Sharks Bite

Football in America is the king of sports,
A game of speed and strategy, finesse and force.
From high school to pro, fierce rivalries grow
Fans add fanaticism to a majestic gridiron show.

At the westernmost reaches of America’s dream
Lay two islands, each with their own football team.
Seven times, Saipan and Guam vied on the field.
Seven times, Guam’s superiority was revealed.

The Marianas Bowl overflowed with wins by guam
Who won every which way, including the bomb.
One game was eighty to zip, sorry to say, it was.
Six-Seven-Oh could not win. Why? Just because.

The day, may 26, the year 2018.
The sun burned airport field mean.
The heat index hit 109, highest of the year.
Fans didn’t care, they came out to cheer.

Guam took the opening kickoff and fumbled.
The Sharks defense held as the visitors stumbled.
Saipan’s first drive looked promising, Norita to Jones
As they advanced the pigskin between the cones.

The players clashed, bodies smashed and heads bashed.
Unfortunately for the Sharks, their first drive crashed.
Guam’s offense wanted to go long.
Too bad for them, they threw to Taitingfong.

The first quarter ended in a tie with no score.
The squads sweat buckets but wanted more.
The second period started out quite well
For the winless team, that we could tell.

Fitial was a big hit for the Sharks offense.
The passing attack was making sense.
So did handing off to Toilolo.
Down the field – go, go, go.

Sharks break the goose egg on the board
On a pass to Jones, that’s how we scored.
Not done, on third and forty-one
Hartzel came up huge, we weren’t done.

Before the halftime clock could expire
The sharks scored again, we were on fire.
Kaipat’s conversion made it twenty-zip.
First time Guam was having a bad trip.

Third quarter, Toilolo was a vicious ball carrier
Sixty-three yards, knocking down every barrier.
Guam responded with their deepest drive.
Alvarez led the visitors inside the five.

With the shutout threatened the D stood tall.
Standish, Grow and all made a formidable wall.
Guam never did score that fateful day
This time the cnmi boys came to play.

The losing streak finally came to an end.
Celebration lasted all memorial day weekend.
The beautiful Marianas bowl stayed on Saipan.
For the sharks, that was always the game plan.

The final tally was twenty-six to nothing.
That victory for this team was really something.
This was our whole season too, you know.
Yeah, CNMI, we won one in a row!

Bob Coldeen (Special to the Saipan Tribune)
Bob Coldeen is a longtime TV journalist in the CNMI and is news director/reporter of KSPN 2.