1953 Week 5

Providence Gold Stars - 34, Hartford Hawks - 0 - New Providence Stadium - August 14 - 7 PM ET
The Gold Stars had a great opportunity to jump to a 5-0 start with a match against the Hawks at home. QB Bruce Woodard would get this going in the first with a strong drive leading to a WR Peter Brooks touchdown. The defense would strike next with back-to-back interceptions. DB Lee Wolfe nabbed both of them and would set up a RB Gene Fischer touchdown and then took the second back for himself giving the Gold Stars a 21-0 lead. After being up 24-0 by halftime. QB Brian Meadows was given some time on the field. Meadows would lead a strong drive grabbing another field goal. Woodard would return for the fourth where he would throw another touchdown to WR John Osborn. Hartford had nothing for the red hot Gold Stars. QB Lee Rogers continued to struggle after throwing 2 more interceptions in the game to DB Victor Bean and S Randy Maynard. Eventually, QB Michael Kramer would get a shot but was not very successful either. The Hawks would be shut out and the Gold Stars tie Montreal’s best 5-0 start. 

Ottawa Royals - 18, Boston Independents - 28 - Lansdowne Park - August 15 - 2 PM ET - CBC
The Royals seemed to be reeling from their loss to the Gold Stars as they got off to a rough start in this one. The Independents would score on their opening drive with WR Samuel Floyd getting into open field and taking home the 70-yard touchdown. On the Royals opening drive, OL Aaron Spears would twist his ankle awkwardly making a block on DL Joel Jackson and would fall. Jackson would breakthrough and hit Matieau causing the QB to fumble and give Boston great field position. Boston would score a touchdown with RB Joel Bonner and take the 0-14 lead. Ottawa would still struggle to get the ball moving and could only grab a field goal before the half ended. Boston’s defense was doing an excellent job of shutting down the Royals. Head Coach Dean Reed seems to have figured out this offense. QB Larry Larson was playing well against the Royals defense and would score yet another touchdown this time to WR Ethan Walters. The Royals would finally find a rhythm in the latter half of the third. Matieau would lead the team to their first touchdown to WR Allen Atkins. To start the fourth the Royals would get another with WR Willard Brooks and add the 2-pointer with RB Alexei Volkov. Boston would be able to maintain their lead, however, with Joel Bonner getting back to the endzone and Boston would hold on to another win.  

Worcester Athletics - 13, Montreal Rouge - 28 - Worcester Stadium - August 15 - 2 PM ET
The Athletics had some momentum leftover from their win over the Tigers last week, and they were able to grab a field goal on their opening drive. The Athletics would get a second one not long after, managing to contain the Rouge offense. Things changed when Montreal OL Joshua Mercer went down with a major injury in the 3rd. The All-Star is nearing the end of his career and could be a possible career-ending injury. RB Élisée Marchal would look to avenge his teammate’s injury and would score back-to-back touchdowns to give the Rouge the 6-14 lead at halftime. Marchal would not stop their scoring his third out of the break and keeping the Rouge offense moving. QB Andrew Glover would throw his second TD of the season to WR Ray Lopez and Montreal was up 9-28 at this point. The Rouge defense was doing an excellent job of preventing any true offensive threat coming from Worcester. The Athletics would finally reach the endzone with QB Riley Kiernan getting it to WR Clyde McIntosh to put some hope in the crowd, but it was too little too late and the Rouge would hold on.  

Buffalo Blue Wings - 20, Ontario Tigers - 12 - Buffalo Civic Stadium - August 16 - 3 PM ET - CBS
The mid-season classic comes around this year with both teams trying to recover from their early-season struggles. Buffalo coming off back-to-back losses, and the Tigers falling to a surprising 1-3 record. Ontario would get a strong drive to start the game but would fall short of the endzone. They would take the 0-3 lead, but it wouldn’t last long as the Blue Wings were done with their reputation to go on long win streaks and long droughts. QB Angelo Medina would lead Buffalo down the field and countered the field goal with a touchdown to WR Travis Gallagher. Ontario would not be able to get things going and they would cough up the football with LB Claude Adams getting the fumble off of RB Laurent Brazeau. The Blue Wings would turn it into a field goal going up 10-3 at halftime. The rain that had been there from the start of the game got worse in the second half. Both teams now heavily relying on their running backs. Laurent Brazeau and Arthur Conner would go back and forth moving their teams down the field. Several drives ending in field goals to make the score 13-9. There were also fumbles as well with teams both coughing up the ball. Not all ended in turnovers, but a fatal one would give Buffalo their second touchdown of the day. Arthur Conner scoring. The Tigers would find a 4th field goal but could not get to the endzone and fall once again.  

Players of the Week 

OFF: RB Élisée Marchal MTL - 3 Rushing Touchdowns, 176 Rushing Yards 

DEF: DB Lee Wolfe PRO - 2 Interceptions, 1 Touchdown, 4 Knockdowns, 3 Tackles 

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

NEW ENGLAND
Providence 5-0
Boston 4-1
Worcester 1-4
Hartford 0-5

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

Week 6 Games
WOR (1-4) @ HAR (0-5) - AUG 22 - 2 PM ET
PRO (5-0) @ BOS (4-1) - AUG 22 - 2 PM ET - CBS
 - PRO clinches playoff spot with Win + WOR Loss
BUF (3-2) @ ON (1-4) - AUG 23 - 3 PM ET - CBC
OTT (3-2) @ MTL (3-2) - AUG 23 - 3 PM ET

Last edited by Wallflower (5/17/2020 2:23 pm)

Lee Wolfe right now is defiantly my MVP

What is happening Ottawa?! Just fire whoever your coach is ASAP!!

It’s going to be interesting seeing what happens in north now that buffalo is having to start Norris at QB. Also the Tigers are in serious trouble right now and probably need a big offseason shakeup to reach the teams full potential.

TRADE ALERT
Providence is back at it again this time after DL George Woods was shut down for the season, Virgil Gross went to Hartford and traded for DL Stuart Howell. They gave up the 2nd round pick which will be as high as 13th or as low as 16th. 

1953 Week 7

Worcester Athletics - 23, Boston Independents - 21 - Worcester Stadium - August 29 - 2 PM ET CBS
The Independents came into this match limping following the loss to the Gold Stars. Their defense was now missing 3 key pieces and it showed in this one. The crowd in Worcester got loud for their first match against their old rivals at the new stadium. Things went well for the Athletics as they took advantage of the injured defense. QB Riley Kiernan was able to get the Athletics moving and would score on their first 3 drives with two field goals and then a RB Jacque Montier touchdown. Boston would get going a bit into the second quarter with a WR Samuel Floyd touchdown, but they were still down 13-7 at halftime. The Athletics’ defense kept up the pressure led by LB Scotty Williams and was managing to hold the Independents. Eventually, Boston would get a second touchdown with RB Joel Bonner, but the Athletics would have a field goal shortly after. Kiernan would eventually roll out on a play and pick up 16 yards on a run which would set up the pass to WR Clyde McIntosh which would end up in the endzone for the Athletics and give them the 9 point lead. Boston would get a third touchdown with WR Ellis Lindholm, but they would fall short as the Athletics defense would stand strong. The Athletics stun the league and become only the 4th team in the NAAF to have won against the Independents.  

Hartford Hawks - 7, Providence Gold Stars - 35 - Arnold H. Bensen Park - August 29 - 2 PM ET
The Gold Stars continued their hot streak by once again rolling over the Hawks. Woodard would throw 3 touchdowns in the first half en route to the 0-21 lead at halftime. He would find WR Peter Brooks twice in the opening quarter before WR John Osborn took in the 3rd. Hartford would get a little back to start the 3rd with a RB Johnnie Stafford touchdown, but they had still turned the ball over 3 times already. DB Lee Wolfe and DB Victor Bean had one each, while DL Joseph McMillian forced a fumble. The Hawks would have nothing more as the Gold Stars continued to pour it on. RB Gene Fischer and TE Marion Warren would get scores as well, as the Gold Stars dominate 7-35. The attendance has still fallen further off a cliff despite the win last week and the team is losing loads of money now, the DL Stuart Howell trade hopefully will help in lowering salary, but they can only do so much. 

Ottawa Royals - 34, Buffalo Blue Wings - 16 - Lansdowne Park - August 30 - 3 PM ET - CBC
QB Maurice Norris made his first start as a Blue Wing, to start the back-to-back battles with the Royals. Buffalo still focused a lot of their attack on running with RB Arthur Conner, which made it a bit easier for the Royals defense to handle. Buffalo would open the scoring with a field goal, but the Royals offense finally came to play after several weeks of struggle. QB Jean Matieau would lead the offense to two TD’s in the first quarter, the first to WR Willard Brooks and the second with WR Allen Atkins. Blue Wings would only manage a field goal before RB Alexei Volkov would get another touchdown to extend the Royals lead to 21-6. Buffalo would get going to start the second half, and Norris would lead them down the field. Arthur Conner would take it into the endzone for the score. The Royals would not let up as Matieau would pass for a 3rd touchdown to Atkins who made a great catch over DB Dylan Alston before running it in from 20 yards out. Atkins would catch a 3rd touchdown not long after when Matieau hit him for a deep shot. Buffalo would manage another field goal but on their last shot, Norris would be picked off by DB Uzzia Hayes as the Royals got back in the win column. 

Ontario Tigers - 15, Montreal Rouge - 18 - Kitchener-Waterloo City Field - August 30 - 3 PM ET
The struggling Tigers would run into the red hot Rouge at home. The good news is the Tigers finally seemed to show life again. RB Laurent Brazeau and QB Duane Logan were playing well out of the gate. Brazeau would go on to score a pair of touchdowns in the first half to give Ontario an early advantage. Montreal wouldn’t be kept quiet as they would still score a touchdown with RB Élisée Marchal and then add a field goal later on. The score was 14-10 at halftime and the Tigers were in control of most of the second half. They wouldn’t score, but they prevented the Rouge from scoring. DB Louie White even had an interception that gave them hope for a score, but K Nathaniel King would miss and they would get a single to go up 15-10. Montreal was trying to get going late, but in the end, they were struggling until Marchal found a hole in the Tigers’ defense and exploded for a 56-yard run. Panic crept in for the Tigers after the run and Montreal would use it to their advantage. Marchal would make a couple more long runs before taking it into the endzone for the win and sole possession of first place in the North Division. The loss would also mean an early-season end for the Tigers once again as they would be out of the running for the playoffs.  

Players of the Week

OFF: WR Allen Atkins - 3 Receiving Touchdowns, 143 Receiving Yards

DEF: LB Scotty Williams - 16 Tackles, 2 Knockdowns 

Standings
NORTH
Montreal 5-2
Ottawa 4-3
Buffalo 4-3
Ontario 1-6 -e

NEW ENGLAND
Providence 7-0 -x
Boston 4-3
Worcester 2-5
Hartford 1-6 -e

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

Week 8 Games
ON (1-6) @ MTL (5-2) - SEP 5 - 2 PM ET - CBC
OTT (4-3) @ BUF (4-3) - SEP 5 - 2 PM ET
HAR (1-6) @ WOR (2-5) - SEP 6 - 3 PM ET
BOS (4-3) @ PRO (7-0) - SEP 6 - 3 PM ET CBS
*PRO Clinches Division with Win
*BOS Clinches Playoff with Win or WOR Loss