Johnny Bravo Ultimate

Johnny Bravo advanced to the Southwest Regionals tournament on Sunday. The weather was bright and sunny with temperatures in the upper 70s-lower 80s. The wind picked up in the afternoon to make the temperature more bearable. Bravo was playing without S. Rouisse, J. Grobe, E. Pollack and J. Juszak. K. Doege and A. Mangan both had limited playing time due to injuries.

Game 1 – Inception Red
Inception Red is Inception’s development team with some young college players and recent college graduates. Bravo jumped out to an early lead as Inception Red had difficulty maintaining possession under pressure. Bravo wins 15-3.

Game 2 – No Name
No Name is one of two Colorado masters teams that elected to attend the club open sectionals event. No Name had difficulty connecting on their deep shots as Bravo defenders quickly made up lost ground to force turns and generate conversions. Bravo wins 15-5.

Game 3 – Inception
Inception is another Denver based club team and they’ve quickly developed into a talented team. Bravo broke first to take an early lead but Inception broke right back and we traded points until Inception broke twice to take half 8-6. Inception’s attack was led by Mike Kapoor and Andy Priester, who both played exceptionally well under pressure. Both Peter Gee and Alex Sapunov had some great hucks for goals. Bravo made some halftime adjustments and rattled off four breaks in a row to retake the lead 10-8 before Inception scored again to make it 10-9 Bravo. Bravo broke again but Inception fought back towards the end and the game ended on soft cap 13-11 Bravo.

Game 4 – Air Force
The last game of Saturday was against Air Force. The young college team was coming off a universe point loss to No Name. Bravo and Air Force traded to 1s before Bravo rolled to a 15-2 victory. Air Force struggled to move the disc past half without turning it over and their defense could not seem to force any turnovers.

Game 5 – Bravo, John, Esq.
This team is comprised of many former Johnny Bravo players who are now competing in the masters division. (Many of them also played with Boulder Gun Club this summer, taking runner up in the Grand Master’s Championship.) Bravo, John, Esq used a combination of savvy veteran moves and hustle to keep the score close before Johnny Bravo eventually pulled away to a 15-9 win.

Game 6 – Colorado College
Colorado College brought a small squad up on the second day. Colorado College had lost to Air Force and all the other teams so it was to our surprise that they traded with us in the first half. Most of their goals came from long hucks to #21 (Dan Eppstein?). Bravo took half 8-4 and made some adjustments to put an end to CC’s huck game. CC would score just one point in the second half as Bravo rolled to a 15-5 victory.

FINALS v. Inception
The finals were a rematch from Saturday’s close 13-11 game. The mixed division finals had just wrapped up (exciting come from behind win for Musteno) and the men’s finals had a small crowd as players trickled in to watch Bravo and Inception duke it out again. Bravo came out with much more fire and intensity than on Saturday that seemed to catch Inception off guard. Inception’s hucks trailed away in the wind and Bravo was able to work it in to gain an 8-4 lead. Bravo continued to play tough defense out of the half and forced Inception to throw turnovers on sideline traps and redzone sets. Things just seemed to be going Bravo’s way after Inception failed to convert a dropped pull in the endzone. Bravo allowed just two points in the second half as the team finished on a break to win 15-6.

Weekend Highlights:
Berti(s)
Gloves (J. Ackley, D. Belsheim, C. Bishop, J. Cohee, R. Farrell, A. Gregerson, J. Kloor, E. Padget)
Bar Louie

Bravo's run to the national championship begins this weekend with the 2011 sectionals qualifying tournament at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.  Scores will be posted here.  We'll also be tweeting throughout the weekend.

Bravo looks forward to good matches against Denver based Inception and the Bravo master's team Bravo, John, Esq. The top six teams qualify for the southwest regional tournament in two weeks.

Bravo returns from another successful camping trip…

Bravo rafting down the Colorado River

The storm is just beginning...

Wood up, stay high!

Top Row: Perl, Salvia, Kershner, Westbrook, Forshee, Krier, Richels, Juszak, Doege, Kloor, Mickle, Cohee, White, Rouisse, Gregersen, Padget Bottom Row: McShane, Mangan, Durst, Ackley, Grobe, Belsheim, Hughes, Pollack, Bishop

Game 1 – Doublewide (Austin)

We started out the day with a game against Doublewide. We came out with a lot of energy and we were able to get some defensive stops on Doublewide’s hucks, something we were unable to do at Colorado Cup.  Our offense played really well and didn’t have too many unforced errors. We pulled away at the end to win 13-8, but the win came with a bad loss.  An opposing player collided with Austin Gangel, which put him out for the season.

Game 2 – Sockeye (Seattle)

This was another high energy game which was very tight until the end.  Sockeye got the early break and kept a 1-2 point lead throughout.  Sockeye did a good job of controlling the tempo of the game (slowing the game down) and by bringing more energy on the sidelines.   Bravo was able to break back and was even on the verge of tying the game at 9s until Bravo forced a throw in the red zone and Sockeye converted to go up 10-8.  Hardcap sounded and Sockeye broke downwind to end the game 11-8.

Game 3 – Rhino (Portland)

Our last game of the day was against Rhino.  Rhino played a very conservative offense, different from what they’ve done in the past.  They also ran a pretty tight rotation with Seth Wiggins, Cody Bjorkland and Dylan Freechild  beating us on in-cuts consistently in the first half.  A timeout after the first couple of breaks did nothing to fire the team up, and Bravo went down 8-3 at halftime.   The second half saw some improvement with some actual defensive blocks and better positioning as we clawed back in the second half.  Rhino won 14-12 and would go on to take first in the pool by beating Sockeye.

Game 4 – PoNY (New York)

PoNY got the first two breaks of the game and both teams seemed to struggle on offense.  Bravo would score 2 breaks back only to get broken twice more as the lead seesawed back and forth.  PoNY took half and the teams continued to trade.  Bravo’s offense looked very stagnant as downfield receivers were looked off and handlers struggled to break the mark or dump and swing.  This gave PoNY the disc on Bravo’s own goal line about four times, which seemed to be the difference in the game.  PoNY definitely played as the better team and went on to win 13-11.

Game 5 – Cash Crop (Triangle Area)

Bravo hadn’t played Cash Crop before but we knew they beat Ring of Fire a week earlier so we were expecting another tight game.  Cash Crop seemed to favor a huck game, which didn’t work out for them as many of the throws were well under their target or out of bounds.   Our defense did a better job of converting on turns, but we still weren’t flowing on offense.  Bravo won 15-8.

Game 6 – Voodoo (Seattle)

Our last game of the tournament was against Voodoo.  We played down on the smaller lower fields which limited our ability to stretch the field.  Voodoo hung in the game until the end of the first half, where Bravo pulled away.  Voodoo didn’t give up though, fighting back from a 14-8 deficit to score three straight points before finally falling 15-11.  Not a good way to end the tournament.

Summary:

Bravo had flashes of brilliance but ultimately did not achieve success because the team lacked a consistent offense.  Bravo’s red zone offense in particular needs the most work.