FWL Bowl IV

Rhein Fire 23 New York Knights 20

New York        14  0  3  3 -- 20
Rhein            3 20  0  0 -- 23


New York - Kitts 5 run (Lappalainen kick) 7-0
New York - Parker 31 pass from Beck (Lappalainen kick) 14-0
Rhein - Wood 31 FG 14-3
Rhein - Smith 5 pass from Barr (kick failed) 14-9
Rhein - Smith 81 punt return (Wood kick) 14-16
Rhein - Wilson 11 pass from Barr (Wood kick) 14-23
New York - Lappalainen 27 FG 17-23
New York - Lappalainen 47 FG 20-23

The Rhein Fire capped an outstanding season with a narrow victory over the New York Knights in the fourth FWL Bowl. European teams have now won three out of four Bowls. The Fire put together one quarter of great football, whilst they stumbled through the other three, but the Knights could not get in position to win the game.

The team captains met at centre-field where FWL commissioner, Paul Johns, was on hand to perform the coin toss before a capacity crowd at the Rheinstadion. New York won the toss and elected to receive. A decent return by Dialleo Burkes was called back on a flag, so the Knights offence took to the field on their own 17. With rookie runner Michael Black sidelined through injury, Todd McNair was switched to starting half-back with Jim Kitts filling the fullback role. Quarterback Tom Beck handed off to McNair on the first play and McNair blasted up the middle for eight yards. Rhein's Winfred Bryant was called for a personal foul after he grasped McNair's facemask, gifting the Knights with fifteen more yards. After McNair lost a yard, Beck launched his first pass of the day and Burkes was there to catch the ball in traffic for a first-down. Then Kitts softened up the Rhein defence with a strong run, and with the defence keying on Kitts on the next play, Beck found Burkes for a big 39 yard pass. Burkes was brought down on the Rhein five yard line by Artis Houston. Kitts finished off the good work on the next play, rumbling into the endzone with the Fire defence trailing in his wake. Lappalainen's XP gave the Knights a 7-0 with only 3 minutes played. They had driven 83 yards in six plays against one the best defences the FWL has ever seen.

Dave Barr and the rest of the Rhein offence started their first drive on their own 25 yard line. Barr went deep on first-down but his pass for Sheddrick Wilson was just out of reach. Ontiwaun Carter was stuffed for a short gain by Michael Dean Perry to set the tone for a day of hard tackling, then Barr was sacked by Marco Fenruss to force the punt. New York took over on their own 42. Tight end Vince Marrow got things moving with a 17 yard catch, then Kitts rumbled up the middle for another nice gain, bringing up second and inches. Beck executed the play action to perfection - faking the handoff to Kitts then dumping off the short pass to Carl Parker. Parker's route to the endzone was unimpeded and New York had a sudden 14-0 lead.

Rhein's offence could not get anything going on their next drive, and punted. The Fire defence, though, stepped it up a notch by sacking Beck to snuff out the Knights' next possession. With five minutes left in the first the Fire needed a spark and it was Eric Smith who provided it. In a manic spell of just over fifteen minutes he transformed the game and won it for the Fire. His 22 yard catch got the Fire moving, then Frank Griffin kept the momentum up with a 15 yard catch. Leon Perry moved the ball down to the Knights' 17 with a long run, only for Ontiwaun Carter to fumble on the next play. Luckily Dave Barr scooped up the loose ball for Rhein. Barr looked for Wilson on two consecutive passes, but both were incomplete and Joe Wood had to kick the field goal to get the Fire on the board.

The Knights went three-and-out and had to punt, so Rhein got the ball back on their twenty as the first quarter ended. The Fire underwent some sort of transformation as the teams changed ends, with a high-powered, high quality football team taking over from the fumbling, bumbling team on show in the first quarter. Facing third-and-eight, Barr fired a bullet for Smith who made the catch for the first-down. Barr found Carter two plays later - another first-down, then Carter gained 24 yards on the ground to put the ball on the NY 24. A sack by Hillary Bulter just made Barr's passing even more impressive, he found Smith again to bring up third-and-six, then Wilson got in on the act to convert. Barr then threw imcomplete, but his next pass was better as Smith got open in the endzone for the touchdown. Wood's extra-point was sliced and so Rhein trailed 14-9. The Knights could only gain three yards on their next drive and Jon Baker came onto punt. Just minutes after scoring the Fire's openingTD, Smith fielded the punt on his own 15 yard line. A blink, a missed tackle and a quick shimmy, and Smith was standing, smiling in the endzone after a blazing 85 yard return. Wood's XP gave the Fire the lead at 16-14. Beck and the Knights came back onto the field to try to get NY moving. The snap slipped through Beck's hands and Rhein's Tony Bowick recovered, giving the Fire possession on NY's 25. Two short runs had the Knights thinking they had escaped with only a field goal against them, but Smith was there once more to convert with a 12 yard catch. With Smith doubled teamed, Barr looked for Wilson and found him all alone for an eleven yard TD. Wood's XP made it 23-14. Rhein had scored three touchdowns in under four minutes after limping throug the first quarter. New York's attempt to claw back some points before halftime was in vain as Lappalainen's field goal was missed.

The Knights defence took to the field to start the second half, knowing that they had to stop the Fire offence and give their own flagging offence a chance. On first down, Harvey Franklin stormed up from the safety position to stop Carter for a loss, then Kevin Mathis made a great open field tackle on Carter to hold him to four yards on a nice looking screen pass. Then, on third and six, Claus Biedermann tackled Carter behind the line to force the punt. New York's offence came on, with Jim Kitts sitting on the sidelines, still feeling groggy after a big hit earlier in the game. Cliff Groce took his place in the line-up, but it was Todd McNair who got the call on first down. He gained five yards, then Groce got five on his first carry to give the Knights a first-down. Beck found Burke for nine, but then Markus Richter read Beck's play action perfectly and got the sack to bring up third and twelve. McNair made the catch, but was stopped short of the first down by Mike Adams. New York had to punt, but their defence stopped the Fire once more as three runs from Carter only gained 4 yards. The Knights started again, this time from their 33. A short pass to McNair set up a longer one to Monty Gilbreath for a first down, but Beck's next pass was astray and was intercepted by Markus Richter. But the Fire handed the ball back as Carter fumbled two plays later. Ray Widell recovered for New York. Another short pass to McNair was followed by another long pass, this time to Parker, which put the ball near midfield. Then Burkes snagged another catch before Gilbreath got another to put the ball on Rhein's 30. Gilbreath was open again, and got the ball down to Rhein's 16. McNair edged the ball closer on a short run, but Beck threw incomplete on the next play. Beck's next pass was caught by Parker, but he could not make it to the first down pole. With the ball on the Rhein ten, and only down by nine, New York opted for the field goal and Lappalainen was on target to make to score 23-17. The Knights defence needed to hold once more, and they did - a sack by Phil Haynes on third down ended the Rhein drive. A huge punt by Francis went for 61 yards, leaving the Knights on their own 28 as the fourth quarter started.

Two short runs left the Knights with third and 11, but Beck found Parker who dived for the first down marker. A bad spot from the referee left the Knights a yard shy and they punted. But their defence was on hand to snuff out the Fire yet again. NY got the ball on their twenty and McNair gained six on first down, hen five on second to give the Knights a first-down. Then Beck hit Gilbreath on a slant who gained 22 yards. Beck found Parker to bring up another first-down soon after as the Knights reached Rhein's 32. McNair then showed his running skills to give the Knights another first down with a twelve yard run. With the ball on Rhein's 18, things were looking good for NY - a touchdown and XP would give them the lead and, with Rhein's offence going nowhere, victory would be on the cards. But the Fire defence had different ideas, they had been pushed around too much and stepped up to force the Knights backwards. A sack on Beck left the Knights facing a fourth and 22. Lappalainen came on to try a 47 yard field goal, and his kick was good to cut the lead to three with 4:44 left.

With Rhein only having gained sixteen yards on offence in the second half, the Knights defence were confident of getting the ball back into the hands of their offence. But Rhein only had to pick up a couple of first downs to run out the remaining minutes. With tension reaching fever pitch, the Fire came onto the field to make the game safe. Harvey Franklin slammed Carter on first down, then Claus Biedermann did the same on second. Third and ten for the Fire, with 3:23 left- but Barr calmly found Eric Smith to convert. Then, with the Knights stacking the line, Carter broke through for a ten yard gain and another first down. With 2:12 left, Rhein were on NY's 37. Rhein played safe with three straight runs, but they could not gain the ten yards required. Phil Haynes stopped Carter on third down, leaving the ball on the 36 with 1:46 left. Rhein played safe and opted to punt, the ball rolling out of bounds at the NY eleven.

Beck and his offence came on with ninety-six seconds in which to get in position for a tying field goal. His first pass was for Gilbreath who made the catch for nine yards, then Beck hit McNair for another nine and a first down. Beck spiked the ball to stop the clock with 1:21 left. Disaster struck as Tony Bowick sacked Beck for a seven yard loss on second down, and with the clock still running Beck had to spike the ball again, bringing up fourth and seventeen. With the Knights seaon on the line, Beck flung up a hopeful pass which Parker amazingly got his hands around and caught for a 24 yard gain. The Knights were still alive, but still in their own territory with 47 seconds left. Beck then went to Parker again, and gained eleven yards. After spiking the ball once again, Beck then found Gilbreath for another 11 yards, putting the ball on Rhein's 31 with 24 ticks left. Beck managed to stop the clock with another spike. Facing a 48 yard field goal, NY tried to get closer and gave the ball to Groce. But Groce only gained 3 yards. Beck stopped the clock once again, and with only nine seconds remaining Lappalainen came on to try the 45 yard field goal that would send the game into overtime. The snap and hold were good, but the kick lacked power and the ball fell just short of the goal posts as the Rhein players and fans went crazy. As Lappalainen trudged off the field, head bowed, the Fire players congratulated each other. They had put together just one decent drive in the whole second half, but managed to hold on to lift their first FWL Bowl.

In defeat, Tom Beck was named MVP. The Knights quarterback had completed 33 of 49 passes for 389 yards and had put the Knights in position to tie the game. Monty Gilbreath caught 12 of Beck's passes for 134 yards. Rhein's Markus Richter also made a claim for MVP with two vital sacks and an interception, but it was Beck who walked away with the MVP award. He would, no doubt, have traded it with pleasure for a winner's ring.

Congratulations to Miguel Cuadron and the Rhein Fire, FWL Champions of Season 4.

Championship Game Review by mailto: Andrew Battye