UFB: 2017 Champions Tourney Rankings

The NUSA’s Bowl Executive Committee (BEC) released their final rankings for 2017. This ranking also gave us the final seedings for the Champions Tournament, culminating in the Champions Bowl game in January.

Mid- Season review

PFL | 2017-18 | Mid season review

After ten weeks of action, everyone has played 9 matches, half the 2017-18 schedule.

It’s  the prefect time to stop and assess each teams progress or decline/descent since the start of the season. There may be some surprises, there certainly have been for us here at the PFL front office…

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 Landor 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 Giants 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 New Chester 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.

Ravens at 5-0, but where is the love?

Oakland Ravens | PFL | Season 2017-18

By Ryan Solis, PFL Reporter.

The Oakland Ravens are the only undefeated team after five rounds of the PFL season. They have been the only truly consistent team this year, so whay have they not been getting the love and appreciation that Landor were getting last year?

No Razzle Dazzle?

The main difference between the 2016 Landor Knights and the 2017 Oakland Ravens is showmanship. You had the capital city, bright lights, a little bit of styling and profiling, dabbing, charisma. The Ravens have been saying and doing the right things- just it has been a little too low-key for TV! Some say boring, even. Tom Tomkowski, or ‘TOM2’ is a brand, but he’s been playing to the part lines, been a team player. This is a very good thing, but it doesn’t raise the profile. That is how the Ravens seem to like it, though.

Option Kings?

Tom Tomkowski is a good all-rounder. The team have been successfully implementing triple option and read-option plays into their schemes. With a league that apart from a few prefer the air-raid passing attacks, this is a novelty. You played against it in UFB, but not so much in the PFL. This is showing to be a good option for the Ravens so far.

Defensive Showing?

The Ravens’ defence has played very well to date, only conceding 60 points in five games, 7 points of the 67 came from a kick return. They have shown a lot of discipline in sticking to their roles and allowing the combined talent to shine. This reminds me a lot of the New England Patriots ‘do your job’  mantra. So far, so good.

Only five games in

Part of the lack of hype has been that we are only five games in, less than a third of the season played out. The hype will definitely grow if they continue to win as the weeks go by. No one is expecting an  18-0 team in this new 16 team set-up. You play everyone nowadays. My thoughts are that the team are happy flying a little under the radar, just taking things week by week.

Without making headlines or seeking attention, the Ravens are clearly doing it their way- as a team. Best of luck to them.

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.

Landor 96ers left it late to win at home to Bristol 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 Caligara 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.

Landor 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 Angelo Miners 45 – 35. Ryan Bruce returned to fine form this week, throwing for 389 yards and three TDs. San Angelo 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 Caligara 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, New Chester Knights lost to the Bristol 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!

Champs in trouble? (1-2)

By Ryan Solis, PFL Correspondent.

The defending Champion Landor Knights have lost two games in a row. Was the week one defeat of the Tigers a fluke? Are they in trouble, with perhaps a championship hangover?  I guess only time will tell and it may be a little early to suggest an empire is falling down, but it is telling on the field. If there isn’t change soon, the Knights may be looking at giving up those repeat plans.

Here are three reasons to panic right now:

1. The Forwards are not blocking, injuries and inexperience are showing up front. QB Elijah Brooks has little time to let a play develop. He’s making plays with his legs as the the pocket frequently breaks down. He’s gonna get killed out there!
2. The defence is leaking yards and plays. The Bulldogs attack stayed on the field for over 70 plays (47 running) on Sunday,  meaning the Knights ‘D’ were also on the field for 70 plays. They have been stretched and are to this point, beaten down.
3. Everyone knows how they play. The Knights have been somewhat predictable this season, if the defence knows what they do, they are going to try and shut that down.

And here are three reasons to be optimistic:

1. They have time on their side. There are another fifteen games to go- and two rest weeks. Plenty of time to iron out any wrinkles and get players healthy.
2. Receiving core- there’s too many players to cover. Even when shutting down most of the Knights’ attack, Shyrone Rogers came up with 10 grabs for 243 yards!
3. They don’t have to play the Stars or Bulldogs again this season, barring the playoffs. Two losses on the road are not the end of the world. They can still win lots of games, especially the 8 remaining home games.