Week 11, 2003

Hobart, IN: Three weeks after the HSFL experienced its lowest player turnout of the season, the league decided to make a change, at least temporarily. Unhappy with his role in Team 2's offense, Ryan Geib requested permission to form his own team for Week 11. After receiving clearance from the Executive Board, Geib, along with John Allendorf began recruiting. What was seen as a potential rematch of the infamous "Fuller Bowl" game from 2001 did not turn out quite as it was planned. They managed to get Bryan Fuller back for the first time since 2001, but he was the only returning player from that team. Executive Board member Jeff Renn was reportedly very hesitant about playing the game with these particular teams, but ultimately, he allowed the game to go on as scheduled.

The second-half started out much the same as the first had ended, with the Veterans' offense looking unstoppable. After scoring on their first four possessions of the second-half, the Young Stars finally managed to achieve a defensive stand with the score sitting at 10-6. It appeared as though the Veterans' focus was lost, and after a botched lateral on a kick-off return, the Young Stars managed to climb back to within one at 10-9. The Veterans quickly rebounded at scored on their next two drives to take a relatively easy 12-9 victory.

In one of the most dominating performances in league history, the Veterans' offense was almost unstoppable. Led by Pro Bowl quarterback Bob Glover, the Veterans were only stopped once the entire game, and cruised to victory. Glover was virtually flawless, playing by far his best game of the year. He threw for 10 touchdowns, no interceptions, and also ran in another score. Surprisingly, he was also asked by Defensive Coordinator Mike Arana to start on the defensive side of the ball, and contributed there as well, intercepting a pass and recording his first career sack. After missing the last two games, Matt Lams made his return in Week 11. Lams scored 3 touchdowns in his return, and did an excellent job of containing Fuller. The Veterans' offense was more balanced than usual with Jeff Renn coming out of the backfield. Although Renn did not carry the ball near as many times as he normally does in the course of a game, he did catch more passes than usual, and scored 2 touchdowns to tack on to his league leading total. Justin Sawicki showed that he can thrive in a pass-oriented offense. Sawicki scored two touchdowns and caught several other big passes, while not dropping one ball all game. He also had an interception on defense. Mike Arana played one of his best games of the season on defense. Whispers had begun that Arana had lost a step, but that kind of thing has followed Mike around for the last couple years and Sunday, he showed that he can still be a force. He provided intense pressure on the John Allendorf all game, forcing him to make several bad throws. Arana recorded two sacks, and added a touchdown catch in his limited offensive role. Coming off his best game of the season, Chris Hott had another strong effort in Week 11. Hott played excellent defense as always, and showed that his reputation as a bad offensive player might be one that he can shed. Hott caught two touchdowns, including one high light caliber grab that amazed everyone on the field. John Berlin was used sparingly for the Veterans, but he did do a good job as the kicker, and made a solid contribution on offense in his limited playing time. Berlin caught the game-winning touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone and managed to keep both feet in bounds for the win.

Bryan Fuller made his return to the HSFL for the first time since that game in 2001. Fuller showed that he is still a dominant force on offense. He was the primary weapon going into the game for the Young Stars, and everybody knew it, but there still was no way of totally stopping him. Fuller carried the offensive load for his team as expected and scored 3 touchdowns in his return. Playing in just his second game of the year, John Allendorf got his first career start at quarterback. He played very well, considering it was his first start, as he threw for 4 touchdowns, despite the intense pressure he was under all game. He also scored 2 more times to cap off a solid return. Week 11 was supposed to be a chance for Ryan Geib to prove that he is the most underrated player in the league. That meant that Geib would have to have a huge week to help his young team to victory. Although the Young Stars lost, Geib still played very well. He was not the liability in pass coverage that some people thought he would be, and he made several tackles on defense. On offense, Geib had to be his team's second option, a role he is not used to filling, but one he felt he could handle. Geib scored 2 touchdowns and made several fine catches, in addition to throwing for 2 more touchdowns. After making his HSFL debut in the Snow Bowl that followed the 2001 season, Mike Cawley finally played his second game in the HSFL this weekend. Cawley played fairly well, but not near as well as many people had expected he would. He did score his first HSFL touchdown, but he also dropped several passes and was a relative non factor on offense. Perhaps the most intriguing player to play this week was Billy Crew. Despite being just a freshman in high school, Geib insisted that Crew could handle playing in the HSFL. Billy failed to embarass himself like many people thought he would. He made his fair share of tackles on the defensive side of the ball, and although his offensive role was limited to primarily blocking, he did make a nice touchdown catch off of a tipped pass.