CRYSTAL BOWL 51 PREVIEW

Crystal Bowl 51- Adelphia Phoenix vs Caligara Bulldogs
Sunday 28th February 2021, 6pm at Adelphia’s DIY Depot Arena

The 51st Crystal Bowl is a matchup of two powerhouses- one old and one new. The storied franchise, the Bulldogs have more pro football titles than anyone else in Eborian history. They are making it three trips in a row this year, having lost the first to the Tigers and beating the Wasps last March.

The Phoenix, who only joined the league in 2008 are appearing in the big game for the fourth time, having won two of their previous games. Chip Bailey, 61, who has been the Head Coach since 2010, has once again taken the offensive guru-ness to new levels with the 2020-21 attack.

ADELPHIA ATTACK vs CALIGARA DEFENCE:
Quarterback Matt Kelly, a 13 year veteran, has lots of help around him in Jayson McGuire, Kyle Walters, Patrick Schwartz (Anchor, TE in US) and Jamarcus White. The two-headed run game is fronted by rookie sensation Kylian Floyd and backed up by Jamal Davies. Both can catch passes too. The O-Line is solid, not spectacular. Fullback Jon Lucas runs, blocks so well and, of course, catches passes too.

In the playoffs there’s been a reliance on Anchor Patrick Schwartz on third downs and when the receivers are well covered. The Bulldogs will need to cancel him out as an option.

The Bulldogs ‘D’ boasts ALL-PFL players, Shareece Franklin, Calvin Thomas and Jason Randle will cause headaches to the front line. The secondary is strong, with Nick Williams, Kyle Neal and J.J. Peters starring.

EDGE: Adelphia Attack, by a small margin. A close call.

CALIGARA ATTACK vs ADELPHIA DEFENCE
Quarterback Zack Slater was a second round pick in XXXX. He has gone on to prove all doubters wrong as the Bulldogs reach there third consecutive Bowl appearance. His namesake, Seth, is the Star receiver who attracts a lot of double coverage. This helps Mike Harvey and Dennis Morales to find open spaces. Veteran Anchor Mark Martinez is a good safety valve to have. Slater is nursing an elbow injury to his non-throwing arm, which may distract him slightly.

Similarly to the Phoenix, the ‘Dogs have a good ground game. Jeremy Franklin and Glen Norman share duties, with Franklin the number 1. The O-Line is one of the league’s best. veteran Shyrone Hall stands out at LT.

The Phoenix defence was mainly built in the last five drafts – DT Dez Williams commands the middle, whilst Ends Eddie Blake and Terrell Houston are always useful. The midfield (Linebackers) is stacked with tackle-machine Michael Keys lining up with Charlie Clayton and rookie Keith Walker. The secondary is boom or bust. When on they shut down, when off they seem to fall apart. Which one turns up on Sunday?

EDGE: The Bulldogs eek out, with a great O-line to protect Slater, it should be advantage Caligara.

SPECIAL TEAMS: This is evens, good kickers, punters and long snappers. Returners Mike Harvey (Bulldogs) and Jamarcus White both had two return TDs this season.

COACHING: Chip Bailey has the edge on coaching experience with 11 years in the PFL and three CB trips, Jon Palmer has experience as a player and coach at the big game. Palmer prodigious rise from defence co-ordinator to head coach has culminated in three bowl appearances in his first three seasons! How much of last year’s success was pure motivation from failing the year before? That remains to be seen.
Advantage to Adelphia due to longevity of Bailey.

OVERALL– This seems to close to call on paper, but we’ll give the advantage to the experience of the Bulldogs in this one. Their third trip in a row, they will be prepared. Expect a high-scoring affair with the Bulldogs coming out on top, maybe in additional time.

SEMI-FINALS REVIEWED – CB51 TEAMS SET

Crystal Bowl Playoff Semi-Finals | PFL

On Valentine’s Day, the PFL brought the Eborian public the playoff semi-final double-header. It might not have been romantic, but it was some good hard-fought action.

SEMI-FINAL 1;

ADELPHIA PHOENIX	31	F
NEW CHESTER KNIGHTS	20

The Adelphia Phoenix went into ‘blackout mode’ for the semi-final- and it worked a treat for them. The Phoenix defence shut down the Knights as the offense scored three touchdowns in the first half. QB Matt Kelly passed to Anchor (TE) Patrick Schwartz for a long score and to Kyle Walters for a second. Rookie running back Kylian Floyd scored on the ground from three yards out. At Half-time it was 21-3.

Patrick Schultz got open and beat the coverage to score a touchdown in the first quarter.

The Knights rallied for ten points at the beginning of the 3rd Quarter, with Elijah Brooks scrambling in from 8 yards, plus a field goal. To answer, though, the Phoenix ran a 80 yard drive, culminating in another Kelly pass to Schwartz.

The fourth quarter started with another field goal from the Phoenix to make it 31-13. The Knights scored a consolation TD late in the game, when Brooks found Rogers from 7 yards out. It just wasn’t enough.

The Phoenix would now host the winners of the second semi-final.

SEMI-FINAL 2:

CALIGARA BULLDOGS	27	F
BRISTOW BEARS	24

The Bulldogs eeked out a win against the Bears in a stormy, snowy Caligara on Snday. The Bears led several times and looked that they might sneak an upset for the second consecutive week.

Jeremy Franklin burst through to get the Bulldogs into the endzone for the first time.

It took QB Zack Slater to shake off an early pick six and bring the ‘dogs back with 4th quarter drives for a field goal and winning touchdown to his namesake Seth Slater. The Bears’ final drive ended with a game-tying 54 yard field goal falling agonisingly wide with 00:08 left.

The Bears left it all out on the field and will be raring to go for next season. Their return to the league was phenomenal!

The Bulldogs were battered (Zack Slater- elbow, Morales- Knee) but will take time off to get ready for an imposing visit for the Crystal Bowl, the third time there’s been a ‘home side’ in the championship finals.

CRYSTAL BOWL 51 NOW SET

Crystal Bowl will take place on 28th February 2021 at 6:00pm local time from Adelphia’s DIY Depot Arena.

QF WEEKEND- TOP SEEDS FALL EARLY AT HOME

PFL Post-season | Play-off Quarter-finals

The Quarter-final weekend was a memorable one, with four interesting games. We ended the dreams of four teams, leaving us with the final four teams for next weekend.

QUARTER FINAL 1:

HALLAS STARS	32	AET
NEW CHESTER KNIGHTS	35

The Hallas Stars suffered another devastating home defeat as the Knights came from behind to win on the road. Chase Hand had a great first half with the Stars, but they faded, especially in the fourth quarter. The Knights came back from 32-17 and 29-24 to take the lead late on.

The Stars levelled things up at the death, so an additional period was called for. In ET, the Stars went three and out, leaving the Knights to march downfield and Potter kicked the game winning field goal from 24 yards out.

QUARTER FINAL 2:

LANDOR 96ERS	27	F
BRISTOW BEARS	29

The number 8 seeds pulled off a huge upset on Saturday night as the came from behind to beat the heavily favoured Landor 96ers in the capital.

Bears QB Brad Robinson was in tremendous form on Saturday.

The number one seeds had beaten the Bears in both divisional matchups this season, so it was third time that was the charm for Bristow. The Sixers led 17-16 at the half and 20-19 after three, with Frank Bowman getting two scores on the ground, before Kurt Sierra found Asante Brown for a TD in the final period. The 96ers led 27-26 with 2:18 left to play.

QB Brad Robinson threw for 256 yards and 2 TDs. He was instrumental on the final drive, producing the field position for kicker Rick Bell to kick his fifth , and game winning field goal. The team from the Capital bowed out in a historic night for the Bears.

QUARTER FINAL 3:

CALIGARA BULLDOGS	35	F
OAKLAND RAVENS	20

The Ravens blew a 14 point first quarter lead to the number 2 seed Caligara Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon. Dante Fulcher scored on a 76 yard screen pass and then a 4 yard run as Oakland stormed out in front.

The Bulldogs comeback began in the second quarter with a 88 yard drive, capped off with a 2 yard Tony Franklin run. Zack Slater then threw TD passes to Mark Martinez and Dennis Morales. It was 21-14 at the break. Ravens QB Tayvon Coles was intercepted at the end of the half.

The Bulldogs attack is cool in the face of pressure.

In the second half , the Ravens could only muster up two field goals, whilst the Bulldogs scored two more touchdowns, via Franklin and a Seth Slater reception.

QUARTER FINAL 4:

ADELPHIA PHOENIX	31	F
BALLYMORE TIGERS	17

Ballymore got off to a great start in Adelphia , with Tito Hawkins busting out a 49 yard touchdown run in the first minute. The Phoenix equalised when Matt Kelly connected with Anchor (TE) Patrick Schwartz from 2 yards out. Both teams traded touchdowns and field goals, with it tied at 14-14 at the half, 17-17 after three.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Matt Kelly hit Kyle Walters to take their first lead of the game. On the subsequent drive, Tigers’ QB Cam Rogers threw a pick-six to Phoenix defender Adrian Sheppard (39 yards). That was it for the Tigers.

Matt Kelly threw for 323 yards and 3 Touchdowns in the win.

Semi-Finals
That means that, following rule changes for 2020-21 onwards, the re-seeding occurs as the no.1 team were eliminated. The revised bracket means home games for Adelphia and Caligara.

Caligara Bulldogs vs Bristow Bears
Adelphia Phoenix vs New Chester Knights.

The winners will face off in the Crystal Bowl at Adelphia’s DIY Depot Arena.

THE COACHING CAROUSEL BEGINS!

Head Coach – Personell | By Ryan Sollis |

The Professional Football League’s version of Black Monday began with three Head Coaching firings and one stepping down from their post with immediate effect.

HARTEFORD HAWKS HC Chris Zucker was sacked as his team deteriorated to a 2-15-1 season, with the number one overall draft pick. i.e. the worst team in the league, for the second time in three seasons. This was another disastrous season for the Hawkmen. They need to pick up soon.

ST. GEORGE SHARKS HC Gary Levicek was sacked following a 2-15-1 season, where the team regressed so badly. Both co-ordinators had been fired during the season. This wasn’t enough to the save him his job.

EREGON EAGLES HC Ali Mack was fired. They finished 4-14, lost the main QB early and never recovered. A slight raising of their game in midseason offered hope. It all flittered out into endless losses.

MELBORO GIANTS HC Neil Fagan resigned, following a very disappointing 5-13 season. He never got Tom Tomkowski comfortable in his offensive scheme and they paid for it all season. The defence regressed too.

We’ve yet to hear from the Rochester Trojans and Iomagh Steelers‘ camps. We gather that the Chakota Wasps will not be making a change, as this season is put down to being a ‘blip’. After all, they made it to the Crystal Bowl last year with pretty much the same squad of players.

REG SEASON ENDS- PLAYOFFS SET

2020-21 Regular Season | Week 20

That’s it! Eighteen games over twenty weeks. 144 games in total. This has now finalised the 8 play-off seedings and matchups.

HOW WE GOT THERE

There were head-to-head title deciders matchups in the PFL East and Central. Landor 96ers took the East with a 30-24 victory over New Chester Knights. The Adelphia Phoenix clung on to a 27-24 win against the Oakland Ravens, ensuring at least one home play-off game as no.3 seed.

Caligara Bulldogs already had sewn up the North and needed a late touchdown to beat Iomagh Steelers 19-16. They rested most of their stars in that game. The Ballymore Tigers lost to Harteford Hawks 20-17 in a way that only they can! They always slip up to a losing team late in the season.

The Chakota Wasps restored some pride with a victory over Rochester. The Trojans led early, but Chandler threw two fourth quarter TD passes to bring them back to a 24-17 win.

Hallas wrapped up their regular season with tidy 37-24 win against the St. George Sharks. The Stars are the no.4 seed. At 2-15-1, the Sharks know they need to rebuild. Relocation is also a possibility.

This left two teams fighting over the number eight spot:

San Andreas, knowing they had to better the Bears’ score, stormed out to a 31-13 first half- lead against the Eregon Eagles. The Bears were losing at half-time to the Melboro Giants 21-14, even though the Giants had only three first downs at that stage.

In the second half, the Miners added two more TD’s – Ryan Bruce passed for 413 yards and 5 touchdowns… but it was to no avail.
The Bears rallied to lead 34-31 with a game-tying 45 yard field goal set up for the Giants with just one second left on the clock. Veteran kicker Billy Young hooked the kick wide right.

AND SO, THE BEARS GO THROUGH VIA HEAD-TO-HEAD.

NUMBER ONE DRAFT PICK

The race for the number one draft pick was nearly lost by the Hsrteford Hawks, who only went and beat the play-off bound Ballymore Tigers. The Sharks also finished 2-15-1, with the tie the game between the two.
Following confirmation of the tiebreakers in this case- The Hawks retained the worst record by virtue of conceding more points and worst points- difference.

They have the first pick in June’s draft.

NEXT WEEKS PLAYOFF MATCHUPS:

Hallas Stars	4	vs	5	New Chester Knights
Caligara Bulldogs	2	vs	7	Oakland Ravens
Landor 96ers	1	vs	8	Bristow Bears
Adelphia Phoenix	3	vs	6	Ballymore Tigers

Just seven games remain before we crown the 2020-21 champions. Who will it be standing in the podium at Crystal Bowl 51?