Chicago Outfit Survives Burning River, 181-164
MILWAUKEE, WI -- Heavy underdog Burning River (16NC) very nearly managed to pull a major rankings upset on a penalty-heavy Chicago Outfit (5NC) at Brewhaha. The team from Cleveland led for almost all of the first 50 minutes of the game, but a devastating 32-0 powerjam for Lola Blow in the final ten minutes was all the Outfit needed to win; in the end, the Outfit was victorious by just 17, 181-164.
The teams traded lead jam calls and jam wins for the first three jams, with Burning River holding a 6-4 lead five minutes in. The first power jam went in Burning River's favor on jam 4 as Queefer Sutherland was boxed on her opening pass, and Burning River put up a 15-0 on that one to go up 21-4 early. When the Joan Ranger back-blocked her way to the box two jams later, Primo Donna had a minute of her own to put up points, but the Outfit's Lady K had a strong jam as a blocker and helped hold it to just 5-0.
As had been a huge problem on Saturday against Cincinnati, the Outfit continued to have major penalty issues, though. Following the Joan Ranger's penalty, Queefer Sutherland went back to the box, and the Killastrator put up 24-0 with a number of untouched passes on a 4-2 pack. With 17 minutes in the first half, Burning River was holding a surprisingly big lead at 59-13.
After those three early jammer penalties, though, the Outfit managed to slowly start narrowing that margin -- there were no powerjams for either team for the remainder of the half, which ended with Burning River still leading but by a much closer score of 94-73.
The Outfit's charge continued in the second half, as they opened with a 4-0 to Queefer Sutherland; although the Outfit's Lola Blow was boxed on the second jam, it was once again Outfit blocker Lady K rescuing the jam for her team by forcing a major track cut on Burning River's Mary Kaos. That ended up going 7-0 for Lola, and suddenly the Outfit was knocking on the door at 94-84.
But just when it looked like the Outfit was about to finally take the lead, jammer penalties once again handed Burning River a pile of points. Including the second jam, the Outfit saw their jammer get sent to the box for a crippling four jams in a row; three big powerjams saw Burning River go on a 47-5 run that gave them their largest lead of the bout at 141-89. The Outfit called their second timeout with 19:15 left in the game.
Once again, the Outfit started to close the gap, rallying to 148-116 with 14:30 left -- and then the Outfit finally got a chance to be on the right side of a powerjam as Primo Donna was boxed early. That jam went 15-1 to Queefer Sutherland, and it was suddenly a tight game again at 149-131.
There was some massive confusion on the following jam as the Joan Ranger was called for a major penalty as Outfit jammer at the same time she was trying to call it off -- thinking the jam was over, the Outfit's next line actually came on the track while the jam was still in progress. The jam continued, though, going a full 2 minutes but ending at just 2-2. It was 151-133 with just under ten minutes to play as Burning River called their second timeout.
The next one would be a nightmare jam for Burning River, though, as they completely filled their box and were momentarily reduced to just one blocker on the floor. Lola Blow finally put the Outfit ahead with a enormous 32-0; with Burning River still jammerless to start the next one, Queefer Sutherland dropped 15-0. Suddenly the Outfit was in the driver's seat, up 180-151 with five minutes to play.
That sequence was the game-winner, but Burning River did not go quietly. They took the next four leads, but could only get single pass scores -- 3-0, 4-0, 2-0 and 3-0. With 38 seconds left on the clock, Burning River called their final timeout, looking at a 16 point deficit at 180-164.
Mary Kaos took the star for Burning River against Queefer Sutherland, but when Queefer took lead, it was just a matter of waiting for the clock to run down. Queefer did mysteriously go for a scoring pass, but called after scoring 1, ending the game at Chicago Outfit 181, Burning River 164.
