The Midwest Sport Hockey Complex was hoppin’ on Saturday night as the Rockets and Crimes clashed in a rematch of the 2013 Turf Wars Championship match. A bout that saw the Rockets initiate some new blood on their way to a 156 - 135 win over the Crimes!

Each team had a big question mark going into this game. For the Rockets it was a question of how they would handle all the retirements from last season and the addition of a crew of rookies to their game plan. The Crimes were figuring out how to fill the third spot on their jammer rotation in Short Knocks’ absence. Those questions were answered Saturday night.

Debaucherous Prime started things off for the Crimes by drawing first blood on the opening jam of the evening when he scored a quick three points before Magnum, p.i.m.p. could get around to begin a scoring pass. Screech Around added a single point for the Crimes on the following jam. High Pains Drifter put the Rockets on the board and tied things up at four a piece on the third jam. Prime and the Crimes retaliated with three points on the ensuing jam to make it 7 - 4. Then the Crimes fire off the first big salvo of the night. The defense locked down Shanego Fett allowing Screech Around to put a ten-spot on the board before calling the jam off making it 17 - 4 just five minutes into the game. Drifter and the Rockets responded with ten points of their own when Awfulsauce was sent to the penalty box for track cut. After the jam the Crimes called for an official review on the track cut. The review was successful and Awfulsauce was allowed to return to the bench with the score 17 - 14 in favor of the Crimes. The very next jam the Rockets defense stepped it up and allowed Magnum to score eleven points to give the Rockets their first lead, but Prime managed to grab four points of his own making the score 25 - 21 in favor of the Rockets. Shanego gave the Rockets five more points on the very next jam. The Crimes regrouped and went on the attack going on a 28 - 1 run over the next seven jams to make the score 49 - 31 in favor of the Crimes with roughly ten minutes to go in the half. The Rockets closed the gap to 49 - 42 over the next two jams as Magnum put up eight points followed by Shanego’s four. The two teams the traded blows over the last eight minutes of the half and when the dust settled the Rockets led by the slimmest of margins with the score 72 - 71 at the half.

The second half started with a bang as Prime opened the scoring with four points on the first jam for the Crimes. Screech Around secured lead jammer on the second jam and grabbed four points, but was then sent off for a forearm penalty allowing Shanego Fett to rack up fifteen points giving the Rockets a 87 - 79 lead. Brutal and the Crimes responded with a quick four point strike, but the ensuing jam would see Prime sent off for a penalty. Magnum scored ten points for the Rockets before getting sent off for back block. Prime returned to the track and managed to get five points for the Crimes before the jam came to its natural conclusion with the score 97 - 88 in favor of the Rockets. Over the next five jams the Crimes surged back going on a 23 - 2 run to regain the lead 111 - 99. The Rockets then went on a tear over the next eight jams (with the help of two Crimes jammer penalties) to go on a 52 - 4 run to make the score 151 - 115 with only 4:15 left in the game. The Crimes only allowed the Rockets to score five more points during the final five jams of the game, but were only able to score twenty of their own. When the final whistle sounded the Rockets were victorious with the final score 156 - 135.

Scoring (Unofficial)

Rockets: Magnum, p.i.m.p. - 98; Shanego Fett - 34; High Pains Drifter - 24

Crimes: Screech Around - 51; Debaucherous Prime - 39; Oodles of Brutal - 39; Awfulsauce - 6

MVPs: Oodles of Brutal (Crimes) and High Pains Drifter (Rockets)

With the win the Rockets open the 2014 campaign 1 - 0 and will face the 1 - 0 Slammers on February 22nd. The Rockets rookies filled in nicely where needed and showed a lot of promise. While the Rockets may be rebuilding, they showed on Saturday night that they were still a very serious threat to win it all this year. The Crimes now sit at 0 - 2, but this not unfamiliar territory for them as they sat in this very same position last year before going on a magical run that ended with them winning the 2013 Turf Wars Championship. They know they have a lot of work to do, but they have time. Oodles of Brutal’s MVP performance may have just won him the third jammer slot in the Crimes’ rotation. It will be interesting to see how he fares on March 22nd when the Crimes face the Slammers again.

The Turf Wars continue on February 22nd as the Rockets take on the Slammers!

See you at the bouts!

Star-Spangled Hammer

Star-Spangled Hammer is the announcer for the St. Louis GateKeepers.

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