Game Preview: Week #12 Moose Island Sofa Kings @ Blacksburg Ballers

Moose Island Sofa Kings (6-4)
@
Blacksburg Ballers (10-0)

The hits just keep on coming for the Blacksburg Ballers as they return home once again with their undefeated season still in tact. With 6 games to go, the Ballers have matched their second season total of 10 wins and are a likely candidate to host their first home playoff game. With a victory this week and either a Raiders or Anglers loss, Blacksburg will lock up a playoff spot for the third straight season. The Ballers have a tough challenge ahead of them this week as they take on the Moose Island Sofa Kings. The Sofa Kings are only 6-4 but have faced a tough opening schedule and which includes a victory over Phoenixville but losses to Thunder Bay, Forumopolis and Mt. Oread. The victory against the Kings has people talking but the losses against other top teams have the critics believing that the Sofa Kings really can't handle the top teams and this could be another easy victory for the Ballers.

The History...

The Ballers and Sofa Kings met early in season 2 and it was a defensive struggle. The Ballers held the the Sofa Kings to 88 yards in the air and forced 3 interceptions, 2 by Beast Baily, as QB Jimmy Internet completed only 44 percent of his passes. Khari Jones had his share of troubles on the offensive side of the ball throwing 32 incompletions of which 21 were deflected and 9 were dropped but managed to throw 1 touchdown when needed as the Ballers shut out the Sofa Kings 16-0.

Team Stats

Blacksburg Ballers

Points Per Game: 47.6 (3rd in League)
Points Allowed Per Game: 7.6 (3rd in League)
Passing Yards Per Game: 281.6
Passing Yards Allowed Per Game: 197.8
Rushing Yards Per Game: 167.8
Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game: 33.1 (No Touchdowns Allowed)

Moose Island Sofa Kings

Points Per Game: 38.8
Points Allowed Per Game: 11.4
Passing Yards Per Game: 239
Passing Yards Allowed Per Game: 164.2
Rushing Yards Per Game: 197.4 (1st in League)
Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game: 79.2

*The Moose Island Sofa Kings have a higher passing yards and rushing yards per game than the Forumopolis Fighting Llamas but also have give up more on defense.*

Key Ballers

Beast Baily

The Interception Machine of the past two seasons has been slightly shadowed by the outstanding performances of his fellow CBs but Baily still has the potential to break out any game and last season, he had two interceptions against the Sofa Kings and is hungry for much more. A dominating passing attack that could give the Ballers trouble, Jimmy Internet can not be taken lightly.

Speed McLovin' and the D-line

Speed McLovin' has been slightly quiet as of late but has the opportunity to make a big game out of this one. The Sofa Kings post the best rushing attack in the league but so did Thunder Bay and the Ballers had no trouble shutting down their run. These of course, are slightly skewed numbers cause the Sofa Kings put up most of those numbers against the Trojans. Don't take them lightly though, because they can break out but Speed and company are hoping to contain them. This defensive line has not allowed a rushing touchdown this season and Forumopolis had many opportunities to do so but had the door slammed in their face.

Jesse Lumsden

Now the holder of many rushing records here in Blacksburg, Jesse is really starting to come together and bringing the rushing game back to Blacksburg. Although only posting 65 yards against Forumopolis, that is higher than the average that they allowed and he had a few crucial third down conversions. Lumsden has the potential to break out at any moment and could be a difference maker in this one.

TouchdownsOnly Owens

Its not easy being #2 in a receiving corps like this but TD Owens has stepped into the spotlight on numerous occassions, including the last game where he had 4 catches for 59 yards a TD but was overshadowed by Ryan Betesta who had 148 yards receiving. Owens is a threat every time he touches the ball and is known to take the long ball to the house, posting 543.5 yards this season and 6 TDs but has an amazing 13.9 yard average on his 39 receptions.

Record Watch

Jesse Lumsden is two touchdowns away from tying another of Alex Casino's records, this one for rushing touchdowns. The Ballers have proven their dominance as a pass first offense but in Lumsden could break out for a long one or could take advantage of the redzone to bring in the scores and the record.

Beast Baily is still 6 pass deflections away from breaking his record for pass deflections in a season but could see it happen in this game or the next. Beast is also 2 away from tying his single season interceptino record.

Las Vegas Projections

The projections for this game is a 25-12 Ballers victory. The Las Vegas oddsmakers are pretty damn good at this as they predicted a 32-9 Ballers victory over Forumopolis and the final was 30-10. Other notable games include the Mt. Oread Hawk Stars projected to beat the Thunder Bay Storm, 14-13.

The Ballers look to continue their winning ways after an impressive showing against the Forumopolis Fighting Llamas that saw the offense clicking better than ever and the defense making the plays that it needed to with some big stops in the redzone. This is a matchup that they can not overlook but confidence is running high in Blacksburg and another big victory could be on the way.