Hornets in the Pros

[Super Hornet 2.0]

OL Brandon Weldon got picked up in June by the IFL's Bay Area Panthers, with offices in Morgan Hill but playing games at the SAP Center in San Jose, who finished the regular season this past week having claimed the #1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Weldon was picked up too late in the week to play in the game after he signed, but he's apparently impressed enough to have already earned a starting spot. The team finished 3-1 since Weldon signed.

IMO, a factor in the Weldon signing was probably the presence of WR Pierre Williams, who has been on the roster all season and has mainly started. I suspect an injury at some point, though (the team website doesn't say), because Williams only played in half the games. Williams caught 26 balls for 315 yards and scored three TDs. His long was 32 yards. (I wonder if that one went off the net.) Given Williams' stats, I would be VERY happy to have him playing for my Dallas Cowboys.

The IFL Playoffs start this week. Please note the odd scheduling hinted at by the conference records below; I think the league tried to compromise on a small travel footprint for each team.

Interesting etymology note. The team was originally intended to play the 2020 season in the arena vacated by the Golden State Warriors after their move to San Francisco. As such, the name "Panthers" is intended to evoke images of the indigenous Bay Area cougar, Oakland's involvement in the 1960s Oakland Black Panther Party, and the blockbuster hit movie Black Panther, written and directed by Hornet Ryan Coogler. The team intended to try to offset the high Oakland cost of living by providing housing allowances on top of the low IFL salaries, but everything was brought to a screeching halt by COVID. The team never played in Oakland, and started in San Jose in 2021.

I'm hoping the playoffs are televised, since the W3 seed was founded and originally coached to great success by my favorite male quarterback of all time, the immortal Danny White.

Eastern Conference

4 Quad City (IL) Steamwheelers (8-8, 8-8 Eastern) at 1 Green Bay (WI) Blizzard (13-3, 13-3 Eastern)

3 Massachussetts Pirates (8-8, 8-5 Eastern) at 2 Frisco (TX) Fighters (13-3, 7-2 Eastern)

Western Conference

4 San Diego (CA) Strike Force (10-6, 9-5 Western) at 1 Bay Area (CA) (13-3, 12-3 Western)

3 Arizona Rattlers (11-5, 7-5 Western) at 2 Vegas Knight Hawks (11-5, 9-4 Western)

 

[Super Hornet 2.0]

Sankey had 4 tackles in Thursday night's 20-16 win over Saskatchewan.

Edmonton plays tomorrow night vs. Hamilton. MBT is still expected to start.

 

[Super Hornet 2.0]

Sankey dropped 4 Sasakatchewan players last week in Montreal's 20-16 win.

MBT was pulled from Edmonton's 44-28 loss to EWU's Bo Levi Mitchell and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He was 10-18-85-1 INT before giving way to Tre Ford (10-15-121-3 TD). MBT added 3 yards on 1 carry.

Hamilton paid for the effrontery of beating Sac State with a 33-16 loss to Montreal this week. Sankey had 5 tackles.

Edmonton finally got their first win this week behind Ford, 42-31 over Saskatchewan. It appears that interim HC Jarious Jackson has benched MBT. Edmonton has gone to a much more run-oriented offense with Ford at the helm, something quite unexpected in the CFL, which only has three downs. The Elks gained 276 yards on the ground spread between only four ball carriers, which was more than they gained passing. I don't know if MBT is simply done or if he chose the wrong team in coming back to the CFL; I'm banking on the latter, though.

Next week, Montreal hosts Hamilton and Edmonton welcomes B.C.

 

[Super Hornet 2.0]

The Bay Area Panthers were upset 49-40 by the San Diego Strike Force in the first round of the IFL playoffs last week. Brandon Weldon started on the O-Line, and Pierre Williams came off the bench, but recorded no stats, largely because the quarterback were so ineffective with his passing. (Daquan Neal was 2-8-29-1 TD-2 INT) The Panthers were much more successful on the ground, probably due to Weldon: QB Neal gained 113 on 17 carries with 4 TDs, and had a long of 31. RB Shane Simpson contributed 9-49 with a long of 13. For me, that's kinda hard in an arena environment where one only has three OLs and bombs off the nets are possible.

I'm hoping our two Hornets with the Panthers get picked up by NFL teams this training camp, or during the season as spots open for various reasons. Hardly anyone can cover Williams, and Weldon is an outstanding QB shield....

Other first round results included: Green Bay Blizzard d. Quad City Steamwheelers 34-23. Massachussetts Pirates d. Frisco Fighters 53-50. Arizona Rattlers d. Vegas Knight Hawks 39-38.

Massachussetts won the Eastern Conference with a huge upset of Green Bay on Friday, 51-28. The Western Conference Championship will happen tomorrow night, San Diego at Arizona.

 

[Super Hornet 2.0]

Sankey had 6 tackles in Montreal's 27-24 win over Saskatchewan Friday night.

Sankey made a HUGE impression in last week's 33-23 win over Hamilton, recording 6 tackles, a pick, and a fumble recovery.

MBT was back in the saddle for yesterday's 47-22 blowout of Hamilton. He was 15-23-234-2 TD with a long of 44. They brought in backup Dakota Prukop, an MT State product (apparently another mobile QB, perhaps being used at the professional level in the mold of Taysom Hill) for one carry for two yards. MBT spread it around to 7 different receivers.

MBT started because Tre Ford left last week's 33-16 win over B.C. with a second-quarter rib injury. MBT came on in relief with a 14-18-171-1 TD-1 INT performance.

 

[Super Hornet 2.0]

Former Hornet DB DaRon Bland (with Dallas), who was 5th in the NFL Defensive Player of the Year vote last year, is out 6-8 weeks with a stress fracture in his foot.

At halftime of the Hornet Bowl, Edmonton leads Montreal 17-6. So far, MBT is 9-13-109-2 TD with a long of 25, and has contributed 12 yards on two carries, with a long of 8. Sankey already has 4 tackles. Pending the outcome of this game, Montreal leads the East Division with a 9-1 record, while Edmonton is just getting their acts together recently, pulling up the rear in the West Division with a 3-7 record.