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ATWOOD IS ON FIRE SATURDAY
Battle Creek (4-6) looks to set Flint on fire when they travel to Atwood Saturday at 7 PM. This will be the
first meeting ever between these two teams as the Blaze are in their first year.
At the helm for the Blaze is Quarterback is Dusty Ploehn who has passed for 722 yards with 6 touchdowns
this season. As a team the Blaze has passed for 1002 yards in 10 games, roughly a 100 yards per game
average in the air. Nearly equaling that feat on the ground has been Running Back Robbie Crocket with
858 yards rushing on 138 carries, including 9 touchdowns of his own. Their defense has been anchored
by rookie Defensive Back Devin Whitey who has 10 interceptions.
This makes for an interesting match up as both teams play to each other's strength. The Blaze tend to
rely on a strong running game while the Patriots are anchored by a solid run defense. Meanwhile, the
Patriot Defensive Backfield has been inconsistent at times, performing admirably in some games while
giving up big plays in others. They face an offense that has not gone to the air too often this season.
Once again the Quarterback situation may be up in the air for the Royal & Scarlet. QB Jonathon Watson
was unavailable for last week's contest versus Indiana and Mark Merna, a CB, got his first ever career
start at the helm of an offense. The good news for the Patriots will be the return of a few potential injured
starters this week. Two receivers are slated to return in Josh Maes and Alan Russ which could give the
offense a much needed spark. Other players expected to return this week include C Justin Brown, OG Jay
Roby, WR Mike Roe, RB Charvez Stewart, and LB Charles Stewart.
This may not be a rare appearance by the Blaze on Patriot home soil. The NAFL is expected to make a
decent push to invite Battle Creek to make the move up from AA to AAA and join the Patriots Division next
year. If that happens, it could make for an all Michigan Division featuring the Battle Creek Blaze, Genesee
County Patriots, Lapeer County Lions, and the Traverse City Wolves. The Wolves are an already
accepted expansion team for 2009 owned by former Patriot Offensive Coordinator Daniel Skibby.
The Patriots will face the Blaze Saturday, September 13 at 7 PM in Flint's Historic Atwood Stadium. Then
they will conclude the regular season with another home contest September 20 versus the Lions.
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