(c) PLFA

Mustangs win 46-0 to finish third, open playoffs in Poznań

The Płock Mustangs needed to win by at least 41 points on Sunday, August 22 in order to advance to the playoffs. Normally, that would be a lot to ask, but fortunately for the Mustangs their opponents were the winless Radom Rocks. Still, the Mustangs only barely got there, clinching a place in the postseason with a 46-0 shutout victory.

Płock will now travel to Poznań, Poland on September 4 to face the Czerwone Byki in the wild-card round of the PLFA II playoffs. The Mustangs finished the year at 3-3, tied with Torpedy Łódź for third place in the East division. They advanced thanks to a season point differential of +24, five points better than that of Torpedy. The Czerwone Byki finished the season at 4-2, in second place in the West division.

It was the second time the two teams met in Płock this season, as field issues caused the game to be moved there from Radom. The Mustangs, who won the first meeting 30-6. Płock piled the points on early, going up 30-0 at halftime and going for two-point conversions after every touchdown.

They got only one score in the first quarter, and it was a defensive one. Sławomir Zieliński intercepted a pass and ran 40 yards to the end zone, and Witold Szpotański's conversion made it 8-0 for the technically visiting team.

The Płock offense got rolling in the second quarter, with Szpotański scoring twice and Krzysztof Siudziński also getting into the end zone. The Mustangs, a running team all season, got all five of their offensive touchdowns and most of their yardage through the ground game.

Things got a bit nervous for the Mustangs by the end of the third quarter, in which they were only able to put eight more points on the board. They breathed a bit easier in the fourth, however, when Maciej Łebkowski's one-yard touchdown run put them over the magical 41-point barrier. Radom's final drive ended in Płock territory, and it looked momentarily as though we could have a repeat of the June 27 matchup, when the Rocks scored on the game's final possession to avert a shutout.

It was not to be on this day, however, and unfortunately for Torpedy Łódź, the Rocks never did seriously threaten the goal line. It was a difficult season for the Rocks, who scored only 26 points in their six 2010 contests. That was the worst in PLFA II by far, and their 196 points conceded was second-worst in the league. Radom played much of the season with a short-handed squad, and there has been talk that they will not be back for the 2011 season. Hopefully, that will not be the case. Their chance for revenge would then depend on whether the Płock Mustangs can get through the playoffs to advance to the top division.

47-14 win over Kielce not enough to get Łódź into playoffs

Knowing that Torpedy Łódź were practically written off this season after starting the year with three straight losses, one would not believe that they would finish their final game of the regular season with a solid chance of going to the playoffs. Still, that is how things stood after Torpedy dismantled Scyzory Kielce 47-14 on Sunday afternoon in Łódź. Only after the Płock Mustangs scored 46 points later in the day were Torpedy eliminated from the postseason hunt.

Torpedy won their final three games of the season to finish at .500, playing each game better than the preceding one. They finished in a tie with the Mustangs, who earned the third and final seed in the East division due to an advantage in point differential of a mere five points.

The three-loss hole from the beginning therefore proved to be just a bit too big to climb out of for Torpedy, who looked much the better team against a Kielce squad that defeated them 22-10 on May 16. They dominated even after Scyzory's star running back, Kamil Piwowar, who scored all 22 Kielce points in the first meeting, entered the game in the second half.

All the familiar names were on the score sheet for Torpedy, although they only managed a one-point advantage in the first quarter. Leszek Cytawa started the scoring with a 45-yard touchdown pass to Roland Rzepecki, before Paweł Wilczyński's short scoring run made it 7-6. Torpedy added touchdown runs by Cytawa and Borys Bednarek in the second quarter to take a 21-6 lead into the locker room.

Already eyeing victory, Torpedy began to think about pouring on points to gain a tiebreaker advantage over the Mustangs. Cytawa began hitting open receivers with more frequency, and his 20-yard strike to Damian Waszczyk made it 28-6 for Łódź after three quarters.

Bednarek scored again in the fourth quarter, and Cytawa threw his third long touchdown pass of the game, a 61-yarder to Emil Sowiński. The receiver then threw a touchdown of his own, a short pass to Waszczyk, who broke free for a 73-yard score.

Piwowar did provide some fireworks of his own in the fourth quarter, when he followed a wedge of blockers over the right side for a 62-yard touchdown run. Those six points ended up being crucial for Torpedy, who missed the playoffs for the first time in their three-year history. Kielce finished the season with four straight losses, after a promising 2-0 start. With their improvement in 2010 and Torpedy's strong finish, it would not be a surprise to see them both prominently in the playoff picture next season, though for now they will both have to wait.

Spartans topple Lowlanders 19-14 to finish in tie for first

Both teams went into Saturday's game between the Warsaw Spartans and the Białystok Lowlanders knowing their playoff fates, but that didn't keep them from playing one of the more compelling games of the 2010 season. In the end, it was the home Spartans who avenged a 24-0 defeat early in the season, denying the Lowlanders an undefeated regular season with a 19-14 upset.

Białystok didn't travel to the game with a full squad, with their Belorussian players opting not to make the trip to Warsaw. Still, it was an impressive performance by the Spartans, given that the Lowlanders had only allowed nine points in their five victories coming into the game. The two teams went 8-0 combined against the rest of the PLFA II East division.

Warsaw took the lead in the second quarter, when Tomasz Ochnio caught a six-yard pass from J Stuart Lund in the end zone to make it 6-0. The Lowlanders tied the game shortly thereafter, on a short touchdown run by Tomasz Żukowski. The game remained tied at halftime, although the Spartans missed a great opportunity when Ochnio caught a 40-yard pass as time expired and was tackled inches shy of the goal line.

The Spartans did, however, get back on top early in the third quarter, on a 21-yard touchdown scamper by Maciej Pobudkiewicz. The extra point made it 13-6, but again Białystok had a quick answer when Żukowski threaded the ball between two defenders and hit Hubert Gudewicz, who ran the remainder of the 78 yards to the end zone. Żukowski snuck inside the right pylon on the conversion attempt, and the Lowlanders led 14-13 after three quarters.

Warsaw grabbed the lead for good in the fourth quarter when Lund hit Adrian Sawicki for a 30-yard touchdown, and both of Białystok's final possessions came to nothing. Both teams finished the year with 5-1 records, but the Lowlanders had a better point differential for the season to take the division title and a first-round playoff bye.

That bye means the Lowlanders will start their postseason campaign at home in the PLFA II semifinals on September 12, although they will not know the identity of their opponents until after the wild-card round. The Spartans will also begin their playoff run at home, on September 5. They will play the third seed from the West division, the 1. KFA Fireballs Wielkopolska, who ended the season with a 4-2 record.

Next week's preview

Only seven games remain to be played in 2010, and none of them will be played next week. Instead, the league takes a break before the PLFA II playoffs begin, with the wild-card round games played on September 4 and 5. That weekend the Płock Mustangs will travel to Poznań to play the Czerwone Byki on Saturday, followed by an intriguing matchup of two of Poland's oldest teams on Sunday in the nation's capital. No update next week; look for the next one after the wild-card games.

PLFA II

Saturday, September 4, TBA: Poznań Czerwone Byki-Płock Mustangs

Sunday, September 5, 12:00 PM: Warsaw Spartans-1. KFA Fireballs Wielkopolska