[MIJB#19]

Week 17 recap

Merchantmen finish season victorious, beat Gothenburg
In a game of turnovers, the Merchantmen end the season with a 20-16 win over the Gothenburg Giants. Anchored by a determined Charles Gomez, the defense forced enough turnovers to make the offense win the game. It gives the Merchantmen new franchise highlights.

Last game of the season, the Gothenburg Giants were coming to Maassluis and it was clear that the visiting team was already with their heads in the first round playoffs game they had to play. Cecil Maxwell was kept out of the game, making the Giants play focussed on the passing game. And with the Merchantmen's ability to defend an early lead, the Giants could be facing a fourth loss in a row.

A motived Merchantmen offense picked things up well and gave the team an early lead. The game started with a 60-yard run from fullback Jamel Rosenberry. With a 22-yard field goal by Cary Coles and a 12-yard pass from Louie Flannery to Jim Reiser, the Merchantmen had a 10-0 lead after eleven minutes. With the defense's ability to force the Giants into three-and-out in between, it called for a big game for the Dutch team. Especially when Emile William return an interception 60 yards for the score to put the Merchantmen 17-0 up after barely 13 minutes of game time. In the second quarter, the Giants tried to fight back and got on the scoreboard with a touchdown pass from Duane Davis to William Walker. A missed field goal kept the 10-point gap alive at the start of the second half.

The Giants came out the locker room determined to win this game. In the remainder of the game, the Merchantmen failed to force the Swedish team to punt. By not allowing another touchdown and stopping two drives with interceptions, made by Johnnie Stidham and Ellsworth Thelen, the Giants had to settle for three field goals, all converted by Damien Deming.

The Merchantmen offense was horrible in the second half and it was really a miracle how the Giants failed to turn the tide enough to win the game. In fact, the Merchantmen offense accounted for a total of -2 yards in the second half, altough Cary Coles did score a 19-yard field goal to finish a drive that started at the Gothenburg 6-yard line.

For the Merchantmen, Charles Gomez earned MVP honors for the game, as he accounted for 9 tackles, 3.0 sacks and a forced fumble. Ellsworth Thelen turned out to be a good number two though, having recorded a sack and an interception at key moments to add to his 12 tackles. Well, that is if you ignore that he allowed 7 catches for the day. Gomez racked up his season totals, but whether it's enough to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors is yet to be seen. But the loyal Gomez couldn't care less: "We're the worst defense in the league, do you really think a guy playing on that defense deserves such an award?"

With the eight win of the season, the Merchantmen clinched a one-win improvement from the 2005 to 2006 season. Additionally, the win over Gothenburg means that the 2006 season will go into the books as the first with two divisional wins and one with a 6-2 record at home. A season with a record high win over Fairbanks and one withtwo negative records. The Merchantmen are the first team to allow 500 yards on offense in two games in one season, setting the new worst standard twice this season. Additionally, the 2006 Merchantmen are the first team to allow 40 points in two different games.

General manager M.IJ.B. is optimistic: "In 2007 the young players will all be a lot better. Since we're planning to keep the core of the team, about 40 to 45 players, together, we expect to see chemistry and cohesion take a bigger role too. Clearly, we haven't found the working defensive game plan, but I'm optimistic about the game plan we used in 10 of the 16 games. We went 6-4 in those games." Looking forward to next season's schedule, he was even more optimistic: "We're again facing our friends from Rochester, which means Futility Bowl IV. We're going to face the Georgia Gridlock, who have never been better than 5-11 and we know we'll play the Fort Worth Fury again too, we're 2-0 life time against them, in their stadium. And with the way we've played in divisional games, I expect the team to win at least 3 of those games."


European Division In Action
Other than Maassluis' win over Gothenburg, the Bordeaux Vineyards took two Mario Hudson interceptions to the endzone to anchor a 24-10 victory at home against the Paris Musketeers and clinch a playoff ticket. But with the Gothenburg loss, the outcome of this game had as much effect on the final standings. The scores do mean that in the first round of the playoffs, the two European rivals will face each other in Bordeaux.

11-5 Bordeaux Vineyards
10-6 Gothenburg Giants
8-8 Maassluis Merchantmen
4-12 Paris Musketeers