Boston fall to Axemen on a Sunday

At 2pm on Saturday afternoon the Axemen got a call that the plane the Boston 13s team was traveling on had mechanical issues and was going to be delayed on a connection in Charlotte, NC. The initial thought was to push the kick off time back 30 minutes to allow them a little extra pre-game time, until the 3pm call came in that the plane was not able to be repaired and the next flight would not arrive into Jacksonville until 9.30pm.

Boston came to battle hard with the Axemen

Faced with the fact of knowing that hundreds of fans were on their way to Hodges Stadium in less than 2 hours, the Axemen stated making calls to the best players from their reserved grade teams and formed an ALL STAR team that would take on the Axemen at 5pm. With Axemen coach Spinner Howland also lacing on the boots for the minor league team, a great show was on display for the crowd with both teams playing as if their roster spots depended on it. The game itself was a great success with some players really showing they are pushing for the top squad and one playing his way onto the Axemen team who will travel to play the Oneida FC this weekend.

As the night wore on, the delay for the Boston team was then increased due to weather and the players did not land in Jacksonville until midnight. The Axemen ensured that transport was waiting at the airport, along with appropriate food and drinks as the team was rushed to the Days Inn Hotel in Neptune Beach. At the end of it all they had been traveling for 18 hours.

With some help from UNF in allowing the use of Hodges Stadium for enough time to hold the game, the Axemen and the Boston 13s kicked off at 9am on Sunday morning in what was the 2nd game in 16 hours for the Axemen and the 200 plus fans that also made the return trek for the unique game time.

Even the 9am start could not stop the fans or slow the action on the field

Although sore from the previous day and missing 3 starters with injury and Sunday conflicts, the Axemen quickly got out in front on the scoreboard. To their credit the Boston team played with great intensity in the opening half for a team who had toughed it out the day before and did not get anywhere near the normal pre-game evenings rest.

The last 20 minutes of the game however did start to show fatigue on both sides and the players began to find issues with cramping and focus on the game plan started to fail. By the end of the day (or morning given that it was still only 10.30am) the Axemen had controlled the game for a 52 to 10 win.

Boston started the game with lots of good ball movement and using some big men out side

In a show of thanks to the Axemen fans, they were all invited down to the edge of the field to be apart of the team photo and then invited to join the players for breakfast at Johnny Angels Diner.