Related News:

Melody Are Back! 5/1

VIDEOS
Highlights From The Games of this season are online! WATCH

The Sand Storm and Crusaders are set to face off in Throwoff 2007.

Sand Storm, Crusaders to Start Things Off

May 7, 2007 – The BFL’s tenth anniversary is under a week away. And come Saturday night, we throw things off (no kickoffs in the BFL) with a great rivalry match up.

Now, unfortunately, Throwoff usually never lives up the hype of a great game? Of the 10 season openers thus far, the last six games were not all that exciting come the 4th quarter. Lets run them down.

6/19/1997 Sparrows 42 Dragons 21 Blowout.
6/24/1998 Dragons 35 Celts 35 Ended in 3rd due to heat.
6/26/1999 Melody 38 Koala 30 Exciting Last Second Yakle!
6/3/2000 Koala 42 Mustangs 35 Exciting! A near comeback!
6/2/2001 Sparrows 74 Bulldogs 65 Blowout.
6/5/2002 Gamblers 89 Fear 72 Blowout (Very exciting first 3 qrtrs)
5/17/2003 Gamblers 97 Crusaders 69 Blowout.
5/22/2004 Express 63 Bulldogs 52 Entertaining.
5/13/2005 Sand Storm 82 Dragons 30 Blowout.
5/16/2006 Dragons 105 Crusaders 65 Blowout.

As you can see were are more than overdue for an exciting Throwoff game. So why will this years game live up to the hype?

The Sand Storm and Crusaders is one of the more interesting rivalries in the league. They’ve played 3 times, and the Crusaders won the first two. Let’s take a look back at their history.

July 16, 2002 The Crusaders were the hottest team in the league at 2-0 and had already clinched their first playoff birth. The Sand Storm were aching at 0-2 and wanted to get that first win. The Sand Storm rallied back from being down by 9 points to take a 43-42. The teams exchanged touchdowns back and forth the rest of the way. Down 78-77, the Crusaders had 4 seconds to go. Rich caught a bomb as time expired to wrap up the 84-78 win and clinch their undefeated 3-0 season.

June 16, 2003 The Sand Storm had high hopes of earning their first victory in the BFL after and 0-4 start. But the comeback kid, Crusaders, had some 4th quarter magic of his own. After playing an even first quarter, the teams matched score for score. But in the 2nd quarter, Charlie capitalized on two defensive stops and took a 43-35 lead into the half. With all the momentum on the Sand Storm side, Charlie was in-control of a 77-56 lead with 2:30 left to play. What happened next, was unpredictable. 30 Unanswered points.

Sand Storm TD- 77-56
Crusaders TD- 77-63 (7)
Crusaders INT- 77-65 (9)
Crusaders TD- 77-72 (16)
Crusaders INT- 77-74 (18)
Crusaders FG- 77-77 (21)
Crusaders DEF- 77-77 [3 Missed barn burners for the Sand Storm]
Crusaders TD- 77-84 (28)
Crusaders INT- 77-86 (30)
Sand Storm INT- 79-86
Sand Storm Missed two more barn burners and time runs out.

July 1, 2004- The Sand Storm would not be denied revenge against the most painful loss ever seen. Charlie who was 1-0, faced a 2-0 Rich Fernandez. This time, the Sand Storm capitalized on an interception and many defensive stops to take a 90-64 victory. The Sand Storm would finish 3-0 and nearly make it to BFL Bowl VII.

What will this match up bring come Saturday? Last season, the two teams combined for a record of 1-5. But the Sand Storm had a much tougher schedule, and lost two games in the closing seconds. Will the fans be in for another classic this time around? Or will we be for another Throwoff Blowout? Only time will tell.

See you at the game!