[MIJB#19]

2078 Regular Season, week 1
Expectations were sky high going into the season opener against the Bordeaux Vineyards. In a nearly sold out Oranje Haven, the Merchantmen and Vineyards performed one of the most sensational starts to a game. Bordeaux' Joel Stargell returned the opening kickoff for 94 yards and a touchdown. Bart Lahnum replied with a 34-yard return. Bennett Morris then got strip sacked on the first play from scrimmage by the blitzing Bordeaux linebacker Deron Newman, losing possession. Bordeaux' quarterback Ike Woodhouse tried to go for the endzone on their first play from scrimmage, but saw it get picked off by Alonzo Hitchcock. And on the next play, Bennett Morris connected with J.R. Mills on a medium distance pass that Mills ended up running all the way for a 94-yard touchdown. After just 1:14 minutes of game time, the score was tied Maassluis 7, Bordeaux 7!

From there on, the Merchantmen took control of the game. Bordeaux saw their next drive stalled on a 3rd and 16 attempt that went for 15 yards. Maassluis replied with an 80-yard drive ended by a 7-yard pass from Bennett Morris to Walt Blair, the two new faces in Maassluis showed their fans what they're capable of. The Merchantmen defense replied with a three and out, anchored by Glen Stiegler sack, and the Merchantmen offense finished the first quarter with Walt Blair running for a first down to the Bordeaux 9-yard line.

Walt Blair scored his second touchdown of his official debut on a 2-yard run. Dave Eiermann missed the extra point making it a 20-7 lead for Maassluis. The third Bordeaux drive was cut short after 4 plays, this time with a key sack from Arnie May. Another 80-yard drive for a touchdown was the Merchantmen answer, with Bennett Morris connected for 29 yards to J.R. Mills for the 27-7 lead after the PAT. Bordeaux kicked a 46-yard field goal, which set the half time score at 27-10 in Merchantmen advantage.

Maassluis was stopped early despite a 19-yard run from Walt Blair, setting Bordeaux up for a 93-yard drive, mostly consisting of no less than five 8 to 13 yard runs. Maassluis responded with a touchdown drive of their own, in which Bennett Morris ran on a crucial 3rd and 6 situation, completed for 10 yards to Monty Elliott on 3rd and 9 and found Branden Schwirzke in the end zone from 2 yards out for the 34-17 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Bordeaux was stopped near midfield, while Maassluis next pinned the Vineyards back at their 7-yard line. Ike Woodhouse completed for 19 yards to Avery England, for 22 yards to Monty Salinas and finally for 41 yards to Middlemarch Crackel to make it a two-score game (34-24 Maassluis). The Merchantmen responded with a time wasting drive that finished on another catch and run masterpiece from Bennett Morris to J.R. Mills, this time for 35 yards and a touchdown. Bordeaux drive all the way to the Maassluis 9-yard line in an attempt to comeback, but the drive ended in the end zone on Alonzo Hitckcock's second interception of the day. A 9-yard run on second down from Walt Blair was enough to make Bordeaux burn all their time outs and see Bennett Morris knee drop to the 41-24 victory!


Bennett Morris completed 17 of 27 passes for 297 yards and 5 touchdowns for a league leading 140.0 passer rating. J.R. Mills caught just 4 passes for a league leading 176 yards and 3 touchdowns. Walt Blair ran for 161 yards and 1 touchdown, ranking him 2nd in rushing yards. Offensively, that's pretty much all you can ask for, with touchdowns on 4 of the first 5 drives of the game.

The defense fell apart in the second half of the game, eventually giving up 142 yards rushing (7.9 per carry, 2nd worst in the league), with the majority coming from Bordeaux' non-scrambling quarterback. The pass defense played well, with Hitchcock's pair of interceptions and the team's 4 sacks and in total 14 of 43 plays broken up by the pass rush.

Despite the victory, the Merchantmen management tried to temper the optimism. Last season started with a similar 51-20 trouncing of the Gothenburg Giants, but the Merchantmen won just 3 of their next 12 games, with just 1 victory at home. This season continues with road games at the Hanalei Dragons and San Antonio Tidal Force, both finished last season with a 7-9 record. Today the Dragons went into an overtime game against the Colorado Cutthroats, which ended up tied 26-26 after both teams missed a game winning field goal in regulation, yet both scored a field goal in overtime (Clarence Rivera scored an impressive 58-yarder for Hanalei), leaving too little time left for either team to have a game winning drive.