2011 USAFL Nationals Results

The USAFL held its national tournament in Austin, TX this year and the weather was expected to be warm and dry. However, Texas experienced its first rain in months during the tournament, threatening to postpone or even cancel some games. The Blues played as part of Ohio Valley/Milwaukee during the tournament and there was plenty of skill in the starting lineup as well as the bench. The schedule looked tough, with matches agains Las Vegas and the combined B teams of Golden Gate and LA.

The first match was probably the driest, but came with some light rain during the second half, was against Las Vegas. Ohio Valley won the toss and elected to play with the wind at their backs for the first half. It didn't take long for the goals to start pouring on and by half time they were up by 60 holding the Gamblers to 0 scores. The scoring fell off in the second half as they were kicking into the wind and a light rain picked up but the defense held up. Las Vegas was held to a single goal before the final horn sounded.

OHV: 13.13.91
LAS: 1.0.6

The next matchup was just two hours after the thumping of Las Vegas and against a tough combined squad from California. The Golden Gate Roos and Los Angeles Dragons B teams were paired up and were expected to be a strong opponent. Shortly after the first bounce the rain picked up and continued for most of the match. For most of the first half the game was played in what could only be described as a monsoon and play was quite sloppy. Ohio Valley was playing into an extremely strong wind for the first half but held their ground keeping the Roos/Dragons to only 7 points, while scoring 3 of their own. A call at the start of the second half pointed out that the Roos/Dragons had been playing with 18 players during the first half and had 18 to start the second. Ohio Valley had been playing with 16 the entire time. After sorting the issue out, play was resumed and Ohio Valley quickly went to work, slotting a pair of majors and several more behinds. By the end of the game players were able to ring out their uniforms, shoes, and socks, from all the rain, and Ohio Valley pulled out a win in extremely tough conditions.

OHV: 2.8.20
GG/LA: 1.2.8

The performance from Saturday put the team into the semi-finals as the #2 seed against #3 seed Denver. As the players arrived at the field in the morning there was a steady rain and talk of postponing the game until 11 AM, but after some deliberation it was decided to be played at the scheduled 9 AM. The rain decided to play nice, and let up shortly after the bounce. The ground was still very wet however, and led to some sloppy play throughout the course of the game. It was close until the very end, with Denver never letting up. But in the end, Ohio Valley maintained a 10 point lead to win the game and move on to the Grand Final to take on Ft. Lauderdale.

OHV: 3.3.21
DEN: 1.5.11

The Grand Final was slotted for 2 PM and the beer tent was full for the start of the match. Ft. Lauderdale was paired up with players from Baltimore, Montreal, and Vancouver and was a very talented side. The Squids got out to an early lead in the first half but never got too far ahead and after some adjustments were made at half time Ohio Valley was able to put some goals on the board quickly to stay close. With only a few minutes remaining Ohio Valley was up by a single goal and in the final minute the Squids made a push to score but was thwarted by the Ohio Valley defense. A series of great kicks and marks up the left wing by Ohio Valley from their back line was enough to kill the remaining time, making them the 2011 Division 4 Premiers.

A great weekend of footy by Ohio Valley and Milwaukee led by some great coaching and skill players. The team came together as if they had been playing together all year round instead of two separate squads (Ohio Valley played Milwaukee earlier in the season, beating them in a tournament in Cincinnati) and instantly clicked from the start of the first match.

The Blues will likely be part of Ohio Valley next year, but are looking forward to the offseason to do some heavy recruiting to try and stand up their own club as it once was.