CRAFL Bowl IX will feature the very best in the state as these two undefeated teams square off in the season finale for the 2019 season. Both teams posted perfect records during the regular season. The North Texas Stampede boast the high points allowed during the regular season with 411 points. The Houston Ducks allowed the second least amount of points all season long with 73.
To say this game will be game of inches could be an understatement. Both teams run out of the spread offense and like to move the ball often. The Stampede have a very talented, fast running game. The Houston Ducks mirror them with the spread and running game. Offensively, there is no advantage for either team. North Texas averaged 40.5 points per game including the playoffs. Houston averages 36.9 points per game.
This game will have to come down to who has the better defense. Between the two, the Ducks and Stampede are fierce on the other side of the ball. The Ducks allowed 7 points per game during the regular season with that average going up to 8.8 during the playoffs. North Texas allowed a total of 12.8 points per game including the playoffs.
If you do the math, there is a 3.6 points per game average offensively with a 4 point average defensively.
The North Texas Stampede began play in 2005 with the Texas United Football League. That first season was a tough one as they went 1-14. They did not win a championship until 2012, when they played in the Minor Professional Football League. That year they went 8-1 during the regular season. They defeated the Collin County Rattlers, 48-21 winning the MPFL’s Shanklin Bowl. The Stampede were only one of two teams to ever win multiple Shanklin Bowls. They won again in the 2018 season defeating the West Texas Pride, 37-19 after going 13-0 in the regular season.
They are hoping to become back-to-back champions in two different leagues much like the Houston Ducks did in 2017 and 2018.
The Houston Ducks won the Dynamic Texas Football Association championship in 2017. One season later, the Ducks came to the CRAFL and defeated the Victoria Hurricanes, 20-8.
The Ducks started out as the South Houston Ducks then later dropped the “South” to become the Houston Ducks. South Houston began their franchise in the Xclusive Football League, the former AAA brother league to the CRAFL. The Ducks went 7-3 that season. They were knocked out of the second round of the playoffs at the hands of the BFFL Lonestars, 19-15. After two seasons in the XFL, they bounced around to the Texas United Football Association in 2015 then the MPFL in 2016.
After winning in the DTFA, the Ducks have won two championships in a row, looking for number three on Saturday night.
The game will be at Bob Shelton Stadium in Buda, Texas with a 7:00 PM kickoff.
– written from the www.CRAFL.com
