10-09-2022, 09:34 AM
(This post was last modified: 10-11-2022, 05:20 PM by dude_man. Edited 1 time in total.)
Week 1 vs New York Silverbacks
Are you ready for some football?! Week 1 is here and the Berlin Fire Salamanders are squaring off against the New York Silverbacks. While the Fire Salamanders do not look that dangerous on paper, this young team is sure to give the New York Silverbacks a run for their money! The game started quick with the Berlin Fire Salamanders jumping off to an early lead behind a Marvin Toledo 7 yard Touchdown run and a Known Acquaintance 25 yard FG. This was the young kicker's first career FG and we are going to be expecting big things from this player throughout the season. The first quarter came to an end with the Fire Salamanders in full control and up by a score of 10-0.
However, the Silverbacks were not going to let their slow start stop them and they quickly put up 21 unanswered points that put Berlin down 21-10 at the start of the fourth quarter. Bageshwari Singh led the Fire Salamanders straight down the field and Rab Thecrab was able to punch in the touchdown to bring the score back to 21-18 after the 2 point conversion. Sadly Berlin did not have enough in the tank and they were unable to put together one more drive before a late fumble put an end to the game and would give Berlin their first loss of the season by a score of 24-18.
There are a lot of positives to be had from this game as we take a look at some of key performers for the Fire Salamanders first game. On the offensive side of the ball the captain Zayne Dangle showed off his big play potential and recorded 4 receptions for 81 yards. While he was not able to find the endzone the young Wide Receiver looks poised to build off the career season that he had last year. There was also plenty to be excited about on the other side of the ball as the young Berlin defense made it tough on New York for much of the game. Fuzzy George, Kevin McThumper and Tae Dawson were all able to knock the ball loose in the game. L. F. T. was also able to record his first career sack and while LaDamien Beck was able to lead the team in tackles with 12 there was one performance that stood out above the others.
Kevin McThumper made his presence known very quickly. The young rookie was all over the field and posted an extremely impressive 10 Tackle, 1 TFL, 1 FF, and 1 FR stat line. The team was very excited about the talent that this young LB core has and one of the big names in it is Kevin McThumper. We can expect this young player to continue to have performances like this throughout his rookie campaign and we cannot wait to see what other accolades he adds to his collection! Congrats to all the players mentioned in this week's write up, the Fire Salamanders are looking strong and while it was not the start we were hoping for, the team has plenty to be proud of! On to the next game!
Week 2 vs Sarasota Sailfish
Week 2 brought another tough matchup to the Berlin Fire Salamanders as the Sarasota Sailfish looked to carry the momentum of their Week 1 win overseas to Berlin. Once again the Fire Salamanders looked like they were shot out of a cannon and grabbed an early lead in this one off a Zayne Dangle 28 yard Touchdown pass from Bageshwari Singh on the opening drive, the first TD for both players this season. The Fire Salamanders were not done there though as Marvin Toledo managed to punch in his 2nd TD in as many games to put Berlin up 14-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Looking to avoid a repeat of last week where Berlin gave up 21 unanswered points the defense did their best to stifle a strong Sarasota offense. However, Carter Knight looked like a different player moving into the 2nd quarter as he quickly led the Sailfish down the field where Pete Zuh was able to punch it in from 8 yards out and not long after that Swantavius King was able to put through a 47 yard FG to get the Sailfish within 1 of Berlin. A string of penalties helped to move Berlin down the field and set up for a 33 yard FG by Known Acquaintance but, unfortunately the young rookie was unable to convert and with just a minute left to go in the half the Sailfish rushed down the field and added another score to take the lead 20-13 going into the half. While the defense for Berlin only let the opposing offense put up 6 points the rest of the game it was not going to be enough as they would go on to lose this one by a score of 26-13 following the 23 unanswered points.
The frustration was visible throughout the Fire Salamander organization as for the second week in a row an early lead translates into a tough loss. However, the team still had a lot to be happy about. You have to remember that this is a team sporting 4 Rookies on the roster and with more than half the team being from the S34 class or later it means that little victories now will turn into huge victories in the future! Coming off a POTG performance in Week 1 Kevin McThumper showed everyone that that performance was no fluke and posted another 10 Tackle game, which puts him up to 3rd in the league on Tackles. On top of that both Kevin McThumper and Jordan Hartline managed their first career sacks! From a coverage perspective Tae Dawson had a solid performance with 3 PDs and rookie Chad Thorsen added 3 tackles in this one.
On the offensive side of the ball Bageshwari Singh looked a lot more comfortable this week as he avoided turning the ball over. But, it was Zayne Dangle who stole the spotlight in this one. Entering into his 4th season he had big shoes to fill following his 1333 yard, 6 TD performance from last season. This game he showed the explosive potential we expect out of him week in and week out as he grabbed 7 receptions for 107 yards and 1 TD. While it is going to take a lot to repeat the performance of last season Dangle is off to the right start as he now sits 5th in the league at 188 yards so far. Keep an eye on the Captain of the Berlin offense because great things are in store for him! With the infamous double header week ahead of us the Fire Salamanders will not have to wait long to get their chance at their first W of the season! Geh Berlin!
Week 3 at Yellowknife Wraiths
Week 3 meant that Berlin would be going into its first away game of the season and this one meant a long plane ride into Yellowknife to square off against the Wraiths. One of the toughest challenges that the Fire Salamanders will have faced this season. The Wraiths are full of dangerous players on offense, led by Dustin Parmelee at Quarterback and Wide Receiver Bernd D Brot; the Fire Salamanders Defense was going to be in for a tough battle and had to make sure they bring their “A” game to give Singh and the rest of the Fire Salamanders Offense a chance in this one.
The Wraiths started aggressively when Adebayo Akinfenwa managed to show his speed in scampering for a 30 yard Touchdown run in their opening drive of the game. However, the Fire Salamanders were not going to let the drive go unanswered and on the back of Rab Thecrab the team was able to punch one through of their own as the quarter ended and level the score at 7 a piece. The Fire Salamanders had struggled after the first quarter so far this season and they looked to end their poor form outside of the first quarter. So far this season the team has only scored 8 points outside of the first quarter. Unfortunately the team could not find a way into the endzone in the 2nd quarter and the wraiths were able to punch in two more scores right before the half to give them a 21-7 lead.
The Fire Salamanders were not going to go down without a fight. Captain Zayne Dangle continued to show his talent and managed to put the team back within one off a beautiful 11 yard pass from Bageshwari Singh. Unfortunately, despite the teams best efforts they were going to be unable to find a way to even back up the score and the Wraiths would go onto win this one by a score of 31-14. From an offensive standpoint the Fire Salamanders are continuing to show improvement as Bageshwari Singh had his best game of the season sporting a solid stat-line of 23 completions, 238 yards and a TD and Rab Thecrab adding his second rushing score of the season.
The Defense was busy in this one and the young core had its work cut out for them. Kevin McThumper continued his stellar start to the season by adding his first career interception. Rookie L. F. T. managed his second sack of the season and then Tae Dawson and Fuzzy George had a very active part as they managed to get 6 Tackles a piece. Despite all of those strong performances it was Fred Edison that will take home the POTG honors this week. The second-year man out of the University of North Carolina made his presence known in this game as he managed 8 Tackles, 1 Sack, and 1 PD on the night. The young Linebacker showed that he is capable of a repeat performance of his stellar rookie campaign where he posted 107 Tackles, and we know that this will not be his only POTG award this season! Now let’s see what Week 4 has in store for Berlin!
Week 4 at Colorado Yeti
Coming into Week 4 the Fire Salamanders found themselves at an 0-3 record and were once again away from home as they traveled deep into Yeti territory to face Colorado. The team has been stellar all season in the first quarter, outsourcing opponents 31-10 but the Fire Salamanders have failed to turn that early advantage into any wins so far this season. Knowing where the improvement is needed this season the Fire Salamanders are going to have to find a way to play all 4 quarters if they are going to stop the consistently dangerous Live Laughlove and the rest of the Colorado Yeti.
The Fire Salamanders continued to start strong and their first quarter dominance continued as they managed to put up 21 points off of 2 Touchdown passes from Bageshwari Singh to Gronku Muerto and Troy Abed respectively. The highlight of the first quarter was when Rookie Kevin McThumper intercepted the ball and took it back 48 yards for a pick six. The team was looking strong at the end of the first quarter with the Fire Salamanders up by a score of 21-7. However, now they were out of their ever comfortable first quarter and the team was going to have to make sure they keep their foot on the gas in order to turn this early lead into a victory. The defense continued their strong performance and while the offense could not find the endzone the team managed to hold onto a 21-14 lead as the halftime whistle blew.
The Third quarter brought a pair of FGs for the Yeti to get them within 1. 13 unanswered points and it was looking like a repeat of the last couple of games for the Berlin Fire Salamanders as the pressure was mounting. A late interception in the 3rd Quarter by Singh gave Colorado an opportunity to take the lead before their Rookie Doom would miss a 21 yard FG and Rab Thecrab would punish them for it by punching in a huge TD late in the 3rd to give the Fire Salamanders 28-20 lead. With their first 4th quarter lead all season the Fire Salamanders made sure to not give any opportunity for Colorado to still the win and a huge punt by Known Acquaintance pinned the Yeti at the 1 allowed for Veteran ILove HotSalads to force a fumble and recover it for a TD to secure the Fire Salamanders first win of the season!
So many amazing performances in this game as rookie Kicker Known Acquaintance managed a 50.5 yard average on his kicks and Troy Abed hauled in 4 catches for 97 yards and a score. On the defensive side Fred Edison continued his strong performance from week 3 and secured 9 tackles while Kevin McThumper posted another incredible stat line of 7 Tackles, 1 Sack, 1 FF, 1 Interception and 1 TD. While, on any other week that might have been enough to secure POTG honors for any one of those players it was the veteran ILove HotSalads that earned the honor this week. The DE managed an impressive 3 Tackles, 2 Sacks, 1 FF, 1 FR, and 1 game securing touchdown. This was a massive win for the entirety of the Berlin organization and it showed flashes of the promise this team has when they put together a full game. Look for the Fire Salamanders to build off of this momentum and try and secure another win in week 5.
Week 5 at Baltimore Hawks
Riding the momentum of the first win of the season the Fire Salamanders were excited to get back on the field to square off against the Baltimore Hawks, a team that if we are being honest is playing much better than everyone was expecting them to this season. The veteran leadership of Gimmy Jaroppolo Jr. Busch Goose, and Luke Quick have managed to put Baltimore at an extremely impressive 3-1 record entering this 5th week of the season. With both teams supporting young talented defenses there was no telling how this one was going to turn out. The Fire Salamanders, having put up a season high 35 points against the Yeti last week, were poised to continue that level of offensive production and try to cement their 2nd win of the season.
Heading into the first quarter the spirits were high for Berlin. This season they have been the strongest first quarter team in the entire league outsourcing opponents by a score of 52-17 and having never trailed going into the 2nd quarter. The Fire Salamanders knew they were going to have to keep up that kind of intensity and it was Rab Thecrab that would answer the call by scampering his 4th TD on the season from 34 yards out early on to give the team a 7-0 lead. On the defensive side of the ball the young Fire Salamanders players looked solid as all 4 drives that Baltimore managed in the first quarter ended in 3 and outs and rookie Known Acquaintance managed a 42 yard FG, a new career long; to give the team a 10-0 lead at the start of the 2nd quarter.
With the first quarter behind them the team was going to have to make sure that they kept the pressure on to avoid the same problems that they have experienced all season long. The defense on both sides made it impossible for either team to move the ball and both teams only managed a FG to make the score 13-3 in favor of Berlin heading into halftime. This is probably where you are going to want to stop reading if you are a Berlin fan because the struggles in the second half resurfaced once again for the team. The defense put together a ton of great stops and held the Hawks to only 16 points in the half but, Bageshwari Singh and Zayne Dangle were not on the same page in this one and despite a career day for Rab Thecrab who posted 21 carries for 127 yards and a TD the team found themselves down 19-13 late in the game. With only a few seconds left the Fire Salamanders drove the ball down field and managed to get all the way to the Hawks 3 yard line. With time running out Singh dropped back in the pocket and let the ball fly before it was broken up just before Marvin Toledo could get his hands on it and the game would end there.
A heart-breaking loss for this young team but, the key word in this is young and as always this team gives us plenty of great performances to highlight. Fred Edison continued playing well by forcing a fumble and adding 9 more tackles to his total this season. Rookie Jordan Hartline posted 7 tackles which is a new career high for our young MLB. From the offensive side Troy Abed managed a respectable 6 catches and raised his total receiving yards on the season to 248 yards. However, this week we are looking at 6’4”, 330 lb monster out of NC State. Second year man Nathan Meagher is on pace for a career year and already has 12 tackles on the season. Tonight he added 3 to that total and managed his first career sack. There is a lot to be excited about when it comes to this young player and we cannot wait to see him put up more games like this in the future. While this does mean the Fire Salamanders have fallen to a 1-4 record, the team is hungry to bounce back in Week 5 against the Chicago Butchers!
Week 6 at Chicago Butchers
One week after suffering a close loss to the Baltimore Hawks the Berlin Fire Salamanders were back in action against the Chicago Butchers. The Butchers are a strong team that is led by the likes of Lalu Muhammad Zohri on offense and on the defensive side they have some strong Cornerbacks that can spell disaster if Berlin is not careful. This game was the last of a 4 game road trip and was going to definitely test the resilience of their promising young defense. Bageshwari Singh and Zayne Dangle were also going to be needed to bounce back in this one after a rough showing against Baltimore. Knowing all of this it was going to be up to Berlin to keep up their fast paced starts that we have seen from them every week so far, but this time they were going to have to make sure that they closed the door on the Butchers in order to get their 2nd win of the season.
The game started exactly how you would expect a Berlin Fire Salamander game to start and that is with an early rushing TD by none other than Rab TheCrab, which would be his 5th on the season to give Berlin an early 7-0 lead. Unfortunately the celebration was short lived and Sharpei Jr. was not going to let Chicago stay down for long before returning a kick 95 yards and setting up an easy punch in for Madison Hayes to even the score back up at 7-7. A quick 3 and out from Berlin gave Chicago back the ball late in the first quarter and a solid goal line stand from the secondary held them to only a FG. However, this meant for the first time all season that the Fire Salamanders would find themselves down at the end of the first quarter. Heading into the 2nd quarter both teams found troup getting on the scoreboard and with only 1:40 left on the clock the dangerous Lalu Muhammad Zohhri scampered for 47 yards to give the team a 17-7 lead. Shortly after that a costly interception set up an easy FG for the Butchers and they would take a 20-7 lead into half-time.
Heading into the 3rd quarter down by 13 meant that the Fire Salamanders were going to have to fight hard to get back into this one but Chicago were relentless on their opening drive and grabbed another TD early to push the lead to 27-7. With things looking bleak and another costly turnover happening on the Fire Salamanders next possession it was Fred Edison who seemed to light a fire under the team after securing a huge sack to finally force a punt out of the Butchers offense and shortly after that Johnny Delusional would grab his first INT of the season to set up an easy catch and TD for Zayne Dangle to cut into the lead. With momentum on their side the Berlin Defense looked locked in and no matter what Chicago did they could not find a way to move the ball and with Singh and Dangle clicking it was not long before the two hooked up again for a 9 yard score with 1:36 seconds left to cut the lead to 27-21. With it meant Known Acquaintance was one to attempt his first career onside kick and the young rookie looked like a skilled veteran delivering the perfect kick as Tae Dawson recovered it. With 1:30 left Singh led the team down the field and with only 25 seconds left he dropped back to try and secure the victory but once again was stopped short as time expired. 2 weeks and 2 tough losses.
Another heartbreaking loss for the team that could have so easily been sitting at a record of 3-3 at this point. When asked about the loss GM Barney Stinson had this to say “It’s a positive. People didn't expect us to be as strong as we are and as competitive as we are and it shows we’re a strong team and ahead of schedule.” Taking a look at some of the key performances tonight you can see why Stinson has such a positive outlook for this team. From an offensive standpoint Bageshwari Singh looked comfortable despite 2 INTs as he threw the ball 60 times for a season high 335 yards and Troy Abed was able to grab another 8 catches on the night. When you look at the defense there were a lot of positives from a coverage standpoint as Johnny Delusional had a huge game with 3 Tcks, 3 PDs, and 1 INT and Fred Edison was able to grab another sack to bring his total up to 3 on the season. Despite all of those performances it was the Captain Zayne Dangle who took home his second POTG award of the season. The Veteran wideout showed his resilience after a disappointing performance last week and put up an amazing statline of 14 catches (2 shy of the franchise game record), 121 yards, and 2 scores. Those 2 scores put Dangle at 4 TDs on the year and in prime position to blow by his career high of 6 in a season. Next week the Fire Salamanders will return to Berlin to square off against the Philadelphia Liberty!
Week 7 vs Philadelphia Liberty
2 straight weeks of last second defeats weighed heavily on the minds of all of the Berlin Fire Salamander fans in the days leading up to their Week 7 showdown vs Philadelphia. 4 straight games away from home though meant that the disappointment from the past defeats were shortly forgotten as the Fire Salamanders took to the field in Berlin. Philadelphia is a team that is known for their defense and is also sporting a very impressive young receiving core with promising names like Erwin Kemp, Escanor Sama and American Boot. For Berlin this was going to be the perfect time for the likes of Chad Thorsen, L.F.T. and Tae Dawson to show what they can do against such a pass heavy team. Looking on paper there is not a whole lot separating these two teams but, you would have to give the advantage to the Liberty due to their dangerous offense. Looking at everything though and knowing that the Fire Salamanders are finally going to be back home after a long road trip, it is going to be anyone's game!
As with most games this season the Berlin Fire Salamanders looked to take control in the first quarter but the initial drive looked far from promising as Singh was immediately sacked and then threw an Interception to give the Liberty great starting field position. The Fire Salamanders defense were able to hold the team to only a FG though as Kevin McThumper grabbed his 3rd sack of the season. Finding themselves down 3-0 the Fire Salamanders continued to struggle to find any way to move the ball as their 2 drives ended in 3 and outs and Singh would be sacked 3 more times before the quarter ended. It was not until the start of the 2nd quarter that the offense was finally able to get the ball moving and rookie Known Acquaintance was able to knock it through from 42 yards out to even the game at a score of 3-3. As the second quarter went on both teams would show the talent in their defense. Outside of a couple of long completions Philly found it impossible to move the ball and would only put up one more FG before Known Acquaintance would knock through another to keep it tied 6-6 at halftime.
Coming into the 3rd quarter both teams were looking for a way to finally put a TD on the board and it was Philly who continued to find success in the air with another huge play as Carter found Sama for 60 yards before they would add another FG to put them back in from by a score 9-6 and as they were lining up to try and push the lead to 12-6 it was Tae Dawson who flew around the edge to block the attempt and give Singh and the rest of the Fire Salamander offense another chance. This time it was Troy Abed showing off his big play potential as Singh delivered a perfect ball for a huge gain of 47 that set Marvin Toledo up for a 4 yard catch and score to give the Salamanders a 13-9 lead. Once again the Fire Salamander secondary got beat deep as this time it was Boot who took the ball for 50 yards and set up Ballz 4th FG of the night to put the score at 13-12 going into the 4th quarter. With the Fire Salamander defense being the definition of “bend, don't break” it was up to them to protect this lead and boy did they deliver. First it was young Chad Thorsen who would force his first career turnover and recover the fumble to set up a French Fries TD to extend the lead for the Fire Salamanders. With time running out it was Johnny Delusional who would end one drive with his 2nd interception in as many games and rookie L.F.T. who would put the game away by securing a sack and giving Berlin a 20-12 win!
What a game by this young defense, the team showed exactly what they were made of as they managed to hold a strong Liberty team to no Touchdowns and only 12 points. There was a lot to be proud of in this victory and the first performance we want to highlight is Bageshwari Singh passing for over 300 yards again and Troy Abed crossing the 100 yard mark for the first time this season! Our young kicker Known Acquaintance deserves a shout out as he managed to add 8 points tonight, a career best! From a defensive perspective Rookie Chad Thorsen and L.F.T. had their best career games with L.F.T. leading the team in tackles and Chad Thorsen setting a career high in Tackles with 5 and also posting his first career FF/FR. Another key performer on the night was Johnny Delusional as he stood strong in moments where the secondary was giving up some big plays and added 2 PDs and his second interception on the season. With all those amazing performances it was extremely difficult to pick out a POTG but, when it was all said and done it had to be none other than Tae Dawson. Dawson not only grabbed his first interception of the season, he also managed to grab 3 PDs to put him up to 8 on the season. While he was a lock down in coverage he also made a huge play when it came to blocking a FG that could have changed the whole dynamic of this game. It is safe to say that Tae Dawson deserves a lot of love for this effort and we hope to see more amazing plays against San Jose next week!
Week 8 at San Jose
Spirits were high as the Fire Salamanders headed to San Jose following their dominant defensive performance against the Philadelphia Liberty last week. Both of these teams were sitting at a record of 2-5 and had a lot to prove in this Week 8 showdown. The Fire Salamanders were riding the hot hands of players like Bageshwari Singh who had put together some great games as of late. Also from a defensive perspective the team's young core seem to be coming together and week in and week out you have been able to see huge improvements. With rookie players like Chad Thorsen and L.F.T having their best games of the season the Fire Salamanders seemed poised to put on a show in front of the crowd in San Jose. With young Rookie QB Owen Farrell under Center for San Jose it was going to be a game where the defense was going to decide the winner.
Known Acquaintance got the game started by kicking the ball off before the defense for Berlin shut down the opening drive for San Jose forcing a quick 2 and out before a penalty would ruin their own drive shortly after. With the second possession the San Jose Sabercats were able to get within FG range but Lewis was unable to put the shot through and Singh and the Fire Salamander offense were able to make them pay as Rab Thecrab was able to punch in his 6th TD on the season to give the Fire Salamanders an early 7-0 lead. It did not take long for the Sabercats to answer back though as the holes that were exposed in the Fire Salamander secondary last week with big plays reared its ugly head again as Farrell completed a 64 yard pass before rounding off the drive with a 2 yard pass for the score to even up the score at 7-7. The second quarter was full of a defensive showdown, with Kevin McThumper coming up big and grabbing his 4th sack on the season while also grabbing another FF/FR to add to his impressive rookie resume. Unfortunately, it was SJ who broke the deadlock and grabbed the lead at 10-7 going into halftime.
The offense struggled to get the ball moving once again early on in the 3rd but the ever reliable Known Acquaintance was able to tack on a FG for the team and even the scoring up at 10-10. The Sabercats would quickly answer on the next drive as Farrell found Sam The Onion Man for a 22 yard TD pass and put them back in fron 17-10. Finding themselves down again on the scoreboard the Defense amped up the pressure on the QB with and a promising drive fail just short as Troy Abed would fumble and give the ball back over to SJ who would immediately complete a 72 yard bomb that would put them ahead 27-10. With the game all but over, it was great to see the ever common combo of Singh and Dangle hook up for one more score to push the final to 27-17 and the Fire Salamanders record on the season to 2-6.
The game got away from the Fire Salamanders in the 4th quarter and the final score definitely did not reflect how good of a game the team played. Players like Zayne Dangle and Troy Abed continued to stay hot as Abed was able to extend his streak of 50+ receiving yards to 5 games in a row and his 3rd consecutive game with more than 70. Other key performances of the night come from our Week 4 POTG award winner Nathan Meagher who posted a career high game in tackles grabbing 7 with 2 of them being for a loss pushing his season total to 22 just 5 off his rookie season total. Fuzzy George also continued his strong play grabbing 9 tackles which led the team and put him at the 50 mark halfway through this season. The title of POTG this week though is going to Fred Edison who had arguably one of the best games of his young career. With 7 Tackles, 1 TFL, 2 Sacks, and a FF/FR the North Carolina Alum was all over the field. The 2 sacks move him into the Top 10 for sacks on the league and the 7 Tackles keeps him in the Top 10 for Tackles as well in the league. Performances like these are increasing in frequency and I would not be surprised if he is able to add another POTG performance before the season is over! Congrats Edison, let’s see you do it in Week 9!
Are you ready for some football?! Week 1 is here and the Berlin Fire Salamanders are squaring off against the New York Silverbacks. While the Fire Salamanders do not look that dangerous on paper, this young team is sure to give the New York Silverbacks a run for their money! The game started quick with the Berlin Fire Salamanders jumping off to an early lead behind a Marvin Toledo 7 yard Touchdown run and a Known Acquaintance 25 yard FG. This was the young kicker's first career FG and we are going to be expecting big things from this player throughout the season. The first quarter came to an end with the Fire Salamanders in full control and up by a score of 10-0.
However, the Silverbacks were not going to let their slow start stop them and they quickly put up 21 unanswered points that put Berlin down 21-10 at the start of the fourth quarter. Bageshwari Singh led the Fire Salamanders straight down the field and Rab Thecrab was able to punch in the touchdown to bring the score back to 21-18 after the 2 point conversion. Sadly Berlin did not have enough in the tank and they were unable to put together one more drive before a late fumble put an end to the game and would give Berlin their first loss of the season by a score of 24-18.
There are a lot of positives to be had from this game as we take a look at some of key performers for the Fire Salamanders first game. On the offensive side of the ball the captain Zayne Dangle showed off his big play potential and recorded 4 receptions for 81 yards. While he was not able to find the endzone the young Wide Receiver looks poised to build off the career season that he had last year. There was also plenty to be excited about on the other side of the ball as the young Berlin defense made it tough on New York for much of the game. Fuzzy George, Kevin McThumper and Tae Dawson were all able to knock the ball loose in the game. L. F. T. was also able to record his first career sack and while LaDamien Beck was able to lead the team in tackles with 12 there was one performance that stood out above the others.
Kevin McThumper made his presence known very quickly. The young rookie was all over the field and posted an extremely impressive 10 Tackle, 1 TFL, 1 FF, and 1 FR stat line. The team was very excited about the talent that this young LB core has and one of the big names in it is Kevin McThumper. We can expect this young player to continue to have performances like this throughout his rookie campaign and we cannot wait to see what other accolades he adds to his collection! Congrats to all the players mentioned in this week's write up, the Fire Salamanders are looking strong and while it was not the start we were hoping for, the team has plenty to be proud of! On to the next game!
Week 2 vs Sarasota Sailfish
Week 2 brought another tough matchup to the Berlin Fire Salamanders as the Sarasota Sailfish looked to carry the momentum of their Week 1 win overseas to Berlin. Once again the Fire Salamanders looked like they were shot out of a cannon and grabbed an early lead in this one off a Zayne Dangle 28 yard Touchdown pass from Bageshwari Singh on the opening drive, the first TD for both players this season. The Fire Salamanders were not done there though as Marvin Toledo managed to punch in his 2nd TD in as many games to put Berlin up 14-3 at the end of the first quarter.
Looking to avoid a repeat of last week where Berlin gave up 21 unanswered points the defense did their best to stifle a strong Sarasota offense. However, Carter Knight looked like a different player moving into the 2nd quarter as he quickly led the Sailfish down the field where Pete Zuh was able to punch it in from 8 yards out and not long after that Swantavius King was able to put through a 47 yard FG to get the Sailfish within 1 of Berlin. A string of penalties helped to move Berlin down the field and set up for a 33 yard FG by Known Acquaintance but, unfortunately the young rookie was unable to convert and with just a minute left to go in the half the Sailfish rushed down the field and added another score to take the lead 20-13 going into the half. While the defense for Berlin only let the opposing offense put up 6 points the rest of the game it was not going to be enough as they would go on to lose this one by a score of 26-13 following the 23 unanswered points.
The frustration was visible throughout the Fire Salamander organization as for the second week in a row an early lead translates into a tough loss. However, the team still had a lot to be happy about. You have to remember that this is a team sporting 4 Rookies on the roster and with more than half the team being from the S34 class or later it means that little victories now will turn into huge victories in the future! Coming off a POTG performance in Week 1 Kevin McThumper showed everyone that that performance was no fluke and posted another 10 Tackle game, which puts him up to 3rd in the league on Tackles. On top of that both Kevin McThumper and Jordan Hartline managed their first career sacks! From a coverage perspective Tae Dawson had a solid performance with 3 PDs and rookie Chad Thorsen added 3 tackles in this one.
On the offensive side of the ball Bageshwari Singh looked a lot more comfortable this week as he avoided turning the ball over. But, it was Zayne Dangle who stole the spotlight in this one. Entering into his 4th season he had big shoes to fill following his 1333 yard, 6 TD performance from last season. This game he showed the explosive potential we expect out of him week in and week out as he grabbed 7 receptions for 107 yards and 1 TD. While it is going to take a lot to repeat the performance of last season Dangle is off to the right start as he now sits 5th in the league at 188 yards so far. Keep an eye on the Captain of the Berlin offense because great things are in store for him! With the infamous double header week ahead of us the Fire Salamanders will not have to wait long to get their chance at their first W of the season! Geh Berlin!
Week 3 at Yellowknife Wraiths
Week 3 meant that Berlin would be going into its first away game of the season and this one meant a long plane ride into Yellowknife to square off against the Wraiths. One of the toughest challenges that the Fire Salamanders will have faced this season. The Wraiths are full of dangerous players on offense, led by Dustin Parmelee at Quarterback and Wide Receiver Bernd D Brot; the Fire Salamanders Defense was going to be in for a tough battle and had to make sure they bring their “A” game to give Singh and the rest of the Fire Salamanders Offense a chance in this one.
The Wraiths started aggressively when Adebayo Akinfenwa managed to show his speed in scampering for a 30 yard Touchdown run in their opening drive of the game. However, the Fire Salamanders were not going to let the drive go unanswered and on the back of Rab Thecrab the team was able to punch one through of their own as the quarter ended and level the score at 7 a piece. The Fire Salamanders had struggled after the first quarter so far this season and they looked to end their poor form outside of the first quarter. So far this season the team has only scored 8 points outside of the first quarter. Unfortunately the team could not find a way into the endzone in the 2nd quarter and the wraiths were able to punch in two more scores right before the half to give them a 21-7 lead.
The Fire Salamanders were not going to go down without a fight. Captain Zayne Dangle continued to show his talent and managed to put the team back within one off a beautiful 11 yard pass from Bageshwari Singh. Unfortunately, despite the teams best efforts they were going to be unable to find a way to even back up the score and the Wraiths would go onto win this one by a score of 31-14. From an offensive standpoint the Fire Salamanders are continuing to show improvement as Bageshwari Singh had his best game of the season sporting a solid stat-line of 23 completions, 238 yards and a TD and Rab Thecrab adding his second rushing score of the season.
The Defense was busy in this one and the young core had its work cut out for them. Kevin McThumper continued his stellar start to the season by adding his first career interception. Rookie L. F. T. managed his second sack of the season and then Tae Dawson and Fuzzy George had a very active part as they managed to get 6 Tackles a piece. Despite all of those strong performances it was Fred Edison that will take home the POTG honors this week. The second-year man out of the University of North Carolina made his presence known in this game as he managed 8 Tackles, 1 Sack, and 1 PD on the night. The young Linebacker showed that he is capable of a repeat performance of his stellar rookie campaign where he posted 107 Tackles, and we know that this will not be his only POTG award this season! Now let’s see what Week 4 has in store for Berlin!
Week 4 at Colorado Yeti
Coming into Week 4 the Fire Salamanders found themselves at an 0-3 record and were once again away from home as they traveled deep into Yeti territory to face Colorado. The team has been stellar all season in the first quarter, outsourcing opponents 31-10 but the Fire Salamanders have failed to turn that early advantage into any wins so far this season. Knowing where the improvement is needed this season the Fire Salamanders are going to have to find a way to play all 4 quarters if they are going to stop the consistently dangerous Live Laughlove and the rest of the Colorado Yeti.
The Fire Salamanders continued to start strong and their first quarter dominance continued as they managed to put up 21 points off of 2 Touchdown passes from Bageshwari Singh to Gronku Muerto and Troy Abed respectively. The highlight of the first quarter was when Rookie Kevin McThumper intercepted the ball and took it back 48 yards for a pick six. The team was looking strong at the end of the first quarter with the Fire Salamanders up by a score of 21-7. However, now they were out of their ever comfortable first quarter and the team was going to have to make sure they keep their foot on the gas in order to turn this early lead into a victory. The defense continued their strong performance and while the offense could not find the endzone the team managed to hold onto a 21-14 lead as the halftime whistle blew.
The Third quarter brought a pair of FGs for the Yeti to get them within 1. 13 unanswered points and it was looking like a repeat of the last couple of games for the Berlin Fire Salamanders as the pressure was mounting. A late interception in the 3rd Quarter by Singh gave Colorado an opportunity to take the lead before their Rookie Doom would miss a 21 yard FG and Rab Thecrab would punish them for it by punching in a huge TD late in the 3rd to give the Fire Salamanders 28-20 lead. With their first 4th quarter lead all season the Fire Salamanders made sure to not give any opportunity for Colorado to still the win and a huge punt by Known Acquaintance pinned the Yeti at the 1 allowed for Veteran ILove HotSalads to force a fumble and recover it for a TD to secure the Fire Salamanders first win of the season!
So many amazing performances in this game as rookie Kicker Known Acquaintance managed a 50.5 yard average on his kicks and Troy Abed hauled in 4 catches for 97 yards and a score. On the defensive side Fred Edison continued his strong performance from week 3 and secured 9 tackles while Kevin McThumper posted another incredible stat line of 7 Tackles, 1 Sack, 1 FF, 1 Interception and 1 TD. While, on any other week that might have been enough to secure POTG honors for any one of those players it was the veteran ILove HotSalads that earned the honor this week. The DE managed an impressive 3 Tackles, 2 Sacks, 1 FF, 1 FR, and 1 game securing touchdown. This was a massive win for the entirety of the Berlin organization and it showed flashes of the promise this team has when they put together a full game. Look for the Fire Salamanders to build off of this momentum and try and secure another win in week 5.
Week 5 at Baltimore Hawks
Riding the momentum of the first win of the season the Fire Salamanders were excited to get back on the field to square off against the Baltimore Hawks, a team that if we are being honest is playing much better than everyone was expecting them to this season. The veteran leadership of Gimmy Jaroppolo Jr. Busch Goose, and Luke Quick have managed to put Baltimore at an extremely impressive 3-1 record entering this 5th week of the season. With both teams supporting young talented defenses there was no telling how this one was going to turn out. The Fire Salamanders, having put up a season high 35 points against the Yeti last week, were poised to continue that level of offensive production and try to cement their 2nd win of the season.
Heading into the first quarter the spirits were high for Berlin. This season they have been the strongest first quarter team in the entire league outsourcing opponents by a score of 52-17 and having never trailed going into the 2nd quarter. The Fire Salamanders knew they were going to have to keep up that kind of intensity and it was Rab Thecrab that would answer the call by scampering his 4th TD on the season from 34 yards out early on to give the team a 7-0 lead. On the defensive side of the ball the young Fire Salamanders players looked solid as all 4 drives that Baltimore managed in the first quarter ended in 3 and outs and rookie Known Acquaintance managed a 42 yard FG, a new career long; to give the team a 10-0 lead at the start of the 2nd quarter.
With the first quarter behind them the team was going to have to make sure that they kept the pressure on to avoid the same problems that they have experienced all season long. The defense on both sides made it impossible for either team to move the ball and both teams only managed a FG to make the score 13-3 in favor of Berlin heading into halftime. This is probably where you are going to want to stop reading if you are a Berlin fan because the struggles in the second half resurfaced once again for the team. The defense put together a ton of great stops and held the Hawks to only 16 points in the half but, Bageshwari Singh and Zayne Dangle were not on the same page in this one and despite a career day for Rab Thecrab who posted 21 carries for 127 yards and a TD the team found themselves down 19-13 late in the game. With only a few seconds left the Fire Salamanders drove the ball down field and managed to get all the way to the Hawks 3 yard line. With time running out Singh dropped back in the pocket and let the ball fly before it was broken up just before Marvin Toledo could get his hands on it and the game would end there.
A heart-breaking loss for this young team but, the key word in this is young and as always this team gives us plenty of great performances to highlight. Fred Edison continued playing well by forcing a fumble and adding 9 more tackles to his total this season. Rookie Jordan Hartline posted 7 tackles which is a new career high for our young MLB. From the offensive side Troy Abed managed a respectable 6 catches and raised his total receiving yards on the season to 248 yards. However, this week we are looking at 6’4”, 330 lb monster out of NC State. Second year man Nathan Meagher is on pace for a career year and already has 12 tackles on the season. Tonight he added 3 to that total and managed his first career sack. There is a lot to be excited about when it comes to this young player and we cannot wait to see him put up more games like this in the future. While this does mean the Fire Salamanders have fallen to a 1-4 record, the team is hungry to bounce back in Week 5 against the Chicago Butchers!
Week 6 at Chicago Butchers
One week after suffering a close loss to the Baltimore Hawks the Berlin Fire Salamanders were back in action against the Chicago Butchers. The Butchers are a strong team that is led by the likes of Lalu Muhammad Zohri on offense and on the defensive side they have some strong Cornerbacks that can spell disaster if Berlin is not careful. This game was the last of a 4 game road trip and was going to definitely test the resilience of their promising young defense. Bageshwari Singh and Zayne Dangle were also going to be needed to bounce back in this one after a rough showing against Baltimore. Knowing all of this it was going to be up to Berlin to keep up their fast paced starts that we have seen from them every week so far, but this time they were going to have to make sure that they closed the door on the Butchers in order to get their 2nd win of the season.
The game started exactly how you would expect a Berlin Fire Salamander game to start and that is with an early rushing TD by none other than Rab TheCrab, which would be his 5th on the season to give Berlin an early 7-0 lead. Unfortunately the celebration was short lived and Sharpei Jr. was not going to let Chicago stay down for long before returning a kick 95 yards and setting up an easy punch in for Madison Hayes to even the score back up at 7-7. A quick 3 and out from Berlin gave Chicago back the ball late in the first quarter and a solid goal line stand from the secondary held them to only a FG. However, this meant for the first time all season that the Fire Salamanders would find themselves down at the end of the first quarter. Heading into the 2nd quarter both teams found troup getting on the scoreboard and with only 1:40 left on the clock the dangerous Lalu Muhammad Zohhri scampered for 47 yards to give the team a 17-7 lead. Shortly after that a costly interception set up an easy FG for the Butchers and they would take a 20-7 lead into half-time.
Heading into the 3rd quarter down by 13 meant that the Fire Salamanders were going to have to fight hard to get back into this one but Chicago were relentless on their opening drive and grabbed another TD early to push the lead to 27-7. With things looking bleak and another costly turnover happening on the Fire Salamanders next possession it was Fred Edison who seemed to light a fire under the team after securing a huge sack to finally force a punt out of the Butchers offense and shortly after that Johnny Delusional would grab his first INT of the season to set up an easy catch and TD for Zayne Dangle to cut into the lead. With momentum on their side the Berlin Defense looked locked in and no matter what Chicago did they could not find a way to move the ball and with Singh and Dangle clicking it was not long before the two hooked up again for a 9 yard score with 1:36 seconds left to cut the lead to 27-21. With it meant Known Acquaintance was one to attempt his first career onside kick and the young rookie looked like a skilled veteran delivering the perfect kick as Tae Dawson recovered it. With 1:30 left Singh led the team down the field and with only 25 seconds left he dropped back to try and secure the victory but once again was stopped short as time expired. 2 weeks and 2 tough losses.
Another heartbreaking loss for the team that could have so easily been sitting at a record of 3-3 at this point. When asked about the loss GM Barney Stinson had this to say “It’s a positive. People didn't expect us to be as strong as we are and as competitive as we are and it shows we’re a strong team and ahead of schedule.” Taking a look at some of the key performances tonight you can see why Stinson has such a positive outlook for this team. From an offensive standpoint Bageshwari Singh looked comfortable despite 2 INTs as he threw the ball 60 times for a season high 335 yards and Troy Abed was able to grab another 8 catches on the night. When you look at the defense there were a lot of positives from a coverage standpoint as Johnny Delusional had a huge game with 3 Tcks, 3 PDs, and 1 INT and Fred Edison was able to grab another sack to bring his total up to 3 on the season. Despite all of those performances it was the Captain Zayne Dangle who took home his second POTG award of the season. The Veteran wideout showed his resilience after a disappointing performance last week and put up an amazing statline of 14 catches (2 shy of the franchise game record), 121 yards, and 2 scores. Those 2 scores put Dangle at 4 TDs on the year and in prime position to blow by his career high of 6 in a season. Next week the Fire Salamanders will return to Berlin to square off against the Philadelphia Liberty!
Week 7 vs Philadelphia Liberty
2 straight weeks of last second defeats weighed heavily on the minds of all of the Berlin Fire Salamander fans in the days leading up to their Week 7 showdown vs Philadelphia. 4 straight games away from home though meant that the disappointment from the past defeats were shortly forgotten as the Fire Salamanders took to the field in Berlin. Philadelphia is a team that is known for their defense and is also sporting a very impressive young receiving core with promising names like Erwin Kemp, Escanor Sama and American Boot. For Berlin this was going to be the perfect time for the likes of Chad Thorsen, L.F.T. and Tae Dawson to show what they can do against such a pass heavy team. Looking on paper there is not a whole lot separating these two teams but, you would have to give the advantage to the Liberty due to their dangerous offense. Looking at everything though and knowing that the Fire Salamanders are finally going to be back home after a long road trip, it is going to be anyone's game!
As with most games this season the Berlin Fire Salamanders looked to take control in the first quarter but the initial drive looked far from promising as Singh was immediately sacked and then threw an Interception to give the Liberty great starting field position. The Fire Salamanders defense were able to hold the team to only a FG though as Kevin McThumper grabbed his 3rd sack of the season. Finding themselves down 3-0 the Fire Salamanders continued to struggle to find any way to move the ball as their 2 drives ended in 3 and outs and Singh would be sacked 3 more times before the quarter ended. It was not until the start of the 2nd quarter that the offense was finally able to get the ball moving and rookie Known Acquaintance was able to knock it through from 42 yards out to even the game at a score of 3-3. As the second quarter went on both teams would show the talent in their defense. Outside of a couple of long completions Philly found it impossible to move the ball and would only put up one more FG before Known Acquaintance would knock through another to keep it tied 6-6 at halftime.
Coming into the 3rd quarter both teams were looking for a way to finally put a TD on the board and it was Philly who continued to find success in the air with another huge play as Carter found Sama for 60 yards before they would add another FG to put them back in from by a score 9-6 and as they were lining up to try and push the lead to 12-6 it was Tae Dawson who flew around the edge to block the attempt and give Singh and the rest of the Fire Salamander offense another chance. This time it was Troy Abed showing off his big play potential as Singh delivered a perfect ball for a huge gain of 47 that set Marvin Toledo up for a 4 yard catch and score to give the Salamanders a 13-9 lead. Once again the Fire Salamander secondary got beat deep as this time it was Boot who took the ball for 50 yards and set up Ballz 4th FG of the night to put the score at 13-12 going into the 4th quarter. With the Fire Salamander defense being the definition of “bend, don't break” it was up to them to protect this lead and boy did they deliver. First it was young Chad Thorsen who would force his first career turnover and recover the fumble to set up a French Fries TD to extend the lead for the Fire Salamanders. With time running out it was Johnny Delusional who would end one drive with his 2nd interception in as many games and rookie L.F.T. who would put the game away by securing a sack and giving Berlin a 20-12 win!
What a game by this young defense, the team showed exactly what they were made of as they managed to hold a strong Liberty team to no Touchdowns and only 12 points. There was a lot to be proud of in this victory and the first performance we want to highlight is Bageshwari Singh passing for over 300 yards again and Troy Abed crossing the 100 yard mark for the first time this season! Our young kicker Known Acquaintance deserves a shout out as he managed to add 8 points tonight, a career best! From a defensive perspective Rookie Chad Thorsen and L.F.T. had their best career games with L.F.T. leading the team in tackles and Chad Thorsen setting a career high in Tackles with 5 and also posting his first career FF/FR. Another key performer on the night was Johnny Delusional as he stood strong in moments where the secondary was giving up some big plays and added 2 PDs and his second interception on the season. With all those amazing performances it was extremely difficult to pick out a POTG but, when it was all said and done it had to be none other than Tae Dawson. Dawson not only grabbed his first interception of the season, he also managed to grab 3 PDs to put him up to 8 on the season. While he was a lock down in coverage he also made a huge play when it came to blocking a FG that could have changed the whole dynamic of this game. It is safe to say that Tae Dawson deserves a lot of love for this effort and we hope to see more amazing plays against San Jose next week!
Week 8 at San Jose
Spirits were high as the Fire Salamanders headed to San Jose following their dominant defensive performance against the Philadelphia Liberty last week. Both of these teams were sitting at a record of 2-5 and had a lot to prove in this Week 8 showdown. The Fire Salamanders were riding the hot hands of players like Bageshwari Singh who had put together some great games as of late. Also from a defensive perspective the team's young core seem to be coming together and week in and week out you have been able to see huge improvements. With rookie players like Chad Thorsen and L.F.T having their best games of the season the Fire Salamanders seemed poised to put on a show in front of the crowd in San Jose. With young Rookie QB Owen Farrell under Center for San Jose it was going to be a game where the defense was going to decide the winner.
Known Acquaintance got the game started by kicking the ball off before the defense for Berlin shut down the opening drive for San Jose forcing a quick 2 and out before a penalty would ruin their own drive shortly after. With the second possession the San Jose Sabercats were able to get within FG range but Lewis was unable to put the shot through and Singh and the Fire Salamander offense were able to make them pay as Rab Thecrab was able to punch in his 6th TD on the season to give the Fire Salamanders an early 7-0 lead. It did not take long for the Sabercats to answer back though as the holes that were exposed in the Fire Salamander secondary last week with big plays reared its ugly head again as Farrell completed a 64 yard pass before rounding off the drive with a 2 yard pass for the score to even up the score at 7-7. The second quarter was full of a defensive showdown, with Kevin McThumper coming up big and grabbing his 4th sack on the season while also grabbing another FF/FR to add to his impressive rookie resume. Unfortunately, it was SJ who broke the deadlock and grabbed the lead at 10-7 going into halftime.
The offense struggled to get the ball moving once again early on in the 3rd but the ever reliable Known Acquaintance was able to tack on a FG for the team and even the scoring up at 10-10. The Sabercats would quickly answer on the next drive as Farrell found Sam The Onion Man for a 22 yard TD pass and put them back in fron 17-10. Finding themselves down again on the scoreboard the Defense amped up the pressure on the QB with and a promising drive fail just short as Troy Abed would fumble and give the ball back over to SJ who would immediately complete a 72 yard bomb that would put them ahead 27-10. With the game all but over, it was great to see the ever common combo of Singh and Dangle hook up for one more score to push the final to 27-17 and the Fire Salamanders record on the season to 2-6.
The game got away from the Fire Salamanders in the 4th quarter and the final score definitely did not reflect how good of a game the team played. Players like Zayne Dangle and Troy Abed continued to stay hot as Abed was able to extend his streak of 50+ receiving yards to 5 games in a row and his 3rd consecutive game with more than 70. Other key performances of the night come from our Week 4 POTG award winner Nathan Meagher who posted a career high game in tackles grabbing 7 with 2 of them being for a loss pushing his season total to 22 just 5 off his rookie season total. Fuzzy George also continued his strong play grabbing 9 tackles which led the team and put him at the 50 mark halfway through this season. The title of POTG this week though is going to Fred Edison who had arguably one of the best games of his young career. With 7 Tackles, 1 TFL, 2 Sacks, and a FF/FR the North Carolina Alum was all over the field. The 2 sacks move him into the Top 10 for sacks on the league and the 7 Tackles keeps him in the Top 10 for Tackles as well in the league. Performances like these are increasing in frequency and I would not be surprised if he is able to add another POTG performance before the season is over! Congrats Edison, let’s see you do it in Week 9!