2023 Maritime Conference Championship Game
- Updated: September 26, 2023
Rising Powerhouses Clash for Maritime Conference Championship
2023 NEFL Maritime (A) Conference Championship Game
West Roxbury High School – West Roxbury, MA
Saturday, September 30th – 6:30pm
The 2023 Maritime Conference season was highlighted by the rise of two newly emerging powers on the NEFL scene. The Rhode Island Riptide and the New England Bombers have captured the attention of spectators around the league and even outside of their Conference with their outstanding play on both sides of the ball and ability to hang and compete even with the toughest AA clubs.
Last season the Riptide showed they were going somewhere as they challenged the eventual unbeaten (and now AA) Warriors giving them their closest battles including a close playoff battle. Their momentum continued this season as veteran Dale Colprit’s squad added pieces and depth to what was now becoming a well-oiled machine under Coach Robert Crossman. Building on last year’s strong showing, they continued to dominate on defense, and the Riptide became increasingly explosive on offense with big plays in the passing game by receivers Wilson, Walker, Coutcher and others. In one of the toughest crossover schedules we’ve seen, the Riptide played 3 elite AA squads, defeating one and coming within two plays of sweeping all 3! The only club in their conference able to challenge them was the Bombers who earned a split in their two contests with a last minute rally in Braintree a few weeks ago.
The Bombers started as an expansion team last season, finding themselves in a surprisingly potent AA conference that turned out to be the wrong place for a new squad. Even with an undermanned, new group of players, Greg and Dave Townsend and the rest of their staff toughed out a rough first season and the players trusted the process, knowing that these coaches had been there and done it before. The team’s attitude and confidence helped spur an offseason recruiting build that added weapons and depth they needed to make the coaching staff’s vision a reality. The defense applies remarkable pressure with McNeil, Willis, Jones-Moody and others racking up sacks and harassing passers creating takeaways for guys like opportunistic DB Stanley Prophete. The offense has gained momentum with a powerful multi-back rushing attack led by Zac Bouhalloufa and an air assault from Arron Cobbs.
The Riptide and Bombers are a matchup everyone is waiting for! They played a heart-pounding classic just a few weeks ago, so it looks like we may be in for our second incredible Championship matchup of 2023!
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