When was the last time we saw the Bombers with two losses in the same season? It’s okay, I won’t wait long enough for you to find the answer out because it’s almost impossible to find. Point is for 10 years the Bombers have been a staple in what has now evolved in the Nation’s (no pun intended) largest no pads tackle football league.
However, The Nation is coming. After falling short of winning the Championship last year they are sitting atop the A7 throne with an undefeated start.
Sitting at 5 – 0 BIC hailing from Trenton, NJ has faced The U from Paterson, the Cobras from Baltimore, the Chiefs from Union City among others and have all come out on top. Each one of those match ups being a bigger hill to climb than the previous. This Sunday, they find themselves sitting in the same seat, albeit the driver seat.
Following a devastating loss to the U two weeks ago the Bombers bounced back big time this past week slaying the Animals who in their own right gave the Nation a run for their money the week prior.
What was a sight to see, was Shaune “King ST” Thomas finding his way back at the QB position since their week 1 win. Shaune adds a special something to the Bombers offense when he is a part of it but as the one who is calling all the shots there may be no better person for the job. Thomas is arguably the best player to ever put on an A7 jersey and while he has done it for multiple teams his time as a Bomber has been legendary.
Accompanied on the offensive side of the ball ST, has guys like Michael Knight and Moo at half back. Ameer “Chicc” Morris and Kelly Gillmore at WR and many more. The Bombers have always been known for dropping Bombs (pun intended) but at times this season they have struggled but with King back under center it looks like things might be returning back to normal.
The Nation is firing on all cylinders and if there is any team out there ready for the challenge it is them. The Brothers in Christ have jumped out to a impressive beginning to the season – although we are already over the half way point – winning their first five games. Despite their 5 – 0 record BIC has been losing later in games than the average fan would like to see. With nail biters against the U in week 2, a back and forth contest in week 3 against the Chiefs and a surprising showing against the Animals a few weeks ago it might look from the outside that the Nation is getting a bit ahead of themselves.
We saw that kicked into gear this past Saturday when the Nation let a staff missing players go up by a score through the first quarter. If they make these type of mistakes consistently they are going to find themselves holding up their fists at the end of the season and not the trophy.
BIC is built for the air show, known for many years to be a ground and pound type team with Virgies at HB the Nation have flipped the script this season with the acquisition of Terry Roland and Christopher Johnson offensively. Roland adds another pass catcher to the already stacked group of Smoke and Troy and Christopher Johnson gives them a big pick me up after the loss of their previous QB All Star Dave Nemeth.
What is often not talked about is how good of a HB Courage Mozie is for the Nation. Much like CJ replacing a perennial all star in Nemeth at QB, Courage is replacing one of the best players in the history of the league in the aforementioned Virgies. Mozie has taken the torch with pride and can currently be discussed in some circles as the best half back in the league today. He is powerful, a great blocker in the backfield and has the vision of a NFL running back and talks trash while doing it.
The biggest storyline of them all might come down to the connection CJ and Terry have with the Bombers who they played for in 2014. Rumor has it the exit for the two above to BIC didn’t go over too well for some of the Bombers brass and it has left some hard feelings.
Hard feelings can make a match up even better. Terry and CJ will attempt to prove the move they made is the right one while Mark Dobiszewski, John DeMild III and others plan to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Let’s not forget that the last time the Nation went up against the Bombers faithful as an undefeated squad was back in 2013 when they were apart of the South Ward Gators. Although this Nation team is a complete overhaul from that team a lot of the same faces that then played for SWG now play for the blue. The outcome of that game was not too friendly for the Nation who despite being 12 – 0 going into that game ended it 12 – 1 and an early exit in the playoffs.
The Nation’s offense is built to beat a Bombers defense which seems to be lacking in the coverage department. But lets not think for a second that Shaune Thomas – also one of the leagues top defensive backs – won’t play both sides of the ball if he has to. Chicc and Gillmore are going to need to play lock down defense Sunday if they plan on making enough moves to slow down this offense.
Meanwhile, the stoutly BIC defense is going to need to figure out how to corral Thomas and company long enough to keep them off the board. If history repeats itself it could turn in to a long day for the Nation.
