#25 Dutchland Cleans Up on #23 Atlanta, 161-86

By Josie Cuervo, Last updated Thu Mar 17 2011 10:11am

LANCASTER, PA – Dutchland (officially #10 in the WFTDA East region and unofficially #25 in the nation via DNN) continued their recent winning streak with an upset over Atlanta (#4 South Central WFTDA, #23 DNN) on Saturday, March 13th, winning 161-86. Atlanta had most recently enjoyed a 111 point win over Memphis, while Dutchland defeated Atlanta’s regional neighbor Tampa by 64.

The game began with back-to-back scoreless jams, but Ruthless Ness got some points up on the board for Dutchland in jam 3, though Atlanta’s blockers, specifically Canna Whoopass, dominated the pack’s direction so that she was only able to pick up 6-3 over Demi Gore. Dutchland never trailed after that point.

The two teams traded points for the next few jams, bringing the score 15-5. In jam 8, Dutchland’s White Thrash grabbed 12-6 over Atlanta’s Nora Gretz building the home team’s lead. Over the next 7 jams, Dutchland’s strong front wall stalled Atlanta’s jammers to only 11 points, while their own jammers piled on 51. Dutchland's wall of blockers continued to give Atlanta jammers trouble all night, often sucking them back in once they made it through. Still fighting to close the gap in the final few minutes of the half, Nora Gretz grabbed a quick 2-0, followed by Wheelin Jennings with a much needed 10 point jam. The period ended 82-34 in Dutchland’s favor.

Atlanta came out strong in period two, picking up 9-1 in the first 3 jams over a light Dutchland pack. Dutchland answered back over the next 3, holding Atlanta scoreless and grabbing 13 of their own. Atlanta opted to employ the strategy of taking a knee before the whistle, however, all it seemed to do was permit Dutchland’s blockers to form their wall more quickly. During the next 6 minutes, Atlanta took advantage of penalty trouble for Dutchland’s pack while Merchant of Menace and Nora Gretz picked up 25 points closing the gap to a reachable 100-68.  

That was the closest Atlanta got in the second half, though. After two big jams (15-0 to Dutchland's Twisted Scizzors, immediately followed by a 13-5 to Nora Gretz), the score stood at 120-81, and then Dutchland sealed the deal in the final few minutes, Skid Ho, White Thrash, and Nash Villain racked up another 22 points to Atlanta’s 5. Going into the final jam, Dutchland had the game in hand with a 142-86 lead, but Dutchland’s Twisted Scizzors put the exclamation point on the win by delivering a devastating 19 point power jam while Demi Gore looked on from the box for a track cut. That made it a 41-5 Dutchland run to close the game, leaving the final score at 161-86.

Next up, both teams face regional rivals with Dutchland meeting Maine on March 26th and Atlanta challenging Tampa on April 16th.