Montreal at California

The legend of Elise Beaumont continues to grow. The rookie signal caller, fresh off the first loss of her career last week, came back with a vengeance today, overcoming six sacks to lead the Demons on a game-winning drive with two minutes remaining on the clock. At first, it looked like it was going to be a repeat of last week’s loss to Las Vegas. Montreal came out firing and built up a big lead early. California was down by 14 at two separate points in the game. But they scored 10 unanswered points in the second half to come back and tie the game. Montreal decided to play conservatively at the end, keeping the ball on the ground and running out the clock, but the Cali defense managed to force a fumble on third down, which forced a punt even though the Royal recovered. It looked like things might be headed to overtime for a bit. The Demons were at 3rd and 11 with 40 seconds and no time outs left, with the ball at midfield. But Beaumont managed to get her fullback Rebecca Beausoleil in open space across the middle for a 20 yard reception, getting them into field goal range. The team rushed up to the line, Beaumont managed to spike the ball with 11 seconds remaining, and Andrew Castonguay put it through the uprights from 47 yards for the win. Final score: CAL 27, MTL 24

Easton at Las Vegas

Speaking of come-from-behind victories, it took a monumental effort from Sylvester Stapler and Roy Viridi-Aqua to stave off an upset of the hottest team in the United Conference. Stapler in particular looked vulnerable all game, throwing a season-high three interceptions as the Bald Eagles built a 21-7 lead by halftime. It was still 21-16 in the fourth quarter, when Stapler threw his third pick deep in their own red zone with only five minutes to go. Easton had first and goal, and looked like it could seal the game away with a field goal at the very least. But a tipped ball on second down landed in the hands of cornerback Donell Atwood (his second interception of the game, making it the first two-pick game of his career), giving the Bandits one more chance. After a couple of plays, they were looking at a 3rd and 7 with just over two minutes left, at their own 41 yard line. One blown coverage on an out route later, and Viridi-Aqua was back-flipping into the end zone for the go-ahead score, Las Vegas’s first lead of the game. Final score: LVB 24, EAS 21

Chicago at Nashville

This game was a battle of star running backs, as Jean-Etienne Tremblay and Dallas Larkin both showed why they’ve earned every-down back status. In fact, each of them managed to score the longest runs of their respective careers in the same game. Tremblay had a 78-yard TD run in the first quarter, and Larkin had his own 68-yard score in the second. However, the difference in the game was actually measured through the air. In addition to the big yardage on the ground, the Pickup had his best receiving game of the season, catching three passes for 68 yards, a total of over 200 yards from scrimmage for the game. One of those catches started as a screen pass, and Tremblay turned it into a 59-yard gain, the longest receiving play of his career. In the end, Chicago pulled away from the Tuts for their fifth win of the season. Final score: CHI 31, NSH 23

New Orleans at New York

New York’s offensive line woes continue. Already down to their third-string center, the Defiant lost another key piece today, as left guard Claude Pinson went down with a serious-looking knee injury. The bear was carted off the field and diagnosed with a dislocated kneecap, and is looking at missing multiple games. With all of the line issues, Lukas Barella was battered around for most of the game. While he was only sacked three times, he was under constant siege, and only completed 15 of his 30 pass attempts. With the running game also contained, it’s not that surprising that New York found itself in a huge hole by halftime, down three scores. A good portion of that was attributable to rookie running back Kayla Colt, who had the first two-TD game of her young career. The Corsairs actually did their best to let the Defiant back into the game, committing a bunch of silly penalties to let the Defiant cut the lead in half. They managed to get as close as 3 by the end of the game, but their onside kick attempt was unsuccessful and New Orleans was able to run out the clock for the win. Final score: NOC 20, NYD 17

Richmond at Colorado

On paper, this should have been the biggest slam-dunk of all matchups. The 8-1 Crushers up against the Richmond Flames, currently ranked dead last in points and yards per game. Maybe they expected an easy win, and didn’t come in expecting any sort of stiff resistance. However, that’s exactly what they got, as the Flames managed to hold Colorado to their second-lowest total of the entire season. Linebacker Jerome Swartz in particular was all over the Crushers offense, netting a career-high five tackles for loss as he consistently blew up whatever it was that Christina Carson and the rest of the team was trying to do. The Flames offense was as expected, only scoring a pair of field goals, but it was surprising close for most of the game, and it would have only taken one or two lucky breaks for Richmond to have actually come out on top. In fact, it actually GOT one of those breaks. Colorado’s star running back Efren Frank cracked a bone in his muzzle and was held out of the entire second half – he’s doubtful for next week. Final score: COL 16, RIC 6

Miami at Baltimore

Well, this might be the ugliest offensive game of the entire year so far. The Ponies offensive line seemingly couldn’t stop an arthritic sloth, as their rushing game went backwards more often than forwards. The Tropics as a team had an amazing TWELVE tackles for loss, and Seddrick Galloway (who came into the game in the top five for rushing yards in the league) was held to 50 yards on 32 attempts, a putrid 1.6 YPC average. And the Miami O-line wasn’t much better, allowing eight TFL themselves. Neither QB managed to throw for even 200 yards in the contest. What ultimately decided the game was the penalties. The Tropics showed a serious lack of discipline, giving up over 110 free yards on 11 total yellow flags. They also lost a key piece of their defense in the second quarter, as linebacker Roy McKenzie broke his wrist and is expected to miss the rest of the regular season. Final score: BAL 16, MIA 0.

Grand Rapids at Downriver

After last week’s three-interception game, the Dragons made the decision to bench starting quarterback Travis Lockhart and go with veteran backup Bobby Burnette under center. The move clearly sparked something in the team, which went out and just absolutely stomped on their cross-state rivals. Running back Luigi Ruffolo ran for 131 yards and a touchdown, a personal best for the veteran third-down back. And he wasn’t even the best running back in the game! Oliver Smithson beat his own team rushing record by ten yards, setting a new Dragons mark of 151 yards, and added two more rushing touchdowns to Grand Rapids’ total. Between the four Dragons backs who received carries, the team totaled over 300 yards on the ground, the highest combined rushing total of the year [Ed. Note: and quite possibly in league history. That’s not a stat the sim keeps, so I don’t have an easy way to look it up for previous seasons].

Oh, and Bobby Burnette also threw for three touchdowns and almost 300 yards.

It really didn’t help that the Waves were missing recent acquisition Aspen Redfield, who was still out with the concussion he sustained last week. Joe McJamison never really had a chance to lead a comeback, as he was sacked eight times. The Waves actually lost more yardage from sacks than they gained through rushing. The Downriver offense didn’t necessarily play a BAD game – they scored 17 points, but with the Dragons duo running all over the field, I don’t think even Elise Beaumont could have led a comeback on this one. Final score: GRD 48, DWN 17

Texas at North Florida

This one devolved into an old-fashioned slugfest, with a lot of running and passing but not a lot of scoring. Only two total touchdowns were scored in the entire game, both on running plays. Everything else came via field goals, of which there were eight total in the game. Six of those came courtesy of the leg of Renegades placekicker Trent Velazquez, a team record, who has now made 15 field goals in his last three games without a miss. His final kick of the game actually put North Florida ahead by a point with two and a half minutes to go. But Andrew Calder decided to do his best Elise Beaumont impression and converted on third down twice on the final drive, getting into position for a game-winning field goal as time expired. Final score: TEX 20, NFR 18

Players of the Week

Offensive: Jean-Etienne Tremblay (RB – CHI): 140 rushing yards and 2 rushing TDs, plus three catches for 68 yards
Defensive: Logan Virtanen (DE – TEX): 9 tackles, a sack, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery
Special Teams: Trent Velazquez (K – NFR): six total field goals, including a 51-yarder