Ohio Defeats Tampa Bay 273-119, Falls to Atlanta 186-247
Before you read the recaps from OHRG’s visit to Atlanta, check out this killer highlight reel:
Ohio Defeats Tampa Bay 273-119
Only a few positions in the WFTDA rankings separated the (19 DNN, 23 WFTDA) Ohio Roller Girls and the (28 WFTDA) Tampa Bay Derby Darlins, but after sixty minutes of play, that gap seemed much wider. In their first of two bouts of the day, OHRG caused twice as many power jams as their opponents and skated toward their matinee with Atlanta with a decisive 273-119 victory over Tampa. In the process, Phoenix Bunz posted her third 100+ point bout of the season as she put up 121 of Ohio’s 273 points.
While Bunz’s point total is impressive, the defining factor of the bout was Ohio’s pack. Time and time again, Loraine Acid, Outa My Wayman, and Bratislava Bruiser would knock Tampa’s jammer out-of-bounds, retreat, and draw a track cut. Ohio’s physical pack play seemed to cause problems for Tampa, as star jammer Little A missed significant time in both the first and second half due to hard Ohio blocks.
The bout started well for Ohio as Phoenix Bunz posted a 9-0 jam. Tampa’s Lil Bit got the Floridians on the board two jams later after she cut Ohio’s lead to 9-4. On the next jam, Bratislava Bruiser moved Blaque Jac off the line and allowed The Smacktivist to get lead. Track cut penalties to both The Smacktivist and Apolo Ana for Tampa ended the jam with the score 18-7. Phoenix Bunz followed The Smacktivist’s nine-pointer with fourteen of her own, and took the OHRG lead to 32-7 with 23:45 remaining in the first half.
In the bout’s ninth jam, Tampa’s Little A was sent for a track cut but was followed by a cut penalty to Ohio’s HellionBOI. As Little A came around for one last scoring pass, Phoenix Bunz was able to draw a back block which put Little A back in the box. The score stood in Ohio’s favor 41-20. With a power start, Bunz was able to post 20 unopposed. A forearm penalty on the following jam to Taz Maniac gave Ohio’s Kitty Liquorbottom the opportunity to do some damage as well. At jam’s end, Kitty had posted 22 more points and took Ohio’s lead to 83-20 with 11:45 remaining.
Points were scarce for Ohio over the next five jams as Tampa appeared to gain momentary control of the bout. Stellar blocking by Blaque Jac, Betty Kruger, and Lunch Lady allowed their jammers to string together four lead opportunities. After Liquorbottom’s 22 point jam, Tampa outscored Ohio 16-1 over the five jams. But again, it was Ohio’s pack of Pippi RipYourStockings, Bruiser, Wayman, and Ava Tarr who were able to minimize the damage caused by Tampa jammers.
During the seventeenth jam,The Smacktivist tallied ten, before being sent to the box for a cut. Fantastic play on the penalty kill only allowed Tampa’s Apolo Ana to score four before she was baited into a cut of her own. Ohio continued to lead 94-40 with 06:00 remaining. Three points added by Taz Maniac in the second to last jam brought the deficit to 48 points. A power jam on the last play allowed The Smacktivist to post an additional 15-0. Ohio had more than doubled-up Tampa going into the half, 109-47.
Tampa would get as close as 28 points in the second half, but a full comeback was not in the cards for the Tantrums as Ohio’s blockers continually sent Tampa’s jammers to the penalty box. After two jams of the second half, Ohio had a 117-52 lead. Phoenix Bunz picked up a back block while trying to knock Tampa jammer Lil Bit out-of-bounds on the jam start whistle. Lil Bit was able to obtain lead and post a 19-0 jam. Lil Bit’s performance was nearly matched as Apolo Ana started with Bunz still boxed. She added an 18-0 jam which cut Ohio’s lead to 28 points, 117-89.
An Ohio time-out seemed to regroup the northerners as they outscored Tampa 136-5 over the following 15:30. During that time, four power jams and subsequent power starts for Ohio netted jams of 26, 25, 30, 13, and 19 points. The highlight of the streak came as The Smacktivist posted a 30-0 with a 4-2 pack advantage. Unfortunately for Tampa, Blaque Jac was injured on the play, but returned a few jams later.
With 8:15 remaining, Ohio lead comfortably 253-94. Tampa’s Little A was able to obtain lead on the sixteenth jam of the half, but a solid hit by Ohio’s Pearl Rogi seemed to disorient Little A as she reentered the track in front of three Ohio skaters. Tampa’s defense held strong and even caused a cut to Ohio’s The Smacktivist on the following jam. After she left the box, Little A made up for lost time and tallied a 14-0 jam.
A solid shoulder-to-chest hit on Blaque Jac by Kill Basa took Blaque off her skates and opened the inside line for Bigg Rigg on the second to last jam. Blaque recovered and joined her pack as they held Rigg scoreless. After scoring ten on a power jam, Kitty Liquorbottom passed the star to Bratislava Bruiser who added five to close the bout. As the final whistle blew, it was the Ohio Roller Girls who skated away with the victory 273-119.
Jamming for Ohio was: Phoenix Bunz (9-17, 121 points), Kitty Liquorbottom (4-7, 75 points), The Smacktivist (7-10, 67 points), HellionBOI (1-1, 5 points), Bratislava Bruiser (0-1, 5 points), Loraine Acid (0-2, 0 points), and Bigg Rigg (0-2, 0 points). Ohio obtained lead jammer twenty-two times and benefited from twelve power jams.
Jamming for Tampa was: Little A (5-9, 40 points), Apolo Ana (3-8, 36 points), Lil Bit (3-9, 27 points), Taz Maniac (5-10, 16 points), PhDiesel (0-2, 0 points), and Lunch Lady (0-1, 0 points). Tampa obtained lead sixteen times and found themselves on six power jams.
(23) Ohio Falls to (15) Atlanta Rollergirls 247-186
In the matinee bout, the (19 DNN, 23 WFTDA) Ohio Roller Girls barely had enough time to change jerseys and rehydrate before taking on the (17 DNN, 15 WFTDA) Dirty South Derby Girls from Atlanta in front of a raucous Georgian crowd. Ohio had defeated (28 WFTDA) Tampa just over an hour prior to bout time 273-119 and fatigue appeared to be a factor late in the second half of their bout against Atlanta.
Penalty trouble for Ohio’s pack caused 4 on 2 pack advantages for Atlanta for three of the bout’s first five jams. During that time, Atlanta’s Hollicidal posted a 29-0 jam, and Jammunition added a 14-0 as the home squad quickly shot out to an early 53-0 lead just six minutes into the contest. Ohio’s pack of Loraine Acid, Bratislava Bruiser, Pippi RipYourStockings, and Outa My Wayman stepped up, delivered vicious hits, and caused Atlanta jammers to make penalties.
Ohio benefited from three successive power jams when Belle of the Brawl was sent to the box during jams 6, 7, and 8. A 20-0 by Kitty Liquorbottom, a 19-0 by Phoenix Bunz, and a 35-0 by The Smacktivist caused the first lead change in favor of Ohio 74-53. Another 9-0 by Bunz once Belle was released meant Ohio had outscored Atlanta 83-0 over an eight minute time span. Atlanta’s Jammunition stopped the bleeding as she obtained lead and scored 10, but she was sent for a low block during an apex jump attempt. Her ten points were quickly erased as The Smacktivist posted fifteen of her own, and kept Ohio ahead 98-63 with 11:30 remaining in the period. Bunz’s 4-0 on the following jam made it 102-63.
Jammer penalties caused by Ohio’s pack again came into play as Ohio would outscore Atlanta 55-4 over the next three jams, highlighted by 17 by Kitty Liquorbottom, 18 by Phoenix Bunz, and 20 by The Smacktivist. A back block to Phoenix Bunz opened the door for Jammunition as she posted a 19-0 jam with 0:15 remaining. An Atlanta time-out allowed for an additional jam to be played. Jamming unopposed, Hollicidal followed Jammunition’s 19-pointer with a 13-0 of her own. Although being shut out over the last three jams, Ohio held the lead at halftime 157-102.
The home crowd could’ve been charged a second admission fee after what I’m sure was a lively halftime pep talk by the Atlanta coaching staff as the Dirty South Derby Girls simply dominated Ohio for the remaining thirty minutes of the contest. Atlanta’s packs of Wild Cherri, Agent Maulder, Alassin Sane, Ozzie Kamakazi, and Queen Loseyateefa formed successful 2-, 3-, and 4-walls throughout the period and created holes that their jammers effortlessly skated through. Atlanta’s defense was so good that of the period’s 21 jams, Ohio was only able to obtain lead status twice. After scoring 157 points in the first half, Ohio jammers were held to only 29 points in the second half while Atlanta jammers only seemed to clean up their game, being sent to the box only once in the second half compared to their six times in the first.
Atlanta started the second period with a 20-0 advantage over the first three jams. Atlanta’s only jammer penalty of the period came to Belle of the Brawl on the fourth jam, which allowed The Smacktivist to tally a 20-4 advantage. With 25:00 remaining, Ohio led 177-126. A track cut to Liquorbottom on the following jam, coupled with increased pack penalties, created a power jam for Jammunition with a 4-1 pack advantage. Seven scoring passes later, Jammunition posted a 35-0 and cut Ohio’s lead to only 16, 177-161. Points were nickel-and-dimed over the next four jams but Ohio held their lead 182-177 with 17:00 remaining.
Starting unopposed due to a Phoenix Bunz track cut on the previous jam, Bruze Orman tallied 10-0 for Atlanta and created the bout’s second (and final) lead change at 187-182. The change came midway through a 44-0 run for Atlanta that covered 8 jams and twelve and a half minutes. Phoenix Bunz broke Ohio’s scoreless streak as she obtained lead and scored 3-0. Atlanta seemed to put the proverbial nail in the coffin as Queen Loseyateefa hit The Smacktivist through the inside corner which made her cut the track. Atlanta’s third power jam of the half yielded a 20-0 for Hollicidal and a 230-185 lead for Atlanta with 4:00 remaining. Ohio would only manage to score one additional point as Atlanta’s jamming crew was content to hit and quit. At the final whistle, it was Atlanta coming back from a 55 point halftime deficit to claim victory 247-186.
Jamming MVPs were awarded to The Smacktivist (Ohio) and Jammunition (ATL). Blockers receiving the awards were Loraine Acid (Ohio) and Queen Loseyateefa (ATL). In two weeks, Ohio will travel to the BrewHaHa tournament where they will take on Pikes Peak and (13 DNN, 8 WFTDA) Minnesota. Atlanta will take a month off before bouting against (1 DNN, 1 WFTDA) Gotham at East Coast Derby Extravaganza.
Jamming for Ohio were: The Smacktivist (1-12, 90 points), Phoenix Bunz (7-19, 59 points), Kitty Liquorbottom (2-6, 37 points), Loraine Acid (0-1, 0 points), and Bratislava Bruiser (0-1, 0 points). Ohio obtained lead jammer ten times and had ten power jams.
Jamming for Atlanta were: Jammunition (9-11, 112 points), Hollicidal (9-9, 89 points), Bruze Orman (6-7, 33 points), Switchblade Siouxsie (2-5, 7 points), Belle of the Brawl (2-6, 6 points), and Wild Cherri (0-1, 0 points). Atlanta obtained lead jammer twenty-eight times and benefited from four power jams.
