[MIJB#19]

Merchantmen Winning Streak Ended, Lose To Volunteers
The Maassluis Merchantmen players, staff and fans knew the streak would end someday, but seing it stopped at home was a bit disappointing. With a 24-17 victory, the San Antonio Volunteers brought everybody back on earth. Louie Flannery felt as the loser of the day, seeing an interception returned for touchdown. The pass rush failed, while Randy Harris and the running game recovered. Rookie Jerry Beyer amazed with his second touchdown in Oranje Haven. Winford Endicott got hurt and will miss some time.

The 3-0 start was awesome, but the home game against the highly touted, and also 3-0, San Antonio Volunteers was the big test of the season. Despite a pretty much turnover free game, one single interception was returned for 50 yards and pretty much sealed the Voluteers win going to a 24-10 lead. Louie Flannery tried to save the day with a touchdown pass to Jerry Beyer, but after the onside kick, the game was over. San Antonio quarterback John McMasters kept he chains moving and lead his men to another victory.

"A close game, but we have proven we can be competitive against a top team," headcoach Leroy Van Der Woude said, "If only we could have forced a single turnover, we might have turned it all around." Van Der Woude has a point as the Merchantmen offense kept pace with the Volunteers all day. With 334 versus 329 yards, the offensive power was pretty equal and might make you think that the single interception return was the reason for loss.

But none of that is true as the Merchantmen failed in one other area. To force turnovers, a team has to pressure the quarterback. Special for this game, the Merchantmen benched youngsters Aaron Sherrill and Omar Gougeon in favor of Albert Bernardo and Wally "World" Wilcox. At the end of the game, Bernardo and Wilcox combined for 1 blocked pass and 1 hurried pass. The secondary had to make plays and did only occasionally. But allowing only 202 yards passing, the defense did a good job against a 300 yards per game passing offense.

In the heat of the battle, both starting cornerbacks, Tai Wayne and Winford Endicott, got hurt. Wayne returned quickly and got out of the game without serious injuries. But Winford Endicott hyperextended his knee and is diagnoses to miss the next two games. Luckily last year's starter Johnnie Stidham has recovered from a knee injury and is ready to bring his interception skills (7 in 2006) back into the mix. Tai Wayne even said: "Johnnie is the guy who can force turnovers, together with Charles Gomez. We missed these guys and a strong team like San Antonio will punish you."

Running back Randy Harris looked not so happy either, but at least he had good stats to show for. Harris ran for 92 yards against the #1 defense in the IHOF, as he averaged 4.3 yards per carry and scored only his first rushing touchdown of the season. Harris explains: "The management told us to run more than usual and I think we picked it up well." Especially center Brant Heinrich found his way through the San Antonio front seven and supported Harris and Rodger Mowery (34 yards) with 6 key run blocks. Butch White (3 blocks), Timothy Lacy and Ivan Jacques (2 blocks each) also had their share.

The other brigh light on the Merchantmen offense was rookie wide receiver Jerry Beyer. Sitting behind Gregory Monti (5 catches for 81 yards) and Bryce Ewald (3 catches for 39 yards) on the depth chart, Beyer had a 12-yard catch and a 16-yard touchdown reception. With 6 catches for 169 yards (28.1 per catch) and 2 scores, Beyer is making a case for being the best receiving rookie in the IHOF. It's also pretty interesting that Beyer's scores both came in Maassluis' stadium and that the two starters combined for just one score. It's only a matter of time until Beyer will move up in the depth chart.

Despite the loss, the Merchantmen are still one of a dozen teams involved in the early playoff spots race. The Merchantmen have held a wild card spot since week one and, despite the loss, have defended it so far. But it will be tough to keep that position for the rest of the season. The European Division is stronger than ever, as the four teams combined for 9-2 in inter-divisional games. The amazing part is that three time European champion Bordeaux was handed 2 losses, with their out of division loss being at the IHOF defending champions, the North Plainfield Plague.

Next up for Maassluis is a week of licking wounds, as tight end Jim Reiser and defensive tackle Charles Gomez have been inactive the past two games. Reiser should return in week six against the Vicksburg Vipers, as should 2006 starting cornerback Johnnie Stidham. Linebacker Ellsworth Thelen is also expected to return against the Vipers. Left tackle Ivan Jacques returned against San Antonio and looked good in his first fulltime start for the Merchantmen. Let's hope others will do the same when they return in the coming weeks.