It’s been said before that so many things can go wrong in sports that preparation is a necessity. Part of that preparation is having an exceptionally deep roster.

For Old Puget Sound Beach, they can check off “depth” on their list. The club entered three teams in the Can-Am 7s. Their 1^st side won the Elite Division. Their 2^nd side lost in the semifinals (to the OPSB 1^st side), and their 3^rd side took the B (or Open) Division championship with a 31-12 win over NW Trees.

Although both teams struggled to get a handle on the ball and their nerves, the NW Trees scored twice within the first two minutes of the game by taking advantage of what looked to be an OPSB III defense that looked a little lost and confused at the start. However, OPSB III showed confidence in both their game plan and themselves, to answer back quickly with a score from back Devin Snyder by outpacing all Tree defenders on the outside edge.

By halftime the scoreboard was in slight favor of the NW Trees. However, momentum was on the side of OPSB III with still another seven minutes left in the game.

“I just told our guys to relax and have confidence in themselves,” player/coach Chris Stone said. When the whistle sounded for the start of the play, OPSB III seemed like a different team. Using quick rucking to get the ball through the hands and out wide, Snyder caught the ball in stride, shook a Tree defender and ran three more en route to his second score to tie the game at 12.

On the next kickoff, OPSB took advantage of the Trees untimely mistakes to set up two more scores, one on a video game-like dive and yet another from Snyder to seal it and at least be able to bring one title back home.

“We have a lot of senior leadership on the team that helps the young guys get their assignments and that says a lot,” Snyder said. “We are a team that works hard to get things right and our head coaches do an incredible job with everyone on teaching the concepts of the game and the way we train in practice.”

“This win is absolutely a credit to the depth we have on this team and a validation of all the hard work we’ve put in this year,” added Stone. “In the last few years, just having a good past couple years has brought a lot more players out to practice. We have a lot of seasoned players looking to get into shape and younger inexperienced players looking to start getting into the sport.”