(BALLWIN, MO) Saturday night’s action featuring the local play of the Arch Rival Roller Girls and GateKeepers Roller Derby saw winning teams clinch berths for their respective league’s upcoming championships.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
In the fifth event of each franchise’s six-game regular season docket, the M-80s topped the Smashinistas 180-156 in the women’s headliner while the Raiders of Forest Park edged the Creve Coroners 171-170 in the men’s opener.
Not only did the victors punch a ticket to their respective April trophy games but the teams that were idle Saturday night, ARRG’s Stunt Devils and GKRD’s Central West Friends, also secured entry to the 2016 championships with the ensuing results.
ARRG: M-80s 180 SMASHINISTAS 156
It was not easy for the M-80s to notch its second straight victory and claim 2016 title inclusion. By capitalizing on a 49-8 rally early in the second period, the firecrackers (2-1) grabbed the duke and will now compete for the ARRG trophy in April after being out of the title mix last season.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Trailing 2-0 after the opening jam, the Smashinistas posted 14 points straight over the next three jams. EnYa Nightmare’s eight-pointer in the second rotation was followed by back-to-back treys from Harmony Killerbruise and Flash to push the camo-clad troopers’ lead to 14-2 five minutes in.
As the M-80s clawed away at the deficit, the Smashies’ kept pushing the differential back to double digits. Killerbruise’s two-point strike at the 18:35 mark moved the score to 25-14.
The M-80s flipped the scoreboard in jam 12 as Let’s Get Beard posted a dozen points to give the red rollers a 26-25 edge. Ensuing four pointers from Paul Funyun and D’Manda Flapjack finished the three-jam, 20-0 run and extended the M-80s’ lead to 34-25 with 14:10 left in the period.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
Smashies’ blocker Cloak N’ Drag-Her received a star pass on the next rotation and was able to churn a 10-5 collection to whittle the score to 39-35 with 12:15 left in the half.
The M-80s responded with a baker’s dozen uncontested over the next two jams. Flapjack flipped four in jam 16 and Bloody GaGa followed with a nine-point strike with 9:10 left that extended the M-80s’ lead to 52-35.
To its credit, the Smashinistas whittled away at the differential and made the contest a single-digit affair at halftime as Nightmare’s 9-0 rotation on the period’s final jam narrowed the M-80s’ lead to 83-74 at intermission.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
In the second period, the Smashies pulled to within five points, 94-89, at the 26:10 mark, but then the M-80s went into the aforementioned 49-8 rally by capitalizing on both Smashie penalties and the power jam walls provided by blockers Oak, C’Mon!?!, Lumberjam, Lone Pine, Bad Adze, Warpath O’ Jen, Trigger Happy Jackie, Arcane Sugar, Jenforcer, Yoko Low Blow, Molotov and Snotface to surge ahead.
Highlighted by power jams from Flapjack that yielded 23 and 20 points, the M-80s extended its lead to 143-97 with 16:35 left in the game.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
With blocking provided by Shimmy Hoffa, Chewblocka, Fletch-A-Sketch, Salty, Girl Fawkes, Party Rock-Her, Hakuna Renata, Party McFly, Bad Mutha T and Kannisbis Korpse, the Smashies were able to provide a late surge in the end to tighten the game. Trailing by 54 points on the penultimate jam, Killerbruise posted a 34-8 strike that narrowed the score to 178-156 with :16 left.
On the game’s final rotation, the M-80s’ Flapjack cruised to the front of the pack and called off the jam to thwart any late-game hijinx. The M-80s outscored the Smashinistas, 97-82, in the second period to notch the 180-156 victory and claim its second straight win and 2016 championship berth.
Flapjack topped M-80s’ scoring with 109 points while Killerbruise paced the Smashinistas’ ledger with 66. The M-80s improved to 2-1 with the win while the Smashies finished the regular season 1-3.
The M-80s face the Stunt Devils (2-1) on March 12 at Midwest Sport Hockey in a preview of April’s ARRG Championship game.
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
M-80s (180): D’Manda Flapjack 109, Lone Pine 28, Let’s Get Beard 13, Bloody Gaga 13, Paul Funyun 8, Molotov 4.
SMASHINISTAS (156): Harmony Killerbruise 66, Flash 22, Cloak N’ Drag-Her 18, EnYa Nightmare 15, Hakuna Renata 10, Salty 7, Shimmy Hoffa 4.
GKRD: RAIDERS OF FOREST PARK 171 CREVE CORONERS 170
In the sport of roller derby, rare are the occasions where a game is decided by one point. Rarer is when a game’s final differential is determined by points accumulated by the team that did not obtain lead jammer status in the final spin. The Raiders were able to stave a late surge by the Coroners and sneak a win by a whisker to claim an April championship berth.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
The Raiders, winners of two straight GKRD interleague games heading into Saturday’s derby tilt, collected a 21-2 lead six minutes in following A. Black’s 10-point strike in jam 6.
The Coroners slashed at the deficit on the next rotation with Magnum P.I.M.P.’s 18-4 power jam that narrowed the score to 25-20. Black posted four at the 21:05 mark to push the Raiders’ advantage to 29-20.
Then following a scoreless rotation in jam 9, the Coroners posted 23 points straight. After Magnum notched four, Creve Coroners’ jammer Indy collected a 19-point rotation with 16:45 left in the period, resulting in a 43-29 scoreboard flip.
The lead was short-lived as the Raiders went on a 20-4 run over the next three jams. Back-to-back treys from Mouthful and Porter were followed by Black’s 14-4 jam that resulted in 49-47 lead change in favor of Forest Park with 12:30 left in the period.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
This started the trend of three consecutive lead changes over the next three rotations. When the Coroners’ Jagged Little Will notched a 10-point power jam at the 7:30 mark, Creve Coeur amassed a 60-53 advantage.
That lead would be stretched to 83-69 with 2:15 left in the half following Magnum’s 17-13 jam, but the Raiders regained the lead on the period’s penultimate jam as Black collected 19 for Forest Park, who now possessed an 88-83 advantage. Mouthful posted a grand slam on the half’s final rotation to give the Raiders a 93-83 lead at intermission.
In the first ten minutes of the second half, the Raiders’ blocking schema of Spin Diesel, Wrecking Bill, James Mueller, Oxford Coma, Dr. Dredd, Bower, Slammin’ T. Killa, Atom Bomb and Arty Panimal helped push their lead to 130-105 at the 20:05 mark. Black then recorded a 14-point, non-lead power jam on the next rotation to stretch Raiders’ advantage to 144-105.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
By capitalizing on power jams, the Coroners pulled to within 20 points as P.I.M.P and Will notched power jams of 13 and 10 points, respectively, to narrow the score to 157-137 with 9:15 left in the game.
With blocking paced by Double Excel, Boney Fangers, Inquadable Hulk, The Doc, Irving, O’ Connell, Specs Offender and Cat Daddy, the Coroners notched 22 points straight to continue the surge. After Indy collected a grand slam in jam 14, Magnum scampered an 8-0 power jam with 5:45 that narrowed the score to 157-150. Will added a grand slam on the ensuing rotation and Magnum’s four-pointer concluded the Coroners’ rally, resulting in an 159-157 lead change in favor of the Coroners with 3:10 left in the game.
Mouthful collected a grand slam on the next rotation and the Raiders regained the lead, 162-159, with 1:15 left. The Coroners collected a 7-6 strike in the penultimate jam that whittled the Raiders’ lead to two points, 168-166, with under :20 remaining.
Photo Credit: Bob Dunnell
On the game’s final jam in front of 500 anxious spectators, the Coroners’ Magnum raced out into the front of the pack to grab lead jammer status with the Raiders’ Mouthful in close range. Magnum was able to collect four on a scoring pass while Mouthful collected three to counter. The ensuing 4-3 jam favored the Coroners on the rotation, but the non-lead points collected by the Raiders preserved the duke.
When the dust has finally settled, the Raiders topped the Coroners, 171-170, to notch its third straight win and secure GKRD Turf Wars trophy placement.
Black finished the game with 76 points, followed by Mouthful’s 61. The Raiders (3-1) will face the Central West Friends in April for the “Turf Wars” trophy.
Magnum P.I.M.P. finished the game for the Coroners, who dropped to 0-3, with 96 points. The Coroners face the Central West Friends (2-1) at Midwest Sport Hockey on Saturday, March 12.
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
RAIDERS OF FOREST PARK (171): Andrew Black 76, Mouthful 61, Corey Porter 24, James Mueller 4.
CREVE CORONERS (170): Magnum P.I.M.P. 96, Jagged Little Will 48, Indy 20, Boney Fangers 4.
For more information on the Arch Rival Roller Girls, go to archrivalrollergirls.com.
For more information on GateKeepers Roller Derby, go to stlgatekeepers.com.
By trade, he is a six-time, regional Emmy Award-winning news videographer/editor for KTVI/KPLR-TV. By hobby, he is a writer for Arch City Media, dating back to February 2014. Emphasis is on featuring and promoting local women's sports, but will cover anything that is not reported by traditional media outlets. Also a contributor to local concert reviews.
