Matt Conrad, Sports Columnist
May is in the books for the Maritime Football League. The playoff picture is starting to really show itself. The Halifax Harbour Hawks had a bye week in week 2 but played the defending league Champs in week 3. It was not the game the Hawks hoped to have, losing to the Mustangs 43-6. The game was much closer than the score showed. The Hawks were riddled with penalties resulting in having some scores come off the board.
This loss only fueled the Hawks to come out next week hard against PEI’s Mariners. In week 4 the Hawks beat the Mariners 64-16. This win moved the Hawks to 2-1 with an away game in Fredericton against the Fleet. (The Fleet went to the Championship game against Moncton last year.) On top of that, a win for the Hawks would clinch a playoff spot!
The game was to start at 6pm but almost like clockwork, the lightning and thunder started and the skies opened up with a heavy rain. This delayed the game about an hour. The lightning moved on but the rain did not. It was a wet and sloppy game. On the Fleets opening drive, the Hawks D-line punched the ball out for a fumble, it seemed every player tried to cover the ball but was eventually recovered by yours truly! After lots of turnovers in the rain a near INT turned into a lucky bounce into the best play of the first half. It bounced right into Hawk’s receiver Eugene McMinns and he burned everyone for a TD. At half it was only 7-0 Hawks. Penalties hurt the Hawks all game again. They had 2-3 scores taken off the board due to penalties. This time the penalties didn’t get the best of the Hawks as they squeaked out a 13-0 shutout win in a stormy night game.
Week 5 had another big game for the league. Both undefeated Moncton and Saint John were playing each other. Moncton won that match up 28-7. Now, with two games left in the regular season the playoff teams are set as the Bucs, Mariners and Fleet are eliminated. It just comes down to placement for the Mustangs, Wanderers, Hawks and Razors.
Week 6 has a huge game as the Hawks travel to the Razors, who are both tied for second place with the Wanderers. June 18th is the start of the playoffs and June 25th is the Championship game!
Photo by Ameer Basheer on Unsplash
Photo credits to: https://maritimefootballle.wixsite.com/maritimefootballleag, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70934222
