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+---- Thread: *S23 NOLA Game Balls (/showthread.php?tid=24754)
*S23 NOLA Game Balls - ddrector - 08-06-2020
Every season I write the offensive game balls for NOLA and occasionally also a defensive game ball here or there. Some weeks when we perform particularly bad I am not motivated to write as you'll see below.
:football: :football: Week 1 Offensive Game Ball :football: :football:
@Wombat#9068 - Ed Barker - 6 Rec, 102 Yards, 1 TD
This was the tale of two halves for our offense in this one. The first half we couldn’t get anything going and went into the locker room 23 to 0. But after the half we came out and scored three touchdowns in a row. Toriki started the scoring with a one yard rush and then S22 Tight End of the Year Austin McCormick scored on a 17 yard pass from old man Stan. Ed Barker opened the fourth quarter with an 8 yard receiving score from Stan. We were within 2 and I really thought we were going to complete the comeback and open the season with a win on the road, but then the SaberCats had a 79 yard punt return touchdown and that was that.
On a bright note Ed Barker had a great game leading all players in receptions and yardage. Five of his six receptions were for first downs. On the drive that he scored the touchdown on he also had two huge third down receptions to keep the drive alive. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the season goes for Barker as our top receiving option this season.
:football: :football: Week 2 Offensive Game Ball :football: :football:
@TomHanks#6824 - Forrest Gump - 64 rush yards, 1 TD, 4 Rec, 68 Rec Yards, 1 TD
Old man Gump came out with a vengeance in week 2 against Copperheads to earn his first game ball of the season. It was an excellent game all around as we scored 45 points against Austin at home. An astonishing 24 points were scored in the 2nd quarter. That has to be at or near the record for points scored in one quarter. After a McCormick touchdown in the first quarter Prohaska hit his lone field goal of the day right at the start of the 2nd quarter. Toriki followed that with a 3 yard rushing touchdown and then after a Crisco field goal Blaylock had a 105 yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Just two and a half minutes later Toriki scored again on a 3 yard touchdown and we went to the locker room with a demanding 31 to 13 lead. The second half was all Gump as he scored in both the 3rd and 4th quarters to stretch the lead out even more. Gump led the team in rushing yards and had the second most receptions and receiving yards. A total of 132 yards from scrimmage is a very impressive game from the old man. Let’s hope he keeps it up all season long!
:football: :football: Week 3 Offensive Game Ball :football: :football:
@Bex#0592 - Marcella Toriki - 54 rush yards, 1 TD, 3 rec, 30 rec yards
Another game, another win for the Second Line. This time on the road against the division rival Arizona Outlaws. We barely squeaked this road win out, but barely winning is the same as a blowout in football. There are multiple players that I felt could’ve been considered for the game ball for their performance this week. Wolfcastle had a great game with 7 receptions, which was tops for the team. Barker had another good game with 99 receiving yards on almost 20 yards per catch. McCormick also had a good game catching a 32 yard pass midway through the third quarter that put us in the driver seat heading into the fourth quarter. Prohaska was a perfect 2 for 2 on field goals and kicked the go ahead field goal with 6:42 left in the game, but this game ball is going to the one and only Marcella Toriki for her performance both in the rushing and receiving game. One of the most crucial plays of the game from Toriki came on a 6 yard rush in the third quarter. It was 3 and 4 at the Arizona 38. If we failed to convert we would either have to settle for a long field goal attempt or punt it away or risk going for it, but we didn’t have to risk anything as Marcella took the ball on a handoff and gained 6 yards to comfortably get a first down. The next play Stan found McCormick on a 32 yard receiving touchdown. Without this great run from Toriki the scoring play would’ve never happened.
:football: :football: Week 4 Offensive Game Ball :football: :football:
@Wombat#9068 - Ed Barker - 6 Rec, 77 Yards, 2 TDs
Wow, this one was a nail biter. A last second 55 yard field goal from Herbert Prohaska put us ahead of the Hahalua 24 to 21. Half of those 24 points were scored by our game ball recipient Ed Barker who scored twice in a fantastic performance to get his second game ball of the season. He opened up the scoring with a 5 yard touchdown reception from Stan in the first quarter and then at the end of the second quarter he scored again on a 19 yard reception that put us up 21 to 7 at the half. Early in the half Toriki scored on a 5 yard rushing touchdown that was the only other score in the game. Toriki had a nice game with 110 rushing yards and so did Gump with 152 combined yards from scrimmage. Barker continues to be the top target for Stan Francisco this season and is currently fifth in the league in receiving yards at this point in the season. We have one of our toughest tests of the season next week on the road against the Otters before we take a break from the grueling ASFC to take on the weak NSFC.
:football: :football: Week 5 Offensive Game Ball :football: :football:
@Bex#0592 - Marcella Toriki - 60 rush yards, 3 rec, 18 rec yards, 1 TD
What a great start to this game. Gump takes the kickoff 88 yards all the way to the Otters 11 yard line. It’s 3rd and 10 after two rushes from Toriki go no where, but Stan finds Marcella for an 11 yard touchdown and we are up 7 to 0 with barely over a minute off the clock. After that I blacked out, so I have no idea what happened in the rest of the game, but I am sure we did great. Anyway, onto our 6 game stretch against the ASFC!
:football: :football: Week 6 Offensive Game Ball :football: :football:
@Bex#0592 - Marcella Toriki - 112 rush yards, 4 rec, 47 rec yards, 1 TD
We gave a valiant effort on the road in Philthydelphia, but it wasn’t quite enough to take the W. We never fully recovered from giving up two early touchdowns and ended up losing in a close one 24 to 21. Toriki earns herself another game ball for her excellent performance in this game. Her 112 rushing yards was the high mark for the game, and she also added a team high 4 receptions including a 32 yard touchdown reception at the end of the first quarter. Ed Barker added another receiving touchdown and Forrest Gump added the final touchdown on an 8 yard rush. Gump also added over 100 yards from scrimmage in this game. It’s always tough losing a close game, but losing on the road is never a thing to be upset about as even Chicago wins at home sometimes.
:football: :football: Week 7 Offensive Game Ball :football: :football:
@Wombat#9068 - Ed Barker - 3 Rec, 65 Yards, 2 TDs
Another Ed Barker game ball in a game where he added not one but 2 touchdowns to his growing stat line for this season. This was a big win at home as we hosted the defending champion Colorado Yeti. Barker opened up the scoring with a 16 yard pass from Stan in the first quarter. He added another touchdown at the beginning of the 3rd quarter with a 26 yard reception. Herbert Prohaska added the rest of our points in the game with four field goals and two extra points. He was perfect on the day, which was huge as we barely held on for the 2 point lead. Toriki and Gump continue to impress as both combined for over 100 yards from scrimmage. McCormick led the game in receptions with 6 total. Overall a great game in a very important win for us.
:football: :football: Week 7 Defensive Game Ball :football: :football:
@terriblehippo#4928 - Quenton Bode - 9 tackes, 1 FR, 1 PD, 1 INT
The old bear is back with another game ball for his trophy room. He had an excellent game with a fumble recovery and an interception in the big win against Colorado. Being a part of 2 of the 3 turnovers was a huge deal for this win. The interception that Bode grabbed in the first quarter was directly followed by a touchdown. An Andrew Witten forced fumble that was recovered by Bode kept the Yeti from scoring on a drive where they were in our territory. The other turnover was a forced fumble and fumble recovery combination from Ben Tu’inukuafe in the third quarter in the red zone that kept a sure fire score from happening for the Yeti. A great day for the defense in a tough matchup where we came out with a big win!
:football: :football: Week 8 Offensive Game Ball :football: :football:
@TomHanks#6824 - Forrest Gump - 94 rush yards, 3 Rec, 72 Rec Yards, 1 TD
Forrest Gump continues to impress as he had another great game this time on the road in Yellowknife in a huge win against the Wraiths in overtime. Gump put up an impressive 166 yards from scrimmage and scored the game winning touchdown in overtime in this huge win. Toriki and McCormick also added touchdowns and Toriki joined Gump in the over 100 yard from scrimmage category. Stan had an excellent game with 235 yards and 2 touchdowns for a 113.4 rating. I almost gave the game ball to Stan, but Gump having over 150 yards from scrimmage was just too much to ignore. Wolfcastle also had a great game with 4 receptions and 43 receiving yards. Stan was able to distribute the ball all over the field in this one. A huge win on the road has put us right in the thick of the playoff race this season.
:football: :football: Week 9 Offensive Game Ball :football: :football:
@Steven O’Sullivan#5500 - Herbert Prohaska - 4/4 FGs, 1/2 XP
Prohaska kicked us to a nice win at home against Baltimore. Sandwiched between a Toriki rushing touchdown and a Gump receiving touchdown were four Prohaska field goals that gave us a nice lead heading into the fourth quarter. Gump again had over 100 yards from scrimmage as well as the score in the fourth that put the game out of reach. Toriki opened up the scoring for the Second Line with a five yard rush near the end of the first quarter. Three of Prohaska’s field goals were at least 40 yards long. He was clutch on drives where we couldn’t quite find a way to score.
:football: :football: Week 10 Offensive Game Ball :football: :football:
@Nokazoa#7820 - Austin McCormick - 8 Rec, 49 yards, 1 TD
Austin McCormick got tired of just being mentioned in the game ball posts and wanted one of his own so he went out and caught the ball 8 times in one game including one of only 2 offensive touchdowns scored in this one. It was a tied game at the half and McCormick went to Stan in the locker room and told him that the Sailfish can’t guard him and to get him the ball, so Stan did just that and on the first drive of the third quarter Stan found McCormick for a fourteen yard touchdown. Toriki added the other offensive touchdown on a 7 yard rush in the first quarter. If you are keeping track at home this is now our fourth win in a row as we are now 4-1 against the NSFC with a game at Chicago tonight to end the out of conference play. We are tied with the Otters at 7-3 for first in the ASFC. That week 16 matchup in New Orleans might determine home field advantage. With 6 games remaining there is still a lot of season left and we have to keep up the hard work so we can make a run in the playoffs.
:football: :football: Week 11 Offensive Game Ball :football: :football:
*Coach walks into the locker room after the game for his typical game ball speech* “Nope, can’t do it. Do better.”
:football: :football: Week 12 Offensive Game Ball :football: :football:
@juosu#0130 - Stan Francisco - 262 passing yards, 1 TD, 123.7 QB rating
What a great bounce back performance after what was a dreadful showing in Chicago in Week 11. This was a big win against the SaberCats who we lost to at the beginning of the season on the road, but at home it’s been a different story all season as we are undefeated in New Orleans. The first half of this game was rough and it looked like San Jose was going to get the sweep on us, but near the end of the first half Stan found Gump for a 9 yard receiving touchdown to make it a 10-14 game at the half. After receiving the ball at the start of the 3rd quarter we went on a long drive. In the middle of the drive with a 3rd and 16 Stan found Forrest and he was able to juke and elude tackles and gained 24 yards to keep the drive alive. We got down to the goalline and sure enough Forrest punched it in for his second touchdown on the day and our first lead. After a field goal tied it up we went on an impressive drive where Stan completed four passes in a row and then Toriki ran it in from the 6 to give us the decisive lead. McCormick and Barker both had excellent receiving games with 65 yards a piece. Stan has been able to rely on them all season long. With just four games remaining on the season they all are important, so let’s bring our A game next week at Austin!
:football: :football: Week 13 Offensive Game Ball :football: :football:
*Coach opens the door from his office and tosses in a flattened ball. It lands in the middle of the locker room floor and when the players go and look at it in big black marker written on the ball are 3 simple words* “Do your job”
:football: :football: Week 14 Offensive Game Ball :football: :football:
@TomHanks#6824 - Forrest Gump - 41 rush yards, 8 Rec, 82 Rec Yards, 2 TDs
A wild win for the Second Line in a game we didn’t lead until Prohaska kicked the winning field goal in overtime! One of the craziest games I’ve ever seen in the league. Forrest Gump gets the game ball here for again having a multiple touchdown game with over 100 yards from scrimmage. He’s done it so many times this season we should just call him Christian McCaffrey. The first half was all Outlaws as they scored 23 straight points after our first two field goals to make it 23 to 6 at the half. Gump scored our first touchdown after the half on a 31 yard pass from Stan. Later in the third quarter Toriki scored on a one yard rush to make it a 3 points game, but then the Outlaws scored right at the end of the quarter on an almost 50 yard play to make it a 10 point deficit heading into the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter started out great with Tight End of the Year Austin McCormick scoring on a 12 yard pass. Unfortunately, with just 4:50 to go Saba Donut caught a 27 yard pass to make it a 10 point game again. We were able to quickly drive down the field thanks to a nice return from Blaylock and a few nice long passes from Stan. We had 1st and goal from the 6 yard line with around 2 minutes remaining. After the first two passes fell incomplete Stan found Gump for the touchdown with 1:14 on the clock. Amazingly Blaylock was able to force a fumble on 3rd and 2 that Bode recovered. Prohaska was able to hit the game tying 48 yard field goal to send the game to overtime. In overtime we won the coin toss and Gump took the kickoff 41 yards to put us in excellent position. On 3rd and 1 Stan found Barker for a nice 26 yard gain that put us in field goal range where Prohaska kicked the game winning field goal! It was one of the craziest endings to a game I’ve ever seen. Let’s keep it up this week against the Hahalua!
:football: :football: Week 15 Offensive Game Ball :football: :football:
@Nokazoa#7820 - Austin McCormick - 4 Rec, 37 yards, 1 TD
Welp, it didn’t quite go the way we hoped it would, but considering how much of a struggle we’ve had on the road all season this outcome isn’t surprising. Austin McCormick gets the game ball in this one for being the only Second Line player to find the end zone. Finding the end zone is one of the two major reasons we weren’t able to come away with a victory in this one. On three different drives we got the ball inside the Honolulu 30 yard line and had to settle for a field goal. Those are drives that need to end in touchdowns more often than not for us to win these types of games. The other major issue was that Stan decided to be very generous and throw three interceptions in this one. Despite the turnover differential we were still in the game, but just couldn’t find the end zone other than late in the game when Stan found McCormick for a 5 yard touchdown. Toriki also had a nice game with over 100 yards from scrimmage and Barker led the team in receiving yards. With just one game left in the regular season we have a big game against the Otters to finish it out. Let’s go and finish the regular season undefeated at home!
:football: :football: Week 16 Offensive Game Ball :football: :football:
@juosu#0130 - Stan Francisco - 233 passing yards, 2 TDs, 106.6 Rating
In his final regular season game for the New Orleans Second Line Stan Francisco did everything in his power to win us this game and therefore he gets the game ball. He completed multiple passes to six different players including a touchdown pass to both star tight end Austin McCormick and rookie receiver Ben Alexander. Stan finishes his career as one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play for the Second Line. Finishing second only behind Borkus Maximus III in passing yards and passing touchdowns should tell you all you need to know, but not only did Stan finish 2nd in both of those stats he also led the Second Line to its first Ultimus championship in 10 seasons and is the only other quarterback besides Maximus to bring an Ultimus to New Orleans. We’ve had many successful seasons these past few years with Stan under the helm, and we wouldn’t have been successful without him. I just want to take this chance to thank @juosu#0130 for the hard work that was put in to keep this team going over the years with Stan at the helm. Can’t wait to write a game ball article for your Medicinal Toblerone someday!
:football: :football: Wildcard Offensive Game Ball :football: :football:
@TomHanks#6824 - Forrest Gump - 69 rush yards, 5 Rec, 73 Rec Yards
Forrest Gumps ends an incredible season with yet another game with over 100 yards from scrimmage. While he is ineligible for awards due to positional rules he should be a sure fire pro bowler as he ended the regular season with the second most yards from scrimmage in the league. Wait, you’re telling me Gump didn’t make the pro bowl? Are you kidding me? Clearly they didn’t realize that Gump had 730 receiving yards and 6 receiving touchdowns to go along with 931 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns.
While the season didn’t end the way we hoped it would, this was still a great year for the Second Line and I can’t wait to see what we do next year. Onward to S24 and the start of the Ben Slothlisberger era!