UCSC Capture the Flag: College Nine Vs. College Ten
Wow. Just wow. I never thought I'd develop pride in my college community or just play Capture the Flag, but I did. It probably helps that CTF is good even if you're small. Anyways, here's what happened. College Nine had roughly 20 people, College Ten probably about 30-40. We were outnumbered. But we fought on with the spirit any underdog would have and went balls out.
Round One:
College Nine made a mistake. We placed our flag behind the dorms believing the forest behind us would help. We were wrong. College Ten was crafty, they used the forest to fake our defense out, pull us further away from the flag. In addition to that, they used a fake flag and allowed a decoy to bait our best defensive players out. Once there was distance, their offense broke in and scored. Our offense had a few close grabs, but it wasn't unified enough. Point to College Ten.
Round Two:
College Nine found the perfect spot. We placed the flag next to the laundry room where there was only a thin passageway and another passage with stairs. There was no way the offense could breakthrough. Because our flag placement was strong, we switched a few defensive players to offense. I joined Wyatt (my roommate) and camped right outside their defensive line. A number of our boys were in the flag safe zone. Wyatt and I decided to wait for other attack parties and then rush in from two sides. We did so, and the plan worked. There were about 8 of us in the flag safe zone, and we came up with a beautiful plan.
We would all run out and confuse the hell out of them. To do this, Jared and Sam created a fake flag and assigned it to another person. The real flag was secretly passed on to me, and into my pocket. We then huddled together to create another plan, with a few people spouting fake plans. College Ten was listening in, but didn't think we knew they were listening. As soon as they heard us, one shouted to watch for "the guy with the green hat", which was the one with the fake flag. As soon as he said this, the guy put the hat on someone else. Since half of College Ten wasn't paying attention, they looked at the wrong guy. Now they had their eyes on two decoys. To add even more, we had Don join the front lines and fake an injury. So it was planned. We huddled, did a team cheer, and then broke out screaming and shouting. Don fell down, and confused defensive players attempted to tag him out. The front lines created openings for the decoys and spread their defense out. From there, I bolted out. A few of the defense looked at me to challenge me, but they hesitated, confused whether they should tag me or the decoys. I took advantage of the confusion and zigzagged out. As I ran back to base, I could hear College Ten cheering, as if they got their flag back. I brought the flag back to base. Point to College Nine.
Round Three:
This round was balls out for both teams. Both teams placed their flags in the center quad. College Ten increased their numbers. We attempted to do the same, but we could only add about three more people. We were now even more outnumbered. I joined offense, camped near the flag and I began to doubt whether a few men could take on a 30 man defense. We attempted to disrupt them by coming from all directions, but only a few could make it past. Our star offense players were in, but no one else would be able to help them. Then, it happened. College Ten had our flag and was running back home. He was probably 5 feet away from making it... until Jared, in the safe zone, stepped out for a moment, tagged him, and got back in. We were saved.
I was tagged out, so I went back for defense. That is when I noticed how the flag's position in the center of the quad was really hurting us. We only had 10-15 men on defense, and it wasn't enough to cover a full circle around the flag. I stayed on defense tagging out a few weak attacks, until a wave of roughly seven came. Five made it in. We all sort of figured it was over. But then one guy from College Nine was running back with 15+ guys behind him... he had the flag. He made it to our flag avoiding those in the safe zone and we won.
Later, I heard that the guy's strategy was pretty much... run. He was in their safe zone, took the flag and ran. That was probably the best possible strategy for us. If we were hopelessly outnumbered, then pin all our hopes one guy and pray. It worked well.
In closing, we did something amazing. We were outnumbered and had the odds against us. But we fought it out giving everything we had and we did it. Awesome, awesome... College Nine all the way.
Round One:
College Nine made a mistake. We placed our flag behind the dorms believing the forest behind us would help. We were wrong. College Ten was crafty, they used the forest to fake our defense out, pull us further away from the flag. In addition to that, they used a fake flag and allowed a decoy to bait our best defensive players out. Once there was distance, their offense broke in and scored. Our offense had a few close grabs, but it wasn't unified enough. Point to College Ten.
Round Two:
College Nine found the perfect spot. We placed the flag next to the laundry room where there was only a thin passageway and another passage with stairs. There was no way the offense could breakthrough. Because our flag placement was strong, we switched a few defensive players to offense. I joined Wyatt (my roommate) and camped right outside their defensive line. A number of our boys were in the flag safe zone. Wyatt and I decided to wait for other attack parties and then rush in from two sides. We did so, and the plan worked. There were about 8 of us in the flag safe zone, and we came up with a beautiful plan.
We would all run out and confuse the hell out of them. To do this, Jared and Sam created a fake flag and assigned it to another person. The real flag was secretly passed on to me, and into my pocket. We then huddled together to create another plan, with a few people spouting fake plans. College Ten was listening in, but didn't think we knew they were listening. As soon as they heard us, one shouted to watch for "the guy with the green hat", which was the one with the fake flag. As soon as he said this, the guy put the hat on someone else. Since half of College Ten wasn't paying attention, they looked at the wrong guy. Now they had their eyes on two decoys. To add even more, we had Don join the front lines and fake an injury. So it was planned. We huddled, did a team cheer, and then broke out screaming and shouting. Don fell down, and confused defensive players attempted to tag him out. The front lines created openings for the decoys and spread their defense out. From there, I bolted out. A few of the defense looked at me to challenge me, but they hesitated, confused whether they should tag me or the decoys. I took advantage of the confusion and zigzagged out. As I ran back to base, I could hear College Ten cheering, as if they got their flag back. I brought the flag back to base. Point to College Nine.
Round Three:
This round was balls out for both teams. Both teams placed their flags in the center quad. College Ten increased their numbers. We attempted to do the same, but we could only add about three more people. We were now even more outnumbered. I joined offense, camped near the flag and I began to doubt whether a few men could take on a 30 man defense. We attempted to disrupt them by coming from all directions, but only a few could make it past. Our star offense players were in, but no one else would be able to help them. Then, it happened. College Ten had our flag and was running back home. He was probably 5 feet away from making it... until Jared, in the safe zone, stepped out for a moment, tagged him, and got back in. We were saved.
I was tagged out, so I went back for defense. That is when I noticed how the flag's position in the center of the quad was really hurting us. We only had 10-15 men on defense, and it wasn't enough to cover a full circle around the flag. I stayed on defense tagging out a few weak attacks, until a wave of roughly seven came. Five made it in. We all sort of figured it was over. But then one guy from College Nine was running back with 15+ guys behind him... he had the flag. He made it to our flag avoiding those in the safe zone and we won.
Later, I heard that the guy's strategy was pretty much... run. He was in their safe zone, took the flag and ran. That was probably the best possible strategy for us. If we were hopelessly outnumbered, then pin all our hopes one guy and pray. It worked well.
In closing, we did something amazing. We were outnumbered and had the odds against us. But we fought it out giving everything we had and we did it. Awesome, awesome... College Nine all the way.