1955 Season Preview

Schedule

Power Rankings 

1 - Ottawa Royals
1954 Record: 6-4
1954 Result: Won McCallister Cup
In the past few seasons, the championship-winning team has had a bit of a set back in the following season, but it will be tough to see that for an amazing Ottawa team. The Royals continue to boast the top offense by a long shot with a strong OL, a solid RB, and the best QB-WR combo. WR Chester Bennett will enter his second season and will be the 3rd WR on the team with the retirement of WR Eugene Burns in the offseason. Bennett should make for an interesting player to watch this season. Their defense saw some minor improvement with the addition of Rouge veterans DL Jean-Michel Duchane and DB Anothony Massey and the ever-improving young talents in DL Olaf Viktorsson and DB Mingan Oliver. The Royals will be a tough team to take down once again and should contend to be the first team to repeat since the Independents in 1949 and `50.

Player to Watch: WR Chester Bennett
Biggest Acquisition: QB Bruce Woodard
Rookie to Watch: WR Mackenzie Jones 

2 - Buffalo Blue Wings
1954 Record: 7-2-1
1954 Result: Lost Semi-Finals
Despite finishing with the best record in the league last season, the Blue Wings were not able to stop the Royals in the playoffs and came away with a disappointing result. GM/HC Bobby Hooper went back to the office and made some interesting moves. He would orchestrate a major 3-team deal that would acquire DB Ollie Guy and a younger WR Nathan Green. Guy should make an immediate impact next to DB Dylan Alston. While they would lose longtime Blue Wings WR Travis Gallagher in the deal, they end up with WR Samuel Floyd arriving to take over and give QB Angelo Medina a new weapon on offense. The defense remains strong with DL Sean Bowen staying with the team and the acquisition of Ollie Guy. 

Player to Watch: WR Samuel Floyd
Biggest Acquisition: DB Ollie Guy
Rookie to Watch: DB Lou Lake 

3 - Worcester Athletics
1954 Record: 5-5
1954 Result: Missed Playoffs
HC Emil Riddle took the Athletics from bottomfeeders to just missing out on a playoff appearance in his first season at the helm. Entering his second year, his team looks the most competitive they have ever looked. They made a major overhaul of the OL with former Independents James Chambers and Randy McFadden joining the team alongside 4th overall pick Magnus Gunnersson. QB Riley Kiernan and WRs Christain Venegas and Clyde McIntosh will be a force again this season which doesn’t leave Worcester too far behind the Royals. Their defense gets some help with depth coming from DB Eugene Christensen and DL Reilly Cooper. The most interesting piece, however, will be LB Harrison Bennett who fell to the second round because of rumoured character issues. Bennett could become a great piece as long as he stays in line and keeps his focus on the field. It will likely be the job of LB Scotty Williams to take Bennett under his wing and keep him from getting out of control. Overall, Worcester looks like the favourite to win the New England Division.

Player to Watch: LB Scotty Williams
Biggest Acquisition: OL Randy McFadden
Rookie to Watch: LB Harrison Bennett 

4 - Ontario Tigers
1954 Record: 5-5
1954 Result: Missed Playoffs
Despite having their best season in team history last season, the Tigers left with disappointment. They had the best chance to make the playoffs heading into week 10 but still managed to miss. This season the team is determined to make it there. GM Joseph Johnson went out and got a plethora of veterans and players that could make a difference this season. Most notably WR John Rivera and DL Napoléon Chevalier from Montreal. With those players, the Tigers improve with their youth starting to reach their prime. Their D-line will get a youth injection as well with DL Dee Floyd and DL Olympus Heights battling it out for starting minutes this season. However, the big story will likely be that of QB Duane Logan who enters the final year of his contract. The 35-year-old has been a big part of the rebuild for the Tigers, but once again he finds himself with a younger talent behind him that the team could go to next season. It will mean Logan will have to prove his abilities this season as another missed playoffs could leave the former All-Star without a spot next season. 

Player to Watch: QB Duane Logan
Biggest Acquisition: DL Napoléon Chevalier
Rookie to Watch: DL Olympus Heights/DL Dee Floyd 

5 - Providence Gold Stars
1954 Record: 4-6
1954 Results: Missed Playoffs
The Gold Stars fell far from their 9-1 1953 season. They missed the playoffs last year for the first time and it was clearly time for a change. Many changes have happened so far since the 9-1 season and it leaves Providence as a complete wildcard. QB Connor O’Rourke will be handed the keys this season and will be quite the story to watch this season. The snaps that we have seen of the 24-year-old have been very promising, so hope is high for the Providence fans. With the excitement surrounding O’Rourke, many are overlooking the other possible issues with the Gold Stars roster. There still are some holes as the team is certainly not what it once was. They still managed to bring on some interesting pieces with their new S Marvin Tillman who will take the reins on the back end. They also got younger with 2nd overall selection DL Calias McDonough and DB Will Atkinson. But there are still many concerns about Providence being able to get back to what they once were.

Player to Watch: QB Connor O’Rourke
Biggest Acquisition: S Marvin Tillman
Rookie to Watch: DL Calias McDonough 

6 - Montreal Rouge
1954 Record: 6-4
1954 Result: Lost Semi-Finals
Montreal is an intriguing team this season. They had one of the biggest overhauls this offseason with the team going into full rebuild mode. Most, if not, all their main veterans had retired, were released, or traded. They brought in a great many young players to start the rebuild as quickly as possible, GM/HC Guy Clarke is not a fan of losing and wants to get the team back to winning as soon as he can. With all of that, there are some interesting pieces that will be fun to watch this seasons. Most notably being QB Lee Rogers who was acquired from Long Island. The former #1 pick will hopefully find his game and give Montreal a strong QB. The other place of interest is the secondary with DB Jontray Cox, DB Quentin Xavier, S Jumon Cobb taking the lead. Montreal will likely have a down year this season, but they could easily surprise and get a couple of unexpected wins.

Player to Watch: QB Lee Rogers
Biggest Acquisition: QB Lee Rogers
Rookie to Watch: DB Quentin Xavier 

7 - Long Island Raiders
1954 Record: 0-10
1954 Result: Missed Playoffs
It is interesting to have a winless team not being placed at the bottom of the power rankings, but the Raiders took major strides towards success. With a fresh paint job in a new brand, they also have a new QB in Lyle Painter who now has all the pressure to finally bring success to the lowly franchise. The good news is GM Wayne Tillman wasn’t going to let Painter go in alone and made some great acquisitions to help out. WR Travis Gallagher will provide a veteran presence on the offense to help Painter, and DB Francis Veillette will solidify a younger secondary to give the defense a boost. Even QB Andrew Glover will be able to back Painter up if he struggles. They also will be looking at DL Vernon Spears and LB Elijah Goldwater to take a step forward in their second season. 

Player to Watch: WR Travis Gallagher
Biggest Acquisition: DB Francis Veillette
Rookie to Watch: QB Lyle Painter 

8 - Boston Independents
1954 Record: 6-3-1
1954 Result: Lost in McCallister Cup
Despite being in the championship game at the end of last season, a lot has changed in Boston. With many players retiring and several others leaving the team Boston was heading towards a rebuild. The only difference between them and Montreal is that Boston lacked any sort of aggressiveness in the offseason. The management was pretty laid back and didn’t look to trade or replace any of the major veterans like Montreal was doing. They will be relying on a lot of the young talent they have acquired in the draft this year. The defense probably took the biggest hit with 5 brand new starters this season and depth players taking on bigger roles which will make up an inexperienced defense. QB Brian Meadows will take over for the legendary Larry Larson. He has shown some potential but there is a lot of pressure on the kid to take his game to the next level.

Player to Watch: QB Brian Meadows
Biggest Acquisition: OL Javion Curry
Rookie to Watch: LB Marco Price 

Week 1 Games
BUF @ OTT - JUL 15 - 7 PM ET - CBC
MTL @ LI - JUL 16 - 1 PM ET - CBS
BOS @ ON - JUL 16 - 4 PM ET - CBS
PRO @ WOR - JUL 17 - 3 PM ET - CBS

Would love to see any more predictions for the season that will kick off tomorrow with Week 1!

GoRedSox96 wrote:

Go Raiders! My predictions
North
1. Ottawa (9-1) 
2. Buffalo (8-2)
3. Ontario (6-4)
4. Montreal (4-6)
New England
1. Worcester (7-3)
2. Providence (6-4)
3. Long Island (2-8)
4. Boston (2-8)
Playoffs
Ontario 20-35 Ottawa
Worcester 31-28 Buffalo
McAlister 1955
Ottawa 30-17 Worcester

In technicality, with your standings, Ottawa would play Buffalo in the semis and Worcester would play Providence since ON and PRO are tied and 3rd team in the north has to be better than the 2nd team in the NE, therefore PRO would make it in. 

Otherwise similar to how I'm thinking the season might go with a WOR-OTT final.
 

Personally I feel like it’s Ottawa’s championship to lose right now. The offense has the most fire power out of any arguably in NAAF history. I feel like Ontario could have a sneaky good season this year and be a dark horse title contender.

1955 Week 2

Buffalo Blue Wings - 10, Long Island Raiders - 17 - Buffalo Civic Stadium - July 22, 1955 - 7 PM ET - CBS
The Blue Wings entered their week 2 matchup with a couple of injuries. QB Maurice Norris was back in the starting role with Medina out for the week. The veteran QB would start the game well with a couple of first downs here and there, but DL Vernon Spears would find his way past the Buffalo line and would get to Norris and strip the ball. Both teams piled on trying to get the ball. Unfortunately for Long Island, they would not get the ball and Spears would end up being injured in the pile. Buffalo would still punt the ball and Long Island would strike first with a K Thomas McFadden field goal. Buffalo started to get the ball moving with Norris and RB Arthur Conner. They would get down to the goal line where Conner would punch it in to take the 7-3 lead into the half. The second half would not go Buffalo's way as WR Samuel Floyd would have to leave the game with a minor injury. Not long after that, DB Amyre Rouleau would pick off Norris, setting up a RB Gene Fischer touchdown to give Long Island the lead. Buffalo would get a field goal back on the next drive, but Long Island would answer with another touchdown. It was the former Blue Wing WR Travis Gallagher, playing in his return to Buffalo, catching a 25-yard pass that would set up WR Darryl Duke for the TD. Long Island led 10-17 with about 3 minutes left in the game. Norris was able to get Buffalo into striking range again but the drive was foiled by DB Slay Mitchell who would stop the Blue Wings attack with an interception. That would be Buffalo’s final shot as Long Island held on for their second win and a surprising 2-0 start.  

Boston Independents - 16, Ottawa Royals - 27 - Richardson Stadium - July 23, 1955 - 1 PM ET - CBS
Boston’s home opener would go a lot better than their week one match, but they were going up against the mighty Royals. Boston would open the game with a strong drive lead by RB Joel Bonner. They would get a field goal off that drive to open the scoring. Ottawa would get back the field goal on their next drive after DB Lester Murphy broke up a 2nd down pass to Allen Atkins deep in Boston territory. Boston would keep the offense rolling until DL Olaf Viktorsson nailed QB Brian Meadows leading to the ball floating up and DB Mingan Oliver running under it and taking it back for Ottawa. Matieau would connect with WR Chester Bennett for the young WR’s first career touchdown a few plays later. Boston would continue to get stuffed by the Royals defense while RB Alexei Volkov would extend Ottawa’s lead with his second TD of the season. The second half was a bit better for Boston with RB Joel Bonner taking charge and eventually would get the ball into the endzone to make it 10-17. Ottawa would continue to add to their lead with Matieau finding Allen Atkins for another TD making a great catch over DB Lester Murphy. Boston would manage to squeeze out another pair of field goals with Ottawa getting one back in the final quarter ending the game 16-27.  

Ontario Tigers - 31, Worcester Athletics - 12 - Kitchener-Waterloo City Field - July 23, 1955 - 4 PM ET
The Tigers came into week 2 after smacking the Independents around and were not looking to slow down. It was obvious out of the gate with QB Duane Logan taking the Tigers to the endzone on their opening drive. He would connect with WR John Rivera to make it 7-0 quick. Worcester was not quite as hot out of the gate as the team went 2 and out on their first couple drives. Eventually, QB Riley Kiernan would get the team moving but they would not score in the opening frame. Ontario would be the next to score with RB Laurent Brazeau breaking through the line to make it 14-0. Worcester would finally get on the board with a field goal, but things got worse with Kiernan taking a shot from DL Napoléon Chevalier which would result in a LB Aengus Lynch interception. Ontario would tack on a field goal. The third would be pretty quiet until the Tigers got their third touchdown of the day with Brazeau's second score. Worcester would start to get going as the 4th approached. RB Marcus Devonshire would break through to the endzone to make it 24-9 heading into the final frame. Worcester would get an early field goal to cut the lead to 12. The Tigers would hold the Athletics back and would even get another turnover with Devonshire dropping the ball off of a LB Roland Hensley hit which would end in Brazeau’s third score of the game and a huge Ontario win.  

Montreal Rouge - 21, Providence Gold Stars - 15 - Mount Royal Stadium - July 24, 1955 - 3 PM ET - CBC
The Gold Stars managed to take out the Athletics last week and were looking to keep pace with the Raiders for the top of the division. However, Montreal had other plans, specifically RB Élisée Marchal who would be a focus of the offense with the rain overhead. The star RB would get the Rouge moving early with a pair of 16-yard runs followed by a touchdown to make it 7-0. Providence didn’t have much of an answer as RB Johnnie Stafford was repeatedly stopped by LB Rusty McVee. McVee would eventually punch the ball out of Stafford’s hands leading to Montreal getting a second touchdown with Marchal.  Montreal took the shocking 14-0 lead into the half. Providence would retaliate in the second half going to the air a bit more. QB Connor O’Rourke would be able to get the Gold Stars down the red zone before finding WR Peter Brooks for a score to cut the lead in half. They would look to get a field goal to cut the lead even more but the ball would be shanked and go out for a single. On their next drive, Providence would try to turn things up, but the Rouge fans were becoming a big factor and miscommunication would lead to DB Quentin Xavier grabbing an interception that he would take back for a touchdown. Providence would get another chance to come back with DB Lee Wolfe taking the ball from QB Lee Rogers. O’Rourke would find WR John Osborn for another score, but Montreal would hold on to their 6-point lead till the clock ran out to shock the Gold Stars.  

Players of the Week

OFF: RB Laurent Brazeau ON - 3 Rushing Touchdowns, 98 Rushing Yards

DEF: DB Quentin Xavier MTL - 1 Interception, 1 Touchdown, 2 Knockdowns, 4 Tackles 

Injury Report
WR Samuel Floyd BUF - Day-to-Day
DL Vernon Spears LI - 5 Weeks
WR Marqués Gardner ON - Day-to-Day
TE Eric Warner ON - 7 Weeks

Standings
NORTH
Ontario 2-0
Ottawa 2-0
Montreal 1-1
Buffalo 0-2

NEW ENGLAND
Long Island 2-0
Providence 1-1
Worcester 0-2
Boston 0-2

Power Rankings
1 - Ontario +1
2 - Ottawa -1
3 - Long Island +3
4 - Buffalo -1
5 - Providence -1
6 - Worcester -1
7 - Montreal -
8 - Boston -

Week 3 Games
LI (2-0) @ PRO (1-1) - JUL 30 - 1 PM ET - CBS
BOS (0-2) @ WOR (0-2) - JUL 30 - 4 PM ET - CBS
ON (2-0) @ OTT (2-0) - JUL 31 - 3 PM ET - CBC
BUF (0-2) @ MTL (1-1) - JUL 31 - 6 PM ET

Such an unexpected start for LI sitting at 2-0 but that Spears injury is a huge for the defense. We will see how well they adjust with him out.