Worcester’s Mass Fury Get Ready for National Championship Game

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Saturday, November 08, 2014

GoLocalWorcester Sports Team

The Mass Fury, a semi pro football team in Worcester, are headed to Florida for the National Championship game after winning  the Eastern Football League Championship, 28-27 over their arch rivals, The Taunton Gladiators in overtime. 

Championship Game and Rivalry for the Ages

The Mass Fury verses The Taunton Gladiators has turned into a major rivalry in New England semi pro football. In three of the last four years, they have played at least twice a year and have met in the playoffs each year where they have split four games. This past season they met twice in the regular season before meeting in the Championship game. Over the last two years, they have met five times and three of those games have gone into overtime. 

"That's the team I wanted and the majority of our players wanted. They knocked us out of the semi finals my first year, we knocked them out the following year and last season we met in the championship game and they ruined our perfect season, beating us in double OT. Knowing the history going into this game was pretty intense" said Mass Fury Head Coach Chris Chambers about the rivalry with Taunton. 

In the game,The Fury led with a minute and a half left and just needed a defensive stop, however it was not to be as Taunton got themselves into the end zone to tie the game. With about a minute left The Fury had another possession but it ended with a missed 49 yard field goal, sending the game to overtime. 

In the OT Period,  the Fury were faced with a fourth down situation in which they took a huge risk and decided to go for it, instead of kicking a field goal. A team that's known for their passing offense, The Fury handed the ball off to running back and Worcester native Brett Antcil who ran the ball into the end zone for a touchdown giving Mass the lead.  

In semi pro football, they play by college rules and so Taunton got a chance to tie the game and they did score a touchdown, however, they missed the extra point giving The Mass Fury the Championship victory

"We got some good pressure from the right side, the kicker looked over at it and then missed the kick, we all ran onto the field" Chambers says about the moment. 

Earning it this Year

Last season, the Fury went undefeated before losing in the EFL Championship game to Taunton. However, because of their regular season they were still invited to Florida to play in one of the National Championship games. This year did not go so smoothly. 

Quarterback Corey Spencer, who threw for 57 Touchdown's last season, got hurt mid way through the season and was out for a couple of games. The team really struggled in his absence, losing two games in a row including a 31-14 loss to rival Taunton. 

When Spencer came back in early September, everything turned around for the Fury. 

"I think our struggles woke everyone up and when he came back our confidence shot up and we flipped a switch, before playoffs everything seemed to click and come together,  our attitude got right, they got hungry. The players understood that it doesn't matter how they started, just how you finish," Coach Chambers said about the mid season struggles that turned into a late season surge. 

Since those struggles, the Fury have won seven games in a row, including the Championship and quarterback Corey Spencer has thrown 36 touchdown passes on the season. 

A History of Winning

In their nine years of existence, the Mass Fury, have compiled a record of 83-31, good enough for a winning percentage of 72.2. they have won two League Championships, one Regional Championship and five Division titles. They have only lost six games in the last three years. 

The State of Semi-Pro Football in New England

Semi-Pro football in New England is not really well known commodity. Part of that can be attributed to how relevant the New England Patriots are and the other part of it is because the teams don't do a lot to promote games or themselves. Like the Fury have to pay their own way to Florida for the National Championship game, they have to fund their own promo's which can get expensive and so it makes it tough to follow the teams and the league. 

However, semi pro football does exist in New England and it exists in a big way. 

"Its huge, people would really be surprised at how many teams are out there. There are over 20 AAA level teams in New England. It's good quality football, 80 percent of our roster is a college football roster, that includes players from Worcester state, Holy Cross and UMass" says Coach Chambers on the state of Semi-Pro Football in New England. 

On to Florida

The Mass Fury have a couple of months off before traveling to Florida in mid January to play in the National Championship game against either Inglewood or Detroit. They will know their opponent for sure in a couple of weeks. 

For more information about the Mass Fury, click here. 

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