EAST DIVISION SEMI-FINAL
Ottawa Royals VS. Montreal Rouge - Royals Stadium at Brewer Park - September 16, 1962 - 3 PM ET - Weather: Cloudy - 14ºC | 58ºF
1st Q
The Royals-Rouge rivalry has always been one of the best in the league, and another meeting in the playoffs made for more prime football. Early on, the defence was the ones with the most power with both sides putting a stop to many of the early offensive chances. DL Olaf Viktorsson was able to get to Montreal QB Gene Bishop and attempt to bring him down. Bishop would seem to break free, but then DL Troy Hunt came in with a big hit which forced the ball loose. The Rouge would recover, but that certainly made the team a little more aggressive in retaliation. Their own defence would then step up and put pressure on Ottawa QB Jean Matieau and they would force him into taking a bad sack setting up the Rouge at mid-field. RB Scott Mallard-White, who had a rough start to the season, was able to lead the Rouge offence down to the endzone and would punch in the first score of the game.
OTT 0-7 MTL
2nd Q
Montreal’s momentum carried into the second quarter with Mallad-White continuing to have his way with the Royals’ defence. He continued to run the ball down their throat en route to his second touchdown of the game. The Royals were getting desperate after falling behind 0-14. However, QB Jean Matieau would keep the team calm. He would masterfully lead the Royals back down the other way to get into scoring range. Montreal was still piling on the pressure, but Matieau continued to remain composed and would eventually fire a perfect shot to WR Mackenzie to cut Montreal’s lead in half.
OTT 7-14 MTL
3rd Q
The second half is where the game started to pick up the pace. Jean Matieau and the Royals would be the first on the board in the second-half following a strong drive that would end with a field goal from K Maurice Lafayette. Montreal would look to try some different things on defence to try and kill the Royals’ momentum that they gained in the first half. The more aggressive strategy would pay off with DL Hubert Tessier getting into the backfield and forcing QB Jean Matieau to make a mistake. Matieau would get his throw off, but it wobbled through the air, short of WR Chester Bennett, and DB Quentin Xavier would easily take the ball and give Montreal possession in Ottawa territory. They would continue to lead with their run-game and RB Scott Mallard-White would continue to deliver and would score his 3rd touchdown of the game. Despite the extra pressure, the Royals bounced back from the turnover. Matieau would connect with WR Chester Bennett to get into the redzone before RB Alexei Volkov would score to make it 17-21.
OTT 17-21 MTL
4th Q
The defences seemed to disappear in the final quarter. The Rouge adjusted to a more aggressive offensive attack and QB Gene Bishop was all for it. The QB would lead the Rouge in an early 4th quarter drive that would set up the team deep in Ottawa territory. Montreal was able to extend the lead with Bishop finding WR Taylor Karis for the touchdown. Ottawa had to begin to play with more urgency with the time starting to become scarce. With the pressure rising, Matieau remained calm for the Royals and would get the offence moving down the field. He would connect on the pass after pass getting the Royals back into scoring range. He would find WR Mackenize Jones for his second touchdown of the game, cutting the lead to only 5 after the Royals were stopped on the 2-point conversion. Despite having control over the entire game, Montreal was unable to maintain possession as the Royals finally managed to shut down RB Scott Mallard-White. The Royals would get the ball back and QB Jean Matieau would once again manage the offence and the clock with precision. The veteran QB was able to get the Royals down to the redzone with just over a minute remaining. He would get them down to the goal line before hitting TE Jervonte Howell for the go-ahead touchdown. The Royals would once again go for the 2-point convert and they would connect this time with WR Mackenzie Jones getting open. Montreal had limited time to try and tie the game. There was frustration from the Rouge following their 11-point lead being erased. Frustration usually got to QB Gene Bishop, however, he decided to shake it off and just go out there and make something happen. He would lead the Rouge back down the field in order to get into range for K Arthur Kettinger. Kettinger would set up and would nail the kick with seconds on the clock sending the game to overtime.
OTT 31-31 MTL
Overtime
Both offences would be a lot slower at the start of the overtime period leading to several stalled drives. Midway through the quarter, the Royals would be the first to make a strong push. QB Jean Matieau would manage to find WR Chester Bennett for a 27-yard play that would lead to a field goal in order to give the Royals a 34-31 lead. Montreal would look to bounce back, but the Royals were able to hold them off. As time was beginning to wind down to 3 minutes left, the Rouge would aim to make a strong push. QB Gene Bishop would lead the Rouge down the field but would run into heavy pressure from the Royals. Once the Rouge got over half, the Royals would put even more pressure on forcing Bishop to scramble. The QB would manage to get loose and would fire a deep shot to WR Derek Cross who made the catch down at the Royals 8. A couple of plays later, the Bishop would once again find himself on the run. While still running he would flip a pass over LB Alister Henry and into the hands of WR Taylor Karis for the touchdown, giving Montreal the lead. The Royals would still have time to make a comeback, but they would be stopped and the Rouge would hold on for their first playoff win since 1953.
WEST DIVISION SEMI-FINAL
Louisville Thunder VS. Boston Independents - Thunder Stadium - September 16, 1962 - 7 PM ET - Weather: Clear - 23ºC | 74ºF
1st Q
The West Division Semi-Final was certainly not where the Thunder hoped to be by the end of a season that they so heavily dominated. There certainly was a weird feeling about this game from the team. Some players felt like this game was over before it began. It might have even felt that way when Boston would gift them the ball early in the opening quarter. QB Randy Sellers mishandled a handoff to RB Kendall Morgan and as he tried to pick it up DL Theo Conte would hit him out of the way. Conte would grab the ball and give Louisville the ball deep in Boston territory. It wouldn’t take too long for RB Rodney Clark to punch in the first score of the game to make it 7-0 Louisville. The Thunder seemed contempt with their 7-0 lead and were very relaxed in the playoff game.
LOU 7-0 BOS
2nd Q
The Thunder would eventually get the ball moving on offence in the second quarter with RB Rodney Clark getting around a few Independent defenders to pick up 21-yards. A few plays later the Thunder would add to their lead to make it 10-0. At this point, the Thunder were starting to play as if they had already won the game, even though HC Emil Riddle reminded them that the game was far from over. Boston would look to prove that with RB Kendall Morgan exploding out of the backfield for his own monster 34-yard gain. They would inch the ball closer before K Johnnie Berg would get them on the board 10-3.
LOU 10-3
3rd Q
Boston kept up the pressure and even turned it up on defence with LB Brent Harper managing to get his hands in the arms of RB Rodney Clark and knock the ball loose. LB Marco Price would recover giving Boston another chance. K Johnnie Berg would cut the lead to 4 a few plays later. LB Scotty Williams was not impressed with the younger players getting too relaxed and he took action with some motivation on the sidelines. It seemed to kick start the defence who did not allow Boston to move the ball much at all, however, the offence might have begun to panic a little under some of the pressure. They made a strong drive but only came away with a single point after K Donald Brewer missed a 34-yard kick.
LOU 11-6 BOS
4th Q
The true wake-up call for the Thunder offence after another turnover when QB Leonidas Dumont tossed a pick to DB Lawrence Ralph. The Independents would capitalize again with another field goal to cut the lead to only 2. On the ensuing Thunder drive, Riddle would take team captain QB Leonidas Dumont out of the game to send a message to his team. QB Stanislav Ovechkin would take over for an okay drive. On the next drive, he would let Dumont return to the game after having a talk with the young QB. With motivation from his coach, Dumont would refocus and lead the Thunder down the field. It was a stellar drive that ended with Dumont connecting with WR Clyde McIntosh to score a touchdown and give the Thunder a 2-score lead. The Louisville defence would keep up their strong play and they would stall out the Independents for the rest of the game and they would hold on for the win and a visit to London next week.
OL Graham Chambers BOS - Day-to-Day
DB Mordecai King BOS - Day-to-Day
WR Piers Key LOU - 5 Weeks
OL Taylor Forbes LOU - 4 Weeks
LB Patrick Terry MTL - 9 Weeks
Players of the Week
1962 Division Finals Preview
Head-to-Head: W4 PRO 35-13 MTL, W12 MTL 35-20 PRO
It’s tough to get a read on the Gold Stars and Rouge matchups since both their games came when at least one team was not playing at their best. Their first meeting was during Montreal’s early struggles while the second featured a Providence squad resting their players. Montreal comes in as the hottest team in the league winning their last 6 games. However, Providence has made it very clear that they are aiming for the top this season and will be fighting tooth and nail for a shot at the Cup this season. Both teams have formidable offences, and each defence is just as strong. I would give Montreal the advantage on offence, but the Gold Stars have the stronger defence, especially in the secondary. It is honestly a toss-up, but I will stick with my original prediction at the start of the season and go with the Gold Stars in this one.
My Pick: Gold Stars
West Division Final - London Tigers VS. Louisville Thunder
Head-to-Head: W2 LDN 10-14 LOU, W12 LOU 29-30 LDN
The Tigers had just barely pulled off their heist for the West Division title in the final week of the season which will certainly give them some momentum heading into the rematch with the Thunder. However, the Thunder are aiming to take back what was “stolen” and be the West Division representative in the McCallister Cup. Both of these teams have easily been the best all season long, so both teams feel that this will be their toughest challenge. The Tigers are aiming for their 4th straight McCallister Cup to join both Boston and Ottawa as the lone teams to achieve such a feat, while the Thunder will aim to be the first of the ‘57 expansion teams to get to the final. It’s going to be a thrilling game. I will still stick with the Thunder from my pre-season predictions and take them in this battle.
1962 Division Finals
EAST DIVISION FINAL
Providence Gold Stars VS. Montreal Rouge - New Providence Stadium - September 23, 1962 - 3 PM ET - Weather: Partly Cloudy - 16ºC | 61ºF
1st Q
The last time these two teams met in the playoffs was back in the 1953 McCallister Cup, which happens to be the last time either team had played in the big game. Both were hoping to finally make a return after almost a decade. Montreal was the first to get on the board in the opening quarter. RB Scott Mallard-White was taking advantage of some of the injuries the Gold Stars had on the D-line and was able to get Montreal into field goal range to go up 0-3. Providence would not let the early score shake them as QB Connor O’Rourke would get the ball moving back down the other way. Eventually, RB Marcus Devonshire would give Providence their first lead on an 8-yard touchdown run.
PRO 7-3 MTL
2nd Q
Montreal continued to put up pressure on the ground with RB Scott Mallard-White. The running back seemed to be unstoppable on the ground. Eventually, the Rouge would get into the redzone and QB Gene Bishop would make an excellent throw to WR Taylor Karis that would then set up Mallard-White for a touchdown to retake the lead. Providence would once again counter with their own strong drive. Using a heavy air attack, O’Rourke was able to slowly move the ball down the field. From 22 yards out, O’Rourke would look to toss a shot to WR Cedric Peterson in the endzone. Despite the effort from S Garet deVale, Peterson was able to bring it in to return the lead to Providence.
PRO 14-10 MTL
3rd Q
The second half would kick the game into a new gear with the Gold Stars making an early mistake. Connor O’Rourke would look to make a quick pass to WR Sammy Moss on a quick out route. DB Quentin Xavier read the play perfectly and jumped all over the route. The DB had a clear shot at the endzone, but he stumbled just after making the interception. Providence defence would minimize the damage by forcing them to a field goal. 14-13 Providence. The Gold Stars would recover from their earlier mistake by forcing the Rouge to make one themselves. DB Neville Falkner would grab a pick off of QB Gene Bishop after the Gold Stars sent LB Rusty McVee in on the blitz. The Gold Stars would turn the turnover into a touchdown with O’Rourke finding WR Cedric Peterson for his second touchdown of the game. Now down by 8, the Rouge would make a push as the quarter was coming to a close. They continued to roll heavily on the ground with RB Scott Mallard-White, but QB Gene Bishop was throwing the ball a lot more. The mix of plays would put Montreal down in the redzone again and they would get to the endzone on a cross route to WR Derek Cross to cut the lead to 2. The Gold Stars would be able to stop the Rouge on their 2-point conversion attempt and maintain the 2-point lead.
PRO 21-19 MTL
4th Q
The crowd in Providence was certainly in the game now as their team headed into the final quarter with a slim lead. They were hoping to help their team in creating communication issues for the Rouge, however, Montreal was able to overcome the noise early on. Mallard-White continued to run the ball with lots of success which helped the Rouge maintain tempo. They would drive deep into Providence territory, however, the Gold Stars’ defence was able to stop them. Montreal would settle with a field goal to take the lead. Providence would take over and they would turn the loud crowd into fuel. Connor O’Rourke was able to meticulously lead the Gold Stars down the field. The drive took a huge chunk of the clock off the board with several 2nd downs that the Gold Stars were forced to convert. In the end, the Gold Stars were able to retake the lead with K Ira Foster nailing a 28-yard field goal. Montreal would take over with the clock running low. They would be forced to throw the ball more to conserve the clock. Bishop would connect on a pair of passes that got Montreal back-to-back first downs. Providence would look to tighten up, but Montreal kept on moving. They inched closer to the endzone and Bishop would aim to take a shot for the score. Bishop would roll out and the play would start to shape and he saw WR Derek Cross, however, he missed DB Neville Falkner lurking with S Shawn Jensen. Bishop would throw into the double coverage and Shawn Jensen would come down with the interception. The crowd was ecstatic. Bishop was not happy with the play slamming his helmet. Providence would look to run as much of the clock as possible. The Rouge would be able to stop RB Marcus Devonshire just short of the sticks on first down, so the Gold Stars would look to run again on second down. O’Rourke would look to take the snap from OL Herman Mecklenburg, who had shifted to center with the injury to OL Wilfred Gibson, but it did not go smoothly. O’Rourke was able to get control of the ball, but the timing was way off. He would look to hand it to RB Marcus Devonshire, but S Garet deVale, who was sent in on the safety blitz would interrupt the exchange and knock the ball loose. DL Hubert Tessier would recover and the Rouge would take over. The crowd completely changed as Bishop came onto the field with a second chance. A couple of plays later, Bishop would be a little more patient with his WRs, and he would fire a shot to WR Derek Cross. Cross this time was able to get a little bit of space and would come down with the eventual game-winner.
London Tigers VS. Louisville Thunder - Western Fair Stadium - September 23, 1962 - 7 PM ET - Weather: Cloudy - 14ºC | 58ºF
1st Q
There were many concerns surrounding the Thunder heading into the West Division Final after their lackluster performance against the Independents in the previous game. However, they came out of the gate looking to disrupt the Tigers immediately. QB Riley Kiernan was unable to get comfortable in the pocket with the Thunder sending a lot of pressure while locking down the WRs. The Tigers were expecting the pressure, but they still couldn’t avoid mistakes with Kiernan throwing an interception to DB Oliver Langstrom early. The Thunder offence ran into their own issues facing the Tigers’ defence but still managed to get into field goal range and take a 0-3 lead.
LDN 0-3 LOU
2nd Q
In the second quarter, the Thunder kept pushing on defence which ultimately led to many 2 and outs from the Tigers. Despite having a lot of possession time, the Thunder were struggling to break the Tigers’ line. Dumont would be able to lead the offence to two more field goals in the quarter, but also had his own mistake with an interception thrown to DB Jackson Miles while deep in Tigers’ territory. Frustration would start to mount on the Tigers’ sideline with the team being shut down on all counts in the first half of football. LB Scotty Williams was their biggest issue, being unable to move the ball past him on the ground or through the air.
LDN 0-9 LOU
3rd Q
The Tigers would look to make some adjustments in the second half to try and kick start the offence, however, the Thunder defence remained strong and forced the Tigers into more errors. This time WR Ronald Macquire was unable to hold onto the ball he had just received and lost it on a big hit from LB Calvin Hardy. Louisville would get the ball and they would turn it around with their offence focusing on a bigger balance between run and pass. The adjustment would lead to the first touchdown of the game with RB Rodney Clark breaking through into the endzone to extend their lead to 0-16. The Tigers were able to recover from the turnover with a strong offensive counter. QB Riley Kiernan looked like a man on a mission on the drive following the Thunder score. He slowly found small weaknesses in Louisville’s defence and was able to get the Tigers all the way down the field. He would eventually connect with WR Jack Duncan to get down to the 3-yard line. Then, he would find WR Ronald Macquire who would score the touchdown, earning a bit of redemption for his earlier mistake. The Tigers would tack on the 2-point conversion with RB Clifford Russell to make it a one-score game.
LDN 8-16
4th Q
Momentum had shifted to the Tigers heading into the final quarter. Kiernan would continue to move the ball well with the Tigers’ offence. They would get deep into Thunder territory and were threatening for a touchdown. However, S Johnny Berger would quickly steal the momentum with a timely interception. Kiernan was trying to go for WR Russell Wilcox over the top, but Berger would read it and jump the route. The interception would be a major blow to the Tigers who struggled to recover while Louisville’s defence would feed off of it and play even better. The Thunder offence would also feed on the momentum and would get into scoring range themselves. Dumont would get down inside the 10 and would take a shot at the endzone. However, DB Jackson Miles would be able to knock the ball away from WR Ben Roland. On second down, the Thunder would then go to RB Rodney Clark out of the backfield. DL Olympus Heights would get into the backfield to tackle Clark. Clark was prepared and would bounce off of the tackle and then take in the ball for a 6-yard touchdown to give Louisville a 15-point lead. London would try to get the ball moving over the last few minutes, but they would continue to be stopped by the Thunder defence. S Johnny Berger brought in a second interception on a last-ditch throw from Kiernan trying to make anything happen. The Thunder would hold them off to shock the Tigers and would earn a ticket to their first McCallister Cup in franchise history.
DB Bob Ellis LDN - 1 Week
OL Byron Foster LOU - 6 Weeks
OL Wilfred Gibson PRO - 2 Weeks
Players of the Week
Louisville Thunder VS. Montreal Rouge
Head-to-Head: W4 LOU 26-14 MTL
For the first time since 1954, it will be two brand new teams meeting in the McCallister Cup. The Thunder will enter the game as the home seed and the home team, with the game being at their own Thunder Stadium making for the 7th time, out of 11, that the host team makes it to the championship game. The Thunder have been arguably the best team all season and have brought a lot of momentum from their big win over London. However, they will be taking on one of the hottest teams in the league. They are on the back of 7 straight wins and have been able to overcome a lot this season. The Rouge could be the biggest challenge yet and this game could come down to the wire. In the end, the Thunder are just overall a better team and the likely winner, but if the Rouge continue to do what they have over the last 7 weeks, they certainly could come out on top.
My Pick: Thunder
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