PROVIDENCE (12-4-1) at GEM CITY (15-1) [Vegas Line: Gem City -12]

The Providence Islanders and their eight-game win streak travel to Dayton for a New Year's Day date with the Gangsters. In doing so, the Islanders return to the sight of a 34-0 thrashing back in Week 4.

Scoring per game -- Providence 20.6 (7th), Gem City 25.6 (2nd)
Passing YPG -- Providence 242.7 (6th), Gem City 282.9 (1st)
Rushing YPG -- Providence 94.8 (9th), Gem City 94.4 (10th)
Total YPG -- Providence 337.5 (7th), Gem City 377.4 (2nd)

Scoring defense -- Providence 16.9 (t-22nd), Gem City 9.4 (3rd)
Passing YPG against -- Providence 220.3 (26th), Gem City 182.8 (11th)
Rushing YPG against -- Providence 93.9 (24th), Gem City 47.0 (4th)
Total YPG against -- Providence 307.6 (28th), Gem City 226.8 (6th)
Turnover margin -- Providence -10 (31st), Gem City -1 (16th)

FG kicking -- Providence 29/31, Gem City 36/44
Net Punting -- Providence 44.0, Gem City 41.6

FINAL THOUGHTS -- Providence players have worn out the film room analyzing the tape of the Atlanta game, only to determine that, spoiler alert, they aren't Atlanta. It has been a magical season for the Islanders, but they'll need every ounce of that magic if they want to progress beyond this point. The Gangsters dominated every phase of play in the teams' first encounter and, while this certainly isn't the same Providence team that played in Dayton back during Week 4, expecting the squad to close the chasm between the two clubs is a pretty tall order. Philip Prince is back from injury and will start this round for the Islanders. While it will be nice to have the team's sack leader lining up for the game, it's probably not enough to tip the balance of power in this one.

The unlikely playoff run of the Providence Islanders came crashing to a halt, 23-17, at the hands of the Gem City Gangsters last night. Unlike the first encounter, which ended in a 34-0 rout, the Islanders were able to at least provide some moments of drama in this one.

Edward Papa got the scoring started with a 6-yard TD run in the first quarter after being set up in prime territory by an interception. James McClung followed with a 45-yard field goal early in the second period to shoot the Gangsters out to a 10-0 lead after two possessions. It was, needless to say, a scary place for Providence fans to be.

But then the Islanders began to dig themselves out. Robert Casillas' 37-yard kick finally notched points against the Gangsters' D. An execution of the 2-minute drill late in the first half knotted the game after Eliseo Towne found tight end Tim Boyer from 7 yards out with just 25 seconds left in the half. It appeared for all the world that the Islanders would head to halftime with a tie on the scoreboard.

Except for those 25 seconds, which are an eternity to a championship quarterback like Mervin Couture. It took just two plays for the Gangsters to give McClung a crack from 56 yards out as the half expired and Gem City's kicker made good on the try. The Gangsters then opened the second half by marching down the field for another TD and the 10-point Gangster lead had been restored just like that.

McClung added another kick, this time from a mere 25 yards out following an Islander fumble early in the fourth quarter. Towne directed a 9-play, 75-yard drive for the Islanders to hit Gregory Raymond for a 9-yard score and pull Providence back to within a single score with 3:51 remaining, but the Gangster D never allowed the Islanders across midfield for a chance at late-game heroics.

Towne redeemed himself after a horrible first game against the Gangsters, finishing 32-for-38 with 275 yards. Richard Perez hauled in 6 receptions for 84 yards.

"We had our chances, but that's a tough defense," Towne said afterwards. "They don't give you anything easy out there and I wish them the best of luck next week. For us, I'm just so happy with how this team came together. You go back to the start of the season and nobody thought this was possible. The way this team pulled together...it's been a **** of a ride."

The Islanders close this record season 12-5-1. The team will turn its focus soon toward next season.

Your projected Week 1 lineup for the Providence Islanders...

QB -- Eliseo Towne threw for career bests of 3,883 yards and 25 TD's while completing nearly 81 percent of his passes. He was clearly a fan of RedNU's system and looks to build upon his 15,000+ career yards.

RB -- Gary Porter was responsible for 1,285 yards between his rushing and his receiving exploits last season, but only found the end zone twice for touchdowns, as hard as that may be to believe. He'll get the nod at RB again with rookie Timothy Hope earning a surprise starting nod at FB for the Islanders. While Hope, drafted to be the franchise's future at TE, didn't showcase much beyond blocking skills in the preseason, there's clearly some thinking that he can become a bit of a weapon. Team officials say Hope will also be seeing plenty of time at his drafted position as well.

TE -- Ink it in that TIm Boyer is good for a catch total in the 40s as he has consistently provided that season after season. The surprise was the yardage count, which climbed into the 700+ range last season.

WR -- Perez/Everett/Mathews/Leak...no real surprises here as the top four are back in uniform again. Perez is a speed demon who is a threat to go the distance every time the football finds his hands. None of the other three crested 30 receptions a year ago, but none had to either as they played the part of supporting cast for Towne to spread the ball around to in perfect order.

OL -- Luce/Wilson/Little/Flanders/Burkley...Luce, the rookie, gets a starting nod on the outside edge. Wilson and Little started all 16 regular season contests for the Islanders last season. Flanders was brought in from Jacksonville to help out at RG but starts the season questionable after getting a dinged foot in the preseason. Team officials say the injury could last up to four weeks, but expectations are that he will see the field before then. Out wide on the right will be Burkley, starter of 15 games last season.

DE -- LDE Philip Prince was good for 13 sacks last season after getting no more than 6 in any of his four previous seasons. RDE duties again fall the Kenneth Conway, who recorded 39 tackles a year ago.

DT -- Rookie Leroy Morelli was selected by the Islanders in the first round of this year's draft to help clog the middle on defense. He'll get a chance to earn his paycheck from Day 1. Carl Anderson was raided from Jacksonville for much the same reason after getting 42 tackles and 5 sacks last season.

LB -- Henry Brown, 59 tackles, will roam the middle once more for Providence. Jonathan Laffey split time with Chicago and Pittsburgh last year while recording 74 tackles, but was in triple figures just two seasons back. Now he'll roam the Sam side of things for the Islanders while Will-side duties fall to Andrew Keefe, another new face who drives up the coast after 3 seasons in Miami.

DB -- Corners Jody Robinson and Larry Ellsworth are back after combining for 160 tackles last season. Craig Chang returns as the strong safety while Anthony Killinger and his 95 tackles are back roaming the free safety's slot. The foursome did not intercept many ***** a season ago, but demonstrated a good chemistry in the secondary.

K/P -- Robert Casillas drilled a career-best 93.5 percent of his field goal kicks last season and (risking the sports writer's curse here) is a perfect 92-for-92 in 5 seasons on his PAT attempts. John Hilton will handle the punting chores after registering a net of 44 yards last season and putting 44 percent of his punts inside the opponent's 20.

FILL STEAL'S FOOTBALL FORECAST -- They say lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice, and that is an adage Islander fans might want to keep in mind this season. We whiffed horribly in our prediction last season as the Islanders treated their new home city to the franchise's first-ever post-season pigskin partying The team added depth that wasn't there a year ago, but also lost out some in the free agency market. After going 12-5-1 a year ago, the Islanders limped through the preseason getting just 1 win in three attempts. The core is back from last season's divisional title team and playoff run, but there were no major impact additions. Last year's Islanders enjoyed career years from multiple players and also benefitted from a fortuitous absence of the injury bug. It is hard to see those conditions trending through a second straight season. While we don't see a return to the Dark Ages of New York, we do think a slide back to reality takes place in Year 2 of the Rhode Island Relocation. Lets call the over/under for 8.5 wins this season and a near miss on the playoff return.

The Dominators were dominant and unrelenting in a 37-10 ***-kicking of the Providence Islanders to open the regular season. Atlanta rolled up more than 500 yards of offense as pretty much everything clicked for the home team in the contest.

"There's not much to say. We got outclassed by a superior team," said head coach Cody Rogowski. "They moved it down our throats the entire game. Their defense smothered us. We have to learn from it and grow, because we just got manhandled"

Atlanta raced out to a 24-0 halftime margin and looked to add to it until Lawrence Warren, making his Islander debut after spending last season in Brooklyn picked off a pass and returned it to the Atlanta 36. From there, Eliseo Towne was able to chain together some completions to get the Islanders on the board with a 9-yard pass to Miguel Weiss, a newbie to the roster from Denver.

Providence also added a 56-yard Robert Casillas field goal to its side of the ledger. Larry Ellsworth also picked up an interception for the Islanders. Strong safety Craig Chang had 11 tackles.

The Islanders will attempt to lick their wounds and prepare for this week's home opener against Seattle. The Barbarians dropped a 21-10 decision to Arizona to begin their year.

In one bit of extra news, the Islanders made a trade to secure the services of WLB Michael Payton from Daytona Beach. Payton will fill the spot vacated by the off-season loss of Benjamin Truong, whom the Islanders failed to re-sign through the free agency process after Gem City offered the young star a mammoth contract.

Payton was injured in the contest against Atlanta and will go in as questionable for the Week 2 pairing with Seattle. Also on the mend for that game is rookie Jerry Luce, whose is also listed as questionable for the Islanders' next contest.

For the second time in as many games, fans of the Providence Islanders watched their team's defense get utterly torched, this time to the tune of 295 rushing yards and 430 yards overall in a 27-10 thrashing at the hands of Seattle.

Clement Hadnot (definitely all-name team potential) paced the Barbarians with 122 yards on the ground and a score. Rickey Daniel just missed giving Seattle a second back over the century mark when his night ended with 97 yards. Most concerning the Providence defense, however, may have been Sean Williamson, who carried it just six times, but picked up 75 yards, including a pair of 36-yard touchdown runs.

As concerning as all of that may be to the Islanders, it might be secondary to the injury suffered by Gary Porter. The Providence star running back, responsible for nearly 1,300 yards of offense last season, went down with a serious leg injury in the contest and preliminary reports this evening are not good for Porter being back on the field any time soon.

In Porter's absence, the Islanders were a one-dimensional team on offense, managing just 12 yards on the ground. A 24-yard pass from Eliseo Towne to Joseph Wyrick put the Islanders on the board with inside of 2 minutes remaining in the first half, but by that point Seattle had already steamrolled its way to a trio of touchdowns, leaving the scoreboard at 20-7 for the half. Providence could add only a Robert Casillas 35-yard field goal in the second half.

Towne finished 30-for-43 for 229 yards through the air. Free safety Anthony Killinger added an interception for the defense, which is about the only positive to be said there this evening.

Providence will attempt to get off the early season slide when it travels to Green Bay to face the 0-2 Enforcers.

Jarvis Tidwell's 33-yard field goal as time expired elevated Green Bay to a 16-13 victory over Providence in the "Game of the Week." Hey, give those television executives some credit -- after catching flak for televising a pair of 0-2 teams, they managed to provide the viewing public maximum drama.

Of course, for Islander fans, that drama was more like consternation as the game-winning field goal was set up moments earlier by an interception tossed by Eliseo Towne and followed yet another game of wondering if this year's incarnation of the Islanders' defense is capable of stopping anybody when it matters.

Towne's 5-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter gave Providence its first lead of the contest and capped an 11-play, 74-yard drive. Previously, the Islanders had needed 55 and 40 yard field goals from Robert Casillas in order to match first scores by the Enforcers. But just as the Islanders had done throughout the game, Green Bay immediately matched the score with Thomas Banning's 2-yard run some 4 minutes later, setting up the late game drama/heartbreak.

Boyd Hamilton, earning his first start in place of the injured Gary Porter, produced 88 yards of combined rushing and receiving yardage, but the Islanders clearly missed Porter's extra gear on offense. Towne was 25-for-39 in the passing department, but will desperately wish he could take one of those throws back.

Providence stays on the road for a game at the Brooklyn Hitmen in the team's first divisional action of the season. Brooklyn takes a 2-1 mark into the contest. They will do so with the injury bug continuing to feast upon the team as starting linemen Jerry Luce (LT) and Joshua Little (C) will miss the contest along with Porter.

The Providence Islanders were their own worst enemy as Brooklyn captured a 17-6 divisional victory last night. In so doing, the Islanders continue their quest for a victory this season.

Things looked good in the early going. Providence took its first possession 76 yards in 15 plays before settling for a 22-yard Robert Casillas field goal. Brooklyn immediately recovered the points, but only after an interception near midfield was wiped from the books by an offsides penalty to keep the Hitmen drive going.

It was a theme that continued throughout the night. Eliseo Towne hurled an interception on the first play of the second half to set the Hitmen up with a very short field, which the Brooklyn side converted into a TD. Casillas trimmed the lead with a 29-yard field goal with 11 minutes to play in the game, but Providence could get no more. A failed fourth-and-1 conversion attempt in the late minutes of the game again set the Hitmen up a short distance from paydirt and they were able to convert to give the game its final margin.

For Providence, it was another one-dimensional night on offense, despite winning the yardage battle in the contest. The Islanders, still without Gary Porter for the foreseeable future, managed just 26 yards along the ground against the Hitmen front seven. Eliseo Towne was 31-for-41 for 247 yards through the air with Thomas Everett pulling in 10 of those passes for 98 yards

The Islanders will get another crack at Brooklyn in two weeks, but first the team opens a four-game home stand against defending league champion Gem City (2-2) in a rematch of the contest that knocked the Islanders out of the playoffs what seems like an eternity ago.

Providence fought Gem City to a near stand still for three quarters, but couldn't avoid the roof caving in over the final 15 minutes in a 34-12 rout. The search goes on for the Islanders' first win of the season as fans start to understand just how spoiled they were last season.

Robert Casillas kicked field goals of 27, 40, 48 and 53 yards, the last of those coming on the first play of the fourth quarter to draw the Islanders within a point despite an absolutely terrible night on offense. That caused the defending champs to kick it into a new gear as they struck for 3 touchdowns in the final 11:30 of the contest.

Gem City's Mervin Couture hit Edward "Who's Your Daddy" Papa for a 70-yard TD strike to stretch its lead to 8. A little over four minutes later Raul Green got loose for a 97-yard TD run. Green got involved again late on a 17-yard touchdown reception to wrap up the scoring blitz by the Gangsters.

Despite just 7 first downs, the Gangsters erupted for 400 yards of offense in the contest, proving just how important the big play was to Gem City's attack last night.

Kenneth Conway finished with three sacks. Jody Robinson had an interception. The offense, at least for Islanders fans, sucked, gaining just 133 yards for the night.

Providence soldiers onward at 0-5 and will be in action against Brooklyn (4-1) in divisional action.

The Providence Islanders watched a 13-0 halftime lead vanish in the second half as the Brooklyn Hitmen completed a regular-season sweep with a 17-16 victory. The loss drops Providence to a frustrating 0-6 for the season.

Robert Casillas kicked a 27 yard field goal midway through the first quarter to open the scoring for Providence. Alan Freeman added a 2-yard scoring run in six minutes into the second quarter to expand upon the Islanders' lead. A mammoth 59-yard kick as time expired in the first half gave the Islanders an added boost of confidence and a 13-0 lead that looked good considering the Hitmen had managed just 18 yards of offense in the first half.

We're not sure where that Brooklyn team went at halftime, but we sure wish they'd stuck around.

Instead, the Islanders got the big play Brooklyn team, which manufactured a pair of 75-yard touchdown drives in the second half, needing a total of just seven plays to get both scores. A 54-yard field goal with 6:46 remaining gave the Hitmen their first lead of the contest and, ultimately, the game.

The Islanders moved the ball to just across midfield in their quest for a potential game-winning field goal attempt, but turned it over on downs shortly after the two minute warning. Providence got the ball back extremely late in the game, but couldn't make much forward progress before a string of incompletions again resulted in a turnover on downs, enabling Brooklyn to run out the clock.

Jody Robinson picked off a pair of passes for Providence in about the only stat to speak of for the night.

The Providence loss sets up a showdown with Daytona Beach in the Pillow Fight of the Week matchup. Neither team has won a game yet this season and the only way things could possibly get uglier would be for the teams to play to a scoreless draw or something.

One bit of good news heading into that contest. Gary Porter has made remarkable strides toward healing and is rumored to possibly be ready to take the field for the Islanders in that contest.

I'm back!

And more important than that, Gary Porter is also back. The difference he makes was on full display in a 57-0 blasting of rebuilding Daytona Beach. Porter's return before the midpoint of the season from an injury that had been speculated could cost him a major chunk of the season was nothing short of remarkable. He accounted for 134 yards of offense and a pair of touchdowns in his first action back since being injured in Week 2.

Michael Payton set the tone early by picking off the second play of the game and returning it 27 yards for a touchdown. Johnathan Laffey added two more picks as pretty much everyone took advantage of the game to pad their stats and take out some frustration from an 0-6 start to the season.

Reality returned the following contest as Isaiah Carter blasted the defense for 121 yards rushing and another 116 receiving as he scored two touchdowns in a 21-6 loss to the Texas Hold'em. It was Carter's show as Providence dives to 1-7 for the season at the midway point. Hopefully the injury bug will back off enough to allow us to get a feel for what the Islanders can do.