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+---- Thread: *Seawolves rise to the surface, Royals Implode like Titan Submersible in 34-16contest (/showthread.php?tid=46135)
*Seawolves rise to the surface, Royals Implode like Titan Submersible in 34-16contest - goblin jr. - 06-28-2023
The Norfolk Radar
Sports Column
Sports Column
The London Royals came down to Norfolk last night to face off against our Seawolves. Both teams 3-1 on the season heading into the game, with both teams’ losses coming against the Luchadores. With a NOR win, the Seawolves would tie the Luchadores record, and while not holding the tie breaker, this would put them in striking distance to a division lead. On the other hand with a Royals win, they’d stand alone in first place over the North Division. Even thought it’s only week 5, both teams have a lot to gain, and even more to lose in this matchup. So what happened? Who rose like a ballast and whose aspirations got torpedoed? Let’s get into the recap.
Captain’s Log:
Q1:
The Royals kicked off to start the game, and The Seawolves started at their own 25 with a touchback. After a couple rushes, NOR was staring at 3rd and inches. They may have only needed inches, but a Boudreaux pass to Stetson David gave them much more than that, David took the first pass of the game 60 yards to the house for 6! Sadly Zoot missed the PAT, but scoring on their third play from scrimmage bodes well for Norfolk here, provided they can keep the pressure on.
London similarly starts their first drive of the game with a touchback, but unfortunately for the Royals, that’s where the similarities between the first two drives ends. London only manages to make it to their own 41 before a completion to WR LeAnthony LeDavis is punched out by star NOR CB, Sticky Hands! Hands falls on the fumble, and after only 2:03 The Royals find themselves sending their defensive unit back on the field.
Sadly NOR was unable to capitalize on this turnover, and after a single first down, they end up having to punt it right back to LON on 4th and 6 from the London 33.
The Royal’s second drive goes much better than their first, with a huge 40 Yard rush by LON RB Bachman helping them get into the NOR red zone with 2:56 to go. Fortunately for Norfolk fans everywhere, The Seawolves defense stepped up again, torpedoing LON’s drive and forcing them to settle for a field goal on the 9 yard line.
The Seawolves offense gets the ball a third time with 1:42 remaining in the quarter, with aspirations to extend the lead to 2 scores. They achieve this goal quickly, turning a 3rd and 3 on their own 38 into another score. Fans at the game thought they were having deja vu, because it was David with another 60+ yard touchdown pass! This time the PAT was good, and after only ~5 minutes of possession time, Norfolk finds themselves with a 13-3 lead as the quarter winds down.
Q2:
LON got the ball back with 16 seconds left in Q1, and a last second OPI call saw them start off the second quarter on 2nd down and 12 on their own 7. They aren’t able to make any progress besides a 5 yard rush on 3rd down, and they are forced to punt the ball away from their 13 yard line.
This, plus a quick Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty, has Norfolk starting their drive on the 43 yard line in London territory. A pair of rushes and a short pass are enough to set up the Seawolves offense with a new set of downs on the London 6. After an incompletion to both Lavonte Jr and Tyler Hunt, Boudreaux targets Hunt again. This time, they connect, and Tyler Hunt puts his first points on the board!
London starts their drive in a 17 point hole down 20-3. They manage to complete one 3rd and 4 possession, but are unable to do it a second time, punting on 4th and 3 with 6:33 in the half.
Unfortunately for the Norfolk faithful, an 11 yard sack on 2 and 10, and a failure to convert the subsequent 21 yard 3rd down, results in The Seawolves having to give the ball right back to London, with 4:24 still left to play.
Fortunately for The Seawolves, London has to give the ball back again, after Fredrico Americano answers back with a 6 yard sack of their own, on a crucial Royals 3rd and 1!
From their own 12 yard line, The Seawolves start their drive by giving two carries to their new addition at RB, Oskar Clark. The first only goes for a years, but Clark takes off on the second attempt, going for 34 yards! 9 yards in the air to Hunt, 8 more on the ground from McCollum, and an unnecessary roughness call on London is enough to put the Seawolves in the red zone, and they continue to pound the rock. A carry each by McCollum and Clark give the Seawolves a new set of downs on the 1 yard line. Another carry by Clark goes nowhere, but he’s able to find paydirt on the next play, scoring his first DSFL touchdown with 1:08 left in the half, putting Norfolk up 27-3!
Getting it back on their own 23 with just over a minute to go set up a tall task for London, but a 48 yard pass to Nightingale is enough to get them in field goal range, and the half ends with London down 27-6.
Q3:
London gets another chance to score in short order, starting the second half with possession of the football. Down 21, this is a critical drive for London. There’s still plenty of football left, but if they want to get back in this ballgame they need to keep their momentum going and stem the bleeding now. They start off hot, converting 4 first downs all the way to The Seawolves 13, and looking poised to score. Two rushes net London only 5 yards, and on 3rd down and 6 they elect to pass. This proves to be a fatal error however, as the pass is INTERCEPTED on the goal line by Bell Pepper, who takes it back 60 yards and into London’s side of the field. With one play, London’s morale completely deflates as they ponder the looming possibility of going down four possessions.
And that’s exactly what our Seawolves intend to make happen. After 6 plays they march from the 39 yard line to the 7, and on 2nd and goal the Bordeaux-David connection shines again, as the duo connects for their 3rd touchdown of the game! What an efficient outing so far for David folks, as he’s turned his 4 receptions into 151 yards and 3 TDs. The PAT is good and the Seawolves find themselves up 34-6 with only 17:46 of game time left.
With under 20 to play and down 28 points, London needs a miracle. Their prayers are answered when a pass on 2nd and 10 takes them from their own 17, all the way deep into Norfolk territory on the 8 yard line. A quick pass to the RB Bachman and the Royals score their first touchdown of the game with 1:37 to go in the third, score is 34-13. It might be too little, too late, however, as the Royals still find themselves three possessions down with only just over a quarter to go.
Q4:
The Seawolves find themselves with possession with 1:19 in the third. They convert a set of downs and enter Q4 at 2nd and 5 on their own 32. Unfortunately the crooked referees throw a flag on a ticky-tack “holding” penalty that slows the Norfolk drive to a halt. One play later the Seawolves find themselves punting only 1:20 into the final Quarter.
The Royals manage to string together another long drive starting on their own 30, but again, they’re unable to turn this momentum into 6, as they have to settle for another field goal, making the score 34-16. Norfolks second half offensive woes continue on their next possession, after a few promising plays they can’t get past their side of their field, and they punt from their 41.
At this point there are only 4:13 to play, and The Royals are still in an 18 point hole. This game might’ve been over a quarter ago, and at this point the two teams are just dragging out the inevitable. The Royals go 4 and out and turn the ball over to Norfolk on their own 17 yard line.
Despite the field position, Norfolk struggles to make progress. An 11 yard Oskar Clark run is wiped out by an Oskar Clark taunting penalty, and all of a sudden Norfolk goes from fresh downs at the 17 to staring down the barrel of 4th and goal from the 16. They elect to kick a field goal, but Zoot barely misses a 33 yarder.
2:05 left and the ball changes possessions a few more times, but this game is over. London’s last play was a 20 yard completion on 4th down, but it’s the same story as the rest of the game, too little, too late. Norfolk leaves the 34-16 victory moving to 4-1 on the season, as the Royals fall to 3-2.
On the Radar Player of the Week:
Stetson David set the tone early on with his near immediate 65 yard score. In football, gaining a mental edge on one’s opponent is of upmost importance, so the significance of Stetson establishing a lead in this manner, this early on, cannot be understated. He followed it up with another 60+ yard score to show the first one wasn’t a fluke, and topped it off with a third and final TD for good measure. David was surgical with his possessions, making every one count, and finishing with a staggering 37.8 yards/reception. A score-at-will threat like Stetson David is what turns good offenses into great ones, and Norfolk certainly showed their offense was - great one last night. A final line of 4/153/3 should make player of the week 52 times a year, and this week is no exception. When asked about his elite performance, Stetson had this to say,
“It was great to get the win and keep pace in our division, that’s the main thing. Personally I felt different when I got up in the morning and had some good vibes all day. To be able to go out and have the performance I did was really special. I just felt like I knew where the D was going to try to stop me before every play coming my way and my confidence grew after every big play. Truly an amazing game and one I won’t soon forget.”
Truly a remarkable performance from The Norfolk WR, who now leads the league in TD receptions, and is second in yardage by a single yard.
Fast Attack Play of the Week:
While there are plenty offensive plays that are candidates for play of the week here, our play of the week for this week is on the defensive side of the ball, Bell Pepper’s clutch goal line interception in the third quarter! When we talk about the mental side of football, this is a perfect example. The Royals were marching down the field, building momentum, looking to spark a comeback. Pepper’s pick dashed those hopes and instead told them “This is our game and you aren’t scoring!” A true backbreaker for the Royals Morale, swinging their building momentum back to Norfolk’s favor. When asked what he feels in the moment during plays like this, Pepper had this to say.
“Seeing the ball floating through the air, time stands still and the only thing I can think of are the seagulls yelling MINE from Finding Nemo. The rest is just a blur but I guess it turned out pretty well”
Momentum shifting plays are so important for winning football, and as long as Bell Pepper’s on the roster, we can look forward to many, many more.
Through the Periscope:
The Seawolves were able to show out week 5 and prove that they deserve to be in the early playoff favorites discussion, but they need to keep this momentum going. Their week six matchup against the Minnesota Grey Ducks should be another good test for this Norfolk squad, as right now the Ducks have the highest scoring offense in the DSFL, 141 total points scored. Will the Seawolves defense be able to contain this threat? Will their offense continue to roll with the new addition at RB complimenting their tried and true receiving core? Will they make field goals? Don’t fly under the radar, read it next week. Til then.
RE: Seawolves rise to the surface, Royals Implode like Titan Submersible in 34-16 contest - ZootTX - 06-28-2023
The cream rises to the top
RE: Seawolves rise to the surface, Royals Implode like Titan Submersible in 34-16 contest - Hydrium - 06-28-2023
I nominate Goblin for HO.
RE: Seawolves rise to the surface, Royals Implode like Titan Submersible in 34-16 contest - lemonoppy - 06-29-2023
Gobbo jr with another quality post, undefeated
RE: Seawolves rise to the surface, Royals Implode like Titan Submersible in 34-16 contest - Alikh - 06-29-2023
Good media, bad game result
