[MIJB#19]

2079 Regular Season week 5
The Maassluis Merchantmen were on their bye week.

and week 6!
The Maassluis Merchantmen dribble on, with good but not great football. The defense has surprisingly been the stronger side of the ball, while the offensive stars J.R. Mills and Walt Blair struggle to play up to their standards. And amidst this all, the new starting quarterback Ellis McAlister is winning the hearts of the fans, already getting his own walk on song for the third home game of the season. The Atlanta Vipers came to town, the reigning AOC South champions, a 2-2 team with a run-oriented offense.

The Merchantmen defense started the game strong, forcing Atlanta to go four and out (a holding penalty gave them their only first down). The Merchantmen offense didn't come out with a bang, seeing Ellis McAlister find J.R. Mills for 9 yards and Walt Blair running for 7 yards, but the next three plays being short runs, coming short to move the chains. Sophomere quarterback Santiago Lester then lead his offense to a long scoring drive for 80 yards, with rookie Brody Barrett running for the short touchdown run to put the Vipers 7-0 up. The Merchantmen offense was rusty on their next drive, saw punter Tito Hornsby nail the Vipers at their 2-yard line, only to have a penalty nullify it and the re-punt resulting in Atlanta getting the ball back at their own 48-yard line. Lester then got sacked at the Merchantmen 46-yard line on the second play of the drive to end the first quarter.

Penalties on both ends resulted in Atlanta facing second and 17 early in the second quarter, leading to a punt that Amari Lavelli returned 17 yards to get the ball outside of the Merchantmen red zone. After a strong 17-yard run from Walt Blair, it was Ellis McAlister who scrambled for 7 yards, but lost the ball in the pile at midfield, giving Atlanta the ball back. The Vipers then gained just enough ground to have Jalen Bennewith kick a 46-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead. With three medium length completed passes and a 10-yard run by Raul Curie, the Merchantmen rolled into the Vipers' red zone for the first time this game and had Dave Eiermann kick the 28-yarder to trim the deficit to 10-3. With back to back sacks, the Merchantmen defense the forced the Vipers to punt on fourth and 25, which was returned by Amari Lavelli for 20 yards to the Maassluis 46-yard line right before the to-minute warning. Both defenses then forced a three and out, leaving too little time for the Merchantmen to put points on the scoreboard on the last drive before the big break.

leading 10-3, the Vipers were happy to force a quick three and out to start the second half. But not for the first time in the game, the Merchantmen defense swarmed the Atlanta quarterback and Santiago Lester was flat on his back. On the next drive, Ellis McAlister connected with Dennis Nadell for 22- and 21-yard gains to march into the red zone, finishing it off with 10-yard passes to Nadell and Brody Stevens, putting 10 points for both teams on the scoreboard. Atlanta wasn't impressed yet, Santiago Lester found Caleb Flylum for a big catch and run for 35 yards, then found Johnnie Forsyth for 23 yards on a third and long and then Flylum in the end zone for a short touchdown pass. Atlanta went up 17-10 and then forced a fumble on the kickoff return, which the Merchantmen tight end Monty Elliott recovered to save the day. Another three and out on both sides of the field saw the clock run out and seeing the home team fans worried this game might not go their way.

The Merchantmen were stopped short once again, this time pinning Atlanta at their 5-yard line. The Vipers struggled against the aggressive Merchantmen defense, were forced to punt and Amari Lavelli returned the punt 21 yards to the Atlanta 32-yard line. Randal Curtis then was Ellis McAlister's target for a short pass, but Curtis managed to find the hole in the defense and brought the ball into the end zone on a 29-yard gain. Dave Eiermann missed the ensuing extra point, meaning the Vipers were still up by a point: 17-16. Then, the wheels finally came off, as Lester Santiago saw his pass get picked off by Giovanni Morton at the Atlanta 30-yard line. Maassluis caught momentum, McAlister found J.R. Mills for 16 yards and on third and goal, Raul Curie showed his bulldozing skills to put the ball into the end zone. A two-pointer from McAlister to Dennis Nadell put Maassluis up 24-17. The dominating Merchantmen defense forced another three and out. Raul Curie ran for 15 yards, which got followed up by McAlister finding Walt Blair for two impressive catch and runs, the first one for 33 yards and the second for a 30-yard touchdown. Eiermann didn't miss this time and Maassluis improved the lead to two touchdowns: 31-17. Atlanta converted on fourth and 15 to stay alive, but the pass rush pressure made Santiago Lester throw the ball away three times. After the two-minute warning, the Vipers were not able to convert on fourth and 10, turning the ball over in Atlanta territory. The Merchantmen burned Atlanta's time outs, but the game wasn't over yet. The Vipers' hopes ended three plays later when Antonio Battle made the game ending interception in Atlanta territory.

Ellis McAlister earned his third player of the game honors in only his fifth start as he completed 19 of 29 passes for 263 yards, with 3 touchdowns and 1 lost fumble. Dennis Nadell was his top target again, catching 10 passes for 113 yards. Brody Stevens, Randall Curtis and Walt Blair had touchdown receptions. That same Blair ran for just 60 yards on 20 carries, but Raul Curie made up for it with 38 yards and a touchdown run. The defense impressed by sacking the Atlanta quarterbacks 8 times and picking him off 2 times allowing less than 300 total yards for the third time this season against a playoff team from last season.


Elsewhere in the league, the Paris Musketers reverted to a balanced game plan on offense and as a result saw Jon Miernicki run for 171 yards in a 39-21 victory at the Gothenburg Giants. The Bordeaux Vineyards didn't need much firepower to beat the struggling Fort Wayne Fury 30-7.

AOC Europe
1. Maassluis 4-1
2. Gothenburg 4-2
3. Bordeaux 3-2
4. Paris 3-3

The Tucker Tigers lost a 38-30 barnburner at the AOC Northeast leading Rochester Razorbacks, meaning the only undefeated team in the league are the NAC Mid-Atlantic leading Williamsburg Colonials. The Hanalei Dragons lead the NAC West with a 5-1 record, being the only other team with Tucker and Maassluis with 1 loss. Every other team in the league has lost at least 2 games already, with no winless teams and only 4 teams with just 1 win. Is competitiveness at an all time high? Probably not, but at the very least it keeps a lot of teams dreaming for going places this season...