[MIJB#19]

Theodore Bondy reaches milestones in Merchantmen victory
Theodore Bondy put his name in the record books. A late-game 8 yard catch got his career production over 15,000 receiving yards and simultaneously became the Maassluis Merchantmen's all time leading receiver. The party was that much larger as the Merchantmen ended a streak of ridiculous home losses with a smooth 16-3 victory at the Harlem Apollos.

Going into the season, Theodore Bondy and his teammates were convinced he would become the leading receiver and break the 15,000-yard mark, but it was still a matter of staying healthy and focusing on the actual games. After all, if results come, the production will be required to get there anyway. Bondy needed 629 yards to reach the first mile stone and 2 more to break T.J. Haskell's franchise record. Given his resume, it made sense for him to at the very least reach it by week 9, but the hopes were things would go smoothly and he would get there in the prior three-game stretch at home.

It has been a disappointing season for the Merchantmen so far. Even today's 16-3 defeat of and at the Harlem Apollos doesn't make all things right again. A couple of dominant performance resulted in losses, the game against Rochester unnecessarily went to overtime and all three hard fought road game before that all went in the L-column as well.

Division Standings
1. Gothenburg 7-2
2. Bordeaux 4-4
3. Maassluis 3-5
4. Paris 2-6

Playoffs Race
1. Gothenburg 7-2
2. San Antonio 7-2
3. Tucker 6-2
4. North Plainfield 5-3
5. Fort Wayne 5-3
6. Houston 5-3
7. Orlando 5-3
8. Bordeaux 4-4
9. Harlem 4-4
10. Snapfinger 3-5
11. Augusta 3-5
12. Maassluis 3-5
13. Toronto 2-6-1
14. Paris 2-6
15. Rochester 1-7
16. Atlanta 1-8

For now, the playoffs are far away for the Merchantmen. It's time to focus on winning games again. Despite Bondy's record breaking day, the passing game is incredibly bad this season. At 5.95 yards per attempt, the Merchantmen are historically bad, as this is setting up to be the third worst season in franchise history in that measure. Only the 2021 (5.93) and recent 2088 (5.75) campaigns have been worse. Editor's note: statistics for 2004-2012 have gotten lost at Solecismic, it's likely the Merchantmen had a worse season or two early in their existence. The Merchantmen offense is actually not so bad on first and second downs, and acceptable on third downs, but they seriously struggle once they get into the red zone, scoring just 7 touchdowns in 20 visits.

Defensively the Merchantmen run defense has seemingly recovered after several obnoxiously bad seasons and an equally terrible start to the season. The pass defense is shaping up to be above average, in part due to the pass rush at times living up to the hype, while the secondary is similarly flipflopping between good and underwhelming.

For the moment, good vibes appear to be returning and a crucial road game series continues with visits to Bordeaux and Gothenburg. The French second placed team first, where the Merchantmen hope to build on their solid week 1 victory at home against the Vineyards.