Yellow Cards First, Tackle Later

Friday night was a busy night for me. I had a bunch of photos to edit from the previous night and wanted to shoot two Gates-Chili games that night. I knew it was going to create a busy weekend of editing but, I shot them anyways.

First game was girls soccer as GC faced off against the Greece Arcadia Titans. It was my first girls soccer of the high school season and it was a very physical game. There were 3 yellow cards given out during the game and this unsuspecting Arcadia player received the only red card of the match. It must of been something she said because their was no real hard contact before the referee blew the whistle.

I liked this shot as the lady Spartans celebrated after they scored their only goal. Brianna Szczepanski (22) celebrates with a teammate as the Titan player can't bear to watch.

Once the cards were out and over with, Greece kept control of the ball and scoring to win 4-1. Here junior Blythe Sheridan (11) keeps her eyes on the ball before controlling the kick.

The second game Friday night was GC football at the stadium facing off against Churchville-Chili. The battle for Chili brings a certain vibe to the crowd because these two schools are so close to each other. The Spartans were prepared and ready to play hard after a tough loss last week. They wanted to show that they still are in contention to defend last years championship.

Gates always comes onto the field as one and here they prepare to run into the middle of the field.

The Spartans stadium is very poorly lit for night games. GC may have a new gym and pool but, new lights should now be on the short list. Poor lighting is a sports photographer's nightmare, so I decided to use some off camera flash. I super-clamped my flash to the bottom of the monopod and ran the cord along it up to the hotshoe. This method limited the red eye results as you can see in this shot of Eli Thomas (32) receiving the hand-off .

Thomas had a great game, showing his power that he had last year. He dragged defenders down field all night. Gates other two backs were big on the ground too. Here Levester Tucker (28) points to the sky after a short run for a TD.

GC ended up beating Churchville 34-13, as Gates proved that they are still a power in Monroe County football.

Check out the Soccer Gallery: Arcadia v. GC

Check out the Football Gallery: CC v. GC