Xplosion Rout Locomotion; Win Third Straight

The Atlanta Xplosion added to their win column for the third consecutive game with a 66-0 win over the Chattanooga Locomotion in IWFL action on Saturday. Atlanta is now 3-1 on the season averaging 47 points per game and 60.6 points per game over the last three wins.

Leading rusher Lauren Falhoun had another banner day rushing 15 times for 307 yards scoring seven touchdowns on runs of 19, 9, 8, 65, 48, 14 and 64 yards. Quarterbacks Tammy Nelson and Elizabeth Lane combined for 73 yards of passing as the Xplosion finished with 479 yards of total offense.

The Xplosion defense delivered their second consecutive shutout forcing three turnovers and yielding only 148 yards of total offense to the Locomotion.

Atlanta will now have consecutive bye weeks before getting back into action against the Huntsville Tigers on June 8th. The Xplosion defeated the Tigers 64-0 in their previous meeting this season.

The Atlanta Xplosion won the 2006 and 2011 IWFL national championship and remain in playoff contention in 2013.

Xplosion Record First Shutout In Second Straight Win

The Atlanta Xplosion (2-1) continue to round into regular season form with their second consecutive convincing win. The Xplosion posted their first shutout of the season allowing only 81 yards of total offense defeating the Huntsville Tigers 64-0.

Lauren Falohaun led the Xplosion in rushing for the second straight week with 182 yards on 11 carries and three touchdowns. Kristen London and Dana Green each had two rushing touchdowns while Elizabeth Lane threw her first touchdown pass of the season hitting Kassidi Winter from 18-yards out. Atlanta finished with 375 yards of total offense and have outscored their last two opponents 96-8 since falling 12-6 in the season opener against the Carolina Phoenix.

The Xplosion remain in second place in the IWFL’s South Atlantic division behind the undefeated Carolina Phoenix (3-0) who defeated the Carolina Queens (1-2) 54-0. Atlanta returns to action Saturday May 18th hosting the Chattanooga Locomotion (1-2) in a South Atlantic division game at Campbell High School in Smyrna, GA. Chattanooga defeated the Erie Illusion 34-0 for their first win of the season after dropping their first two games to the Queens and Phoenix. Kickoff is set for 6pm EST.

Cedar Shoals Falls Short Of Fourth Track & Field State Championship; Other State Champs

The Cedar Shoals Jaguars have won three state championships since 2000, they began work on another one as the Georgia Olympics got underway. The field events and distance running events opened on Thursday in the Georgia Olympics or State Championships for Georgia in Track and Field.

On the opening day of the championships, distance runner Josiah Jenkins finished third in the 1600m with a time of 4:20.80 and finished fourth in the 3200m with a time of 9:35.47. Jenkins accounted for 11 of the Jaguars 18 points.Cedar Shoals ended the day in third place in Class 5A through Thursday. North Paulding (26pts-did not score again) and McIntosh (20pts) are first and second respectively.

On Friday, the Jaguar 4×100 relay team of Asa Smith, Tomara Lowe, Breshawrd Cooper and Josh Bolton ran a prelim time of 42.65 qualifying them for the finals with the fifth best overall time. In the 4×400 prelims, the team of Smith, Lowe, Cooper and Justin McElroy qualified for the finals finishing first in their heat with the second best time in the prelims (Miller Grove 3:21.13) running a 3:23.96. Smith ran an 11.33 in the 100m and a 23.06 in the 200m prelims and did not qualify for the finals in either event. McElroy qualified for the 300m hurdle finals with a time of 39.36, fifth best of the qualifying times.

Cedar Shoals entered the finals of the running events on Saturday in third place with 23 points and a very real shot at earning their first state championship since 2005. Cedar Shoals continued to tack on the points as Asa Smith, Tomara Lowe, Breshawrd Cooper and Josh Bolton finished fifth in the 4×100, Cooper finished seventh in the 400m and Justin McElroy placed sixth in the 300m hurdles.

Entering the final event, the 4×400, Cedar Shoals had 32 points, eight behind first place McIntosh. A top two finish would assure the Jaguars at least a share of the state championship. It was not be as the 4×400 relay team of Smith, Lowe, Cooper and Justin McElroy finished third behind Dunwoody and Miller Grove with a time of 3:30.19, scoring only six points for a total of 38 points, two behind state champion McIntosh (40). During the field events on Thursday, Cedar Shoals suffered disqualification in the discus which would have been enough points for the state championship.

Finishing second showed the depth of the Cedar Shoals team that did not have one individual state champion this year.

2013 Class Track & Field State Champions:
6A- Mill Creek (5th consecutive) (Gwinnett County)
5A- McIntosh
4A- Marist (Dekalb County Private)
3A- St. Pius (Dekalb County Private)
2A- Westminster (Gwinnett County Private)
1A- Private: Athens Christian (third consecutive)
1A- Public: Commerce

The girls state championships will be held this weekend in Albany, GA

Xplosion Run All Over Queens For First Victory

The Atlanta Xplosion (1-1) used a powerful running game and a stingy defense to earn their first victory of the 2013 IWFL season. Offensively the Xplosion totaled 383 yards of total offense scoring all seven touchdowns on the ground in a 52-8 rout of the Carolina Queens (1-1) in a steady downpour of rain.

After failing to convert a fourth and goal ending a lengthy game opening drive, the Xplosion had the Queens backed up on their own 7-yard line to begin their first possession. A procedure penalty backed Carolina up to their own two and on the next play Sha Marrero tackled Diamond Rickenbacker in the end zone for a safety for a 2-0 Xplosion lead. From there the Xplosion would scored touchdowns on their next five possessions racing out a 38-0 lead with 8:30 remaining in the second quarter and held that lead at halftime.

Atlanta piled up 380 yards rushing led by Lauren Falohun with 274 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns. Fullback Dana Green scored three touchdowns on three consecutive possessions in the first half finishing with 5 carries 22 yards and a team high three touchdowns. Kimberly McDonald (5 carries 49 yards) and Christi London (9 carries 38 yards) each had a rushing touchdown.

The Carolina Queens offense had no answer for an Xplosion defense that forced 5 turnovers and held the Queens to only 60 yards of total offense. Queens running back Sharika Dubose finished with a team high 65 yards rushing and a touchdown with 64 yards coming on their next to last possession of the game late in the fourth quarter.

The Xplosion will host the Huntsville Tigers next Saturday at McDaniel Stadium on the campus of Osbourne High School in Smyrna, GA. Kickoff is set for 6pm.

Atlanta Xplosion Seeking First 2013 WIn

The Atlanta Xplosion opened their 2013 season with a 12-6 loss against the Carolina Phoenix. The Xplosion are a pro women’s football team that plays in the IWFL, Independent Women’s Football League, where they were the 2006 and 2011 champions. Through multiple coaches and ownership changes the Xplosion have remained a solid contender in the league for several years.

The Xplosion will host the Carolina Queens in their second home game of the season. The IWFL plays an 8-game regular season with the Xplosion playing their home games at Campbell High School in Smyrna (Cobb County), GA for the second consecutive season. The Xplosion have three more homes games at Campbell High School. The remaining home schedule includes the Carolina Queens on May 4th, May 11th vs the Huntsville Tigers and May 18th vs the Chattahoocee Locomotion. Their remaining games are on the road are return trips to those teams.

For the football lover in us all there is real, 100 yards of football in the city where it’s not about the sex appeal but actual game and winning the game.

Creekside Ends North Marion’s Historic Season

North Marion was making their deepest push in the playoffs in school history when they faced Creekside-Jacksonville (26-2) in the regional semifinals in a rare matinée. The game was played at 1pm on Wednesday afternoon after officials declared the field at North Marion to be unplayable on Tuesday due to rainy conditions earlier in the day forcing the unique mid-week “businessman’s special”.

Creekside would get the better of North Marion behind one swing of the bat from Creekside’s Colleen Darragh (Georgia Tech). With the bases loaded it the third, Darragh took a Holly McKinnon (South Alabama) pitch yard to give Creekside a 4-0 lead. Darragh’s grand slam would be all second-ranked Creekside need as they won 6-0 to advance to the regional finals.

North Marion only had four hits in the game, all on singles, completing their season 21-6 and were shutout only three times all season (Belleview, Ponde Vedra and Creekside).

2013 GDFL Regular Season Opens This Weekend

The Gridiron Developmental Football League will open their fourth season this weekend. This weeks GDFL “Game of the Week” features a meeting of preseason top 10 teams in the South Carolina Venom against the Fayetteville Horizon. The Venom were previously known as the Carolina Warriors and won the first-ever GDFL National Championship in 2010 entering the contest ranked No.2 in the GDFL preseason poll. The Horizon have been a successful team while in the GDFL finishing in the Top 25 every year of the league and begin the season ranked as the No.4 team in the GDFL preseason poll.

The GDFL league office released a promotional video for the 2013 season on April 30th via The BlakInk Design Group.

<a href="http://vimeo.com/65077613&quot;.

Preseason Scores from the weekend involving GDFL teams. Non-GDFL teams have their league affiliations beside them:

OKC Bounty Hunters 41 Team Arkansas 12 (SDFL)
Columbus (OH) Gladiators 49 Akron (OH) Silverhawks 0 (OFL)
Christian County (KY) Outlaws 56 Owensboro (KY) Wildcats 0 (KFL)
South Carolina Venom 49 CRSA (Augusta, GA-area) Hurricanes 0 (WMFL)

Stay tuned as more information is available we will provide it throughout the 2013 GDFL season.

North Marion and Forest Hosting Regional Quarterfinals

North Marion (20-7) won their second consecutive Class 5A District 6 title last week. The Colts defeated Eastside 10-0 and Palatka 6-1 in the district tournament to advance to the regional quarterfinals. Walker Burgess hit a two-run homer and pitcher Garrison Vandeventer tossed a two-hitter with seven strikeouts in the win over Palatka. North Marion will host Clay (Green Cove Springs) in the regional quarterfinals Thursday May 2nd at North Marion. The winner will face the Creekside (St. Johns)/Palatka winner in the regional semifinals.

The Forest Wildcats (23-3) baseball team won the Class 7A District 1A title advancing to the regional quarterfinals. Forest defeated Buchholz 4-3 and Chiles (Tallahassee) 9-3 in the district tournament and will host Fletcher (Neptune Beach). The winner will face the winner of Chiles (Tallahassee)/Fleming Park (Orange Park) in the regional semifinals.
Blake Waldren was the winning pitcher for the Wildcats in the come-from-behind victory over Chiles allowing only 5 hits and 3 runs, ringing up 5 strikeouts and pitching out of several jams in the district championship game. Richard Lagasse, Jordon Austin and Ben Ellzey each scored two runs while Joshua Greene, Kirby McMullen and Hank Truluck each scored a run as Forest scored three runs in the bottom of the third and six runs in the bottom of the fourth, erasing a 3-0 deficit to 9-3 win.

North Marion Advances To Regional Semifinals

The Lady Colts won the Class 5A District 6 title last week defeating Eastside and Palatka by a combined 17-0. Now the Lady Colts have followed it up with a win in the Regional quarterfinals defeating Bartram Trail 3-2 to advance to the Regional semifinals against Creekside (Jacksonville) next Tuesday.

North Marion (21-5) showed their versatile style of play in the win over Bartram Trail by playing “small ball”, in other words manufacturing runs. Senior Erin Klein stole two bases while Savannah James and Danielle Miller each swiped a base piece for the Lady Colts who have stolen 106 bases this season. The Colts broke the ice scoring two runs in the second inning when Brooke Sapp singled to get it started. Hailey Cone dropped a bunt single-one of six bunts by North Marion, allowing Sapp to touched home on a squeeze bunt single by Amber Capps with a groundout sandwiched in between. Cone would make it 2-0 scoring on a wild pitch later in the inning. Klein scored on a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning for a 3-0 Colts lead.

North Marion would surrender a run in the sixth inning and the seventh innings however held on for the win when Kayley Chisholm of Bartram Trial (21-6) flied out stranding a runner at third in the seventh ending the ballgame.

North Marion’s Holly McKinnon is one reason Colts are in Regional Playoffs

Holly McKinnon was the winning pitcher yielding and is 3-0 in the postseason. McKinnon allowed five hits hurling seven strikeouts in the win over Bartram Trail improving to 21-4 with a .40ERA 254 strikeouts and 25 complete games pitched this season.

If North Marion wins in the regional semifinals they will face the winner of the Hernando-Gulf (New Port Richey) winner in the regional finals. Hernando defeated North Marion 6-5 during the regular season in the Doc 4 Life Tournament.

Memphis Blast Win On A Field Goal

The 2013 Gridiron Developmental Football League regular season is quickly closing in with many teams opening their season on May 4th. Until then the GDFL held a preseason Kick-Off Classic in Memphis,TN, the head quarters of the league.

In the game the Memphis Blast led 8-0 after the defense scored a safety and later scored on a 2-yard touchdown run. Clarksville got on the scoreboard by returning an interception for a touchdown, converting the two-point conversion evening the game at 8 all in the second quarter.

Both teams would go back and forth with the defenses showing they were ahead of the offenses as you normally see in most preseason football action. Late in the fourth Memphis completed a 40-yard pass down to the Wolfpack five yard-line setting up the game-winning field goal from 23-yards out in the waning seconds of the game defeating the Clarksville (TN) Wolfpack 11-8.

“It was a great atmosphere, great ball game with two great teams going at it and this was just the preseason.” Charles Thompson CEO of the league said about the event.

In other 2013 GDFL preseason action…

NE Ohio Silverbacks 16 Akron Rage 0 Final