Season Recap

A great regular season has come to an end and this will recap all of the great stories and terrific season it has truly been as we get ready to take on the playoffs and look for our first CPL title!

12-4...Again!!

Its been a tremendous regular season as we performed really well, broke ALOT of records and continued to perform close to the top of our game. We had an impressive win over Drinkin', defeated the season 4 AAA #2 Champs the JOBC, and walked away with our second straight 12-4 record (tied for club best) with a total combined regular season CPL record of 24-8 and our second straight #4 seed and 5th consecutive playoff spot. The 4 losses this year were against Thunder Bay, North Delta, Yukon (again) and a tough 4th quarter come from behind loss to the Moose Jaw Fighting Hobos. The playoffs are going to be tough this year and here's hoping for a championship ring, finally!

Defense Scores?!

Normally its the offense putting the points on the board but besides stopping the opposition this year, the defense put up a ton of points on the board including a conference high 14 interceptions returned for touchdowns and 7 fumbles returned for touchdowns. Add in the 13 punt returns for touchdowns and our offense hardly had to score. Newcomer Joe Gott led the way with 4 interceptions returned for touchdowns, a new club record.

The defense did its part containing other teams as well with an average of only 217.7 yards passing allowed with 17 touchdowns, an average of 38 yards rushing with only 6 touchdowns, and an enormous amount of turnovers. 34 interceptions and 26 forced fumbles as well as 172 hurries and 99 sacks (both new records) stroke fear in opposing teams everywhere.

Records Fall

It was a season that kept the record keepers busy every game as many single game and individual records got broken throughout the season but in the end, no record was safe as many many season records got smashed. Notable records including scoring (151 touchdowns), passing yards and touchdowns, rushing yards and touchdowns, defensive touchdowns, hurries and sacks and special teams records. It was a very bright year for new records and it may be a while before we see any of these records coming close to being broken.

Khari the Ferrari

Many people were concerned at the start of this season about the loss of Ryan Betesta and the new additions to the receiving corps in Jupp Zupp, Wayne Chrebet and T Bone but the critics were silenced very early as Khari took hold of this offense by the horns and delivered an offensive explosion. For the 4th straight time, Khari has broken his single season passing yards record (by almost 900 yards with 5,716 yards) and passing touchdowns record (by 24 with 61 touchdowns). His QB Rating has improved dramatically to 115 and he just narrowly missed breaking his completion percentage record. This also allowed him to capture 3rd place in the league for passing yards and 2nd place for passing touchdowns for the 2nd consecutive year. While being sacked 39 times, a career high, Khari still managed to throw only 11 interceptions, his lowest since season 1 when he threw 8. The wide receivers are the main reason for this great performance as both Jupp Zupp and Wayne Chrebet broke the 1,000 yard mark with a combined 30 TDs and TE Dirk Illicious narrowly made the 1,000 mark (973) with 10 touchdowns. James Vita (7) and Landon Swifty (5) each posted a career high number of touchdowns as well.

New Kids on the Block

The Ballers welcomed many new players this season and each of them brought their A+ game to the table and had terrific seasons all around.

- As already mentioned, Jupp Zupp and Wayne Chrebet each had terrific receiving seasons with Jupp Zupp breaking Ryan Betesta's receiving yards and touchdowns records with 1,533 yards and 16 touchdowns. Wayne Chrebet was slightly behind with 1324.5 yards and 14 touchdowns.

- Karl Ayotte was a phenom on the ground breaking the rushing yards record with 1,737 yards rushing and 24 touchdowns.

- Guard Topher Scott helped paved the way on the offense line with 48 blocks and rarely (if any) sacks given up.

- TE T Bone alslo had a solid performance with 310.5 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns and he also picked up a fumble and took it for the score in the Barrie Baycats game.

- SS Edward Bellamy had a fine first season with 42 tackles, 2 interceptions (1 for a touchdown) and 1 fumble recovery.

- Kicker Mario Boomer rose to the occassion in the wake of the loss of Troy Westwood. Boomer hit 30 of 36 field goals but the majority of his work was done kicking extra points as he nailed 144 of 151 for a new Ballers record.

- The CBs also shined as well with Jose Foster having 1 interception returned for a touchdown, 4 hurries, 2 sacks, 10 PDs and a fumble recovery. Joe Gott broke the single season record for defensive touchdowns with 4 interceptions returned for a touchdown. Joe had two more interceptions and also 33 PD's and was a huge shutdown corner, rarely giving up passes. Rhys Clennon tied the single season interception record with 10 (with 2 going for the score) as well as adding 36 PD's into the mix.

The newcomers to the Ballers played a tremendous role in this very successful regular season.

Ground Attack

This was the most dominating year on the ground rushing for the Ballers in franchise history and it all started with the acquisition of RB Karl Ayotte. Jesse Lumsden watched his single season rushing yards record get broken not only once, but twice as him and Ayotte both broke it, combining for over 3,000 yards rushing. Ayotte finished the season in the lead with 1,737 yards. Lumsden also saw his rushing touchdowns record get broken but that was by himself who snatched up 27 touchdowns on the ground (plus 4 in the air) while Ayotte had 24 rushing touchdowns. What a year to run the football!

From J to Z

No one would have expected Ryan Betesta's records for receiving yards and touchdowns to get broken so quickly and especially not by a 1st year Baller but that's what happened. Jupp Zupp was the last addition of the Ballers wide receiving year but he proved to make an impact right away and was a favorite target for Khari Jones. Jupp Zupp caught the ball 102 times for 1,533 yards and 16 touchdowns, both new Ballers records. Jupp Zupp was an integral part in leading this offensive receiving team and was a gamebreaker on a number of occassions.

I'm McLovin' It!!

Season 4 was the year of Derek Pacheco but this season was all Speed McLovin' as he returned to form leading the team (and breaking single season records) in tackles, hurries, sacks and forced fumbles. This season there was no defensive player that played a bigger impact than Speed McLovin'. McLovin' finished the season with 103 tackles, 38 sacks, 47 hurries, 5 forced fumbles and a safety!

Ballers Beat Drinkin'

For the first time in the storied rivalry of these two teams, going all the way back to the AA days, the Ballers finally beat Drinkin' in week 10 of the regular season. After losing close contests in previous years including a 17-16 loss in the season 1 playoffs and a 35-31 loss in the 2nd round of the last years playoffs, the Ballers were destined to win this one. The Ballers took an early 13-7 lead into the locker room at the half but two quick scores in the 3rd put the Hellraisers up 20-13 but a Beast Baily interception returned for a touchdown would tie the game up going into the fourth. The two teams would battle for position and with 1:44 left on the clock, Mario Boomer kicked a 48 yard field goal that proved to be decisive as the Ballers beat the Hellraisers.

Shoes Filled

Many people were concerned about the arrival of Mario Boomer, formerly of the Nigerian Nightmares. How would he do compared to former kicker Troy Westwood? Could he do just as well? Westwood holds most of the Ballers kicking records and Mario Boomer did a mighty fine job as his replacement and broke the single season extra points records as the Ballers scored 151 touchdowns and Boomer hit 144 of their extra points. Boomer also hit 30 of 36 field goals and held his own as a member of the Ballers organization.

1 Quarter from Beating Moose Jaw

It was 1 quarter away from being the biggest upset of the year but once again, it wasn't meant to be. The Ballers would take the early lead into the with a 13-3 lead at the half. The Ballers would add a field goal and a touchdown off a Joe Gott interception while the Fightin' Hobos would only add a field goal and it was a 23-6 lead at the end of the third. The Hobos would rally in the 4th with a ferocious defense attack scoring a field goal and 4 touchdowns, 2 of which came in the final two minutes and one off a Khari Jones interception to take a 33-26 victory and edge out the Ballers in the darkest day of the season for the Ballers.

Home for the Playoffs

For the 3rd straight season, the Ballers will get a chance to play host to a home playoff game in the first round. Ironically, the Ballers are also undefeated at home in the first round of the playoffs winning against North Delta last season (also ironically, they beat North Delta earlier in the season such as the same as their opponent today, the JOBC). Unfortunately for the Ballers, it is unlikely that they will see anymore home games in the playoffs since they are the #4 seed and it would take some miracles for the Baller fans to see them at home again but you never know.

Defense Generals Hold Admirals

BLACKSBURG, VA - Thanks to the play of some fantastic defense, the Ballers improved to 3-1 this afternoon with a 33-3 sloshing of the Victoria Admirals. The Admirals were held in check with just 175.5 yards total as Rexy Grossman posted a season low 57.5% completion rate for just 145 yards.

The Ballers also held them to 30.5 yards rushing on 26 carries, a 1.2 yard per carry average. This added more pressure to Grossman who was hurried 3 times and sacked 4 times, 3 by Speed McLovin' and 1 by DT Mike Flores, as he just couldn't get anything going for the Admirals.

"I was on a mission today and it is safe to say that the mission was a success. We put the pressure on him and made him make mistakes and you see the results of that in a great victory as this train keeps on chugging," DE Speed McLovin'.

With today's performance of 7 tackles and 3 sacks, Speed McLovin' has topped his best season performance of 11 sacks in season #2 with his 10th, 11th and 12th sack today. McLovin' is on pace to break Derek Pacheco's sack record of 29 and if McLovin' keeps at this pace, he could reach the 40's. Derek Pacheco is currently 2nd on the team with 6 sacks.

Another man who is no stranger to the big play is Beast Baily who pulled in only his 2nd interception of the season today but he took it all the way for the score, the 9th Ballers interception for touchdown this season and 12th defensive touchdown over all. This is Baily's 5th career TD and 26th career interception.

"It's nice to be able to kick them while they're down and this touchdown certainly gave us the breathing room that we needed to win this game. There ain't nothing better than returning an interception for a touchdown and we've been having fun doing this all season," CB Beast Baily.

The Ballers offense was no slouch today either as the boys with the ball totaled 387 yards, 120 on the ground and 267 in the air and combined for two scores. Khari Jones completed his 19th touchdown of the season with 5 minutes to go in the 2nd to James Vita for his 2nd touchdown of the season.

Khari is currently on top of the CPL leaderboard with 19 touchdowns and 0 interceptions through the first quarter of the schedule. Much of this can be attributed to the improved play of the offensive line who have only allowed 5 hurries and 3 sacks in the first 4 games and have done a fantastic job protecting the QB.

"It's our job to protect the QB and if we don't do it, we don't win football games. It doesn't get any simpler than that. We've made some improvements in the past few games and its really working well and Khari's staying on his feet and engineering touchdown drives," OT Henry George.

The Ballers better hope that Khari continues to engineer those drives cause they've got two of the toughest matches in their schedule coming up when they face the North Delta Huskies and Jebediah's Oblong Ball club. The Ballers beat the Huskies twice last season with a 41-38 victory and then 38-26 victory in the first round of the playoffs. This will be the first time that the Ballers travel to North Delta and they shouldn't be expecting a very warm welcome after last season's results.

Victoria Admirals Game Top Ten Plays

Here are your top ten plays:

10. Khari finds T Bone wide open for a 24.5 yard gain
http://goallineblitz.com/game/replay.pl?game_id=140562&pbp_id=3179812

9. Baron Von Gomez forces the fumble on the kickoff and Phuck Mizzou is there to recover it
http://goallineblitz.com/game/replay.pl?game_id=140562&pbp_id=3180589

8. On 3rd and 2.5, Jordan Jones is in the backfield to stop the running back for a loss of 3
http://goallineblitz.com/game/replay.pl?game_id=140562&pbp_id=3180152

7. Jesse Lumsden pounds the ball in for the .5 yard score and a 27-3 lead
http://goallineblitz.com/game/replay.pl?game_id=140562&pbp_id=3179950

6. Karl Ayotte breaks to the outside on the pitch and goes long for 34.5 yards
http://goallineblitz.com/game/replay.pl?game_id=140562&pbp_id=3179002

5. Mario Boomer nails a 57 yarder to go up 33-3
http://goallineblitz.com/game/replay.pl?game_id=140562&pbp_id=3180566

4. On 3rd and 4, Speed McLovin' adds his 3rd sack of the game
http://goallineblitz.com/game/replay.pl?game_id=140562&pbp_id=3180444

3. On 3rd and 14, Khari goes deep and finds Landon Swifty for a 29.5 yard catch
http://goallineblitz.com/game/replay.pl?game_id=140562&pbp_id=3179703

2. Ballers get their first TD of the game as Khari Jones connects to James Vita for a 20.5 yard TD score and a 10-3 lead
http://goallineblitz.com/game/replay.pl?game_id=140562&pbp_id=3179544

1. Beast Baily comes up with a big interception that he takes back to the house for a 17-3 lead
http://goallineblitz.com/game/replay.pl?game_id=140562&pbp_id=3179625

Ballers Exorcise Their Demons

After last week's dismal performance against the Yukon Gold Rush, the Ballers didn't need much inspiration to improve on their lacklustre performance. One man in particular was Khari Jones who could only get better after completing a career worst 40% and 94 yards. Khari and company bounced back in what can only be described as a brutal curbstomping of the Fhockey.com Demons.

A team that lost 16-10 to the Yukon Gold Rush and another team that lost by 7 points to each the Huskies and the Oblong Ball Club did not look like the teams that they have been the past few weeks. The Ballers, appeared very energized and having luck on their side, totalled 777 yards and 11 touchdowns. The Demons appeared flat and got lucky in the end to score two touchdowns but were trailing at the end of the 3rd, 70-7, and ended the game with 12.5 yards rushing and 21 points.

Much of today's success was attributed to the uprising of the Ballers receiving corps. Following the departure of Chris Barlow, the WR's knew it was time to put up or shut up and man did they ever put up.

Khari Jones led the charge for the Ballers striking in the first 5 minutes to new TE T Bone. Khari would spread the love around 8 more times to James Vita, Wayne Chrebet, Landon Swifty, Jupp Zupp and Dirk Illicious. In fact, every receiver and tight end got a touchdown as Khari went 25 of 33 for 433.5 yards and 9 touchdowns.

"As a team today, we just feeled it. I could have never expected this kind of result after how good this time played us last season but we're a better team and we proved it today. We're back to playing ball the way we like to play ball and it paid big dividends today," Quarterback Khari Jones.

Not to be outdone, the Ballers rushing game also took off today as well with Karl Ayotte breaking out two big runs, a 71.5 yard touchdown run and another 44 yard run on his way to a 220 yard total day. Jesse Lumsden also chipped in for 113.5 on 14 carries and the two would combine for 333.5 yards on 37 carries for an 8.8 yard per carry average.

The Ballers defense also came to play holding the Demons to 12.5 yards on the ground. They recorded 3 sacks, 2 by Speed McLovin' and 1 by Phuck Mizzou. Rhys Clennon would be the big hero recording back to back interceptions late in the 3rd that would both lead to big TD passes to Jupp Zupp. Baron Von Gomez would score the only Ballers defensive touchdown as he recovered a Silent Earth fumble and returned it 83.5 yards for the score.

The Ballers will host the Victoria Admirals next. The two teams squared off late last year as the Ballers dominated them 36-10. Khari Jones completed 74% of his passes including 4 touchdowns, 3 to former Ballers WR Ryan Betesta. Jesse Lumsden would add in the 5th touchdown and a safety from Big Daddy Hawkeye would complete the scoring. The Ballers defense had a big day holding them to only 243.5 yards of total offense and will look to be doing that again come game time.

Ballers Fall to Gold Rush Again

BLACKSBURG, VA - Another defensive struggle once again laid the Ballers down to rest, marking the first loss of the season at the hands of the Yukon Gold Rush for the 2nd straight year. A slight improvement over last season, the Ballers managed to put up 10 points in a 16-10 defeat with a field goal by Mario Boomer and a 6.5 yard touchdown strike from Khari Jones to Chris Barlow.

"It's a frustrating loss because we really prepared for this game and thought that we finally had the edge but just got hampered by a solid defense. There were a lot of mistakes all around, balls I overthrew, underthrew, passes getting deflected and dropped and it just added up to us not being able to move the ball effeciently enough to win the game," Quarterback Khari Jones.

The lack of a strong passing attack was truly the story of the game as Khari Jones posted a career low completion percentage of 40.7% completing 11 of 27 passes for 94 yards, 1 score and no interceptions. The running game did manage to get going with Karl Ayotte and Jesse Lumsden combining for 127 yards on 31 carries but two fumbles lost ended any momentum that those two were gaining. Some poor strategy choices also came back to haunt the Ballers as two unsucessful fourth down attempts while near enemy range would prove to be fatal for the Ballers.

"Certainly looking back now, its easy to say that we shouldn't have gone for it and taken the points which I totally agree. It was a hindsight error move on my part with our aggressive strategy. The 4th and 6 attempt was just out of field goal range so I thought it'd be worth the risk, the 4th and half a yard is something we should be able to convert but didn't. And then in the 4th when we went for it and fumbled, that's just bad luck. I've learned from my mistakes and we will take a less aggressive stand in the future. It is important to note though that this aggressive has won us many games so far and lost us very few," Offensive Co-ordinator Ryan Betesta.

While the Ballers offense was having its hands full, the Ballers defense continued its bend but don't break approach as it allowed 432 points but only 16 points on 3 field goals and a 60 yard pass immediately following the Ballers first score. The defense also recorded a sack and Aaron Wilson recorded his 2nd interception in a great showing by this Ballers defense.

The Ballers will travel next to play the Fhockey.com Demons and try to get back on the winning track with an explosive passing attack once again. Wide Receivers Landon Swifty and Wayne Chrebet are intent on stepping up and making sure that this kind of passing attack will not happen again. Last season against the Demons, it was all defense as they only allowed .5 a yard rushing and recorded 5 sacks as the offense did just enough to emerge victorious by a score of 17-3.

Ballers Welcome Gold Rush for Home Opener

BLACKSBURG, VA - It's been just over a full season since the last time these two teams met but when the Ballers and Gold Rush take the field later today, there will be no love lost between these former AAA teams.

In last season's defensive struggle, the Gold Rush edged the Ballers out 14-7 in the first Ballers loss in the CPL. This was the lowest score that the Ballers would post all season long, the only time they fell under 17 points and the 2nd lowest combined total points in a game throughout the entire season. The Ballers were held to 205.5 total yards, of which 24 were rushing yards. TD Owens had the only touchdown as he caught a 10.5 yard pass in the first 3 minutes to get the only score of the game for the Ballers. Defenses would step up and each force an interception and the Ballers would record a fumble recovery.

The Ballers are hoping for a different outcome this time around and based on the very successful preseason, with wins over OOTP and Arctic Bay, they have to be feeling like they are in good position to beat the Gold Rush.

"It's going to be a tough match cause it always is when we play Yukon. We haven't beaten them before and its time for that to change. This years team is better than ever before and we're going to give it our all and hopefully walk away with a W." Quarterback Khari Jones.

Last week, the Ballers opened the regular season in dominant fashion, taking on the former Renegade Pirates, the Hudson Bay Baby Seals. The Ballers got it done on all sides of the ball scoring 16 rushing touchdowns, 8 passing touchdowns, 11 punt returns for touchdowns, 8 interceptions returned for touchdowns and 2 fumbles recovered for touchdowns. They also added two field goals as they destroyed the Baby Seals in a rude welcome to the CPL.

As the Ballers prepare for their toughest challenge of the first half of the schedule, its going to be up to the offense to step up and take control of this game. The Gold Rush lost the first game in sloppy fashion, committing no turnovers, having more yards than their opponent and not being able to get the job done as the Jebediah's Oblong Ball Club beat them out 20-16. If the Ballers offense can get rolling, they can put this game out of reach in the first half.

Arctic Bay Yetis Top Ten Plays

10. Wayne Chrebet gets the ball in his hands 3.5 yards short of the goal line on this 21.5 yard catch

9. Jesse Lumsden takes it in for his 2nd score of the game on a 5 yard pitch

8. Beast Baily gets his 3rd interception of the preseason and Fitzgerald's third thrown of the game as we enter the final minute of play

7. Big Gravy stops Tony Carreno in his tracks half a yard short of the first down on this 3rd down conversion attempt

6. Jamarcus Fitzgerald is picked off for the second time in the game as Gordon D'arcy gets in the way of a pass intended for former Baller Ryan Betesta

5. The Yetis attempt the pass on 4th and 1 and Silent Earth picks up where he left off last season, forcing the fumble which Michael Beasley recovers to turn the ball over

4. Derek Pacheco maneuvers around the o-linemen and comes down the middle to sack Jamarcus Fitzgerald

3. Khari finds the endzone for the first time today as he and Wayne Chrebet hook up for a 14 yard score

2. 2nd play of the game and Jamarcus Fitzgerald is picked off by Joe Gott deep in Yetis territory. This is his 2nd interception of the preseason

1. Jesse Lumsden breaks down the middle of the field and jukes his way to a 62.5 yard touchdown run to put the Ballers up 12-3