1969 Week 11

Roster Moves
LI: DB Lauri Hayha - Injured Reserve -> Active Roster
LI: DB Darby Keller - Active Roster -> Waivers
PRO: K Elvis Franklin - Injured Reserve -> Active Roster
PRO: K Gilbert O’Neill - Active Roster -> Reserve List

London Tigers - 35, Long Island Raiders - 37 - Western Fair Stadium - August 29, 1969 - 7 PM ET - FNF - Weather: Cloudy
1st Q
7-0 LDN - PTD QB Riley Kiernan -> WR Carter Henderson
7-3 LI - FG K Henderson Schumacher
7-10 LI - RTD RB Dareion Fields
2nd Q
14-10 LDN - PTD QB Riley Kiernan -> WR Cole Fletcher
14-17 LI - PTD QB Ivan Sanchez -> WR Larry Mossholder
17-17 LDN - FG K Nimrod Handsworth
3rd Q
18-17 LDN - Single K Nimrod Handsworth
25-17 LDN - RTD RB Austin Andrews
25-23 LI - PTD QB Ivan Sanchez -> WR Otto Washington
4th Q
25-30 LI - RTD RB Scott Norton
28-30 LDN - FG K Nimrod Handsworth
35-30 LDN - PTD QB Riley Kiernan -> WR Joshua Lafleur
35-37 LI - PTD QB Ivan Sanchez -> WR Frank Drysdale

London would sell out their final home game of the season, mainly due to the potential that this could be QB Riley Kiernan’s final start with the Tigers likely to give their younger QBs a chance to fight for the future job.
The sellout crowd was treated to a thrilling battle between the old rivals of the Tigers and Raiders, with the Tigers starting the scoring on their opening drive.
The Raiders, with QB Ivan Sanchez under centre for the first time since Week 4, would counter well with 10 points to take the lead.
In the second quarter, the Tigers would once again find the endzone to retake the lead, but the Raiders once again answered back.
K Nimrod Handsworth would tie the game before the break and then get the lead on a monster punt early in the 2nd half.
London’s defence would step up and give the offence great field position to extend their lead to 8.
The Raiders bounce back with a touchdown, but they fell short on the 2-point try leaving them down by 2 heading into the final quarter.
The Raiders would eventually get the lead when backup RB Scott Norton broke through the Tigers’ defence and took the ball 48 yards to the house.
London answered back with a field goal but was running out of time.
Luckily, QB Riley Kiernan would lead them on a legendary drive to retake the lead and give the Tigers a 5-point lead with under a minute to go in the game.
However, it would be a heartbreaking finish as the Raiders, with limited time, would get a big break when 2nd-year WR Frank Drysdale, would make a catch down the field, before making S Randall Green look silly with a stellar juke and then getting the edge with his speed to get into the endzone to steal the win.

Ottawa Royals - 30, Minnesota Serpents - 9 - Royals Stadium at Brewer Park - August 30, 1969 - 3 PM ET - Weather: Cloudy
1st Q
2nd Q
0-3 MIN - FG K Ray Bough
7-3 OTT - PTD QB Drake Young -> WR Colby Bancana
10-3 OTT - FG K Ira Foster
3rd Q
13-3 OTT - FG K Ira Foster
13-6 MIN - FG K Ray Bough
20-6 OTT - PTD QB Drake Young -> WR Marshall Leonard
4th Q
20-9 MIN - FG K Ray Bough
27-9 OTT - RTD RB Corbyn Knight
30-9 OTT - FG K Ira Foster

The Serpents and Royals had a crucial game on Saturday.
Both teams didn’t get any points in the first quarter, but in the second quarter, Minnesota got a field goal to get on the board.
Ottawa countered with 10-points to get back in front heading into the half.
In the second half, the Royals continued their steady pace, but Minnesota was less fortunate.
QB Leonidas Dumont would drop back for a pass and as he was winding up to throw, DL Bernhard Hartmann would hit his arm knocking the ball loose, and almost simultaneously DL Zane Tannith would rock Dumont from the other side.
Dumont would be down for a while before they finally got him off the field, and with QB Martin Keller dealing with an injury from practice, 3rd string QB, Matt Fletcher was left to take the reins.
Ottawa continued to control the game from there on out and Minnesota’s offence was shut down by the Royals as Ottawa wins their 7th game of the season and hands Minnesota’s 1st ever 2-game losing streak.

Buffalo Blue Wings - 20, Halifax Mariners - 26 - Milton Charles Stadium - August 30, 1969 - 7 PM ET - SNF - Weather: Cloudy
1st Q
3-0 BUF - FG K Ryan Perch
3-3 HFX - FG K Albert Wickerweaver
10-3 BUF - PTD QB Charles Lemieux -> WR Tracy Driscoll
2nd Q
10-10 HFX - PTD QB Lyle Painter -> WR Nathan Murray-Lawrence
3rd Q
10-13 HFX - FG K Albert Wickerweaver
17-13 BUF - RTD RB Jimmy Golden
17-20 HFX - RTD RB Rashed Smith
4th Q
20-20 BUF - FG K Ryan Perch
20-23 HFX - FG K Albert Wickerweaver
20-26 HFX - FG K Albert Wickerweaver

Buffalo aimed to clinch the West Division with a win, but the Mariners had a different plan.
While Buffalo controlled the opening quarter, jumping out to a 10-3 lead, the Mariners were able to tie up the game in the second.
Halifax would get the lead early in the 3rd after a DB Aquilio Ruiz interception, leading to a field goal.
Buffalo countered with their second touchdown of the game, but the Mariners also got one before the end of the quarter.
The Mariners’ defence would come up clutch in the final quarter, holding the Blue Wings to only 3 points in the final quarter to end their perfect season.

Montreal Rouge - 36, Providence Gold Stars - 17 - Mount Royal Stadium - August 31, 1969 - 2 PM ET - Weather: Cloudy
1st Q
7-0 MTL - PTD QB Gene Bishop -> WR Yahui Sun
10-0 MTL - FG K Arthur Kettinger
17-0 MTL - RTD RB Carter Roy
2nd Q
17-3 PRO - FG K Elvis Franklin
24-3 MTL - PTD QB Gene Bishop -> WR Taylor Karis
3rd Q
27-3 MTL - FG K Arthur Kettinger
27-10 PRO - RTD RB Ronnie Byers
30-10 MTL - FG K Arthur Kettinger
4th Q
36-10 MTL - DTD INT S Garet deVale
36-17 PRO - RTD RB Ronnie Byers

Montreal has found some new life as they dominated the Gold Stars in the first half of their first meeting of the season.
QB Gene Bishop was sharp throwing for 176 yards passing and a pair of touchdowns.
In the second half, the Gold Stars would get a little going with RB Ronnie Byers breaking through for a touchdown in the 3rd, but Montreal continued to extend their lead heading into the 4th.
Eventually, Providence decided to give their rookie QB, Edwin Hunt, a chance to see some playing time to which he promptly threw a pick-6 to S Garet deVale.
He would recover to get the Gold Star back into the endzone, however, only throwing the ball 2 times, while RB Ronnie Byers carried it on the ground.

Toronto Steelheads - 23, Pittsburgh Blacksmiths - 14 - Anderson Stadium - September 1, 1969 - 2 PM ET - Labour Day - Weather: Cloudy
1st Q
7-0 TOR - RTD RB Max Tracy
2nd Q
7-7 PIT - PTD QB Louis Vaughn -> TE Bobby Clark
10-7 TOR - FG K Vic Greatwood
3rd Q
17-7 TOR - KRTD WR Sterling Underhill
20-7 TOR - FG K Vic Greatwood
4th Q
20-14 PIT - PTD QB Louis Vaughn -> WR Taylor Austin
23-14 TOR - FG K Vic Greatwood

After 6-straight wins, the Blacksmiths appeared to run out of steam heading into Toronto.
The Steelheads would get out to a 7-0 lead early in the first half, while their high-level talent in the secondary showed up to shut down the Blacksmiths’ passing attack.
Pittsburgh still got into the endzone in the 2nd to keep the game close, but the Toronto Steelheads remained on top.
On the opening kick of the second half, WR Sterling Underhill would bring back the kickoff to extend their lead.
Pittsburgh wouldn’t get into the endzone until the 4th, while Toronto would maintain a 2-score lead until the end of the game to shockingly upset the Blacksmiths.

Indiana Victors - 20, Louisville Thunder - 13 - Victory Stadium - September 1, 1969 - 6 PM ET - Weather: Cloudy
1st Q
0-3 LOU - FG K Frank Hughes
2nd Q
7-3 IND - RTD RB Raymond Green
14-3 IND - PTD QB Tom Applewhite -> WR Ed Edwards
3rd Q
14-6 LOU - FG K Frank Hughes
17-6 IND - FG K Ross Poindexter
4th Q
20-6 IND - FG K Ross Poindexter
20-13 LOU - PTD QB David Simmons -> WR Casey Coleman

Louisville continued their search for their ever-elusive first win of the season against the Victors who were coming off of the bye week.
The good news is Louisville was in the lead after the first quarter; the bad news, is Indiana answered back with a pair of touchdowns in the 2nd to take a 14-3 lead.
In the 3rd, both teams would get a field goal, but Indy continued to hold onto control into the 4th getting up to a 20-6 lead.
Louisville would get a late touchdown to try and mount a comeback, but a well-timed DB Neville Falkner interceptions would close out the game.
*LOU has locked in the highest draft pick possible for the 1970 draft.

Injury Report
IND: DL Brandon Hall - Day-to-Day
LDN: DB Nazario Piacenza - 9 Weeks (Season)
LI: OL Willy Hankins - Day-to-Day
LI: WR Larry Mossholder - 4 Weeks
LOU: OL Jerry Hankins - Day-to-Day
LOU: OL Kash Wilder - Day-to-Day
MIN: QB Leonidas Dumont - 8 Weeks (Season)

Players of the Week

OFF: QB Gene Bishop MTL - 2 Passing Touchdowns, 265 Passing Yards

DEF: DL Bernhard Hartmann OTT - 1 Forced Fumble, 1 Sack, 6 Tackles

Standings
WEST
W1 - Buffalo 9-1 -x
W2 - Minnesota 7-3
W3 - Indiana 7-3
E3 - Pittsburgh 7-4
Toronto 4-7
London 3-7
Louisville 0-10

EAST
E1 - Ottawa 7-3
E2 - Boston 6-4
Halifax 6-4
Long Island 4-6
Montreal 3-7
Providence 3-7

Power Rankings
1 - Buffalo -
2 - Ottawa +2
3 - Pittsburgh -1
4 - Minnesota -1
5 - Indiana +1
6 - Halifax +1
7 - Boston -2
8 - Long Island +1
9 - London -1
10 - Montreal +1
11 - Toronto +1
12 - Providence -2
13 - Louisville -

Week 12 Games
OTT (7-3) @ HFX (6-4) - SEP 5 - 6 PM ET - Friday Night Football
*OTT clinches playoff spot with Win or PIT Loss
*OTT clinches East Division with Win + BOS Loss
*HFX clinches playoff spot with Win + PIT Loss
LDN (3-7) @ PIT (7-4) - SEP 6 - 12 PM ET 
*PIT clinches playoff spot with Win
MIN (7-3) @ LOU (0-10) - SEP 6 - 3:30 PM ET
*MIN clinches playoff spot with Win
IND (7-3) @ BUF (9-1) - SEP 6 - 7 PM ET - Saturday Night Football
*IND clinches playoff spot with Win
*BUF clinches West Division with Win
MTL (3-7) @ PRO (3-7) - SEP 7 - 1 PM ET
BOS (6-4) @ LI (4-6) - SEP 7 - 4 PM ET
*BOS clinches playoff spot with Win + HFX Loss
*LI is still technically alive for a playoff spot, but they would need to win both games, and have the Mariners and Independents lose both of their games while finishing with a better point differential (which LI currently sits at -53, while BOS (+57) and HFX (+12) are both doing better). 

Slapshot Kirby wrote:

I'm glad the Royals are doing well this year! But geez laweez, if Louisville doesn't win at all this year, then they may have to change their name to the Louisville Blunder, LOL! Joking aside, here are a few things I have been meaning to ask about: 

1. Are there any women owning any football teams in other leagues such as the ACFL or GLFL? I doubt it myself, given gender roles back then, but I could be wrong. 
2. Does Astroturf exist in the NAAF universe yet? If so, then what are the chances that an NAAF team has an Astroturf playing surface one day (Maybe Kansas City's stadium will have it when and if that team takes the field)?

If you haven't put any thought into those questions, then I understand. Those were only some things I have been curious about regarding this universe. 

1 - I don't really have all of the owners from the other leagues fleshed out fully, so I cannot say for sure, but of the biggest teams, there are currently not any women in charge. So as it stands, Ottawa is likely the lone professional football team to be owned primarily by a woman, though is still kind of a co-ownership with her husband, but she primarily handles the team's organization and acts as if she was the team's sole owner.

2 - I mean "AstroTurf" is not ever going to exist since the Astros don't exist, but artificial turf should eventually start turning up since the Astrodome was built in 1965 and the history is passed that part, no idea where yet, but I suspect an indoor facility will be the first to use it, considering a lot of traditional values stand true and that the season is primarily in the summer where the upkeep of natural grass I assume is easier.

I am always down to answer questions, heck a lot of the time that these questions come up, they often help me consider these other things that I may miss or forget about and look to add to the story so ask away.

QCS wrote:

Obviously since the NAAF is a summer league there's no need for a dome to keep out the cold and without any real Southern markets, the heat isn't much of a concern either - as it stands I don't see any domes needing to be built for NAAF teams. This is more of a future question and probably wouldn't come into effect for quite a while but are any NAAF teams possible candidates for a domed stadium? We've also moved into the era of the multi-purpose stadium - if I remember correctly both Minnesota and Kansas City have considered sharing a stadium with their baseball team. Is that another possibility for any NAAF team?

I have certainly had the idea that if southern markets do get an NAAF team, or even some now that are reaching further south, a domed stadium or several would come from those markets to combat the summer heat. So that is a very likely case where a domed stadium will arrive in the NAAF.

Yea, multipurpose is one of those things that is difficult to manage in this world, with none of the other sports fleshed out. However, I think it is more difficult to have the arrangement work in the NAAF since their season overlaps baseball a significant amount more than the American Football season. So baseball teams are not as thrilled to share stadiums with the teams where they have so much overlap. 

As for those specific examples, yes, I believe KC had considered it but was unable to make the option work, for the reasons above (not wanting to deal with the changes during the season). The Serpents did not consider the baseball option, the GLFL team plays at the baseball park since their owner is also the baseball owner, but they always had the plan to move into a new stadium that actually suited football (which the baseball stadium does not and a big reason why the GLFL team is not very successful).

I will be doing some fleshing out of the details on teams in the near future, and some deeper plans, but there is some potential for it, but we shall see how much that actually occurs.

Thehealthiestscratch wrote:

If the Salt Lake Bees and Salt Lake Land Sharks exist in the same universe, I’m sure the NAAF could do it.

Ya know you make a lot of sense Scratch! Every stadium will now share the field with a table tennis team!

My bitter hatred for the serpents begins now….