Week 7 Preview: Up For the Challenge?

Spanaway,Washington-The South Lane Buzzards will pack their bags and take their final regular season road trip this Saturday. Their opponent, the #3 Nationally Ranked West Sound Rebels, who are coming fresh off a 20-day rest between games. On June 17th, the Buzzards and Rebels battled all four quarters, with the Rebels coming away from Pleasant Hill with a 6-20 victory. With home-field advantage shifting to Spanaway, WA, the Dirty Birds must come ready to play if they want to return the favor. 

This heavyweight fight will showcase a lot of strength in the trenches. With the Buzzards' offensive line (Chuck Thomsen, Catarino Rodriguez, Derik Huet, Brad Hendrix, and Dillon Henke) continuing to be the strength of this year’s team, they will be asked to step it up even more against a star-studded Rebels defensive line that saw some critical pieces missing in their previous matchup. Hoping to build on the momentum of last week’s production, the Dirty Bird offense hopes to grind out tough yards and keep a clean pocket for Quarterback Ryan Jones to go to work with his talented receiving core.

An even bigger test for the Buzzards will be on defense, where they must now stop the elite Quarterback play of Jacob Taase combined with a Rebel running attack that gashed the Buzzards for significant gains on several occasions. The Dirty Bird's ability to slow down this high-powered offense will be critical in keeping them in this game. Stops on 3rd down and 4th down will be an absolute must to keep South Lane in this game.

As a possible postseason matchup later this summer, a lot of eyes will be on the Pacific Northwest for what could shape up to be one of the best games of the Gridiron Developmental Football League's season thus far. The Rebels have already established themselves as one of the best in the country, willing and ready to take on any opponent put in front of them. The question is, “Are the Buzzards up for the challenge?”