FWL Bowl VII

Orlando Thunder 29 Rhein Fire 20

Orlando          5  3  3 18 -- 29
Rhein            6  7  0  7 -- 20

First Quarter
Orlando - Phillips 49 FG, 3:49
Rhein - Benjamin 21 pass from Pegenaute (kick failed), 8:57
Orlando - Safety (Pegenaute tackled in endzone by Ferrara), 13:33

Second Quarter
Rhein - Smith 3 run (Kastle kick), 10:53
Orlando - Phillips 38 FG, 14:23

Third Quarter
Orlando - Phillips 29 FG, 9:06

Fourth Quarter
Orlando - Uwaezuoke 31 pass from Denton (Phillips kick), 0:11
Rhein - Smith 24 pass from Pegenaute (Kastle kick), 2:44
Orlando - Lee 5 run (Lee pass from Denton), 7:56
Orlando - Phillips 46 FG, 14:15

It seemed an impossible task. The young Orlando Thunder marched confidently to their first ever FWL Bowl with a swagger which suggested they believed in themselves that they would go all the way. They opponent however was one of the finest teams ever in the FWL, the Rhein Fire.

Earlier in the season the Fire were playing so well there were rumours that they could be the first ever team to go 17-0. Two late defeats in the season put paid to an undefeated season but Rhein were firing on all cylinders and marched all the way to the FWL Bowl. However in a tough bruising encounter against the London Monarchs the Fire lost their emotional leader, QB Dave Barr. Barr who was a former flop with Scotland made a name for himself with Austria and then with Rhein leading both teams to the playoffs and leading Rhein to FWL Bowl glory a few seasons back. Barr was out injured, could the Fire play as well with his backup QB Dani Pegenaute ?

Orlando had their fair share of injuries, finally the Thunder had a rushing attack to help young star QB Jon Denton. HB Pepe Pearson arrived from Austria in the famous DarkKnights clearout but was injured for most of the year, HB Eric LaPointe came from nowhere and was having a fine season until he was injured, in came 3rd string HB Steve Lee who had just 31 yards in the season. In the AFC Championship against heavily favoured Sacramento the Thunder shocked the world by defeating Sacramento thanks to a 100 yard performance by Lee. Lee who nearly lost his place for the FWL Bowl had a quiet outing but made some big plays to help the Thunder shock the Fire.

The Thunder started off well forcing the Fire to punt and then driving quickly downfield for Izzy Phillips to slot home a 49 yard FG for a 3-0 lead. Back came the Fire quickly though. Pegenaute finding his rhythm and somehow finding WR Na'il Benjamin in the endzone despite being covered by several defenders (pictured).

P Jeff Suave had a great game for the Thunder and pinned the Fire at their own 3 yard line, DE Frank Ferrera made a huge play when he tackled Pegenaute for a safety and the Thunder trailed just 6-5.

Nerves followed with both teams punting the ball, the Fire were expected to win this one and win it heavily but so far the young plucky Thunder were holding their own. Finally the Fire finished another good drive with a touchdown as superstar HB JJ Smith crashed in from 3 yards to increase the Fire lead to 13-5. Orlando came back just before the end of the first half to score another FG but trailed at the half 13-8.

The game was very close, Orlando were moving the ball but were failing in the redzone. A determined Thunder started believing in themselves even more, they were 2 quarters away from FWL glory and were trailing at the half by only 5.

The 3Q began with a great drive by Orlando, they moved the ball 66 yards in 14 plays but once again they came up short and had to kick yet another FG to make the score 13-11 Rhein. Then maybe the play of the game, the Thunder fumbled a punt but managed to recover but on Rheins next drive HB JJ Smith fumbled and LB Martin Janson recovered.

Three players later Jon Denton dropped back and threw to WR Iheanyi Uwaezuoke, with the help of a great block from fellow star receiver Max von Garnier, Uwaezuoke ran 31 yards (pictured) to shock the Fire defenders as Orlando took the lead again 18-13. Rhein came straight back in just 5 plays moving the ball 73 yards, Pegenaute hit Jeff Ogden for two first downs and then JJ Smith made amends with a touchdown on a screen pass.

Both teams started moving the ball well in the 4Q, the Fire led 20-18 but there was still over 12 minutes left in the ball game. Denton a fine young QB found Max von Garnier for 25 yards then two plays later found forgotton #1 draft pick WR Kenyon Branscomb for another good gain. On an important 3rd & 1 FB Reggie Vlasic crashed through for the first down and the drive continued. Steve Lee made great runs of 12 and 6 yards and then his final 5 yard burst (pictured) gave the Thunder back the lead 24-20 with 7:04 left in the game. The two point conversion was good as Denton hit Lee and the Fire trailed by 6 !

Pegenaute was feeling the pressure three plays later as the Fire faced a 3rd & 14 but he calmly hit backup WR Chris Miller for 15 yards and a first down. The clock was now ticking, the Fire had to score. Again two plays later he hit Miller for 21 yards and now the Fire were on the Thunders 27 yard line with just over 4 minutes left. JJ Smith tried two running plays but impressive rookie LB Muadianvita Kazadi made two great stops and now the Fire faced a 3rd and 8. The Fire called a screen pass to JJ Smith which worked before but CB Harold Lusk made a great play and stopped Smith short.

4th & 4 now, the game was on the line, Pegenaute stepped back and tried to throw for Miller again near the endzone but the pass was broken up and the Thunder took over ! Straight away the Fire defense stiffened and the Thunder faced 3rd & 8 with just over 2 minutes left, Denton dropped back and calmly made a great pass to Iheanyi Uwaezuoke who made the first down then continued to shock Rhein fans as he ran 35 yards. Uwezuoke has been overlooked this year as Max von Garnier has become the top receiver with Orlando but with the Fire giving him double coverage , Uwezuoke was finding more and more space to get open.

Now it was FB Reggie Vlasics turn. Vlasic one of the top FB's in the game ran the ball three straight times and on an important 3rd & 4 Vlasic burst through for the first down. The Fire defenders were looking down and out as Orlando started pounding the ball away. The Thunder finallly kicked yet another Izzy Phillips FG and the Thunder started celebrating as the game was now out of reach in the final minute, 29-20.

The Fire were shocked, they were heavily favoured to win the game and QB Dani Pegenaute who was thought to be the weak link had a good game throwing for over 200 yards and 2 td's but the real star of the show was Jon Denton. Denton the young QB who was a former first round pick of the Thunder by GMVolker Sorge completed 22 of 28 passes for 279 yards and did not create any turnovers. With a fine receiving corps of Uwaezuoke, von Garnier and another former first round pick in Kenyon Branscomb, Denton had a fine game helped out by HB Steve Lee who grinded out nearly 60 touch yards on the ground.

Lee could be one of the finds of Season 7, its hard to run the ball in the FWL, even harder when teams have to travel away but for two consecutive weeks the Thunder defeated Sacramento and Rhein thanks to the rushing of Steve Lee. It could be quite a battle for the starting HB role next season in Orlando.

GM Miguel Cuadron would be shocked and disappointed by the games result but he knows it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Dave Barr had started instead of Pegenaute. However that is taking nothing away from the Orlando Thunder who became the first AFC team since the Birmingham Fire in FWL Bowl I to lift the trophy.

MVP was QB Jon Denton and it was announced just after the game that Volker Sorge was named as GM of the Year. The All-FWL teams were to be announced finally very soon but for this day in history the Orlando Thunder upset the odds and at 13-4 this year they certainly had an amazing year. Congratulations to Volker Sorge and the Orlando Thunder.