Ahh, the Bloodhounds – Spitfires rivalry. I don’t think anything defines it better than tomorrow’s matchup. The battle of 2 undefeateds. Every time we have played it has been a battle that is won and lost in the trenches. I doubt you could find 2 more evenly matched powerhouses. So this is my chance to let you all in on what exactly the rivalry is all about.
Season 3:
Unfortunately since we were the midseason expansion, and only played half a season in Canada A, we did not have the pleasure of playing each other. But this did not stop the rivalry from brewing. I believe the roots of the rivalry came when I called out TB for not actually playing any teams of substance in their 8 game undefeated streak into the playoffs. If I dug through the forums I’m sure I could find the actual post, but I’m lazy. Chiwanna then announced that we were their rivals in the ‘Rivalry’ thread that was started at the end of that season. (However I do feel justified in my call out since TB then proceeded to lose their round 1 game to AU
)
Season 4:
While in season 4 our matchup wasn’t nearly as interesting of a story as this season, the impact of that game was just as large. We both came into the game 8-3 with the #4 seed and a home playoff game essentially on the line for the winner. The match really was a battle of defenses and who would make the fewest mistakes. Each team gave up the occasional big drive, but most of the time were able to hold to a punt when they needed it. After a TD drive for Saskatoon in the 1st the game was scoreless until the 4th. The Bloodhounds were knocking on the door in the 3rd, but it was ended with a forced fumble recovered by the Spitfires. A drive which contained two 4th down conversions ended in a TD for the Spitfires with one of those 4th downs. The Bloodhounds responded with a TD drive of their own immediately following though. Unfortunately the clock ran out on them while they were driving for the tie.
That took us to our playoff game. Spitfires with the 4th seed and Bloodhounds with the 5th. This game was just as much of a battle as our first meetup, and honestly neither team knew who would come out on top of this one either. Thunder Bay started the scoring this time. But the Spitfires answered back on the very next drive. On their first possession in the 2nd half the Bloodhounds would put up an FG to take a 10-7 lead. After a few 3 and outs for each side Thunder Bay would put in a TD to up the score to 17-7. The game then goes back and forth until Saskatoon scores a TD with 3:40 left in the game. And the solid team that the Bloodhounds are would then proceed to simply run out the clock and not give the Spitfires another chance to score and the Bloodhounds would advance to the 2nd round.
Season 5:
So here we are on the eve of our matchup. And again as usual, The game could truly go either way. Even with my homerism I can’t truly say that I know we will win this game. All I know about this game is that it will be a hard fought battle, where the winner will deserve the win, and their #1 seed in the playoffs.
Good luck Bloodhounds. I have been waiting for this game all season. No matter who wins this game, it will be a great game. And I truly hope that we both make it to the conference championship for another rematch and that we will both be promoted to AA, cuz we both deserve it.
Season 3:
Unfortunately since we were the midseason expansion, and only played half a season in Canada A, we did not have the pleasure of playing each other. But this did not stop the rivalry from brewing. I believe the roots of the rivalry came when I called out TB for not actually playing any teams of substance in their 8 game undefeated streak into the playoffs. If I dug through the forums I’m sure I could find the actual post, but I’m lazy. Chiwanna then announced that we were their rivals in the ‘Rivalry’ thread that was started at the end of that season. (However I do feel justified in my call out since TB then proceeded to lose their round 1 game to AU
)Season 4:
While in season 4 our matchup wasn’t nearly as interesting of a story as this season, the impact of that game was just as large. We both came into the game 8-3 with the #4 seed and a home playoff game essentially on the line for the winner. The match really was a battle of defenses and who would make the fewest mistakes. Each team gave up the occasional big drive, but most of the time were able to hold to a punt when they needed it. After a TD drive for Saskatoon in the 1st the game was scoreless until the 4th. The Bloodhounds were knocking on the door in the 3rd, but it was ended with a forced fumble recovered by the Spitfires. A drive which contained two 4th down conversions ended in a TD for the Spitfires with one of those 4th downs. The Bloodhounds responded with a TD drive of their own immediately following though. Unfortunately the clock ran out on them while they were driving for the tie.
That took us to our playoff game. Spitfires with the 4th seed and Bloodhounds with the 5th. This game was just as much of a battle as our first meetup, and honestly neither team knew who would come out on top of this one either. Thunder Bay started the scoring this time. But the Spitfires answered back on the very next drive. On their first possession in the 2nd half the Bloodhounds would put up an FG to take a 10-7 lead. After a few 3 and outs for each side Thunder Bay would put in a TD to up the score to 17-7. The game then goes back and forth until Saskatoon scores a TD with 3:40 left in the game. And the solid team that the Bloodhounds are would then proceed to simply run out the clock and not give the Spitfires another chance to score and the Bloodhounds would advance to the 2nd round.
Season 5:
So here we are on the eve of our matchup. And again as usual, The game could truly go either way. Even with my homerism I can’t truly say that I know we will win this game. All I know about this game is that it will be a hard fought battle, where the winner will deserve the win, and their #1 seed in the playoffs.
Good luck Bloodhounds. I have been waiting for this game all season. No matter who wins this game, it will be a great game. And I truly hope that we both make it to the conference championship for another rematch and that we will both be promoted to AA, cuz we both deserve it.
