First off, proofreading is for squares and people with time, here at the Blitz offices, we don’t have a lot of time so please excuse our grammatical errors every once in a while. So let’s get week three started off okay? Okay…
The BGOW kicked off week three bright and early as the Reapers went on the road to face the Rage. The combination of either the brisk temperatures, high winds or early start times contributed in a first half of defensive domination. Neither team was able to get the ball moving as both would constantly stall at or prior to the endzone. In an affair that took over 14 minutes; the final 2 minutes were the home to the highlights. The Rage would march the ball down to the 8 yard line, when Jimmy Sanford dropped back, avoided the pressure and threw a pea to Rob Keddie on a quick slant for the games first score. On the Reapers next possession, Cleatus would do the same. 45 seconds left, he dropped back and threw a laser to Luis Andino over the middle for the equalizer at the half. The game would remain tied until Keddie struck again with 12 minutes left. He streaked up the sideline, stopped to bait the defender and then went deep. With no safety coverage over the top, Sanford just floated the ball with ease right into the mitts of Keddie for duo’s second TD of the day. With the Rage up by 6, the Reapers would take the ball with 6 minutes left. With momentum on their side and the crowd in their pockets, the Reapers would matriculate the ball down the field with ease. It wasn’t until 2nd down from the Rage 12 yard line they would encounter resistance. One airmailed pass made it third down. A pass breakup by Keddie made it fourth down. Then on fourth down, just like they drew it up, Cleatus tossed a cloud to the back of the endzone for Keko once again; it got batted up and around and then fell right into the hands of Jimmy Wilson to tie it up. They would convert the extra point which would turn into the eventual game-winner. The Reapers win a nail-biter, 14-13 over the Champs.
At 8:30 just a mere 20 yards away from all this drama, a different kind of drama unfolded in the Goonies and Punishers game across the way. This was an encounter of leviathan measures. Two high-potent offenses versus two bipolar defenses. It was a back and forth battle throughout this one’s entirety. The Punishers got on the board in the first half by way of early season MVP favorite, Austin Williams, followed by Mikey Bags and John McCarthy. The Goonies despite big time TD’s from Joe Lithgow and Tech, they trailed by 7 at the break. Mike Pisapia came out of the break and got himself his 3rd TD of the season for the Goonies and then the Goonies got a safety to take a 1 point lead. The Punishers then unleashed Angel Rivera. The sneaky quick elusive center caught a pair of TD’s on successive drives to give the Punishers a comfortable lead. The Goonies had just enough in them for a second half comeback. Joe Lithgow would haul in his second and third TD of the game to pull his team within a point. The Goonies played big boy ball. Instead of going for the tie, they went for 2 and tried to win it. After Lauzon scrambled and exhausted the clock, the ball hit the ground in what seemed like slow motion to clinch the W for the Punishers. The Goonies fall for the second straight week by a point, 34-33.
The Blue Balls of Doom and the Athletes squared off at 9am. It seemed all but over when the the Athletes jumped out to a 20-7 lead at the half thanks to touchdowns from Dee, Garrett and Vance but there are two halves to be played and the second half faired better for the Blue Balls. Vance added a tip toe TD to go up by 20 before the Blue Balls got things moving. Kiel Canada caught a little out from the 5 yard line to get on the board. Then Dave Martel caught his second TD of the game to pull within 8 pts. The Athletes seemed to be crumbling due to their playfulness and playbook beta testing. After the Blue Balls drove down the length of the field and seemed poised to pull within a few points, the Athletes Jamal Woods batted down a ball in the endzone to capture possession for his team. Deuce added his second TD of the day for the dagger on a quick slant with just under two minutes to play. They then followed it up with a safety sack and an Austin Partain TD as time expired. The Blue Balls came to play but just didn’t have enough juice in the tank. Athletes win again, 42-19.
In a matchup of former Beer league and B-league foes, America’s Children took on the Battletoads. The Toads were without their QB1 but unlike many teams, their QB2 is a QB1 on most rosters. John Groff from the Toads caught their first TD and newbie Alec Matys of America’s Children caught their first TD. That was the score at the half as neither team could get the BAC pumping. The Toads switched out QB’s in the second half putting Nick Kepka Calvetti back in the slot where he belongs. He is far too valuable of an asset to have slinging the rock, so just as expected, the little engine that could went off. He grabbed 3 catches on his first receiving drive leading to his first TD of the season. Unfortunately for the Toads, that was all they could muster up for the day. America’s Children was just too much. QB Pat O’Donnell spread the ball around to his plethora of receivers. He hit rookie of the year front-runner, Bernard Lynch for a paid of TD’s, then hit Buddy Bajerski with a stiff-arm inflicting, defender downing TD from short distance. America’s Children remain undefeated as they down the Battless Toads 25-13.
Just a season ago, this happened: At 10 was a battle of shorthanded teams when Beast Mode took on Flagnado. In a game with a combined total of 18 points, Jake Tinirella and Vin Hoang were the stars of the game. Tinirella scored the games first TD in the second half taking a shovel pass up the sideline for 60 yards and 6 points. After a Dilsson Ramirez safety sack, Flagnado was up by 8 points going into the final two minutes. Beast Mode hunkered down and got some momentum going. They picked apart the Flagnado defense piece by piece and scored the game-tying TD and extra point by way of Vin Hoang and Chazz Hirbour. Hoang caught a little dig route in the middle of the endzone to pull within two followed by a Hirbour 2 pt conversion in extra time to tie it. Overtime also lacked offense from both squads. Flagnado worked their way down to the 5 yard line and threw a pick into Hirbour’s hands to set up Beast Mode with 1 minutes and the ball to win. Unfortunately, a fumbled snap on their first play led to their demise as the ball rolled out of the endzone for a safety. Flagnado survives a surprising Beast Mode surge, 10-8 in Overtime. That was last year; this years matchup wasn’t quite as exhilarating. Flagnado got a TD from every player on offense and Beast Mode had no answer to the high winds of the air. Beast Mode’s defense looked better than the score indicated but they still fall 31-0.
Instinct and Scoregasms squared off in a battle of :cool arena league, I made these for my expansion team in Madden” looking jerseys at 10:35. The Scoregasms got on the board first with a Scott Danuliek TD reception, followed by a Dan Walkley catch while streaking across the field. Instinct answered with their speedster Martin Beccerril catching a TD over the middle to pull within a score at the break. On this first drive out of the gate, Gunner Siverly took a handoff from Joe Page and jetted his way 60 yards to pay dirt to pull within a point. Dan Walkley struck again followed by Travis Tripodi on successive drives. David Acosta of Instinct caught their final TD of the day but too little too late. As per usual, Instinct put up a fight without the W. The Scoregasms survie 26-19.
Once a great and storied rivalry, the Tigers and Vikings go back to 2013. Both were young and frail rookie teams looking to find a place in the league. The Vikings wore maroon T-shirts and the Tigers were loaded with Labrecque’s a plenty. Each season they would duke it out to see who would get the victory that season, flipping back and forth continually. Eventually both teams would become champions in respective seasons having to go through each other to get there. This season might be a tad bit different. The Vikings loaded up this offseason adding former all-stars and chain movers, while the Tigers stuck with the same roster; just minus their all-pro QB. To make a long story short and for the protection of the losers in this one, the Vikings Nate Forsaith, Dez Mannings, Matt Arpin, and Kevin Langevin all scored TDs (some had two), while the Tigers only managed two TD’s for the whole game. The Vikings win this one handily, 36-13.
Up next, the Dream Killers went on the road to face Young Dynasty at noon. The first half of this game was super competitive but not so much in the second. On the first play of the game, Young Dynasty’s QB, Gary Lunetta scrambled to the outside and waggled his way to the sideline for a 60 yard rushing TD. On their next possession, Young D welcomed back Tim Nutter. In his first game back from a lengthy contract dispute with a touchdown. Then the Dream Killers got on the board with an Andre Rioux touchdown from the 30 yard line on 4th down to pull with 6 at half time. For the Dream Killer away fans, that would be the last they would see of their natives in the endzone as Young Dynasty locks down a second half shutout. Nutter added another TD sandwiched between a Zach new guy and Tyler Baker TD. Young Dynasty gets their first win of the season at home, 34-8.
The second to last game of the day was a matchup of struggling offenses as the Vinegar Strokes played Illmatic.The Strokes came out potent. Rusher Austin Ogiba was a STROKE of genius against the Illmatic offense with QB pressures galore. He batted down two balls and tallied a sack in the first half leading to an Illmatic goose egg. The Vinegar Strokes offense got it rolling early with a diving touchdown in the back of the endzone by rookie Chad Crockett. That’s how it would end in the first half with the Vinegar Strokes scoring 7 and Illmatic zero. After Illmatic stalled on their opening drive, the Strokes took over. On second and long, Justin Martin’s rush forced Cody Vanden Burgh out of bounds resulting in a safety; 2 point on the board for Illmatic. Those two points is just what Tyler Hartt needed to get a drive going. Hartt connected with Jordan Martin, (10 receptions, 3 INTs on the day) 3 times on their scoring drive. Drew Norris caught the go ahead touchdown on 4th and goal from the 26 yard line after it went through the hands of two defenders. Illmatic shuts down the Strokes offense in the second half and hangs on to win a tight one despite losing a fumble at their own one yard line as the clock expired. Illmatic has a winning streak as they down Vinegar Strokes, 9-7.
The finale of the day pitted the undefeated Tune Squad and the 500 New Wave. A competitive battle to say the least. Both teams jawing at each other continually throughout the game even when it was out of hand. For New Wave, Devon Collier rushed for a touchdown and threw for another. Nathan Guillermo kept his interception streak alive, stealing one of those while catching a TD on offense. Harmel also added another TD for his third consecutive game. On the winning side, Derek Stella kept his rookie of the year/MVP bid alive and well. He tossed for 5 TD’s giving him a league leading total of 16, he also rushed for over 50 yards to go along with a sack on D to boot. Former Ultimate Warrior teammate diffectors, Alex Golden and Even Goldney combined for over 300 yards in the air and 5 touchdown catches. The Tune Squad survive a discombobulation or errors early and overcome a slim halftime lead to win. New Wave drops their second straight, 38-19.