NFL Military Challenge: All for three, three for one. Published Feb. 1, 2008 By Mark Munsey 15th Airlift Wing HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii -- Prologue: The New England Patriots going for three rings in five years is cute, but if you want to talk real NFL-competition dominance, meet the AF's twice-defending Military Challenge champions Dawn Pierce, Hickam Fitness and Sports director, arrived at last week's NFL Military Challenge gathering of the island-five military families knowing the inevitable question hung thick in the air. It didn't take long for one of the sister branch's mouthpiece to lose his cool. "Is your kicker back?" he asked with collective will. After just a wee-bit smidge too long, Pierce swiped eye contact with those who've grown accustomed to playing for second place, took a deep breath and broke some hearts. 'Yeah,' she said, drawn out for dramatic effect. Hickam's place kicker and punter, Airman 1st Class Richard Good -- last year' challenge 'more automatica than Gramatica' legend -- was back. Good is one of seven Team Hickam footballers looking to continue Air Force dominance against the island's all-star teams from the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Marines Friday at Oahu's Kapiolani Park. For reasons that exist if only to make for compelling theater, Good was the final place kicker of last year's competition with 10 tries to reach the magic number -- seven conversions -- to take the points and the gold. Not bothering with the allotted warm-up kick, the former Florida high school soccer state champion unleashed a series of hypnotic-pendulum leg blasts, draining them down the middle one after another. A picture-perfect nine swings later, deep in the embrace of first place with no kick untrue enough to warrant even a mild lean, the crowd ripped the cord of last resort: Guilt Good into an absurdly long-distance for his final attempt. And they backed him up like a bag full of Taco Bell dollar menu. A fiercely-combative trade wind bum-rushed through, taking the kick hostage in flight, knocking it off target. But the message was clear: the Warriors in Blue won't give up challenge supremacy without a battle. As Hickam goes for back-to-back-to back gold, the event will also be a perfect trifecta try for team captain and Air Force Captain Nate Allen, who has known nothing but champion podium's best-view status each of his first two years. Three other players -- Capt. Marcus Fox, A1C Gabe Gustafson and Senior Airman Nate Angel -- return for a second taste of NFL-sanctioned football supremacy, and because every three-quel needs an influx of new characters, Team Hickam has two -- A1C Winston Jackson sprinting the sideline and 2nd Lt. Jeff Tetrault, who'll see if he can overthrow him. "We're a faster team this year, but experience wins trophies so it'll be interesting to see if Jeff can get the ball downfield where the big points are scored," Allen said. But Tetrault's got a cannon, and he's put it on Oahu display before. A starting pitcher for the Air Force Academy, he went 7 1/3 innings against University of Hawaii's best batsmen in 2003. "I left with a lead but didn't get the decision," he confessed. Allen has also known Academy athletic garb -- an island unto himself as an AFA cornerback who returned an interception 79 yards for a touchdown against Northwestern for the first of his two selections as Mountain Western Conference player of the week in his junior year, also in 2003. But for pure flat-out speed, it's still hard to beat Fox, lead leg for four consecutive collegiate championships 4x100 relay teams from Claflin College in Orangesburg, SC. Like the Patriots, Hickam's representation is fast, accurate and the team everyone wants to beat. Unlike the Pats, you can see history unfold in front of you. For more information about the military challenge and other sports programs, contact Dawn Pierce at 448-4640.