The second round of the sixth DC Rollergirls‘ season saw reigning champs Scare Force One continue their winning ways over the DC DemonCats, while the Cherry Blossom Bombshells broke an extended losing streak at the expense of new kids the Majority Whips.
Bout recaps courtesy of special derby correspondents Rock Clobster (SF1 vs. DemonCats) and Helena Handbag (Bombshells vs. Whips).
Scare Force One 218 – 61 DC DemonCats
Kicking things off was a reprise of last season’s championship bout between Scare Force One and the DC DemonCats. Scare Force got things started by putting team captain Soledad — also known for her fearsome blocks on defense — on the jammer line; she quickly established lead jammer, lapping DemonCat jammer Jersey Jill to take a 9-0 lead. Although Scare Force jammer Chinese Cheker grabbed lead jammer again in the second jam, the DemonCats’ Mini Vandal was able to put her team’s first points on the board after Cheker was sent to the penalty box, making the score 14-3 in Scare Force’s favor.
But it was the next jam from which the DemonCats would never really recover. It started as a powerjam favoring Scare Force, as Vandal had earned a track-cutting penalty just as time expired in the previous jam. That was only the beginning of a virtual penalty parade: at one point during the third jam, there were four DemonCats sidelined in the box. Scare Force jammer Marion Barrycuda turned the track into her own Ward 8 to score 20 unanswered points, creating a commanding 34-3 lead. Once the DemonCats had recovered from their penalty debacle, jammer Jersey Jill jumped in front of Scare Force’s Brutal Noodle to score four points and bring the score to 34-7.
Over the next three jams, Scare Force continued to build on their early lead, with Barrycuda coming back to score again and again while the Fright Attendants’ imposing defense kept rookie DemonCat jammer Nina Ninja from mounting a stealth attack. About midway through the first half, the DemonCats would score again to bring the total to 78-14 during a topsy-turvy jam in which neither team earned lead jammer. During the waning moments of the first half, the track became Jersey Jill’s personal turnpike, as she earned lead jammer and scored during four more jams for the DemonCats, but she wasn’t able to make a sizable dent in Scare Force’s commanding lead, which was up to 98-31 at halftime.
The DemonCats came out in the second half hoping to mount a comeback, but were stymied right away by penalties that kept most of their players off the track, leaving Soledad open to score 13 points in the half’s first jam. Even with jammer Chinese Cheker in the box during the second jam, Scare Force One’s defense prevented the DemonCats from gaining any traction to get the high-scoring jams they would need to recover. Five minutes into the half, with two DemonCats in the box, Scare Force’s Feral Streak flashed her way to 15 points, building her team’s lead to 131-43. Marion Barrycuda followed that up with another 15-point jam, opening up Scare Force’s lead to more than 100 points at 146-43.
Even though the DemonCats’ Jersey Jill was able to score several times during the half, she could only put a handful of points each time before being forced to call off the jams to prevent Scare Force from also scoring. Heading into the last jam of the bout with the score at 200-61, Scare Force co-captain Chinese Cheker took advantage of yet another powerjam in her team’s favor to bring the final score to 218 Scare Force One, 61 DC DemonCats.
Cherry Blossom Bombshells 185 – 96 Majority Whips
In the second bout of the evening, the Cherry Blossom Bombshells faced off against the Majority Whips, who were still riding high off their first-ever win over the DC DemonCats in the Season 6 opener. The Whips drew first blood with Nasty Pelosi earning lead jammer and putting her team up to a 9-4 lead after the first jam. However, the Bombshells fought back hard, and while the Whips proved more successful in earning lead jammer during the first 10 minutes of the bout, a key Bombshell powerjam, combined with their jammers’ skill in chasing down their opponents, helped them build a 33-21 lead.
The Bombshells soon got a chance to blow the lead open when Nasty Pelosi was sent to the penalty box, leaving the door open for Yankee Scandal to rack up 20 unanswered points for her team. Several hit-and-quit jams in the Bombshells’ favor followed, but the Whips weren’t about to give up. They put rookie jammer (and former speed skater) Fierce Compredator on the line against the Bombshells’ Ultimate Whorrior, who remained tied up in the pack by the Whips’ Styx N Stones while Fierce racked up 9 unanswered points for her team, bringing the score to 64-37. The Whips then held the Bombshells scoreless for five jams, until Hook N SlasHer managed to capitalize on some ruthless blocking from her pack, led by Ivana Tripabitch, to put up 9 unanswered points for her team. The Bombshells went into the half with a firm but not insurmountable 79-47 lead.
The second half opened with a noticeable increase in penalties for both teams, with Nasty, SlasHer, and Ridin’ Dirty all poodling (i.e., intentionally drawing a fourth minor) within the first six minutes. The Bombshells managed to work the penalty pileup in their favor, however, taking lead jammer for the first eight jams of the second half and allowing the Whips only 4 points to their 30.
With 20 minutes left to play, though, the Whips again appeared as though they might make a comeback. Nasty Pelosi enjoyed a powerjam as SlasHer cooled her wheels in the box; with only Ivana Tripabitch and Ridin’ Dirty to contend with on the track, Nasty was able to sail her way to an easy 15 points. Another big 15-point powerjam for the Whips followed, courtesy of Jackie Mae Day. With the Whips closing in at 112-83, the Bombshells soon found the relief they needed in a succession of powerjams, with Yankee Scandal and Hook N SlasHer putting up 35 unanswered points to widen their lead to 76 points.
With 7:45 left to play, the Whips called a timeout to regroup, and managed to hold the Bombshells scoreless for the next three jams. But with time running out, even two end-of-bout powerjams for Slam Grier and Spank Erin weren’t enough to bring the Whips back into striking distance, and the Bombshells walked away with a hard-fought and long-awaited 185-96 victory.
Derby action returns to the D.C. Armory on Saturday, December 10th with doors opening at 3 p.m. First on the docket is the Cherry Blossom Bombshells vs. the DC DemonCats (4 p.m.), followed by the Majority Whips vs. Scare Force One. Check the DC Rollergirls website for all the details.
