The Campbell's Season 27 Trade Deadline Prospect Showcase is in the books. A solid 2 game series was played, and some promising talent got to strut their stuff in front of watching DSFL scouts.
Among the promising rookies set to enter the Season 27 DSFL draft was the Canadian wideout by way of South Africa, the big man Saleem Spence. Spence has had quite a tumultuous go of things over this past season, leaving the University of Manitoba Bison in the Canadian college league via mutual consent after a falling out with his coach, before heading to a semi-pro league in Saskatchewan to see out the remainder of the year (where he did catch 27 passes in 2 games and looked impressive.)
With all that behind him, Spence, along with a handful of prospects that had finished up their bowl games, headed to the bright lights of New Orleans to play in the two game Prospect Showcase. The Campbell's sponsored event pitted the Stars against the Chickens, with Spence being put on the Stars, alongside fellow wideout Chunt The Badger, highly touted Running Back Busch Goose, and Quarterbacks IsHe ReallyInvisible and Red Arrow Jr.
The Stars won Game 1 15-14 over the Chickens, but the game was regarded as a stolen win of sorts, with the Chickens largely outplaying the Stars, only to be let down by some inopportune drive stalls, penalties, and kicker JPach Bot missing multiple field goals.
Spence caught 4 passes for 81 yards, with the highlight coming off of a catch on a short slant turned into a 44 yard gain midway through the 3rd quarter, setting up a Stars touchdown pass from ReallyInvisible to R. RB1 to bring the Stars within a score at 14-9. Spence then added his final catch at a key time, taking a short hitch route 22 yards to get the Stars into field goal range late in the 4th quarter with the score 14-12. GuitarMaster Bot made the 37 yard kick to give the Stars the 15-14 victory.
The Stars Quarterbacks struggled with passing accuracy, with ReallyInvisible and Arrow going a combined 13-36, under and overthrowing receivers at various points. Spence's performance in view of this was regarded as acceptable, although more eyes went on the Chickens receivers Luke Quick and Sam The Onion Man, both of whom went over 100 yards. Spence also did some minor kick and punt return duty, returning a kick for 8 yards and one punt for 14.
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Game 2 in Arizona saw the Chickens and Stars unleash their running attack to much surprise, and the Chickens took home the win 36-27. Spence caught a couple short passes to set up a 2 yard job from ReallyInvisible to RunningBack PB1 for a touchdown, giving the Stars a 21-14 lead midway through the second quarter. Spence then caught a short pass off a hitch that turned into a 29 yard gain, setting up a field goal that pushed the Stars ahead 24-23.
Unfortunately for the Stars the Chickens swung the game permanently to their favour with a 99 yard touchdown pass, with Raeni Clarke evading a ferocious safety blitz and finding a wide-open Luke Quick, who galloped all the way to the endzone untouched.
Spence's final catch of the game went for 24 yards, setting up a field goal to bring the Star to within a score at 33-27, but the Chickens got a field goal and kept the Stars offense down to get the win. Spence finished with 4 catches for 64 yards, although both teams had a bigger focus on running the ball, each going over 200 yards total team rushing in the game.
Overall, Spence was a mix of encouraged but disappointed by his performance.
"I give myself a B-minus. I wanted to show more of what I could do, coming off those good games I had in Saskatchewan playing semi-pro ball, I felt really confident I could make something happen. But it was awkward getting chemistry going in practice with 2 different college QBs that haven't played together with me, and of course we had to get Goose going in the running game too and spread the ball around. I feel I could've done better, but I made a few plays, and hopefully in the next Prospect Showcase I'll make a few more."
Spence and his other fellow DSFL prospects will be in action again soon for another Prospect Showcase, although this time more college stars who have finished the later bowl games are planning to attend. While Spence is seen by some scouts as a late round pick due to his background, he is staying in the limelight enough to play with the American collegians from the more talented side of the border, and it will be interesting to see how the big possession receiver performs.
Among the promising rookies set to enter the Season 27 DSFL draft was the Canadian wideout by way of South Africa, the big man Saleem Spence. Spence has had quite a tumultuous go of things over this past season, leaving the University of Manitoba Bison in the Canadian college league via mutual consent after a falling out with his coach, before heading to a semi-pro league in Saskatchewan to see out the remainder of the year (where he did catch 27 passes in 2 games and looked impressive.)
With all that behind him, Spence, along with a handful of prospects that had finished up their bowl games, headed to the bright lights of New Orleans to play in the two game Prospect Showcase. The Campbell's sponsored event pitted the Stars against the Chickens, with Spence being put on the Stars, alongside fellow wideout Chunt The Badger, highly touted Running Back Busch Goose, and Quarterbacks IsHe ReallyInvisible and Red Arrow Jr.
The Stars won Game 1 15-14 over the Chickens, but the game was regarded as a stolen win of sorts, with the Chickens largely outplaying the Stars, only to be let down by some inopportune drive stalls, penalties, and kicker JPach Bot missing multiple field goals.
Spence caught 4 passes for 81 yards, with the highlight coming off of a catch on a short slant turned into a 44 yard gain midway through the 3rd quarter, setting up a Stars touchdown pass from ReallyInvisible to R. RB1 to bring the Stars within a score at 14-9. Spence then added his final catch at a key time, taking a short hitch route 22 yards to get the Stars into field goal range late in the 4th quarter with the score 14-12. GuitarMaster Bot made the 37 yard kick to give the Stars the 15-14 victory.
The Stars Quarterbacks struggled with passing accuracy, with ReallyInvisible and Arrow going a combined 13-36, under and overthrowing receivers at various points. Spence's performance in view of this was regarded as acceptable, although more eyes went on the Chickens receivers Luke Quick and Sam The Onion Man, both of whom went over 100 yards. Spence also did some minor kick and punt return duty, returning a kick for 8 yards and one punt for 14.
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Game 2 in Arizona saw the Chickens and Stars unleash their running attack to much surprise, and the Chickens took home the win 36-27. Spence caught a couple short passes to set up a 2 yard job from ReallyInvisible to RunningBack PB1 for a touchdown, giving the Stars a 21-14 lead midway through the second quarter. Spence then caught a short pass off a hitch that turned into a 29 yard gain, setting up a field goal that pushed the Stars ahead 24-23.
Unfortunately for the Stars the Chickens swung the game permanently to their favour with a 99 yard touchdown pass, with Raeni Clarke evading a ferocious safety blitz and finding a wide-open Luke Quick, who galloped all the way to the endzone untouched.
Spence's final catch of the game went for 24 yards, setting up a field goal to bring the Star to within a score at 33-27, but the Chickens got a field goal and kept the Stars offense down to get the win. Spence finished with 4 catches for 64 yards, although both teams had a bigger focus on running the ball, each going over 200 yards total team rushing in the game.
Overall, Spence was a mix of encouraged but disappointed by his performance.
"I give myself a B-minus. I wanted to show more of what I could do, coming off those good games I had in Saskatchewan playing semi-pro ball, I felt really confident I could make something happen. But it was awkward getting chemistry going in practice with 2 different college QBs that haven't played together with me, and of course we had to get Goose going in the running game too and spread the ball around. I feel I could've done better, but I made a few plays, and hopefully in the next Prospect Showcase I'll make a few more."
Spence and his other fellow DSFL prospects will be in action again soon for another Prospect Showcase, although this time more college stars who have finished the later bowl games are planning to attend. While Spence is seen by some scouts as a late round pick due to his background, he is staying in the limelight enough to play with the American collegians from the more talented side of the border, and it will be interesting to see how the big possession receiver performs.