[MIJB#19]

Merchantmen grab first 2088 victory
From 0-3 to 1-3. The Maassluis Merchantmen defended Oranje Haven well enough to note down their first victory of the 2088 season. The San Antonio Tidal Force with Blaine Hawkins at quarterback failed to put yardage into points, gifting the Merchantmen a dirty 14-9 victory. Moe Sheldon got the start over Francisco Farley, but failed to impress, aside from bringing home the W.

The Tidal Force got possession first, but punted the ball away after less than 2 minutes. Moe Sheldon found Theo Bondy for a negative play (what the bleep is that play doing in the Merchantmen game plan?), quickly followed by a 12-yard connection for that duo to move the chains. Close to midfield, another third down conversion worked out well as Sheldon found Branden Sandlin for 22 yards. Reggie Thongchanh thought he got his team into scoring position, but Sheldon lost the ball on a sack play and the Tidal Force recovered. The Merchantmen pass rush replied, especially Tony Whiting with back to back strong plays (a sack and a hurried pass) to force a punt. Pinned back at their own 4-yard line, the Merchantmen gave it to Thong' and saw their ball carrier run for 16, 19 and 12 yards to march into San Antonio territory. Sheldon found Bondy for 11 yards to close in, then Randy Holliday pulled a 1-yard catch into a miracle 23-yard gain on third and ten, setting up Thong's 11-yard touchdown run for the 7-0 lead. The Merchantmen defense got pressure on San Antonio and forced them into a third and 19 situation. Hawkins found one of his receivers, but short of getting the first down, a strip tackle by Riddick Newsome gave Maassluis the ball back at the San Antonio 40-yard line.

First play of the second quarter, Moe Sheldon drops back, throws a short pass to Theo Bondy and the all-world wide receiver turned it into a 31-yard gain. The Merchantmen eventually settled for the 29-yard field goal, had Emmett Wells actually scored it, yet he didn't as it was blocked. Trailing 7-0, the Tidal Force felt like they were cruising downfield, but a second fumble ensued on a 19-yard run by Wendel DuBois, which was recovered by the last man standing Kirk Hitchcock. Three and out followed, but for the first time all day San Antonio was pinned deep inside their part of the field. Just when the Merchantmen defense thought they were to force a punt, Blaine Hawkins found one of his receivers for a 37-yard gain on third and 10. Driving deeper and deeper, Hawkins fired into the end zone, but undrafted rookie linebacker Sebastian Strobel, born and raised in San Antonio, caught the ball for the Merchantmen. With the clock winding down to 2 minutes, Maassluis punted it back. Blaine Hawkins scrambled for 17 yards on a third down play, but they came time and turf short to attempt a field goal. Half time score: Maassluis 7, San Antonio 0.

The Merchantmen offense got three and outed, but their defense failed to return the favor, allowing Blaine Hawkins to find one of his receivers for 23 yards on third and 15. Things slowed down in Maassluis territory and San Antonio punted after all. It didn't help much as Moe Sheldon took his second sack of the game on third and long. San Antonio saw their punt returner bring it to the Maassluis' 37-yard line. Wendell DuBois ran for 16 yards, then Hawkins came yards short on a third down scramble, settling for a 31-yard field goal for San Antonio's first points of the game: 7-3 Maassluis. A couple of three and outs were followed up by another miracle third and long conversation by Moe Sheldon to tight end Randy Holliday. Just past midfield, Reggie Thongchanh covered half the distance with a 24-yard run, followed by Theo Bondy covering the rest of it with a 23-yard reception to get into the end zone. Maassluis 14, San Antonio 3. The Merchantmen defense forced another three and out, but just as the fans in Oranje Have started believing in the first win of the season, Moe Sheldon saw a pass to Bondy picked off at the San Antonio 39-yard line. Lucky for him, his defense bailed him out, forcing a punt, albeit pinning Maassluis at their 7-yard line to end the third quarter.

After a conservative drive, Maassluis punted and saw Wendell DuBois run for 24 and 26 yards to get San Antonio into the red zone. It was DuBois as well who pounded it in from 2 yards to, but the two-point conversion failed, making it 14-9 on the score board. A couple of three and outs followed. On Maassluis' end, Theo Bondy took a couple of plays off and saw rookie Keegan Gelat step in with a 13-yard reception to avoid a three and out. San Antonio got the ball back, though three plays was all they got. With four and a half minutes left, Maassluis went into time draining mode. Francisco Patter was added into the running mix, alternating with Thongchanh for short gains. They came inched short on a third down throw, punting it to San Antonio with less than 2 minutes to go. They went for it on the fourth play of the drive and failed. The two time outs remaining were insufficient to get the ball back, Moe Sheldon knee dropped three times to secure his first victory for the Merchantmen.

With that, the Maassluis Merchantmen improve to 1-3, sitting 1 win and a game in hand behind the 2-1 Bordeaux Vineyards. Next up a bye week, followed by a visit from the Atlanta Vipers, currently 2-1 Deep South division leaders and hosting Bordeaux in week 5.

Question remain plenty in Maassluis. Will they stick with Moe Sheldon, or was it just one game and will Francisco Farley (said to have shown no progress in development since training camp) get back under center? Theodore Bondy is fourth in the league in receptions, but at 4.4 yards per target he's clearly struggling for whatever mysterious reasons. The Merchantmen are clearly running a lot, but are just 12th with 112 running yards per game. The passing game ranks dead last with just 160 yards per game. The pass rush pressure seems to have somewhat returned to Merchantmen standards (they'd better with all the talent on that defensive line!), but the run defense is bad and the pass defense mediocre at best. A struggling rookie kicker certainly doesn't help either. Getting outgained by 98 yards per game so far, there's still very little reason to think this Merchantmen is good enough to get their fourth European division title in succession. But a game like today shows that there's more in football than just outgaining the opponent. There's still a lot of football left to be played...