The Blica Bulletin – Issue 13 – “Blicas Keep Playoff Dream Alive”
Written By Herouk87
St Michael – The rollercoaster ride that is the St Michael Blicas season took another twist today as they kept their narrow chance of gaining a playoff berth alive by beating the Copenhagen Armadillos. The 19-16 victory means that they must win next weeks crunch match against Lyon Loups *LFU* or else their season is as good as over.
Mile High Blica was rocking as always come game time as hopes were high that St Michael could snap their three game losing streak. An the game couldn’t have started any better for St Michael as the first touchdown of the game came as people were still finding their seats. A slightly more aggressive offensive saw large gains behind the arm of Eric MartinsQB who finally hit Keith Fischer for the touchdown on only the 7th play of the game. Fischer found himself wide open in the zone coverage and managed to break the plane for his second TD of the year. Could a blowout be in the making? Unfortunately the ‘Dillos as they are known, are a much for stubborn opposition than that.
Midway through the quarter Copenhagen put together their first serious drive of the game which culminated in three points. The deadly RB tandem of Thad Rock and Thomas Rasmussen got deep into the end zone before Rock was stopped superbly by Bullfighton Acid on the goal line. The Armidillos settled for three points from Christoph Knoll and this enthralling game entered the second quarter.
St Michael regained their 7 point lead early in the second quarter after a Gazoo “Automatica” Gramatica connected from 41 yards. Another Gramatica FG with 3:28 remaining in the half gave the Blicas a 13-3 lead and it looked like they would go in at the half the much happier team. But Copenhagen made an incisive INT on MartinsQB as the clock ticked down towards the zero. Mathew Hobbs picked of the ball after intense pressure from Rafael Freire coming up the gut. From there it only took 4 plays as Copenhagen QB Ken O'Brien hit Testi Coles, the great nephew twice removed of Jets WR Lavernius Coles for the 6 points. The PAT was converted and the score at the half was 13-10 in favour of the Blicas.
The second half saw both defences take firm control of the game with neither side being able to string together anything significant. The first break came with 7:41 minutes remaining when MartinsQB found a wide open Mo Bussie with the pass. It was Bussie’s 2nd interception of the season and even more worrying for the Blica heads, MartinsQB’s 19th Interception on the year. Knoll added his second FG of the game which was then countered by Gramatica’s third of the day after Dillon Mckay was stopped by Deacon Clark on the goal line. Both sides can be proud of their goal line defence today as the score with ten minutes remaining in the game was 16 all after Knoll’s third FG. A tense finish was promised the fans prayed that St Michael could end the game on top after weeks of disappointing finishes.
In what may be recollected as the way of the “Blica’s of the past”, the magic started to return to the St Michael offence who tried to end the game on one last push. The 7 minute drive saw a great mix of pass and run before Tyrone Bighit made an incredible diving tackle to deny Bary Sanders. Gramatica knocked through the chip shot for the 19-16 lead as the offense went back to the sideline hoping that their defence could hold Copenhagen one last time. Their prayers were answered after B.J Askew was tackled by Afro Samuraii on 4th & 11 to give St Michael the ball back. Hearts were once again in mouths though as on the final play of the game Bary Sanders fumbled after a hit from Rush Rampage. Luckily for Sanders it was that threw his ample frame onto the ball to prevent the turnover and ice the game for St Michael. Final score, 19-16.
Today’s performance was a good one but by no means a complete one. St Michael still turned the ball over twice. Conversely they can take a lot of positives from this into their match against Lyon. The Blicas defence kept the primary threat of Rasmussen to only 65 yards on the ground were not exploited like they have been in the past. The game ball goes to MartinsQB who despite an average game managed the ball well and did lead his team to victory despite two more interceptions. A special mention also goes out to Gramatica who still had to kick 4 FG’s to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Gramatica is 21 of 22 this season and is undoubtedly one of the premier kickers in the game today. Next week promises to be an action packed showdown against Lyon as the Blica machine begins to build momentum once again. Whatever you do, do NOT miss the Blica-Lyon game as it promises to be one for the ages.
Written By Herouk87
St Michael – The rollercoaster ride that is the St Michael Blicas season took another twist today as they kept their narrow chance of gaining a playoff berth alive by beating the Copenhagen Armadillos. The 19-16 victory means that they must win next weeks crunch match against Lyon Loups *LFU* or else their season is as good as over.
Mile High Blica was rocking as always come game time as hopes were high that St Michael could snap their three game losing streak. An the game couldn’t have started any better for St Michael as the first touchdown of the game came as people were still finding their seats. A slightly more aggressive offensive saw large gains behind the arm of Eric MartinsQB who finally hit Keith Fischer for the touchdown on only the 7th play of the game. Fischer found himself wide open in the zone coverage and managed to break the plane for his second TD of the year. Could a blowout be in the making? Unfortunately the ‘Dillos as they are known, are a much for stubborn opposition than that.
Midway through the quarter Copenhagen put together their first serious drive of the game which culminated in three points. The deadly RB tandem of Thad Rock and Thomas Rasmussen got deep into the end zone before Rock was stopped superbly by Bullfighton Acid on the goal line. The Armidillos settled for three points from Christoph Knoll and this enthralling game entered the second quarter.
St Michael regained their 7 point lead early in the second quarter after a Gazoo “Automatica” Gramatica connected from 41 yards. Another Gramatica FG with 3:28 remaining in the half gave the Blicas a 13-3 lead and it looked like they would go in at the half the much happier team. But Copenhagen made an incisive INT on MartinsQB as the clock ticked down towards the zero. Mathew Hobbs picked of the ball after intense pressure from Rafael Freire coming up the gut. From there it only took 4 plays as Copenhagen QB Ken O'Brien hit Testi Coles, the great nephew twice removed of Jets WR Lavernius Coles for the 6 points. The PAT was converted and the score at the half was 13-10 in favour of the Blicas.
The second half saw both defences take firm control of the game with neither side being able to string together anything significant. The first break came with 7:41 minutes remaining when MartinsQB found a wide open Mo Bussie with the pass. It was Bussie’s 2nd interception of the season and even more worrying for the Blica heads, MartinsQB’s 19th Interception on the year. Knoll added his second FG of the game which was then countered by Gramatica’s third of the day after Dillon Mckay was stopped by Deacon Clark on the goal line. Both sides can be proud of their goal line defence today as the score with ten minutes remaining in the game was 16 all after Knoll’s third FG. A tense finish was promised the fans prayed that St Michael could end the game on top after weeks of disappointing finishes.
In what may be recollected as the way of the “Blica’s of the past”, the magic started to return to the St Michael offence who tried to end the game on one last push. The 7 minute drive saw a great mix of pass and run before Tyrone Bighit made an incredible diving tackle to deny Bary Sanders. Gramatica knocked through the chip shot for the 19-16 lead as the offense went back to the sideline hoping that their defence could hold Copenhagen one last time. Their prayers were answered after B.J Askew was tackled by Afro Samuraii on 4th & 11 to give St Michael the ball back. Hearts were once again in mouths though as on the final play of the game Bary Sanders fumbled after a hit from Rush Rampage. Luckily for Sanders it was that threw his ample frame onto the ball to prevent the turnover and ice the game for St Michael. Final score, 19-16.
Today’s performance was a good one but by no means a complete one. St Michael still turned the ball over twice. Conversely they can take a lot of positives from this into their match against Lyon. The Blicas defence kept the primary threat of Rasmussen to only 65 yards on the ground were not exploited like they have been in the past. The game ball goes to MartinsQB who despite an average game managed the ball well and did lead his team to victory despite two more interceptions. A special mention also goes out to Gramatica who still had to kick 4 FG’s to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Gramatica is 21 of 22 this season and is undoubtedly one of the premier kickers in the game today. Next week promises to be an action packed showdown against Lyon as the Blica machine begins to build momentum once again. Whatever you do, do NOT miss the Blica-Lyon game as it promises to be one for the ages.
Last edited Jul 6, 2008 09:24:07
