With six games (and five wins) under their belt in 2011, the Rat City’s Rain of Terror proved that they’re ready for prime time. And by “prime time,” we mean making their Seattle debut in front of more than 5,000 screaming fans at the Key Arena in a full-length battle of the B-Teams against Denver Roller Dolls’s Bruising Altitude.
Denver was first (and fast!) out of the gate, with a 12-0 run in the opening four jams. These were textbook “hit-it-and-quit-it” jams, with their speedy jammers Kendra Blood, Gator Dunn (both members of Denver’s Mile High Club as well) and Ajax calling it off before the Rain of Terror could score. Solid blockers like Kimmy Kimmy Bang Bang and Shannon Ball were part of Denver’s heavy defense—keeping Rat City’s jammers trapped and re-engaging her when she got past. Rat City got on the board in jam 6, when Muffstache was able to make a scoring pass while Denver’s jammer spent some time in the box. Score 16-3 Denver, 10 minutes in.
However, that momentum was short-lived as the Rain of Terror got into some jammer penalty trouble, giving Brusing Altitude 2 minutes of power jams. Despite aggressive play by Killah Kelly and Moe YaDown (both, quite impressively, living up to their names), Denver managed a 17-point run in two jams, bringing the score to 33-3.
Just when things started to look the most bleak for the Rain of Terror, jammer Missile America capitalized her power jam opportunity with an 18-0 run, aided by a solid pack in Sara Problem, Belle Tolls, Betty Ford Galaxy, and Fighty Almighty. Score 33-21 Denver, 15 minutes in the first half.
But as soon as Rain of Terror got any momentum started, Bruising Altitude was quick to remind them to put their seatbelts back on. With the exception of a 10-0 jam by Fighty whose strong pack of Killah, Moe, Penny Racer, and Eddie Shredder were able to keep the Denver jammer stuffed to allow for multiple passes, the end of the first half was much like the start: quick hit-it-and-quit-it runs by Denver’s trio of jammers. Score 63-34 Denver, end of the first half.
The second half started much like the first with Denver on the board first, however the both teams ramped up their play for a more competitive second half. The Rat City packs were able to put a tighter lock down on Denver offense, giving their jammers a much better lead jam percentage than in the first. A 9-0 run midway through the half brought the Rain of Terror within 25 points at 77-52, but Denver completely shut down the Rat City jammers for the next 7 jams, inching their way up to their largest lead in the game at 98-52 with about 8 minutes to play.
Though it might have been a bit too late, the Rain of Terror fought to the finish with a 23-9 run. Bruising Altitude’s first half lead proved to be sufficient, as they only out-scored Rain of Terror by 3 points in the half. Final score: 107-75, Denver.
MVPs were awarded to each team’s top jammers, Missile America for Rain of Terror and Gator Dunn for Bruising Altitude.
Rain of Terror: Belle Tolls// Betty Ford Galaxy// Clobberin’ Mame// Eddie Shredder// Fighty Almighty// Killah Kelly// Missile America// Moe YaDown// Muffstache// Sirius Smack// Sevier// Nikole Plated// Penny Racer// Sara Problem// Bench Coaches: Sheeza Brickhouse & Mona Agony