DSFL Power Rankings Week 1
8. Portland Pythons 0-1-0
Loss to Norfolk SeaWolves 31-17
Bottom of the weaker conference - the NFC North, the Pythons were a shoe in for bottom of the power rankings this week.
The Pythons found themselves stuck in a deep hole fast against the reigning ultimini champions on the back of a quick fire double in the first quarter.
They did however show a lot of grit and determination by scoring 17 unanswered points through a couple of perfectly thrown touchdowns by Sam Howitzer - both caught by Korbin Brown and some perfectly placed kicks by the Pseudo QB.
That was the end of it though, as the SeaWolves showed that they could do the same scoring 17 unanswered points to take the game 31-17.
7. Kansas City Coyotes 0-1-0
Loss to Myrtle Beach Buccaneers 27-17
The coyotes are next up again, just judging by the standard of conferences they were put 2nd to bottom. They could arguably have taken 8th place having never seen the lead through the full game, but have been given the nod in 7th due to the slightly lower points differential.
Much like their NFC North counterparts the coyotes found themselves in a two touchdown hole very early on and trailing 13-0 thanks in part to an interception thrown by Covington setting up the buccaneers with perfect field position. Covington made up for this in the very next possession scoring a touch down on the back of eight straight passing plays finished off by Joshua Campbell.
A quick field goal in the second half was the only bright spark across the next two quarters with Myrtle beach gaining a 27-10 lead after a further two touchdowns.
An early touchdown in the 4th quarter from King Tutankhamun could have sparked a late rally but unfortunately the fight left them after Covington threw his second interception of the day on the next possession.
6. Minnesota Grey Ducks 0-1-0
Loss to the London Royals 24-21
The only real reason Minnesota aren't in 5th is due to the writers bias, however I will still try to convince myself and others with sound reasoning and judgement.
The Grey Ducks allowed themselves to fall into a 17 point hole in the first half after the lions were able to put up two touchdowns and a field goal without much of a response. To give credit where it's due the Grey Ducks defense were terrorising Cortez throughout the first half sacking him three times by three different players.
After a series of four straight penalties to start the second half the grey ducks luck changed when the rookie Sloan in his DSFL debut forced and recovered a fumble to end a promising drive for the Lions. The Grey Ducks were able to quickly capitalise on this good fortune with Mike Rotchburn trundling over the line for a one yard touchdown after an efficient drive.
The Grey Ducks then piled on the pressure with star - Chainbreaker bringing down Cortez for a big sack leaving the Royals to punt and give up great field position to the Grey Ducks. The ducks once again capitalised with another 1 yard rushing touchdown, this time from James Vermillion.
The game was tight all the way through the fourth quarter with Thorbjonsson scoring to put the Lions up by ten again before Vermillion got his second (and best play) of the day with a lightning fast 82 yard rushing touchdown.
With Cortez sacked on 5 separate occasions the Minnesota defence should be feared across both conferences. Their ability on to finish games just needs to improve.
5. Dallas Birddogs 0-1-0
Loss to Tijuana Luchadores 22-13
You can definitely make an argument that Minnesota should be here and there is a good chance you are correct. However, the Birddogs get the nod at the "best loser" position due to quality of opponent. Now London are no slouch, but when you look at the strength and depth of Tijuana it's clear to see they are the better, more experienced team. Filled with send downs and recreates this Tijuana team are going to be a force to be reckoned with until other teams can catch up. A road trip to Mexico for the first game of the season is as unlucky as you can get for scheduling meaning the Birddogs were already starting the day in a hole.
The first possession went poorly for the Birddogs with Caliban being sacked. After gaining only one first down on the first drive the Birddogs had to punt away. This kick was fielded perfectly by the Luchadores punt returner Vequain who returned it 87 yards for the touchdown. Not a good start for the Birddogs. The rest of the quarter was a series of punts as each defence held fast.
The second quarter was the biggest undoing for Dallas with Tijuana piling on another 12 unanswered points.
Early in the second half Tijuana. Scored their final points of the game through another field goal. From this point Dallas took over.
The defense led by Blackwell and Crowder finally gelled forcing 5 straight punts in 5 straight possessions for Tijuana. The offense finally started ticking into life. Zoe Watts at the forefront with offensive player of the game statlines, helped in part by a 61 yard rushing touchdown.
Dallas put up 13 points in the second half but just couldn't quite dig themselves out of the 22 point hole they'd got themselves in.
4. Myrtle Beach Buccaneers 1-0-0
Victory over Kansas city Coyotes 27-17
Now to look at this game from a winning teams perspective. This was a slightly less convincing win than that of the SeaWolves, and didn't have the divisional matchup of the royals which is why I have them ranked lower than those two. This is entirely subjective so if you believe they should be higher up you can make your argument.
The Buccaneers were able to shoot off to a two score lead in the first quarter after holding KC to a three and out which may have lead to some complacency slipping in.
McJimmerson was the first Buccaneer on the score sheet on the back of a six yard pass from Holloway.
KCs woes continued on their second drive with Jackson intercepting a wayward Covington pass and running it back to the 6 yard line. This field position was immediately capitalised on by Jeffrey with a 6 yard trundle into the end zone.
The Coyotes fought there way back into the game with 10 points before Holloway again silenced them with a 12 yard endzone finding pass to Mo.
In the second half Myrtle Beach started running a few plays with Daytona under center. Daytona immediately paid dividends by throwing a 13 yard pass to Reed for the touchdown.
With a comfortable lead Myrtle Beach were able to take their foot off the gas and coast the rest of the game with the defence still wreaking Havoc on the KC oline.
3. London Royals 1-0-0
Victory over Minnesota Grey Ducks 24-21
The Royals are third in the power rankings and the only team from the lesser NFC with a victory. This was probably the match of the night with anybody's guess on a winner all the way up to the final minute.
This game was covered in a decent amount of depth in the Grey Ducks write up above.
As has been the case in all of these games one team has gone up multiple scores and goes on to seal the victory. In the case for the Royals they were run a lot closer than our other eventual winners.
The royals took an unanswered 17 point lead in the first half through touchdown passes to J'Vathon and Michell as well as off the boot of Fencik. Cortez had an almost perfect first half and looked by far the most pro ready quarter back of the week.
At half time the Lions slumped. Whatever is the opposite of Michaels Secret Stuff from space jam - the Lions must have been sooking up that.
The defence couldnt handle the thunder and lightning approach of Rotchburns and Vermillion with Minnesota crowbarring their way back into the game. The Royals will have taken a bollocking during the break before the final quarter as the faithful duo if Cortez and Thorbjonsson connected to kill off the hopes of a Grey Duck quack back.
2. Norfolk SeaWolves 1-0-0
Victory over Portland Pythons 31-17
The SeaWolves started strong in this game with the kick returner Button putting in a big 36 yard return. Five rushes and two big time throws later the Norfolk squad were celebrating in the endzone when Matthews and Ramza linked up for a 28 yard touchdown.
Portland's first possession went the complete opposite direction. They gained one yard before Vaughne forced and recovered a fumble on the receiver Evans.
The SeaWolves made great use of the field position when Quanter Skills rumbled in from three yards after 3 quick passes from Ramza.
As has been the case in each of our games this week once the SeaWolves got the lead they took their foot off the gas. The pythons acted on this and managed to pull out to a 17-14 lead. A lesser team would have been disheartened by this but not our reigning champions. Matthews picked up his second touchdown, the homicidal moose kicked a field goal and captain Rogers sealed the deal with 6 minutes to go in the game. The pythons couldn't pull it back and sunk to the largest defeat of the week.
1. Tijuana Luchadores 1-0-0
Victory over Dallas Birddogs 22-13
What can I say about Tijuana that hasn't already been said earlier in the article. They are currently a step above the rest of the league however they will be caught by the end of the season. The Birddogs started poorly and finished strong.
The Tijuana team dominated the Birddogs for the majority of the first three quarters mostly sure to the Birddogs having the youngest least experienced defence in the league but with three of the Horsemen they look to have the most upside.
Anyway Vequain got on the score sheet twice and Burton kicked them to a lead.
This was all overshadowed by Watts's barnstorming TD run.
Tijuana are top of the power rankings this week but I feel that won't last too long.
8. Portland Pythons 0-1-0
Loss to Norfolk SeaWolves 31-17
Bottom of the weaker conference - the NFC North, the Pythons were a shoe in for bottom of the power rankings this week.
The Pythons found themselves stuck in a deep hole fast against the reigning ultimini champions on the back of a quick fire double in the first quarter.
They did however show a lot of grit and determination by scoring 17 unanswered points through a couple of perfectly thrown touchdowns by Sam Howitzer - both caught by Korbin Brown and some perfectly placed kicks by the Pseudo QB.
That was the end of it though, as the SeaWolves showed that they could do the same scoring 17 unanswered points to take the game 31-17.
7. Kansas City Coyotes 0-1-0
Loss to Myrtle Beach Buccaneers 27-17
The coyotes are next up again, just judging by the standard of conferences they were put 2nd to bottom. They could arguably have taken 8th place having never seen the lead through the full game, but have been given the nod in 7th due to the slightly lower points differential.
Much like their NFC North counterparts the coyotes found themselves in a two touchdown hole very early on and trailing 13-0 thanks in part to an interception thrown by Covington setting up the buccaneers with perfect field position. Covington made up for this in the very next possession scoring a touch down on the back of eight straight passing plays finished off by Joshua Campbell.
A quick field goal in the second half was the only bright spark across the next two quarters with Myrtle beach gaining a 27-10 lead after a further two touchdowns.
An early touchdown in the 4th quarter from King Tutankhamun could have sparked a late rally but unfortunately the fight left them after Covington threw his second interception of the day on the next possession.
6. Minnesota Grey Ducks 0-1-0
Loss to the London Royals 24-21
The only real reason Minnesota aren't in 5th is due to the writers bias, however I will still try to convince myself and others with sound reasoning and judgement.
The Grey Ducks allowed themselves to fall into a 17 point hole in the first half after the lions were able to put up two touchdowns and a field goal without much of a response. To give credit where it's due the Grey Ducks defense were terrorising Cortez throughout the first half sacking him three times by three different players.
After a series of four straight penalties to start the second half the grey ducks luck changed when the rookie Sloan in his DSFL debut forced and recovered a fumble to end a promising drive for the Lions. The Grey Ducks were able to quickly capitalise on this good fortune with Mike Rotchburn trundling over the line for a one yard touchdown after an efficient drive.
The Grey Ducks then piled on the pressure with star - Chainbreaker bringing down Cortez for a big sack leaving the Royals to punt and give up great field position to the Grey Ducks. The ducks once again capitalised with another 1 yard rushing touchdown, this time from James Vermillion.
The game was tight all the way through the fourth quarter with Thorbjonsson scoring to put the Lions up by ten again before Vermillion got his second (and best play) of the day with a lightning fast 82 yard rushing touchdown.
With Cortez sacked on 5 separate occasions the Minnesota defence should be feared across both conferences. Their ability on to finish games just needs to improve.
5. Dallas Birddogs 0-1-0
Loss to Tijuana Luchadores 22-13
You can definitely make an argument that Minnesota should be here and there is a good chance you are correct. However, the Birddogs get the nod at the "best loser" position due to quality of opponent. Now London are no slouch, but when you look at the strength and depth of Tijuana it's clear to see they are the better, more experienced team. Filled with send downs and recreates this Tijuana team are going to be a force to be reckoned with until other teams can catch up. A road trip to Mexico for the first game of the season is as unlucky as you can get for scheduling meaning the Birddogs were already starting the day in a hole.
The first possession went poorly for the Birddogs with Caliban being sacked. After gaining only one first down on the first drive the Birddogs had to punt away. This kick was fielded perfectly by the Luchadores punt returner Vequain who returned it 87 yards for the touchdown. Not a good start for the Birddogs. The rest of the quarter was a series of punts as each defence held fast.
The second quarter was the biggest undoing for Dallas with Tijuana piling on another 12 unanswered points.
Early in the second half Tijuana. Scored their final points of the game through another field goal. From this point Dallas took over.
The defense led by Blackwell and Crowder finally gelled forcing 5 straight punts in 5 straight possessions for Tijuana. The offense finally started ticking into life. Zoe Watts at the forefront with offensive player of the game statlines, helped in part by a 61 yard rushing touchdown.
Dallas put up 13 points in the second half but just couldn't quite dig themselves out of the 22 point hole they'd got themselves in.
4. Myrtle Beach Buccaneers 1-0-0
Victory over Kansas city Coyotes 27-17
Now to look at this game from a winning teams perspective. This was a slightly less convincing win than that of the SeaWolves, and didn't have the divisional matchup of the royals which is why I have them ranked lower than those two. This is entirely subjective so if you believe they should be higher up you can make your argument.
The Buccaneers were able to shoot off to a two score lead in the first quarter after holding KC to a three and out which may have lead to some complacency slipping in.
McJimmerson was the first Buccaneer on the score sheet on the back of a six yard pass from Holloway.
KCs woes continued on their second drive with Jackson intercepting a wayward Covington pass and running it back to the 6 yard line. This field position was immediately capitalised on by Jeffrey with a 6 yard trundle into the end zone.
The Coyotes fought there way back into the game with 10 points before Holloway again silenced them with a 12 yard endzone finding pass to Mo.
In the second half Myrtle Beach started running a few plays with Daytona under center. Daytona immediately paid dividends by throwing a 13 yard pass to Reed for the touchdown.
With a comfortable lead Myrtle Beach were able to take their foot off the gas and coast the rest of the game with the defence still wreaking Havoc on the KC oline.
3. London Royals 1-0-0
Victory over Minnesota Grey Ducks 24-21
The Royals are third in the power rankings and the only team from the lesser NFC with a victory. This was probably the match of the night with anybody's guess on a winner all the way up to the final minute.
This game was covered in a decent amount of depth in the Grey Ducks write up above.
As has been the case in all of these games one team has gone up multiple scores and goes on to seal the victory. In the case for the Royals they were run a lot closer than our other eventual winners.
The royals took an unanswered 17 point lead in the first half through touchdown passes to J'Vathon and Michell as well as off the boot of Fencik. Cortez had an almost perfect first half and looked by far the most pro ready quarter back of the week.
At half time the Lions slumped. Whatever is the opposite of Michaels Secret Stuff from space jam - the Lions must have been sooking up that.
The defence couldnt handle the thunder and lightning approach of Rotchburns and Vermillion with Minnesota crowbarring their way back into the game. The Royals will have taken a bollocking during the break before the final quarter as the faithful duo if Cortez and Thorbjonsson connected to kill off the hopes of a Grey Duck quack back.
2. Norfolk SeaWolves 1-0-0
Victory over Portland Pythons 31-17
The SeaWolves started strong in this game with the kick returner Button putting in a big 36 yard return. Five rushes and two big time throws later the Norfolk squad were celebrating in the endzone when Matthews and Ramza linked up for a 28 yard touchdown.
Portland's first possession went the complete opposite direction. They gained one yard before Vaughne forced and recovered a fumble on the receiver Evans.
The SeaWolves made great use of the field position when Quanter Skills rumbled in from three yards after 3 quick passes from Ramza.
As has been the case in each of our games this week once the SeaWolves got the lead they took their foot off the gas. The pythons acted on this and managed to pull out to a 17-14 lead. A lesser team would have been disheartened by this but not our reigning champions. Matthews picked up his second touchdown, the homicidal moose kicked a field goal and captain Rogers sealed the deal with 6 minutes to go in the game. The pythons couldn't pull it back and sunk to the largest defeat of the week.
1. Tijuana Luchadores 1-0-0
Victory over Dallas Birddogs 22-13
What can I say about Tijuana that hasn't already been said earlier in the article. They are currently a step above the rest of the league however they will be caught by the end of the season. The Birddogs started poorly and finished strong.
The Tijuana team dominated the Birddogs for the majority of the first three quarters mostly sure to the Birddogs having the youngest least experienced defence in the league but with three of the Horsemen they look to have the most upside.
Anyway Vequain got on the score sheet twice and Burton kicked them to a lead.
This was all overshadowed by Watts's barnstorming TD run.
Tijuana are top of the power rankings this week but I feel that won't last too long.