Evergreen
League &
Pacific Northwest
Conference Merge
November
25, 2007
Members
of the former Pacific Northwest Football Conference (PNFC) and the Evergreen
Football League (EFL) have combined forces to unite spring football in 2008 with
all 14 teams flying under the EFL banner.
The
move expands the EFL by 4 teams as the South Sound Shockers, Skagit Valley
Lightning, Bellingham Bulldogs, and British Columbia Spartans join a 7 team
Pacific division which will include the Columbia Basin Riverhawks, Yakima
Mavericks, and Wenatchee Valley Rams.
The Cascade division will be the Blue Mountain Stars, Tri-City Knights,
Spokane SaberCats, State Line Miners, Palouse Thunder, Okanogan County Commandos
and the Eastern Oregon Timber Rattlers. The Valley Mustangs, runners-up to the
Shockers in the PNFC championship, opted to try their luck in a summer venue,
while the Lane County Dragons are taking the 2008 season off to reorganize and
reevaluate the program.
"All
of the existing owners of EFL teams are excited about this merger and the
increase in competition, while the former PNFC teams are looking forward to the
stability and structure the EFL has established over the past three seasons.
This will make the EFL the largest Semi-Pro football league in the state of
Washington
”.
The
winner of the EFL Championship in 2008 will face the winner of the Oregon
Football League (OFL) for the Greater Northwest Football Alliance regional title
on June 28. The Oregon Outlaws are
2-time OFL champions, while the Blue Mountain Stars are last years GNFA
Champions.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
|
|
2007 CHAMPIONS
14-1
|
2006 CHAMPIONS
11-0
|
|
2007 Standings |
PNFC |
OVERALL |
(No
FFT's) |
| Team (Division) |
W |
L |
W |
L |
PF |
PA |
| South Sound Shockers (South) |
9 |
0 |
14 |
1 |
775 |
89 |
| Valley Mustangs (North) |
6 |
2 |
10 |
5 |
412 |
198 |
| Skagit Valley Lightning (North) |
3 |
4 |
3 |
10 |
149 |
445 |
| Northwest Avalanche (North) |
3 |
5 |
3 |
7 |
96 |
248 |
| Lane County Dragons (South) |
1 |
6 |
1 |
7 |
26 |
434 |
| Lakewood Wolves (South) |
1 |
6 |
1 |
9 |
44 |
123 |
|
2006 Standings |
PNFC |
OVERALL |
|
| Team (Division) |
W |
L |
W |
L |
PF |
PA |
| Seattle Stallions (North) |
8 |
0 |
11 |
0 |
392 |
85 |
| South Sound Shockers (South) |
8 |
0 |
11 |
1 |
326 |
46 |
| Northwest Avalanche (North) |
6 |
2 |
6 |
4 |
156 |
197 |
| Pierce County Knights (South) |
4 |
4 |
4 |
6 |
63 |
162 |
| Olympic Peninsula Eagles (North) |
2 |
6 |
2 |
6 |
40 |
220 |
| Eugene Dragons (South) |
2 |
6 |
2 |
6 |
28 |
279 |
| Skagit Valley Lightning (North) |
2 |
6 |
2 |
6 |
43 |
59 |
| Bothell Bulldogs (South)* |
0 |
8 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
8 |
|
|
2nd
Season Players Draw Accolades
A
few PNFC players took the opportunity to play summer football and most did
extremely well. The tally: (Player; PNFC team; summer award)
Brad
Dennis (Shockers) 1st Team All-League LB
MItch
Johnson (Mustangs) 2nd Team All-League DE
Preston
Slaughter (Wolves) 2nd Team All-League DT
MItch
Johnson (Mustangs) Hon Men DT
Bernard
Blosser (Wolves) Hon Men SS
Anthony
Montgomery (Mustangs) Hon Men WR (NAFL All-Star Game MVP)
Also
of note were Shocker standouts Bobby Poeltl, Corey Laday, David
Combs,
Brandon Claxton, and Eric Webster who arrived to a 1-3 summer team and
lifted them to a 6-1 record over the next 7 games, a spot in the playoffs
and Coach Ron Baines being voted coach of the year. Another former
Shocker, Jackie Triplett played briefly with former PNFC Champ the Seattle
Stallions before beginning a college career at Dakota State University
with another former Shocker, John Stewart. Shocker TE Brian
Mickens is still undefeated for 2007 (he did not dress for the GNFA
title game) as he is now with the 13-0 Pittsburgh Colts.
Congratulations
gentlemen from the PNFC!
|
Avalanche
to become Bulldogs, Spartans to be Canadian addition
The
Northwest Avalanche will become the Bellingham Bulldogs following an ownership
change in the off season and the British Columbia Spartans will likely be the
first international entrant to northwest football in quite some time. All
will be made official at the PNFC meeting on Dec 2, 2007. The
Valley Mustangs, runners up to the Shockers in the PNFC Championship have opted
to pursue a new direction with the NAFL for the summer of 2008. Brandon
Powell, owner of the Mustangs organization made the announcement to the PNFC via
email on Nov 12. Powell run teams are 14-11 over the past 2 seasons, but
should do well in the new "Northwest Division" of the NAFL which is
attempting to expand westward in competition with the MLFA, another summer
organization. The PNFC and the GNFA are garnering interest from the USFA
in a possible alliance which could provide a bowl game for the GNFA champion and
an east coast champion. Other alliances are in the works and will be
discussed at the upcoming meeting.
PNFC DRAWS INTEREST FROM PROSPECTIVE NEW TEAMS
With the successful ending of the Pacific Northwest Conferences' second season, interest in the spring venue continues to grow as two new prospective team owners have stepped forward to submit preliminary applications to the conference. Both are currently under review for possible discussion at the next conference meeting. Not every team that makes application to the conference makes it a full season or in some cases even begins a season. "We experienced a growing pain with Lakewood being forced to shut down after running into financial problems this season, and we had the same issue with the (Bothell) Bulldogs in 2006 when they bounced an insurance check before the season got underway" Remarked Treasurer Mark Meadows. "In that case we were forced to drop the Bulldogs from the conference three weeks before kickoff. Not every owner knows what they are getting into when they start up a football team and when the expected sponsorships don't come in, players are allowed to slide on fees, the bills pile up quickly. $20,000-$35,000 is not an uncommon operating budget for a full season for the upper echelon teams."
In other news, Meadows announced that he will be stepping down from the treasurer position he has held since the inception of the conference to focus more on his involvement with the GNFA and the Shockers. "It's time to let someone else take a turn with the books, so once I have all of the final bills accounted for I will turn the ledgers over to our Secretary until my replacement is signed on, It's not a difficult job, I just have some other football related things I want to dedicate my time to at this point" said Meadows. Meadows will still hold his voting board position as a member of the Shockers in 2008 unless another team official is designated. This could be a possibility with South Sound just announcing Tami Holly as General Manager.
ALL
CONFERENCE LIST ANNOUNCED
After a slight delay while the PNFC held
it's breath for one of it's own as Eric Murray is battling for his life, the
PNFC is proud to announce it's 2007 All-Conference teams. As expected, the
Shockers dominated most of the selections as they did most of the year no the
field with some outstanding performances. The Valley Mustangs came in with
the next best group of athletes including great performances from punter and
defensive tackle Mitchell Johnson who hit double digits in sacks and became the
first kicker in PNFC history to score the elusive "Kickoff Point" by
putting a kickoff through the uprights during a game. Tory Tolefree
returned a missed field goal over 100 yards for a TD...both PNFC and GNFA
records. Congratulations to all winners!
|
PNFC
All-Conference 1st Team:
OFFENSE
RB:
Marquis Johnson – Shockers *RUSHING LEADER-RB (768 yds; 10 TD)
FB:
Terrell Smith - Shockers *RUSHING LEADER-FB (763 yds; 13 TD)
QB:
John Stewart – Shockers *PASSING LEADER (2,583 yds; 34 TD)
WR:
Bobby Poeltl – Shockers *RECEIVING LEADER (1,130 yds; 15 TD)
WR:
Nick Keith – Dragons
TE:
Tyler Nibarger - Lightning
OL:
Travis Brock – Shockers
OL:
Jeff Cole - Shockers
OL:
Jonathan McNally - Shockers
OL:
Brian Lawyer - Dragons
OL:
Tommy Bonter - Mustangs
PK:
Pat Hutnik – Shockers *SCORING LEADER (115 pts)
DEFENSE:
DE:
Jackie Triplett – Shockers *SACK LEADER (23)
DT:
Mitch Johnson – Mustangs *(44 tackles 11 sacks)
DT:
Travis Brock - Shockers *(33 tackles 10.5 for loss)
DE:
Eric Webster - Shockers *(5.5 sacks; 14 tackles for loss)
LB:
Gary Reynolds – Mustangs (50 tackles)
LB:
Brad Dennis – Shockers *TACKLE LEADER (76)
LB:
Nate Enciso – Shockers *(68 tackles 3 INT; 4 rushing TD)
CB:
Micah Tanaka – Shockers *INTERCEPTION LEADER (11; 5 TD's)
CB:
Sterling Howard – Mustangs *(3 interceptions)
SS:
Eric Goodman – Shockers *(9 interceptions)
FS:
Randy Alderman – Shockers *(7 interceptions)
P:
Mitch Johnson – Mustangs *(44.0 Yd Avg)
PR:
Bobby Poeltl – Shockers *RETURN LEADER (4 TD; 22.1 Avg)
KR:
Bobby Poeltl - Shockers *RETURN LEADER (3 TD; 39.1 Avg)
|
PNFC
2nd Team All- Conference
OFFENSE
RB:
Issac Syph Jr. – Mustangs
FB:
Michael Hall – Lightning
QB
Brad Collins – Lightning
WR:
Bryan Hooper – Shockers
WR:
Anthony Montgomery – Mustangs
TE:
Brian Mickens – Shockers
OL:
Brandon Claxton - Shockers
OL:
Ike Woo – Shockers
OL:
Brian Howard – Dragons
OL:
Danny Sequiera - Lightning
OL:
Michael Daly - Lightning
PK:
Mitch Johnson – Mustangs
DEFENSE
DE:
Vercell Jones – Mustangs
DT:
Brian Lawyer – Dragons
DT:
Justin Shumate - Shockers
DE:
Marty Darland - Shockers
LB:
Nathaniel Mosley - Dragons
LB:
TJ Stephenson - Lightning
LB:
JR Kialahi - Lightning
CB:
Tory Tolefree – Mustangs
CB:
Art Sanchez – Lightning
SS:
Ryan Reynolds - Mustangs
FS:
Anthony Hariston – Mustangs
P:
Kevin Flanagan – Lightning
PR:
Tory Tolefree – Mustangs
KR:
Nick Keith - Dragons
|
SHOCKERS
COME UP SHORT
John Stewart's fade pass to a streaking
Bryan Hooper for a 43 yard TD came too late as the Shockers comeback bid failed
in the waning moments of the GNFA Title game. After falling behind 7-3 at
halftime, South Sound was forced to punt and on the ensuing possession,
All-Region QB king Brett Jay came alive tossing 2 TD passes on back-to-back
possessions to go up 21-3. The TD by Hooper brought the Shockers to 21-10
however 2 critical turnovers turned the tide and the score. With the Stars
up 24-10 in the closing moments of the fourth quarter, Andrew Sakota stepped in
front of a Stewart pass and took it in for a score to seal the 31-10 win.
The teams matched fairly evenly as the Shockers accounted for 222 yards while
the Stars amassed 317. The difference was the red zone scoring as the
Stars capitalized on all of their threats and the Shockers stumbled garnering
one field goal and turning the ball over on downs twice inside the Stars red
zone. One shining spot for the Shockers was the return of Randy Alderman's
leg as the South Sound punter unleashed a series of field position changing
punts while averaging over 43 yards per boot. The Shocker defense,
although troubled by Jay's passing and elusiveness when scrambling, did manage
to bottle up the Stars 1,000 yard rusher and top ground gainer in the region by
holding Brandon Tate to 80 yards on the night.
PNFC
CHAMPS DEFEAT LIGHTNING
Eric Goodman swiped 3 passes from
Lightning quarterbacks and Jackie Triplett recorded 3 sacks and 2 blocked punts,
one for a safety as the Shockers defeated the High Desert Lightning in the GNFA
Qualifier 47-2. The Shockers move on to face the #1 Blue Mountain Stars
and their high powered offense on Saturday June 30 in Burbank, WA.
SHOCKERS CLAIM TITLE; PUT STAMP ON SEASON
John Stewart found Bobby Poeltl running free over the middle and delivered a TD strike from 70-yards out to open the scoring as the Shockers steamrolled the Mustangs 66-0 in the PNFC Championship.
Stewart hit Ryan Reis and Micah Tanaka intercepted a pass and returned it 32 yards for the Shockers 3rd TD of the 1st period enroute to a 31-0 halftime lead. The flood gates opened on the back of 4 Shocker defensive touchdowns with Tanaka later picking up a Mustang fumble and returning it for a touchdown. Sack master Jackie Triplett joined the 20-sack club and also picked up a fumble for a TD return. Strong safety Eric Goodman returned another INT for a TD in the 3rd. Brian Mickens and Terrell Smith scored as well as Poeltl catching a second screen pass and slicing the Mustang defense for a 50-yard TD. Poeltl topped 20 combined touchdowns on the season, a Shocker record.
The Mustangs were unable to muster any kind of sustained offense under the relentless pressure of the Shocker defense.
The Shockers will now meet the winner of the OFL Championship in a 3:00 pm regional qualifier to be played on the base at Fort Lewis, WA.
Lane County Finishes Season with Pride Intact
Battered and bruised from a season filled with
adversity, the Lane County Dragons made the long road trip to Lacey, WA on
Saturday for their season finale. The game was lost early, but the 20
healthy Dragons won the hearts of the fans in attendance. Injured Dragon
Bobby McClain, with his neck in a brace from the compression injury suffered a
week ago against the Valley Mustangs, strode out to the center of the field
where he tossed the coin for the start of the game. Shocker announcer
Randy Worrell introduced McClain to the crowd as an honorary captain and at
halftime presented Bobby and his wife with donations collected from the Shocker
faithful as well as players and coaches to help offset medical costs for his
upcoming surgery. The game started and quickly turned into a runaway
as South Sound built a 42-0 first quarter lead. Trailing big at halftime
some teams would be content to not come out of the locker room and call it a
season. But these are the Dragons. They come to play
football. As the Dragons took the field for the second half,
Dragon and Shocker fans alike gave an ovation for the warriors from
Oregon. Game officials announced the clock would run continuously through
the final half stopping only for injuries and a few Dragon players expressed
their disdain. "We don't want a running clock, let's just keep
playing. This is our final game of the season". These guys
have heart and no loss no matter how lopsided has taken that away from the
Dragons the past two seasons. "There were a few people in the
football community speculating on if the Dragons would even come to the game or
take a forfeit, but we know better. You cannot deny the Dragons
organization and players love for the game of football, and everywhere they go
they earn the respect of their opponents because we've seen many teams put in
the circumstances the Dragons have been in and they give up and quit, but you
can't say enough about what these guys are all about. They bring pride to
the game." (Shockers Representative)
Dragons Player Suffers Severe Neck Injury
Bobby McClain, a young 5'9" 165 lb
cornerback and running back for the Lane County Dragons suffered a severe spinal
injury in the Dragons loss to the Valley Mustangs Saturday night. McClain
was flown to Harbor View hospital in Seattle where scans showed swelling of the
discs near his C5 and C6 vertebrae causing pressure on the spinal cord.
Surgery was planned for Monday morning to relieve the pressure and determine the
extent of the damage to Bobby's spine. More information will come from the
Dragons ownership as it becomes available and appropriate for release by
McClain's family and the Dragons organization. The entire PNFC wishes
Bobby and the Dragons the best and all hope for a quick recovery. UPDATE:
Bobby is out of the hospital and surgery has been postponed. He is
expected to make the trip to Lacey, WA with the Dragons for the season finale
for Lane County as they face the South Sound Shockers.
Lakewood Forced to Shut Down
Rich Winkle, owner of the Lakewood Wolves
announced that the Lakewood Wolves would be withdrawing for the remainder of the
2007 season and would attempt to reorganize the Wolves and petition for
reinstatement for 2008. The Wolves forfeited to the Lane County Dragons on
April 28th while working on internal issues involving allegations from staff
members of misconduct and an altercation between Winkle and the Wolves former
head coach. Lakewood attempted to return to the field to play the King
County Jaguars in a non-conference match up on May 5th, however was not able to
bring back players who had already jumped ship to other area teams outside of
the PNFC. In similar news, Valley Mustang opponent Columbia
River of the Oregon Football League was forced to halt their May 5th game
with the High Desert Lightning with 3 minutes remaining in the first quarter due
to injuries. The Lightning were leading 28-0 when the Coyotes 11th man was
injured and unable to continue forcing a stoppage due to a lack of
players. The future of the Coyotes for the remainder of the season will be
monitored through the week.
Dragons Take Forfeit Win Over Lakewood
Rich Winkle, owner of the Lakewood Wolves
announced Thursday that his team would forfeit this Saturday's match up with the
Lane County Dragons in order to reorganize his staff and attend to legal matters
involving allegations of misappropriation of funds and an investigation into an
altercation between Winkle and former head coach Nate Tomlin which required the
police to be called out. The decision was made early to enable the Dragons
to cancel transport plans and recoup any reservation fees and avoid unnecessary
charges to be incurred by the Dragons organization. "We appreciate
Mr. Winkle and the Wolves being forthcoming with the situation and taking
proactive steps towards solving the issues without putting undo pressure on
their future opponents and potential uncertainty of future games."
(PNFC Official). Lakewood is a first year expansion team in the PNFC. Winkle
and Valley Mustangs owner Brandon Powell were co-owners of the Pierce County
Knights in 2006 and applied to become two teams for 2007.
PNFC Players Nab Player of the Week Honors
Eric Goodman of the South Sound Shockers became
the first PNFC player to garner GNFA Player of the Week honors for his
performance on March 31st. Goodman, a strong safety, recorded 6 tackles,
one for loss, a pass break up and returned an interception 42 yards for a score
to boost his team to a 20-0 victory. Goodman, was also awarded Strong
Safety of the week by the MLFN along with teammate Brad Dennis who earned
Linebacker of the week, both in the Far West Region. On April 7th, Nate
Enciso (middle linebacker), Marquis Johnson (running back), Jackie Triplett
(defensive end), and Bobby Poeltl (kick returner) were selected as Far West
Region players of the week by the MLFN.
Avalanche Player Earns College Scholarship; Lands on CFL Radar Screen.
PNFC - OFL - EFL JOIN FORCES IN GNFA
The Greater Northwest Football Association will feature the top 3 spring conferences in the Northwest region in 2007 with a final Northwest Regional Champion being crowned in July. The Oregon Football League, Evergreen Football League and the PNFC will supply the participants for the regional playoff. Winners of the the respective groups during the season will square off for Northwest bragging rights. Negotiations are underway to include the Rocky Mountain Football League which includes teams from Montana, Idaho, Utah and Colorado. The GNFA will rank members through a complex mathematical formula during the season, as well as name weekly top performers and a Northwest All-Region team. Plans are being discussed for a Northwest Region All-Star game and weekend. Check out the website for more details as they become available. (www.leaguelineup.com/gnfa)
MLFN ANNOUNCES ALL-AMERICAN SELECTIONS; 35 PNFC ATHLETES TABBED
RB EJ Ash - Stallions (1st Team) OL Craig Danielson - Eagles (1st Team)
OL Larry Fowler - Stallions (1st Team) WR Vince Burruss - Shockers (1st Team)
LS Don Pursur - Eagles (1st Team) FB Curtis Hagg - Avalanche (2nd Team)
WR Carlos Clark - Stallions (2nd Team) QB John Stewart - Shockers (3rd Team)
FB Mike Himes - Stalllions (3rd Team) OL Justin Shumate - Shockers (3rd Team)
OL Washington Mose - Stallions (3rd Team) OL Jon Hammersmark - Stallions (3rd Team)
TE Chance Savage - Stallions (3rd Team) TE Alex Lewis - Stallions (Hon Men)
OL Antoine Reeves - Stallions (Hon Men) OL Keith Jones - Stallions (Hon Men)
DL Pat Gilbert - Stallions (1st Team) DL Eric Nelson - Eagles (1st Team)
LB Keaka Frank - Stallions (1st Team) LB Nate Enciso - Shockers (1st Team)
DB Anthony Gaynes - Stallions (1st Team) DL Washington Mose - Stallions (2nd Team)
DL Chance Savage - Stallions (2nd Team) DB Josh Girello - Stallions (2nd Team)
DB Ryan Kalalau - Shockers (2nd Team) DL De'Sean Quinn - Stallions (3rd Team)
DL Aaron Grady - Eagles (3rd Team) LB Dan Cable - Eagles (3rd Team)
DB Randy Alderman - Shockers (3rd Team) DB Anthony Chappelle - Stallions (3rd Team)
DB Tony Tolefree - Stallions (Hon Men) PK Nathan Turner - Shockers (1st Team)
PK Andre Zahaijko - Stallions (2nd Team) Punt Randy Alderman - Shockers (3rd Team)
DE Jackie Triplett- Stallions (Hon Men)
The Breakdown: Stallions (21) Shockers (8) Eagles (5) Avalanche (1)
2006 Stats Posted
All Stats submitted through May 24.
PNFC OFFICERS FOR 2007:
SECRETARY-Lora Sisk, Eugene, Oregon
TREASURER-Mark Meadows, Olympia, Washington
ARBITRATOR-Guy Gabriel, Arkansas
