Philly Books Ticket to Championship

A thousand AUDL supporters made the trip to Franklin Field on Saturday night to see the Eastern Division Championship. One of them, a Connecticut Constitution player, wore a team shirt, with his last name and the number ten on the back.

Had the Connecticut Constitution’s legal battle with the league not kept them ostracized from all league activity, this player still would have made his way to Philadelphia. But when he walked past security, he wouldn’t have needed a ticket. A Constitution jersey, rather than a t-shirt, would have been on his back.

And, perhaps, the Spinners wouldn’t have earned their ticket to the AUDL Championship in a rout, blowing out the Rhode Island Rampage by a score of 35-21.

“I think it would’ve been a lot closer,” the Constitution player said as he exited Franklin Field. “I think everyone would be going home disappointed.”

Instead, the Philly fans went home happy, and the Spinners will go to Detroit next weekend.

This one was over early on, when the Spinners showed the discipline on offense that was missing against Nexgen on Thursday night. Aided by numerous Rampage turnovers, the first quarter ended with Philadelphia up, 11-2.

While the Rampage were able to get more offense going as the game wore on, the Spinners were able to score at will, displaying the patient offensive attack that led them to their 13-2 record.

Jake Rainwater made a strong case for his MVP candidacy, scoring early and often, while being paced by captain Nick Hirannet and handler David Brandolph.

Greg Owens and Sean Murray ruled the air, with Owens skying three defenders as the buzzer ran out on the third quarter to put the Spinners up 27-13, while Murray ran down a long put in the fourth, celebrating with a back flip.

Rhode Island only brought 15 players to the game, and with 20 minutes before the first pull, only nine Rampage players had made it onto the field for warm-ups after getting caught in traffic.

Near the end of the game, when the Rampage called a timeout on the goal line despite being down an insurmountable margin, a group of hecklers in the stands began to chant, “Time to go home.”

But, for the Rampage, they’re unsure as to where that home will be next year, as the team’s owner wishes to move the franchise to Boston, despite a team already having been purchased by a different owner.

The Spinners are quite comfortable in Philadelphia, becoming Eastern Division Champions in front of their second largest crowd of the season.

Had the Constitution take the field instead of the Rampage, perhaps Saturday night wouldn’t have been so comfortable, so predetermined.

However, that’s not the case, and so, next week, the Spinners will make the long trip to Detroit to take on Brodie Smith, MVP candidate Jonathan Helton, and the Indianapolis Alleycats in the inaugural AUDL Championship.