NWA @ JOPA
Saturday, the Houston Roller Derby HaRD Knocks teams proved they were ready to argue for a solid ranking position in the WFTDA west region, defeating the Northwest Arkansas (NWA) Rollergirls 176-79.
The game opened up tied after one jam, but two nine-point jams by Death By Chocolate and Savage Rose for Houston moved the lead out to 43-21 for the squad from the Bayou City after the seventh jam. An eight-point jam by Mellow Yellow of the NWA Killbillies narrowed the lead to 47-29, but another nine-point jam by Savage Rose helped expand the lead to 81-48 in favor of the HaRD Knocks at halftime.
Houston started the second half with the biggest jam of the game: Death By Chocolate took advantage of a penalty on the Killbillies jammer and score 14 points to move the lead out even further. In fact in the first five jams of the half, Savage Rose scored two 12-point jams and Death By Chocolate chipped in another ten-point jam to move the score up to 129-56. Death By Chocolate added a nine-point jam in the eighth jam of the half, to which the Killbillies’ Mellow Yellow countered with eight-points the next jam. The score was 142-75 at this point, but the Houston defense limited the team from Fayetteville, Arkansas to four points the rest of the night, while scoring 34 points to make the final score 176-79.
The key to the game was the HaRD Knocks blocking. Both teams had jammers in the penalty box probably four times for the whole game, not a huge number considering the new cutting the track majors under WFTDA 3.0 rules. So most of the large jams for Houston were because the defense was keeping the Killbillies’ jammer tied up in the pack. In addition they were able to break their jammers out to score well over 150 points for the regulation WFTDA 60-minute game.
The top scorer for Houston was Death By Chocolate with 73 points. She gained lead jammer status an amazing eight out of ten jams. HaRD Knocks jammer Savage Rose contributed a big scoring night with 60 points, 30-points in each half. Mistilla the Killa added 23 points, and The Prosecutor chipped in with ten points for Houston.
The top blockers included Beth Threat with several jammer takeouts, and with “Offensive Assist Blocks” that freed up jammers for points, or helped jammers break out of the pack. Becky Booty had numerous jammer takeouts and sustained blocks that held the opposing jammer back. Other top blockers for Houston included Miss Lead, Goldie BloXX, and Carmen Geddit. All Houston blockers contributed in what may have been their best interleague blocking game ever.
The top scorers for NWA’s Killbillies were Mellow Yellow with 32 points. Apache Rose with 18 points, and Blazen Glory with 13 points. Pork Pie, Saba Taj, and Dimah Darling turned in some of the better blocking jobs for NWA during this bout.
It should be noted that Northwest Arkansas, probably the strongest team in Arkansas and Oklahoma, ran up against a hungry Houston Roller Derby all star squad trying to move up in the WFTDA rankings so they can make Western Regionals to be held in Houston in October. NWA played a very consistent game, but Houston’s bout may have been their best game ever against another all-star team.
The next bout for Houston will be next Sunday at Verizon Wireless theater in downtown Houston since the HaRD Knocks are in action for the fourth weekend in a row as they host the Texas Rollergirls. Also, the remainder of the league will be divided up into a “Stars versus Stripes” team scrimmage. Action starts at 5 o’clock. Tickets are
$10 in advance from Houston’s web site at http://www.houstonrollerderby.com/ and $15 at the door.
Phil Arnold,
Roller Derby Is Sport