April 29, 2025
By Evan Lepler
1. New York’s Friday night get-right game
Ryan Hiser hit Brad Ellis for a 70-yard scoring connection on the first O-point in Bighorns history, but Vegas quickly proved to be no match for the angry Empire on Friday evening at Bonanza High School. One night after their five-goal loss in Oakland, New York dominated Vegas 32-13, breaking the Bighorns O-line 19 times en route to the 1-1 split of their Week 1 West Division road trip.
“I feel like we treated this weekend as a learning experience,” said New York’s Marques Brownlee, who produced eight assists and three blocks in the Empire’s opening two games. “We’ve been at each other’s throats the whole preseason, D-line vs. O-line, working on things, getting better. So this was the first opportunity to test it against other teams. Learned a lot, and feel really good about continuing to get better for the rest of the season.”
Antoine Davis, Oliver Fay, and Sam Jonas all had multiple blocks and multiple scores in Vegas for the Empire D-line. Axel Agami Contreras added four goals, one assist, and one block, while Brownlee quarterbacked the counterattack to the tune of six assists and a pair of hockey assists on 20-for-20 passing.
“This is the first two games of a long season,” said Brownlee. “This is our floor. We hopefully get better every week, we get better at practice from the tape, and by the end of the season we’re a scary team.”
As for the Bighorns, they were clearly overmatched—I jokingly said during the broadcast that Biggie, the Bighorn’s lively mascot that entertained the fans for all four quarters, was the team’s opening night MVP—but the end result was far from the biggest takeaway for the brand new franchise.
“Friday night, for me, was a dream,” said James Shorey, the Vegas Owner who also played and produced a pair of scores in the team’s inaugural game. “I’m elated with how game one went for us as a franchise and I’m cool with Biggie being our MVP because the crowd really showed up and proved that Vegas is about winning the eighth player on the field battle and building a real following where the fans are genuinely having a good time while the team catches up to their level.”
Joel Clutton (plus-seven) led the Bighorns with three goals, two assists, and two blocks, while Hiser (plus-four) and Shorey (plus-two) were the only other members of the Vegas roster that closed the night with positive plus/minuses. Still, the team felt there were some encouraging things to build upon and learned a lot about what it will take to compete against the other top teams in the league.
“Some people excelled in their roles and others not as much, but we’ve got a great foundation and that’s how we get the ball rolling,” said Shorey. “Biggest takeaways: I hope people glance at the final score and overlook us. I’m really proud of the team coming out the gate like they did.”
2. Austin erupts for 30 in Houston
The Sol quickly bolted to a 7-3 lead and never really looked back in their season opening win over the Havoc, completing 13-of-16 hucks and riding Kyle Henke to a 30-23 victory on Friday night in Houston. Henke produced 444 throwing yards and 420 receiving yards, along with four goals, three assists, and seven hockey assists, as the Sol improved to 8-0 all-time against the Havoc, with the eight wins coming by a total of 56 goals.
After the game, Henke was eager to deflect praise onto his teammates.
“While the 400/400 stat line does sound impressive,” he explained, “it really had very little to do with me personally and everything to do with the other six guys [on the O-line]. Our offense was suspiciously efficient; we all interchanged between handling and cutting roles down the field, and of course, having teammates like Jackson Potts coming down with a couple 50/50 balls was critical.”
All seven members of the Sol O-line finished with at least three scores, with Myles Armstrong’s four goals and three assists matching Henke for the team-high. All three Armstrong brothers had their highlight moments, with Carson Armstrong tallying three scores and over 400 total yards, while Oakley Armstrong caught the only Callahan across all seven games on the UFA’s opening weekend.
“One of the most exciting aspects was watching our Dallas contingent shine,” said Henke. “And we had several UFA rookies step up with some impressive plays. When you see that kind of widespread contribution and everyone having fun while executing at a high level, it’s really special."
The Havoc got eight scores and nearly 500 total yards from rookie Mark Turner, but Houston only forced six turns from the Sol O-line all night. They went 5-for-6 on break chances, but Austin broke the Havoc offense 13 times in 21 tries.
In a postgame Instagram post, it was clear that Sol Coach Steven Naji was very proud of his team.
“Months of hard effort and battling relentlessly weekly against ourselves paid off tonight,” he wrote. “Five rookies made their pro debut and shined. Thirteen turns was better than every game in ’24, nonetheless the crazy wind [...] Started fast and finished strong. One game at a time; see you at the home opener next Saturday night.”
3. Boston takes care of business versus Montreal
Unbroken on offense until only three minutes remained, the Boston Glory routed the Royal 26-18 to win their fifth consecutive season opening contest in the franchise’s five years of existence. It was a tight game through one quarter, but the Glory opened the second with a 6-1 spurt to break it open. Overall, Boston outscored Montreal 14-5 in the middle two periods to get the opening day job done.
“Glory played well,” said Captain Brendan McCann. “Our offense was executing at a high level and played stout defense on a turn. Defense is very, very deep. We don’t really have a starting rotation, just 12 elite players deep. I think that makes us dangerous because once the first break comes, it’s not like we have a backup D-line coming in. It’s seven more elite players. And that lends itself to compounding breaks and big runs, which is what happened in the second and third quarters.”
Offensively, Ben Sadok steered the Boston offense, completing 38 of his 39 throws for 479 passing yards, many of which were downfield deliveries to Glory newcomers Tobe Decraene and Calvin Stoughton, who combined for six goals, seven assists, and over 650 receiving yards between the two of them. Two-time reigning MVP Jeff Babbitt added three goals and three blocks, the latter being a big reason why the Royal went just 2-for-7 on break chances.
“Tobe and Calvin are obviously huge assets to gain,” said McCann. “Compared to last year’s offense—primarily small ball—it was great to see the offense launching it. Ironically, it seemed to be Calvin and Tobe getting most of the deep looks and Orion [Cable] and Jeff driving the unders. It’s great to see the versatility of our O-line, and I’m excited for them to develop throughout the year.”
McCann also shouted out two other Boston newcomers from whom he’s expecting big things this season: Ryan Dinger and Bert Yuan.
“Dinger plays O-line handler and is mega-talented,” added McCann. “[He’s] returning to elite men’s ultimate after a hiatus. And he still has the sauce. Bert moved here middle of last summer and is a galvanizer. The team rallies around him. I guarantee he ends up on a top 10 reel. He throws his body around like nobody I’ve seen.”
Christophe Tremblay-Joncas led the Royal with four assists, two goals, and two blocks.
4. Colorado cruises past Oregon
The only team that outscored their opponent in every quarter this past weekend was the Colorado Summit, who soared to a 7-2 lead through 12 minutes and kept on increasing the margin throughout their eventual 24-12 romp over the Oregon Steel. The Summit overpowered the Steel from the start and finished with 13 breaks compared to Oregon’s two.
“I was very happy with opening night,” said Colorado Coach Tim Kefalas.
Beyond the score, the Summit definitely showcased a shift in mindset that they have been judiciously implementing in the aftermath of last season’s disappointing season, which fell short of the playoffs out West.
“Salt Lake ran us off the field when they came to Marv Kay [Stadium] early last season,” remembered Kefalas. “That was not going to happen again. Team has been in the gym and on the track since February. We are far more physically prepared than we’ve been in the past, and the guys are hungry to show it.”
Kefalas also mentioned that the team’s three games against Central Division opponents last year were eye-opening in terms of noticing how well those more experienced UFA teams—Madison, Minnesota, and Indianapolis—took advantage of the pro frisbee ruleset. That’s not something that the Summit have consistently harped upon in the past, but that has become a much bigger point of emphasis in 2025.
“Offensively, we’re making sure we’re 100 percent ready to address other teams’ doubling strategies and physicality with core adjustments to our backfield and downfield setup to make sure we’re not stranding and not gift-wrapping clear double situations,” he explained. “Red-zone O is totally different this year as well. Additionally, we’re making sure we’re much more prepared with time-specific scenarios and that we maximize our timeouts.”
Perhaps none of these strategic and mindset tweaks were the difference for the Summit in the season opener—like Vegas against New York, the Steel struggled to stifle Colorado’s superior talent—but the bigger picture thoughts speak to the team’s renewed energy and ambition to rise back toward the top of the West Division.
Hunter May led the Summit in his UFA debut, finishing plus-seven with three goals, two assists, and two blocks while playing mostly D-line. Quinn Finer (573 yards and four scores) and Noah Coolman (372 total yards and six scores) anchored Colorado offense.
5. Atkins also shines in defensive debut
Through the first 30 games of Alex Atkins’ Colorado career, he never played more D-line than O-line. That changed on Saturday night.
Atkins played a team-high 28 points, including 28 for the D-line, as the Summit stormed past the Steel. The chatty 26-year-old delivered a career-best four blocks and completed 38-of-40 throws, quarterbacking Colorado to 13 breaks, the second-most the Summit have ever had in a single game in the franchise’s history.
“The ‘Kins on D thing has been in the season plan since November,” said Kefalas. “I remember you saying in an early Swing Pass, ‘do they try Atkins on D?’ And I was like, ‘Evan, you been in our Slack?’”
For the record, no, I’ve never been invited into any team’s Slack. But I do really like this move for Colorado. Assuming the Summit can ride Finer, Coolman, and a post-college season Tobias Brooks as the main engines to the O-line, having a weapon like Atkins orchestrating the D is a huge luxury that absolutely should be a game-changer for the Summit this season.
“Just his ability to be a hugely disruptive D presence and his ability to quarterback really well on the turn, [we] felt like it just made a ton of sense,” said Kefalas. “We haven’t had a super effective counter-attack after the turn since [Cody] Spicer retired.”
6. Several key doubleheaders beckon in Week 2 action
Only the New York Empire played multiple games during the opening weekend of the season, but five more teams will play a pair of games in Week 2. Los Angeles and San Diego open their seasons with a home and home against one another Saturday and Sunday, while Madison, Oakland, and Toronto all have challenging two-game road trips. The Radicals tackle Texas Friday and Saturday against Houston and Austin, while the Spiders parade into the Pacific Northwest for Saturday and Sunday showdowns against Seattle and Oregon. And the Rush rampage into DC and Philadelphia to try to create some more early chaos in the East.
A reminder regarding one of the noteworthy nuggets that emerged from studying the full-season schedule: exactly half of the 144 regular season games will involve a team in the midst of a road back-to-back. In Week 2, by itself, six of the 11 games on the slate have a team battling through that particular phenomenon.
Chicago, Indy, and Pittsburgh are the only three teams that don’t have any road back-to-backs all year, however the Union will have four different weekends where they play multiple games—one at home and one on the road. No team has more two-game weekends.
If having just one game in a week is indeed an advantage—and we could certainly debate this dynamic—it’s Indy and Pittsburgh, along with DC, that are the only teams in the league that only have one weekend with multiple games throughout the season. And as the odds would suggest, the AlleyCats and Thunderbirds only play once each this weekend, against each other in Pittsburgh on Friday night.
7. My opening weekend tripleheader
The only moron foolish enough to sign up for a tripleheader?
That would, of course, be me.
It was an exhilarating—and exhausting—weekend to start my 2025 UFA broadcasting journey, working in Oakland on Thursday, Vegas on Friday, and Atlanta on Saturday. Truly, I was grateful for the experience and genuinely enjoyed the opportunity to see five different teams in person during the first weekend of the year.
My biggest takeaways from my three-game weekend?
A) It’s not the broadcasts, or even the preparation required, but rather the travel and time-zone shifting that provokes fatigue. I also stayed up too late catching up with a college buddy I hadn’t seen in a few years in San Francisco on Wednesday night. Fun times, but I definitely paid the price.
B) There are so many really good players and teams in this league, and the passion, desire, and commitment to compete at the highest level is inspiring and just really fun to follow. We’ve got a really good product right now. If you’re reading this deep into the Tuesday Toss, presumably you agree. Help us spread the word. Encourage family and friends who don’t yet love frisbee to check out a game in person or a broadcast online. WatchUFA.tv is an awesome platform, and it’ll only get better as more people subscribe and the league has more revenue to add new bells and whistles to the broadcasts. Furthermore, there are countless compelling storylines, the championship race is so wide open, and hopefully more and more people will start to understand just how entertaining, dramatic, and thrilling so many of our games can be.
The Hammer
Among the 11 games this weekend, the four I’d say I’m most fascinated by are Toronto’s two-step through DC and Philly, Oakland’s playoff rematch in Seattle, and obviously the South Division showdown in Atlanta, where the Flyers and Hustle reunite for the first time since last year’s epic playoff matchup.
One brief conversation with Atlanta star Brett Hulsmeyer following the Shred-Hustle game served as an interesting reminder that circumstances change every single week.
“I think it’s gonna be a little different,” said Hulsmeyer, when asked what the upcoming Flyers contest will be like. “The way we got played [on Saturday] was a lot of pressure on the mark and very aggressive, physical downfield [defense]. Next week will be a little bit more pressure on the actual reset cutter. When you look to them, they’ll be locked up sometimes. Offensively, for [Carolina], they’re gonna huck. How many hucks did [Salt Lake] throw that weren’t like a blown switch? Very few. Other than that, I think it’ll be very different defensively. But right now, because it’s early in the season and the outlook we have, it’s [just] another game.”
Very likely, it’ll be another phenomenal game and another remarkable weekend.
That’s just where we are with the UFA here in 2025. With every opening pull, anything seems possible.
