Buzzer Beater: An All-Time Season Debut [UFA Week 6 2026]

Elliot Hawkins’ monster game nearly set a new league record

June 1, 2026 by Alex Rubin in Rankings, Recap

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A Record-Breaking Debut

In his 2026 UFA debut, Elliot Hawkins of the Indianapolis AlleyCats threw for 15 assists while racking up over 1,150 total yards. The assists are two shy of Cole Sullivan’s 2016 record, which was recorded before the current clock start timing was in place and games were longer. While yardage statistics are historically more difficult to track, players rarely total over 1,000 yards in single game. Most game highs are in the 500s or so.

Using the advanced statistics on Shown Space, his total adjusted expected contribution or aEC¹ was 14.6! That is the highest single game aEC score ever. Nobody else has higher than a 10.8 this season (which it should be noted was accomplished by Nate De Morgan in his Minnesota Wind Chill season debut, which also occurred this weekend). The next closest game historically is Nick Boucher’s 2021 game for Ottawa in which he totaled 1,223 yards, which clocked in at a 14.1.

Aside from the answer to a new fun fact, Hawkins appears to be just what the AlleyCats needed to earn their first win of the season, 23-20 over the Chicago Union. In two games without him, the Indy offense felt disconnected. Backfield stalwarts Jon Mast and Carter Hawkins (yes, Elliot’s brother) tended to stay behind the play while downfield cutters like Cam Brock were not as dynamic with the disc in their hands. William Wettengel has developed as a thrower, but is still best used on the UFA field as a deep threat. Similarly, Jacob Felton can release downfield as a cutter, but the 2024 assist leader is most at home in the backfield.

Enter Elliot Hawkins who can fill the midfield void, connecting the handler and cutter layers while being able to fill in either role admirably. It is a lot of pressure to put on a 20 year old with just eight previous UFA games of experience, but Hawkins really has the skills to elevate and transform the Indy offense into the playoff contenders the team expects to be.

News and Notes:

• The DC Breeze came away from a two game series in Canada with nearly identical wins, 23-18 over the Toronto Rush and 23-17 over the Montreal Royal. In a turnover-filled first game, Micah Wagner led the DC defense with three blocks. Miles Grovic tossed nine assists to help put away Montreal, who did not score during the fourth quarter of what had been a tied game after three.
• The New York Empire thumped the Pittsburgh Thunderbirds 34-11. Pittsburgh did not record a single break, and New York’s highest statistical leaders (Axel Agami Contreras, Oliver Fay, and Nicholas Whitlock) combined to play zero O-line minutes.
• The next night, Pittsburgh rebounded to take back the Commonwealth Cup. Will Hoffenkamp’s 75th completion of the night proved the winning goal in double overtime as the Thunderbirds prevailed 24-23 over the Philadelphia Phoenix in the league’s best in-state rivalry matchup.
• Despite a monster game from Oregon’s Callahan Bosworth (5A/4G on just a single turnover), the Colorado Apex took down the Steel 24-21. Nanda Min-Fink led the game with 723 total yards in his season debut.
• Behind a masterful offensive display from Chad Yorgason (5A/3G), the Salt Lake Shred crushed the Steel 34-17, leaving Oregon 0-2 on the weekend.
• The Oakland Spiders are still undefeated, but were held to a margin of victory of fewer than ten for the first time all season in a 23-17 win over the San Diego Growlers. Continuing his breakout season, Dan Ritthaler notched six goals, four assists, and two blocks without a turnover!
• In the third game of their three-game series, the Carolina Flyers once again prevailed over the Atlanta Hustle, matching their feat from last week. Jacob Fairfax’s five-assist, four-goal, two-block night without a turnover led the way for the Flyers, who also benefited from Tobias Brooks’ five assists in his season debut. Carolina converted all 12 of their break chances in the game.
• The Seattle Cascades poured in 11 breaks to beat the Houston Havoc 24-13. Six assists from Marc Munoz led the way on offense, while Mikey O’Brien’s three blocks led the defensive charge.
• Seattle did not leave Texas undefeated, however. The Austin Sol took down the Cascades in their second game of the weekend. The two teams put on an offensive showcase, combining to go 18/20 on huck attempts, but Austin prevailed 25-20.
• The Boston Glory continued their undefeated season with a narrow 18-16 victory over the Toronto Rush. Jeff Babbitt switched over to the D-line last week on a part-time basis, but made it full time this week and punctuated his return to defense with four blocks.
• Also still undefeated: the Minnesota Wind Chill, who outlasted the Madison Radicals 23-20 on Sunday. Minnesota’s Gordon Larson’s six-assist game nearly matched Pieran Robert’s eight goals for Madison.

UFA Power Rankings

• Atlanta’s second-straight loss to Carolina (this one with both teams closer to full strength) drops them down in the standings. They’ll have more opportunities to rebound, with games remaining against the Flyers and Sol.

1. Per the Shown Space website: Contribution is the featured metric of Shown Space. It measures how much a play shifts scoring odds, assigns that value to a player, and normalizes it so it’s comparable to goals and assists. For example, a player with 6.8 Contribution in a game effectively created nearly seven goals. ↩