Arizona Outlaws vs Orange County Otters

To be completely truthful, the two games before the Ultimus Cup were not THAT amazing. They lacked big play fire power, but that's not to say they weren't fun to watch. The Outlaws game against the Otters, in which they won by the score of 17-13 was a standoff affair which had many fans glued to the television set.

The 12-2 Arizona Outlaws came into the game against the 8-6 Orange County Otters expecting to win big, a sentiment shared by many analysts around the league as well. They beat many teams handedly throughout the course of the season, so why should this game be any different? Well it was.

Alright, lets get to it.

Not many would expect the team in the orange jerseys to strike first, but they did. It only took them four minutes, but they crawled down the field where they eventually stalled out. But it was late season waiver addition Al Sims who had no trouble putting the 37 yard field goal through the uprights, giving the Otters an early three point lead.

Five minutes later though, King Bronko had one of his better drives in the game, as he would throw three interceptions over the course of it. But not here. He eventually got the Outlaws offense to knock on the door in the red zone and they had the ball at the two yard line at one point. Then, Jaxon Tuck took a halfback pitch and squeezed through an opening in the line created by Tim Pest, for the score. The Outlaws then led 7-3.

The second quarter didn't see all that much action, as each team put up three points in it. Christiano Ronaldo and Al Sims each struck from 42 yards to keep the score differential even. Bronko wasn't able to move the Outlaws too far in this quarter, as he threw a key pick which led to the field goal.

After halftime, the teams still looked a little sluggish. Maybe it was just the defensive prowess that was keeping these offenses in chains, but eleven minutes in, the Outlaws finally woke up. Bronko kept the ball out of the defenders' hands this time, as he connected with rookie receiver C.A. Chess for a 12 yard touchdown pass, which put the Outlaws up 17-6. At that point, it looked like the advantage was for the Arizona squad, but that wouldn't prevent the Otters from trying their best to strike back.

Orange County quarterback Mike Boss, who was the subject of much controversy in Season 1 had a much better and much quieter Season 2 campaign, but his new found success did not translate to this game. However, he did have a flash of brilliance late in the third quarter when he connected with Bradley Westfield for a 38 yard TD, part of the star receiver's 100+ yard day. But it wasn't enough, as both offenses would remain stagnant in the following fourth quarter.

The Outlaws would prevail 17-13 in a game that while quiet, had its fair share of exciting moments. Throw in the fact that the Outlaws were supposed to win by a lot more, this one left me saying "What a Game!"