Monday Night Fight!

PFL Season 2017-18 | Week Eleven | Monday Night Game

   OAKLAND RAVENS  16
   CHAKOTA WASPS 15

	1	2	3	4	ET	FT
OAKLAND	3	3	3	7	–	16
CHAKOTA	2	3	3	7	–	15

From the Wasps’ Nest, Chakota.

What a war it was on Monday Night between divisional rivals Chakota and Oakland. Both teams defence’s were on top and the game was full of brutal, albeit legal hits and tackles. Tempers flared over at times, but the referees seemed to keep their cool when other’s did not.

This was not a game for those who enjoy flashy high scoring games, for the defensive knock-down, hustling, bustling fight- this was a game for you!

At the end of the first quarter, it was 3-2 , with a Philips field goal and a Tomkowski rogue (safety for US fans), when he was tackled in his own end zone.

In the second and third quarters, both teams could only trade field goals. Humphrey had thrown four picks and Tomkowski two. each team had lost two fumbles and given up nine penalties.

The Wasps thought they had won it when Wiley returned a punt 76 yards for the score, however. The Ravens managed to make one decent drive, going 86 yards for the score. Dante Fulcher dived into the endzone from a yard out on 3rd and goal with 4:19 left to play.  The Wasps got the ball back but could not move the chains.

The Ravens go ahead of the Wasps in PFL Central. Brutal game, compulsive viewing.

Week Ten Wrap-up

PFL | Season 2017-18 | Week Ten

Everyone has played nine games now, so, w’ere at the halfway point. Some teams will have to win out from here. Here’s what went down in the last round of matches.

Six-Appeal! The New Jorg 96ers improved to 6-3, with a 41-24 spanking of the St. George Sharks. DE Vin Marshall had three QB Marks (that’s sacks for U.S. fans) and the team forced four turnovers. On the attack, the ‘Sixers Kurt Sierra again went over 300 yards and three scores.

Slatered! The Caligara Bulldogs kept their place at the top of the PFL North, with a 21-17 win over the Eregon Eagles. This was an old rivalry game from their days together in the West. ‘Dogs QB Zack Slater found his namesake Seth Slater for a 20 yard TD with 1:19 left. JJ Peters nabbed his fifth interception of the season!

Stung! Chakota destroyed a Matt Kelly-less Adelphia Phoenix team on the road. At home in another dome, Billy Humphrey and co lasered up the scoreboard early, with five first half TD. The Wasps took their foot off the accelerator for the second half, still winning 42-17.

Stealers?! The Iomagh Steelers got caught out in the fourth quarter against the Landor Knights. The Steelers threw two late INTs, that were converted into scores as the team from the capital won out 24-10. Iomagh lead 10-7 at half-time.

Starlight! The Hallas Stars reigned supreme in the Stardome, winning 34-24 in a crucial divisional game with the San Angelo Miners. The Miners also lost their top QB, Brandon Mullen. Their season is in jeopardy.

Fired! The 1-8 Harteford Hawks didn’t play, but announced they fired OC Kurt Millen Monday morning. Head Coach Dick Jorgensen will take over as OC for the remainder of the season. If, he makes it that far…

MNG: Miners at Stars

Monday Night Game | Hallas | Week Ten

    HALLAS STARS 34

   SAN ANGELO MINERS 24

Hallas took advantage of a second-half QB crisis from the Miners after Brandon Mullen left the game early in the third quarter. 

Another QB out: Mullen goes down

San Angelo Miners | Brandon Mullen

San Angelo will be without their top passer for the remainder of the season, according to reports coming in from Hallas. With the game tied at 17-17, Mullen went down and has apparently broken his jaw. That is expected to be it the end of his season right there.

Brandon Gooden, who scored a third quarter fumble recovery td, also missed time in the first half. Gooden returned to the game and defended two passes and scored a touchdown.

Phoenix QB Kelly breaks finger. Out for six weeks

Adelphia Phoenix QB Matt Kelly injured a finger in his throwing arm in last nights game versus the Caligara Bulldogs. Kelly is expected to miss 6-8 weeks, depending on how his throwing action can cope with any necessary adjustments. Greg Wayne, who took over in the first quarter, is expected to deputise, despite his poor outing in Caligara. Wayne couldn’t complete 50% of his passes and the team only gained 10 first downs in three and a half quarters with him at the helm.

PFL Week Four wrap up

PFL Week 4 Roundup

One team still undefeated? Many teams at 2-2? What went down this past weekend in the PFL:

Oakland Ravens remained undefeated following a Field Goal contest with the Iomagh Steelers. The game finished 9-6!

The Chakota Wasps shut out the visiting Harteford Hawks 20-0. Humphrey looks hot, the Harteford Hawks do not. Guess last week was a fluke, huh?

Eregon Eagles moved to 2-2 by beating the San Angelo Miners 28-14. Brandon Mullen struggled against the Eagles defence, taken down by Jeff Holliday three times.

New Jorg 96ers left it late to win at home to Caligara 23-17. The ‘sixers continue to look impressive, being a surprise team this season. It took no time for Kurt Sierra to settle in at QB and he has lit a flame under WR Asante Brown’s boots and gloves. The defence is stacked too.

The Trojans needed an extra-time field goal to win against the Tallassea Oilers in Rochester. QB Ryan Bruce led them to a late tying touchdown with 17 seconds left in regulation. The Oilers lost another close one, surely their luck will change soon?

St George’s defence capitulated at home to the Hallas Stars (41-17). The Sharks gave up 40 points for the second time in four weeks. Drew Williams returned to fine form in the onslaught.

Ballymore got revenge for the Crystal Bowl XLVI loss in Adelphia against the Phoenix. The Tigers won 20-14, following Slater’s late TD run. Bo Mills left the game early, with Cam Rogers filling in well. Adelphia’s defence showed signs of cracking against the run down the stretch.

On Monday Night, the Landor Knights won 22-9 against the visiting Melborg Giants in an all-PFL East clash. Elijah Brooks led their balanced attack, as the team improved to 2-2. At 1-3, The Giants need to start winning soon, before the get thrown out of the play-off picture.

Week three wrap up

PFL | Week 3 | 2017-18

Oakland remain as the only undefeated team after three rounds! The Ravens go into this Friday Night fixture hoping to go 4-0. What a league season this is turning out to be.

New Jorg 96ers rallied late to a 20 – 13 victory away to the Ballymore Tigers, Asante Brown caught 8 passes, Kurt Sierra gained 311 yards through the air.  Tigers QB Bo Mills struggled to run the offence, will he still be starting next week?

Rochester Trojans dispatched the hosting San Andreas Miners 45 – 35. Ryan Bruce returned to fine form this week, throwing for 389 yards and three TDs. San Andreas couldn’t keep up, their defence is leaking yardage and points. This was another weary display from that side of the board.

One of the PFL’s only undefeated teams, the Oakland Ravens, remained that way on Sunday. They beat St. George Sharks 21-14 at home. The Ravens have looked very solid and adaptable in all stages of the game so far this year.  An all round team.

The Melborg Giants got their first win, due to three missed kicks by the Chakota Wasps. Problems with the longsnapper-holder exchange caused Wall to miss two field goals and an extra point attempt. The Giants held on to open their win account for the season.

One of the PFL’s only undefeated teams, Iomagh Steelers lost 7 – 14 to the Tallassea Oilers– the Oilers first win of the year. In a low-scorer, the Oilers managed a late touchdown to break a 7-7 deadlock. Again, Edjerious Jones was held to just three catches.

In Hallas, the Adelphia Phoenix destroyed the Hallas Stars 37 – 13 with Matt Kelly throwing three touchdown tosses. The Stars committed four turnovers, meaning they couldn’t keep up.

In the late Sunday game, Landor Knights lost to the Caligara Bulldogs 20 – 26. We’ve already talked about that.

In the Monday evening slot, Harteford Hawks opened their account with a 20 – 10 win at Eregon. The Eagles showed no composure up front and the Hawks finally showed some football gumption. It was in front of the Monday Night audience too!

 

 

Sunday Sizzlers!

PFL Week 3 | Sunday games

We thought we would be  in for a treat- and we were yesterday. In the late afternoon game, Adelphia marched over Hallas, 37-13 at the Stardome. Matt Kelly threw for three TDs and Drew Williams was picked off three times. The game was very entertaining to watch- easy on the eye as both teams moved the ball. It was perhaps the four turnovers that stopped the scoreline being so close. But hey, it was good Sunday watching for the neutral.

Matt Kelly passed for 258 yards , in a very much improved performance than last week- where Oakland shut the passing game down. Marshall Knight gained 141 yards on the ground. The Stars could not protect the ball, which was their undoing (three picks and a fumble from Williams).

Then, for the Sunday Night Game, we had a very close 26-20 win for the home team in Caligara, as the Bulldogs beat the defending champions Landor Knights. The Bulldogs dreamt up the perfect game plan, running nearly 50 times (47 atts) and commanding the time of possession- at nearly 40 mins. By doubling down on Rashaan Johnson, Landor had to find other options.  Although Shyrone Rogers had 10 catches for 241 yards- 79 on the first pass play and 49 on their penultimate drive. He WAS the Landor offence.

Zack Slater completed 17 of 23 passes, for 246 yards and one score. Jeremy Franklin gained 101 yards (28 atts) for the ‘Dogs. An Old school approach won out the day.

Ryan McKenzie was quiet on the day for the Knights, gaining only 32 yards, and key to the fightback, fumbled a pass from Brooks, which the Bulldogs recovered.

Zack Slater drills a TD pass to Max Buchanon. 

PFL Week Two wrap-up

PFL | Week 2 | 2017-18

The second round of matches are complete, following the season openers- you can perhaps throw the form book out of the window. Only three teams that won on opening weekend repeated. Only three teams that lost, lost again.

Adelphia Phoenix got back to winning ways against the Tallassea Oilers, feeling at home in the Dome, they raced to an early lead. Tallassea came back, but it was not quite enough. The Phoenix won 23-20. The Adelphia Defence limited Edjerious Jones to three catches. The Oilers’ defence gave up points early, but shutout Matt Kelly and Co.  for the  second half.

The Melborg Giants gave up a late touchdown to Bo Mills and the Ballymore Tigers to lose 24-20. Mills threw a late pass to Slater for 19 yards, with only 17 seconds remaining. The Giants are 0-2 for the first time in a 12 seasons.

The Oakland Ravens marched to a 20-13 victory over the New Jorg 96ers. The Ravens have a ground based attack working very efficiently, with Tom2 pulling the strings at QB. The 96ers look dangerous, but were overloaded by blitzes in the 4th Quarter.

Iomagh Steelers maintained their 100% record by beating the hosting Harteford Hawks 21-10. The Hawks scored an extra seven points to last week, but still looked way off the ark. Not to take anything away from this Iomagh side, who looked like a well oiled machine out there on Sunday.

In a surprise Sunday afternoon showdown showing, the Hallas Stars beat the Landor Knights 27-21 at home. Normally a Sunday/Monday Night Game, this was a normal daytime showing. Both teams looked less sparkly than normal. Brooks and Williams put up modest numbers- as again- defence was well played.

The Rochester Trojans succumbed to the Eregon Eagles 34-16.  The Eagles used a balanced attack to throw the Trojans off guard. The Eregon defence also dialed up some amazing schemes to upset Ryan Bruce and the Trojans’ passing lanes. The Trojans looked like a different side out there.

In the late Sunday game, the San Andres Miners put up 48 on division rival St. George Sharks. This game was a blow out, with the Sharks scoring two 4th Quarter TDs to make the score closer than it was, even thought it finished 48-28! As prolific as the offences looked, it was shoddy tackling by both sides that led to some big  (and long) scoring plays.

And in the Monday Night Game, the  Chakota Wasps moved to 2-0 by beating the Caligara Bulldogs 35-27 in Caligara. The Wasps started out slowly and trailed 13-7 at the half. Veteran QB Billy Humphrey threw late TD passes as the Wasps took it home. Caligara had late opportunities to equalise, but Zack Slater’s pass for Moss was intercepted in the end zone.

Week one wrap-up

PFL Week 1 | Roundup

The first week of the 2017-18 Season has been completed. Here is the rundown of the game played from Friday to last night.

In the opener, the Landor Knights started off with a 24-20 win over the Ballymore Tigers at Knights stadium. Elijah Brooks and Ryan McKenzie looked at home in the opener. The defences for both teams looked stacked.

The Oakland Ravens knocked off the Adelphia Phoenix in Adelphia, 17-14. The Ravens’ defence locked down the Phoenix attack, whilst a good ground game saw the visitors pull through in a low-scoring game.

The Melborg Giants lost 16-26 to the Caligara Bulldogs at Bulldogs Stadium in Caligara. The Bulldogs looked legit against a very balanced Giants team. Chase Hand was picked off twice in unusual fashion, he had three turnovers on the day.

Edjerious Jones took over the headlines in the Tallassea Oilers‘ 27-29 loss to the hosting St. George Sharks. The Tallassea rookie shone with 8 catches for 155 yards and three scores, including an opening 66 yard catch. Not a bad way to introduce yourself to the league!

Rochester Trojans destroyed the visiting Harteford Hawks 41-3 in their season opener. Ryan Bruce had three TD passes, Ray Shell had two on the ground. The Hawks looked ill-prepared from the kickoff.

The Eregon  Eagles defence picked off three passes in the first half in their loss to the Chakota Wasps 13-26. The Eagles had plenty of opportunities inside the 20, but the Wasps’ defence played very strongly in the red zone.  Wasps’ 41-year old QB Billy Humphrey said he was disgusted with himself, afterwards (re- the picks).

The Iomagh Steelers caused the shock of the weekend by beating the perennial contenders- San Angelo Miners at Steel City. The well-organised defence  shut-down the pass-happy Miners attack. Up front, the Steelers’ forwards gave time and space to run and pass through a clock-managing, efficient offence.

And last night, the New Jorg 96ers came into Hallas and pulled off an early coup over the Stars. Rookie DE Vin Marshall got his first QB Mark, whilst new 96er QB Kurt Sierra ran the passing game and the ‘Sixers pulled off the 34-24 win.