[MIJB#19]

Merchantmen back at it, one and done again
New faces, old habits. The Maassluis Merchantmen have crashed out the post-season in their first game. The Fort Wayne Fury came back from two scores down the fourth quarter with a 24-19 victory. It makred the nineth one-and-done for the Merchantmen in the last 10 post-season appearances, meaning the franchise has won only 2 playoffs games in the last 26 seasons.

The first quarter was defense dominated, supported with both punters nailing the opponents deep in their own territories. And just as the Merchantmen seemed to be winning the field position battle, Fury cornerback Eugene Paup intercepted a pass from Ellis McAlister to Theodore Bondy and ran it back for 64 yards and 6 points. It marked a rare highlights worthy play in the first quarter, which the Fury ended 7-0 up.

A defensive stand on the first Fort Wayne drive of the second quarter resulted in a 21-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead for the Fury. THe Merchantmen continued to struggle offensively as McAlister got picked off for the second time, this time not far outside his own red zone. Cornerback Giovanni Morton saved the game for the Merchantmen, returning the favor with a pick in the end zone to maintain the 10-0 deficit. Heavily leaning on Leonard Belin's legs, the Merchantmen marched down field and shortly before the big break, McAlister found Theodore Bondy for a walk-in touchdown. Chance Arnold missed the extra point to make it Fort Wayne 10, Maassluis 6 at half time.

Things shifted in the third quarter. The Merchantmen defense held ground, while their offense marched downfield enough to kick a 23-yard field goal to trim the deficit to 10-9. After stopping the Fury around midfield, the Merchantmen marched downfield again, this time resulting in a 44-yard field goal for a 12-10 lead. A quick three and out ended the quarter.

Second play of the fourth quarter, Ellis McAlister dumps a short pass to Theodore Bondy, who then turns into the magic player the Merchantmen fans all go wild about. 68 yards later, a 75-yard touchdown pass goes into the books and puts Maassluis 19-10 up. The big lead was short lived, the Fury had no trouble marching downfield, leaning heavily on a 49-yard deep throw from Josue Olivares to Shaquille Grimes. Three plays later, the Fury are back in it, trailing only 19-17. Lack of ability to move the chains then haunted the Merchantmen offense, while the Fury responded with another Olivares to Grimes 49-yard pass, this time seeing Grimes run a short pass upfield. On the next play, he hauls it in from 8 yards out to out the Fury up 24-19. The Merchantmen failed on the next drive, but got the ball back with just over 2 minutes to go. The chicken play calling then took over, seeing them punt to pin the Fury back at their 6-yard line. A time outs wasting drive gave Maassluis the ball back at their own 43-yard line. But rather than throwing, McAlister saw no other options than scrambling with the ball, getting tackled for barely a gain and coming time short to spike the ball. Game over, without even trying.

And just like that, it's on to another off-season of moaning and wondering why a talented bunch of players is struggling to get consistent results. A season of silly ups and downs comes to a crashing end, but there's hope. The core of the Merchantmen remains to be young. But history has learned the fans that it rarely lasts, cap problems are unavoidable, resulting in the inevitable departure of players. But management is confident the cap troubles can be mitigated in the next off-season and hopefully the next (2085's), when Theodore Bondy's contract will be up for renewal and all odds are he'll demand to be the highest paid wide receiver in league history.

For now, it's time to dry the teary eyes and learn from all the mistakes made on both ends of the ball. The offense was too predictable, the defense downright underachieving. Time for change, not so much in the 53-men roster, but changes have to come to go from underachievers to living up to the high expectations. This team has the players to make a run for a title. Shoulders back, chest forward, sail on to brighter places. This team has what it takes, make it happen, Merchantmen.