We beat Buffalo back in second place baby! 

Captain Mort 3D wrote:

Is Brazeau’s contract coming to an end soon? I feel bad for the man.

He just signed a 4-year deal this past offseason, which means he will be a free agent at 32.

1953 Week 8

Montreal Rouge - 16, Ontario Tigers - 13 - Mount Royal Stadium - September 5 - 2 PM ET - CBC
Although the Tigers were officially eliminated from the playoffs last week, they put up a great fight against the Rouge once again. The Tigers started the game well stopping Montreal on their opening drive and then grabbing a touchdown with RB Laurent Brazeau to take the early 0-7 lead. Montreal would get into it after both teams traded field goals. This time QB Andrew Glover would find WR John Rivera for a touchdown to tie the game at 10. The remainder of the half went without a score. The third was much the same with both teams’ defenses playing well. DB Louie White had a pick, but the Tigers would turn it right back over to S Chester George. Eventually, the Rouge would break the silence with a field goal. Ontario would answer with a field goal leaving the game tied at 13 with 5 minutes to go. Both teams would trade attempts to move the ball, but it would be Montreal with RB Élisée Marchal getting free for a big gain and would set up the game-winning field goal from rookie K Arthur Kettinger.  

Buffalo Blue Wings - 20, Ottawa Royals - 27 - Buffalo Civic Stadium - September 5 - 2 PM ET
The rematch of last week's battle was closer this time, thanks to some returning players for the Blue Wings defense. They were able to slow Ottawa down more than last week. They didn’t allow a touchdown in the opening quarter and came out tied at 3. The Royals would open the second with another field goal, but Buffalo would counter with the first touchdown of the game. QB Maurice Norris would find WR Travis Gallagher for the score and the 10-6 lead. Ottawa would not be stopped for too much longer as they would get a big gain from RB Alexei Volkov which would set up the WR Eugene Burns touchdown. The Royals would add another touchdown out of the half with a score from WR Allen Atkins, but Buffalo would find themselves back in the endzone just a few drives later with RB Arthur Conner. The fourth would start 17-20 for Ottawa. Buffalo would be the next to score following a DB Oscar Patterson interception. They would tie it up at 20 with a field goal. The game would remain tied until DB Michael Conner would pick off Norris and give Ottawa prime field position. WR Eugene Burns would nab his second touchdown of the game, which would be the finishing touch on another win in Buffalo. 

Worcester Athletics - 20, Hartford Hawks - 23 - Worcester Stadium - September 6 - 3 PM ET
Hawks Head Coach Willie McLean is now fighting for his job and is trying to get things rolling with his team. Looking for their second straight win over the Athletics, the Hawks would start well with QB Lee Rogers leading the offense down the field. WR Lloyd Marshall would catch the touchdown pass from Lee Rogers to start things off, then it was WR Robert Lang who caught a deep ball down the sidelines for another touchdown. It was 0-14 before the Athletics could gather themselves. They would only get a field goal before DL Sean Bowen would strip the ball away from Riley Kiernan before the Hawks would take over. A field goal is all they got, but it was 3-17 at halftime. The Athletics would start the second half well with another field goal and then a touchdown with WR Christian Venegas, but the HAwks also answered with a field goal to go up 13-20. In the fourth, the Athletics had a huge drive that would set up a game-tying touchdown run from RB Jacque Montier. The game was going down to the wire, but Hartford would get the last laugh after Rogers found Robert Lang deep again to set up K Thomas McFadden’s game-winning field goal. 

Providence Gold Stars - 31, Boston Independents - 24 - New Providence Stadium - September 6 - 3 PM ET - CBS
The Gold Stars look to sweep the Independents for the first time and clinch the division in their final home game of the season. Boston was off to an aggressive start following their surprise loss to the Athletics. They would get the first two scores in the game to take a 0-10 lead. RB Joel Bonner made his way into the endzone for the touchdown. Providence wouldn’t be kept down for long with QB Bruce Woodard continuing to make magic happen and would get TE Marion Warren into the endzone to cut into Boston’s lead. QB Larry Larson would then lead the Independents back the other way to score another touchdown. WR Ethan Walters had the score this time and gave Boston their 10-point lead back. Woodard would counter with another strong drive, but it would come up short and turn into a field goal instead. Boston led 10-17 at halftime. The Independents would keep the pressure up out of the break and would score midway through the 3rd with Bonner’s second of the game. Providence would not back down and would counter with a long drive. By the time the 4th started the Gold Stars would score with WR Peter Brooks and cut the lead to 7. Boston would keep things rolling looking to bury their rivals, but Larson would be picked off by Victor Bean which would give Providence a huge break. Bean would then take it the rest of the way back to tie the game. With time running down, Larson made another mistake and would be picked off for a second time by DB Lee Wolfe. Woodard only had 60 yards to go for the score and would go play after play marching the team down the field and would set up a game-winning touchdown to WR John Osborn to win the game and clinch the New England Division.  

Player of the Week

OFF: QB Bruce Woodard PRO - 3 Passing Touchdowns, 314 Passing Yards

DEF: DB Victor Bean PRO - 1 Interception, 1 Touchdown, 3 Tackles, 5 Knockdowns

Standings
NORTH
Montreal 6-2
Ottawa 5-3
Buffalo 4-4
Ontario 1-7

NEW ENGLAND
Providence 8-0 -y
Boston 4-4 -x
Hartford 2-6
Worcester 2-6

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

Week 9 Games
ON (1-7) @ BOS (4-4) - SEP 11 - 7 PM ET - CBS
PRO (8-0) @ MTL (6-2) - SEP 12 - 2 PM ET
*MTL Clinches Playoff and Division with win or OTT Loss + BUF Loss
HAR (2-6) @ OTT (5-3) - SEP 12 - 2 PM ET - CBC
*OTT Clinches Playoff with Win
WOR (2-6) @ BUF (4-4) - SEP 13 - 3 PM ET

I don’t mean to set the expectations to high right now but after an 8-0 start it’s for sure a championship or bust season at this point.

1953 Week 9

Boston Independents - 14, Ontario Tigers - 24 - Richardson Stadium - September 11 - 7 PM ET - CBS
The Tigers have come up short on wins all season long, especially over the past couple weeks. RB Laurent Brazeau was clearly frustrated by the team’s lackluster play throughout the season, and he took his anger out on the Independents. Brazeau would take the Tigers onto his back and carried them down the field in the 1st quarter, twice. He scored both touchdowns while Boston wasn't able to get past the Tigers defense. Boston would finally break their silence with a WR Ethan Walters touchdown, but Ontario would add another field goal to take a 10-point into halftime. The Tigers would keep up the pressure out of the break and DB Paul Gregory would pick Larry Larson off and take it down to the 36-yard line where Brazeau would get in for his third touchdown. The Tigers were now up 7-24. Boston would try to get back into the game with RB Joel Bonner breaking into the endzone early in the fourth, but the Tigers would hold strong for their second win of the season and another surprising Boston loss as the season nears a close.  

Montreal Rouge - 23, Providence Gold Stars - 17 - Mount Royal Stadium - September 12 - 2 PM ET
A Possible McCallister Cup Preview as the two division leaders meet. Both teams have been dominant over the second half of the season. Montreal has won their last 5 with Providence unbeaten at 8-0. Providence decided to play down a bit knowing that they have their playoff spot locked up and are more focused on winning when it counts versus maintaining the unbeaten season. Woodard would start the game to get some reps in but they would transition to Brian Meadows in the second half. The Rouge, on the other hand, are trying to solidify their spot. They would start well with a field goal and then a Marchal touchdown. Providence would counter with a WR Peter Brooks touchdown before Montreal got another field goal. The score would remain 13-7 by till the end of the half. Montreal would keep up the solid play in the second half and would move the ball well and Marchal would score his second touchdown. Meadows would start the second half and had a few solid drives. The QB would throw a touchdown to WR John Osborn and get a field goal. Unfortunately, the Gold Stars unbeaten season would come to an end with the Rouge holding on for a 23-17 win. Montreal also clinches a playoff spot and division.  

Ottawa Royals - 35, Hartford Hawks - 13 - Lansdowne Park - September 12 - 2 PM ET - CBC
The Royals looked to lock their spot into the playoffs in their final home game of the season. QB Jean Matieau would start by picking apart the Hawks’ young defense and would score on the team’s first two drives. WR Allen Atkins and WR Willard Brooks had the touchdowns. The Hawks who seemed to find a bit of success against the Athletics were still able to get some things going in this game. QB Lee Rogers would score a touchdown not long after the two Royals’ touchdowns, with WR Robert Lang on a 27-yard throw. RB Alexei Volkov would counter the Hawks TD on his own after taking home an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play of the next drive. The Royals would take the 21-7 lead into halftime. Hawks would grab a pair of field goals in the 3rd while Ottawa would score another touchdown to WR Willard Brooks. Rogers would have another strong drive for Hartford, but he would eventually be picked off by DB Uzzia Hayes who would set up another Volkov touchdown to give Ottawa the 35-13 win. Ottawa locks up the final playoff spot in the North.  

Buffalo Blue Wings - 31, Worcester Athletics - 8 - Buffalo Civic Stadium - September 13 - 3 PM ET
It was a bit of a somber feeling for the Blue Wings after being knocked out the previous day due to Ottawa’s win, which also made this the final game in Buffalo for DB Oscar Patterson. The team would play for their long time captain and would dominate the Athletics. RB Arthur Conner would start things off with a touchdown in the first to go up 7-0 quick. The Athletics would have a solid drive following but would miss the field goal for a single. Buffalo would continue to pour it on with Maurice Norris getting Buffalo into the endzone again with a pass to WR Joseph Barry. DB Dylan Alston would get an interception to set up a field goal just before the break. DB Oscar Patterson would get a pick in the 3rd quarter and would get a 35-yard return out of it. The crowd would give him a standing ovation after the play. Norris would get the ball back in the endzone again with WR Travis Gallagher to extend Buffalo’s lead. Worcester would get a touchdown back with RB Jacque Montier, but that was all. Buffalo would finish off the win with Arthur Conner’s second touchdown of the game. 

Players of the Week

OFF: RB Laurent Brazeau ON - 3 Touchdowns, 237 Rushing Yards 

DEF: DB Oscar Patterson BUF - 1 Interception, 2 Knockdowns, 2 Tackles 

Standings
NORTH
Montreal 7-2 -y
Ottawa 6-3 -x
Buffalo 5-4
Ontario 2-7

NEW ENGLAND
Providence 8-1
Boston 4-5 -x
Hartford 2-7
Worcester 2-7

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

Week 10 Games
MTL (7-2) @ HAR (2-7) - SEP 19 - 2 PM ET
BUF (5-4) @ BOS (4-5) - SEP 19 - 2 PM ET - CBS
PRO (8-1) @ WOR (2-7) - SEP 19 - 2 PM ET
OTT (6-3) @ ON (2-7) - SEP 19 - 2 PM ET - CBC