Pictures by Dave Ellrod            

(www.ellrodimages.com)            

This story carries with it four chapters.            

Chapter 1 – The Pride of Orange County;            

22 brave souls took the field this Saturday Night wearing a blue interlocking “OC” on their worn tired helmets.  It was a classic David vs. Goliath; Good vs. Evil; a selected few vs. many who are strong.  Fortunately for the San Diego Enforcers, this one didn’t end up with a rock in the middle of their forehead.  The valiant effort given by the LAWMEN is awkwardly the story of the night.  Awkwardly because this writer wears the RED and BLACK, but found himself in admiration for the ORANGE COUNTY WHITE and BLUE.         

The LAWMEN in years past have had a hard-nosed tradition of punching you in the mouth and helping you back up afterward only to punch you again.  They were the team every NPSFL organization should mirror themselves after; if the mind-set of old school commradery was still in tact.  Today, the league knows itself as the have’s and the have not’s.  Your FDNY Bravest, LAPD Centurions, YOUR SAN DIEGO ENFORCERS; and then you have a struggling       

Tampa Bay Sentinal, a lonely California Blue Knight and your aging Huston Gunner.   It’s a time of change, where the League has never been hotter; quality of football better, funding for charities higher, but the price paid is the slowing of beers poured and hands losing their grip of a hardy handshake after a hard-fought contest.  Those days of years past BELONG to these Orange County LAWMEN.  The gun slingers with a never say die attitude.  The honor of wearing a proud badge and holding a battle tested helmet.  These were the men that were here today, their own jersey’s with different text and numbering than the other LAWMEN.  One wearing the only helmet he could find; a RED and BLACK one, simply because he wanted to take the field with his brothers.  I question if the #5 Bradley jersey he wore was his own, but those were the kind of things that didn’t matter.  Not today.  The once proud, ‘PUNCH you in the MOUTH’ LAWMEN tea…(a quick retraction)…BAND OF BROTHERS, stood side by side versus a monstrous ENFORCER SQUAD that isn’t accustomed to TAKING PRISONERS.  It was the Orange County LAWMEN’S turn to take it on the chin.        

A four play touchdown given up on the first series, a defensive fumble recovery turned in for ANOTHER touchdown, a punt which remained the offensive highlight of the half, then a marching of the UNSTOPPABLE ENFORCER OFFENSE for a third touchdown in only ten minutes of the first quarter.  The face of Orange County had been bloodied and already started to show bruises…a towel had to be thrown in.  But a towel you would not see.  Instead these LAWMEN re-grouped, asked for a leveling of the playing field (a running clock) and re-buckled their chin straps to remind the league that even with a fraction of their squad, they were still THE LAWMEN.  The bleeding slowed, and the WHITE and BLUE started to show their true colors.  A few completions down the field started to make the ENFORCERS a little nervous.  A conversion of a fake punt had that familiar ORANGE COUNTY ‘PUNCH’ feel to it.  And though their momentum wasn’t enough to produce points, it was enough to get the ENFORCERS attention.  The half ended with a decisive 28-0 victory.  One all too simular to the 35-0 beat down suffered last year.  Except this first half beating was different. The circumstances were different.        

This group of LAWMEN had a chip on their shoulder.  SOMETHING TO PROVE.  The first half was not ideal, but it did produce thoughts of success;  That if, as this BAND OF BROTHERS, unite, they could PUNCH their opponents again.  Chomping at the bit, these LAWMEN could not wait for the second half.  Set with a new bag of tricks, the LAWMEN FOUGHT, slowing the UNSTOPPABLE ENFORCER OFFENSE and moving against THE IMMOVABLE DARKSIDE DEFENSE.  Momentum was quietly putting on a WHITE jersey.  In the second half the ORANGE COUNTY LAWMEN held the ENFORCERS to only two touchdowns, while the NEVER QUIT LAWMEN OFFENSE produced the first points against the DARKSIDE DEFENSE in two games.  The moral victory was punctuated with a gutsy two point conversion.  The story of the night was not so much an ENFORCER victory as it was a tribute the GREAT LAWMEN of years past.  THE FAMED LAWMEN CHARACTER, HEART, and DESIRE will never be beaten on or off the football field.  Their heads will always be held high, and the Citizens of Orange County will always be in the hands of these HONORABLE BAND OF BROTHERS.