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ONE
NIGHT, ONE GAME, ONE CHAMPION
It might
go down in time as the Last Game The League Ever Played.
If that is the case, it was truly an upset, and one pulled
off with a precision that the late, great Bill Walsh would
have loved. See, it was a Hamburg offense, so schooled sharply
in the fundamentals of the perfectly-timed razor, the 3
and 6-yard slants, replacing the grinding running attack.
Add speed at WR which Jermaine Jenkinks and Marcus Maxwell
had, add the emergence of RB Tony Hollings and a much better
second half of the season by TE Teyo Johnson not to mention
a heck of a defense led by DE Jason Kurpeikis that put out
the lights for the Galaxy and their rapid fire offense.
How
Did It Happen?
Frankfurt
came into the game hot on offense - the result of a version
of the K-Gun offense that drove the Buffalo Bills to four
straight Super Bowls. As coach Mike Jones said during media
day and in the kickoff press conference "We always
had it in our playbook. We just never used it - it was always
there." Part of the reason was lack of a running game
which injuries ravaged sending at one time starter DeCori
Birmingham and backup Anthony Sherrell to the sidelines.
When ShaRon Edwards came over from Berlin and Birmingham
came back, the choice was made - Charles Anthony, who did
so well as a backup, was shipped to the Fire. The problem
was Birmingham didn't look to be 100 percent and Edwards
was a strictly between-the-tackles runner. That meant QB
J.T. O'Sullivan, a smart, savvy player, was put in charge
of a no-huddle offense with as many as nine different receiving
options during the game. It showed when Frankfurt lit up
Hamburg with three straight scores in Week Nine to open
the game. But Hamburg learned from experience. Playing a
4-4-3 with little blitzing, they beat Frankfurt up front,
showing that sometimes four is more than five, and with
four backers and tight coverage, they took the Frankfurt
short passing game out.
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| O'Sullivan
(inset) had no time to throw, despite sliding his protection
over to take care of Kurpeikis (top of defensive line).
The four LB set for Hamburg took away the short routes
from Frankfurt |
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With
no time to throw, O'Sullivan played right into the hands
of the Hamburg defense. On offense, it was the precision
of the offense. During media day, Maxwell said that coach
Vince Martino gave injured WR Scott McCready's slot position
to him, but after one game, Maxwell went to the coach and
suggested a change - flipping Maxwell and Jenkins. With
Jenkins in the slot, a more natural fit and Maxwell stretching
defenses as well as TE Teyo Johnson having a breakout second-half,
Hamburg had all the weapons it needed. Throw in Tony Hollings
taking over the bulk of the running game in place of injured
Quentin Griffen and QB Casey Bramlet has all the weapons
he needed. But without the cool, calm leadership of Bramlet,
who led Hamburg to first blood with two TD passes in the
first quarter.
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| Bramlet
had plenty of weapons with the emergence of Johnson
(inset) and Maxwell (lower WR). Running a two-TE set
threw off the Frankfurt defense |
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Key
to the offensive explosion was Hamburg running a two-TE
offense. With Johnson and an adept receiver in Mike Pinkard
taking things short, Maxwell was able to stretch the defense
to the tune of 5 catches for 127 yards and two TDs. It also
gave Hollings and Jermaine Allen (33-yard TD run) all the
lanes they needed.
For
one special night, perhaps the last, Hamburg was number
one.
1 Sea
Devils Jenkins 3 pass from Bramlet (kick failed) 6-0
1 Sea Devils Maxwell 35 pass from Bramlet (Andrus kick)
13-0
2 Galaxy Middleton 24 pass from O'Sullivan (Lloyd kick)
13-7
2 Sea Devils Allen 33 run (Andrus kick) 20-7
2 Galaxy Birmingham 5 run (Lloyd kick) 20-14
2 Sea Devils Andrus 24 FG 23-14
3 Galaxy Ortiz 24 pass from O'Sullivan (Lloyd kick) 23-21
3 Sea Devils Davis 51 pass from Bramlet (Andrus kick) 30-21
3 Galaxy Edwards 2 run (Lloyd kick) 30-28
4 Sea Devils Maxwell 10 pass from Bramlet (Andrus kick)
37-28
Attendance: 48,125
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