FWL Bowl VIII

Berlin Thunder 20 Orlando Thunder 17 ot

Berlin           0 14  0  3  3 -- 20
Orlando          7  3  0  7  0 -- 17

First Quarter
Orlando - Vlasic 1 run (Phillips kick), 14:46

Second Quarter
Berlin - Kearney 7 pass from Barnes (Dawbs kick), 7:28
Berlin - Alexander 24 run (Dawbs kick), 13:28
Orlando - Phillips 29 FG, 14:50

Third Quarter
No scoring

Fourth Quarter
Berlin - Dawbs 20 FG, 3:12
Orlando - Branscomb 3 pass from Denton (Phillips kick), 14:51

Overtime
Berlin - Dawbs 42 FG, 4:13

The Orlando Thunder were trying to become the first team in the history of the FWL to repeat as FWL Bowl champions. Orlando squeaked past Sacramento in the AFC Championship game and now faced the Berlin Thunder. Berlin were furious that the homefield advantage was given to Orlando despite equal records but in the end Berlin silenced the home fans and came away with a superb win.

Berlin who were formely the Ireland Celts were 5-9 just 3 seasons ago and had never been to the playoffs. In came former NY Knights GM Andreas Born. Born one of the top GM's in the league during his time with the NY Knights, had a ton of work to do with Berlin. They were in the hardest division in football with powerhouses Frankfurt and Rhein and a young talented team in Amsterdam. Born made some great choices, he traded for HB Jon Handley from Sacramento who hadnt shown anything special with Sacramento but Born saw something in Handley and the HB repaid him with a great season last year to help take the Thunder to the playoffs for the first time in their history. Not all of his choices hit the mark however, beleive it or not at the beginnning of the season former Galaxy backup QB Jay Fiedler was the starter for the first two weeks of the season. Long term QB Pat Barnes was furious but soon Barnes was back in the starting role and took his team not only to the playoffs but to their first ever FWL Bowl appearance.

Berlin had a chance to take the lead in the game but Mike Dawbs missed a FG which would have given his team a 3-0 lead, Orlando came back strongly and quickly. Jon Denton threw a quick slant pass to Ryan Thellwell who took the ball 71 yards and was just pushed out of bounds before scoring. On the next play FB Reggie Vlasic scored from a yard out to give the defending champions a 7-0 lead. Then Berlin finally got into a groove and stunned Orlando and the home crowd with two td's in the 2Q. The first was a slant pass to Jay Kearney for the touchdown, the second was a surprise, backup HB Jay Alexander who had 1 carry in the regular season took the ball 24 yards to the end zone and Berlin led 14-7. Orlando managed to tap on 3 points at the end of the half and trailed 14-10.

Mistakes were apparent in the 3Q, firstly Berlin lost HB Jon Handley to injury and then his backup Jay Alexander had to leave the game for a few plays as well. With a 3rd string HB there was a mixup and despite a great drive Pat Barnes was picked off at Orlandos 10 yard line, instead of potentially a 21-10 lead Orlando now had the ball and had a chance to take the lead. However just 3 plays later Jon Denton threw a crucial interception and Berlin had the ball back. They couldnt move the ball but managed to kick a FG and now had a 17-10 lead early in the 4Q.

Orlando received the ball on their own 20 yard line with less than 5 minutes left in the game, the Thunder had to score. Denton threw two quick passes to Thelwell and suddenly Orlando had moved into Berlins territory. Later, facing a crucial 3rd & 10 Denton hit Branscomb for the first down to continue the drive. Soon after Denton faced another crucial play, on 3rd & 13 a screen pass to Eric LaPointe fooled no one and Orlando now faced a 4th down. Denton went to his go to man Ryan Thelwell, Thelwell caught the ball but appeared to be short, the chain crew came out and controversially gave Orlando the first down. Thelwell was the star again as his next catch took the ball to the 1 yard line, however a scramble by Jon Denton went tragically wrong and he was tackled for a 5 yard loss. An incompletion followed and then another short pass to LaPointe, Orlando now had 4th and goal at Berlins 3 yard line with less then 30 seconds left. Denton went back to pass, Thelwell was double covered so instead Denton scrambled and then found Branscomb in the endzone for the touchdown, with the XP the game was tied and headed into overtime !

Orlando however lost the coin toss and Berlin would receive. Berlin were devastated they didnt win the game earlier as they were so close but Pat Barnes went to work methodically. Barnes threw two completions before a short Jay Alexander run, Barnes then threw another completion, this time a huge play, a 22 yarder to backup Dennis Montana. Berlin were now in FG range, a few short runs moved the ball closer and in came Mike Dawbs to potentially kick the game winner. Despite missing earlier in the game Dawbs connected from 42 yards out and the Berlin players went crazy, the Orlando fans were shocked they had lost but they had witnessed a great game.

Congratulations to the Berlin Thunder with their first FWL Bowl victory and to GM Andreas Born. Despite being in one of the toughest divisions Berlin not only won their division for the first time in their history but managed to get to the FWL Bowl where they defeated the defending champions. Ryan Thelwell had a dream game for Orlando with 7 catches for 140 yards but so did several Berlin players. With Marcus Robinson injured earlier in the game backup WR Dennis Montana had a superb game, in the regular season Montana had just 7 catches for 80 yards but he saw more action because of the injury and finished with 7 catches for 81 yards to lead Berlin in receiving. HB Jay Alexander had only one carry in the regular season but because of the injury to Jon Handley, Alexander came in and didnt disappoint with an impressive 15 carries for 79 yards and a td. However the MVP was awarded to Pat Barnes. Barnes who was a former #1 overall pick had suffered through losing seasons with Ireland/Berlin including 3-11 in 2000 but had suffered through the bad times and now lifted up the FWL Bowl trophy as the Berlin Thunder were crowned champions. Commiserations to Volker Sorge who took his team to another FWL Bowl appearance.