of us tackled even though we weren't supposed to was what made it fun!" she said. At the end of the game, Duchesne thanked us for being there, and both sides showed true sportsmanship.
This game could have been a start to a new tradition. Duchesne plans on inviting Marian again next year. Zeilinger is already excited. "Hopefully next year Marian's and maybe even Prep's homecoming spirit will rise to the same level as Duchesne's, and it can be a really big event-maybe bigger than Prep's homecoming!"