[MIJB#19]

Merchantmen Versus Volunteers Preview
The world looks bright as the Maassluis Merchantmen are 3-0 and play game four of te regular season at home. Those should be the perfect ingredients to head into their bye week in week 5 with a 4-0 record. Afterall, a team that won 6 of 8 games at home last season should be favored to win. Unless, of course, one of the conference's best teams in league history comes to tugboat city. The San Antonio Volunteers were AOC runners' up in 2006 and, like Maassluis, have won all of their first three games in the new season.

The Merchantmen's success is still some sort of mystery, but the passing game has been openly called the key factor. Louie Flannery passes enough yardage to his quintet of wide receivers to make his team rank third in the IHOF in passing yardage with 293 yards per game. And with a duo of 1,000-yard backs running from behind him, Flannery has nothing to fear. His offensive line protects him well, only 14 of 109 passing plays were wasted by the pass rush. And he learned to live with his interceptions.

On the defensive side, the Merchantmen haven't been bad either. The team managed to stuff the Ann Arbor Anachronism and defend the pass in all three games well. The pass defense is anchored by the excellent pass rush support, provided by young players, but they might have a set back later in the season. The secondary and linebackers play well, especially Cody Cluff (32 tackles) and Winfort Endicott (6 passes defended) jump out.

The San Antonio Volunteers haven't been exactly doing bad either. John McMasters rankes second in passing yards (301 per game) and has 7 touchdowns versus 1 interception, making him look much better than Flannery. His new target Eldon Batts takes the pressure off other receivers, while the 1,000-yard tandem of Bud Pitts and Michael Fau keeps the chains moving. The Volunteers defense is anchored by a strong secondary and can't be underestimated.

The Merchantmen will have to play their best football to have a shot at beating San Antonio, but then, last season they did go 6-2 at home, including wins over the playoff bound Orlando Knights, Fairbanks Northstars, Gothenburg Giants and the 10-6 Rochester Lake Monsters. But San Antonio has gone 8-2 in 2006 and this season combined. Bottom line, the winner will be 4-0 and .500 football away from the playoffs. For San Antonio it would fullfill expectations, for the Merchantmen it would make a dream come true. Watch the game this Thursday and find out who it will be.