[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: One week closer to the division title
We can clinch in our last home game.

That's the scenario for tomorrow, but first, let's recap why we're closing in on that division title. We were playing our seventh home game of the season, facing the visiting Arizona Miners, on paper one of the least impressive opponents on our regular season schedule. The recently completely baffled all in and around the league with an unlikely win against the Gothenburg Giants. But that was in their house.

The tone of the game was set within just over three minutes. Miners had first possession, first urn stopped at the line, second run was tackle by our free safety Riddick Newsome for a 7 yard loss, with a fumble and our strong safety Devon Farrell recovered it inside their red zone. Four plays later, Reggie Thongchanh bulldozed it in from a yard out: 7-0 Maassluis. After three and out, Thongchanh tried to make it his show with a 26-yard punt return to burst inside their half and an 11-yard run to get into field goal range, but it was Francisco Patter with a 27-yard run to double the score to 14-0. Three and out by our defense helped us get into their half quickly again, but a sack on third and short held us short and forced us to punt. The Miners thought they had found life, but we returned the favor with a sack on third down to halt them near midfield and Thongchanh replied with another strong punt return.

Second play of the second quarter, Moe Sheldon finds Theodore Bondy for a 24-yard gain on a screen pass, but on his next three passes all to Clarence Gore, Sheldon goes 1 of 3 for just 4 yards But no worries, after a solid punt and an ill timed penalty, the Miners had to start at their 2-yard line. Three and out fall on a holding penalty, but another third down sack forced them to punt from their 4-yard line. The Reggie Thongchanh show continued with a 16-yard punt return and a 15-yard run, but George Stuckey got the 21-0 lead on the board with a 28-yard catch. The same story continued as our defense kept them short, Thong' had a nice punt return, alternated chains moving runs with Francisco Patter, but this time Clarence Gore made the key play with a 29-yard catch, but Thong' had the final word with hes second short touchdown run of the game: 28-0 Maassluis. And then we still got another chance to put points on the scoreboard after a quick three and out. Theodore Bondy made a 29-yard catch, but a couple of penalties hurt us just enough to stop the drive from being a success and after a punt and a short run the half time break was there, with us leading 28-0.

The Miners thought they were going to score first in the second half, Making a 31-yard pass play to set up a 23-yard field goal attempt from Emmett Wells (the kid we released in favor of our current second year kicker Mark Giles), but star cornerback Jackie Richardson blocked the kick, keeping the chances for a shutout victory going. We got stopped quickly on our next drive, but so were they on another crucial third down sack, this time a co-operation of our defensive tackles Kurt Ackerman and Darien Fletcher. A defensive battle followed and neither offense could make much, if any progress in the next bunch of drives, meaning our 28-0 lead was maintained.

The fourth quarter continued the short drives, until we pinned Arizona at their 5-yard line, only to see them make 18-yard and 27-yard pass plays to reach midfield. With a 43-yard gain on a long throw, they reached our 7-yard line and they sealed the deal with a touchdown pass on third down. Trailing 28-7, the Miners opted to go for the onside kick, but possession was ours with 8 minutes to go. Francisco Patter quickly got us into field goal range with an 18-yard run, while Moe Sheldon found Theodore Bondy for an 11-yard gain to set up their 6-yard connection for the touchdown and a 35-7 lead. In the final four minutes, neither offense could move the chains, all that was left was Reggie Thongchanh improving on his punt return production with 16-yard and 24-yard gains to make it 172 yards for the day, apparently breaking a 42-year old franchise record by 2 yards.

More importantly, the victory was there, in a very smooth fashion. Sheldon completed 19 of 32 for 211 yards and 2 touchdowns, with his top receivers Theo Bondy (7 for 81 yards and a td), George Stuckey (5 for 59 yards and a td) and Clarence Gore (3 for 50 yards). The running backs Thongchanh (81 yards, 4.1 per carry, 2 td) and Patter (65 yards, 5.4 per carry, 1 td) both had a strong game.

Elsewhere in the league, the Gohenburg Giants tied 27-27 at the Chicago Norsemen, despite basically outplaying them, but a missed field goal and a pick six turned the score somewhat around and neither team scored in overtime. The Paris Musketeers leaned heavily on turnovers to beat the Iowa Cobbers 34-17 and consequently jumped past the Giants in the division.

Division standings:
1. Maassluis 9-3-1
2. Paris 7-6
3. Gothenburg 6-6-1
4. Bordeaux 4-9

With 3 games to go, this means a win or a tie against Gothenburg in our next game, our final regular season home game, will lock up the division. A loss will keep Gothenburg alive and subsequently Paris as well. The wild card hunt is getting pretty crowded as well, as the Southeast teams continue to play .500 ball after their collective strong starts.

Conference standings:
1. Tucker 11-2
2. Maassluis 9-3-1
3. Houston 7-6
4. North Plainfield 5-8
5. Augusta 8-5
6. Orlando 8-5
7. Snapfinger 7-6
8. Fort Wayne 7-6
9. Paris 7-6
10. Gothenburg 6-6-1
11. San Antonio 6-7
12. Atlanta 5-7-1

Augusta and Orlando will play head to head in Orlando in week 15. Snapfinger will visit Orlando in week 17. Paris will host Gothenburg in week 17. Fort Wayne hosts Houston in week 15 and Houston hosts San Antonio in week 17. Atlanta is mathematically still alive, but it's an incredible longshot.

For us, this situation means that if we secure the division with 1 more win or tie in any of our last three games, the #2 seed is also locked up, as we've got tie-breakers over Houston and Fort Wayne clinch by beating both head-to-head. The #1 seed is 1.5 wins ahead of us, it's really nothing we can even hope for. But if we somehow catch up, if just by matching Tucker's record, we'll likely have the tie-breakers as well.

But uhm, let's forget about the #1 seed. Beating Gothenburg will be the thing to do in week 15. That's where the focus should be. It will be a rare matchuo between the #1 defense in total yards allowed (Gothenburg) and #1 defense in points allowed (Maassluis). The way we've been playing, I think we've been the more impressive defense, so far, but they certainly taught us a lesson in their place. Winning this game will be key.

Speaking of key, we've got a tough decision to make as center Butch Pearson has been cleared to be ready to play, albeit still listed as questionable and most likely not back to 100% until the divisional round, which is hopefully the round where we play our first playoffs game after missing it entirely the last 3 seasons. Comes to show how spoiled we've gotten. Our last 4-season drought was in the 2049-'52 period, where we actually had no losing seasons and even missed the playoffs with a 11-5 record in 2051 and followed up by missing in with a 9-6-1 record the season after. A record that we can still end up having if everything falls apart and which quite possibly will mean missing the playoffs again.

Side stories wil be fun again if we win tomorrow. Gothenburg, in our place. We know we can beat them, go out there and make it happen, Merchantmen!