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| Lawmen in 2006: A Season of Success |
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The NorCal Lawmen finished the 2006 season with a total record of 15 wins and 4 losses, the most wins in the Lawmen's long team history. The team completed the GCFL season with a 12-1 record in league play, a 13-1 overall record, and with their fourth league championship since 1999.
The Lawmen cruised through their first 4 games scoring 160 points and only giving up 6 before they won a tough 23-16 game against the Bay Tickets, Inc 49ers to move their GCFL record up to 5-0. The streak continued right up until the last game of the regular season when the Lawmen were 10-0 overall and 9-0 in GCFL league play when they lost their final regular season game 30-26 to the same 49ers team. Despite the loss, the Lawmen were the top seed in the GCFL NFC playoffs at 9-1. In the first round of the playoffs, the Lawmen beat the California Warriors 57-0, moving on to the conference championship game where they beat their division rivals, the North Bay Rattlers for the third time in 2006, with a decisive 27-6 win. The Rattlers had just knocked off the 49ers 13-7 in the first round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Capital City Fury had beaten a very good 10-1 Merced Mustangs team 32-20 to win the GCFL AFC Championship and were now 10-1 themselves.
In the GCFL Championship game, the 1st annual Golden Bowl, the Lawmen beat the Capitol City Fury 8-6 in a game that was not nearly as close as the final score. The Lawmen defense held the Fury to under 100 yards of total offense, and the touchdown that the Fury did get was on a 99 yard fumble return when the Lawmen were about to put the game away leading 8-0 with 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter and the ball at the Fury 1.
Following the GCFL season, the Lawmen faced the Central Coast Barnstormers in the Northern California Championship Game and were upset 31-19 after underestimating the Barnstormers and failing to properly prepare for the game. At this point, head coach Louie Rocha announced his retirement after 3 years with the Lawmen and with the 2006 GCFL Championship under his belt.
Then, in mid-July, without a new head coach, and without some key players who had already made post-seasons commitments in other areas, the Lawmen challenged the #1 team in the west, the South Ogden Rhino Raiders to a 'Showdown of Champions'. The team traveled to Utah for the game with only a few coaches and without All-American quarterback Scott Burke and All-American linebacker Bubba Merz. The Lawmen managed to hold off the Rhino-Raiders for the first 59 minutes and 17 seconds until the Rhino-Raiders squeezed out an 11 yard TD run with just 43 seconds left on the clock to pull out a 29-25 win.
With a bitter taste left in their mouth from the close loss in Utah, the Lawmen began the MFLA national championship campaign. They started with a 20-14 victory over the Stockton Trojans in a game that was called the 'Summer Brawl'. Next was a tough 21-20 victory over an undefeated Bay Area Assassins team to put the Lawmen into the MLFA National Championship West Coast Finals against the re-vamped Bay Tickets, Inc. 49ers team. The Lawmen battled the 49ers and their all-star team of former and current pro players leading for most of the game. After loosing the lead late in the game, the Lawmen forced a turnover with just over a minute left on the clock and no timeouts left. The offense then drove 68 yards to the 49er 25 yard line to setup a game tying 42 yard field goal attempt with only 2 seconds left on the clock, only to have the kick blocked and the final score end up 49ers 20, Lawmen 17.
That ended the MLFA national championship run one game short of playing for the MLFA national title. The long 19 game season for the Lawmen was finally over and the team still held their heads up high ending 2006 with a 15-4 overall record and ranked 5th in the western states by the MLFN.
Now, in late 2006, big things are happening for the Lawmen who look forward to the 2007 season. Please check back to this website over the next several weeks to look for some big announcements. And again, thanks to the players, coaches, team staff, team sponsors and Lawmen fans for a great 2006 season of success as we look forward to an even more prosperous season in 2007.
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