Gil Thorp by Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill for October 13, 2022

Tyrone Anderson one-hands a Pedro Martinez fastball!

So they had a 21-13 lead on 4 and 15 from the 30 and they decide to call the “fastball special” Hail Mary pass instead of kicking a FG and making it a two score lead? Excellence indeed.

Let me get this straight. Valley Tech was leading Tilden by (presumably) 21-13. With possession on 4th-and-15 (or 4-and-15, rather) at the 30 yard line (or ~45 yard line, if you’re going by the art rather than the brainless announcer) with two minutes left in the game and time stopped by a confused referee who apparently thinks this is an NFL game, Luke Martinez calls NOT for a punt to bury Tilden deep inside their own territory but instead a pointlessly risky deep pass to run up the score. I think Martinez might have won his “Mensa membership” in a church raffle or Happy Meal.

Oh, and the big X-Men allusion was all for nothing, and the amazing Fastball Special (much like the Thorp Special) turns out to just be a forward pass. Not exactly the Annexation of Puerto Rico; I can’t help but wonder how profoundly unimaginative the standard play calls are for these teams when throwing the ball to a wide receiver is considered remarkable.

Coach Icarus wastes his “Fastball” when it could only affect his team’s result adversely, via a Pick Six. All of Tech’s future opponents have now taken note of this “special” forward pass — surprise factor gone. But what does Tilden Coach Kim mean by “again”?

All of you questioning Coach Martinez’s play calling, where are your multiple state titles and PAC-12 MVP awards? Excellence! P3: Fist Pump Man and his bro see the writing on the wall, too, and have jumped from Milford to VT.

As long as we’re talking about the writing that make no sense, if Pedro Martinez is the only guy on the team who can throw a pass, why isn’t he the regular quarterback instead of gathering splinters until a pass is needed? And won’t the other team recognize he’s only brought in to throw one?

Excellence my *ss. It’s more like rubbing it in and disrespecting your opponent in order to feed your ego, BHHLHM.

Tribune content agency. . . . .PLEASE GET RID OF THIS WRITER!!!!!!!

Tyron’s one handed catch was excellent, not your play calling “brilliance” BHHLHM. Your hubris is off the charts.

For the sake of conversation, let’s say VT ball on the Tilden 30, 4th and 15. For a FG, the holder sets up 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage and the goalposts are 10 yards deep in back of the end zone. Hence, a 47 yard FG attempt. A HS kicker able to convert consistently for that distance is exceptional. Too close for a pooch punt? Perhaps. Say what you want about Lukey, with a one score difference, that was pretty ballsy.

Uh-oh, there’s a flag on the play! The ref is checking Tyrone’s hands for some of that Lester Hayes ‘stickem’. No way he one hands that catch from that positioning without the sticky stuff.

Ah, I get it – he’s running the Fastball Special in an early game so that GilPa will see it and plan for it; thus, when he tries to pull it off as the Highlander “THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!” endgame against Milford, it will be intercepted and returned for a late TD.

You can practice those 4 and 15 situations all you want, but there’s nothing like gaining real game experience of them.

Change is inevitable, maybe Dagwood will even add a layer of tofu to his sandwich, I’m enjoying the strip, thank you. (They can do what they want with Keri – keep Cookie HOT). Lost in all the 4th and the apocalypse hullabaloo: Has the comic strips ever featured other schools’ games? I recall a basketball star who somehow ended up a Mudlark, Anna Karenina, Mike the Knife Knapp and the reform school, but they all quickly arced back to good ol’ MHS. Someone other than Marty Moon up in that broadcast booth, I like that. Ah, the comics world. Guess it still ends up with the big MHS-VTHS matchup, for some of the marbles. As long as Dennis remains a Menace, I’m good.

We have to credit the Valley Tech athletic department for switching to black, orange and yellow when everyone else in the conference except Milford wears blue.

P 3: He does modesty too

Am I the only one who now reads the strip to see what level of absurdity/poor storyline is going to take place?

These two coaches are not yet on a first-name basis?

Fist pump man goes to the VT games now too.

Gets one over?? Does that mean they were fooled by a forward pass?? Does that mean it was the end of the game? So many questions

It would really make things easier for us astutely savvy sports readers if the writer had some semblance of football knowledge…..then again maybe he’s doing this on purpose to increase the snarky comments

P-2: Tyrone Anderson is obviously a transfer student from Milford. Please note: he is tackled by his own shadow.

My prediction was right: one panel of the QB, one of someone catching the touchdown. That’s the Fastball Special! But something we missed. The lady in the booth is not the stadium announcer. She is doing play-by-play. Which means she is broadcasting on the radio too, like Marty. Milford has yet another radio station that (I assume) exclusively broadcasts one high school’s games. Gonna be crowded in the booth when VT plays Milford.

And speaking of crowded, it might be crowded if everybody rushes to read today’s Mopped Up Thorp at the same time.

https://moppedupthorp.wordpress.com/

What happened to the yellow stripes on their jackets, Rod?

And yesterday #7 was behind the center. Maybe Pedro was behind the end just like the Thorp Special!

Apparently, every forward pass thrown by either Milford or VT is some kind of “special”

The Milford/VT tilt is going to a high scoring affair! With the unstoppable Thorp and fastball specials leading to TDs every time, it may come down to the kicking game!

Open receiver…one handed catch?? Hotdog!Can I get the “Excellence. It’s what I do.” t-shirt at the Valley Tech merch table during the nest game??

Hey Kool-Aid! Coach Shed, you da man! WOO-HOO! Time to share some of my excellent ice-cold, sugary flavors with Coach Kim and the boys after pulling the fast one and running up the score on Tilden. I see your pitcher grip is ready. You know you want it. Come and get it excellent one. Oh yeah.