The Blica Bulletin – Issue 11 – St Luke trumps St Michael
Written by Herouk87
St Michael – Today was always going to be a make or break day for St Michael as well as the underachieving Antwerp Jokers, both sides in desperate need of a win after losing last week to very good teams in the Crusaders and the Quebrantagüesos respectively. Both teams exited the tunnels looking jacked up for the match that would decide their fate for the rest of this season. This had all the makings of a classic. Think the Broncos Vs Raiders on Monday Night football in the Denver snow
The match finally got underway after and unidentified delay in the area and it was Antwerp that hit the ground running figuratively speaking. The jokers hit the Blica’s with a heavy dose of irony as they used the traditional Blica passing game against them. Potential Pro Bowl QB Sebastian St. Luke connected on 8 of 11 passes on a 7:30 minute drive which ended when he hit a final strike to a wide open Toronto Hitman who found a gap in the red zone coverage.
St Michael tried to retaliate with their own passing game and looked to be poised to equal the scores. In spite of this they would give up the opportunity on a fumble by Dillon McKay as the dump pass was well scouted by the Jokers LB corps. St Michael did however get on the scoreboard on their next drive with the ever reliable Gazoo Gramatica hitting from 41 yards to make the score at the end of a thrilling first quarter 7-3 in favour of Antwerp.
When Gramatica added his second FG of the game midway through the second quarter to game looked to be heading into halftime with only one point difference. Luckily for the partisan crowd, St Luke had different plans. St Luke spread the ball around beautifully and with the help of his veritable smorgasbord of running backs went deep into Blica territory. He finished the drive with two completions to I Pickle They, firstly on the right and then on the left for an easy touchdown. The Blicas had three minutes to try and close the gap before the half. Luckily for the travelling Blica Heads that was more than enough time. It was I Pickle they who handed the ball back to St Michael after trying to return a punt which he fumbled after a Candida Esteves hit which was recovered by Cant StopMe near the red zone. 4 plays later MartinsQB hit TE James Braddock for his 3rd TD of the year which meant that the score at the half was 14-13 to the Jokers.
The second half saw St Michael take their first lead of the game after another pass heavy drive which was concluded with another Gramatica FG. Could the Blicas break their bad luck and reach the playoffs? Only time would tell. The game then became a war of attrition and a battle of field position as both defences tried to guide their teams to victory. It would be Antwerp who would win this battle after a good return on a short Vincent 06 punt meant that St Luke took started at the Blica 18 yard line and not even the Blica defence could stop Antwerp from there. St Luke; behind superb pass protection from his offensive line; found Toronto Hitman who stretched into the end zone to regain the lead.
After this you could sense that Antwerp could sense the victory in the air and may be able to finish the game off soon. Unfortunately for St Michael their fears would be compounded on the Joker’s next possession as they hit the Blicas for 6 again. Malcolm Kelly ran past the secondary that had been playing off the Antwerp receivers all day and ran in for an untouched 55 yard touchdown.
To make matters worse for St Michael, Stump Jorgensen ran over Brady Andrew on the next drive and knocked the ball out of MartinsQB’s hands and the ball was recovered by Kempischen Beer. A 20 yard FG by Lange Wapper meant that Antwerp had a firm grip on the game with a commanding 31-16 lead at the end of 3. You could feel the pressure ease away throughout the fourth in Jokers Palace as Antwerp was never really seriously challenged again. They dominated possession throughout the fourth quarter but in the key situations they didn’t seem to be able to unlock the defence. As time expired the Antwerp jokers celebrated a very hard fought victory over a dejected St Michael Blicas.
St Michael will be wondering what they have to do in order to get a victory as they travel next week to the 7-3 Bergen Black Bears who were on a three game winning streak at the time of going to press. In truth St Michael did not do much wrong against Antwerp and it was only one or two plays which turned the game in favour of the Jokers. They will look for a similar performance against Bergen and their superb offense lead by Gordon Blue and Lou Gehrig. St Michael still has a lot to play for, but not for long unless they can snap this two game losing streak.
Written by Herouk87
St Michael – Today was always going to be a make or break day for St Michael as well as the underachieving Antwerp Jokers, both sides in desperate need of a win after losing last week to very good teams in the Crusaders and the Quebrantagüesos respectively. Both teams exited the tunnels looking jacked up for the match that would decide their fate for the rest of this season. This had all the makings of a classic. Think the Broncos Vs Raiders on Monday Night football in the Denver snow
The match finally got underway after and unidentified delay in the area and it was Antwerp that hit the ground running figuratively speaking. The jokers hit the Blica’s with a heavy dose of irony as they used the traditional Blica passing game against them. Potential Pro Bowl QB Sebastian St. Luke connected on 8 of 11 passes on a 7:30 minute drive which ended when he hit a final strike to a wide open Toronto Hitman who found a gap in the red zone coverage.
St Michael tried to retaliate with their own passing game and looked to be poised to equal the scores. In spite of this they would give up the opportunity on a fumble by Dillon McKay as the dump pass was well scouted by the Jokers LB corps. St Michael did however get on the scoreboard on their next drive with the ever reliable Gazoo Gramatica hitting from 41 yards to make the score at the end of a thrilling first quarter 7-3 in favour of Antwerp.
When Gramatica added his second FG of the game midway through the second quarter to game looked to be heading into halftime with only one point difference. Luckily for the partisan crowd, St Luke had different plans. St Luke spread the ball around beautifully and with the help of his veritable smorgasbord of running backs went deep into Blica territory. He finished the drive with two completions to I Pickle They, firstly on the right and then on the left for an easy touchdown. The Blicas had three minutes to try and close the gap before the half. Luckily for the travelling Blica Heads that was more than enough time. It was I Pickle they who handed the ball back to St Michael after trying to return a punt which he fumbled after a Candida Esteves hit which was recovered by Cant StopMe near the red zone. 4 plays later MartinsQB hit TE James Braddock for his 3rd TD of the year which meant that the score at the half was 14-13 to the Jokers.
The second half saw St Michael take their first lead of the game after another pass heavy drive which was concluded with another Gramatica FG. Could the Blicas break their bad luck and reach the playoffs? Only time would tell. The game then became a war of attrition and a battle of field position as both defences tried to guide their teams to victory. It would be Antwerp who would win this battle after a good return on a short Vincent 06 punt meant that St Luke took started at the Blica 18 yard line and not even the Blica defence could stop Antwerp from there. St Luke; behind superb pass protection from his offensive line; found Toronto Hitman who stretched into the end zone to regain the lead.
After this you could sense that Antwerp could sense the victory in the air and may be able to finish the game off soon. Unfortunately for St Michael their fears would be compounded on the Joker’s next possession as they hit the Blicas for 6 again. Malcolm Kelly ran past the secondary that had been playing off the Antwerp receivers all day and ran in for an untouched 55 yard touchdown.
To make matters worse for St Michael, Stump Jorgensen ran over Brady Andrew on the next drive and knocked the ball out of MartinsQB’s hands and the ball was recovered by Kempischen Beer. A 20 yard FG by Lange Wapper meant that Antwerp had a firm grip on the game with a commanding 31-16 lead at the end of 3. You could feel the pressure ease away throughout the fourth in Jokers Palace as Antwerp was never really seriously challenged again. They dominated possession throughout the fourth quarter but in the key situations they didn’t seem to be able to unlock the defence. As time expired the Antwerp jokers celebrated a very hard fought victory over a dejected St Michael Blicas.
St Michael will be wondering what they have to do in order to get a victory as they travel next week to the 7-3 Bergen Black Bears who were on a three game winning streak at the time of going to press. In truth St Michael did not do much wrong against Antwerp and it was only one or two plays which turned the game in favour of the Jokers. They will look for a similar performance against Bergen and their superb offense lead by Gordon Blue and Lou Gehrig. St Michael still has a lot to play for, but not for long unless they can snap this two game losing streak.
