I’m upset

I'm glad that Montreal won and want to see them go all the way, but Long Island will be a challenge. It's great to see Indiana win, but I think they don't stand a chance against the Blue Wings

My predictions for the rest of the playoffs:
LI over MTL
BUF over IND

BUF over LI

Last edited by Kingsfan11 (1/07/2022 12:44 am)

1966 Division Finals

Long Island Raiders VS. Montreal Rouge - Long Island Stadium - September 25, 1966 - 3 PM ET - Weather: Cloudy - 18ºC | 66ºF
1st Q
As expected for the Raiders and Rouge battle, defence was going to be the name of the game. Right from the start, the Raiders’ cemented their strong defence, forcing Montreal to 2 and outs on their first 2 drives. However, Montreal was just as committed to stopping the Raiders and also didn’t allow a whole lot. Montreal did start to make up some ground on the Raiders when S Garet deVale would take QB Stanley Troyer down on a safety blitz which would force a punt from deep in their own territory. However, Montreal did try to argue that the ball was fumbled on the play, but the refs ruled him down. The punt didn’t get very far and Montreal was starting at midfield. It didn’t take much to get close enough for a field goal, and K Arthur Kettinger would put Montreal up 0-3. 
LI 0-3 MTL

2nd Q
Following the slow opening quarter, the Raiders would pick things up offensively. RB Dareion Fields found his footing and broke through for a couple of big runs. Pair that with a couple of good pass plays, and the Raiders were knocking on the door of the endzone. With Fields being the centre of the offence for the Raiders, from 4 yards out they would set up to pitch the ball to him, however, they faked it and had RB Kendall Morgan take the ball back in the opposite direction. He reached the ball over the goal line to give the Raiders the 7-3 lead. Montreal would counter later on with their second field goal to make it 7-6 just before the half.
LI 7-6 MTL

3rd Q
The Rouge came out of the break with a bit of fight back in them. The defence got plenty of praise from HC Jimmy Sargent, however, the offence got the heads up that they needed to step it up. QB Gene Bishop answered the call with an excellent start to the second half. He would complete 3 of 4 passes to get the Rouge down to the redzone. Then, RB Hugo Hughes would get the ball out of the backfield and slip past the Raiders’ D-line. TE Hunter Ziegelbauer would step up and make a huge block on LB William Washington II to allow Hughes to get to the endzone and give Montreal the lead. Montreal knew they had to make a statement and would go for 2 to try and make it a 7-point game, but they were unsuccessful. The Raiders were ready to bounce back. They countered the Rouge touchdown with another strong drive leading to a RB Dareion Fields score to retake the lead.
LI 14-12 MTL

4th Q
The final quarter was intense. Both sides continued to look for any opportunity to get points. Early on in the quarter, the Rouge would get a huge play from WR Taylor Karis who would make a stunning diving grab with DB Rutherford Winters all over him to set Montreal up in Raiders’ territory. They would hope to push further, but the Raiders’ defence held strong forcing the field goal attempt. K Arthur Kettinger would not make a mistake and would nail the kick to make it 14-15 Montreal. The middle part of the quarter became a "run-fest" where both teams ran the ball on almost every play. Montreal was trying to kill as much clock as they could, while the Raiders were hoping their best weapon, RB Dareion Fields could get them back into scoring range. Montreal ended up being the team to come out on top in that phase of the game as the Raiders were starting to run low on time. The final minutes of the game would force them to throw the ball. Montreal was prepared, but QB Stanley Troyer was connecting on his passes. The Raiders were pushing into Montreal territory. WR Casey Coleman was able to beat DB Quentin Xavier off the line and had an open field. Troyer would fire a pass at the star WR. It was a bit high, but Coleman reached out for it. The ball landed in his hands for just a split second before S Garet deVale unloaded a shockwave of a hit. The ball bounced straight up and Xavier caught up and got under that ball for the interception. Montreal would kill more time before giving it back to the Raiders with 18 seconds to go. The Raiders would fail to get much on their first few plays leaving them with the only option to try to keep the last play alive. Troyer tossed the ball to Dareion Fields. Fields looked to pick up yards but soon had to toss it back to RB Kendall Morgan. However, Morgan did not get a great grip on the ball and fumbled it. The play would end and Montreal would seal their ticket to the McCallister Cup.

Buffalo Blue Wings VS. Indiana Victors - Milton Charles Stadium - September 25, 1966 - 7 PM ET - Weather: Partly Cloudy - 10ºC | 50ºF
1st Q
The Victors were in tough heading into Milton Charles Stadium. On top of going against probably the best team in the regular season, they also still had an injured D-line. It did not start well as the Blue Wings took advantage of the weakened D-line. RB Jimmy Golden rolled right through the Victors’ defence and scored a touchdown on the opening drive. The Blue Wings continued to light up the field throughout the quarter with QB Charles Lemieux connecting with WR Julius Drake to give Buffalo a 14-0 lead. As for the Victors, their offence was not getting anywhere. QB Tom Applewhite was struggling, completing only 2 passes in the opening quarter.
BUF 14-0 IND

2nd Q
Indiana had to rely a lot more on RB Raymond Green in the second quarter to just try and get the offence rolling. The plan helped to get some points on the board with an early field goal. However, Buffalo easily grabbed their own field goal to maintain their 14-point lead. Indiana continued to find success on offence and had gotten over midfield. At this point, QB Tom Applewhite got a bit more aggressive tossed a deep ball to WR Ed Edwards. The WR caught the pass and then bounced off of S Wesley Jones and then took the ball the rest of the way for a touchdown. Indiana’s defence was stronger over the rest of the quarter preventing the Blue Wings from scoring again, however, they were lucky to see the clock hit zero as Buffalo started to get into dangerous territory near the end of the half.
BUF 17-10 IND

3rd Q
After having a much quieter 2nd quarter, the Blue Wings were back in business to start the second half. On the second play after the half, DB Ezra Power intercepted QB Tom Applewhite to set up the Blue Wings deep in Victors’ territory. It didn’t take long for RB Jimmy Golden to put up his second touchdown of the game to make it 24-10. Indiana was certainly in a rough spot and it was only getting worse with another 2 and out to follow Buffalo’s touchdown which involved QB Tom Applewhite getting a bit banged up from a sack via DL Lonnie Vincent. Soon enough, Buffalo had another field goal as they just continued to have their way with the Victors’ defence. QB Stanislav Ovechkin did take a few snaps for the Victors while they evaluated Applewhite, but soon enough Applewhite returned to the game. It didn’t make much of a difference as Applewhite threw his second interception of the game to DB Nick Ulbach. 
BUF 27-10 IND

4th Q
While the interception from Applewhite was not ideal, they had gotten into Buffalo territory which still gave the offence a little more hope. In fact, it may have sparked the defence as well as LB Marshall Langenbrunner would knock the ball loose from RB Jimmy Golden forcing a turnover only a few plays after the interception. Indiana would grab a touchdown from their ensuing drive with Applewhite connecting with WR Silas Peyton for the score. QB Charles Lemieux was not shaken by the quick turn of events and continued to dismantle the Indiana defence. He would take the Blue Wings down the field again, getting them down to the 2 before Jimmy Golden scored his third touchdown of the game. The drive pretty much crushed any bit of hope Indiana had left. They would get a late field goal but turned the ball over on downs 2 more times with Buffalo shutting their offence down. The Blue Wings made a huge statement with the win, and after last season where the team somehow missed the playoffs, they were back and hungry for another championship.

Injury Report
None

Players of the Week

EDF: S Garet deVale MTL - 8 Tackles, 1 Sack, 3 Passes Defended

WDF: RB Jimmy Golden BUF - 3 Rushing Touchdowns, 118 Rushing Yards 



48th McCallister Cup Preview
Buffalo Blue Wings VS. Montreal Rouge - Anderson Stadium - Toronto, ON
HEAD-TO-HEAD: W3 BUF 33-22 MTL
The Blue Wings are headed into their 2nd McCallister Cup in 3 years as the heavy favourites to take the win. They have looked unbeatable pretty much all season long with QB Charles Lemieux playing like a true superstar. On top of that, they will practically have home field advantage with Toronto being just a hop and a skip from Buffalo. Now that doesn’t mean Buffalo is guaranteed to win, Montreal has been on a tear of their own and have knocked off both of the East’s supposed title contenders in back-to-back weeks. With QB Gene Bishop back in the lineup, and the defence stepping up big time, Montreal is certainly in the match, however, the odds are still not in their favour as Buffalo is almost too good. I still gotta take the Blue Wings to win it in Toronto.
My Pick: Blue Wings.

LETS GO BUFFALO!!!

48th McCallister Cup
Here's a new field graphic for the game:

Buffalo Blue Wings VS. Montreal Rouge - Anderson Stadium - Toronto, ON - October 2, 1966 - 6 PM ET - Weather: Clear - 10ºC | 50ºF
1st Q
The crowd in Toronto might go down as one of the loudest in league history. With the combination of fans from Buffalo and Montreal, the stadium would not get quiet throughout the opening quarter. It would cause some troubles for the Rouge offence early with a miscommunication almost leading to an interception on the second play from scrimmage. The struggles were not the same for the Blue Wings who came out of the gate using every inch of the playbook. The lesser-used plays by the Blue Wings would fool the Rouge and help Buffalo get down to the 12-yard line. From there, QB Charles Lemieux would hit WR Daniel Irons for a touchdown to make it 7-0 for Buffalo. Montreal was able to get their communication straight, however, the offence was facing pressure. DL William Sanderson was hungry to make an impression and was all over the Montreal backfield having 2 tackles for loss and a sack in the opening quarter. Buffalo’s offence did get slowed down by the Rouge, but they still came away with a K Ryan Perch field goal near the end of the quarter.
BUF 10-0 MTL

2nd Q
The second quarter would begin to have a bit more of a normal flow. Both teams were finding it a bit easier to move the ball down the field. However, they were not moving it far enough to score until Montreal’s WR Taylor Karis broke a tackle and put Montreal at the 24-yard line. Buffalo stood strong on defence, only allowing the Rouge to get a field goal. There was a bit more hope in Montreal now, however, Buffalo was able to counter the field goal with of their own, allowing them to regain their 10-point advantage. Both defences shut down the other team to make it to the break.
BUF 13-3 MTL

3rd Q
The Rouge were hoping for better in the second half. They opened up being a little more aggressive on offence. However, this meant QB Gene Bishop was holding onto the ball a little longer and would lead to another sack from DL William Sanderson. Buffalo’s offence, on the other hand, was able to make a march down the field. RB Jimmy Golden would eventually break through a wide-open hole and bolt into the secondary. The running back looked to have a wide-open field but was stopped at the 8-yard line by S Garet deVale, who never gave up on the play. The play by deVale kept Montreal’s hopes up and they would be able to keep Buffalo out of the endzone. K Ryan Perch made it a 13-point game after that. It still was tough for the Rouge offence, but there was some fight left in them and they would score a field goal to keep the game at 10 points. QB Charles Lemieux certainly understood the situation after not being able to break through to the endzone on the previous drive. Despite being up by 10 they needed to have another strong drive to really put the Rouge on their backs. Lemieux would deliver a beautiful drive that would seem unstoppable. The pinnacle of the drive was when Lemieux would hit WR Zachariah Pembroke for a 46-yard play while escaping player after player of pressure. A few players later Lemieux connected with WR Julius Drake for a huge touchdown to get them up by 3 scores.
BUF 23-6 MTL

4th Q
The Rouge were now truly desperate. They needed to score quickly or else it would be too late. Unfortunately, they still had issues with getting out of pressure. It seemed that any play was being blown up or Bishop was scrambling for his life. Bishop seemed to be both very frustrated but almost scared on every play, certainly a side effect of his injuries in the last two years. It would cost Montreal a lot when Bishop threw an interception right to S Wesley Jones. Jones almost found a break to the endzone but was stopped by RB Scott Mallard-White. It only took a couple of minutes for the Blue Wings to add to their lead with RB Jimmy Golden scoring the touchdown to make it 30-6. Beyond desperate would describe Montreal, as HC Jimmy Sargent had finally started to get OC Tim Bakersfield to dig up the deep playbook. Montreal was trying everything. Eventually, one play would hit with WR Yahui Sun breaking away on a jet sweep. Sun got Montreal within 35 yards for the first time in the quarter. Bishop would inch them closer with a couple of completions. Eventually, Buffalo’s defence would force a 3rd down for the Rouge. Montreal had to go for it. Bishop would drop to pass and this time he connected with WR Taylor Karis who had made a great move on DB Ezra Power and would scramble away into the endzone. Montreal would go for two to keep the dream alive, but Buffalo ended that hope with DL William Sanderson tipping Bishop’s pass attempt and forcing it incomplete. Montreal was still down by 18 and had no hope. Buffalo would manage the clock well and would close out their 4th McCallister Cup win, joining Ottawa with the most championships in the NAAF. 

BUF - 7 QB Charles Lemieux
MTL - 21 S Garet deVale
Injury Report
None

McCallister Cup MVP

DL William Sanderson BUF - 3 Sacks, 8 Tackles, 5 Tackles for Loss, 2 Knockdowns 
Sanderson played an unreal game, he had fallen behind the scenes a bit this season, however, in his first McCallister Cup appearance, he knew exactly what to do. He finally grabs his first title playing one of the best defensive games by any defensive lineman ever.

I also created a graphic to show off a bit of what Anderson Stadium may look like overall aha, I hope it looks cool, might be something I do more of down the line. 


1966 NAAF Champions


1966 NAAF Season