FWL Bowl XIV
Frankfurt Galaxy 28 Ohio Glory 13
(Play by Play)
Ohio 3 3 0 7 -- 13
Frankfurt 0 7 7 14 -- 28
First Quarter
Ohio - Scifres 42 FG, 7:42
Second Quarter
Frankfurt - Simmons 12 pass from Davey (Kastle kick), 0:07
Ohio - Scifres 36 FG, 6:31
Third Quarter
Frankfurt - Simmons 8 pass from Davey (Kastle kick), 14:23
Fourth Quarter
Frankfurt - Hicks 1 run (Kastle kick), 3:16
Ohio - Farris 5 pass from Pawlawski (Scifres kick), 11:35
Frankfurt - Hicks 1 run (Kastle kick), 14:12
Could the surprising Ohio Glory, AFC Champions upset the reigning
FWL Bowl champions Frankfurt ? There were many interesting questions before
FWL Bowl XIV, more and more fans thought that Ohio who were on a roll could
upset the form book and win in Frankfurt but in the end the reigning FWL Bowl
champions won the title again and became only the second team ever to repeat
as FWL Bowl champions. They werent the top team in the EFC, Frankfurt had
to hold off a tough Amsterdam team in the playoffs and then they managed to
get past the #1 seed Austria in the playoffs.
After a 0-2 start Frankfurt started playing like champions,
QB Rohan Davey this year started slowly but hit his stride right at the right
time. HB Joe Aska in his 9th year still had a great season but was slowing
later in the year, in the end he made reporters eat their words as Aska had
a brilliant Bowl game and was named MVP after the match. Aska won the award
last year and is now the only person to win FWL Bowl MVP two years consecutively
and joins Montreal QB Danny Wuerrfel as the only two time winners of the award.
Ohio actually took a 3-0 lead but on the following drive the
Galaxy marched downfield and scored a touchdown on a pass from Davey to WR
Tony Simmons. Ohio tapped on another FG then intercepted Rohan Davey and momentum
shifted their way, but they couldnt add to their total and were forced to
punt. At halftime the score was a surprise, 7-6 to Frankfurt, people expected
many more points than this.
Again in the 3Q Ohio couldnt take advantage of a Frankfurt
miscue as they recovered a fumble, then on their next drive Frankfurt marched
downfield again and scored on a Skip Hicks 1 yard touchdown run for a 21-6
lead. It seemed that Frankfurt were about to run away with the game. Then
on another Frankfurt fumble Ohio this time took advantage and Glory QB Mike
Pawlawski threw a bullet to WR Jimmy Farris for the touchdown. Now it was
21-13 and Ohio had a chance.
On a crucial 3rd & 1 however Skip Hicks ran for the first
down which took Frankfurt to the 2 minute warning and time was now against
Ohio. The Ohio defense who had played so well against the run this year just
couldnt stop the fierce Frankfurt rushing offense and it wore them down. Finally
Skip Hicks scored his second touchdown diving in from a yard out with less
than a minute to play to guarantee Frankfurt would repeat as champs.
One of the keys to the game was Frankfurts great defense shutting
down Jamal Robertson on the ground. Robertson struggled all game and had just
18 yards rushing, the great Frankfurt LB unit even shut him down in the passing
game, Robertson had 6 catches for just 43 yards. In total Ohio had 13 first
downs compared to Frankfurts 26. For Ohio young safety Scott Connot had a
great FWL Bowl, he intercepted a pass and had a game high (and probably FWL
Bowl record) 16 tackles. The hero though was Joe Aska, Aska one of the oldest
starting RB's in the league rolled back the years and had 152 yards rushing
on 28 carries and also caught 6 passes for another 62 yards. Aska was awarded
FWL Bowl MVP and the 9th year pro hoped to be back next year as the starter
for Frankfurt. Frankfurt have a history of benching some veterans but Aska
hoped after his display he would get another shot to start next year.
For Frankfurt congratulations to Marco Lambert in one of his
finest seasons yet. After a tough start Lambert displayed confidence in his
team, he had a young set of LB's and some young WR's but the team rallied
round and played brilliant football the rest of the way. Despite Lamberts
great Galaxy sides of the past featuring Stoney Case and Bobby Phillips this
is one of the best of all time, the first back to back FWL Bowl winning side
for Frankfurt. Also it was mentioned this week that GM Marco Lambert had finally
won GM of the Year narrowly beating Mario Kreiner for the award. Kreiner was
a lock in for the title until Frankfurt went to the final and won it all,
their second FWL Bowl championship in two years.
As for Ohio it might have been a disappointing final after
their great season but GM Ross Mather should be proud. He has assembled a
very good team, has some great players and a lot of youth on his team. Ohio
can surely only go up and challenge New York for the AFC East crown this season.
As reigning AFC Champions in such a tough division Ohio surprised many people
by winning the AFC over the likes of San Antonio, New York and Montreal. Ohio
fans have called the last second FG win over Montreal as the best Ohio game
of all time.
Congratulations to both GM's and well done to Marco Lambert
and the Frankfurt Galaxy, FWL Bowl Champions.