Musings, mutterings and the occasional bit of schmahts as Ornauer tries to put jet lag behind and point toward the USFJ-AFL playoffs and Firecracker Shootout softball tournament:

-- Sometimes, scoring help comes from the darndest places. With Torii Station lined up  to punt on fourth down at the Wolfpack 24, Kadena rushes hard, Mike Christensen gets up a beefy arm and the ball clangs off it, into the hands of Jason Lane, who returned it 18 yards for the Dragons' lone touchdown. Jason Wynn's two-point conversion run just before halftime gave Kadena the only points it would need in an 8-6 victory Saturday at Kadena's McDonald Stadium.

-- It was a defensive, turnover-filled struggle. The teams combined for 262 yards -- barely 2 1/2 trips down the field. Two Wolfpack fumble recoveries and an interception disrupted Kadena's first two possessions. One of the fumbles, recovered by Torii's Chris speed after Kadena's Andre Warren couldn't get the handle on a pun, set up the Wolfpack's lone touchdown, a 10-yard pass on fourth down by Speed to Jordan Frank. Warren and Eric Dagin intercepted Speed twice in the second half for Kadena.

-- It's all about practice. The teams that execute best on offense are the ones who have players showing up consistently for practice. Easy to type, tough to do, since these players' first job is to defend the country. But offensive execution is the result of study of the playbook, instruction by coaches and hour after hour of vigorous repetition on the practice field. "Run it again until you do it right!" coaches might admonish as a team goes over one single play for 90 minutes. It could mean the difference between the play not working and succeeding when a title is on the line.

-- I have yet to hear why the Southern Division's three coaches must be the ones to line McDonald Stadium prior to each game and why the grass can't be mowed. Pretty sad when varsity interservice athletics has fallen to that level. Sure, "core" programs such as company-level and youth sports and the primary goal of making GIs fit to fight are top priority. But there must be something left for the elite athlete to perform to his/her level in a competitive environment. And people and tools to support them.

-- Speaking of which, two-time Army letterman Richard E. Angle finally found his way back to the gridiron on Saturday, playing free safety for the Wolfpack. Now a colonel at Torii Station, Angle played cornerback and strong safety for four seasons for the Cadets from 1987-90, during which Army went 26-19 under then-coach Jim Young and lost a heartbreaker 29-28 to Alabama in the 1988 John Hancock Bowl. "First time I got to hit anybody in 20 years," he said, a tad out of breath, as he left the field following the first series.

-- It can be done; it's just going to be a tough road for Kadena. At 2-2, trailing South-leading Foster (4-0) by two games, the Dragons need to win their last two games, including beating Foster by four points or more on July 4, and hope that Foster also loses at Yokosuka on Saturday. That scenario would give Kadena a 1-point tiebreaker edge, the South title and a first-round playoff bye.

-- Defense also ruled the day for Yokosuka as the seven-time USFJ-AFL champion Seahawks claimed the North title by edging defending champion Misawa 7-6 on June 13 at Misawa Air Base. Anthony Seamans tossed a 49-yard pass to Morrison Gray to set up a quarterback-sneak touchdown and the Seahawks withstood several red-zone threats by the Jets.

-- Which can only leave Jets coach Jeremy Sanders scratching his head in wonder. Misawa's last three touchdowns have come on long passes. The Jets' last 10 visits inside the opponents' 20? Nada.

-- R.I.P. Richard L. Ornauer. I miss you.