BALTIMORE, MD -- A resurgent Mobtown Mods team went from worst to first in Charm City's local season opener, thrilling their fans with a back-and-forth 74-58 win over last year's second-place Speed Regime that came down to the very last jam.

While the off-season addition of two-time league MVP Joy Collision was a major factor in their victory -- she scored 44 of the team's 74 points -- a strong second-half showing from Lady Quebeaum, along with some effective pack play from Judy Boom, Penaltyna and Angthrax, were crucial elements of the win. On the Speed Regime's side, rookie jammer Bambi's Revenge made an impressive debut with 17 points on 4 jams, while Stormin' Mormon led the Regime point totals with 19, and transfer Holly Go Hardly (playing against the team she played for last year) was a monster in the pack.

For the first few jams of the bout, it looked like the Mods were going to go down to another of the lopsided defeats that characterized their winless 2007 season. After an opening 1-1 between Stormin' Mormon and Joy Collision, the Speed Regime took lead jammer on the first five jams of the bout and constructed a 15-1 lead. However, after a Mod timeout, the red-and-black came storming back, opening with a massively crowd-pleasing 14-0 jam for Joy Collision over Deathany (who'd spend a minute of the jam watching from the penalty box) and following up with a 4-0 victory for Duchess of Torque over Stormin' Mormon.

With the Mods suddenly enjoying a 19-15 advantage, the rest of the half -- and the game -- would be a seesaw battle. The Mods lost their lead with about 5 minutes to play in the half, when jammer Duchess of Torque spent two jams in the box, allowing Deathany to get a 2-0 win followed by a 3-0 win for Pistol Whip that put the Regime back in front by a hair, 24-23. Rookie Bambi's Revenge was on the jam line next to get the Regime's third lead jam in a row and a 4-0 win over Lady Quebeaum, but Duchess was back on for the half's last scoring jam to win a 7-4 over Stormin' Mormon that made the score a tight Speed Regime 32, Mobtown Mods 30 going into the half.

The momentum swung wildly from team to team throughout the second half, which kicked off with a 9-0 win for Joy Collision over Deathany and a 2-1 win for Lady Quebeaum over Pistol Whip (Quebeaum had been shut out in all four of her first half jams, but noticeably hit her stride in the second half.) However, Stormin' Mormon gave the Speed Regime their biggest jam win on the period's third jam, going 10-0 over Duchess of Torque, who'd landed in the penalty box again, and Bambi's Revenge followed up with a 6-4 win over the recently freed Duchess.

This put the Speed Regime on top, 49-45, with about 12 minutes left in the bout, but back to back 3-0 jams for the Mods -- one for Lady Quebeaum over Buzz Kill and one Joy Collision over Reckless Ndangerment (in Reckless' only jam of the night) -- gave the lead back to the Mods, 51-49.

Still, though, the pendulum wasn't done swinging. Stormin' Mormon, increasingly looking like the Regime's ace jammer for 2008, got lead and a 4-0 over Duchess of Torque, followed by another 4-0 win for Deathany over Lady Quebeaum in a highly defensive jam that went the full 2 minutes. (Deathany was probably held from a second scoring pass by a massive sweep block from Joy Collision that Deathany was very slow to get up from.)

With only about 6 minutes to play, the Regime up 57-51, and Bambi's Revenge alone on the jam line as opposing jammer Lady Quebeaum cooled her wheels in the penalty box, the Regime had a chance to put the hammer down -- but instead, it was Lady Quebeaum busting out of the box to claim lead jammer and follow her blocking to a crucial 7-0 that gave the Mods the lead yet again, 58-57, with 4:30 showing on the game clock.

The next jam ended 0-0 as Joy Collision was happy to take a scoreless jam against Pistol Whip, and with DuBurns Arena going wild, Lady Quebeaum gave the Mods slightly more daylight with a 3-1 win over Deathany, leaving the score at Mods 61, Regime 58 with 2 minutes left on the game clock.

Right then, however, Speed Regime would have a fatal boondoggle on the bench, with apparent confusion about who would take the jammer star to go up against Joy Collision for the potential win. The indecision went on over 30 seconds ... and in a bit of an anticlimax to a thrilling bout, Joy Collision ended up unopposed as the jam started before the Regime fielded a jammer. It certainly didn't seem very anticlimactic to the Mods or their fans, though, who wildly celebrated the end of the Mods' seven-game losing streak as Joy finished the bout by tacking on 13 points to the victory margin. Final score: Mods 74, Regime 58.

Stats

The Mods ran a strict three-jammer rotation all game long. Joy Collision had one of her normal spectacular turns at the jam line, leading all scorers with 44 points on 9 jams and an incredible jammer point differential of +39 -- she also got the most lead jammer calls with 6. Lady Quebeaum and Duchess of Torque supported with 15 points each -- Quebeaum on 9 jams and Duchess on 8. Lady Quebeaum sported a JPD of -4 and had 3 lead jams, while Duchess had a -19 JPD and was awarded lead jammer twice.

Stormin' Mormon continued her impressive evolution as a jammer, leading the Regime with 19 points on 5 jams and getting a +7 jammer point differential along with 3 lead jammer calls. Bambi's Revenge, playing in her first bout, contributed 17 points on 4 jams, with a +6 JPD and 3 lead jammer calls. Pistol Whip went to the jam line 5 times, getting 13 points, a +7 JPD, and 2 lead jammer calls, and Deathany had 9 points on 6 jams with a -17 JPD and 2 lead jammer calls. Regime jamming was rounded out by Buzz Kill (3 jams, 0 points, -3 JPD, 2 lead jams), Reckless Ndangerment (1 jam, 0 points, -3 JPD, no lead jams) and Rebel Yellow (who took the star in a short jam that ended the first half -- no points, even JPD, no lead jams.)

In the night's 26 jams, the lead jammer battle was nearly even, with the Regime getting lead on 12 jams and the Mods getting lead on 11 jams -- there were three jams with no lead declared. The Mods picked up 82 minors and 3 majors, while the Regime was assigned 65 minors and 3 majors.

With a win and the league's best point differential, the Mods find themselves in first place for the first time ever in the Charm City standings -- while Speed Regime is in the cellar for the first time. Both teams are back in action on June 14 -- the Speed Regime takes on the 1-0 Junkyard Dolls and the Mods battle it out with Joy Collision's old team, the 0-1 Night Terrors.

Photography:epmd, jwiv