A Twist of Fate: Raptors F.C. are Panama’s Champions
PMFL 2015 Championship (Copa Miller Lite) was played at the Maracana Stadium in Panama City, Panama on Saturday, June 20th in front of an enthusiastic fan zone.
Touchdown action occurred for the Raptors F.C. early on in the opening minutes of the 1st quarter when QB Justin McKenzie made a 54 yard pass and catch to WR Jairo ‘Janks’ Quintero. The second score during the same quarter was a fumble return by CB Alfredo Camarena for 60 yards resulting in a 13-0 lead for the Raptors F.C.
In the 2nd quarter Raptors F.C. RB Kendrick Belgrave had a 70 yard touchdown run to put the Raptors F.C. up 20-0 at halftime.
3rd quarter saw no scoring action.
4th quarter Raptors F.C. QB Justin McKenzie scored a 1 yard touchdown run to boost the score 27-0. The USMA Frailes finally secured touchdown action when Alejandro Watson passed to Dominik Fiedrichks and a 2 point conversion to Adrian Flores to make it 27-8 Raptors F.C.
After an onside kick the USMA Frailes scored to make it 27-14 on a 1 yard touchdown run by Alejandro Watson.
Raptors F.C. DL/OL, Asaf Walker scored on a fumbled punt less then 2 minutes left in the game for 6 points.
Raptors F.C. stomped out the USMA Frailes with a 33-14 win.
PMFL 2015 Championship (Copa Miller Lite) MVP’s
PMFL 2015 Championship MVP: RB Kendrick Belgrave, Raptors F.C.
Defensive MVP: CB Alfredo Camarena Raptors F.C.
Offensive MVP: RB Kendrick Belgrave, Raptors F.C.
PMFL 2015 game season MVP awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, June 25th.
Raptors F.C. QB Justin McKenzie on American football in Panama;
“The league in Panama is very well organized and has some of the best presentation of any international league I’ve ever seen.
Raptors F.C. QB, Justin McKenzie
Television coverage was excellent. There is great awareness and support from the sponsors. There is a ton of talent coming into the league via the draft with players coming from varsity contact and the adult flag leagues. The PMFL is growing in an excellent direction and has some truly great teams and players coming up through the ranks.
As far as the game goes the first half really told the story. Jairo Quintero‘s touchdown catch was on the 3rd offensive play of the Raptors F.C. and quickly put us out in front. Alfredo Camarena‘s fumble return on the next USMA Frailes drive really put them in a hole, and Kendrick Belgrave‘s touchdown run at the end of the first half sealed the deal, giving us a 20-0 half time lead. These 3 plays completely took USMA Frailes out of their game plan.”
Ivan ‘Moto’ Paz was the founding president of the Panama Major Football League (PMFL) in 2011 and has continued to oversee its development.
“It has been a great year for the PMFL with action packed games every weekend and energizing fans filling our venues with excitement. Our fan base has grown exponentially since one of our main sponsors is the biggest TV network and most renowned Panamanian sports content channel, Cable Onda Sports. The PMFL has become a must see event each Sunday for the Panamanians who enjoy watching football during NFL off season. As we always say our best asset is the PMFL fan base.
The league itself is very competitive with teams every year bringing the best of themselves to give a great performance. It’s the situation whereby franchises that were historically at the bottom of the pack find their way to beat strong opponents on “Any Given Sunday”. Such as the case of the Diablos Panama beating the Raptors F.C. game week 5 on a huge upset and the USMA Frailes beating the two time defending Champions, Panama Saints, and ending an unbeaten winning streak of 22 games right up until the Playoffs.”
PMFL looks forward to continue improving as a league with a sport that is very popular in Panama, and our quest to be part of an internationally sanctioned event as the World Championships and hopefully one day the Olympics.”
Fact: Panama Saints won the Panama Major Football League (PMFL) in 2013 & 2014 (before 2011 the PMFL was known as the contact open league 18+).
The Panama Saints have won 12 championships over the years.
Raptors F.C. 2015 Roster
Road to the Final
The semi-final playoffs that preceded the PMFL Championship on Sunday, June 14th and saw the 4th place USMA Frailes nudge out the favored back-to-back champs Panama Saints 12-7 during a torrential rainstorm.
The other finalists Raptors F.C. won against the Colon Eagles 20-13 to secure their place.
The game was aired live on the Panama channel COS/2 and streamed pay on demand. Check out the replay for free.