In a bout that featured several lead swings, the Rocky Mountain
Rollergirls 5280 Flight Club defeated the Dallas Derby Devils Travel
Team 89-73 Saturday night in Grand Prairie, Texas. In the other game
of the night the combined team from the Green Country Roller Girls
and the Tornado Alley Rollergirls defeated DDD's Death Row Rumblers
78-25.

The featured bout between Rocky Mountain and DDD started off mainly
as a defensive battle in the first period. The 5280 Flight Club had
their largest lead of the half with a 12-5 lead after the fifth jam.
The Derby Devils would chip back and actually take a 32-30 lead after
a 7-0 jam by Captain Ali Gorey in the 17th jam of the half. That
would be the largest jam of the night by DDD, and Rocky Mountain
would narrow the lead for the home team 38-37 at half time.

Ominous signs would open up the second half for Dallas. With Anita
Riot jamming, somehow four DDD blockers would end up in the penalty
box, despite a two-skater penalty box cap. Anita was out on the
track trying to pass four pack members of the 5280 Club, and while
two of her blockers were scrambling out of the penalty box belatedly
because of the cap, she was having difficulty getting by a solid wall
of Rocky Mountain blockers still on the track. Although she was the
lead jammer and she picked up three points, the team from Denver
would score four points and tie the game up.

This would lead to DDD having two blockers in the penalty box for
almost all of the second jam, and the Flight Club would take
advantage. Rocky Mountain's defense would keep the Dallas jammer
tied up in the pack the whole jam with a minimal number of blockers,
and She Who Cannot Be Named scored 15 points with 3 grand slams (pack
passes including the jammer). Suddenly Dallas was way behind and
Rocky Mountain was threatening to run away with the Interleague
bout. But the Derby Devils would not give up and chipped away at the
lead. In the tenth jam of the second half, Dallas would take a 61-60
lead.

Whether DDD was exhausted by the long effort to catch Rocky Mountain,
or the 5280 Flight Club came out with a new sense of energy, the team
in red would exert its defense, controlling the front of the pack
usually with three blockers for the rest of the game. The Derby
Devil jammers just could not get through the defense. Dallas would
face an unbelievable couple of jams late in the game. In the 14th
jam of the second half, Penny Payne was sent off for a penalty while
jamming. Anita Riot would score four points, but get held up by the
team from Denver's blockers, and some how the Rocky Mountain jammer
would come out of the box and score five-points as controversy
reigned supreme with the Dallas fans. Then Frida Beater would take
advantage of that tough Flight Club defense the next jam and the
heavily penalized Dallas blockers, outscoring the Derby Devils 14-3,
giving Rocky Mountain a 15-point lead that could not be overcome.

Frida Beater was the leading scorer for the Rocky Mountain
Rollergirls with 49 unofficial points. She Who Cannot Be Named added
31 points for the team in red. Top blockers for Rocky Mountain
included Pinky 500 and Ida Hustler. The leading scorer for the
Dallas Derby Devils was Anita Riot with 31 points. Hot for Teacher
added 18 points for DDD. All points are from my unofficial
statistics. Top blockers for Dallas included Scary Cherry Bang Bang,
Shocker, and Mercy.

In the second bout of the night, the Oklahoma combined team broke out
to a quick lead in what appeared to be another defensive struggle.
The Death Row Rumblers of Dallas would narrow it down to 10-8 in the
fifth jam of the first half. But that would be a close as it would
get as the combined squad from Green Country Roller Girls and Tornado
Alley Rollergirls would draw out to a 27-15 half time lead.

The second half would be a penalty filled half for the Death Row
Rumblers, with jammers being in the penalty box for a lot of the
second half. That would in part lead to a 51-point explosion by the
combined team, while the Rumblers were limited to 10 second half
points.

The leading scorer for the team from Oklahoma was Anomillie with 39
points, 26 of them in the second half (unofficially). Short Circuit
would add 17 points and Krankee Yankee would chip in 15 points. Top
blockers for the combined team were Fairie Mean and Switchblade
Rosie. The top scorer for the Rumblers was Strawberry Deathcake with
14 points. Top blockers for the Death Row Rumblers were Annie
Wrecksion with several jammer takeouts and Professor Chaos.

The next action for the DDD traveling team will be December 8th as
they host the Texas Rollergirls in a home bout.

Phil Arnold,
Austin, Texas