[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: One more to go...
And we can still miss the playoffs at 10-6.

Some of us (well, me at least) didn't check the weather forecasts well, today turned out to be a snow game. We didn't really adjust our game plan to it at all, so there we went, trying to long bomb our way into victory like usual. Except that this is 2104 and Evan Drake's offense, no longer Earnest Ashley's. Visiting a nearly frozen Oranje Haven were the Moontown Darksiders.

First quarter we took the lead rather quickly. QB Evan Drake found TE Garrett Alcala for 20 yards, RB Van Goodwin ran for 14 yards and on third and long Drake found WR Vinny Buysse for 29 yards and 2 yards shy of a touchdown. It came on a dump pass to dump pass specialist TE Darnell KcKie. The defense returned the ball quickly to us after a 5-play drive, but after good throws to QB Calvin Maxwell and Buysse for 19 and 11 yards respectively, Drake went on a scramble and fumbled the ball after a 19-yard gain. Big plays went back and forth, eventually resulting in a 34-yard field goal. A 20-yard dart from Drake to Maxwell got us downfield and into kicking range to end the first quarter leading 7-3.

The score remained as Oscar Harrington missed a 46-yarder after a botched hold (we will blame the weather). The Darksiders saved their drive with a 21-yard pass to their running back on a 3rd and short and eventually kicked a 44-yarder to trim the deficit to 7-6. After three and out, our defense was quickly back on the field and as Moontown was moving into our territory, Micah Halvorson came down with a neat fumble recovery after Donnie Dogins stripped the running back of the ball. Another third down specialist on our offense, RB Van Goodwin caught QB Evan Drake's pass for a 26-yard gain on 3rd and long. WR Calvin Maxwell caught a 16-yarder, but after a holding penalty appeared to stall the drive, Drake found FB Damien Wanamaker wide open on 3rd and 20 from the goal line to promote it to a touchdown and a 14-6 lead. After another quickly forced punt, our offense returned for the final tow minutes, but instead of making it a two score game, Drake's pass got picked of at our 34-yard line and returned all the way for the touchdown. Moontown decided to kick it and brought the 14-13 half time score on the big screens. Not by lack of trying, as Moontown didget one more chance after a quick defensive stand, but their 50-yard kick in the dying seconds went wide.

In the second half, the fumbling troubles continued for Moontown on their first play from scrimmage. Despite our inability to do anything on offense, the 35-yard field goal was unmissable for Oscar Harrington: 17-13. The defense stood ground after just one solid run, while our offense followed up with a slow but steady drive. A 16-yard toss from QB Evan Drake to WR Vinny Buysse got us across midfield, shortly after followed by the same duo to convert on 3rd and 8. Well within field goal range, Drake found TE Garrett Alcala for 10 yards on 3rd and 8, but intentional grounding on his next pass attempt pushed us back enough to have to settle for a 24-yard field goal and a 20-13 lead. Moontown's drive to end the third quarter was another one of one decent run and then nothing.

The fourth quarter started with both offenses unable to move the chains, with the sixth drive finally ending the trend. It didn't end that well for the Moontown offense though as Robbie Dobreski was on the spot for a strip-sack and giving us the ball back close to scoring range. QB Evan Drake found RB Rondell Robertson for quick 11-yard gain, then a wide open WR Ed Schulz on third and 10 to set up RB Van Goodwin's 10-yard run over the middle for the 27-13 lead. Two scores down, Moontown went for it on fourth down on their next drive and saw their quarterback scramble successfully. Their second fourth down attempt was a completed pass and as Myles Martin
kept making plays, they got deep inside our red zone. The Darksiders dropped the pass twice, and following an incomplete pass, fourth and goal was the do or die play. Deon Rosas broke through the pass protection and after the pass was forced into a hurry, it wasn't all over yet, as Moontown had 3 time outs to burn. But with time short to make anything happen, the game ended there. Final score: Maassluis 27, Moontown 13.

With the victory of the Gothenburg Giants over the Texas Sharks, there was no division title to celebrate yet. Neither for Texas (they would have gotten it with a win), nor for Maassluis, which needed Gothenburg to not win today. Which brings us to these standings:

European Division
1. Maassluis 10-5
2. Gothenburg 9-6
3. Paris 5-10
4. Bordeaux 4-11

Week 17: Paris at Maassluis and Bordeaux at Gothenburg. The latter have the tie-breakers over us, which means we will lose the division if we lose and Gothenburg wins. Even worse, it would knock us out of the playoffs as there already are 5 teams with a better than 10-6 record and the only one we can end up tied with (at 10-6), has beaten us head-to-head. Interestingly enough, if we win, there's a slim chance that if Toronto and Harlem both lose an neither of Tucker or Snapfinger wins, we'll sneak past all of them into a #2 seed and a bye for the wild card round. But, to be honest, I'm more fearful for our team to collaps in the final game. I shouldn't be, but these crazy things happen every now or then. We've been on the spoiler end of things before as well. Ending this playoffs drought would be quite good already.

So, win is in. And if we lose, it's all hoping for Bordeaux to save us.
What will it be? We'll find out very soon.