Roster Moves
LOU: LB Le’Darius Wynn | Injured Reserve -> Active Roster
LOU: LB Elias Ragsdale | Active Roster -> Reserve List
(8) Buffalo Blue Wings @ (2) Montreal Rouge - Mount Royal Stadium - October 16, 1971 - 7:00 PM ET - Weather: Partly Cloudy - 15°C | 59°F - Attendance: 46,497
1st Quarter
There was a hint of revenge in the air as the Montreal Rouge hosted the Buffalo Blue Wings for a shot to make it to the McCallister Cup. The Rouge hoped to get back to the big game for the first time since 1966, where they had lost to the Blue Wings 30-12, while Buffalo aimed to continue their dominance. Montreal would come out of the gates rolling defensively. DL Alan Franjkovic would get a sack before DB Jean Paul du Pont would knock away a pass to force a quick 2 and out. Offensively, Montreal was a little slow to start, also going 2 and out, but as their defence continued to roll, the offence would eventually get kick-started. WR Antonio Villanueva would be the one to break loose, turning a 7-yard pass into a 19-yard play. QB Gene Bishop would fire a couple more passes to WR Taylor Karis and TE John Schall to get down to the 23. From there, Bishop would fire a shot up the seam to WR Yahui Sun. Sun would make the grab and be heading straight for the endzone. He saw S Wesley Jones closing and braced for a hit. The hit would nail Sun awkwardly, which led to him being out for the rest of the game, however, despite the hit, he managed to fall over the line for a touchdown to give Montreal a 0-7 lead. Buffalo tried to get back into the game but was finding no luck only getting 21 yards in total in the quarter.
BUF 0-7 MTL
2nd Quarter
Buffalo remained calm after being outplayed in the opening quarter. QB Charles Lemieux would get on the field and lead a strong bounce-back drive to get the Blue Wings into field goal range. They would take a shot at WR Tracy Driscoll to the endzone, but DB Lamar Brown had it locked down and broke up the pass. Buffalo would settle for a field goal to make it 3-7. After the Buffalo score, the Rouge would look to respond. This time led by a couple of solid run plays from RB Bo Frazier, the Rouge would get back into Buffalo territory and match Buffalo’s field goal to make it 3-10. After the teams traded short drives, the Blue Wings would get a big play from WR Tracy Driscoll. The receiver got the better of DB Lamar Brown this time and then used his speed to pick up a total of 42 yards. The Blue Wings continued to roll on the drive getting down to the 8-yard line. Threatening to score on 1st and Goal, QB Charles Lemieux would drop back to throw. He would turn to his left looking to hit WR Jimmy Jack towards the sideline. However, Lemieux floated the pass a bit and it hung up in the air. DB Jean Paul du Pont saw his opportunity and caught the ball in stride. Mount Royal Stadium erupted as du Pont returned the interception 92 yards the other way to score a touchdown and give Montreal a 3-17 lead heading into halftime.
BUF 3-17 MTL
3rd Quarter
Playing with confidence and a 14-point cushion (though that wasn’t too much for Buffalo to overcome in Week 15), the Rouge defence would continue to shut down the Blue Wings’ offence. Lemieux would be sacked 2 more times in the quarter, while RB Yancy Harrison would net 1 yard on the ground after having several negative plays. Offensively, Montreal was still hit or miss, but they would eventually get a field goal after WR Taylor Karis made a great grab up the sideline to get them in range. Buffalo would come up empty-handed and down 17 with 15 minutes to play.
BUF 3-20 MTL
4th Quarter
In the early stages of the 4th, Buffalo would get its spark back when WR Julius Drake would break a few tackles to pick up 14 yards and then RB Yancy Harrison would grab another 12 on the next play. Buffalo kept the ball rolling. QB Charles Lemieux would dish it out to all of his receivers to eventually get back to the 11-yard line. After a short 4-yard run from Yancy Harrison. Lemieux dropped back again while running the same play as the interception before. Lemieux would not make the same mistake as before and this time connected with WR Jimmy Jack on the same route to score a touchdown and cut the lead down to 10. The Rouge fans got a little weary after the excellent Buffalo drive, but they stayed behind their team. The defence got help from the loud fans as a miscommunication between Lemieux and Driscoll would result in a 3rd and long. Montreal would get the ball back and then it was their turn to march down the field. However, they would suffer a 3-yard loss on first down when RB Bo Frazer would get wrapped up by DL Jordan Fordham. On 2nd down, QB Gene Bishop would need to get a first and would do exactly that, hitting WR Chad Anderson for 15 yards. The Rouge continued to crawl down the field, matching any good Buffalo stop with an equally good first down play. Eventually, at the 12, Bishop would drop back and get pressured. The QB would roll out and WR Taylor Karis would change up his route to match. In doing so, Karis was open and Bishop would hit his favourite target for another touchdown to reinstate the 17-point lead. The Rouge drive was ultimately a killer for the Blue Wings’ comeback attempt. They would be unable to get close enough to score even a field goal before Montreal would add one themselves to make it a 20-point game. With more urgency, the Blue Wings would get one drive down to the Montreal 30 but were then turned away after a failed 3rd down attempt. Montreal would get their revenge and send themselves to the 53rd McCallister Cup.
*This marks the first time in the NAAF’s history that the Buffalo Blue Wings have won and lost a playoff game in the same season. Previously, the team had either won it all or lost in their first game.
(5) Louisville Thunder @ (3) Minnesota Serpents - Midgard Stadium - October 17, 1971 - 7:00 PM ET/6:00 PM CT - Weather: Partly Cloudy - 21°C | 70°F - Attendance: 50,223
1st Quarter
A beautiful day in Minneapolis would make for great conditions for a battle between the Serpents and the Thunder for the final ticket to the 53rd McCallister Cup. The game would start off with a bang when QB Buck Murphy would throw an interception on his first pass. DB Austin Sherebernikoff would be the one to get the interception. The Serpents took over Louisville territory. It didn’t take long for them to get inside the 5 before RB Tyler Kuhn would get the first points on the board. The fans at Midgard Stadium were excited about the quick start. The defence would feed on the energy and continue to hold the Thunder back with great defensive play from their secondary. However, after the early touchdown, the offence was having their own troubles with Louisville’s defence that was building off of a strong performance last week that stalled the Gold Stars’ run game. The first quarter would end 0-7 for the Serpents.
LOU 0-7 MIN
2nd Quarter
The game continued to move forward in much the same way to start the 2nd quarter. Both offences continued to have a tough time with the opposing defences. However, the Thunder would finally break through with a good play call from HC Lou Granger. The play was able to get WR Ben Graham open behind the Minnesota secondary. QB Buck Murphy was all over it. His pass would fly over everyone and into the arms of Graham who would take it to the house to make it 7 a piece on a 61-yard score. Following the quick score, the Serpents looked to get it back, but their drive would come up short with QB Martin Keller losing the ball while trying to escape the pocket. DL Gavin Shaw had got his arms around Keller so his throwing arm was pinned against his body. Keller’s fingers slipped and the ball came loose just as he was going down. Some Serpents believed he was down before the ball came out, but the refs called it a fumble. Luckily for Minnesota, their defence would hold off the Thunder and force a punt. The teams would trade a couple more drives. In the final minutes, Minnesota would get something going. QB Martin Keller rebounded from the fumble nicely, dishing the ball out to his receivers to get the team into field goal range as the clock hit :00. With one last play, K Ray Bough would look to get Minnesota out front. He would succeed, just not in the way he wanted as his kick would float wide left and then bounce through the endzone to give Minnesota a single before the half.
LOU 7-8 MIN
3rd Quarter
The 2nd half would start a little slow with each team getting a 2 and out to start. Minnesota’s next drive would see them get a first down, but not much more before they punted again. Louisville’s offence came back on the field and they switched things up, heavily going to RB Neil Bradley. Bradley, being actually a solid rushing option, would manage to lift the Thunder into field goal range with 37 yards on 4 carries. Louisville would kick a field goal, however, just like Minnesota before them, would see the kick sail wide and through the endzone, knotting the game back up at 8. As the quarter went on the Minnesota defence would continue to show some cracks. RB Neil Bradley’s rushing attack was eating away at the weak 6-man front, forcing them to sometimes bring in some extra help in the box. The move risked thinning out the secondary, which Louisville would take advantage of. WR Casey Coleman would get more involved, making a pair of great plays to get Louisville close to the endzone. Another Bradley rush would land the Thunder at the 11. Murphy would drop back and take another shot at WR Ben Graham. Graham had a little window, but Minnesota’s secondary had it covered in their zone and DB Davey Woods would reach up and deflect the pass away. However, he had to jump up and he came down awkwardly on his ankle. The DB fell and could barely put any weight on his injured ankle as he was then taken off. Bad news for the Serpents, and good news for the Thunder. HC Lou Granger would then make a call to get WR Casey Coleman one-on-one with DB Austin Sherebernikoff. As good as the young DB was, he was not beating Coleman and would completely outclass him to give the Thunder a 15-8 lead.
LOU 15-8 MIN
4th Quarter
The game was starting to slip away from the Serpents following the Thunder touchdown. Luckily, the defence would recover, forcing a turnover on the next drive when Murphy tried to get a little too aggressive. S Calvin Hobbes jumped on a ball that should not have been thrown and got Minnesota back in striking range. The offence would clean up the drive with QB Martin Keller connecting with WR Ferdinand Matthews for the touchdown. The interception by Buck Murphy was a mere bump in the road for the Thunder. The offence was right back to moving the ball with purpose. RB Neil Bradley continued to have a strong performance while the passing game was just as effective. The drive had Minnesota on the back foot once again. From 16 yards out, Murphy would hit WR Casey Coleman again who would slip into the endzone to give Louisville a 22-15 lead. There was frustration beginning to boil on the Serpents’ sideline, but HC Soni Dionne kept them together. Talking to as many players as possible, trying to fire them up. Unfortunately, they would fail to muster much on their first crack on offence after the touchdown. However, their defence regained their composure and held Louisville stagnant. It would be a slow build-up of intensity as the clock was becoming a factor for the Serpents. The passing game had become a larger focus for the Serpents down the stretch, but they never gave up on the run game. They had faith in the backfield, which was reinforced by a massive 23-yard ramble for RB Allen Navarro. Tyler Kuhn would pick up a few more yards on the next play before QB Martin Keller fired a missile to WR Ferdinand Matthews. Suddenly, Minnesota was in range with a good chunk of time on the clock. They would take a few cracks at breaking into the endzone, coming close on a TE Hunter Ziegelbauer reception that gave them a first down at the 6. Everyone figured, with a fresh set of downs, the Serpents would run the ball. That’s why, when QB Martin Keller faked the handoff to RB Tyler Kuhn, the stadium held its collective breath. Time slowed as Keller flipped and took a shot to Evan Clanton. Clanton secured the toss to eventually tie the game. Louisville would fail to score on the next drive, leading to overtime for a ticket to the McCallister Cup (just the 4th time in NAAF history).
LOU 22-22 MIN
Overtime
After the highest-scoring quarter of the game, the extra frame would see both teams slow right back down. The defences were holding their own, and the offences were getting a little tired at this point. Some mistakes would start to creep in. Louisville would get into Minnesota territory, but a fumble by WR Ben Graham would give the Serpents back the ball. Later on, QB Martin Keller would make a poor throw leading to an interception by LB Daniel Timothy. On the whole, the quarter was a gruelling one. As the final minutes approached, the Serpents would find themselves just over midfield starting to threaten field goal range. QB Martin Keller would drop back looking to pick up some yards through the air. The Serpents would double-team DL Aaron Henderson to prevent him from getting to Keller, but Henderson would use that to his advantage, shoving both linemen in toward Keller to collapse the pocket. Keller would slip away but was quickly attacked from the other side by DL Lucas Kipling. Keller eventually hit the dirt for a loss of 9 after attempting to escape. So on 2nd and 19, Keller would drop back again. Pressure was in his face again, but he would get the ball away. He had checked it down to RB Tyler Kuhn. Kuhn would slip past one tackler and start to make his way closing in on the first down, but a diving LB Le’Darius Wynn would trip him up 3 yards short of the first. The Serpents would be just outside field goal range, so they would send K Ray Bough out to attempt a punt into the endzone for a single. Bough got a good leg on it, but they were contending with WR Ben Graham back there. Graham would take the ball on a hop and quickly cut to get out of the endzone. WR Montana Strole was sent out to match the speed of Graham. Strole managed to get down there first and get a hand on Graham, but the Rookie of the Year candidate would slip away and then go on to return the ball up to the Louisville 38. Then, Louisville’s offence looked to build off of the momentum. QB Buck Murphy would hit WR Doug Piva for a short out route and then went back to WR Ben Graham for a big-time play up the seam. WR Casey Coleman would make one more grab before Louisville would kneel to kill the clock and set up K Elvis Franklin for the game-winning kick. With :00 on the clock, Franklin would hit the kick to send the Thunder to the McCallister Cup for the first time since 1965.
Injury Report
LOU: OL Gordie Hammarstein - 2 Weeks
LOU: OL Jerry Hankins - Day-to-Day
MIN: OL Paul O’Doherty - Day-to-Day
MIN: DB Davey Woods - 6 Weeks
MTL: WR Yahui Sun - Day-to-Day
BUF: LB Basti Gräbner - 3 Weeks
Players of the Week
OFF: WR Casey Coleman LOU - 2 Receiving Touchdowns, 124 Receiving Yards
DEF: DB Jean Paul du Pont MTL - 1 Interception, 1 Defensive Touchdown, 2 Passes Defended, 4 Tackles
53rd McCallister Cup Preview(5) LOU (9-5) VS (2) MTL (12-2) - OCT 24 - 7:00 PM ET - New Providence Stadium - Providence, RI1971 Head-to-Head: Did Not Play
Historic Regular Season Head-to-Head: LOU 5-7 MTL
Historic Playoff Head-to-Head: LOU 1-0 MTL (1962 44th McCallister Cup: LOU 23-16 MTL)
The Thunder and Rouge will meet in the McCallister Cup for the second time. The first time was back in 1962, when the Thunder would win the championship on home field. Fast forward to 1971 and the two teams are meeting once again, this time neither team is the home team, but Montreal is the team with the better record, which wasn’t the case back in 1962. In fact, this marks the first time Montreal has entered the McCallister Cup with a better record than their opponent since 1951 when they won over the Boston Independents. Going into the game, it is all about redemption for the Rouge. HC Malachi Knowles has been redeeming himself all season after leaving Louisville following an 0-12 season in 1969 and turning the Rouge around in his first season with the team. QB Gene Bishop, who everyone figured would be on his way out of Montreal after this season following a few disappointing years, has turned it back on and looks to finally get Montreal back over the hump. The team as a whole has a chance to avenge the loss suffered in 1962 as well. The team is very balanced under Knowles. They have a strong defence supported by young star power in DL Alan Franjkovic and DB Lamar Brown and a rejuvenated offence with plenty of exciting weapons like WR Antonio Villanueva and RB Bo Frazier, as well as WR Taylor Karis. All season long the Rouge have been finding every way to win, and they are certainly the favourites to win. On the other side, is the Louisville Thunder who, after the disappointing 0-12 season, have turned it around extremely quickly. Just 2 years after not winning a single game, the team is in the McCallister Cup and has a solid shot of winning it all. WR Casey Coleman has been one of the biggest factors in the turnaround when HC Lou Granger made him the team’s captain. Coleman has become the leader the team has needed, tough and determined, cementing himself as the league’s best WR. Next to QB Buck Murphy and rookie WR Ben Graham, the Thunder have put together the most explosive offence in the league over the past two years. Additionally, the offence should also have WR Lloyd Lane back in the lineup for the big game. Defensively, they have also turned it on in the playoffs, being able to stall out a pair of great rushing offences in Providence and Minnesota behind fantastic play from DL Aaron Henderson and former Rouge DL Lucas Kipling. Overall, the game features two teams that both have a very good chance of winning, expect to see a great battle for the championship.
