The seventeenth NFA Championsihp Game would take place on January 1, 1956. This would be the first time in NFA history that the championship game would be played in a different year from the regular season. The 1955 NFA Championship Game would be a rematch of the 1940 NFA Championship. This time around the NFA West Division Champion St Louis Aviators would host the NFA East Division Champion Baltimore Knights. Many analysts believed this would be an offensive explosion as St Louis's number one ranked offense led by MVP Paul Walker, would face off against the number three ranked offense led by Baltimore's halfback Johnny Latimer who was the third leading rusher in the league. The Aviators on paper would be favored to win, but many felt that the Playoff Bowl would give the advantage to Baltimore since the Knights were able to rest a week while St Louis had to play.
GAME SUMMARY
The Aviators would receive the ball first, but they would not get off to a good start. The kickoff would be caught by Billy Wiseman deep in the Aviators end zone. Rather than kneel on it for a touchback, Wiseman would run it out and be quickly tackled at the 8 yard line. Ernie Case would then tackled in his own end zone for a safety. Baltimore would take a quick 2 point lead, but this would be the only lead they would have the entire game. Later in the first quarter Ernie Case would throw a touchdown pass to Mike Holden to give St Louis a 7-2 lead. In the second quarter, St Louis would add to their lead with a 37 yard field goal and then a 5 yard pass to Neil Ward from Ernie Case. With less than a minute remaining in the first half, St Louis led 17-2. The Knights would be able to move the football well, but would make costly mistakes. Kenny Marlow would throw an interception at the St Louis 17. Dave Boyle would then fumble on their next possession in the quarter and would again waste an opportunity for the Knights to score. They would be able to score just before the half though. With less than a minute left, Kenny Marlow would complete at 14 yard pass to Cooper McHan to put Baltimore back in the game. The Knights would receive the ball to start the second half and would quickly score again. Jimmy Latimer would rush 88 yards to score a touchdown and reduce the Aviators lead to 1. This would be the last score of the game for Baltimore though. Kenny Marlow would throw two more interceptions in the third quarter. One interception would lead to a 15 yard rushing touchdown by Paul Walker. Paul Walker would put together an outstanding half of football. He would score 2 rushing touchdowns in the third quarter. One for 62 yards and another for 15 yards. These scores along with St Louis's defense causing turnovers and mistakes, the game quickly was out of reach for the Knights. In the 4th quarter, Paul Walker would score the only points in the quarter. Walker would score a 79 yard rushing touchdown and put the Aviators up 38-16. This would be the final and St Louis would win their second NFA Championship in franchise history.