I'll get it rolling without putting down a score prediction, I'll leave that to the anonymous experts.
Looking towards the semi-finals one must know deep in their hearts that these are going to be defensive battles from the get go. Looking back at last week with PA during first round almost coincided with overall defensive rank for the season; for example #1 defense Blaze gave up 6 points, #2 Oilers gave up 12 points, #5 Matadors gave up 16 points and the only variation was the #3 Phoenix who gave up 18 to a very physical Arco team. I know many people will say, "But Conetah24, the Stampede were the #3 defense and they gave up 42 points!" You are correct as the undermanned Stampede made the long jouney to Caldwell and gave everything in a game not to hang their heads on.
Offensively for the victors the outputs were also impressive with two 42 point games, a 34 point game, and once agains the Phoenix being the end scoring 24 but once again against a very physical previously AAA Arco team that many had favored in the game. You expect Bennett, Pomerlee, and Lincoln to put up 42 points in every game and they did not disappoint the home crowd. The impressive thing with the Oilers 42 points was that not one of them was in the air, the normally pass happy offense seemed content to run between the tackles which might set the coaches with a new gameplan for this weekend. The Blaze scored 34 points and from a source close to the league, "Could have scored 50 on us easy!" which their season PPG would help validate the claim. The Phoenix scored just under 5 points less then their PPG season average but it was enough win and they look forward to attempting it again this week on a long trip to Boise.
#1 Idaho Matadors vs #5 Missoula Phoenix
Just as in the NFL where it is hard to have all top seeds advance in the playoffs, and the Phoenix made it so in the RMFL. With the displeasure of having to travel to a division winner with a worse record behind them, the Phoenix now have their sights set on the top seeded Matadors. On offense, I see the Phoenix sticking to the run game with Mikey Kuehne and even QB Kohlwes seems to be light on his feet after the last two weeks. Kohlwes reminds me of my Chiefs QB Matt Cassell two years ago when they went to the playoffs, what I mean by this is that from what is shown on paper he may not be an every play deep threat, but if he controls the tempo of the game and minimizes mistakes this team will win. Obviously I'm bitter I will say that Kohlwes is a better QB than Cassell. Like most top defenses, the #3 defense is lead by a defensive unit not just one player and their is no player who leads in two defensive categories. Players to watch for are Genthe (32.5 Tks), Vukasin (10.5 TFL), Harris (5.5 sacks), and Badger (5 int). It will be interesting to see how they plan to attack the Matadors BIG 3.
The Matadors have seemingly simple offense, give the ball to Pomerlee and let him run free, have Mr. Bennett throw his beautiful timing routes that he invented in footballs early days, and when teams focus on this he will just lob it an area on the field and let Lincoln go up get it and ALWAYS will get it. A team must be ready to face an explosive offense that can score at more than type of system. I have played the Matadors twice and it has not been pretty either time being outscored 123-12. So I know first hand how explosive these guys can be on any given play. Oh and Lincoln is also a decent return guy apparently. Defensively the Matadors gave up 12.1 PPG and is the only semi-finalist to give up double digits but many will attest that this is because they played in a score happy division, what else would you expect from teams from the BSU blue turf state. However, we will get to see a good gauge of this team defensively if the Phoenix can travel well and put up a fight. Players to watch for are; Wilson (33.5 tkls), Vis (4.5 sacks, 11 tfl), and Russell (6 int).
I expect a great game as the Matadors will be playing for Jesus, Tom's championship as well as Idaho pride as the only team left out of the 4 that entered the 2012 playoffs. The Phoenix are playing to show that they have finally made the move to contend for the Championship and hope to do their part for a possible Montana Bowl II just like the one in 2007 where the Blaze came out victorious.
