Top of the power rankings?  We're only two games in but this might finally be the year! Is this the first time we finished on top of the rankings?

1955 Week 3

Providence Gold Stars - 23, Long Island Raiders - 13 - New Providence Stadium - July 30, 1955 - 1 PM ET - CBS
The Gold Stars were looking to bounce back in their home opener against the exciting and young Raiders team. QB Connor O’Rourke was quite excited to play in front of the home crowd and he put on a show. The young QB would open up the scoring on their second drive finding WR Peter Brooks cutting across the middle. Brooks would make it past rookie S Johan Eckhart and walk into the endzone untouched. The lead would increase at the start of the second with O’Rourke marching the offense back down the field before connecting with TE Marion Warren for the touchdown. QB Lyle Painter was having lots of trouble with the Gold Stars defense, especially in the secondary with DB Victor Bean and DB Lee Wolfe grabbing interceptions in the first half. Painter would get the Raiders close enough for a field goal but they would be down 17-3 at the half. Providence would keep up their momentum with another early touchdown off of another Victor Bean interception. This time it was RB Johnnie Stafford that punched it in to go up 23-3. With Painter struggling the team would let QB Andrew Glover have a couple of shots at it. Glover was able to get the team back for another field goal, but would also suffer an interception at the hands of LB Roger Morrow. Painter would return to the game and would be able to get the Raiders to the endzone in the final quarter after finding WR Robert Lang in the clear for a big play. The catch and run would get them down to the 12-yard line where Painter would go right back to Lang for the touchdown. The Gold Stars would add a late field goal and hold on.  

Worcester Athletics - 27, Boston Independents - 10 - Worcester Stadium - July 30, 1955 - 4 PM ET - CBS
The Athletics have not gotten off to the start they wanted, but they had a perfect chance to turn it around against the struggling Independents. QB Riley Kiernan would find WR Da’wan Rice early on for a big play, but Rice would be brought down awkwardly sending him out of the game and sending in rookie WR Ronald “Grumpy” Vernon. Vernon would make an immediate impact by catching a touchdown a couple plays later. Boston would once again focus their offensive attack around RB Joel Bonner which would help them tie the game. Bonner would get them to the 4-yard line before QB Brian Meadows would connect with WR Ellis Lindholm for the score. The Athletics would counter with a field goal which would leave the score at 10-7 till the break. In the second half, Worcester started to pull away. Kiernan would lead another scoring drive, finding WR Clyde McIntosh for a touchdown, and that was followed up by a DB Alexander Bradley pick-6. Boston would get a field goal later on but Worcester was too far up and the Athletics tack on another field goal after a LB Scotty Williams forced fumble.  

Ottawa Royals - 35, Ontario Tigers - 24 - Royals Stadium at Brewer Park - July 31, 1955 - 3 PM ET - CBC
A highly anticipated North Division battle pitted two red-hot unbeaten teams against each other. The fireworks would not take too long to get underway with the Royals opening up the scoring with a huge touchdown drive. QB Jean Matieau would connect with WR Allen Atkins to make it 7-0 early. The Tigers would not wait too long to answer with QB Duane Logan finding WR Wilbert Benjamin for a score. The second quarter would bring more scoring with the Royals getting to the endzone with RB Alexei Volkov and the Tigers matching with RB Laurent Brazeau. The defenses would come alive near the end of the half with LB Roland Hensley knocking the ball loose from Volkov, and then Ottawa getting it back from a DB Uzzia Hayes interception. This would leave the game tied at 14 into the break. Ontario would turn it up to start the second half marching the field with Brazeau before Logan connected with WR John Rivera for a major. They would continue with another strong drive and field goal to lead 14-24 heading into the 4th. The Royals wouldn’t be down for long as Matieau would lead a drive back the other way ending in a WR Willard Brooks touchdown to cut the lead to 3. Following a defensive stop, Matieau would go right back to score with TE Jervonte Howell. The Tigers were quickly down by 4 and had only 3 minutes to make it up. Logan would move the ball well, but his plans would be foiled by DB Mingan Oliver taking it away on a pass to Rivera. The DB would take it deep into Tigers’ territory allowing Alexei Volkov to score his second of the game.   

Montreal Rouge - 0, Buffalo Blue Wings - 34 - Mount Royal Stadium - July 31, 1955 - 6 PM ET
The Blue Wings have faced several injuries to start the season but two big pieces were back in the lineup for their week 3 showdown against Montreal. QB Angelo Medina, who was injured, played a lot more conservative in his first game back. However, the Blue Wings would still dominate this game. RB Arthur Conner took over on the early drives getting Buffalo to the endzone twice in the first half. Montreal had no real answers with QB Lee Rogers throwing an interception to S Frazier Brooks and then getting stripped by DL Sean Bowen. The Blue Wings would go up 21-0 at the half with Medina connecting with WR Samuel Floyd for his first TD in Buffalo. Montreal would not get going in the second half with Rogers throwing a second pick to DB Ollie Guy before finally being pulled for rookie QB Rigobert St-Hilaire. St-Hilaire would scramble a bit creating some sparks but they could not get past the Blue Wing defense. Buffalo would add another touchdown later on with Samuel Floyd going deep for his second of the game. Buffalo would add some late field goals with some more backups in routing Montreal 34-0.  

Players of the Week

OFF: WR Samuel Floyd BUF - 2 Receiving Touchdowns, 113 Receiving Yards

DEF: DB Victor Bean PRO - 2 Interceptions, 4 Tackles

Injury Report
WR Da'wan Rice WOR - 1 Week

Standings
NORTH
Ottawa 3-0
Ontario 2-1
Buffalo 1-2
Montreal 1-2

NEW ENGLAND
Providence 2-1
Long Island 2-1
Worcester 1-2
Boston 0-3

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

Week 4 Games
PRO (2-1) @ OTT (3-0) - AUG 5 - 7 PM ET
BOS (0-3) @ BUF (1-2) - AUG 6 - 2 PM ET - CBS
MTL (1-2) @ ON (2-1) - AUG 7 - 3 PM ET - CBC
WOR (1-2) @ LI (2-1) - AUG 7 - 6 PM ET - CBS

1955 Week 4

Ottawa Royals - 24, Providence Gold Stars - 17 - Royals Stadium at Brewer Park - August 5, 1955 - 7 PM ET
QB Connor O’Rourke was looking to continue his momentum from Providence's week 3 win going into Ottawa. He would get the Gold Stars going early but was unable to get into scoring range which would cost them. QB Jean Matieau would lead the Royals to a pair of early touchdowns with WR Chester Bennett opening it up on a deep shot, and then WR Allen Atkins grabbing one early in the second quarter. O’Rourke would finally get the Gold Stars on the board with a touchdown pass to former Royal WR John Osborn. The score would cut the lead in half heading into the break. Ottawa’s defense would make some noise in the third with DL Olaf Viktorsson causing RB Johnnie Stafford to fumble twice, as well as getting to O’Rourke for a pair of sacks. The Royals would get a field goal off of one of the fumbles to make it 17-7. Providence was not out of it and O’Rourke would manage to get WR Peter Brooks the ball in the endzone for another score to pull within 3. Providence would not back off the pedal with their defense getting more aggressive. DB Lee Wolfe would manage to intercept a Jean Matieau pass to give Providence a chance to tie it nearing the end of the 4th. They would tie it a few plays later off the foot of K Bernard Barnett. On Ottawa’s next drive, DL Calias McDonough would get to Matieau and force a fumble, however, RB Alexei Volkov would pick it up in stride. The elusive back would manage to make a miraculous play weaving his way through the entire Gold Stars defense 48 yards to the endzone to give the Royals the lead once again. Providence would have little time left and the game would end on a DB Uzzia Hayes interception leaving the Royals at the top of the league at 4-0. 

Buffalo Blue Wings - 21, Boston Independents - 14 - Buffalo Civic Stadium - August 6, 1955 - 2 PM ET - CBS
Buffalo came home against Boston looking to continue to pull themselves back into the fight in the North. Early on, the Blue Wings offense would get the ball moving. QB Angelo Medina was a bit more willing to run the ball and would create some early havoc for the Independents defense. RB Arthur Conner would get an early touchdown to give Buffalo the 7-0 lead. The good news for Boston was that they were finding their feet a bit more. QB Brian Meadows would counter the Blue Wing touchdown with a field goal to cut into the lead, and then a second one not long after to make it 7-6 midway through the second. Their defense was starting to be able to handle the Blue Wings who only managed another field goal in the first half. The second half would start with a bang with Meadows going to WR Ellis Lindholm deep. The WR would catch it and take it down to the 14-yard line. RB Joel Bonner would punch it in from there to make it 10-13. Buffalo would retaliate with a field goal after that to tie, but Boston was still fighting strong. Their next drive would get to field goal range again, but DL Sean Bowen would surprise Meadows sacking him back out of range leading to a punt that would skip into the endzone. 13-14. Buffalo would march on their next drive to score with Medina connecting with WR Joseph Barry for a touchdown. The 2-pointer would be good on a pass to WR Samuel Floyd in his first game against Boston. Buffalo would stuff any more Boston attempts and hold on for the win. 

Ontario Tigers - 33, Montreal Rouge - 10 - Kitchener-Waterloo City Field - August 7, 1955 - 3 PM ET - CBC
After a tough loss to Ottawa, the Tigers got right back on track at home against Montreal. QB Duane Logan would open things up with a great drive ending in a WR Marqués Gardner touchdown to make it 7-0 early. RB Laurent Brazeau would lead a drive after for a field goal at a 10-0 lead. Montreal continued to struggle, especially QB Lee Rogers. The QB would throw 3 first-half interceptions. DB Louie White and DB Paul Gregory would both bring one in before LB Aengus Lynch would grab the last. Rogers was visibly frustrated slamming his helmet on the sideline after the Lynch interception. Rogers would follow that with a yelling match with HC Guy Clarke. It would not go well with the coach planting his foot and benching the QB for the rest of the game. Ontario would capitalize on the turnovers with two touchdowns. Brazeau would get the first before WR Wilbert Benjamin reeled in the second. The second half would be a bit better for Montreal. It would start with DB Jontray Cox getting an interception and then RB Élisée Marchal would lead the offense to a field goal. Marchal would then follow the field goal up with a touchdown. The Tigers offense, however, would not let up with another field goal and a 4th touchdown with Brazeau. Montreal would have no answers for the Tigers and flop with another bad loss.  

Long Island Raiders - 27, Worcester Athletics - 14 - Long Island Stadium - August 7, 1955 - 6 PM ET - CBS
Long Island saw a huge opportunity to boost their playoff chances against the Athletics, and they did not waste it. Despite missing DL Vernon Spears, the D-line came up big early on with DL Jessie Sellers knocking the ball out of QB Riley Kiernan’s hands and then DL Tyrone Affalo would take the ball back to the house for a quick 7-0 lead. Worcester would look to recover but Kiernan would be picked off by DB Francis Veillette. The Raiders wouldn’t score on the ensuing drive but would get a 10-0 lead on a field goal a couple drives later. Worcester would finally get on the board after LB Scotty Williams forced the ball out of RB Gene Fischer’s hands which would lead to a WR Clyde McIntosh touchdown. The Raiders would hold the lead into the break. QB Lyle Painter was finally becoming more comfortable in the NAAF in his 4th game and showed off his ability in the third with a long touchdown drive. He would connect with WR Travis Gallagher for the score. Worcester would continue to struggle with another 2 and out on back to back LB Elijah Goldwater tackles. The Raiders would get back into the endzone with TE Johnny Mantle IV extending the lead to 24-7. Kiernan would get aggressive at this point. He would get Worcester back to the endzone with a pass to TE Duane Halloway. Long Island, however, would tack on another field goal leading to another surprise win.  

Players of the Week 

OFF: QB Duane Logan - 2 Passing Touchdowns, 354 Passing Yards 

DEF: DL Olaf Viktorsson OTT - 2 Forced Fumbles, 1 Fumble Recovery, 2 Sacks, 6 Tackles 

Injury Report
OL Bruce Wesley LI - Day-To-Day
OL Shawn Lawrence ON - 1 Week
DB Eugene Christensen WOR - 2 Weeks

Standings
NORTH
Ottawa 4-0
Ontario 3-1
Buffalo 2-2
Montreal 1-3

NEW ENGLAND
Long Island 3-1
Providence 2-2
Worcester 1-3
Boston 0-4

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

Week 5 Games - *RIVALRY WEEK*
PRO (2-2) @ BOS (0-4) - AUG 13 - 1 PM ET - CBS
LI (3-1) @ WOR (1-3) - AUG 13 - 4 PM ET
ON (3-1) @ BUF (2-2) - AUG 14 - 3 PM ET - CBS
OTT (4-0) @ MTL (1-3) - AUG 14 - 6 PM ET - CBC

Darknes wrote:

Maybe the Hawks name is just cursed..

That combined with the apparent luck that comes with hosting the McCallister Cup, since the host has made it to the game every year since going to the neutral site format.

Didn't Montreal drafted a QB a couple of years back.