1957 Playoffs: Division Finals

West Division Final: Detroit Knights @ Cincinnati Rivermen
Cincinnati had a relatively perfect December day for playoff football, with both teams’ faithful packing River Field for what many are dubbing the “real championship game”. Both teams were arguably the best in the league, but they both will need to win this game at least to have a shot at winning the title. Detroit is a newcomer to these parts, where a win would take them to their first title game. A win for Cincinnati would take them to their third straight.

Q1
Cincinnati decided that they wanted to get a headstart over the Knights and elected to receive the opening kickoff. The Rivs managed to gain some ground and took up a good chunk of the first quarter, but were stopped shortly after crossing midfield. Instead of lining up for a fairly long field goal, Cincinnati punted it off to Detroit to work their way out of being deep in their own territory. The Knights were unable to dig themselves out of that hole, and Cincinnati was back within their own territory. They quickly got to work, as QB Lester Parker hit WR Alfred Dunn on the sideline for a 22 yard gain to finally get the game going. RB Perry Ferguson got the ball twice to set the Rivermen up on the 10 yard line, and one play later Parker found WR Jimmy Woods in the back of the endzone for the first score of the game. Detroit would get good field position on an excellent return by Dakota Cochrane, and stood a few dozen yards from scoring range. After a toss play on first down went nowhere and an incompletion on second, the Knights were saved on a pass interference to put them with the leg of K David McGinnis. McGinnis’ kick just barely got over the crossbar for three. Cincinnati would get right up to the first down on their first play of the drive, but the Knights held firm and forced another punt. The Knights’ next drive was pretty much more of the same, a great return by

1957 Playoffs: Division Semi-Finals

West Division Semifinal: St Louis Stallions @ Detroit Knights
Kaiser Field welcomed fans for postseason football for the first time since before the second World War, and they showed up in droves to watch their Knights finally play for something. It was just above freezing at gametime, with the grounds crew dealing with the remaining snow as the fans poured in. Although some St Louis fans were found in the grandstands, their cheers were quickly drowned out by a raucous Detroit crowd.

Q1
Detroit would get the ball first, and were eager to keep the crowd with a good first outing. Even though QB Mike Major was ready to go back out as the starter, the Knights would continue to ride the hot hand of Mick Casey for their first AFL playoff game. Casey dropped back on the first play of the game, and threw a dart over the middle to WR Pat Kimball, who bounced off two defenders and broke free but got winded and was taken down for a nearly 60 yard reception. The Stallions were clearly rattled by the first play, as the Knights waltzed in two plays later on an 8 yard rush from RB Jesse Brown. St Louis faced an early third and short on their ensuing drive, but the handoff to the outside would get stopped at the line of scrimmage. The Knights would not be able to follow up on their first drive, leaving both teams in a defensive stalemate. St Louis would seem to break through, as RB Spike Roosevelt broke free from his own 20 yard line before getting tripped up at midfield. The Stallions would continue to run the ball, but on the next play RB Kevin Knox had trouble getting the handoff and flung the ball ahead of him. Detroit would come up with the ball in prime territory to go ahead by two scores. They would inch their way down over the next few plays, but two deep shots to the endzone sailed incomplete to force K David McGinnis onto the field. McGinnis was automatic from 24 yards out, and the Knights would p

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New year, new team, new league. The Thunderbirds are ready to take on the new Continental League for another successful year, starting with a familiar foe in the Los Angeles Condors. They're also trying to make something of the new league they were placed in, but taking us on at home will be a tough challenge. Leading off for us this year is our  star SS Elly De La Cruz, who hit .259/.339/.471 for 25 home runs, 76 RBI's and a league-leading 67 stolen bases. #Thunderstruck