The Rematch

The long-awaited rematch with the Family (formerly known as the Swingers) took place on Sunday. The Family are notorious for talking trash, although I personally would take that over the passive-aggressive bush league tactics of some of the hipster teams we've faced.

The Commas were missing quarterback Dayne and defensive guru Daniel to "injury" (a.k.a. vacation). To compensate, Elyse stepped in admirably at QB, while Michelle recruited her sister's boyfriend Matt to add some additional help to the lineup.

Surprisingly, the game started as a genuine defensive battle, with both offenses bogging down and the score remaining stuck at 0-0 for several drives. The Family finally scored but failed to convert the extra point. On the very next play, Oxford was able to connect on a deep touchdown to Brian. Jon "The Baron" followed that up with a tough conversion catch to make the score 7-6, but the lead would not last long, as the Family was able to score before halftime. The Commas attempted a deep pass with time expiring, but it was thwarted when several Family members collided with Iain on what the ref described as "incidental contact". Iain was out for the rest of the game. We're told that Katie wants to kick some ass over this.

To start the second half, the Family decided to go for it on fourth and long in their own territory. When they failed to get the first down, Oxford took advantage. It took about ten plays and several disputed calls to move a mere fifteen yards, but Oxford finally managed to retake the lead with a touchdown pass to Brian.

What happened next is a blur to me. Using their super-fast receivers, the Family scored two unanswered touchdowns. The Commas had one last big drive that ended on the Family one-yard line. When it appeared that Oxford had scored on a QB sneak, it turned out that the league rules prohibit any kind of jumping or diving, which pushed the team back a few yards. On the very next play, the Commas failed to complete a pass, and turned the ball over. From then on, Oxford was reduced to throwing desperation passes to score quickly, while the Family ate up the clock. Thanks to a last second touchdown to pad their lead (yes, we faced yet another team that went for it with the game out of reach), the Family prevailed 38-13.

There was some good news, however. The Black Sheep pub had "life-sized" Jenga, i.e. the blocks are actual pieces of wood. Watching one of those towers fall is pretty friggin' cool.

Special thanks to the injured Iain, who provided the highlights below:

The Family goes for it on fourth and long, but turn the ball over on downs. Elyse lofts a pass into the endzone, but the Commas come up empty.



On a disputed call, Brian snags a hard pass in the corner of the endzone. The Family claimed that his feet were in the endzone, but that the ball was not. The video shows otherwise.




Matt reaches for a batted ball on the conversion, but it drops out of bounds.



Elyse makes it look easy.



The Family used some choice four-letter words after Elyse caught another pass over the middle.



A deep throw to Brian salvages a drive that was mired in Oxford territory.



Brian gets to the one-inch line.



Another disputed call, this time involving a lunge into the endzone. ZogSports declares that a player shall not jump or dive to gain yardage, so the touchdown was nullified.



The Commas' last shot at keeping the game close ends with a long scramble and an incomplete pass.