Bout recap: Hell on Wheels VII

The QCRG double-header on April 20 at the Rainbow Roller Rink in North Tonawanda was anything but mellow as QCRG’s Lake Effect Furies treated Long Island’s Roller Rebels to a bit of Buffalo weather and, in the second bout of the night, the Suicidal Saucies and Devil Dollies fought neck-and-neck in the QCRG’s seventh annual Hell on Wheels match, with the Dollies pulling off the win.

First Bout: Lake Effect Furies Take On the Long Island Roller Rebels

The Lake Effect Furies started the night off with more fire than ice by coming at the Long Island Roller Rebels hot. By the ninth jam of the bout LEF’s LiBRAWLian (#622) delivered 36 unanswered points, bringing the Furies’ lead to 96-8. Soon afterward, however, The Long Island Roller Rebels began to stage a comeback.

After a LEF jammer spent time in the box and another jammer, Abercrombie & Fists (#99), got injured, the score shifted to 104-51 Furies by the end of jam 13. Blockers including Pepper Stix (#60), CU~T (#52), and Head Huntress (#54) held off the opposing jammer during power jams in which the Roller Rebels were keeping the pack slow for their jammer’s benefit. Nearing the end of the first half, the Long Island Roller Girls were working hard to gain on the Lake Effect Furies. However the Furies defense used strategies such as “waterfalling” and “pinches” to get jammers like Addy Rawl to lengthen the lead. At the half the score was 154 Furies -74 Rebels.

Both teams came back from the halftime break ready to fight for the win. After making her first pass through the pack LiBRAWLian used her brain and brawn to knock the opposing jammer out of bounds, skate backwards right to where the Furies blockers were positioned at the front of the pack, and deliver that jammer to the LEF blockers before taking off again for a scoring pass.

During the second half, the Furies regained a considerable lead over the Rebels. Though the Furies did struggle with players in the box (at one time having 4 skaters assigned major penalties), they were able to make up losses with high scoring jams. With five minutes left of the bout, blocker VaJenna Warrior delivered a pick to aid LiBRAWLian with another 35 unanswered points.

Final score 325-133 LEF. The next Furies home game is against Burning River Roller Girls on June 15.

Second Bout: Hell on Wheels

The second bout of the night was the annual “Hell on Wheels” matchup between the Devil Dollies and the Suicidal Saucies. The name “Hell on Wheels” has endured for seven years because the competition between the two teams has always been fierce and a thrill to watch. This year did not disappoint.

The bout began with jammers for both teams fighting for four points at a time. The score was staying close with jams ending in 0-4, 4-4, 8-8. At jam 4, Saucies jammer B’kini Whacks (#21) started some jammer on jammer action by knocking down Devil Dollies jammer Crown Victoria (#404). By jam 7 the Saucies began to take the lead after a power jam helped B’kini Whacks pick up 20 unanswered points, leading to a score of 41 Saucies – 18 Dollies.

The Dollies were not about to let the game slip away however, and blockers such as June CleaveHer (#49), Fetishly Divine (#1125), Bette Churass (#32), Gibby S’more (906), and LipService (#360) turned up the hits. Meanwhile jammers such as the Saucies’ Flame Throw-Her (#220) and Dollies’ Low-Hits Griffin (#153) continued to earn their team points four at a time.

With two minutes left to the end of the half, the Saucies had the lead with a score of 96-86. Then Day TripHer (#711)took the line as jammer for the Dollies and delivered a 20-point jam to her team. At this time the Saucies lost a star blocker, Head Huntress (#54), to injury. By the end of the nail-biter first half the Dollies had gained the lead with a score of 106-96.

Soon into the second half the Devil Dollies began to lengthen their lead. A power jam for the Dollies allowed Low-Hits Griffin to pick up 34 unanswered points. Saucies jammer Miss Fire (#252) suffered an injury and the Saucies began to play Un-sena-mental (#48) as a jammer. The Dollies ended the bout with LipService appearing as jammer. The final score was 204-160 in favor of the Dollies.

The Dollies and Saucies will lock horns again at the QCRG Playoffs on May 11 when the Nickel City Knockouts and the Alley Kats meet up again as well.

Tickets are available here.

~Mexicali Bruise