Surely we all saw this one coming! Six teams play in the American Simulation Football Conference (I actually can't find what ASFC/NSFC stand for anywhere on the website, so I sure hope that's correct) and after twelve weeks of play, five of those teams are sporting the same 7-5 record. In this thrilling piece of media, I'm going to be taking a look at each of those five teams with the end goal of predicting how this division will look come playoff time. I will be kicking off this analysis by talking about the ISFL team whose name is, without a doubt, the most fun to say out loud. As of right now, this team is sitting pretty at the top of the conference; give it up for everyone's favorite ASFC fish team, the Honolulu Hahalua!
Who are they?
The Honolulu Hahalua offense is statistically interesting to me: they've scored the second most points in the conference, good for 22.8 points per game, and yet they rank dead last in offensive yards, in both their conference and the league. My first thought was "maybe their defense scores a lot" but the Hahalua defense has scored once this season. The discrepancy between their points per game and yards per game can be at partially explained by their league leading 13 interceptions, which often have the Hahalua starting drives on a shorter field. The Hahalua have the conference's best rushing attack, averaging 141.3 yards per game, while also passing the ball less than any other ISFL team. The Hahalua rank last in pass attempts by a considerable margin, while ranking second in the league in rushing attempts. On the defensive side of the ball, the Hahalua are ranked last in points per game (24.1) and third in yards per game (359.8) among the other ASFC teams.
How did they get here?
Honolulu's record has been something of a pattern for most of this season. They started the season off 1-1. Two weeks later, they were 2-2. Another two weeks and they're 3-3. Four more weeks go by, and they're 5-5 after a tough loss at home to the Chicago Butchers. The next week, again playing at home in Honolulu, the Hahalua kept the pattern going with a convincing win against the Sarasota Sailfish, who boast one of the ISFL's strongest defenses, and an offense with just as much talent. One week later, the unthinkable happens and the pattern is broken! In week 12, the Hahalua stood tall against the Arizona Outlaws, who had been on a five game win streak, defeating them 34-20 at home and laughing in the face of whatever witchcraft had tried to destine them to an 8-8 season.
Where do they go from here?
Looking ahead, the Hahalua play against the Second Line in New Orleans before coming home to face the SaberCats in week 14. After that, Honolulu will close out the regular season with away games against the Otters and Copperheads. I think the Hahalua go 3-1 over these next four weeks (with the loss coming against the Otters) to end the season at 10-6.
I should change these bold sub headers to "Where did they come from?" "Where did they go?" Would our non-American friends in the league understand/appreciate a Cotton-Eyed Joe reference? Please drop your answer in the comments below.
Who are they?
I should be up front and tell you, I've got a lot to like about these adorable lil' guys because my favorite color is orange and I find their logo to be just spectacular. Now that that's out of the way: the defense of the Orange County Otters is almost as spectacular as their logo is! Their defensive unit is only allowing a league best 15.2 points per game, while allowing (also a league best) just 308.2 yards per game. The Otters pass defense is also statistically the best in the, allowing only 190 passing yards per game, while their rush defense has allowed 118.2 yards per game, good for third in the league. The Offensive Otters are no slackers either, sitting at 6th in the league in points per game (22.1) and 4th in the league in yards per game (378.2).
How did they get here?
Led by geriatric veteran quarterback and future Hall of Famer Franklin Armstrong, the Otters have won their last three games after a rocky start to the season in which they lost their opening three games, including a crushing one point loss to the Austin Copperheads in week 3. Week 4 was something of a statement victory for the Otters, going into Honolulu and winning by 23 points. The Otters followed that game up with a 20 point victory against the Outlaws before losing a hard-fought defensive battle against the Colorado Yeti 7-3 in week 6. Weeks 7 and 8 saw the Otters win against the Chicago Butchers and Philadelphia Liberty, both teams that have struggled this season. In one of the most thrilling regular season games of the year, Orange County nearly upset the Sailfish in Florida, but the Sailfish made a triumphant fourth quarter comeback to win the game 23-22. Over the next three weeks, the Otters would win home games against the Baltimore Hawks, the Yellowknife Wraiths, and the New Orleans Second Line by a combined margin of 72-36.
Where do they go from here?
Orange County has four games left to play, and none of them are gimmies by any stretch. The Otters will play home games against the San Jose Sabercats and Honolulu Hahalua, and away games against the Austin Copperheads and the Arizona Outlaws. I think Orange County also closes the season out at 2-2, with their losses coming to them from the Sabercats and the Copperheads. By these predictions, OCO finishes 9-7.
Who are they?
By this point in the article, I'm pretty committed to making the first sentence of this section consistently irrelevant to the task at hand, so I'm gonna use this sentence to tell you about how much I love NOLA's branding; I majored in music in college, and I tell ya, I've never felt such representation in football. New Orleans boasts the conference's worst offense in terms of points per game (19.2) and second worst in terms of yards per game (344.1), while their defense is ranked third in the conference in points per game (18.9) and fourth in yards (369). New Orleans possesses the conference's second most productive rushing attack, however, which is led by running backs Gump and Toriki and anchored by star offensive linemen Rubbe and Ofyourlove. New Orleans' defense has been fairly stout this season, ranking third in the conference in points per game and fourth in yards per game.
How did they get here?
The Second Line came out of the gate hot, winning their first three games against the Otters, the Hahalua, and the Outlaws. The momentum of the Second Line came to a screeching halt in week 4 after a 31-7 loss to the Copperheads in Austin, and further stalled after a close loss to the San Jose Sabercats at home. The Second Line rebounded, winning a home game against the Butchers before traveling to Sarasota and Baltimore to hand losses to the Sailfish and Hawks. Week 9 saw New Orleans lose a tough game at home 33-7 against the Yellowknife Wraiths, followed by another close loss in week 10 to the Colorado Yeti 26-20. Over the last two weeks, the Second Line beat the Philadelphia Liberty 20-17 in a close home affair and lost to the Orange County Otters 19-13.
Where do they go from here?
New Orleans has lost three of its last four games, with the only win coming at home against the Liberty, who have struggled to find an identity all season. New Orleans will need to bounce back from these losses if they hope to win the division. I think New Orleans goes 2-2 over this stretch, with losses against the Hahalua and the Sabercats.
Who are they?
Gonna level with you chief, the only thing I know about this team is Jamar Lackson plays for them, and I think one of the cheese QBs, but I don't remember which one and I feel like looking at the roster to confirm would violate the spirit of the opening sentence of this section. The Sabercats currently field one of the ISFL's top defenses, ranking third in the league in points allowed per game with 18.6, second in the league in yards allowed per game with 323.1, and ranking second in the league in both rushing yards and passing yards allowed per game. The offense, meanwhile, ranks eighth in the league in points scored per game (22.0) and fifth in the league in yards gained per game (368.3). The Sabercats defense has struggled to turn the ball over this season, forcing a total of 12 turnovers this season which is tied for second least in the league.
How did they get here?
Close games have been the story of the Sabercats season. Seven of their first eight games were decided by one score or less, and the Sabercats have been on both sides of the one score games. In week 1, the Sabercats won a close game in Austin against the Copperheads 27-20 before coming home to beat Orange County 24-14. Their next two games would be close losses; the first came at home against Honolulu 40-37 thanks in part to an absolutely incredible game played by Hahalua kicker/punter Venus Powers, and the second was a 27-20 loss in Arizona against the outlaws. In weeks 5 and 6, the Sabercats travelled to New Orleans and Philadelphia, beating both the Second Line and the Liberty by a single field goal. The next two weeks saw the Sabercats regress slightly with losses against the Chicago Butchers 10-3 and Sarasota Sailfish 20-17, but San Jose bounced back in weeks 9 and 10 with big wins; first the big-teethed cats beat Baltimore at home 33-16, and then they traveled to the frozen tundras of Yellowknife to make a statement win against the Wraiths 28-3. Over the last two weeks, we have seen the Sabercats stay competitive against the league's top team, the Colorado Yeti, before falling in a 15-10 defeat. The Sabercats won a close one in week 12 against the Austin Copperheads 28-27, and now face a tough four game stretch against each of the other 7-5 ASFC teams.
Where do they go from here?
I think we see San Jose go 3-1 to close out the final quarter of the season with a win against the Otters, a loss to the Hahalua, and wins against Arizona and New Orleans to close out the season, which would bring their regular season record to 10-6.
Who are they?
I thought the red at the bottom of the Outlaw insignia (which you can see above ~25 times) was a big red nose for longer than I'd like to admit. Also, where are the outlaw's pupils!? In my opinion, the Arizona Outlaws are the hardest team to get a read on. I might even go so far as to say they are the most consistently inconsistent team in the ISFL this season. They boast the conference's fifth ranked defense in terms of both points allowed per game (23.4) and yards allowed per game (374.4). Their rush defense is ranked third in the conference, allowing 131 yards per game, while their secondary is ranked fifth, allowing 243.4 yards per game. Offensively, the Outlaws rank fourth in the conference in both points per game (22.20) and yards per game (355.5), while fielding the ISFL's worst rushing attack (95.4 yards per game) but the best passing attack in the league (260.1 yards per game.) The Outlaw's lack of rushing production is not necessarily due to incompetence, but rather a lack of rushing attempts (least in the league) and an abundance of passing attempts (most in the league). Indeed, the Outlaw offense seems to be some a sort of inverse of the Hahalua offense.
How did they get here?
The outlaws started their season at 2-2 with losses against the Honolulu Hahalua and the New Orleans Second Line, and wins against the Austin Copperheads and San Jose Sabercats. The Outlaws went on to lose their next two games against the Orange County Otters and the Yellowknife Wraiths by a combined margin of 68-13. Sitting at 2-4 and perhaps feeling their season slipping away, the Outlaws went on to win their next five games in a row, starting with a huge statement victory 42-9 against the Colorado Yeti, handing them one of their only two losses this season. The Outlaws went on to win a close one against Philadelphia before hanging 47 points on the Chicago Butchers in week 9. The Outlaws continued their dominant streak by beating the Sailfish 30-24 in week 10, and the Hawks 27-16 in week 11. Last week, the Outlaw win streak was snapped with a 34-20 loss in Honolulu to the Hahalua. Over the next four weeks, Arizona will face the Copperheads and Sabercats in away matchups, and the Second Line and Otters at home.
Where do they go from here?
This is gonna be my most controversial opinion of the article, but I think Arizona loses out. In stunning fashion, the Outlaws lose to the Copperheads by multiple scores before coming back home to play a much closer but equally heartbreaking game against the Second Line. The results of the Sabercats and Otter games aren't any more cheerful for the Outlaws. On the bright side, their logo is looking as cool as ever. Look at that stylish hat!
Who are they?
Another team that features orange in their branding means another winner of a team in my book. When I first joined the ISFL, I was looking through the list of DSFL and ISFL teams and had a thought along the lines of "wow, there are two snake teams? Doesn't that maybe seem like one too many snake team?" Now, we could get rid of the Pythons, which I think could be beneficial to a lot of different people, but that would be getting rid of another orange-loving team, and we need as many of those as we can get, so Portland stays! Sometimes I think of the Copperheads in the historical sense (American civil war era peace democrats) rather than the reptilian sense, and it's pretty amusing if you imagine their mascot as a random ass 19th century dude instead of a snake, but I don't think that's what they intended so I'm going to give them the respect the deserve and imagine them as snakes more often. This has gotten a little ramble-y. Austin fields the conferences top offense in terms of both points per game (23.3) and yards per game (385.7). Meanwhile, the Copperhead defense is ranked fourth in the conference in points allowed per game (21.7) and last in yards allowed per game (387.7)
Where did they come from?
The Copperheads didn't get off to the best start this season, losing their first two games against the Sabercats 27-20 and the Outlaws 20-9. Austin managed to make a very thrilling fourth quarter comeback against the Orange County Otters in week 3 to win the game 26-25, followed by a big win against the New Orleans Second Line 31-7. Austin would lose their next two games by a single score; first in Honolulu by a score of 24-20, and then at home against the Sailfish by a score of 22-16, bringing their record to 2-4. In week 7, Austin won big against the Baltimore Hawks 40-7, and defeated the Wraiths at home 34-20 in week 8. The last four weeks of the season have seen the Copperheads lose some tough games; first they were defeated by the Yeti 32-17, then they lost close games against the Philadelphia Liberty 31-25, the Butchers 17-14, and the Sabercats 28-27.
Where did they go?
I think these next four weeks see Austin go 2-2, with wins against Orange County and Arizona, and losses against New Orleans and Honolulu.
Cotton-Eyed Joe?
Yes.
Final ASFC Standings
1. Honolulu Hahalua (10-6, 7-3 conf)
2. San Jose Sabercats (10-6, 7-3 conf)
3. Orange County Otters (9-7, 5-5 conf)
4. New Orleans Second Line (9-7, 5-5 conf)
5. Arizona Outlaws (7-9, 2-8 conf)
6. Austin Copperheads (6-10, 4-6 conf)
Thanks for reading. <3
(2742 words)
![HON HON](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/HON_thumb.png)
![HON HON](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/HON_thumb.png)
![HON HON](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/HON_thumb.png)
![HON HON](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/HON_thumb.png)
![HON HON](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/HON_thumb.png)
Who are they?
The Honolulu Hahalua offense is statistically interesting to me: they've scored the second most points in the conference, good for 22.8 points per game, and yet they rank dead last in offensive yards, in both their conference and the league. My first thought was "maybe their defense scores a lot" but the Hahalua defense has scored once this season. The discrepancy between their points per game and yards per game can be at partially explained by their league leading 13 interceptions, which often have the Hahalua starting drives on a shorter field. The Hahalua have the conference's best rushing attack, averaging 141.3 yards per game, while also passing the ball less than any other ISFL team. The Hahalua rank last in pass attempts by a considerable margin, while ranking second in the league in rushing attempts. On the defensive side of the ball, the Hahalua are ranked last in points per game (24.1) and third in yards per game (359.8) among the other ASFC teams.
How did they get here?
Honolulu's record has been something of a pattern for most of this season. They started the season off 1-1. Two weeks later, they were 2-2. Another two weeks and they're 3-3. Four more weeks go by, and they're 5-5 after a tough loss at home to the Chicago Butchers. The next week, again playing at home in Honolulu, the Hahalua kept the pattern going with a convincing win against the Sarasota Sailfish, who boast one of the ISFL's strongest defenses, and an offense with just as much talent. One week later, the unthinkable happens and the pattern is broken! In week 12, the Hahalua stood tall against the Arizona Outlaws, who had been on a five game win streak, defeating them 34-20 at home and laughing in the face of whatever witchcraft had tried to destine them to an 8-8 season.
Where do they go from here?
Looking ahead, the Hahalua play against the Second Line in New Orleans before coming home to face the SaberCats in week 14. After that, Honolulu will close out the regular season with away games against the Otters and Copperheads. I think the Hahalua go 3-1 over these next four weeks (with the loss coming against the Otters) to end the season at 10-6.
I should change these bold sub headers to "Where did they come from?" "Where did they go?" Would our non-American friends in the league understand/appreciate a Cotton-Eyed Joe reference? Please drop your answer in the comments below.
![OCO OCO](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/OCO_thumb.png)
![OCO OCO](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/OCO_thumb.png)
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![OCO OCO](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/OCO_thumb.png)
Who are they?
I should be up front and tell you, I've got a lot to like about these adorable lil' guys because my favorite color is orange and I find their logo to be just spectacular. Now that that's out of the way: the defense of the Orange County Otters is almost as spectacular as their logo is! Their defensive unit is only allowing a league best 15.2 points per game, while allowing (also a league best) just 308.2 yards per game. The Otters pass defense is also statistically the best in the, allowing only 190 passing yards per game, while their rush defense has allowed 118.2 yards per game, good for third in the league. The Offensive Otters are no slackers either, sitting at 6th in the league in points per game (22.1) and 4th in the league in yards per game (378.2).
How did they get here?
Led by geriatric veteran quarterback and future Hall of Famer Franklin Armstrong, the Otters have won their last three games after a rocky start to the season in which they lost their opening three games, including a crushing one point loss to the Austin Copperheads in week 3. Week 4 was something of a statement victory for the Otters, going into Honolulu and winning by 23 points. The Otters followed that game up with a 20 point victory against the Outlaws before losing a hard-fought defensive battle against the Colorado Yeti 7-3 in week 6. Weeks 7 and 8 saw the Otters win against the Chicago Butchers and Philadelphia Liberty, both teams that have struggled this season. In one of the most thrilling regular season games of the year, Orange County nearly upset the Sailfish in Florida, but the Sailfish made a triumphant fourth quarter comeback to win the game 23-22. Over the next three weeks, the Otters would win home games against the Baltimore Hawks, the Yellowknife Wraiths, and the New Orleans Second Line by a combined margin of 72-36.
Where do they go from here?
Orange County has four games left to play, and none of them are gimmies by any stretch. The Otters will play home games against the San Jose Sabercats and Honolulu Hahalua, and away games against the Austin Copperheads and the Arizona Outlaws. I think Orange County also closes the season out at 2-2, with their losses coming to them from the Sabercats and the Copperheads. By these predictions, OCO finishes 9-7.
![NOLA NOLA](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/NOLA_thumb.png)
![NOLA NOLA](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/NOLA_thumb.png)
![NOLA NOLA](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/NOLA_thumb.png)
![NOLA NOLA](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/NOLA_thumb.png)
![NOLA NOLA](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/NOLA_thumb.png)
Who are they?
By this point in the article, I'm pretty committed to making the first sentence of this section consistently irrelevant to the task at hand, so I'm gonna use this sentence to tell you about how much I love NOLA's branding; I majored in music in college, and I tell ya, I've never felt such representation in football. New Orleans boasts the conference's worst offense in terms of points per game (19.2) and second worst in terms of yards per game (344.1), while their defense is ranked third in the conference in points per game (18.9) and fourth in yards (369). New Orleans possesses the conference's second most productive rushing attack, however, which is led by running backs Gump and Toriki and anchored by star offensive linemen Rubbe and Ofyourlove. New Orleans' defense has been fairly stout this season, ranking third in the conference in points per game and fourth in yards per game.
How did they get here?
The Second Line came out of the gate hot, winning their first three games against the Otters, the Hahalua, and the Outlaws. The momentum of the Second Line came to a screeching halt in week 4 after a 31-7 loss to the Copperheads in Austin, and further stalled after a close loss to the San Jose Sabercats at home. The Second Line rebounded, winning a home game against the Butchers before traveling to Sarasota and Baltimore to hand losses to the Sailfish and Hawks. Week 9 saw New Orleans lose a tough game at home 33-7 against the Yellowknife Wraiths, followed by another close loss in week 10 to the Colorado Yeti 26-20. Over the last two weeks, the Second Line beat the Philadelphia Liberty 20-17 in a close home affair and lost to the Orange County Otters 19-13.
Where do they go from here?
New Orleans has lost three of its last four games, with the only win coming at home against the Liberty, who have struggled to find an identity all season. New Orleans will need to bounce back from these losses if they hope to win the division. I think New Orleans goes 2-2 over this stretch, with losses against the Hahalua and the Sabercats.
![SJS SJS](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/SJS_thumb.png)
![SJS SJS](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/SJS_thumb.png)
![SJS SJS](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/SJS_thumb.png)
![SJS SJS](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/SJS_thumb.png)
![SJS SJS](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/SJS_thumb.png)
Who are they?
Gonna level with you chief, the only thing I know about this team is Jamar Lackson plays for them, and I think one of the cheese QBs, but I don't remember which one and I feel like looking at the roster to confirm would violate the spirit of the opening sentence of this section. The Sabercats currently field one of the ISFL's top defenses, ranking third in the league in points allowed per game with 18.6, second in the league in yards allowed per game with 323.1, and ranking second in the league in both rushing yards and passing yards allowed per game. The offense, meanwhile, ranks eighth in the league in points scored per game (22.0) and fifth in the league in yards gained per game (368.3). The Sabercats defense has struggled to turn the ball over this season, forcing a total of 12 turnovers this season which is tied for second least in the league.
How did they get here?
Close games have been the story of the Sabercats season. Seven of their first eight games were decided by one score or less, and the Sabercats have been on both sides of the one score games. In week 1, the Sabercats won a close game in Austin against the Copperheads 27-20 before coming home to beat Orange County 24-14. Their next two games would be close losses; the first came at home against Honolulu 40-37 thanks in part to an absolutely incredible game played by Hahalua kicker/punter Venus Powers, and the second was a 27-20 loss in Arizona against the outlaws. In weeks 5 and 6, the Sabercats travelled to New Orleans and Philadelphia, beating both the Second Line and the Liberty by a single field goal. The next two weeks saw the Sabercats regress slightly with losses against the Chicago Butchers 10-3 and Sarasota Sailfish 20-17, but San Jose bounced back in weeks 9 and 10 with big wins; first the big-teethed cats beat Baltimore at home 33-16, and then they traveled to the frozen tundras of Yellowknife to make a statement win against the Wraiths 28-3. Over the last two weeks, we have seen the Sabercats stay competitive against the league's top team, the Colorado Yeti, before falling in a 15-10 defeat. The Sabercats won a close one in week 12 against the Austin Copperheads 28-27, and now face a tough four game stretch against each of the other 7-5 ASFC teams.
Where do they go from here?
I think we see San Jose go 3-1 to close out the final quarter of the season with a win against the Otters, a loss to the Hahalua, and wins against Arizona and New Orleans to close out the season, which would bring their regular season record to 10-6.
![ARI ARI](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/ARI_thumb.png)
![ARI ARI](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/ARI_thumb.png)
![ARI ARI](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/ARI_thumb.png)
![ARI ARI](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/ARI_thumb.png)
![ARI ARI](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/ARI_thumb.png)
Who are they?
I thought the red at the bottom of the Outlaw insignia (which you can see above ~25 times) was a big red nose for longer than I'd like to admit. Also, where are the outlaw's pupils!? In my opinion, the Arizona Outlaws are the hardest team to get a read on. I might even go so far as to say they are the most consistently inconsistent team in the ISFL this season. They boast the conference's fifth ranked defense in terms of both points allowed per game (23.4) and yards allowed per game (374.4). Their rush defense is ranked third in the conference, allowing 131 yards per game, while their secondary is ranked fifth, allowing 243.4 yards per game. Offensively, the Outlaws rank fourth in the conference in both points per game (22.20) and yards per game (355.5), while fielding the ISFL's worst rushing attack (95.4 yards per game) but the best passing attack in the league (260.1 yards per game.) The Outlaw's lack of rushing production is not necessarily due to incompetence, but rather a lack of rushing attempts (least in the league) and an abundance of passing attempts (most in the league). Indeed, the Outlaw offense seems to be some a sort of inverse of the Hahalua offense.
How did they get here?
The outlaws started their season at 2-2 with losses against the Honolulu Hahalua and the New Orleans Second Line, and wins against the Austin Copperheads and San Jose Sabercats. The Outlaws went on to lose their next two games against the Orange County Otters and the Yellowknife Wraiths by a combined margin of 68-13. Sitting at 2-4 and perhaps feeling their season slipping away, the Outlaws went on to win their next five games in a row, starting with a huge statement victory 42-9 against the Colorado Yeti, handing them one of their only two losses this season. The Outlaws went on to win a close one against Philadelphia before hanging 47 points on the Chicago Butchers in week 9. The Outlaws continued their dominant streak by beating the Sailfish 30-24 in week 10, and the Hawks 27-16 in week 11. Last week, the Outlaw win streak was snapped with a 34-20 loss in Honolulu to the Hahalua. Over the next four weeks, Arizona will face the Copperheads and Sabercats in away matchups, and the Second Line and Otters at home.
Where do they go from here?
This is gonna be my most controversial opinion of the article, but I think Arizona loses out. In stunning fashion, the Outlaws lose to the Copperheads by multiple scores before coming back home to play a much closer but equally heartbreaking game against the Second Line. The results of the Sabercats and Otter games aren't any more cheerful for the Outlaws. On the bright side, their logo is looking as cool as ever. Look at that stylish hat!
![AUS AUS](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/AUS_thumb.png)
![AUS AUS](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/AUS_thumb.png)
![AUS AUS](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/AUS_thumb.png)
![AUS AUS](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/AUS_thumb.png)
![AUS AUS](https://forums.sim-football.com/images/smilies/isfl/AUS_thumb.png)
Who are they?
Another team that features orange in their branding means another winner of a team in my book. When I first joined the ISFL, I was looking through the list of DSFL and ISFL teams and had a thought along the lines of "wow, there are two snake teams? Doesn't that maybe seem like one too many snake team?" Now, we could get rid of the Pythons, which I think could be beneficial to a lot of different people, but that would be getting rid of another orange-loving team, and we need as many of those as we can get, so Portland stays! Sometimes I think of the Copperheads in the historical sense (American civil war era peace democrats) rather than the reptilian sense, and it's pretty amusing if you imagine their mascot as a random ass 19th century dude instead of a snake, but I don't think that's what they intended so I'm going to give them the respect the deserve and imagine them as snakes more often. This has gotten a little ramble-y. Austin fields the conferences top offense in terms of both points per game (23.3) and yards per game (385.7). Meanwhile, the Copperhead defense is ranked fourth in the conference in points allowed per game (21.7) and last in yards allowed per game (387.7)
Where did they come from?
The Copperheads didn't get off to the best start this season, losing their first two games against the Sabercats 27-20 and the Outlaws 20-9. Austin managed to make a very thrilling fourth quarter comeback against the Orange County Otters in week 3 to win the game 26-25, followed by a big win against the New Orleans Second Line 31-7. Austin would lose their next two games by a single score; first in Honolulu by a score of 24-20, and then at home against the Sailfish by a score of 22-16, bringing their record to 2-4. In week 7, Austin won big against the Baltimore Hawks 40-7, and defeated the Wraiths at home 34-20 in week 8. The last four weeks of the season have seen the Copperheads lose some tough games; first they were defeated by the Yeti 32-17, then they lost close games against the Philadelphia Liberty 31-25, the Butchers 17-14, and the Sabercats 28-27.
Where did they go?
I think these next four weeks see Austin go 2-2, with wins against Orange County and Arizona, and losses against New Orleans and Honolulu.
Cotton-Eyed Joe?
Yes.
Final ASFC Standings
1. Honolulu Hahalua (10-6, 7-3 conf)
2. San Jose Sabercats (10-6, 7-3 conf)
3. Orange County Otters (9-7, 5-5 conf)
4. New Orleans Second Line (9-7, 5-5 conf)
5. Arizona Outlaws (7-9, 2-8 conf)
6. Austin Copperheads (6-10, 4-6 conf)
Thanks for reading. <3
(2742 words)
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