Pdoug20 and the Twisters caught us napping in week 15. Good job.

GEECHEE RALLY PAST WILD LATE

Edward Jackson threw TD passes to Carlos Best and Clyde Simons in the final five minutes to lift Charleston past Milwaukee in an entertaining wild card contest Monday night. Trailing 36-27 with 5:30 remaining, the Geechee set about scoring on a quick 4-play drive that saw Best pull in a 51-yard scoring reception. After forcing the Wild into just their second punt of the game, the Geechee didn’t have to wait long as Jackson found Simons for 61 yards on the first play from scrimmage. The Wild made it just across midfield before firing an interception on their final try of the game.
Jackson finished with 325 passing yards and touchdown throws to 5 different Charleston receivers. The performance spoiled a 505-yard offensive performance by the Wild, who ran for three touchdowns, including two by James Wood. Wood and Phillip Gordon both scored on the ground during a 20-0 second quarter that seemingly put the Wild in control. Edward Rodiguez finished with 397 passing yards for the Wild, but couldn’t find the end zone with any of his 34 completions.
Charleston heads to Canton to face the Crush next. Oddsmakers have installed Canton as a 2-point chalk in the contest. Elswehere on wild card night…

Assassins 15, Crusaders 12…Blake King’s 38-yard field goal just after the 2-minute warning was the difference in his kicking duel with California’s Lloyd Braun. Between them, the two placekickers connected on nine field goals in the contest. California jumped to a 9-3 lead midway through the second quarter as Braun hit from 38, 53 and 49 yards out. But King connected on a 20-yard chip just before the half to make it 9-6 at intermission. He’d add another short 26 yarder to knot the contest with six and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter. Braun kicked the Crusaders back into the lead late in the third with a 17-yard shot, but the Crusaders would not get another good opportunity in the game. King converted from 25 yards out with just under 7 minutes to play to tie the contest once again and set up the late-game winner. The Assassins head to Glendora, to face the Dragons who are favored by 8.

Spartans 15, Witches 13…Milton Sheets shook off the snow and 21-degree kickoff temp to kick the Toronto Spartans into the next round with a 15-13 win over the Salem Witches. Sheets’ 35-yard kick with just over 7 minutes remaining ended up being the game winner. He also had kicks of 28, 26, 25, and 30 yards in the game as Toronto repeatedly flamed out just short of the end zone on offense. Salem missed short on a 59-yard field goal attempt in the final minute, but drew a second life when Charles Donohoe knocked the ball away from Maurice Glennon to set up the Witches at the Toronto 43 with 36 seconds remaining and the Witches holding all 3 of their time outs still. But hope is a fickle beast and Salem fans watched in horror as John Dustin stepped in front of Jonathan Embree’s pass attempt seconds later to salvage the Spartans’ season. Embree had thrown an interception with 5 minutes to play near midfield as the Witches tried to answer Miles’ go-ahead kick. Toronto travels to face Tallahassee next.

Americans 30, Kings 3…Alexander Thomas threw for three touchdown passes and the Rochester defense held Lyon to just 157 yards of offense as the Americans marched through the Kings with ease. Thomas finished with 284 yards through the air on 26-for-30 passing in the night’s only game that didn’t give fans heartburn in the fourth quarter. Their reward is a road trip to two-time defending champion Parlor City.

Does not bode well.

Merry New Year

Toronto looks like a team of destiny!
We've got our work cut out for us this week to be sure!

HOME TEAMS ROLL TO NEXT ROUND

Four games, four wins by the home teams in the second round of the 2029 EFL Playoffs. Three of the four games were decided by margins greater than 3 touchdowns as the nervous moments of wild card week faded into the background.

Talons 26, Spartans 14…James Herrin threw for 282 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Tallahassee scored a 12-point win over Toronto in the closest of the night’s games. Francis Jimerson added a touchdown to go along with 64 yards on the ground. The Talons jumped in front 17-0 after 17 minutes of play and never allowed the Spartans to get closer than nine points. Nathaniel Finley threw for 245 yards in the loss for the Spartans, including an 84-yard scoring strike to Russell Vera.
Phantoms 38, Americans 15…Two-time defending champion Parlor City began its latest appearance in the playoffs in style, outgaining Rochester 458-226 to win comfortably. Tony Strait threw for 314 yards and four touchdowns , including a pair of strikes to Edward Huff. Huff also ran in for a score to give him a scoring hat trick. Daniel Dehner kicked five field goals to account for all of the Americans’ points.
Dragons 28, Assassins 3…David Puddy hooked up with Joseph Overholt three times for touchdown passes and John Claypoole bulled his way across the goal line from 2 yards out as Glendora got past Columbus City. The Puddy-Overholt connection fired on plays of 25 and 17 yards in the first half as the Dragons built a 14-0 lead by intermission. After a Blake King 29-yard kick put the Assassins on the board midway through the third quarter, the pair linked up for a 94-yard thunderbolt that Columbus City never recovered from. Puddy finished with 217 yards, 136 of which went to Overholt, whose only catches came for scores. Claypoole added 130 yards along the ground.
Crush 33, Geechee 9…Canton shook off the effects of 3 late-season losses to storm past Charleston and into the conference championship game. Keith Scott found Kevin Sanchez from 42 yards out just over 5 minutes into the contest to open the scoring for Canton, which tacked on 3 field goals for a 16-0 lead before Charleston scored on a kick as time expired in the first half. Armando Lang added a 10-yard TD run just two and a half minutes into second half action to press the Crush lead further. Sanchez ran in from a yard out for the final Crush points of the game. In all, Scott was 22-for-29 for 283 yards in the contest.

Congrats Phantoms. Good luck the rest of the way

I appreciate it. You have probably one of the best RB squads in the league. It's always a difficult time in thought when we face you.

REMATCH MODE ENGAGED; DRAGONS AND PHANTOMS TO MEET AGAIN

For the second consecutive season, the Parlor City Phantoms and Glendora Dragons will meet to determine the Elite Football League title. This after both teams advanced to the championship contest relatively effortlessly in their respective conference finals.

In the Stars Conference final, Tony Strait opened the scoring for the Phantoms with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Steve Phillips just over six minutes into the contest. Edward Huff added a 5-yard run later in the period and Leroy Rivera scrambled in from 12 yards out late in the second quarter to give the Phantoms a 21-0 advantage.

Justin McCord’s 54-yard field just before the half got Tallahassee on the scoreboard, but the score failed to provide the team with a needed spark. Rivera added another TD run to put the Phantoms up 28-3 late in the third period before the Talons offense finally found its stride.

James Herrin hit Robert Hayden for a 68-yard strike that was sandwiched between McCord field goals of 30 and 45 yards. That trimmed the gap to 28-15 with just under 8 minutes to play. But the rally would end there as Fernando Ruelas’ sack of Herrin in the end zone gave the game its final 30-15 score. Rivera finished with 132 yards rushing and 247 all-purpose yards in all. Strait threw for 305 yards as the Phantoms are one victory away from their third consecutive title.

In the Stripes Conference title game, Glendora owned a 547-170 yardage advantage as the Dragons cruised past the Crush by a 24-3 final. The game was slow in the early going with neither team able to find the scoreboard until David Puddy linked up with Jeffrey Titus from 28 yards out with just over 7 minutes remaining before halftime.

The 7-0 lead would hold up through the remainder of the half, but fans were barely back from their midgame concessions run when Puddy and Joseph Overholt connected for 77 yards just seconds after play resumed to double the lead.

Canton’s points came with just under 2 minutes remaining in the third on a William Mertens 35-yard field goal after an interception set the team up in the red zone. Glendora quickly responded with Puddy’s third touchdown throw of the night with less than 13 minutes remaining in the game. Stephen Riley added a 32-yard field goal late to give the game its final margin.

Puddy ended his night with 433 yards passing. John Claypoole had 192 all-purpose yards to fuel the Dragons’ attack.

Elite Bowl 13 will now feature a replay of last year’s championship encounter, which saw the Phantoms score a 48-21 victory. Appropriately, Parlor City has been established as a 5-point favorite going into that title contest. Glendora is looking for its fifth EFL championship banner.

GG pickle/Crush, thought it might turn when Pud slipped about 1/2 way into the dumpster in the 2nd half, throwing the picks, but the defense picked up the slack for him. Claypoole continues to be the diff maker for our offense, both running & receiving. Normally, if a receiver is showing less than 40% catch I will either move him down in the order or bench him.... Joe "O" has 4 catches out of 13 targets in the playoffs.... but all 4 catches have been taken to the house. Congrats on a strong season and another contention for the CC & LC next season Pick!

GDB as always you best me again haha. Ill figure you out one of these days, but until then you will continue to dominate me. Your defense is insane and your passing game might be even more insane. GG and GL in the Elite Bowl.