Galgos Tijuana

Due to unforseen circumstances the Astros Mexicali are not going to be able to participate this season in the Super 8, stepping in to fill in the remainder of their season will be the Galgos Tijuana who at the moment are the 1-0 in the Tijuana Cup which is contested against among the 3 TJ teams. Los Galgos will make their official Super 8 debut on Saturday, September 21 when they travel to Ensenada to play the Diablos in week 2 action.

Diablos Ensenada vs. Duo Sports Thundercats

In week 1 Action in the game of the week the Diablos Ensenada traveled to Tijuana to play the Duo Sports Thundercats. In a tightly contested game featuring 2 quarterbacks who had just returned from playing professionally in Europe it was the defenses that made surprising impacts on the game. The Diablos scored on 2 Julin Malagamba Touchdown passes and converted both of their conversions to jump to a 16-0 lead. Thundercats Qb Justin Mc Kenzie threw a TD pass shortly before the half to bring the T-Cats within 10 and leave the score at half time 16-6. That is where the score stayed as both defenses pitched shut outs in the second half and the game ended with the same 16-6 score. As was expected it was a solid physical game that is no doubt a preview of the rematch in Ensenada in week 4 October 5 as well as a potential match up for the final in Rosarito on November 2.

Also in week 1 we saw the Galgos Tijuana face the Cuervos Tijuana in a high scoring affair which saw the Galgos Victorious 52-26 over the cuervos. The game started out evenly matched at 0-0 at the end of the first quarter but after that it took off with the Galgos jumping out to a 22-0 lead before the Cuervos made a run to cut the lead to 28-18 before the Galgos went on a 24-8 run to finish strong and run their record in the TJ Cup Standings to 1-0.

Diablos Ensenada 16- Duo Sports Thundercats

Galgos Tijuana 52- Cuervos Tijuana 26

Diablos Ensenada

Duo Sports Thundercats

In what will clearly be the game of the week, the Super 8 Champions Diablos Ensenada will travel to Tijuana to play the Duo Sports Thundercats in what wshould be another great chapter in this rivalry, with 2 thrilling games last season in Ensenada and another great game in Tijuana in March this game will set the tone for the season and is most definitely a preview for either the Super 8 Bowl or semi final game as only the top 3 teams in the league make the play offs, the winner of this game will be positioning themselves for the #1 ranking which will give the team that finishes with the best record an automatic berth in the Super 8 Bowl while #2 and #3 play in a semi final.

Astros Mexicali

Cuervos Tijuana

The Cuervos face their first test in the Super 8 against the very powerful Astros squad as they travel to Mexicali for the season opener. While the Diablos and Thundercats game should be explosive this game is full of mystery. The Cuervos have only played a couple of times and the Astros have played well albeit very sparingly in the last couple of years. Will the upstart Cuervos be able to shock the Astros or will the Astros shake off the rust and get back to business as being one of the premier teams of the league.

Cuervos Tijuana

The Cuervos Tijuana are an expansion team in 2013 and this young team in it’s short history has already shown some promise as well as a lot of heart. The Cuervos come in having only played 1 arena style game and a couple of 11 man scrimmages but have shown improvement in each outing. The Cuervos are led by QB Jonathan Limon, OL/DL players Sergio Flores and rookie Jair Montane, WR/DB Raul Garcia, WR/DB Manuel Hernandez, RB Jose Alberto Solis, and TE/LB  Mauricio Monsalve. The Cuervos are a team full of young players and a handful of veterans trying to build a new program among 3 established teams all packed with experience. As in most leagues expansion teams are expected to struggle but the Cuervos have one  advantage the element of surprise as no one knows exactly what to expect from the Cuervos.

Strengths: The little we have seen of the Cuervos we have seen that they have a solid offense, their run game is not too bad and when given time to throw QB Jonathan Limon can do damage when he has time. RB Jose Alberto Solis will be expected to carry the load and WR’s Raul Garcia and Manuel Hernandez will look to add balance and down field threats for the Cuervos O. Defensively the Cuervos have a solid linebacker but need to build around him to be successful.

Weaknesses: The Cuervos are an offensive heavy team and defensively are not as strong but they have good quickness of defense just not much size which may cause trouble when facing physical opponents such as the Astros and Diablos. The Cuervos offense can be dangerous but in their lone Super 8 pre season game they threw quite a few interceptions, and 5 interceptions against any of the top 3 teams in the league will surely lead to a long difficult game.

Overall: The Cuervos come in with the disadvantage of being a young inexperienced team but at the same time with the advantage of the element of surprise and the ability to improve every week. Being from Tijuana gives them the advantage of playing in the Super 8 season as well as the TJ/Rosarito Cup so they have multiple opportunities to improve their game. Look for the Cuervos to take some bumps early in the season but to be a solid challenger in the second half of the season as well as push the Galgos Tijuana in a couple of battles in the TJ/Rosarito Cup.

Power Ranking: #4

Astros Mexicali

The Astros Mexicali are the Super 8 Football League’s Power Football team, they run I formation, use a tight end and play strong defense, and they are the toughest team in the league. As the co founders of the Super 8 the Astros history dates back to 2010 and players such as Manuel Padilla (LB/FB), Vicente Alaniz (RB/DB), Arturo Rosas (LB/DL), and Daniel Lopez (OL/DL) will lead a hard hitting Astros team into 2013. The Astros traditionally start practicing late so not much is known about the tea, since their last game which was in early October of 2012, but in that last game they defeated the state champion Diablos in a very hard hitting 20-6 game on a hot night in Mexicali. The Astros defense is the best in the Super 8 going toe to toe with the high powered offenses of the Thundercats and Diablos coming out with a 2-2-1 record against the Thundercats and a 1-0 record against the Diablos.

Strengths: As stated in the preview Defense is king with the Astros with players such as LB Manuel Padilla and Arturo Rosas leading the way the Astros defense is capable of completely shutting down any rushing attack. Offensively the Astros feature the best runningback in the league in Vicente Alaniz. Vicente’s ability to run with the ball kept the Astros alive in the 18-18 tie with the Thundercats scoring 2 late TD’s to bring the Astros back to tie the game. To beat the Astros you have to crack the desert storm defense and shut down the hard running Alaniz, which is no easy task.

Weaknesses: The Astros have very few flaws defensively but the best place to attack them is in the air. The Thundercats up top ability in the passing game has been able to crack the Astros defense on occasion but even the high powered Thundercat O has trouble in the red zone against the Astros. If you are going to score on the Astros it will more than likely have to be in the air. Offensively it just happens to be forcing the Astros to pass is the way to stop their offense. In last seasons tie against the Thundercats the Astros threw 3 interceptions and that is what caused them to fall behind 18-6, keeping the ball out of Vicente’s hands is the only way to get the Astros off track and keep them playing from behind as the Astros are nearly impossible to beat when playing with the lead.

Overall: Best defense and best running game in the league hands down as well as the most physical offensive line and one of the best defensive front units in any semi pro league give the Astros a huge advantage in physicality. The only disadvantage the Astros have is they have only played 6 arena games since 2010 in that time they have amassed a 3-2-1 record but have solidified themselves with a physical identity. Their infrequency of play is the only reason we have them ranked at #3 , With the Astros, Diablos and Thundercats all being so closely matched a few solid wins could easily have the Astros ranked #1 they just have to get through the season first.

Power Ranking: #3

Duo Sports Thundercats

The Duo Sports Thundercats have returned to their roots as an international team, dating back to their first game in 2006 vs. Team Canada in San Diego and following games in England, Mexico, Italy, Costa Rica, and New Zealand internationally the Thundercats switched to the San Diego Thundercats due to playing with a mostly US based roster, however in 2013 the team has since dropped the San Diego returned to being called Duo Sports and now has a roster with both American and Mexican players. The Thundercats are also one of the original members of the league and that leads to the classic rivalry between the Thundercats and Astros Mexicali which through 5 games since 2010 is dead even with 2 wins 2 losses and 1 tie between the 2 teams. In 2012 the Thundercats and league champion Diablos also played a classic set of games in Ensenada in back to back weeks at the end of the 2012 season with the Diablos winning both games as they went down to the wire. So far in 2013 with a revamped squad the Thundercats have beaten the Diablos, Cuervos, and Galgos in friendship games and are looking to stay on that track during the 2013 regular season. Key returners such as QB Justin Mc Kenzie, OL/DL Ricky Thomas,DB/WR BB Pettaway, and WR Phillip Williams are looking to continue rolling with new comers WR Olaf Gutierrez, WR/DB Pollo Yo, LB mike Rodriguez, and TE/LB Arturo Rosales.

Strengths: The best way to describe the Thundercats strength is simply say offense, the Thundercats ability to score from anywhere on the field with big plays on the ground and in the air is the main reason the Thundercats are in almost every game they play down to the wire. The Thundercats play an up tempo spread offense and down the stretch in the last 3 games of the 2012 season QB Justin Mc Kenzie accounted for 14 TD’s (9 passing and 4 rushing) against the Aztecs and Diablos twice. DB/WR BB Pettaway made big play after big play and RB Andrew Follins was huge on the ground as well. The Thundercats secondary was also an explosive unit as they scored 7 td’s in interception returns adding another threat for opposing teams.

Weaknesses: The Thundercats in the past year had a huge problem with depth, playing many games with only 9 to 11 players and being worn down as the game goes on.  Additionally the Thundercats have had issues stopping the run and with teams such as the Diablos and Astros the Thundercats run defense will have to step up to remain one of the top teams in the league.

Overall: The Thundercats have a lot of team speed and like college football powerhouse Oregon it has led to a lot of points and big plays but not the championship. Even though the Diablos defeated the Aztecs in the Super 8 bowl itself the best games of the year were the Diablos vs. Thundercats back to back games to end the regular season and semi final and the Thundercats vs. Astros tie.  The Thundercats will recieve the power ranking of #2 because of their arena activity from the end of 2012 into the hot streak they are on entering 2012, I was tempted to give the Astros the #2 ranking but the Astros only played 2 games last year(A win over the Diablos and a tie with the Thundercats) and have yet to be seen this year, but in a situation where the Diablos have won and lost against the Thundercats, the Thundercats have won lost and tied against the Astros and the Astros have beaten the Diablos the top 3 teams are very closely matched, the Thundercats have only a slight advantage over the Astros due to the fact that they have been playing more games.

Power Ranking: #2

Diablos Ensenada

The Diablos Ensenada are the defending Super 8 Football League champions and are looking to to everything in their power to repeat as champions. Many key players are returning for the  2013 season such as QB Gabriel Diazleon, WR/LB Owen Mragente, RB Emilio, and CB/FS Josh Smith, with a few new players added to the Diablos they rank as the favorite to claim the Baja Trophy and win their second straight Super 8 Championship.

Strenghts: The Diablos are a very balanced team especially on offense, a strong running game and  an effective passing game especially off of play action. The Diablos were able to win several shoot outs last season and have the ability to pile up points quickly, in their first year of existence the Diablos have only lost 2 games in arena football a regular season game last season in Mexicali and an exhibition game in Tijuana to the Duo Sports Thundercats.

Weaknesses: The Diablos have talented defensive players however have they have been vulnerable on the defensive side of the ball, in the only 2 losses they had the Diablos offense was slowed down enough to allow their opponents to take advantage of the Diablos defense.

Overall: The Diablos are the defending Super 8 Bowl Champions and until November 2 they remain champions, we are looking forward to seeing the defending champions take the field this season and we give the Diablos the pre season Ranking of #1. With a solid mix of returners and new players Coach Javier Mejia is looking to do what Vince Lombardi did in the first 2 Super bowls in the NFL and capture the crown of Baja Champions back to back.

Pre-season power ranking: #1

2012 Tournament Champions Ensenada Diablos/
2012 Torneo campeones Diablos Ensenada

August 30, 2013-

The Super 8 Football League is kicking off Saturday, September 7 as league co founders the Astros Mexicali will host the Cuervos Tijuana in their Super 8 regular season debut, and the other league co founders the Duo Sports Thundercats will host the defending Super 8 Bowl Champion Diablos Ensenada in the game of the week.

4 teams will be playing 6 games with the regular season champions going directly to Super 8 Bowl II while the #2 and #3 teams will play a semi-final at the #2 seed’s field to determing who will play for the new Baja Trophy. The Baja Trophy is made by the same people who make the championship trophies for OMFA and LEXFA in Mexico City, the arrangements for the Baja Trophy were negotiated with OMFA President Ricardo Sanchez.

In addition to the Baja Tropy and Super 8 season, the Super 8 is also offering 3 team round robin competition called the TJ/Rosarito Cup. The TJ/Rosarito Cup is held between the 3 Tijuana based teams Thundercats, Cuervos and Galgos who are not currently a full member of the Super 8 but a participant in the TJ/Rosarito Cup.

Mission: Rosarito

Rosarito will be playing a huge part in the 2013 Super 8 season despite Rosarito not having a Super 8 team. Super 8 bowl II to determine the Baja Champion will be held at Fut Goool in Rosarito and Fut Goool will also host 2 TJ/Rosarito Cup games.

Fut Goool, home of the Super 8 Bowl on November 2, 2013.

Next week Monday through Friday we will have a season preview for all 5 teams of the Super 8/TJ Cup.

Monday: Diablos Ensenada

Tuesday: Duo Sports Thundercats

Wednesday: Astros Mexicali

Thursday: Cuervos Tijuana

Friday: Galgos Tijuana

El lunes al viernes de la semana próxima tendremos una vista previa de temporada para todos los equipos de 5 del  Super 8/TJ Copa.

2012 Tournament Champions Ensenada Diablos/
2012 Torneo campeones Diablos Ensenada

In August of 2013 the Super 8 Football League will start it’s second year and play a full 2 round home and away schedule and the league will be expanding from 4 teams in the past seasons tournament to 5 to 7 teams for the up coming season. Which will begin in mid to late August and carry through the end of October start of November. The season will be played in a double round format meaning each team plays each team twice, once home and once away. Confirmed teams for the 2013 season are:

Diablos Ensenada (Head Coach/Player Javier Mragente)

The Diablos are the returning champions and have a solid all around squad, they played 6 games in 2012 and compiled a 5 win and 1 loss record. The Diablos offense was led by a corps of running backs that did a great job of making explosive plays, and the passing game was a great compliment to keep defenses off balance. With a solid offensive line and new QB at the end of the season the Diablos solidified themselves at the top of the chart, the Diablos defense was solid but was the definitely the weaker of the 2 units especially in the passing game. Led by key players Owen Mragente and Joshua Smith the Diablos will be looking to defend their title and their turf.

Strengths: The Diablos have the best home field environment in the league and with their rowdy fans and dynamic offense they will be the favorite to once again be in the finals competing for their 2nd Championship.

Weaknesses: The Diablos have been vunerable on defense in their loss to the Astros in Mexicali and the 2 games of the year against the Thundercats the Diablos secondary had difficulty against the pass and with their only  road trip against a tough opponent they returned from Mexicali with their only loss, we still have yet to see the Diablos tested on the road. With Joshua Smith leading the secondary the Diablos are looking to strengthen their pass defense in 2013.

Duo Sports Thundercats (Head Coach/Player Justin Mc Kenzie)

Since 2011 the Thundercats have been known as the San Diego Thundercats and are one of the 2 founding teams of the Super 8 Football League. The Thundercats finished 2-2-1 while playing all their games in Mexico crossing the border from San Diego. Tying their rivals the Astros in the Classic battle between teams and playing the 2 most exciting games of the season back to back in Ensenada the Thundercats are making a change back to their origninal or rather international name of Duo Sports Thundercats and are now moving their base of operations to Tijuana and recruiting from TJ to make a stronger squad. Led by Justin Mc Kenzie and Mark Andrews from San Diego, in addition to Inaki Zarate from Ensenada, and Serio Gonzales from TJ, the Thundercats new format will give them an edge on returning to top form.

Strengths: Speed and explosiveness. The Thundercats scored in the passing game more than any other team and with arguably the best WR corps in the league the Thundercats can score from anywhere at anytime. The secondary which led the league in interceptions is another big reason the T-Cats are always in the mix as they create turnovers and scores with 5 INT’s brought back for TD’s the defense is a dangerous unit.

Weaknesses: The Thundercats never had a consistent gameday roster due to the continuous travel into Mexico and it left the team consistently playing with only 9-13 players. The Thundercats also had issues with stopping the run as evidenced by tough games against the Diablos and Astros, the Thundercats need to beef up their run defense.

Astros Mexicali (Head Coach/Player Manuel Padilla)

The Astros along with the Diablos and Thundercats are favorites for the 2013 title. The Astros only played 2 games in 2012 but were 1-0-1 with a win over the Diablos and a tie with the Thundercats. The Astros are by far the most physical team in the league and are led by a hard hitting defense which in it’s only 2 games was still the best in the league holding the Thundercats explosive offense to only 18 and the Diablos to only 6 points. Led by Manual Padilla on defense and Vicente Alaniz on offense the Astros are poised to be a force in the 2013 season.

Strengths: Defense is king for the Astros and they by far have the top defense in the league complemented by the leagues top RB in Vicente Alaniz it will be difficult to beat the Astros once they get a lead as scoring is very difficult against them and Vicente seems to get stronger as the game goes on and can take a game over at any point with his running ability.

Weaknesses: The passing game on offense and defense is the weak point of the Astros. In their 2 losses to the Thundercats it’s only the Thundercats high powered passing game that has been able to crack the almost unbreakable Astro defense and offensively when the Astros have been forced to pass it has not turned out to be the best situation for them. The Astros have a solid passing game but it’s built off the run and if you can force the Astros to play catch up you have a chance.

New Teams

Rhynos Ensenada (Head Coach/Player Eduardo Soltero Padilla )

Tecos Tijuana

Possible New Teams

Huracanes Ensenada

Lynx Tijuana

In it’s first year the Super 8 had a solid beginning only 1 game all season was cancelled 3 of the 4 teams that started the season are returning, members of the Tijuana Aztecs are now either a part of the Thundercats or Tecos and the league is expanding. With players such as ex-NFL  and Mexican National Team player Manuel Padilla, ex European player Sergio Gonzales, and ex CFL/Arena/European player Justin Mc Kenzie the league will be covered internationally by the website touchdown-europe.net, giving our league exposure to Europe and beyond as we will be the 3rd league outside of Europe to be covered by the football news site and Justin Mc Kenzie will be inducted into the Touchdown Europe Hall of Fame this spring. Big things are coming on the horizon for the Super 8 Football League, be a part of the excitement.

Los Astros junto con los Diablos y los Thundercats son los favoritos para el título de 2013. Los Astros sólo juegan 2 juegos en 2012 pero terminaron 1-0-1 con una victoria de los Diablos y un empate con los Thundercats. Los Astros son el equipo más físico de la liga y son dirigidos por un defensa golpea duro que en él sólo 2 juegos seguía siendo la mejor de la liga la ofensa explosiva Thundercats a sólo 18 y los Diablos a sólo 6 puntos. Dirigido por Manual Padilla en defensa y Vicente Alaniz en la ofensiva los Astros está preparada para ser una fuerza en la temporada 2013.