FWL Bowl XIII

Frankfurt Galaxy 16 Montreal Machine 10 ot

(Play by Play)

Montreal         3  7  0  0  0 -- 10
Frankfurt        7  0  0  3  6 -- 16

First Quarter
Montreal - Cortez 23 FG, 4:40
Frankfurt - Aska 3 run (Kastle kick), 7:52

Second Quarter
Montreal - Phillips 5 pass from Wuerffel (Cortez kick), 1:00

Third Quarter
No scoring

Fourth Quarter
Frankfurt - Kastle 43 FG, 0:05

Overtime
Frankfurt - Powell 18 run (no kick), 3:18

It looked to be the dream matchup FWL fans had been waiting for, the FWL's #1 offense versus the FWL's #1 defense. In the end FWL Bowl XIII was probably one of the best ever championship games between two great teams.

Montreal travelled to Frankfurt knowing they were at a disadvantage as they had to play in the Galaxys stadium which was packed full of 80,000 fans, most of which seemed to be in purple. The opening toss was won by Montreal and despite the noise and being the away team the Machine marched downfield and scored the first points when K Jose Cortez nailed a 23 yard FG for a quick 3-0 Montreal lead.

Now it was the turn of the Galaxy, on their second play All-FWL HB Joe Aska burst through a hole and ran 53 yards to the Machine 25 yard line, the fans went crazy. Would it be a long night for the Montreal defense ? Joe Aska was brilliant all year and no one seemed like they could stop him, surely the Machines #1 defense against the run could ? At this early stage it looked like they might not !

A few plays later and Frankfurt were on Montreals 1 yard line, after Rohan Davey was thrown for a loss Joe Aska then took over the rushing duties again and ran in from 3 yards out and a Frankfurt lead, the crowd went crazy and Frankfurt had their first lead of the game 7-3. On the next drive Montreal faced a 4th & short on their own 42 yard line, strangely they went for it but failed and Frankfurt took over in great field position however the Galaxy couldnt move the ball and were forced to punt.

Starting at their own 20 the Machine quickly moved the ball with short passes and some great runs by HB Lawrence Phillips who finally started getting into his groove. The key play however was a 23 yard scramble by QB Danny Wuerrfel to the Galaxy 20 yard line. Three plays later Lawrence Phillips ran in from 5 yards out to silence the crowd once again and Montreal now led 10-7.

The rest of the half was a defensive showpiece as both teams stopped the opposing offenses in their tracks. The halftime score was Montreal 10, Frankfurt 7.

The second half turned defensive still with 2 punts by either side, finally late in the 3Q the Galaxy drove slowly downfield. HB Joe Aska seemed to find holes everywhere and constantly ripped off positive yardage. A sack by Montreal forced the Galaxy back though so they had to settle for a Erik Kastle 43 yard FG at the start of the 4Q and now the scoreline was tied 10-10 in this classic game.

The Galaxy forced Montreal to punt as their defense stopped Phillips twice and then LB Gary Stills sacked Wuerrfel on 3rd down. Frankfurt moved the ball yet again thanks to short passes and HB Joe Aska and were on Montreals 14 yard line a few plays later, K Erik Kastle came in to kick a 31 yard FG but DE Paul Spicer blocked the kick to stop a potentially game winning FG. However Montreal couldnt move the ball as Frankfurts defense was getting through to Danny Wuerrfel and the Machine had to punt the ball.

The tight defensive battle continued, a sack on Davey pushed the Galaxy back and they then had to punt a few plays later and Montreal now had possession on their own 28 yard line with just over 5 minutes remaining. Finally Phillips found a hole and ran 31 yards to the Galaxy 43 yard line, further bad news for Frankfurt came on the next play as star defensive player DE Curtis Eason had to leave the game after getting badly injured on a sack of Danny Wuerrfel. A huge 3rd & 16 was converted as ice cool Wuerrfel hit WR Marc Lester with a 17 yard pass and now with 3:13 on the clock the Machine were on the Galaxy 31 yard line. A few plays later on came K Jose Cortez who the last two weeks had won close games for the Machine with late FG's, but this time sadly for Montreal fans Cortez hooked a 48 yard FG with just over 2 minutes remaining and now it was Frankfurts turn.

So much for a late drive by Frankfurt, Montreals defense made them go 3 and out and again it was Montreal with perhaps the last drive of regulation. Three straight Wuerrfel completions suddenly gave Montreal a first down on Frankfurts 37 yard line with just 50 seconds left in the game. However two plays later DT Vince Washington who came up with a huge play on the earlier drive (Stopping Phillips for a 6 yard loss which pushed Montreals FG back further) came up with another when he sacked Wuerrfel for a loss of 8 yards on 2nd down, Wuerrfel did make up 8 yards on the next play with a short pass but as Montreal were on the Galaxy 37 yard line they had a tough decision to make, a 54 yard FG by Jose Cortez (which would be a league record) or punt the ball ? In a huge game like this they decided to punt the ball and go for the safe option. Frankfurt went for a hail mary on the final play which actually worked, WR Thabiti Davis caught a 43 yard bomb to the Machine 37 yard line but time ran out. However bad news for Montreal fans was that S Brian Russell who led the league in interceptions was injured on the final play and as the game headed to overtime Russell looked like he would miss the final period.

Overtime started and after a short kick by Jose Cortez the Galaxy started on their own 34 yard line. Now here came the Aska show, on first down he ran 16 yards to the 50 yard line, then on the next play he ran 21 yards to the Montreal 29 yard line and straight away Frankfurt looked like they could win the game. Aska seemed unstoppable and with All-FWL S Brian Russell out of the lineup Aska ran over his backup S Payton Williams for the huge gain. Aska then ran for 5 yards, FB Marvin Powell for 4 then on a huge 3rd & 1 Aska just got the yard thanks to a dive and a great spot of the ball. The Machine seemed dejected after that huge play and on the next play FB Powell ran in from 18 yards out for the winning touchdown, Powell went to go through the middle then cut left and found open space to win the game for Frankfurt. The crowd went crazy and many ran onto the pitch to celebrate.

For Montreal GM David Harwood he had yet another incredible season, two great playoff wins and a very close FWL Bowl performance. The records he has set the last few seasons have been amazing and the Machine look in fine shape to come back again next year.

Marco Lambert finally returned back to FWL Bowl glory thanks mainly to his incredible rusher Joe Aska. Whatever happens in the future Aska set amazing records this season which could last for a long time and he had a brilliant year being named FWL MVP of the Year, setting records for rushing and touchdowns and also Aska was named FWL Bowl MVP as he ran for 198 yards against the best defense in the league. Lambert has made some great trades lately and had some great draft choices who have turned into starters. He has a young superstar at QB in Davey and despite some age throughout the team the Galaxy had some great veterans and hoped to defend their title next year. Congratulations to David Harwood.