KNOCKOUTS CLAIM VICTORY OVER DUTCHLAND ALL STARS

On Saturday October 13th, Lancaster, PA's Dutchland Derby Rollers hosted the Dutchland Derby Carnival at Overlook Activities Center in Lancaster where Dutchland's All Stars took on Harrisburg's Nuclear Knockouts. Dutchland came into the bout undefeated having won their last two bouts as the All Stars. Harrisburg came in on a four game winning streak and in a heated battle, pulled off their fifth win being the first team to upset the All Stars with the Knockouts scoring 111 to 68 over Dutchland. The bout consisted of two thirty minute periods.

The bout opened up with Harrisburg's Nash Villain dealing a 3-0 jam over Dutchland's Spawna Skatin'. The second jam had Knockout Mother Trucker and Dutchland's Lucy Van Belt both bring in three points for their teams. I could see at this point that both teams had strong blockers and high scoring would prove to be quite a challenge for both teams. The jammers had their work cut out for them. In the third jam, Dutchland's Twisted Scizzors came in strong achieving lead jammer and laying a 6-0 jam over Harrisburg's Rainbow's Revenge putting Dutchland in the lead. This would be the only time that Dutchland would carry the lead as it was quickly taken away by the Knockout's Eve Ternal Jamnation, who retaliated with a 6-0 jam over Dutchland's Torque Wench who was taken down pretty hard by Harrisburg's Jane Wrastle. The fifth jam saw Harrisburg's Holden Grudges take the lead jammer position and score 3 to 1 over Dutchland's Rum N. Choke. Harrisburg's Rainbow's Revenge followed up with a nice 8-4 jam over Lucy Van Belt being one of the two highest scoring jams of the evening. Dutchland's defense hit hard in the seventh jam allowing their Spawna Skatin' to take a 4-0 jam over Nash Villain. The next jam saw the debut of Under Rage as a jammer for the Knockouts, who in an action packed jam achieved lead jammer status as well as a Grand Slam, scoring 6 points for her team with her opponent Twisted Scizzors bringing 4 points to Dutchland. With the crowd still in a frenzy, Mother Trucker came out and scored 3-2 over Rum N. Choke, who was sent to the box with a penalty, which allowed Nash Villain to bring an additional 6 points to the Knockouts in the following jam as Dutchland was skating without a jammer. The following jam saw Mother Trucker return to the track against All Star Lucy Van Belt in a high speed dual with many penalties being called against Dutchland. After getting hung up in the pack, Trucker pushed off of her blockers to break through the pack and sent most of the pack to the floor in a domino effect in her wake and ultimately scored 4-3 over Van Belt. With all but 2 Dutchland blockers in the penalty box, the stage was set for Harrisburg's Eve Ternal Jamnation to lay a nice 4-1 jam over Twisted Scissors. By now the score was 46 to 28 in Harrisburg's favor, giving them close to a 20 point lead over the All Stars. With Nash Villain scoring 3 points for the Knockouts, and Spawna scoring 1 point for Dutchland in the following jam, that 20 point lead was achieved. In a heated battle, newcomer NastyNiss went up against a Dutchland heavyweight, Torque Wench in the 14th jam, but with Torque being taken down in a huge pile-up, Nasty was able to bring her team 3 points to Torque's 2 in the end. Dutchland's Rum N. Choke was able to put a substantial amount of points on the board for Dutchland in the next jam, when she went up against another Harrisburg newcomer, Holden Grudges, where she scored 5-1. A nasty block by H.A.R.D.'s Nash Villain brought Rum N. Choke to the floor in a gruesome leg tangle with Villain which, to me, still remains a mystery how neither girl was hurt. As time was running out, Harrisburg power- jammer Mother Trucker came in and slammed a beautiful 8-3 jam over Spawna Skatin'. With only seconds on the clock, a final jam was started between Eve Ternal Jamnation and Torque Wench. Though neither girl was able to score, Dutchland's Torque Wench managed to get a penalty, leaving her team to start the second period without a jammer. Harrisburg's blockers also managed to rack up some penalties as well. The score at the end of the first period had Harrisburg at 61 and Dutchland trailing with 39.

The second period started out with Dutchland skating without a jammer and Harrisburg playing with only 2 blockers, where H.A.R.D.'s Jane Wrastle scored 4 points, calling off the jam soon after Torque Wench re-entered the game. Rainbow's Revenge followed up with a 3-0 jam over Twisted Scizzors, but Dutchland was able to retaliate in the following jam with Rum N. Choke scoring 3-0 over Mother Trucker. The relentless Dutchland defense proved crippling to Trucker as they managed to take her down three times in a row before she could ever enter the pack, though soon after, a smashing block by Holden Grudges sent Rum N. Choke flying into the audience. Having had some penalties dealt out to Harrisburg, the fourth jam of the period again had the Knockouts skating with only 2 blockers, but in a neck and neck competition, Spawna Skatin' and Eve Ternal Jamnation both scored 4 points for their teams. Spawna hung tough after another nice takedown by Jane Wrastle. The fifth jam resulted in another tie, when Harrisburg's NastyNiss went up against Spawna Skatin' in her second jam in a row, with each jammer scoring 3 points, but ended up with Spawna being awarded a penalty. In the heat of battle, as NastyNiss was making her way through the pack, one of Dutchland's blockers was eyeing Nasty and ready to strike, seeing this, H.A.R.D.'s Rainbow's Revenge came out of nowhere and delivered a heavy blow to the gut, successfully blocking the attempt, while assisting her jammer out the front of the pack with her other hand in an absolutely beautiful play. Dutchland's blockers proved to be quite powerful in the sixth jam, as even though they were skating without a jammer, they managed to keep Harrisburg powerhouse Nash Villain at bay, allowing her to only score 2 points in the jam, but it wasn't without expense, in all the hard-hitting action, Dutchland blocker Rachel Slur was taken out with an injury. Thankfully, it wasn't serious and she later returned to the game. Mother Trucker followed up with an action packed 6-4 jam over Twisted Scissors, with both teams fighting hard, and brought Harrisburg now to a 30 point lead with the score being 83 to 53. Rainbow's Revenge continued the assault in the eighth jam scoring 4- 1 over Rum N. Choke. In the ninth jam, Dutchland began making a comeback with Twisted Scizzors scoring 3-2 over NastyNiss. Harrisburg's Cruel Britannia was taken out for tripping, though I didn't see it that way. Spawna Skatin' added some heat to the comeback with a nice 4-0 jam over Eve Ternal Jamnation. All bets were off for Dutchland in the eleventh jam, though, when Mother Trucker came in with a sizzling 7-1 jam over Rum N. Choke, with an absolutely picture perfect run to the lead jammer position. Nash Villain followed up with a 3-0 jam over Torque Wench and a beautiful cut through the pack. This was continued with Rainbow's Revenge delivering a 5-0 jam over Twisted Scissors. In Dutchland's final glory, Spawna Skatin' laid out a 5-0 jam over Harrisburg's Renegade Raven, who was making her debut as a jammer as well as a blocker. This was followed by Nash Villain taking a 4-0 jam over Twisted Scissors. In the 16th jam, Dutchland's White Thrash made an appearance as jammer, but only scored 1 point to Rainbow's 3, which had the Knockouts leading 111 to 68. The 17th jam saw Jane Wrastle taking on Twisted Scissors, things in the pack were boiling over, Wrastle was taken down in a huge pile-up and the competition was at it's height. No points were scored by either player. The final jam of the bout had Harrisburg's Holden Grudges against Spawna Skatin', but with 15 seconds left on the clock, the game was already over, giving the victory to the Nuclear Knockouts and leaving the final score at 111 to 68 and putting the Knockouts on a five game winning streak.

A special thanks to the Dutchland Rollers for putting on an outstanding show, and being great hostesses. The crowd was large and both teams were well represented by their fans. A good time was had by all.

On Harrisburg's side, Mother Trucker and Rainbow's Revenge were tied for the highest scoring jam with both scoring 8 points. For Dutchland, Twisted Scissors had the highest scoring jam with 6 points. Leading in jammer averages was Under Rage for Harrisburg with 6 points per jam, and Lucy Van Belt for Dutchland with 2.6 points per jam. The Nuclear Knockouts averaged 3.3 points per jam throughout the game, and the Dutchland All Stars averaged 2.1 points per jam. In addition to those mentioned, Harrisburg's blockers consisted of Jonnie Lawless, Anida Blade, and Vixxen Vindiction. Dutchland's blockers were Bunny McBones, Josie Cuervo, Hillbilly Hellcat, Treasure Chest, Fujiyama Mama, Laverne N. Surly and Perkalicious.

The Nuclear Knockouts are down to one more game to complete their first season. They will be taking on the River City Rollergirls from Richmond, Virginia at Olympic Skating Center in Enola, PA on November 11th. Will the Knockouts be able to complete the season 6-2? Come out to Enola and find out! Dutchland will be holding their season championship on November 10th at the Overlook Activities Center in Lancaster on November 10th and will complete their season with an away game against the D.C. Rollers on November 17th. Keep supporting your Rollergirls!!