05-08-2023, 10:40 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-08-2023, 10:57 AM by xenosthelegend. Edited 1 time in total.)
I made a previous article looking into the history of the two newest teams in the ISFL, the New York Silverbacks and the Berlin Salamanders. They entered the league in the same year during the season 25 expansion. I'd like to now look at the two teams from the previous expansion in season 22. The ISFL looked around at the teams and decided there just wasn't enough coastal cities, so they added two more. The new arrival in the ASFC would be located in the capital of Hawaii, Honolulu. They would choose the hahalua for their mascot, hahalua being the Hawaiian name for manta rays, making them the Honolulu Hahalua. The new arrival from the NSFC is from Sarasota, Florida. Choosing an aquatic mascot themselves, they would be the Sarasota Sailfish. At this point the ISFL may as well travel by boat for game days with as many teams are located near the coast. Nevertheless, I'd like to go through some of the significant season for the two teams and focus on how they compare to each other. With Honolulu off to a great season and possible Ultimus Bowl contenders, what better time to look at these two teams?
Season 22, Year One
We'll start with the introductory season for the Hahalua and Sailfish. This was before the season 25 expansion, so they we're playing a 13 game regular season schedule. The offense was pretty poor for both teams in their first season. Honolulu relied more on the ground game, frequently handing the ball off to star runnning back Ruff Ruff. Sarasota favored throwing the ball with Zack Vega at quarterback. In the entire season each team would only have one game where they scored more than 30 points. On defense Sarasota was decent at forcing turnovers, but struggled with basic tackling. The young team still had a lot of groundwork to lay. Honolulu wasn't very good in any aspect of defense. In their game against the Austin Copperheads, they would allow 55 points while only scoring 7 themselves. It wasn't a phenomenal season for either team, but no one is expected to win a championship on the first year in the league. They would have plenty of time to develop their roster and bring in new talent from the DSFL.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 4-9
Sailfish 6-7, NSFC Wildcard Appearance
Season 24, A Rising Star
Honolulu would continue to struggle to find it's identity in season 23. After switching to a 16 game regular season Honolulu would finish 7-9. Not a terrible season by any means, but they still struggled to breakaway from a middle of the road franchise. In the NSFC, Sarasota would finish 8-8 in season 23, but in season 24 something clicked. They fully embraced their identity. Give the ball to quarterback Dexter Banks II, and let him air it out. Supported by a strong receiving core, Banks would lead the league in passing yards by more than 800 yards. He totaled 5,033 yards for the season. The closest behind him was Hall of Fame quarterback, Franklin Armstrong with 4,225. On defense they continued their strength of forcing turnovers with 12 forced fumbles and 13 interceptions. Sarasota finished the season 12-4, making it to the NSFC Wildcard game where they would face the Chicago Butchers. In their final game of the regular season Sarasota dominated the Butchers offensively, beating them 47-13. Such a convincing win may have given Sarasota to much confidence going into the wildcard game. The game would come down to the wire being tied 17-17 late in the fourth quarter. Sarasota would score with just over 3 minutes left giving them a 24-17 lead and a concerning amount of time left for Chicago. Following two short runs to start the final drive, Chicago threw a 28 yard pass giving them the ball at Sarasota's 40 yard line with over 2 minutes left. Chicago called a timeout and gave them time to draw up another incredible pass play which would give them another 23 yards and find themselves in the red zone. It was really happening the Sailfish had overestimated themselves and thought themselves to good to play the Butchers. Now here they are about to blow the game with less than a minute left. Chicago calls another timeout to stop the clock, but unfortunately for them it gave Sarasota time to rally it's defense and get a stop in the redzone and run the clock out to win the game 24-17. Sarasota moves on to face the Colorado Yeti in the NSFC championship game. It was a back and forth game between the two teams. Despite Dexter Banks II throwing for 355 yards, the lack of a run game crippled the offense for Sarasota. They would score only 20 points, losing the game 24-20 and ending their hopes at their first Ultimus Bowl appearance. In season 24 Honolulu would finish 8-8. Not a bad year considering how even the ASFC was that year. the four top teams finished the season 9-7.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 8-8
Sailfish 12-4, NSFC Championship appearance
Season 25, Wildcard Revenge
Season 25 would be the introduction of the aforementioned expansion teams, the Silverbacks and Salamanders. It was a big change to the league, but not much changed for Honolulu. We saw another middle of the road season with not much of note. They finished .500 with an 8-8 season. Sarasota had a concerning first half of the season. The started the season with a 27-10 loss to the Yeti's, a painful loss after last seasons playoff run. They just barely beat the rookie Berlin Salamanders 10-6 who would finish the season with a record of 3-13. They followed up the close win with a loss, then a win, then a string of three losses. After a 40-21 loss to the Baltimore Hawks, Sarasota had had enough. Sitting at 2-5 with 9 games left, Sarasota wouldn't lose another game in the regular season. Dexter Banks II would still lead the league in passing yards, but the gap had closed significantly. They weren't dominating teams through the air like the previous season. Nevertheless, they again found themselves in the NSFC Wildcard game, and again facing the Chicago Butchers. The Butchers seeking revenge for the wildcard loss last season dominated most of the game. They jumped out to an early lead and were up 20-3 going into the half. Sarasota showed more signs of life on offense in the second half, but Chicago responded with every score. Ultimiately Sarasota would lose the game 27-20 and be knocked out of the playoffs.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 8-8
Sailfish 11-5, NSFC Wildcard Appearance
Season 26, The Boss
This would be among one of the worst seasons for Honolulu. Not much changed statistically and roster wise for them. They just couldn't get it done on gameday. They lost a lot of one score games and just didn't seem to have a lot of fight in them. Up until this point Honolulu was a team you could count on to be somewhere in the middle of the road and everyone was waiting on them to have their breakout season. Instead we saw a huge step back and they would ultimately finish the season with an abysmal record of 3-13. Sarasota on the other hand did see some changes this season. The most notable being a new starting quarterback. After a few years of Dexter Banks II leading the lead in passing yards, you would expect his departure to impact Sarasota's high flying offense negatively. Sarasota was prepared though. They had the next man up ready to take over the job and so Mike Boss Jr. was introduced to the league. His first year starting at Sarasota and he lead the league in passing. You don't often see teams maintain a consistent level of play when switching quarterbacks, but Sarasota was doing it. In the regular season Sarasota did have it's struggles though. They would dominate a team one week and no-show the next. Nevertheless they finished 8-8 and secured their place in the NSFC Wildcard game for the third year in a row. Once again their opponents would be none other than the Chicago Butchers. If Sarasota was ever going to win it all it seemed like the road would have to go through Chicago.
Boss Jr. and the Sarasota offense was off to an incredibly slow start. By the end of the first half they had 70 yards passing and just 17 yard rushing. Giving them a total of 0 points. On defense they managed to hold Chicago to field goals and only allowed 9 points. It wasn't a huge deficient and if the offense could get going Sarasota could still advance in the playoffs, but Chicago was receiving the ball going into the second half. Sarasota held them on defense and forced the Butchers to punt the ball away. Sarasota finally got some points on the board with a field goal, putting the score at 9-3, but Chicago answered back and scored the first touchdown of the game late in the 3rd quarter. Going into the 4th Sarasota was down 16-3, but they were finding more success passing the ball. In the final quarter of the game Boss Jr. would put on an incredible show. The first play of the 4th was a touchdown pass for Sarasota making it a one score game. On the next drive Chicago would run the ball heavily hoping to run out the clock while they still had the lead. They drove the ball downfield for a touchdown taking a 23-10 lead halfway through the 4th quarter. What was a defensive game begins to turn into a shootout. Boss Jr. throws a 56 yard pass followed by a 3 yard touchdown pass. The game is once again a one score game, but Chicago has the ball. They try to run the ball like in their previous drive in the hopes of draining out the clock and maybe putting the game out of reach for Sarasota with a field goal. It backfired on them and they went three and out leaving Sarasota plenty of time left. With chunk yardage plays the Sailfish found themselves on the 12 yardline with 12 seconds left in the game. Enough time for one more play. A field goal wouldn't do, they needed a touchdown for the win and to make it to the NSFC Championship. That's exactly what they did. Boss Jr. threw a 12 yard pass into the endzone to runningback Raphtalia Chan, who only had 19 yards on the ground. The game ended 24-23 and Sarasota was moving on to play the Yellowknife Wraith in the NSFC Championship.
This game would be much closer than the first time Sarasota made it to the NSFC Championship. It was a back and forth game the whole way through, with neither team taking more than 7 point lead at any point in the game. In the 4th quarter Sarasota find themselves down 21-16. They just proved they're more than capable of 4th quarter comebacks and that's what it looked like they would do. They score and attempt a 2 point conversion to give them a 3 point lead. Unfortunately for the Sailfish the attempt was no good, and while they had the lead 22-21, all it would take is a field goal for the Wraiths to take the lead back. Which is exactly what happened. The Sarasota defense held on all the way until the final drive for the Wraiths where they crumbled. Yellowknife threw the ball down field at will and set themselves up for a 29 yard field goal with 5 seconds left in the game. The kick was good and as the ball went through the uprights, the hopes of winning an Ultimus Bowl left the hearts of Sarasota's fans. Yellowknife would crush the New Orleans Second Line in the Ultimus Bowl 17-49.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 3-13
Sailfish 8-8, NSFC Championship appearance
Season 27, Top of Their Game
Honolulu was tired of being perceived as being the little brother to their expansion counterpart and after a terrible season last year, they brought the heat this season. They started the season with Luke Skywalker at quarterback who was a good quarterback, but couldn't quite get it done. So in week 11 they released Skywalker and picked up former Baltimore Hawks quarterback Chika Fujiwara. The name alone is a better fit for a team like Honolulu. Fujiwara had a rough start with his first game against the New Orleans Second Line. This wouldn't be the last time the Second Line gave Fujiwara a hard time. He finished the game 26/52 with 233 yard, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions. After shaking the first game off, Fujiwara developed more chemistry with his new team and Honolulu would finish the season 11-4-1. Their best season yet, and putting them first in the ASFC securing their spot in the ASFC Championship game. Sarasota wasn't content to sit and watch Honolulu have a better season than them. Just like a big brother they had to one up Honolulu and continuing with Mike Boss JR. at the helm finished the season 12-4. Also first in their conference and headed to the NSFC Championship.
In the ASFC, NOLA beat the Arizona Outlaws in the wildcard game and advanced to play Honolulu in the championship. A team Fujiwara surely wasn't happy to have to play again. Honolulu played a good game and even had the lead going into the second half. After that they were plagued with turnovers that NOLA was more than happy to take advantage of. NOLA took the lead 10-9 early in the 3rd and didn't give it up for the rest of the game. NOLA won 24-15 and ended the best run we've seen from Honolulu up until this point.
In the NSFC of course Chicago was in the wildcard game, but Sarasota wouldn't be playing them since they got the automatic bid from placing first in the conference. The Colorado Yeti took down the Butchers for them instead and advanced for their shot at Sarasota. The Sailfish had no intent on playing a good competitive game though. They were there solely to destroy the other team and move on to the Ultimus Bowl. They were tired of getting knocked off in the playoffs and watching another team advance in their place. Colorado got the ball first and quickly lost it after being sacked and fumbling the ball giving Sarasota the ball at the Yeti's 18 yard line. Boss Jr. threw two passes and Sarasota had 7 on the board. Colorado gets the ball back and 3 plays later Sarasota Cornerback Jamie Nkiah picks the ball off and takes it to the house for a pick six. We're only 3 minutes into the game and Sarasota is up 14-0. Again Colorado has the ball. Can they get a first down this time? Can they maybe put some points on the board? No. Three plays later Sarasota intercepts the ball, Boss JR. throws 2 passes, and Sarasota is up 24-0. Boss Jr. has only thrown 4 passes and Sarasota is up 24-0. This is only 6 minutes into the game. A little into the third quarter it seemed like Sarasota had taken their foot off the gas and Colorado may be able to make a comeback. Instead the Sailfish put their foot back on and won the game 47-27. Sarasota is headed to the Ultimus Bowl to play the New Orleans Second Line. Honolulu couldn't beat them, but big brother is on the way. I wish there was more to say about this game, but much like the Colorado game, it was just a beatdown. By the 4th quarter Sarasota was up 34-3. The offense was impetuous and their defense impregnable. They were at their peak and I don't know if anyone was beating them that day. They won the game 34-10 and took home their first ISFL Ultimus Bowl title. From this point until Honolulu can prove otherwise, Sarasota is the big brother in their relationship.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 11-4-1
Sailfish 12-4, Ultimus Bowl Win
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 0-0
Sailfish 1-0
Season 28-29, Short Recap
I won't spend to much time on these two season, but I'll give a brief rundown. Honolulu took a slight step back in season 28, just barely missing the playoffs. In season 29 they crumbled once again going 3-13. They were on to a new quarterback Joliet Christ Jr. who had a bad rookie season, but showed some signs of potential if Honolulu could be patient and develop him. At running back they transitioned from long time running back Nicholas Ayers to the younger Cobra Kai. They shared carries for most of the season, but by the end of the season Ayers was with the Yellowknife Wraiths and Kai was their go to man.
For the Sailfish Boss Jr. was still slinging the ball all over the field and putting up serious numbers. Sarasota finished the 28 season 10-6 making the wildcard game, which they lost to the Wraiths. For season 29 they finished 11-5. They beat Colorado handily in the wildcard game, but lost to the Berlin Salamanders in the NSFC Championship. A close 23-20 loss. To this point Sarasota has been a really strong team consistently making it to the playoffs aside from the opening season. As long as they have a stud at QB it's hard seeing them fall off.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 9-7 / 3-13
Sailfish 10-6 / 11-5, NSFC Wildcard appearance, NSFC Championship appearance
Season 30, Round Two
Honolulu was in the middle of a rebuild, but showing signs of improvement with the young team. They had a below average season, but anything was an improvement on the previous season. Sarasota had no time to slow down on the other hand. The offense kept up it's strong production, but the defense found another level. Throughout the regular season they forced 23 fumbles and had 12 interceptions, and 73 sacks. Only one team put up more than 25 points against them and most teams couldn't even put up 20. They were a deadly combination of a high flying offense and lockdown defense. The finished first in the NSFC and got the bid for the NSFC Championship, where they would face Berlin for the second time. It was a dominating game with a misleading final score. Sarasota's offense was much more balanced than we've seen in the past. Their passing and rushing yards were almost equal. They leaned heavily on runningback Chizuru Ichinose to pound the ball and wear down Berlins defense. By the 4th quarter Sarasota had the lead 30-12. Berlin would put up a few more points and score a touchdown in garbage time. The game ended 30-24 with Sarasota on the way to the Ultimus Bowl for their second appearance. Sarasota decided on a boring game for the Ultimus Bowl against the Arizona Outlaws not giving me much to talk about. They jumped out to an early lead and didn't let up, winning their second Ultimus Bowl 27-10.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 6-10
Sailfish 11-5, Ultimus Bowl win
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 0-0
Sailfish 2-0
Season 31, Honolulu Joins the Party
Coming off their second Ultimus Bowl title, Sarasota was much what you would expect from them at this point. Mike Boss Jr. was beginning to show some of his age not having as good of a season as we were used to seeing from him, but he was still more than serviceable. Chizuru Ichinose was released and Tre'Darius J'Vathon was brought in at runningback. A move that saw a decline in the ground game for Sarasota, but J'Vathon was young had had plenty of time to develop. Sarasota finished the season 10-6 and lost to Chicago in the NSFC Wildcard game.
Honolulu was the star of the show this season though. Sure they didn't have as successful regular season as Sarasota finishing 9-7. They would more than make up for it. Honolulu was still a fairly young team, but they had an immeasurable amount of fight in them. Almost all of their wins were hard fought and down to the wire, but they found themselves in the ASFC Wildcard game against the Outlaws. This was their first playoff appearance since joining the league nearly 10 years ago and they were hungry to win.
In the wildcard game both the Outlaws and Honolulu ended their first drive by punting the ball. On the second drive for Honolulu second string RB Ace Savage broke the game wide open with a 52 yard run from their own 2. A few plays later Savage ended the drive with a 25 yard touchdown. The Hahalua were up 7-0. Arizona answered by opening their drive with a 52 yard play of their own. Electing to throw the ball instead of run it. They ended their drive with a touchdown and we have a tie game. We've already seen what Savage can do running the ball, now he wants to show what he can do catching it. Wide open in mid field Christ Jr. finds his target and Savage struggles to come down with the ball at first, but eventually comes down with it and runs for a 62 yard reception. A few more plays and it looks like we're into a shootout. Honolulu has the lead 14-7. Arizona settles for a field goal and then we see a few punts. After we see Honolulu's offense prove themselves to be undeniably explosive and star wide receiver Eleven Kendrick-Watts takes a reception to the endzone for a 55 yard touchdown. The next sequence is odd to say the least. With all the momentum Honolulu intercepts an Arizona pass and have the ball in the redzone immediately after scoring. Then they throw an interception of their own and we're right back to where we were, give or take a few yards. Arizona can't take advantage of the bailout and have to punt. Wanting to get in on the action Cobra Kai follows Savage's lead and has a 52 yard run of his own. Honolulu settles for a field goal and we end the first half 24-10. The second half of the game is much slower and Honolulu just grinded down the Outlaws winning the game 33-20, moving on to play the Austin Copperheads in the ASFC Championship.
Honolulu opens the game driving downfield and taking an early 7-0 lead. We see a field goal for each team and a whole lot of punting before Honolulu scores their second touchdown late in the 2nd quarter before Austin answers with one of their own. With only a little over a minute left Honolulu gets in field goal range with 3 seconds left in the half and sink a 56 yarder. 3 points they would be very happy to have looking back. We end the half 20-10. In the second half it seemed whatever points Austin scored the Honolulu would just match them and score the same. Austin gets a field goal, Honolulu gets a field goal. Austin get a touchdown, Honolulu gets a touchdown. The Hahalua simply kept the Copperheads at bay and maintained the lead throughout the rest of the game and won 30-27. Another hard fought game that puts them in the Ultimus Bowl. The first playoff appearance and the first Ultimus Bowl appearance. They're to face the Colorado Yeti.
Honolulu receives the ball to start the game and Kai takes it right back down field with a 53 yard run right out the gate. The Yeti's defense wakes up and forces them to punt. Honolulu's defense needed no time to wake up and force a safety on the Yeti's opening drive, taking a 2-0 lead. Colorado comes back with a field goal after some punting. Once again we see Honolulu's explosiveness with a 59 yard touchdown pass and take the lead right back. Both teams punt the ball back and forth and we end the half 9-3. Colorado opens the second half with a touchdown drive, before Honolulu scores a touchdown of their own once again taking the lead. The Hahalua seem to thrive on competition and any points their opponents put up are immediately nullified by points of their own. Honolulu chooses to go for a 2 point conversion which is successful giving them a 7 point lead at 17-10. We see an exchange of points with Honolulu maintaining a 23-20 lead late in the 4th quarter. Honolulu receives the ball following an Austin field goal. Christ JR. throws a pick six and suddenly the pressure is on Honolulu. Cobra Kai takes the kickoff for a 41 yard return giving them good field position at the 41. A short run, a short pass, and an incompletion later and it's 4th and 3 for Honolulu. They have to convert if they want to win. The pressure is on. The game hinges on this down. Christ Jr. drops back and throws a 17 yard pass. More than enough for a first down. After another quick first down and more incompletions, it's 4th down again. The pressure isn't over. They have to convert again or it's all over. Such a hard fought season will be for nothing. Christ Jr. connects with Eleven Kendrick-Watts for a 13 yard pass giving them a first down. One play later and Honolulu has the lead 30-27. Austin get's the ball with a minute and a half left. They go three and out, fail to convert 4th down and turnover the ball. Honolulu attempts to run the ball to burn out the clock, but Austin uses their timeouts. Honolulu punts with with 36 seconds left. Austin picks up a couple short gains before throwing for a huge 42 yard pass, putting them well within field goal range, but they're out of timeouts and there's no time left to line up. Honolulu wins 30-27. Their season came down to a single play several times, but the always pulled out a miracle and kept going. Honolulu is in the mix now and is not to be overlooked. They play as hard as anyone out there.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 9-7, Ultimus Bowl win
Sailfish 10-6, NSFC Wildcard Appearance
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 1-0
Sailfish 2-0
Season 32-33, QB 3
Season 32 would stick to the precedent the two teams have set respectively. Honolulu finished 9-7, just missing the playoffs. Big Slammu did win Defensive Player of the Year for them in season 32. The first time a Honolulu player has received that award. Sarasota also finished 9-7, making the playoffs, and dropping out with a loss in the wildcard game. Season 33 would bring a changing of the guard for Sarasota with Mike Boss Jr. leaving, and the introduction of a new quarterback, Carter Knight. Sarasota would have one of their best regular season records under Carter Knight, but would go on to lose the conference championship to the Baltimore Hawks. The future continued to look bright under the new Sailfish quarterback. Honolulu continued to strive for a balanced offense between Christ Jr. and runningback Cobra Kai. They would have a changing of the guard very soon though.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 9-7 / 7-9
Sailfish 9-7 / 12-4, NSFC Wildcard Appearance, NSFC Championship Apprearance
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 1-0
Sailfish 2-0
Season 34, A Quarterback of their Own
Honolulu had watched their rival bring in one legendary quarterback after another, and in season 34 they would bring in one of their own. Joliet Christ Jr. was no slouch, but bringing in former Berlin Salamanders quarterback Dexter Zaylren was certainly an improvement. @shrub02 wrote an article on his top QBs of all time, both Dexter Zaylren and Carter Knight were in the top 10. Dexter Zaylren combined with Corba Kai would be a recipe for a very good offense and the results would be immediate for Honolulu. Sarasota continued to progress themselves and developed into a more balanced run/pass offense with John Huntsman at runningback performing very well. Huntsman would win Offensive Player of the Year in season 34. Sarasota finished 10-5-1 in the regular season giving them a bid into the NSFC Wildcard. The 11th straight playoff appearance for Sarasota. At this point the Sailfish made the playoffs 12 times out of the 13 seasons since joining the league. Unfortunately they would suffer an all to common fate for Sarasota and be eliminated in the Wildcard game.
Honolulu finished the season 11-5 and secured their spot in the ASFC Conference Championship, facing the Arizona Outlaws. In contrast to Sarasota, this is just Honolulu's 3rd playoff appearance. In season 31 they proved they can win it all once they get their and they were hungry for another win, tired of being little brother to Sarasota. Much of the 1st quarter was uneventful against Arizona, but late in the 1st Honolulu would score the first points of the game and take the lead with a 55 yard pass from new quarterback Zaylren to veteran Kai. Early in the 2nd Honolulu would score again taking a 14-0 lead. The game quickly heated up and we saw an exchange of touchdowns the 3 following drives putting the score at 21-14 and the Honolulu lead shrinking. In the second half Zaylren threw an interception, giving Arizona good field position that they capitalized on and evened the score 21-21. Shortly into the 4th quarter Honolulu had lost the lead and it was a 4 point game. The realization seemed to set in for the Hahalua and they defense would close out the game not allowing Arizona to score any more points. On offense they would rack up another 17 points and end the game 41-28. For as many times as Sarasota made the playoffs, they had only had two Ultimus appearances, now Honolulu would match that as they would go on to play the Butchers from the NSFC.
It looked like Honolulu was off to the races starting the game with forcing Chicago 3 and out, and driving the ball downfield. Once they made it to the redzone the early momentum flipped with a sack turned forced fumble, which was recovered by the Butchers. Still the defense looked strong for Honolulu forcing another 3 and out. By the end of the first Chicago had a small lead of 3-0. Throughout the second each team would score a touchdown and with under 2 minutes left Chicago had 2 big runs and would score another touchdown. Honolulu had enough time left on the clock for a field goal putting us at 17-10 going into the half. Honolulu opened the half by tying the game with a 31 yard pass. The next time any team would score points would be a safety scored by Honolulu well into the 4th quarter. Chicago would hold the Sailfish offense off and score on a 64 yard pass. They then stripped the ball from Honolulu giving them the ball well within Sailfish territory, but had to settle for a field goal. Honolulu score on their next drive and since it's an 8 point game with less the a minute left, go for a 2 point conversion. The convert successfully and tie the game. All they have to do is hold Chicago's offense off for 50 seconds. Honolulu kicks off and the ball is returned for 43 yards. A bad start for the Sailfish. Nevertheless, they run the clock out before Chicago can get in field goal range, and the game goes to OT. It's a back in forth OT with both teams punting back and forth, until eventually Chicago scores and ends the game 33-27. Giving Honolulu their first Ultimus loss, and the first loss for either of the expansion teams.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 11-5, Ultimus Bowl Appearance
Sailfish 10-5-1, NSFC Wildcard Appearance
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 1-1
Sailfish 2-0
Season 35, Run It Back
Sarasota would regress this season even with Knight and Huntsman. Defense was a weak point for them throughout the season, with most of their games turning into a high scoring shootout. Their offense wasn't able to get them into the playoffs for a 12th straight appearance. Finishing 7-9 they would miss the playoffs for only the second time. Honolulu was only getting better though. They had found their quarterback and with a close loss last year, they were determined to make it back to the Ultimus Bowl and win this time. They finished the season 13-3 and again skipped the wildcard game and went straight into the ASFC Championship. They played the Outlaws again and in a much less interesting game from last year won 26-20. They were back in the Ultimus Bowl this time playing the Baltimore Hawks. They got off to a 21-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, and the game may as well have been over. Only scoring one other time with a field goal, they won their second Ultimus Bowl 24-13. Did they have as many playoff appearances as Sarasota. No. Were they a consistent contender to win it all. No. Did they have the history of hall of famers and legendary quarterbacks. No. But Honolulu was playing it's best football and they didn't show signs of slowing down. They were tired of being looked as just another team and now they were making a name for themselves. They were no longer the other expansion team. They were the Halalua and if you were on the other side of the ball from they, you had better take them serious. At this point they have more Ultimus appearances and have won just as many as Sarasota.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 13-3, Ultimus Bowl Win
Sailfish 7-9
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 2-1
Sailfish 2-0
Season 36, Us vs Them
To me, this season is the pinnacle of the rivalry between the two expansion teams. They both have their respective best QB of all time. The runningbacks could definitely be argued to be their best. Sarasota still struggles at times on defense, but Big Slammu and the Honolulu defense are an absolute force. Sarasota finished 12-4 regular season and would have to get through the wildcard game again. This time against the Yellowknife Wraiths. There was concern on the Sarasota side at time, but forcing turnovers throughout the entire game limited the Wraiths to just 22 points to Sarasota's 25. Ending the game 22-25 and advancing Sarasota to the NSFC Championship. Honolulu had already secured their spot in the ASFC with an 11-5 season placing them first in the conference. With the prospect of their rival making it and them missing out, both teams crushed their opponents in their conference championship games. Sarasota beat the Butchers 22-2 and Honolulu beat the Outlaws 38-21. With those wins, for the first time we'll see the two expansion teams face off against each other in the Ultimus Bowl. Regardless of all the history of the two teams, this game means everything.
Sarasota will receive the ball to start the game. Following an 8 yard pass and rush for a loss, Carter Knight throws an interception to Kendrick-Watts. Kendrick-Watts returned the interception for 16 yards and Honolulu has the ball at the Sailfish 41. Honolulu runs the ball for 5 yards and on the next play Zaylren finds Buffalo Hunter for a 31 yard touchdown. Just a few minutes into the game and Honolulu had made a statement. If Sarasota wanted to see themselves as the big brother, they would have to prove it on the field. Honolulu kicks the ball off and the next play Slammu sacks Knight for 11 yards. Knight throws a short completion and it's 3rd and 17. Knight has all the pressure in the world on him. He throws another interception in his own territory. Honolulu gets the ball with great field position to start for the second time, just a few minutes into the game, but after two incompletions and a short run are forced to go for a field goal. The kick is no good, and Sarasota is still in the game only behind 7-0. The first play of the drive Knight is sacked again. The second play. Knight is sacked again. At this point in the game one would speculate the Sarasota offensive line put money on Honolulu. A short pass short of the first down and Sarasota punts. Honolulu settles for a field goal on their drive and take a 10-0 lead early in the 2nd. Sarasota go 3 and out. Again. They attempt to punt the ball, but the kick is blocked and Honolulu gets the ball in Sailfish territory. Everything that can go wrong for Sarasota is going wrong. Honolulu fails to take advantage of the field position though and miss the field goal. Sarasota's offense finally gets going and a 38 yard pass to Huntsman followed by a rush by Huntsman gets points on the board for the sailfish with a touchdown. Honolulu receives the ball and moves it into sailfish territory. Facing 4th and 1 and tired of missing field goals they attempt to convert the 4th down and fail. It's Sarasota's ball with just over 2 minutes left. Knight is fully warmed up and moving the ball at will. A 34 yard pass and Sarasota has their first lead of the game. The first half end 14-10. Honolulu will receive in the 2nd half.
Attempting to force the run is ineffective for Honolulu and they're forced to punt on their opening drive. Honolulu punts, Sarasota punts, Honolulu punts, and Sarasota punts. Sarasota punts it short. Very Short. Combined with a return by Honolulu and they take the ball at the 30. Four plays later and the Hahalua have the lead again, scoring a touchdown. Sarasota attempts to answer back, but fumble early in the drive. Luckily for the sailfish they recovered the ball. They move the ball with short yardage and regain the lead 21-17 early in the 4th. A three and out for Honolulu and the pressure is on. It's the 4th quarter, they're trailing, and Sarasota is getting the ball. They looked dominate in the first few minutes of the game, and now they're struggling and looking at defeat. Cornerback Lip Gallagher steps up and intercepts Knight's pass and returns it for 32 yards. For what seems like a countless amount of times, Honolulu is given great field position. If there was a time they HAVE to capitalize on that, it's now. They do just that, Zaylren throws a pass for a touchdown and the lead is taken back. It's 24-21, but there's just under 5 minutes left. If Sarasota runs the clock out and score a touchdown, it's over for Honolulu. Even a field goal will take the game into overtime. Knight had plans to do either of those and throws a 72 yard pass to Kaepercolin on the first play of the drive, immediately taking the lead back. Now Sarasota has to worry about Honolulu scoring and leaving no time left, but it's a 4 point lead and a field goal isn't an option. If Honolulu wants to win, they have to drive the length of the field and score a touchdown. Which they do. A 35 yard pass and the lead changed again. There's only a minute left in the game for Sarasota to score. They crumble under the pressure and go 3 and out, then fail to convert the 4th down. Honolulu kneels the ball and the game is over. Honolulu wins 31-28. They've proven to everyone that they're not the runner up of the two expansion teams.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 11-5, Ultimus Bowl Win
Sailfish 12-4, Ultimus Bowl Appearance
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 3-1
Sailfish 2-1
Season 37, Blowouts
Honolulu high off the triumph of winning two straight Ultimus Bowl's have a good regular season. Not great, not bad, but good. They finish 9-7 and play NOLA in the wildcard game. They win fairly easily and move on to the ASFC Championship against the Outlaws. They lose the game 31-19 and won't have the chance to three-peat. Sarasota doesn't let the loss last year get them down and go 12-4 in the regular season. They skip the wildcard game and crush the Wraiths 41-24 in the NSFC Championship. They make it to the Ultimus Bowl and have a chance to redeem last year. The Outlaws beat them worse than they beat Honolulu though. The game would end 31-11 and give Sarasota it's second loss in the Ultimus Bowl.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 9-7, ASFC Championship Appearance
Sailfish 12-4, Ultimus Bowl Appearance
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 3-1
Sailfish 2-2
Seasons 38-40, The Dark Ages
Season 38 would spell disaster for Honolulu. Dexter Zaylren and Buffalo Hunter are gone at quarterback and runningback. The receiver room isn't as strong as past years, and the defense was lackluster compared to previous years. Just two years removed to back to back Ultimus Bowl titles and Honolulu doesn't win a single game. They finish 0-16. Season 39 wouldn't be much better, finishing 3-13 and in season 40 they at least didn't finish last in the conference and go 5-11. Honolulu was never a top tier team, but you could always count on them to at least be somewhere in the middle of the league. Now they don't even have that.
Sarasota didn't fall near as far with Carter Knight still at the helm. They missed the playoffs in season 38 for just the third time going 7-9. In season 39 they finish 10-5-1 and make an appearance in the wildcard and are eliminated by the Chicago Butchers. A fate they're familiar with by this point. In season 40 they finish 8-7-1 and again fail to make the playoffs. While these records aren't bad, compared to what we've come to expect from the Sailfish it's certainty a step back. In these three seasons we've seen them miss the playoffs as many times as we have every other season.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 0-16 / 3-13 / 5-11
Sailfish 7-9 / 10-5-1 / 8-7-1, NSFC Wildcard Appearance
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 3-1
Sailfish 2-2
Season 41, Conclusion
We're coming up on the end of season 41 and Honolulu is leading the ASFC. They've been through a rough patch, but invested time and resources to develop their young team and the benefits are starting to show. We may see them make another run at the Ultimus Bowl if they continue to play at the level they have been. Sarasota is working with new quarterback Willier Miller, but have looked strong this year too. Their most recent game was a 51-0 win against the Chicago Butchers, who themselves are a good team this year. I'm excited to see how these two teams finish the season. I'm looking forward to how their rosters develop and the players we'll look back on several seasons from now. Good luck to the both of these teams as we finish out the season.
I had a lot of fun looking into these two teams and I'm sure I missed a lot. Feel free to share any memories you have that I missed or highlight any of the players I failed to. Also, who do you view as the better team out of the two? Sarasota is almost always in the playoffs, but seem to struggle once there. Honolulu doesn't make it to the playoffs as often, but play hard when they do. It's an interesting dynamic the two have and I'll have a hard time rooting against either of them. Thanks to everyone who read to the end.
Season 22, Year One
We'll start with the introductory season for the Hahalua and Sailfish. This was before the season 25 expansion, so they we're playing a 13 game regular season schedule. The offense was pretty poor for both teams in their first season. Honolulu relied more on the ground game, frequently handing the ball off to star runnning back Ruff Ruff. Sarasota favored throwing the ball with Zack Vega at quarterback. In the entire season each team would only have one game where they scored more than 30 points. On defense Sarasota was decent at forcing turnovers, but struggled with basic tackling. The young team still had a lot of groundwork to lay. Honolulu wasn't very good in any aspect of defense. In their game against the Austin Copperheads, they would allow 55 points while only scoring 7 themselves. It wasn't a phenomenal season for either team, but no one is expected to win a championship on the first year in the league. They would have plenty of time to develop their roster and bring in new talent from the DSFL.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 4-9
Sailfish 6-7, NSFC Wildcard Appearance
Season 24, A Rising Star
Honolulu would continue to struggle to find it's identity in season 23. After switching to a 16 game regular season Honolulu would finish 7-9. Not a terrible season by any means, but they still struggled to breakaway from a middle of the road franchise. In the NSFC, Sarasota would finish 8-8 in season 23, but in season 24 something clicked. They fully embraced their identity. Give the ball to quarterback Dexter Banks II, and let him air it out. Supported by a strong receiving core, Banks would lead the league in passing yards by more than 800 yards. He totaled 5,033 yards for the season. The closest behind him was Hall of Fame quarterback, Franklin Armstrong with 4,225. On defense they continued their strength of forcing turnovers with 12 forced fumbles and 13 interceptions. Sarasota finished the season 12-4, making it to the NSFC Wildcard game where they would face the Chicago Butchers. In their final game of the regular season Sarasota dominated the Butchers offensively, beating them 47-13. Such a convincing win may have given Sarasota to much confidence going into the wildcard game. The game would come down to the wire being tied 17-17 late in the fourth quarter. Sarasota would score with just over 3 minutes left giving them a 24-17 lead and a concerning amount of time left for Chicago. Following two short runs to start the final drive, Chicago threw a 28 yard pass giving them the ball at Sarasota's 40 yard line with over 2 minutes left. Chicago called a timeout and gave them time to draw up another incredible pass play which would give them another 23 yards and find themselves in the red zone. It was really happening the Sailfish had overestimated themselves and thought themselves to good to play the Butchers. Now here they are about to blow the game with less than a minute left. Chicago calls another timeout to stop the clock, but unfortunately for them it gave Sarasota time to rally it's defense and get a stop in the redzone and run the clock out to win the game 24-17. Sarasota moves on to face the Colorado Yeti in the NSFC championship game. It was a back and forth game between the two teams. Despite Dexter Banks II throwing for 355 yards, the lack of a run game crippled the offense for Sarasota. They would score only 20 points, losing the game 24-20 and ending their hopes at their first Ultimus Bowl appearance. In season 24 Honolulu would finish 8-8. Not a bad year considering how even the ASFC was that year. the four top teams finished the season 9-7.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 8-8
Sailfish 12-4, NSFC Championship appearance
Season 25, Wildcard Revenge
Season 25 would be the introduction of the aforementioned expansion teams, the Silverbacks and Salamanders. It was a big change to the league, but not much changed for Honolulu. We saw another middle of the road season with not much of note. They finished .500 with an 8-8 season. Sarasota had a concerning first half of the season. The started the season with a 27-10 loss to the Yeti's, a painful loss after last seasons playoff run. They just barely beat the rookie Berlin Salamanders 10-6 who would finish the season with a record of 3-13. They followed up the close win with a loss, then a win, then a string of three losses. After a 40-21 loss to the Baltimore Hawks, Sarasota had had enough. Sitting at 2-5 with 9 games left, Sarasota wouldn't lose another game in the regular season. Dexter Banks II would still lead the league in passing yards, but the gap had closed significantly. They weren't dominating teams through the air like the previous season. Nevertheless, they again found themselves in the NSFC Wildcard game, and again facing the Chicago Butchers. The Butchers seeking revenge for the wildcard loss last season dominated most of the game. They jumped out to an early lead and were up 20-3 going into the half. Sarasota showed more signs of life on offense in the second half, but Chicago responded with every score. Ultimiately Sarasota would lose the game 27-20 and be knocked out of the playoffs.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 8-8
Sailfish 11-5, NSFC Wildcard Appearance
Season 26, The Boss
This would be among one of the worst seasons for Honolulu. Not much changed statistically and roster wise for them. They just couldn't get it done on gameday. They lost a lot of one score games and just didn't seem to have a lot of fight in them. Up until this point Honolulu was a team you could count on to be somewhere in the middle of the road and everyone was waiting on them to have their breakout season. Instead we saw a huge step back and they would ultimately finish the season with an abysmal record of 3-13. Sarasota on the other hand did see some changes this season. The most notable being a new starting quarterback. After a few years of Dexter Banks II leading the lead in passing yards, you would expect his departure to impact Sarasota's high flying offense negatively. Sarasota was prepared though. They had the next man up ready to take over the job and so Mike Boss Jr. was introduced to the league. His first year starting at Sarasota and he lead the league in passing. You don't often see teams maintain a consistent level of play when switching quarterbacks, but Sarasota was doing it. In the regular season Sarasota did have it's struggles though. They would dominate a team one week and no-show the next. Nevertheless they finished 8-8 and secured their place in the NSFC Wildcard game for the third year in a row. Once again their opponents would be none other than the Chicago Butchers. If Sarasota was ever going to win it all it seemed like the road would have to go through Chicago.
Boss Jr. and the Sarasota offense was off to an incredibly slow start. By the end of the first half they had 70 yards passing and just 17 yard rushing. Giving them a total of 0 points. On defense they managed to hold Chicago to field goals and only allowed 9 points. It wasn't a huge deficient and if the offense could get going Sarasota could still advance in the playoffs, but Chicago was receiving the ball going into the second half. Sarasota held them on defense and forced the Butchers to punt the ball away. Sarasota finally got some points on the board with a field goal, putting the score at 9-3, but Chicago answered back and scored the first touchdown of the game late in the 3rd quarter. Going into the 4th Sarasota was down 16-3, but they were finding more success passing the ball. In the final quarter of the game Boss Jr. would put on an incredible show. The first play of the 4th was a touchdown pass for Sarasota making it a one score game. On the next drive Chicago would run the ball heavily hoping to run out the clock while they still had the lead. They drove the ball downfield for a touchdown taking a 23-10 lead halfway through the 4th quarter. What was a defensive game begins to turn into a shootout. Boss Jr. throws a 56 yard pass followed by a 3 yard touchdown pass. The game is once again a one score game, but Chicago has the ball. They try to run the ball like in their previous drive in the hopes of draining out the clock and maybe putting the game out of reach for Sarasota with a field goal. It backfired on them and they went three and out leaving Sarasota plenty of time left. With chunk yardage plays the Sailfish found themselves on the 12 yardline with 12 seconds left in the game. Enough time for one more play. A field goal wouldn't do, they needed a touchdown for the win and to make it to the NSFC Championship. That's exactly what they did. Boss Jr. threw a 12 yard pass into the endzone to runningback Raphtalia Chan, who only had 19 yards on the ground. The game ended 24-23 and Sarasota was moving on to play the Yellowknife Wraith in the NSFC Championship.
This game would be much closer than the first time Sarasota made it to the NSFC Championship. It was a back and forth game the whole way through, with neither team taking more than 7 point lead at any point in the game. In the 4th quarter Sarasota find themselves down 21-16. They just proved they're more than capable of 4th quarter comebacks and that's what it looked like they would do. They score and attempt a 2 point conversion to give them a 3 point lead. Unfortunately for the Sailfish the attempt was no good, and while they had the lead 22-21, all it would take is a field goal for the Wraiths to take the lead back. Which is exactly what happened. The Sarasota defense held on all the way until the final drive for the Wraiths where they crumbled. Yellowknife threw the ball down field at will and set themselves up for a 29 yard field goal with 5 seconds left in the game. The kick was good and as the ball went through the uprights, the hopes of winning an Ultimus Bowl left the hearts of Sarasota's fans. Yellowknife would crush the New Orleans Second Line in the Ultimus Bowl 17-49.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 3-13
Sailfish 8-8, NSFC Championship appearance
Season 27, Top of Their Game
Honolulu was tired of being perceived as being the little brother to their expansion counterpart and after a terrible season last year, they brought the heat this season. They started the season with Luke Skywalker at quarterback who was a good quarterback, but couldn't quite get it done. So in week 11 they released Skywalker and picked up former Baltimore Hawks quarterback Chika Fujiwara. The name alone is a better fit for a team like Honolulu. Fujiwara had a rough start with his first game against the New Orleans Second Line. This wouldn't be the last time the Second Line gave Fujiwara a hard time. He finished the game 26/52 with 233 yard, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions. After shaking the first game off, Fujiwara developed more chemistry with his new team and Honolulu would finish the season 11-4-1. Their best season yet, and putting them first in the ASFC securing their spot in the ASFC Championship game. Sarasota wasn't content to sit and watch Honolulu have a better season than them. Just like a big brother they had to one up Honolulu and continuing with Mike Boss JR. at the helm finished the season 12-4. Also first in their conference and headed to the NSFC Championship.
In the ASFC, NOLA beat the Arizona Outlaws in the wildcard game and advanced to play Honolulu in the championship. A team Fujiwara surely wasn't happy to have to play again. Honolulu played a good game and even had the lead going into the second half. After that they were plagued with turnovers that NOLA was more than happy to take advantage of. NOLA took the lead 10-9 early in the 3rd and didn't give it up for the rest of the game. NOLA won 24-15 and ended the best run we've seen from Honolulu up until this point.
In the NSFC of course Chicago was in the wildcard game, but Sarasota wouldn't be playing them since they got the automatic bid from placing first in the conference. The Colorado Yeti took down the Butchers for them instead and advanced for their shot at Sarasota. The Sailfish had no intent on playing a good competitive game though. They were there solely to destroy the other team and move on to the Ultimus Bowl. They were tired of getting knocked off in the playoffs and watching another team advance in their place. Colorado got the ball first and quickly lost it after being sacked and fumbling the ball giving Sarasota the ball at the Yeti's 18 yard line. Boss Jr. threw two passes and Sarasota had 7 on the board. Colorado gets the ball back and 3 plays later Sarasota Cornerback Jamie Nkiah picks the ball off and takes it to the house for a pick six. We're only 3 minutes into the game and Sarasota is up 14-0. Again Colorado has the ball. Can they get a first down this time? Can they maybe put some points on the board? No. Three plays later Sarasota intercepts the ball, Boss JR. throws 2 passes, and Sarasota is up 24-0. Boss Jr. has only thrown 4 passes and Sarasota is up 24-0. This is only 6 minutes into the game. A little into the third quarter it seemed like Sarasota had taken their foot off the gas and Colorado may be able to make a comeback. Instead the Sailfish put their foot back on and won the game 47-27. Sarasota is headed to the Ultimus Bowl to play the New Orleans Second Line. Honolulu couldn't beat them, but big brother is on the way. I wish there was more to say about this game, but much like the Colorado game, it was just a beatdown. By the 4th quarter Sarasota was up 34-3. The offense was impetuous and their defense impregnable. They were at their peak and I don't know if anyone was beating them that day. They won the game 34-10 and took home their first ISFL Ultimus Bowl title. From this point until Honolulu can prove otherwise, Sarasota is the big brother in their relationship.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 11-4-1
Sailfish 12-4, Ultimus Bowl Win
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 0-0
Sailfish 1-0
Season 28-29, Short Recap
I won't spend to much time on these two season, but I'll give a brief rundown. Honolulu took a slight step back in season 28, just barely missing the playoffs. In season 29 they crumbled once again going 3-13. They were on to a new quarterback Joliet Christ Jr. who had a bad rookie season, but showed some signs of potential if Honolulu could be patient and develop him. At running back they transitioned from long time running back Nicholas Ayers to the younger Cobra Kai. They shared carries for most of the season, but by the end of the season Ayers was with the Yellowknife Wraiths and Kai was their go to man.
For the Sailfish Boss Jr. was still slinging the ball all over the field and putting up serious numbers. Sarasota finished the 28 season 10-6 making the wildcard game, which they lost to the Wraiths. For season 29 they finished 11-5. They beat Colorado handily in the wildcard game, but lost to the Berlin Salamanders in the NSFC Championship. A close 23-20 loss. To this point Sarasota has been a really strong team consistently making it to the playoffs aside from the opening season. As long as they have a stud at QB it's hard seeing them fall off.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 9-7 / 3-13
Sailfish 10-6 / 11-5, NSFC Wildcard appearance, NSFC Championship appearance
Season 30, Round Two
Honolulu was in the middle of a rebuild, but showing signs of improvement with the young team. They had a below average season, but anything was an improvement on the previous season. Sarasota had no time to slow down on the other hand. The offense kept up it's strong production, but the defense found another level. Throughout the regular season they forced 23 fumbles and had 12 interceptions, and 73 sacks. Only one team put up more than 25 points against them and most teams couldn't even put up 20. They were a deadly combination of a high flying offense and lockdown defense. The finished first in the NSFC and got the bid for the NSFC Championship, where they would face Berlin for the second time. It was a dominating game with a misleading final score. Sarasota's offense was much more balanced than we've seen in the past. Their passing and rushing yards were almost equal. They leaned heavily on runningback Chizuru Ichinose to pound the ball and wear down Berlins defense. By the 4th quarter Sarasota had the lead 30-12. Berlin would put up a few more points and score a touchdown in garbage time. The game ended 30-24 with Sarasota on the way to the Ultimus Bowl for their second appearance. Sarasota decided on a boring game for the Ultimus Bowl against the Arizona Outlaws not giving me much to talk about. They jumped out to an early lead and didn't let up, winning their second Ultimus Bowl 27-10.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 6-10
Sailfish 11-5, Ultimus Bowl win
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 0-0
Sailfish 2-0
Season 31, Honolulu Joins the Party
Coming off their second Ultimus Bowl title, Sarasota was much what you would expect from them at this point. Mike Boss Jr. was beginning to show some of his age not having as good of a season as we were used to seeing from him, but he was still more than serviceable. Chizuru Ichinose was released and Tre'Darius J'Vathon was brought in at runningback. A move that saw a decline in the ground game for Sarasota, but J'Vathon was young had had plenty of time to develop. Sarasota finished the season 10-6 and lost to Chicago in the NSFC Wildcard game.
Honolulu was the star of the show this season though. Sure they didn't have as successful regular season as Sarasota finishing 9-7. They would more than make up for it. Honolulu was still a fairly young team, but they had an immeasurable amount of fight in them. Almost all of their wins were hard fought and down to the wire, but they found themselves in the ASFC Wildcard game against the Outlaws. This was their first playoff appearance since joining the league nearly 10 years ago and they were hungry to win.
In the wildcard game both the Outlaws and Honolulu ended their first drive by punting the ball. On the second drive for Honolulu second string RB Ace Savage broke the game wide open with a 52 yard run from their own 2. A few plays later Savage ended the drive with a 25 yard touchdown. The Hahalua were up 7-0. Arizona answered by opening their drive with a 52 yard play of their own. Electing to throw the ball instead of run it. They ended their drive with a touchdown and we have a tie game. We've already seen what Savage can do running the ball, now he wants to show what he can do catching it. Wide open in mid field Christ Jr. finds his target and Savage struggles to come down with the ball at first, but eventually comes down with it and runs for a 62 yard reception. A few more plays and it looks like we're into a shootout. Honolulu has the lead 14-7. Arizona settles for a field goal and then we see a few punts. After we see Honolulu's offense prove themselves to be undeniably explosive and star wide receiver Eleven Kendrick-Watts takes a reception to the endzone for a 55 yard touchdown. The next sequence is odd to say the least. With all the momentum Honolulu intercepts an Arizona pass and have the ball in the redzone immediately after scoring. Then they throw an interception of their own and we're right back to where we were, give or take a few yards. Arizona can't take advantage of the bailout and have to punt. Wanting to get in on the action Cobra Kai follows Savage's lead and has a 52 yard run of his own. Honolulu settles for a field goal and we end the first half 24-10. The second half of the game is much slower and Honolulu just grinded down the Outlaws winning the game 33-20, moving on to play the Austin Copperheads in the ASFC Championship.
Honolulu opens the game driving downfield and taking an early 7-0 lead. We see a field goal for each team and a whole lot of punting before Honolulu scores their second touchdown late in the 2nd quarter before Austin answers with one of their own. With only a little over a minute left Honolulu gets in field goal range with 3 seconds left in the half and sink a 56 yarder. 3 points they would be very happy to have looking back. We end the half 20-10. In the second half it seemed whatever points Austin scored the Honolulu would just match them and score the same. Austin gets a field goal, Honolulu gets a field goal. Austin get a touchdown, Honolulu gets a touchdown. The Hahalua simply kept the Copperheads at bay and maintained the lead throughout the rest of the game and won 30-27. Another hard fought game that puts them in the Ultimus Bowl. The first playoff appearance and the first Ultimus Bowl appearance. They're to face the Colorado Yeti.
Honolulu receives the ball to start the game and Kai takes it right back down field with a 53 yard run right out the gate. The Yeti's defense wakes up and forces them to punt. Honolulu's defense needed no time to wake up and force a safety on the Yeti's opening drive, taking a 2-0 lead. Colorado comes back with a field goal after some punting. Once again we see Honolulu's explosiveness with a 59 yard touchdown pass and take the lead right back. Both teams punt the ball back and forth and we end the half 9-3. Colorado opens the second half with a touchdown drive, before Honolulu scores a touchdown of their own once again taking the lead. The Hahalua seem to thrive on competition and any points their opponents put up are immediately nullified by points of their own. Honolulu chooses to go for a 2 point conversion which is successful giving them a 7 point lead at 17-10. We see an exchange of points with Honolulu maintaining a 23-20 lead late in the 4th quarter. Honolulu receives the ball following an Austin field goal. Christ JR. throws a pick six and suddenly the pressure is on Honolulu. Cobra Kai takes the kickoff for a 41 yard return giving them good field position at the 41. A short run, a short pass, and an incompletion later and it's 4th and 3 for Honolulu. They have to convert if they want to win. The pressure is on. The game hinges on this down. Christ Jr. drops back and throws a 17 yard pass. More than enough for a first down. After another quick first down and more incompletions, it's 4th down again. The pressure isn't over. They have to convert again or it's all over. Such a hard fought season will be for nothing. Christ Jr. connects with Eleven Kendrick-Watts for a 13 yard pass giving them a first down. One play later and Honolulu has the lead 30-27. Austin get's the ball with a minute and a half left. They go three and out, fail to convert 4th down and turnover the ball. Honolulu attempts to run the ball to burn out the clock, but Austin uses their timeouts. Honolulu punts with with 36 seconds left. Austin picks up a couple short gains before throwing for a huge 42 yard pass, putting them well within field goal range, but they're out of timeouts and there's no time left to line up. Honolulu wins 30-27. Their season came down to a single play several times, but the always pulled out a miracle and kept going. Honolulu is in the mix now and is not to be overlooked. They play as hard as anyone out there.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 9-7, Ultimus Bowl win
Sailfish 10-6, NSFC Wildcard Appearance
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 1-0
Sailfish 2-0
Season 32-33, QB 3
Season 32 would stick to the precedent the two teams have set respectively. Honolulu finished 9-7, just missing the playoffs. Big Slammu did win Defensive Player of the Year for them in season 32. The first time a Honolulu player has received that award. Sarasota also finished 9-7, making the playoffs, and dropping out with a loss in the wildcard game. Season 33 would bring a changing of the guard for Sarasota with Mike Boss Jr. leaving, and the introduction of a new quarterback, Carter Knight. Sarasota would have one of their best regular season records under Carter Knight, but would go on to lose the conference championship to the Baltimore Hawks. The future continued to look bright under the new Sailfish quarterback. Honolulu continued to strive for a balanced offense between Christ Jr. and runningback Cobra Kai. They would have a changing of the guard very soon though.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 9-7 / 7-9
Sailfish 9-7 / 12-4, NSFC Wildcard Appearance, NSFC Championship Apprearance
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 1-0
Sailfish 2-0
Season 34, A Quarterback of their Own
Honolulu had watched their rival bring in one legendary quarterback after another, and in season 34 they would bring in one of their own. Joliet Christ Jr. was no slouch, but bringing in former Berlin Salamanders quarterback Dexter Zaylren was certainly an improvement. @shrub02 wrote an article on his top QBs of all time, both Dexter Zaylren and Carter Knight were in the top 10. Dexter Zaylren combined with Corba Kai would be a recipe for a very good offense and the results would be immediate for Honolulu. Sarasota continued to progress themselves and developed into a more balanced run/pass offense with John Huntsman at runningback performing very well. Huntsman would win Offensive Player of the Year in season 34. Sarasota finished 10-5-1 in the regular season giving them a bid into the NSFC Wildcard. The 11th straight playoff appearance for Sarasota. At this point the Sailfish made the playoffs 12 times out of the 13 seasons since joining the league. Unfortunately they would suffer an all to common fate for Sarasota and be eliminated in the Wildcard game.
Honolulu finished the season 11-5 and secured their spot in the ASFC Conference Championship, facing the Arizona Outlaws. In contrast to Sarasota, this is just Honolulu's 3rd playoff appearance. In season 31 they proved they can win it all once they get their and they were hungry for another win, tired of being little brother to Sarasota. Much of the 1st quarter was uneventful against Arizona, but late in the 1st Honolulu would score the first points of the game and take the lead with a 55 yard pass from new quarterback Zaylren to veteran Kai. Early in the 2nd Honolulu would score again taking a 14-0 lead. The game quickly heated up and we saw an exchange of touchdowns the 3 following drives putting the score at 21-14 and the Honolulu lead shrinking. In the second half Zaylren threw an interception, giving Arizona good field position that they capitalized on and evened the score 21-21. Shortly into the 4th quarter Honolulu had lost the lead and it was a 4 point game. The realization seemed to set in for the Hahalua and they defense would close out the game not allowing Arizona to score any more points. On offense they would rack up another 17 points and end the game 41-28. For as many times as Sarasota made the playoffs, they had only had two Ultimus appearances, now Honolulu would match that as they would go on to play the Butchers from the NSFC.
It looked like Honolulu was off to the races starting the game with forcing Chicago 3 and out, and driving the ball downfield. Once they made it to the redzone the early momentum flipped with a sack turned forced fumble, which was recovered by the Butchers. Still the defense looked strong for Honolulu forcing another 3 and out. By the end of the first Chicago had a small lead of 3-0. Throughout the second each team would score a touchdown and with under 2 minutes left Chicago had 2 big runs and would score another touchdown. Honolulu had enough time left on the clock for a field goal putting us at 17-10 going into the half. Honolulu opened the half by tying the game with a 31 yard pass. The next time any team would score points would be a safety scored by Honolulu well into the 4th quarter. Chicago would hold the Sailfish offense off and score on a 64 yard pass. They then stripped the ball from Honolulu giving them the ball well within Sailfish territory, but had to settle for a field goal. Honolulu score on their next drive and since it's an 8 point game with less the a minute left, go for a 2 point conversion. The convert successfully and tie the game. All they have to do is hold Chicago's offense off for 50 seconds. Honolulu kicks off and the ball is returned for 43 yards. A bad start for the Sailfish. Nevertheless, they run the clock out before Chicago can get in field goal range, and the game goes to OT. It's a back in forth OT with both teams punting back and forth, until eventually Chicago scores and ends the game 33-27. Giving Honolulu their first Ultimus loss, and the first loss for either of the expansion teams.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 11-5, Ultimus Bowl Appearance
Sailfish 10-5-1, NSFC Wildcard Appearance
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 1-1
Sailfish 2-0
Season 35, Run It Back
Sarasota would regress this season even with Knight and Huntsman. Defense was a weak point for them throughout the season, with most of their games turning into a high scoring shootout. Their offense wasn't able to get them into the playoffs for a 12th straight appearance. Finishing 7-9 they would miss the playoffs for only the second time. Honolulu was only getting better though. They had found their quarterback and with a close loss last year, they were determined to make it back to the Ultimus Bowl and win this time. They finished the season 13-3 and again skipped the wildcard game and went straight into the ASFC Championship. They played the Outlaws again and in a much less interesting game from last year won 26-20. They were back in the Ultimus Bowl this time playing the Baltimore Hawks. They got off to a 21-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, and the game may as well have been over. Only scoring one other time with a field goal, they won their second Ultimus Bowl 24-13. Did they have as many playoff appearances as Sarasota. No. Were they a consistent contender to win it all. No. Did they have the history of hall of famers and legendary quarterbacks. No. But Honolulu was playing it's best football and they didn't show signs of slowing down. They were tired of being looked as just another team and now they were making a name for themselves. They were no longer the other expansion team. They were the Halalua and if you were on the other side of the ball from they, you had better take them serious. At this point they have more Ultimus appearances and have won just as many as Sarasota.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 13-3, Ultimus Bowl Win
Sailfish 7-9
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 2-1
Sailfish 2-0
Season 36, Us vs Them
To me, this season is the pinnacle of the rivalry between the two expansion teams. They both have their respective best QB of all time. The runningbacks could definitely be argued to be their best. Sarasota still struggles at times on defense, but Big Slammu and the Honolulu defense are an absolute force. Sarasota finished 12-4 regular season and would have to get through the wildcard game again. This time against the Yellowknife Wraiths. There was concern on the Sarasota side at time, but forcing turnovers throughout the entire game limited the Wraiths to just 22 points to Sarasota's 25. Ending the game 22-25 and advancing Sarasota to the NSFC Championship. Honolulu had already secured their spot in the ASFC with an 11-5 season placing them first in the conference. With the prospect of their rival making it and them missing out, both teams crushed their opponents in their conference championship games. Sarasota beat the Butchers 22-2 and Honolulu beat the Outlaws 38-21. With those wins, for the first time we'll see the two expansion teams face off against each other in the Ultimus Bowl. Regardless of all the history of the two teams, this game means everything.
Sarasota will receive the ball to start the game. Following an 8 yard pass and rush for a loss, Carter Knight throws an interception to Kendrick-Watts. Kendrick-Watts returned the interception for 16 yards and Honolulu has the ball at the Sailfish 41. Honolulu runs the ball for 5 yards and on the next play Zaylren finds Buffalo Hunter for a 31 yard touchdown. Just a few minutes into the game and Honolulu had made a statement. If Sarasota wanted to see themselves as the big brother, they would have to prove it on the field. Honolulu kicks the ball off and the next play Slammu sacks Knight for 11 yards. Knight throws a short completion and it's 3rd and 17. Knight has all the pressure in the world on him. He throws another interception in his own territory. Honolulu gets the ball with great field position to start for the second time, just a few minutes into the game, but after two incompletions and a short run are forced to go for a field goal. The kick is no good, and Sarasota is still in the game only behind 7-0. The first play of the drive Knight is sacked again. The second play. Knight is sacked again. At this point in the game one would speculate the Sarasota offensive line put money on Honolulu. A short pass short of the first down and Sarasota punts. Honolulu settles for a field goal on their drive and take a 10-0 lead early in the 2nd. Sarasota go 3 and out. Again. They attempt to punt the ball, but the kick is blocked and Honolulu gets the ball in Sailfish territory. Everything that can go wrong for Sarasota is going wrong. Honolulu fails to take advantage of the field position though and miss the field goal. Sarasota's offense finally gets going and a 38 yard pass to Huntsman followed by a rush by Huntsman gets points on the board for the sailfish with a touchdown. Honolulu receives the ball and moves it into sailfish territory. Facing 4th and 1 and tired of missing field goals they attempt to convert the 4th down and fail. It's Sarasota's ball with just over 2 minutes left. Knight is fully warmed up and moving the ball at will. A 34 yard pass and Sarasota has their first lead of the game. The first half end 14-10. Honolulu will receive in the 2nd half.
Attempting to force the run is ineffective for Honolulu and they're forced to punt on their opening drive. Honolulu punts, Sarasota punts, Honolulu punts, and Sarasota punts. Sarasota punts it short. Very Short. Combined with a return by Honolulu and they take the ball at the 30. Four plays later and the Hahalua have the lead again, scoring a touchdown. Sarasota attempts to answer back, but fumble early in the drive. Luckily for the sailfish they recovered the ball. They move the ball with short yardage and regain the lead 21-17 early in the 4th. A three and out for Honolulu and the pressure is on. It's the 4th quarter, they're trailing, and Sarasota is getting the ball. They looked dominate in the first few minutes of the game, and now they're struggling and looking at defeat. Cornerback Lip Gallagher steps up and intercepts Knight's pass and returns it for 32 yards. For what seems like a countless amount of times, Honolulu is given great field position. If there was a time they HAVE to capitalize on that, it's now. They do just that, Zaylren throws a pass for a touchdown and the lead is taken back. It's 24-21, but there's just under 5 minutes left. If Sarasota runs the clock out and score a touchdown, it's over for Honolulu. Even a field goal will take the game into overtime. Knight had plans to do either of those and throws a 72 yard pass to Kaepercolin on the first play of the drive, immediately taking the lead back. Now Sarasota has to worry about Honolulu scoring and leaving no time left, but it's a 4 point lead and a field goal isn't an option. If Honolulu wants to win, they have to drive the length of the field and score a touchdown. Which they do. A 35 yard pass and the lead changed again. There's only a minute left in the game for Sarasota to score. They crumble under the pressure and go 3 and out, then fail to convert the 4th down. Honolulu kneels the ball and the game is over. Honolulu wins 31-28. They've proven to everyone that they're not the runner up of the two expansion teams.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 11-5, Ultimus Bowl Win
Sailfish 12-4, Ultimus Bowl Appearance
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 3-1
Sailfish 2-1
Season 37, Blowouts
Honolulu high off the triumph of winning two straight Ultimus Bowl's have a good regular season. Not great, not bad, but good. They finish 9-7 and play NOLA in the wildcard game. They win fairly easily and move on to the ASFC Championship against the Outlaws. They lose the game 31-19 and won't have the chance to three-peat. Sarasota doesn't let the loss last year get them down and go 12-4 in the regular season. They skip the wildcard game and crush the Wraiths 41-24 in the NSFC Championship. They make it to the Ultimus Bowl and have a chance to redeem last year. The Outlaws beat them worse than they beat Honolulu though. The game would end 31-11 and give Sarasota it's second loss in the Ultimus Bowl.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 9-7, ASFC Championship Appearance
Sailfish 12-4, Ultimus Bowl Appearance
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 3-1
Sailfish 2-2
Seasons 38-40, The Dark Ages
Season 38 would spell disaster for Honolulu. Dexter Zaylren and Buffalo Hunter are gone at quarterback and runningback. The receiver room isn't as strong as past years, and the defense was lackluster compared to previous years. Just two years removed to back to back Ultimus Bowl titles and Honolulu doesn't win a single game. They finish 0-16. Season 39 wouldn't be much better, finishing 3-13 and in season 40 they at least didn't finish last in the conference and go 5-11. Honolulu was never a top tier team, but you could always count on them to at least be somewhere in the middle of the league. Now they don't even have that.
Sarasota didn't fall near as far with Carter Knight still at the helm. They missed the playoffs in season 38 for just the third time going 7-9. In season 39 they finish 10-5-1 and make an appearance in the wildcard and are eliminated by the Chicago Butchers. A fate they're familiar with by this point. In season 40 they finish 8-7-1 and again fail to make the playoffs. While these records aren't bad, compared to what we've come to expect from the Sailfish it's certainty a step back. In these three seasons we've seen them miss the playoffs as many times as we have every other season.
Regular Season Records:
Hahalua 0-16 / 3-13 / 5-11
Sailfish 7-9 / 10-5-1 / 8-7-1, NSFC Wildcard Appearance
Ultimus Bowl Record:
Hahalua 3-1
Sailfish 2-2
Season 41, Conclusion
We're coming up on the end of season 41 and Honolulu is leading the ASFC. They've been through a rough patch, but invested time and resources to develop their young team and the benefits are starting to show. We may see them make another run at the Ultimus Bowl if they continue to play at the level they have been. Sarasota is working with new quarterback Willier Miller, but have looked strong this year too. Their most recent game was a 51-0 win against the Chicago Butchers, who themselves are a good team this year. I'm excited to see how these two teams finish the season. I'm looking forward to how their rosters develop and the players we'll look back on several seasons from now. Good luck to the both of these teams as we finish out the season.
I had a lot of fun looking into these two teams and I'm sure I missed a lot. Feel free to share any memories you have that I missed or highlight any of the players I failed to. Also, who do you view as the better team out of the two? Sarasota is almost always in the playoffs, but seem to struggle once there. Honolulu doesn't make it to the playoffs as often, but play hard when they do. It's an interesting dynamic the two have and I'll have a hard time rooting against either of them. Thanks to everyone who read to the end.