MOTW for Week 12 saw the Hedgehogs pop over the Alps to face Balenghi. The Hedgehogs rolled out to a 17 point lead in the 1st quarter, including a TD that was set up by a fumble recovery. Balenghi replied with a FG in the 4th minute of the 2nd quarter only to see flying Hedgehogs knock up a further 17 points by half time with TD's of 47 and 76 yards. The flying Hedgehogs then hit an 80 yarder in the 3rd and then allowed Balenghi a TD and another FG in the final quarter to win 41-13.
In the AFC East match up the Jockstraps invited Wild Thangs to Limerick, who must have wished they stayed in sunny Hawaii as the Jockstraps ran up 58 points without reply, which included 3 interceptions, 1 fumble and 4 TD passes by QB Svoboda.
In the NC East match up Jinonice paid a visit to Pamplona. Jinonice took a 13 point lead at the half, which was down to 3 by the end of the 3rd quarter. The 4th quarter saw a trading of FG's before Jinonice closed the game with a 63 yard TD in the final minute to conclude the scoring in this 23-13 win.
In the other games the Whitings played host to the Cardinals and they started brightly by taking a 21 point lead early in the 2nd quarter, the Cardinals could only reply with an FG just before half time. A FG to the Whitings was the only score in the 3rd quarter and they appeared to be cruising at 24-3, then in the Cardinals pulled back 16 points only for the Whitings to hold onto possession for the final 2 minutes to win 24-19. The Cardinals know they could have won it if they could only converted the red zone possessions into TD's rather than FG's.
The Frogs welcomed the Crushers, who were hoping for their first win of the season. A very tightly fought game that saw the lead change hands 4 times in regular time. It started with the Crushers scoring first with a TD only for the Frogs to reply with their own TD. The Crushers then scored an FG only for the Frogs to come back and score a TD. Just as half time was coming up the Crushers hit a 69 yard bomb to lead 17-14 at the half. They extended the lead to 10 points with a TD which the Frogs reduced to 7 with a FG. In the 4th the Frogs tied it up with a TD then followed that with an FG only for the Crushers to tie it up with an FG in the final minute of the game. In OT the Frogs won it with an FG 30-27. The Crushers must feel crushed coming so close and the Frogs relieved getting their 2nd win of the season in another close game.
The Machine faced the Alligators in the Netherlands and edged the game with some timely defensive play, which started with a pick 6 to open the scoring. The Alligators only reply was a FG then the Machine scored an offensive TD to lead by 11 before the Alligators offence drove in to peg the score at 14-10 for the half. The only 3rd quarter score was a TD for the Machine and in the 4th they restricted the Alligators to 2 FG's to win 21-16 and maintain their unbeaten record. Even though the Machine were outgained in yardage 2 interceptions and 4 sacks kept the Alligators at arms length.
The Wolves welcomed the Llamas hoping to find continued winning form. The Llamas scored first with a FG which the Wolves replied with a piak 6. Another Llamas FG made it a 1 point game before the Wolves scored 10 points to lead 17-6 at the half. A FG followed by a second pick 6 saw the Wolves defence having a field day and that was rounded off with a third pick 6 early in the 4th. A third FG was scored by the Llamas before the Wolves QB decided to have some fun hitting an 80 yard TD followed by an 11 yard TD to round off the scoring 48-9. It is definitely not nice having all 3 picks go to the house, but if you push the percentages it can go against you.
The Miners beat the Bot Ravens 101-0.
The Knuckleheads beat the Bot P.G.I. 91-0.
Narann played host to Xu Da hoping to beak the habit of losing league games after Super Cup losses. An early FG give them hope only to see the big play gods were still against them as Xu Da hit a 57 yard TD, a FG, then a 41 yard fumble return for a TD to lead 17-3 at half time. The 3rd quarter saw the big play gods in action again, but for Narann this time as they hit a 98 yarder and a 53 yarder before Xu Da scored an FG at the end of the 3rd. The 4th saw one more big play for Narann a 42 yarder before they wrapped up the game with another TD with 2:28 left to win 31-20.
The Bolts welcomed Cougars to Maine. This was another tight game where the QB's spent a fair amount of their time on their backsides with the Bolts winning the sack race 6-5. As to the proper scoring in the game we saw the Bolts take the lead in the 1st quarter with a FG and extend that lead with another FG in the 2nd quarter. Cougars got a TD, but missed the PAT, to tie it up in the 3rd quarter only for the Bolts to get their own TD in the 4th to win 13-6.
Juggernaut beat the Bot DV 102-0.
The Bobble played host to the Mantis and for 3 quarters of the game you really could not separate them. Mantis scoring a FG in the 1st quarter, the Bobble scoring one in the 2nd quarter and a blank 3rd quarter. Then in the 4th the Bobble knocked up 3 TD's, including a 72 yarder and a 32 yard pick 6, to win 24-3.
The Whalers welcomed the Pirates aiming to get over last week's defeat against Narann straight away and they did, with a very dominating performance 34-0. They outgained the Pirates by 400 yards and never let the Pirates get anything from the game, even in the sack race which they won 4-3.
Deflators played hosy to epics and gave a dominant performance to win 29-0. This was a better all round performance than in recent weeks, but I think Greg would have been looking for more points on the scoreboard with such domination in the game.
The Sultans faced the Patriots in Istanbul and after being caught out in the 1st quarter to a Patriots TD and FG they got themselves in front by half time with 2 TD's and a FG. Another FG for the Sultans in the 3rd extended the lead to 10, then in the 4th the Patriots thought they were back in with a chance with an early TD only to be hit by a 62 yarder for the Sultans to secure victory 27-17.

Next up for undefeated The Green Machine is a divisional match up with a visit to Budapest to play the Wolves.

With 5 games left the play off picture is starting to shape up.
In the AC the Machine and the Jockstraps presently hold the top seeded positions and both are likely to guarantee their play off places with victories next week. The Whitings, unless their get above the Jockstaps, are favourite for a wild card spot.
The AC West should provide the 3rd seeded team, but will it be Cougars or the Cardinals, whoever looses will be fighting the Wolves for the other play off spot. AC South is still anybodys with a 1 game difference between 3 teams though it probably favours the Alligators based on the remaining schedule.
In the NC Deflators and the Bolts head the listt with the Bolts shading it slightly for #1 seed based on the remaining schedule. Narann maybe in the hunt for one of these spots if they beat Deflators next week, if they don't they are still favoured for a wild card spot. The Bobble are fighting the Whalers for the NC North representation and possibly the other wild card spot with a fight with Jinonice.
NC West is like the AC South, any from 3, though the remaining schedule does not really favour the Llamas.

Trabsfer News
Jockstraps - 1 out for 1M
Whitings - 1 in for 127k, 1 out for 1.5M
Bolts - 3 out for 750k
Whalers - 2 in for 14M
Sultans - 1 out for 1M


Week 12 done and gone see you all next week.