FWL Bowl X

Sacramento Surge 30 Frankfurt Galaxy 16

(Play by Play)

Frankfurt       14  2  0  0 -- 16
Sacramento      14 14  0  2 -- 30

First Quarter
Frankfurt - Phillips 74 run (Kastle kick), 0:25
Sacramento - Blundin 11 pass from Bouman (Akers kick), 4:33
Frankfurt - Aska 1 run (Kastle kick), 9:32
Sacramento - McGuire 15 pass from Bouman (Akers kick), 13:28

Second Quarter
Sacramento - McGlockton 29 pass from Bouman (Akers kick), 2:07
Frankfurt - Safety (Moorman tackled in endzone by Eason), 6:27
Sacramento - McGlockton 15 pass from Bouman (Akers kick), 14:13

Third Quarter
No scoring

Fourth Quarter
Sacramento - Safety (Case tackled in endzone by Sutton), 14:51

The Sacramento Surge were finally in their first FWL Bowl. Twice out of the last 3 years the Surge lost to the Orlando Thunder in the AFC Championship but finally gained revenge this season when they defeated Orlando for the first time in an AFC Championship last week. They faced the veteran Frankfurt Galaxy with many of their players playing their last ever game. GM of the Decade (Team soon to be announced) Marco Lambert had done a wonderful job with the Galaxy and Frankfurt shocked both Barcelona and Scotland in two epic overtime games to reach the final.

With the best regular season record going to Sacramento the Surge hosted the final for the first time in their history. It was a great start for the Galaxy. Veteran HB Bobby Phillips perhaps playing his last ever game took his first hand off and sprinted 74 yards for a td which shocked the hometown fans and Frankfurt led 7-0 However the Surge bounced back after a clinical 8 play 80 yard drive when Todd Bouman hit Norris Blundin from 11 yards out to tie it all up. Back came Frankfurt instantly and FB Joe Aska dived over from a yard out and Frankfurt led the shootout 14-7. Yep you guessed it, the Surge came back instantly with a short 50 yard drive with Bouman throwing his 2nd td pass, this time to Kaipo McGuire. So much for defenses ! It was the end of the 1Q with the score 14-14.

Finally the Galaxy couldnt move the ball and punted, Sacramento again had short field position and moved 52 yards for Todd Boumans 3rd td pass of the game, this time to TE Gerald McGlockton from 29 yards out and Sacramento led for the first time 21-14. Both teams had to then punt but Frankfurt made a huge play when Curtis Eason blocked a Brian Moorman punt and the Galaxy had the ball back trailing now 21-16. The Galaxy couldnt do anything with the ball and had to go 3 and out. The Surge missed a scoring chance when David Akers missed a FG but the Surge got back on the scoreboard on their next drive when a 7 play 69 yard drive finished with an amazing 4th touchdown pass for Todd Bouman. Again Bouman hit his TE McGlockton for the td and the Surge now led 28-16 at the half in a very exciting first half of football.

The second half however was totally different. There were 9 consecutive punts as both teams struggled to move the ball. After his initial touchdown sprint Bobby Phillips couldnt get anything going against the tough Surge defense and Frankfurt couldnt move the ball. Sacramento went to the ground in the second half and despite their offense not scoring they always gave Frankfurt bad field position thanks to P Brian Moorman. Finally there was some scoring in the 4Q, this time DE Mike Sutton sacked Stoney Case in the end zone for a safety to finish the scoring. Case on possibly his last ever play in the league was angry as he could not escape Suttons grasp.

The final score was 30-16 after an amazing first half of football. MVP had to go to Todd Bouman. Bouman who was the AFC Offensive Player of the Year had a sensational first half with 4 td's passing. The Surge defense were sensational holding Bobby Phillips to just 10 yards on 12 carries after his initial touchdown sprint. 7 sacks on Stoney Case and a fierce pass rush which hit him several other times limited Case to just 187 yards, 53% and a long of just 19 yards. For Paul Johns it was finally the end of a dream he had been chasing for many seasons Twice in the last 3 years he had lost in the AFC Championship to Orlando and even joked that if he had lost to Orlando again this year he might have retired.

The Surge had many veterans on defense which could be a blueprint for other teams to follow. Despite their age and advancing skills all these veterans proved they could play as they helped the Surge win the FWL Bowl for the first time in their history. For Frankfut it was a bitter pill to swallow but Marco Lambert must have been very proud of his team as he didnt think they would make it to the FWL Bowl after seeing Scotland tearing up the EFC. Stoney Case could retire as could fellow legend Bobby Phillips. All-FWL DE Lamar Mills has said he will definately retire but he went out in a superb way with 2 sacks.