[MIJB#19]

2079 Regular Season week 11
Gothenburg on the road, long time Merchantmen supporters are wary of this matchup. The Giants and Merchantmen were both sitting at the top of the division with a 6-3 record, with Maassluis having the mid-season tie-breakers. A chance for the Merchantmen to pull away for a bit and grab pole position in the Atlantic Ocean Conference.

The Gothenburg Giants drew first blood in the game on their first possession. Albeit not the desired 7 points, Roger Passut had a 21-yard run, 13-yard reception on a Tre Lynn pass and a 7-yard run to set up Myron Barcley's 51-yard field goal. The Merchantmen responded with a bulldozing drive. Ellis McAlister to J.R. Mills for 11 yards here, Walt Blair for 16 yards there, Blair for 11 yards, Blair for 7 yards, McAlister to Blair for 10 yards, McAlister to Monty Elliott for 22 yards and eventually the short throw into the end zone by McAlister to Elliott for the 7-3 lead. The game was on. Gothenburg immediately replied with a couple of big plays as Lynn found Passut (15 yards) and Cornell Perez (33 yards) for big catch and runs. It stalled there, still being close enough to see Barcley nail a 41-yarder for the 7-6 deficit. Maassluis quickly marched downfield on their second possession as McAlister connected with Mills (14 yards), Brody Stevens (10 yards) and Elliott (22 yards) with a 10-yard run by Blair in between, but a 16-yard sack pushed the Merchantmen outside of field goal range.

The second quarter rolled around and the Giants were playing well inside their own territory again. Tre Lynn found Richard Cook for 10 yards and C.J. Levine for 24 yards. This time, the Merchantmen defense had no answer on their end, Lynn found Roger Passut for 16 yards and Cornell Perez for 19 yards to march into the red zone. The Merchantmen thought they had them stopped short, but Ben Gilbert was penalized for pass interference and a new set of downs was just enough to see Passut run it in for the 13-7 Gothenburg lead. The Giants thought they had caught momentum, sacking Ellis McAlister for the second time. McAlister answered with a 29-yard laser to J.R. Mills, but on third and 19 his throw ended up in Gothenburg cornerback Skip Arnold's hands. The Merchantmen defense came up big, stuffing Passut twice and forcing Gothenburg to punt. With the ball back, deep inside their own territory, McAlister silenced the stadium with a 50-yard bomb to Brody Stevens. McAlister urged his team to hurry up and Walt Blair followed up with a 15-yard run. McAlister then found Dennis Nadell for 10 yards into he red zone, Raul Curie converted a big 3rd down run and Walt Blair blitzed into the end zone for the 14-13 lead. The Merchantmen secondary came alive and deflected three straight Lynn passes, giving Maassluis the ball back with still 83 ticks on the clock. McAlister immediately found Mills for 30 yards and on third down made a deep enough throw to make up for the third sack of the game to set up for the 54-yard field goal attempt to end the half. Dave Eiermann surprised all, shockingly succeeding to make it Maassluis 17, Gothenburg 13 at half time.

Second half and the Gothenburg fans had renewed faith. The Merchantmen winning streak inside the division has to stop at some point, why not in Gothenburg, after 12 wins by the Merchantmen against Bordeaux, Paris and today's hosts? The Giants defense was reborn, notching a three and out to start the third quarter. Tre Lynn was back too, finding Jace Milam for 10 yards. Adam LeBel ran for 19 yards and 12 yards to march into Merchantmen territory and Lynn then found Denzel Givens for 11 yards and into the red zone. Roger Passut slashed through the Merchantmen defense for 12 yards and the go ahead touchdown: Gothenburg 20, Maassluis 17. The Merchantmen were unimpressed. Walt Blair ran for 10 yards on the first play of the drive, Ellis McAlister found Monty Elliott for 20 yards on third and short, then J.R. Mills for 16 yards and then for 18 yards and a touchdown. Maassluis was back in the lead with a 24-20 score. In the last 3 minutes before the break, Lynn found Steve Sinclair for 10 yards, saw another pass interference call put his team past midfield and Passut then ran for 18 yards, barely short of the red zone.

The fourth quarter started with Maassluis' bend but don't break moment, seeing Tre Lynn find Albert Gilmartin for 10 yards and holding the Giants to a 21-yard field goal, keeping Maassluis leading 24-23. Bart Lahnum's 33-yard kickoff return into Gothenburg territory, shortly followed by Ellis McAlister's 16-yard pass to Monty Elliott was enough to set up Dave Eiermann's 40-yard field goal for the 27-23 lead. Gothenburg was then three-and-outted, while the Merchantmen continued their efficiency: Raul Curie converted on 3rd and short, McAlister found Dennis Nadell for 33 yards on third and long, Walt Blair ran for 11 yards and McAlister found J.R. Mills for a jump into the endzone for a 34-23 lead. It wasn't all over yet, but now time wasn't on Gothenburg's side, trailing by 11 and just 2:31 to go. Tre Lynn found C.J. Levine on third down for 13 yards, then Albert Gilmartin for 14 yards and used his legs to run for 13 yards into the redzone. Adam LeBel then ran for 12 yards, followed by Roger Passut pounding his second attempt in for the touchdown. Luck ran out then and there. The two-point conversion failed and Maassluis recovered the onside kick. Their last time out was insufficient to keep Maassluis from securing it in victory formation: Maassluis 34, Gothenburg 29.

Maassluis had season highs both in points scored and points allowed, in what appears to be a deserved victory. The Merchantmen outgained the Giants by 83 yards and gained 1.3 yards per play more. Ellis McAlister earned another game MVP by completing 20 of 30 passes for 344 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. J.R. Mills caught 7 passes for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns. Monty Elliott caught 7 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown. Walt Blair ran 21 times for 110 yards and a touchdown.

AOC Europe
1. Maassluis 7-3
2. Gothenburg 6-4
3. Bordeaux 5-5
4. Paris 4-6

The Merchantmen haven't just taken the lead in the division, but also moved into pole-position for the #1 seed. Additionally, they have locked up tie-breakers over Gothenburg and Paris, while Bordeaux mathematically still has a longshot chance to brush away their inferior tie-breakers situation. In the AOC, the gap between #1 and outside the playoffs is as marginal as 1 1/2 wins.

Next up, the underperforming Chicago Norsemen. Despite their 3-7 record, Chicago isn't a pushover team. Their running game is unusually bad, while the passing game is an after thought, as it has been in decent decades. The defense is doing exceptionally well, ranking 2nd in total yards, leaning on 6th best yards per run and 3rd best yards per pass attempt. Again, no pushover, but in the current flow, the Merchantmen should be able to get this. The bookmakers are optimistic, having the Merchantmen floating around 9 or 10 point in their favor.