Dragons, Houston, Dees, Eagles Move Up in Poll #4

The winds of winter are being felt in Australia, while the heat of summer is broiling the great meadows of the American continent.

The winds of change on the USAFL Top 20 poll, however, weren’t much of a gust so much as they were a gentle breeze, not unlike the Fremantle Doctor cooling down the West Coast.  There weren’t many games played in voting round four, but the ripples from a great day in Yonkers were felt up and down the ladder, helping even teams who didn’t even take to the field.

Chg

Rnk

Team

Points

--

1

Austin Crows (9)

180

--

2

New York Magpies

165

--

3

Orange County Bombers

157

--

4

Denver Bulldogs

152

+ 1

5

Los Angeles Dragons

137

- 1

6

Golden Gate Roos

135

--

7

Dallas Magpies

127

--

8

Calgary Kangaroos

120

+ 2

9

Houston Lonestars

91

- 1

10

Columbus Jackaroos

90

- 1

11

Sacramento Suns

88

+ 1

12

Boston Demons

82

- 1

13

Quebec Saints

75

--

14

Minnesota Freeze

67

--

15

Chicago Swans

58

--

16

Ohio Valley River Rats

45

--

17

Portland Steelheads

22

--

18

Ft. Lauderdale Fighting Squids

21

in

19

Baltimore/Washington Eagles

21

--

20

Nashville Kangaroos

20

 

Also receiving votes: San Diego Lions 13, Philadelphia Hawks 10, North Carolina Tigers 6, Seattle Grizzlies 3, Des Moines Roosters 3, Indianapolis Giants 1, Tulsa Buffaloes 1.

Austin again took in all 180 possible votes, and has now accrued all 720 votes so far.   The Crows will be preoccupied for the next few weeks as their local metro competition is in full swing.  New York remained in second after comfortably going 2-0 in their regionals at home.  Orange County lost ground on the Magpies but stayed in third, with Denver hanging in there in fourth while picking up a couple of votes in the process on the wounded Bombers.

The first change to come about in the poll saw the L.A. Dragons move ahead of the Golden Gate Roos by two votes and into fifth.  Both teams were idle over the past couple of weeks following their respective metro season, but the shifting votes from the Eastern Regionals saw two votes change hands.  The Dallas Magpies and Calgary Kangaroos round out the top eight, unchanged in their previous positions.

The next three positions were affected by Columbus’s 0-2 showing at the Eastern Regionals, compared against the strength of Houston’s 3-0 performance in the Central Regional Division two and a yet-to-be-known entity from Sacramento.  It was three weeks late, but the Lonestars finally made the big jump into 9th, up two spots, sending both the Jackaroos and Suns down a peg into 10th and 11th, respectively.  The Suns’ first USAFL contests will be in Salem against Portland, Seattle, and San Diego, and we’ll get a better idea of how they’ll go then.

The Boston Demons also moved up a spot, going up to #12, after two impressive games against New York and Columbus in Yonkers.  The Demons are a Jekyll and Hyde team and right now the monster side is showing from the boys from Beantown.  The Quebec Saints were displaced down to 13th.

Spots 14-through-18 stood pat, The Minnesota Freeze held firm at 14 despite a win over the team behind them, the 15th ranked Chicago Swans at home.  The Ohio Valley River Rats maintained 16th though they seem poised to move up, the Portland Steelheads’ road loss to Division 4 Seattle saw them drop twelve votes, but they clung to number 17, while the Fort Lauderdale Fighting Squids escaped any sort of downward movement and stayed in 18th.

The Philadelphia Hawks weren’t as lucky, as they became the third team in as many polls to drop out off the ladder after losing both games to unranked competition at the Eastern Regional.  The Baltimore Washington Eagles, who defeated both Philly and North Carolina in Yonkers, surged over the 20th ranked Nashville Kangaroos to land at number 19.  The San Diego Lions were unlucky to miss out on the top 20 again.

WHAT’S ON TAP: NEXT POLL JULY 27th.

The fifth voting round begins this Saturday with Seattle resuming play North of the Border in the BCAFL, and the renewal of “El Classico” between #3 Orange County and #5 Los Angeles.  Those two clubs are going in opposite directions if the SCAFL season is any indication, and how they do in the two games against each other may shake up the panelists thoughts as to where both teams should be.

July 16th brings with it the final leg in the Regionals Series at the Westerns in Salem, Oregon.  Eight clubs will participate, and the fields in each of the two divisions will be loaded.  Division 1 will have Orange County, Denver, Los Angeles, and Golden Gate.  That is teams number 3, 4, 5, and 6 on the ladder, kids.  Division 2 is no picnic either – D2 national runner up Sacramento, D3 national champion Portland, D4 national champion San Diego, and a Seattle team that is finding its second wind behind a group of talented new recruits.  Not a bad way to finish off the “triple crown” of American footy.

The round wraps up at Elmington Park in Nashville, as the #20 Kangaroos tangle with regional rival Ohio Valley, who comes in at #16.  A win on the road may cement them as a legitimate Division 2 entry at Nationals, though they have made plenty of arguments in their favor for that so far.

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