[MIJB#19]

Merchantmen At Giants Review
With Gothenburg at 3-8 and Maassluis at 1-10, this game could be a decider about the last place in the European Division.
In the first game, the Merchantmen were victorious 31-27 in a well deserved fourth quarter comeback game.
In Gothenburg, the Merchantmen won the toss and elected to receive.
The Merchantmen were off to a great start, with a key 40-yard pass from Justin McDavid to Gregory Monti setting up a 1-yard touchdown McDavid pass to Vincent Lopez. Followed by a short drive from the home team.
On their second possession, the Giants defense stepped up an held the visitors to 3 yards gained, followed by a marveouls 57-yard punt return setting up the tying touchdown.
Then, Randy Harris showed his mark, fumbling on the first down of the next drive at the Maassluis 29, setting up a 41-yard Gothenburg field goal for the Giants 10-7 lead.
Harris recovered with a 20-yard rush, while McDavid found backup tight end Jim Reiser twice to set up a 40-yard field goal, which Cary Coles sadly missed.
The Giants seemed to get back in the game, but as always, the Maassluis defense are tough to beat at their own half forcing a punt.
As McDavid was getting in the game and Harris racked up his yardagae totals, all of a sudden Billmaier intercepted McDavid at the Maassluis 26 and returned into to set up a McGee touchdown run: 17-7.
With the demotivating drive just played, McDavid came back on the field missing the drive and got sacked on third down. The Giants took the profit of a bad punt and marched into the endzone, with McGee scoring.
McDavid then was handed two minutes to get the Merchantmen back in the game in the first half, yet was haunted by Billmaier, first being tackled on a scramble and then intercepted at his own 33 to see the Giants go 31-7 up.
With a minute left, McDavid was unable to move his men forward, despite an amazing Gothenburg timeout with 30 seconds left.
In the second half, Gothenburg could easily sit back and enjoy the 31-7 lead, yet had 30 minutes of play left to defend their turf.
In their first drive, the Merchantmen defense forced a three and out, giving McDavid the chances to shine.
McDavid hit Jerry Aubrey for 12 yards, Gregory Monti for 36 yards and ran for yards in between drooped passes, eventually settling for Coles scoring a 32-yard field goal.
31-10 up, the Giants ran wild, led by McGee, but were forced to kick and settle for a 28-yard field goal.
Down by 24, the odds for the Merchantmen were shrinking, especially with less then 20 minutes left. McDavid tossed complete passes all over the place moving his men forward.
Then speedy Frederic Vargas was hit for a 44-yard touchdown pass, giving the Merchantmen some chances with little more then a quarter left.
McGee inspired his Giants once again, seeing the Merchantmen defense stop the home team for a 48-yard field goal.
McDavid hit Monti for 21 yards, being down by 20 and having 10 minutes left to keep the chains moving fast.
In a 3rd and 15 situation, McDavid managed a 14-yard completion to Arnett, followed by Mark Bulger converting the 4th and 1 for a first down.
With Burger converting a 3rd and 1 shortly after, the Merchantmen saw their hopes grow, but at 4th and 4 on the Giants 21, Coles missed another field goal.
The Giants fans started celebrating with 6 minutes left, seeing their offense stooped and all of a sudden a punt blocked to see the Merchantmen at the Giants 34 with 154 second left.
McDavid handed off twice to Johnathan Smith and finished off a 2nd and 1 at the Giants 1 himself.
With a minute left, the Merchantmen went for the onside kick, lost control and saw their two time outs insufficient to stop the clock.
Cornerback Dominic Billmaier easily took the MVP honors, with 2 interceptions, 1 for a score, a sack and 4 tackles.
Once again, turnovers cost the Merchantmen the game, but the Giants running game seemed unstoppable to be held to no scores.
Even holding the opposing pass offense to just 93 yards doesn't count when their running game advances 178 yards.
Justin McDavid did improve his single game performace by 51 yards to 294 yards in one game, but with 2 more interceptions, what does one buy with it?
What's left is a battle to avoid ending up last league wide for the Merchantmen. With Fort Worth and Brooklyn winning, the Merchantmen have lost two more rivals in the race for the #1 draft pick...

Merchantmen Management Messages
After the unneeded loss in Gothenburg, the Maassluis Merchantmen management announces possible chances in the depth chart next week. General Manager M.IJ.B. was clear on the offense: "face it, Justin [McDavid] and Randy [Harris] show top 10 of the league performances but they combine for a shocking 17 fumbles and McDavid adds 16 interceptions to the mix." Bright lights are there on the offense as Frederic Vargas has replaced Bryce Ewald very well and Harold Hurtado keeps showing up as an elite offensive lineman. M.IJ.B. said "Harold does what he has to do, he's a first round selection, he's doing what he's paid for. And he does it very well the last couple of games." Hurtado made 17 key blocks in the last 4 games. The defense is fast dropping on the yardage rankings, but the general manager sees no concern there: "As long as the defense can stop the opponent on long drives, we can win games. Crucial are those drives where the opposing team starts in our teritory due to turnovers." The -19 turnover margin remains as the biggest concern for the team, but the management is confident to solve the problem next season, M.IJ.B.: "Our staff is convinced of Harris' ability to get rid of fumblitis. Justin McDavid is a whole different story. Face it, he's basically a one year solution, us hoping to get a top talent quarterback in the upcoming draft." With the more then likely top 5 or possibly even higher draft pick, te Merchantmen should be in the position to get a quarterback. M.IJ.B.: "It's too early to conclude the draft is all there is, the draft pick could be interesting for other teams to trade for a quality quarterback, we hope."