(ATLANTA, GA) In a city that is often nicknamed “Hotlanta,” the Arch Rival Roller Girls Saturday night ran into a Peach State derby buzz saw that simply played “on fire.”
Photo Credit: O-Jen Ishii Photography
Highlighted by a 53-0 second-period opening rally, the Atlanta Rollergirls, currently ranked #13 internationally by the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), bested #21 Arch Rival, 250-67, at Yaarab Shrine Center.
The 183-point setback, which evened St. Louis’ record to 4-4, was earmarked by the Dirty South Derby Girls’ effective jamming rotation, aided by a solid battalion of blockers laying down the foundation.
St. Louis stayed tight early and posted a 4-0 lead after jam two with four points collected by Brickyard. Atlanta responded with a 25-0 rally to sport a 25-4 lead five minutes deep.
Brickyard posted an identical four in jam 8 to help Arch Rival narrow the gap to 25-8, but then Atlanta methodically notched leads and pulled ahead, widening the score to 59-14 with 11:05 left in the period.
Photo Credit: O-Jen Ishii Photography
St. Louis posted 13 straight, with nine collected by Annie Swanson via a power jam followed by four from Mighty Mighty Boston, to cut the gap to 59-27 with 7:20 left in the period.
Atlanta mounted a 35-3 run down the stretch and posted a 94-30 lead at intermission.
The momentum carried over into the second period, and then some, as Atlanta quad-rolled a 53-0 run that put the hostesses in comfortable positioning. DSDG veteran Jammunition collected a 23-point power jam to begin the period and punctuated the rally with a nine-pointer with 20:30 left that stretched the lead to 147-30.
Despite Arch Rival’s best efforts to stay close, Atlanta pounced on penalties to maintain the triple-digit lead. Choke Cherry’s 25-point power jam scored with 16:10 left pushed the lead to 176-36.
Photo Credit: O-Jen Ishii Photography
St. Louis’ best offensive stretch of the game occurred over the next seven minutes with a 25-10 run. Highlighted by Brickyard’s nine-pointer with 13:45 left and Boston’s pointer three minutes later, Arch Rival had bested its first period scoring output, yet trailed 186-61.
Atlanta shored up the victory with a 64-6 late-bout run. Altogether, the Dirty South Derby Girls, paced by MVP Blocker Queen Loseyateefa, outscored Arch Rival, 156-37, in the second period to pick up the 250-67 win and improve to 3-1. Jammunition topped Atlanta scoring with 110 points, followed by Choke Cherry’s 72.
Arch Rival was paced by Brickyard’s 31 points, followed by Boston’s 17. Boston and Party Foul picked up the team’s MVP Jammer and Blocker Awards, respectively.
St. Louis returns to WFTDA-sanctioned play with a hectic, three-day journey to the Pacific Northwest at the end of the month. St. Louis plays #35 Jet City (Seattle, WA) on Friday, June 28, followed by a Saturday night match-up against #4 Rose City (Portland, OR) and concluding with a Sunday hangover bout with #19 Oly Rollers (Olympia, WA).
UNOFFICIAL SCORING
ATLANTA (250): Jammunition 110, Choke Cherry 72, Belle of the Brawl 51, Wild Cherri 9, Bruze Ormann 8.
ARCH RIVAL (67): Brickyard 31, Mighty Mighty Boston 17, Annie Swanson 13, Shimmy Hoffa 6.
For more information on the Arch Rival Roller Girls, go to archrivalrollergirls.com.
(Story constructed via an online feed provided by the Atlanta Rollergirls. Photo Credit: O-Jen Ishii Photography)
