1955 Playoffs: Division Finals

West Division Final: Cincinnati Rivermen @ Chicago Hogs
With the Rivermen’s victory over the Hawks the previous week, the matchup between Cincinnati and Chicago quickly became one of the most anticipated games of the playoffs, even exceeding that of the championship game the following week. Chicago had a chill in the air throughout the week, and the cold was not expected to lift for a very important football game. Gametime had temperatures ranging from the low 20’s to the mid teens, so the offenses could suffer from the chill. That didn’t stop Hogs and Rivermen fans from showing up in droves, splitting Union Stadium into two sides each wanting their ticket punched to the title game.

Q1
Chicago would receive the opening kickoff, though they could only manage to move the ball for 20 yards before punting it over to the Rivermen. Cincinnati would get about as far on their first drive, and the ball went right back to the Hogs. QB Nathan Aldenberg would step back to pass on a third and medium, but DL JJ Worthington came barreling towards him. Aldenberg would roll to his left, but was quickly met by both DL Roy Kelly and LB Cade Masters. The Rivermen would force the ball out of his hands, and would recover the fumble in their own territory. Cincinnati would capitalize upon the Hogs’ mistake a few plays later, as RB Perry Ferguson leaped over the line for a 1 yard score. K Brian Singer would make a rare whiff on the extra point, and Chicago could take the lead on a touchdown of their own. Aldenberg and the Hogs would rely on the run after his mistake, using their lethal backfield of Billy Gould and Arthur Busch to make their way downfield. They would crawl their way down field, eventually losing steam after passing midfield. The Hogs would take their chances at points, sending on K Freddie Donnelly for the attempt. He would sail it right through the uprights, ending the first quarter on a high note for the home team.
CHI 3, CIN 6

Q2
Both teams traded punts to each other before anything of meaning happenedCincinnati would have the ball midway into the second frame when QB Lester Parker lobbed one up to WR Chris Marks up the middle. Marks would catch the ball, but was immediately surrounded by Hogs players. LB Jerry Flowers hit Marks down low, and Marks coughed the ball up on the hit. A scrum ensued to take possession of the ball, and Chicago DB Clarence Newman appeared at the bottom with the ball. The Hogs now found themselves in the same scenario they put the Rivermen in the previous quarter, deep in their own territory with a near-guaranteed score just a couple of yards away. Chicago RB Arthur Busch would take the handoff up the middle, and found himself clear of defenders. He would have been clear if not for S Virgil Romano trying to cut him off near the endzone, and Busch dove to avoid the oncoming hit. On the dive, Busch couldn’t hold onto the ball, as it rolled towards and out of the endzone for a touchback. The Rivermen dodged a bullet due to the rookie’s mistake, and now had a chance to extend their lead before the half. QB Lester Parker would lead the Cincinnati offense downfield with relative ease, but quickly lost momentum once they got near the opposing endzone. Parker would take three shots at the endzone, the first two sailing incomplete and the third would have been a touchdown had WR Alfred Dunn not bobbled the catch for a third straight incompletion. Cincinnati settled for 3 points instead, and the Hogs tried and failed to get a drive going before the first half was over.
CHI 3, CIN 9

Q3
The offensive woes would unfortunately continue into the second half, as Cincinnati would immediately go three and out on their first drive. There would not be much of any action until midway through the quarter, after both teams had multiple chances with the ball but kept coming up short of advancing into scoring range. It was mostly a punters’ duel to begin the half, with Chicago’s Calvin Tate and Cincinnati’s Michael Swanson pinning the other team against their own goal line to make the offensive woes worse. The Hogs once again had the ball and were trying to take the lead away, but faced a second and long to advance past midfield. QB Nathan Aldenberg spent a little too long in the pocket waiting for someone to get open, and facing down J.J. Worthington barrelling towards him, heaved it downfield in the direction of WR Ciarán Murphy. Murphy happened to be guarded by both DB Kerry Lantz and LB Cade Masters, who would get in front of Murphy and get the interception for the Rivemen. Cincinnati would get some progress on the ensuing drive, finally making it past midfield for the first time in the half. The Rivermen were then almost immediately stopped 40 yards out after two quick running plays, and could have gotten closer to the endzone if WR Anthony Wheatland was able to hold onto the ball while somehow getting past any nearby defenders. K Brian Singer came out onto the field to kick it straight through the uprights to take a 9 point lead on the defending champions.
CHI 3, CIN 12

Q4
Chicago would take very little time getting back within scoring range. After being held for almost the entire game, RB Billy Gould would take a handoff up the middle on a first down and dart and weave his way for a 42 yard gain. After getting another first down a few plays later, the Rivermen would finally clamp up on the rushing attack and force a fourth down. Since it was still early in the 4th, the kicking unit came out for Chicago and K Freddie Donnelly would send it through the uprights for a score, now needing a touchdown to take the lead. Cincinnati spent the majority of the quarter just chewing clock away from Chicago, leaving a little over a minute on the clock. With the rushing attack getting stuffed and the receiving game almost nonexistent, the Hogs quickly came up on a 4th down where they needed to make something work downfield if they had any chance of winning. QB Nathan Aldenberg would take the snap, and quickly threw it towards WR Donnie Stout over the middle. LB Edgar Abney was there to break up the pass, swatting it down and sealing the game for the Rivermen. After a few years of horrendous luck, the Cincinnati Rivermen would finally be competing for a championship as serious contenders.
CHI 6, CIN 12

East Division Final: Buffalo Hammers @ Washington Federals
After blowing the division lead in a week 10 matchup, the Hammers were ready to take revenge on the Federals on a fairly mild Washington day. With the knowledge that Chicago would not be in the championship, both teams felt that a win would mean a potential title coming to town. The only problem is that two of the best offenses would be put up against each other. Federals fans made up a majority of Washington Stadium’s full capacity, and Buffalo would be at a disadvantage if they wanted to fight for a title.

Q1
Washington wanted to start the game the right way, and thus chose to receive the opening kickoff. It would be a slow and meticulous drive for the Federals, slowly moving down the field on the legs of RB Rip Rooney. QB Johnnie Sellers threw a pass every couple of plays to keep them moving, easily threading through the relatively weak Buffalo front seven. It was not until they reached the 20 yard line when the Federals tried to air it into the endzone, but were denied all three times by the Hammers secondary. Washington K Eugene Hickman would easily drill the field goal from 20 yards out. Buffalo’s ensuing drive would essentially take the remainder of the quarter, as second year QB Brendan Turnbull found it significantly more difficult to move through the potent Washington defense. The Hammers would continue their march to the endzone, with Turnbull trading between handoffs to RB Calvin Townsend and passes to WR Justin Harris to get down the field. Their plight would be stopped around the same place as the Federals, as Townsend would get stuffed on a third and short by the Washington front 4. Buffalo K Guy Moran would come onto the field to kick it through the uprights to make it a tie game at the end of the quarter.
WAS 3, BUF 3

Q2
The second quarter would almost be like the first quarter, as both offenses struggled to get anything going. The defenses would have their time in the spotlight, holding both offenses to less than 50 total yards of offense combined. The deadlock was broken late into the half, when Washington QB Johnnie Sellers would hit WR Darius Sanderson for a big 39 yard gain that got them within kicking distance. K Eugene Hickman would come on as time expired in the half to kick it from 45 yards out and go into the half on top.
WAS 6, BUF 3

Q3
Offenses would finally begin to click in the second half, starting with a Buffalo drive that actually got moving. QB Brendan Turnbull would hit WR Harry Chilton on the first play of the quarter, who ran through the Federals secondary for a 34 yard gain. Their momentum would quickly die out, only gaining 3 more yards on that drive but were in range for K Guy Moran to try for a 54 yarder. The ball would just barely get through, tying the game at 6 a piece. Washington would immediately retaliate, getting a big drive of their own going and quickly getting across midfield on just 3 plays. After slicing and dicing their way closer to the endzone, RB Rip Rooney would take a handoff to the left and power his way 6 yards for the first touchdown of the day and the lead back for the Federals. Buffalo would be unsuccessful in the remainder of the quarter, being forced to punt on their two remaining drives this quarter. After Washington punted away their first, they would look to extend their lead in the remaining time in the third. The Federals would get an easier start to their drive, as returner Benjamin Glass would receive the ball at the 15 and get clear of almost everyone on the Hammers, only getting pushed out by K Guy Moran after a 35 yard gain. One first down later, QB Johnnie Sellers found WR Joseph Atkins in a 1-on-1 scenario with DB Rogelio Amos, and hoped for the best as he threw it up to one of his top receivers. Amos would jump for the ball a bit too early, completely missing the ball as Atkins caught the pass and strutted into the endzone for a 37 yard score to put the Federals up by two possessions.
WAS 20, BUF 6

Q4
Buffalo would get its offensive groove back in gear, as they finally got going in the fourth. QB Brendan Turnbull would work the Washington defense to allow small but significant gains as they marched down to the endzone. RB Calvin Townsend would get them within the 5, and Turnbull faked the handoff to Townsend and found TE Dan Finley all by himself to get back within a single score. Washington would get right back at it, as QB Johnnie Sellers would once again rip and tear through the Hammers defense to embark on a long drive. After a couple of grueling minutes of humiliating the front seven, Sellers would utilize the run game to take away time from the Hammers. RB Rip Rooney would almost get into the endzone on the first play within the 20, and plowed his way in from 2 yards out to extend their lead. The Federals defense would keep the Hammers offense on the field just long enough to stall for time. Washington would go on another drive like their last one, wasting clock and moving downfield to clinch the game for themselves. The Hammers defense would once again get dominated by Sellers, who worked his way downfield and inside scoring range. Sellers decided that he wanted to call game, and lobbed a ball up for WR Darius Sanderson.  Sanderson would leap up and grab the ball away from DB Joe Merritt, and get both feet in for an 11 yard score that would effectively seal the game away. Buffalo would not have enough time to score, as time ran out before they got to midfield. Washington would not only get a chance to establish themselves as a premier team in the league with another title, but they would get to host the championship game against one of their biggest rivals.
WAS 34, BUF 16

Sixth American Football Championship: (W2) Cincinnati Rivermen @ (E1) Washington Federals
1955 H2H: W1 - WAS 19-6 CIN
Historic H2H: 5-4 CIN
Playoff H2H: 0-0

One of the league’s budding rivalries of Cincinnati and Washington will be the focus of the sixth AFL championship. It started in 1952, when the then-Columbus Buckeyes upset the Rivermen to end the season, ruining the mood enough for Cincinnati to lose the next week against Chicago in the West Play-off. The next two years, the Federals denied the Rivermen playoff berths on late scores, with the first time in 1953 starting their incredible run to a title in their first year in the nation’s capital. For each of these teams now, it’s about cementing themselves as one of the next top teams in the league and getting themselves out of Chicago’s shadow. The Federals still have the same core that won them the title 2 years ago, with QB Johnnie Sellers leading an offense with RB Rip Rooney and WR’s Darius Sanderson and Joseph Atkins as incredible options. Cincinnati has consistently had an incredible team, but injuries and bad luck prevented them from entering the playoffs the last two years. QB Lester Parker and WR Alfred Dunn are one of the league’s top duos, and have another great duo in RB’s Perry Ferguson and Billy Garcia. Both defenses are competent enough, but this championship game looks more likely to be an offensive shootout. As Washington is the only team with championship experience and is hosting the game at home, they will have a slight advantage in this title game.
My Pick: Washington