The Dinos from Saltillo, Mexico will take on the defending champion Mayas of Mexico City in the LFA championship in Mexico on May 30 at Jesús ‘Palillo’ Martínez stadium in Mexico City. The Dinos edged the Raptors in a come-from-behind victory while the Mayas punched their ticket to the ‘Tazón México’, LFA’s championship game by defeating their heated rivals the Eagles.
Dinos 13 – Raptors 10
Photo: Eduardo Mendoza
In the first of the two semifinals this past weekend, the Dinos and the Raptors faced each other for the third time this season. In the two regular season contests, the Raptors had prevailed winning the first game 34-27 and the second 19-6. So the Dinos faced a tough task. However, in spite of that situation, the Dinos were able to control the game until the end of the third quarter, when their rivals took off. This game was very different than the other two as the defenses were the ones that got the attention of the people at the stadium.
The team from Saltillo came to Mexico City to face the Raptors since they placed second in their division and were forced to play as visitors. Every time they have had to travel outside the north of Mesico, their games have been very tough and ended up in losses to both the Raptors and the Mayas in the center of Mexico. This time, they played with a much improved defense and stopped Raptors quarterback Bruno Márquez, applying constant pressure forcing him to throw quickly and causing plenty of errors.
The Dinos offense struggled at times and conceded two safeties one of which was intentional and eventually led to a Dinos field goal. Dinos kicker Oscar Reta kicked with game winning field goal with only 15 seconds on the clock sending the Dinos to face the defending champion Mayas in the championship game.
Mayas 40 – Eagles 12
One of the most interesting rivalries of Mexico’s professional football league is between the Mayas and the Eagles. Although the teams are only in the second year of the league, their followers have taken the rivalry very seriously and this is reflected on the field. This season, the Eagles beat the Mayas in the first week of the season but in the second game, the reigning champions had their revenge beating the red and white squad.
This chapter of the Mayas-Eagles rivalry was all in favor of the ‘Imperio Azul’ (Blue Empire). From the beginning, they opened Eagles’ defense with their ground attack. Mayas’ running back Omar Cojolum caused most of the damage scoring a total of four touchdowns. Also, receiver Josue Martínez scored two touchdowns catching passes from quarterback Marco García.
In the last quarter with the score 33-12 for the Mayas, both teams scored one more time, but the game was practically defined by the Mayas. This offense scored a total of 256 points in seven games, which means that their average per game was over 30 points. This time, the situations was not different and the Eagles were their victims.