Mexico: Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional winds up Week 3, Fundidores dominate for 1st win

Week 3 in the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional is officially behind us and at the halfway point. Because of this, we are able to understand what the strengths and weaknesses of these teams are. 

The Fundidores were able to get their first victory at home against the Mexicas. Their rivals, the Dinos, improved to 3-0 on the season in their win against the Gallos Negros and are looking more and more like the best team in the league. We also had the Reyes win the battle against their expansion brethren, the Galgos, securing their first win as a franchise. 

Fundidores de Monterrey (1-1) 27 – Mexicas CDMX  (1-2) 13

Following a loss or a win, you always want to see how a team would respond to adversity and it can bring out the very best and worst in a team. In this game, we saw the opposite results of these responses. The game started out very sloppy at first, with both the Fundidores and the Mexicas finding themselves at the end of a lost fumble or an interception. The points would finally come up on the board when the Fundidores’ quarterback Shelton Eppler threw a touchdown pass to Fernando Richarte in the second quarter to give Monterrey a 7-0 lead. 

In the second half, the Mexicas had a couple of attempts to try and tie the game. However, in their first two possessions, Mexicas quarterback Ricardo Quintana threw two interceptions that set up two Fundidores touchdown drives, giving them a 20-0 lead. Ruben Zendjas scored the first points for the Mexicas cutting their deficit down to 13 points, but the Fundidores this time weren’t going to allow another blown lead and Xavier Johnson scored his second touchdown of the game and extended the lead to 20. The Mexicas added another touchdown in the middle of the fourth, but by then it was too late, as the Fundidores defense was able to shut them down, obtaining Monterrey’s win of the season.

Dinos de Saltillo (3-0) 24 – Gallos Negros (1-1) 10

During the whole week, this was the most anticipated game of the season, as both the Dinos and the Gallos Negros were the only two teams who were still undefeated. The game started off very strong with Dinos quarterback Erick Niño tossing a touchdown pass to Dun Tayviun Royshaw. The Gallos Negros failed to respond the first time with a missed field goal but would soon tie the game thanks to an Emilio Fernandez touchdown run. Saltillo’s next drive caused the whole crowd to erupt, as Erick Niño under extreme pressure, threw a massive 69-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass to his go-to guy Dun Tayviun Royshaw, giving the Dinos a 14-7 lead.

In the game itself, and especially the second half, the best unit on the field for either team was the Dinos defense who picked off Gallos Negros quarterback Ricardo Rincón three times and deflected many passes that could’ve resulted in late lead changes. The following points scored by the Dinos, a field goal by Enrique Yenny and a touchdown pass to James Agwu Okike came as the result of turnovers on downs and Saltillo were victorious for the third week in the row and are now viewed as the favorite to win the Tazón Mexico.

Reyes de Jalisco (1-1) 10 – Galgos de Tijuana (0-2) 0

As could be expected in an early meeting between two expansion teams, this game left a lot to be desired in terms of execution. Both teams were searching for their first win of the season, so nerves were on edge, and it showed. In the end, it was the second-lowest scoring game in league history with 10 total points scored. The only game to score fewer points was in 2019 when the Dinos defeated the Fundidores by a score of 8-0.

It sure didn’t seem like that though as in the first quarter, as Reyes quarterback Jon Mullin opened the scoring with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Rodnell Cruell. Then the defense forced a fumble by Galgos quarterback Stefan Lorenz leading to a field goal. That’s when the scoring ended with the 10-0 lead holding up for the Reyes the rest of the way. Both offenses showed glimpses but not much more. Fortunately for the Reyes, despite not scoring any more points, they were able to record the first shutout by a defense this season which will no doubt fire the team up for next week’s game against the Mexicas.