In week 3 of the DSFL season, two 0-2 teams will face off for a chance to turn their early season woes around.
The Portland Pythons will travel to Palm Beach to take on the newly branded Solar Bears this Tuesday. Both teams struggled early in the season to the surprise of some. The Solar Bears fell to the San Antonio Marshalls and Tijuana Luchadores, while the Portland Pythons fell to the Norfolk SeaWolves and Kansas City Coyotes.
Both teams faced difficult starts to the season, being forced to go on the road for both games. The Solar Bears have an early advantage in this matchup, however, as they'll make their debut at their home field in Palm Beach. It will be interesting to see what the fan turnout is like for their first game since moving from Chicago in the dark of night.
The Solar Bears are led by their quarterback and wide receiver combo of Jim McMahon and Dennis McKinnon, along with an incredibly balanced and solid offensive line. They also boast a speed demon at the running back position, Walter Payton. Through two games, McMahon has gone 38/84 with 532 yards and 3 touchdowns. Although his passing yard numbers are solid, he'll need to be a more accurate passer to extend drives. Incompletions and dropped passes plagued the Solar Bears during their first too games, but the Solar Bears coaching staff and front office are pleased with his ability to throw the ball downfield.
The biggest critique fans had for the Solar Bears so far has been their inability to get Walter Payton the ball in open space. After only gaining 21 yards in the first game, Payton found a bit of a groove in game two and rushed for 84 yards. They'll need more of that from Payton if they want to have a chance at the Ultimini this season.
Likewise, Dennis McKinnon has been quiet so far. He's had 6 receptions for only 43 yards through his first two games and the growing pains connecting with Jim McMahon have been palpable so far. There were quite a few instances of the quarterback and receiver getting their wires crossed, and they'll need to work on their communication and get on the same page reading defenses before Portland game. There's little doubt that they'll eventually click, both players are considered among the most talented on the team and they've regularly been seen after practice running route trees vs. various defensive looks. Look out for a big game from McKinnon this week.
They'll be facing off against a stout Portland front seven, anchored by Norman Bagwell, the prize acquisition of Portland's draft this past offseason. Bagwell has been one of the few bright spots for Portland so far, amassing 7 tackles and 2 sacks so far on this opening road trip. He'll need to continue to be a terror and pressure Jim McMahon in order for the Portland defense to stop the Solar Bears dynamic offense.
Egan Winter and Alexander Barclay are the top two corners for Portland and they'll be tasked with the responsibility of keeping Dennis McKinnon quiet for one more week. Bobby Ruckus so far has shown a lot of diversity in his game, with an ability to step up in the run game while also able to be a safety net in the passing game. Ruckus had 8 tackles in his season debut, but had a quieter 3 tackle second game. The Portland staff loves Ruckus as a player, but they're looking for more of what they say game one, where Ruckus is flying around the field making tackles left and right. He'll be a key piece to stopping Walter Payton make any game breaking players.
On the other side of the ball, the entire Portland offense struggled throughout the first two games. Austin Roenick has passed for 327 yards and 2 touchdowns through two, and they'll need much more from him going forward. Very few doubt Roenick's talent as a thrower, and he's one of the smartest quaterbacks in the DSFL today, so it will be interesting to see if he can get back on track this week against the Solar Bears. The encouraging about the pass game so far is how Dwayne Aaron has looked. He's had 12 receptions for 126 yards and two touchdowns. He's been a reliable outside receiver for this team and has probably been their best offensive performer thus far.
Borro Gore is a player who fell short of expectations so far. He was expected to come in and be the lead back, but he's only racked up 66 yards in two games. John Goose has been the more impressive back, with 100+ yards on 29 carries. Judging from reports coming out of the Portland camp, Gore should start to see an increased workload in the coming weeks, but the position is still far from solidified.
Another player expected to make a leap sometime this season is Glenn McPoyal. The young tight end has made major strides in practice, but hasn't had a huge impact in game yet. He's another piece of the Portland puzzle that must start to click if they want any chance at making a real defense of last seasons Ultimini title.
Finally, after a very disappointing first few weeks, Portland kicker Adrienne Nugent will need to get back on track. He had a similar start last season before coming on strong, and the Portland staff is hoping for a similar turnaround this season. The most worrying part of their special teams is Nugent, who has been known to skip practices on a somewhat regular basis. The Pythons even resorted to holding and open tryout for the position, but had little success finding anyone they thought would be a hands down improvement over Nugent.
Overall, this should be a close and exciting game. Both teams are making early season adjustments, and both should come out firing in week 3. Since we're a Portland based newspaper, there may be some bias here, but we expect the Pythons to take care of business and win in a close game, 31-27.
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The Portland Pythons will travel to Palm Beach to take on the newly branded Solar Bears this Tuesday. Both teams struggled early in the season to the surprise of some. The Solar Bears fell to the San Antonio Marshalls and Tijuana Luchadores, while the Portland Pythons fell to the Norfolk SeaWolves and Kansas City Coyotes.
Both teams faced difficult starts to the season, being forced to go on the road for both games. The Solar Bears have an early advantage in this matchup, however, as they'll make their debut at their home field in Palm Beach. It will be interesting to see what the fan turnout is like for their first game since moving from Chicago in the dark of night.
The Solar Bears are led by their quarterback and wide receiver combo of Jim McMahon and Dennis McKinnon, along with an incredibly balanced and solid offensive line. They also boast a speed demon at the running back position, Walter Payton. Through two games, McMahon has gone 38/84 with 532 yards and 3 touchdowns. Although his passing yard numbers are solid, he'll need to be a more accurate passer to extend drives. Incompletions and dropped passes plagued the Solar Bears during their first too games, but the Solar Bears coaching staff and front office are pleased with his ability to throw the ball downfield.
The biggest critique fans had for the Solar Bears so far has been their inability to get Walter Payton the ball in open space. After only gaining 21 yards in the first game, Payton found a bit of a groove in game two and rushed for 84 yards. They'll need more of that from Payton if they want to have a chance at the Ultimini this season.
Likewise, Dennis McKinnon has been quiet so far. He's had 6 receptions for only 43 yards through his first two games and the growing pains connecting with Jim McMahon have been palpable so far. There were quite a few instances of the quarterback and receiver getting their wires crossed, and they'll need to work on their communication and get on the same page reading defenses before Portland game. There's little doubt that they'll eventually click, both players are considered among the most talented on the team and they've regularly been seen after practice running route trees vs. various defensive looks. Look out for a big game from McKinnon this week.
They'll be facing off against a stout Portland front seven, anchored by Norman Bagwell, the prize acquisition of Portland's draft this past offseason. Bagwell has been one of the few bright spots for Portland so far, amassing 7 tackles and 2 sacks so far on this opening road trip. He'll need to continue to be a terror and pressure Jim McMahon in order for the Portland defense to stop the Solar Bears dynamic offense.
Egan Winter and Alexander Barclay are the top two corners for Portland and they'll be tasked with the responsibility of keeping Dennis McKinnon quiet for one more week. Bobby Ruckus so far has shown a lot of diversity in his game, with an ability to step up in the run game while also able to be a safety net in the passing game. Ruckus had 8 tackles in his season debut, but had a quieter 3 tackle second game. The Portland staff loves Ruckus as a player, but they're looking for more of what they say game one, where Ruckus is flying around the field making tackles left and right. He'll be a key piece to stopping Walter Payton make any game breaking players.
On the other side of the ball, the entire Portland offense struggled throughout the first two games. Austin Roenick has passed for 327 yards and 2 touchdowns through two, and they'll need much more from him going forward. Very few doubt Roenick's talent as a thrower, and he's one of the smartest quaterbacks in the DSFL today, so it will be interesting to see if he can get back on track this week against the Solar Bears. The encouraging about the pass game so far is how Dwayne Aaron has looked. He's had 12 receptions for 126 yards and two touchdowns. He's been a reliable outside receiver for this team and has probably been their best offensive performer thus far.
Borro Gore is a player who fell short of expectations so far. He was expected to come in and be the lead back, but he's only racked up 66 yards in two games. John Goose has been the more impressive back, with 100+ yards on 29 carries. Judging from reports coming out of the Portland camp, Gore should start to see an increased workload in the coming weeks, but the position is still far from solidified.
Another player expected to make a leap sometime this season is Glenn McPoyal. The young tight end has made major strides in practice, but hasn't had a huge impact in game yet. He's another piece of the Portland puzzle that must start to click if they want any chance at making a real defense of last seasons Ultimini title.
Finally, after a very disappointing first few weeks, Portland kicker Adrienne Nugent will need to get back on track. He had a similar start last season before coming on strong, and the Portland staff is hoping for a similar turnaround this season. The most worrying part of their special teams is Nugent, who has been known to skip practices on a somewhat regular basis. The Pythons even resorted to holding and open tryout for the position, but had little success finding anyone they thought would be a hands down improvement over Nugent.
Overall, this should be a close and exciting game. Both teams are making early season adjustments, and both should come out firing in week 3. Since we're a Portland based newspaper, there may be some bias here, but we expect the Pythons to take care of business and win in a close game, 31-27.
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