[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Been here, done that...
But can we keep it going this time around?

Location: Oranje Haven. Opponent: the San Antonio Tidal Force. Week four of the 2097 season, our Merchantmen are playing above expectations, being on a 3-game winning streak to start the season. The visitors are coming off their first victory of the season, wanting more of that.

The Merchantmen defense was on the job on the first San Antonio possession, forcing three and out, after standing firm on a third and two run. After Mark Perkins' 25-yard punt return, Earnest Ashley found George Stuckey for 25 yards, then brushed away a sack and a third and very long situation with a 21-yard toss to Clay Gaynor. After a 15-yarder to Clarence Gore, the touchdown pass from Ashley went to Malachi Pierson for the 7-0 lead. The San Antonio offense responded well, anchored by a 29-yard pass by Johnathan Freeman, they needed less than 3 minutes to level the score 7-7. Bert Ta'Amu apparently liked the new game plan for this game, starting the second Merchantmen drive with 8-yard and 10-yard runs. Ashley found Ed Schulz for a 23-yard gain and with slow but steady play, the 13-yard touchdown pass to Stuckey was set up for the 14-7 Merchantmen lead. The Tidal Force looked unimpressed and quickly brought the ball to into our territory before the end of the quarter.

And then the show really started. Archie Exner ran around the left tackle and floored quarterback Freeman. It didn't keep them from kicking a 31-yard field goal, but the tone of the game was set. Although, other kinds of drama came first as we got stopped quickly on our third possession, followed by back-to-back interceptions by the two quarterbacks. The Tidal Force marched downfield on their next drive, but their kicker missed a 42-ard field goal to maitina our 14-10 lead. Three and out was our offense's faith again, giving San Antonio rookie running back Junior Gregson (boy, did I want that kid, I tried to trade for him) another chance to run through our defense. Not big gains, but short ones that were good enough to move the chains. Caleb Donis made sack number two, but the bigger one was the team effort with Archie Exner on third down to push them out of field goal range. Not much happened in the remainder of the second quarter, ended it with us still leading 14-10.

Bert Ta'Amu got things moving in the third quarter, not a big gain, but short ones to keep possession, until Earnest Ashley got sacked on third and very long. San Antonio got the ball back, but the pass rush from our defensive line had only gotten warmed up and Darien Fletcher and Archie Exner (again) brought quarterback Freeman down to force a punt. The Ashley to Ed Schulz magic quickly returned and a 20-yarder and a 38-yarder were all we needed to jump to a 21-10 lead. San Antonio's next drive was disrupted by Richie Piotte's sack, giving us the opportunity to take full advantage of Mark Perkins' 23-yard punt return. Ashley connected with Schulz for 9 yards and George Stuckey for 11 yards to set up Dylan McMullen's 45-yard field goal. Three and out on both ends followed, seeing a third one by our defense's hands with two stuffed runs and another sack by Archie Exner. The special teams unit, improved with Brandon Brady, then blocked the punt and Brady himself recovered it in the end zone to extend our lead to 31-10.

The fourth quarter started with some hope restoration for San Antonio with a 20-yard run from Junior Gregson followed by bad boy Ernie Grant's unnecessary roughness penalty. The Tidal Force came close, but not quite enough to settle for a 40-yard field goal. Our next drive was extended by Earnest Ashley's 11-yard toss to Clay Gaynor and a couple of completions to Bert Ta'Amu, showing his added value to our passing game. Settling for a field goal wasn't bad, the 36-yarder increased our lead to 34-13 with just over 6 minutes to go.
Down so big, San Antonio had no choice but to go into pass heavy mode and after a pass interference call and 27-yard and 11-yard gains, they thought they would make it work. But no, our defensive ends Richie Piotte and Archie Exner each added another sack to their tallies, the second one making it turn into a turnover by recovering the fumble. Our offense took some time off the clock and then from the side lines saw Darien Fletcher and Gene Kondovski join the sack party with a solo sack each. On fourth and 24 at their own 6-yard line, their offense still tried and failed. Two plays later Bert Ta'Amu ran it in for a 41-13 lead. San Antonio's final drive didn't saw an addition to the 11 sacks, but after their punt, backup quarterback Efrain Batcheck took the honors of the victory knee. 41-13, Merchantmen. Sweet.

A quarterback slaughtering performance, one rarely seen. The closest memory I have is the one we put on Gene Ballard of the Miami Sharks in our 33-3 IHOF Bowl victory. Sure, this wasn't the biggest stage in the league, but a daunting performance still. A showing like this seriously boosts the confidence in our defense.

The struggles elsewhere in the division somewhat continued and now we're even stronger in the lead:
1. Maassluis 4-0
2. Gothenburg 2-2
3. Paris 1-3
4. Bordeaux 0-3

It's way too early to think much of it. We could still end up dead last with a 4-12 record far behind a triplet of 11-5 teams. The four teams we beat have combined for 2 wins in 16 games played. That said, as of now, we're the division leaders and will continue to be so when we face the Atlanta Viper after our bye week. That should be a tremendous clash of defenses, theirs is on paper even more daunting that ours has been so far. It may come as no surprise that for that game, more tweaks to the offensive game plan will be made, we need to focus on not getting too predictable for the opponents...