[MIJB#19]

Condors Humiliate Merchantmen In Their Own House
The Maassluis Merchantmen continue to struggle in the 2008, as they got beaten up by the Conyers Condors in their own house. The Condors rushed to a 29-0 lead to eventually win the game 39-21. Condors' backup quarterback Reggie Gandy put down a surprise performance, while the Merchantmen defense looked aweful. The Merchantmen lost guard Butch White for most of the rest of the regular season with a broken clavicle. The only good news was that a win against Bordeaux could still be enough to regain the division lead with a 4-4 record.

There's clearly something wrong with the Maassluis Merchantmen this season. After the amazing 2007 campaign, the Merchantmen already clinched having a worse regular season record, with more than half of the season to go. But the most worrying element is the number of points allowed. In their four losses, the Merchantmen allowed 33.5 points on average, with the lowest total being a 28 versus the North Plainfield Plague.

Defensive tackle Charles Gomez was critical towards the management: "Maybe we've gotten a bit too confident in our team. The management decided to bench Cody Cluff and inactivate Tai Wayne. These are guys we can't miss against strong teams like the Condors." Cody Cluff's replacement Carl Meier was mostly held responsible for the loss, allowing 8 catches and not defending a single pass, while Wayne's replacement Sammie Kennedy allowed 3 catches with no defended pass.

The Condors didn't mind the struggles and were happy to see their replacement quarterback Reggie Gandy get wild. With 26 of 45 passes completed, Gandy passed for 351 yards and 2 touchdowns. Supported by Randy Reagor's 2 rushing touchdowns, the Condors' offense combined for 487 total yards. Gandy received his first player of the game honors and for the first time in his career posted a positive touchdown-interception ratio at 2:1.

The Merchantmen offense received a lot of negative critics over their lack of ability to move the chains in the first half. Randy Harris and Joseph Schoen combined for only 19 carries for a respectable 75 yards, but the complaints were mostly on the passing tendencies. Two-third of the plays was a passing play and that doesn't fit in a balanced offense. Louie Flannery didn't even play so bad as he completed 19 of 36 pass attempts for 232 yards, 1 score and only 1 interception. But with his fifth fumble of the season, people are reminded of the fumblitis that haunted the 2005 Merchantmen team. But having a pretty balanced turnover margin this season and particularly in this game, it's no excuse.

Butch White suffered a broken clavicle in the game and is ruled out for most likely the next six games. The left guard is an important player in the running game and will surley be missed. The good news is that sixth lineman Harold Hurtado and fullback Jamel Rosenberry are expected to be ready to play in the next game. The same applies to middle linebacker Cody Cluff and Lincoln Gilmore, while Tai Wayne is also expected to be playing.

Headcoach Leroy Van Der Woude understands the position his team is in: "It looks like we're back to the .500 land ball we played two, three seasons ago. The good thing is that we can bounce back next week by beating Bordeaux. We've still got it in our own hands to repeat our European title." It will require a bit of help from the Georgia Gridlock to beat the Gothenburg Giants, but if both Georgia and Maassluis win, the 2007 European champions will be back in charge of the division.