FWL Bowl XIX

Amsterdam Admirals 27 Birmingham Fire 11

(Play by Play)

Birmingham       0  3  0  8 -- 11
Amsterdam       14  7  3  3 -- 27

First Quarter
Amsterdam - Smith 8 pass from Symons (France kick), 6:57
Amsterdam - Herzing 47 pass from Symons (France kick), 12:38

Second Quarter
Amsterdam - Herzing 24 pass from Symons (France kick), 2:39
Birmingham - Schorejs 31 FG, 8:12

Third Quarter
Amsterdam - France 29 FG, 7:03

Fourth Quarter
Amsterdam - France 22 FG, 9:32
Birmingham - Boone 5 pass from Burford (ReShard pass from Burford), 13:06

Never before in the 18 season history of the FWL (11 years in real life !) has any team gone undefeated. This year the Amsterdam Admirals went 17-0 to become the first team ever to do this, plus they were also back to back champions. Plus it got even better as Niki van den Berg was named GM of the Year for the first time in his career !

Amsterdam had won a lot of close games this year, late FG's, 4th down conversions late in a game but it doesnt matter now, all the history books see are 17-0 !

The Admirals had a ton of confidence coming into this game, they had a close game against Austria in the Wildcard round but seemed superb last week in dismantling 12-2 Scotland. Birmingham had a great team but deep down every Fire player seemed to know this was going to be such a difficult task. Birmingham started off quick and nearly got the first points on the board but the FG was missed, Amsterdam went 3 and out but then the momentum changed as HB Lee Reshard, normally so dependable (had just one fumble all year but had two in the final) fumbled after a hard hit and DT Clint Mitchell nearly returned the ball for a touchdown. 3 plays later HB Joe Smith scored a touchdown and the Admirals were up 7-0.

Birmingham then had to punt and the Admirals moved downfield this time and scored on a superb catch by Adam Herzing for the touchdown from 47 yards out and the Admirals now had a 14-0 lead. It got worse for the Fire as a few drives later as Lee ReShard fumbled for a second time which led Amsterdam on another touchdown drive and the Admirals led 21-0 against a defense which was one of the best in the league this year.

Birmingham did add a late FG but Derek Schorejs missed his 2nd of the first half to leave the halftime score 21-3 (could have been 21-9 if it wasnt for the missed FG's). Amsterdam received the ball in the 3Q and after an 8 minute drive settled for a FG to make the score 24-3 and the drive seemed to deflate the Fire. Birmingham lost QB Joe Hamilton to injury (Hamilton is 2-0 in getting injured in FWL Bowl's !) and after another Amsterdam FG they now led 27-3 but Birmingham finally had a great drive, 80 yards in 10 plays behind backup QB Seth Burford as he threw a touchdown to AJ Boone plus the Fire added the 2 pointer to make the score 27-11.

It wasn't a great final by any means but the fans at the ArenA were going crazy as they knew their team would go 17-0 and win the game. There was an air of confidence over the team and the fans.

Congratulations to Niki van den Berg, he wins his first GM of the Year award (long overdue as hes been great for many years) and Amsterdam, once the laughing stock of the FWL are now back to back champions and also the first team ever to go 17-0 and could they perhaps become the first team to 3-peat ?! MVP was a close one, HB Joe Smith who has been superb in the playoffs had a great game, QB BJ Symons threw 3 touchdowns, DT Clint Mitchell had 2 sacks and an important fumble recovery but it was decided that WR Adam Herzing was MVP after catching 7 passes for 134 yards and 2 td's. Young QB BJ Symons has been with 4 FWL teams in his career ! London-Scotland-Austria and then finally to Amsterdam. All these teams passed him up but look how great hes been, since starting with Amsterdam hes taken the team to two FWL Bowl championships in his two years as starter ! Incredible.

The team have a great nucleus and are very talented all round, lots of great RB's, skill players all over and thanks down to Niki van den Berg who after some tough losses (Remember the Austria playoff win in which they snatched defeat in the final seconds) and after several EFC Championships (Amsterdam have been to 5 EFC Championships in a row) losses plus an FWL Bowl loss the Admirals have bounced back. Niki nearly retired a few years ago but its great he stayed with the Admirals as he now is the proud GM of a back to back championship team and one who was undefeated this year, an amazing record.

Finally Michel Kremer of Birmingham had a great year, last year he lost in the AFC Game, this year in a tough AFC took his team one step further.

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