Wraiths Win First Championship
After 8 seasons of trying, the Wraiths are finally NSFL Champions. The Wraiths have been consistent contenders in the NSFL, making the playoffs in 7 of the league's 8 seasons, however they were not able to get over the hump until this season. They have been in win now mode these last two seasons, giving up future picks to bring in established players like Boss Tweed, Arbin Asipi Jr., and Micah Hendrix. The moves worked well for them as they finished with the best record in the league two years in a row and were able to get over the top with a championship win.
The Wraiths' recent championship push started with some adjustments over the off season between Season 6 and Season 7. After making it to the Ultimus game in the previous two seasons, the Wraiths took a step back in Season 6 as they went 7-6-1 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. They looked to make some adjustments over the off season to get back to the Ultimus game in Season 7. They made move to improve their defense by trading some draft picks for running back Boss Tweed who switched to the linebacker position. Wraiths' running back Eric Kennedy also announced a position switch as he would be moving full time to the wide receiver position after having some experience playing as a receiver earlier in his career. To fill the hole at running back, the Wraiths also called up running back Robby Rainey from the DSFL to be their new starter. After these moves, the Wraiths were hoping to make it back to the top of the NSFC in Season 7.
The Wraiths moves worked out for them as they got off to a blistering hot start in Season 7. They opened the season with a 9-0 start as they looked like the best team in the league early on. However, the undefeated start came to an end in Orange County in Week 10 as the Wraiths lost to the Otters. The Wraiths knew they were within striking distance of a championship and didn't want to lose any ground, so they made another move to bolster the defense further by bringing in defensive end Arbin Asipi Jr. They regrouped after their first loss of the season and did not lose another game in the regular season as they went on to finish 13-1. The Wraiths entered the postseason with high expectations as they had not only scored the most points on offense while allowing the least points on defense but they also had finished with the best record in the league, guaranteeing them home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
They would open up with an NSFC Championship match up against the Philadelphia Liberty who they had beaten in both regular season meetings. However, their playoff run did not get off to the expected start as they fell behind early on with the Liberty taking a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter. The Wraiths were never able to recover as they narrowed the deficit to 2 points twice, but never took a lead as they ultimately lost 40-31. It was a crushing loss for the Wraiths as they seemed to fall apart on the big stage of the playoffs, surrendering 40 points after never allowing anybody to score more than 28 against them in the regular season. The Liberty went on to win the championship that season while the Wraiths saw a promising season come to a disappointing and premature ending.
The Wraiths didn't make any dramatic changes over the off season between Season 7 and Season 8. Despite the playoff loss, they felt that they already had the pieces in place to win a championship and had just been caught on an unlucky day. They did lose Arbin Asipi Jr. in free agency but they called up defensive end Zach Skinner from the DSFL to fill in for him and added a new piece to their defense by drafting linebacker Chad Pennington in the first round. There was some uncertainty for the Wraiths as they had one of the older teams in the league and faced the first round of regression, but they believed their players would keep training hard enough to mostly counteract the effects of regression and maintain a similar level of play.
In Season 8, the Wraiths got off to another strong start as they were the last undefeated team in the league. They had big wins early on as they beat the Baltimore Hawks and the Philadelphia Liberty in back to back road games and then beat the Hawks again at home to get off to a 6-0 start. However, they faltered in the game after that as they once again suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of the Orange County Otters, though this time it was in Yellowknife as the Otters won comfortably by 17 points. After the Otters loss, the Wraiths made big move by trading a draft pick in exchange for linebacker Micah Hendrix from the Phildalphia, adding a major piece to their defense. The Wraiths looked to regroup, but suffered another loss a few weeks later as they were blown out by the Outlaws in Arizona. Two weeks later the Wraiths were blown out again as they lost to the Otters in Orange County. They won their next two games and were able to finish 11-3, giving them the best record in the league and home field advantage throughout the playoffs for a second year in a row. However, the did look shakier this season than they did the previous year as the lost more games and lost by larger margins and finished with a lower point differential, taking a step back both on offense and defense. However, what mattered for the Wraiths this year was not regular season performance, but playoff performance. They had finished with the best record in the regular season again but this time they were determined to show that they could deliver in the playoffs after a strong regular season.
They opened the playoffs off taking on the Baltimore Hawks in the NSFC Championship game. The Wraiths had won both regular season games between these teams but both had been decided by a single score. The game started out looking like a repeat of the Wraith's Season 7 playoff game as they faced a big deficit early on with the Hawks taking a 21-0 lead. However, the Wraiths were determined not to allow another early exit in the playoffs. They went on to dominate the rest of the game as they finished on a 38-3 run to win 38-24 and advance to the championship game.
This set up a showdown against the New Orleans Second Line who were the ASFC Champions and were also trying to win their first Ultimus trophy. The Wraiths had dominated both regular season games between these two teams, but those games were in Week 1 and Week 3 and both teams had made some midseason trades since then so they were both changed teams. The Second Line were the hottest team in the league as they won 7 of their last 8 regular season games and were starting to look like true contenders, though they did not play the Wraiths in that span. The Second Line struck first in the game with a field goal to take a 3-0 lead but the Wraiths answered back with a rushing touchdown on the following drive to take a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter. The Wraiths expanded their lead on their first drive of the second quarter as Robby Rainey ran in his second touchdown of the day to put them up 14-3. The Second Line responded on the following drive with their first touchdown of the game as Borkus Maximus III connected with Dustin Evans to cut the deficit to 14-10. This score held for the rest of the half as the Wraiths took a 4 point lead into the locker room. The Wraiths looked to pull away early on in the second half as they marched down the field on the opening drive and Eric Kennedy hauled in a 36 yard touchdown pass to take a 21-10 lead. Both defenses came on strong as the teams traded possessions until a Dermot Lavelle interception set up a field goal by Forfeit to put the Wraiths up 24-10, giving them their largest lead of the game late in the third quarter. The defenses continued to impose their will as possession went back and forth a few times until the Second Line got a drive going and Peg Leg cappped it off with a field goal to make the score 24-13. However, this would be the final score of the game as the final 9 minutes were scoreless and the clock ran out with the Wraiths taking a 24-13 victory to win their first championship.
It was a win many seasons in the making, but it was all worth it in the end as the Wraiths were finally able to bring the Ultimus trophy to Yellowknife. It will be interesting to see where the Wraiths go from here. Their core is still aging and will have to face another round of regression this year. Now that they have gotten over the top, some of the Wraiths' players are starting to think about retirement or moving on to other teams. However they should bring back most of last season's roster and are not going to sit back as they are still looking to contend next season as seen by their recent signing of veteran linebacker Wallace Stone. Even with their current stars starting to age, the Wraiths also have some promising younger players to look forward to who will hopefully be able to step up next season to make up for other players regressing. The Wraiths will have to work hard to defend their championship next season, but for now they can take the off season to celebrate their big accomplishment.
After 8 seasons of trying, the Wraiths are finally NSFL Champions. The Wraiths have been consistent contenders in the NSFL, making the playoffs in 7 of the league's 8 seasons, however they were not able to get over the hump until this season. They have been in win now mode these last two seasons, giving up future picks to bring in established players like Boss Tweed, Arbin Asipi Jr., and Micah Hendrix. The moves worked well for them as they finished with the best record in the league two years in a row and were able to get over the top with a championship win.
The Wraiths' recent championship push started with some adjustments over the off season between Season 6 and Season 7. After making it to the Ultimus game in the previous two seasons, the Wraiths took a step back in Season 6 as they went 7-6-1 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. They looked to make some adjustments over the off season to get back to the Ultimus game in Season 7. They made move to improve their defense by trading some draft picks for running back Boss Tweed who switched to the linebacker position. Wraiths' running back Eric Kennedy also announced a position switch as he would be moving full time to the wide receiver position after having some experience playing as a receiver earlier in his career. To fill the hole at running back, the Wraiths also called up running back Robby Rainey from the DSFL to be their new starter. After these moves, the Wraiths were hoping to make it back to the top of the NSFC in Season 7.
The Wraiths moves worked out for them as they got off to a blistering hot start in Season 7. They opened the season with a 9-0 start as they looked like the best team in the league early on. However, the undefeated start came to an end in Orange County in Week 10 as the Wraiths lost to the Otters. The Wraiths knew they were within striking distance of a championship and didn't want to lose any ground, so they made another move to bolster the defense further by bringing in defensive end Arbin Asipi Jr. They regrouped after their first loss of the season and did not lose another game in the regular season as they went on to finish 13-1. The Wraiths entered the postseason with high expectations as they had not only scored the most points on offense while allowing the least points on defense but they also had finished with the best record in the league, guaranteeing them home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
They would open up with an NSFC Championship match up against the Philadelphia Liberty who they had beaten in both regular season meetings. However, their playoff run did not get off to the expected start as they fell behind early on with the Liberty taking a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter. The Wraiths were never able to recover as they narrowed the deficit to 2 points twice, but never took a lead as they ultimately lost 40-31. It was a crushing loss for the Wraiths as they seemed to fall apart on the big stage of the playoffs, surrendering 40 points after never allowing anybody to score more than 28 against them in the regular season. The Liberty went on to win the championship that season while the Wraiths saw a promising season come to a disappointing and premature ending.
The Wraiths didn't make any dramatic changes over the off season between Season 7 and Season 8. Despite the playoff loss, they felt that they already had the pieces in place to win a championship and had just been caught on an unlucky day. They did lose Arbin Asipi Jr. in free agency but they called up defensive end Zach Skinner from the DSFL to fill in for him and added a new piece to their defense by drafting linebacker Chad Pennington in the first round. There was some uncertainty for the Wraiths as they had one of the older teams in the league and faced the first round of regression, but they believed their players would keep training hard enough to mostly counteract the effects of regression and maintain a similar level of play.
In Season 8, the Wraiths got off to another strong start as they were the last undefeated team in the league. They had big wins early on as they beat the Baltimore Hawks and the Philadelphia Liberty in back to back road games and then beat the Hawks again at home to get off to a 6-0 start. However, they faltered in the game after that as they once again suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of the Orange County Otters, though this time it was in Yellowknife as the Otters won comfortably by 17 points. After the Otters loss, the Wraiths made big move by trading a draft pick in exchange for linebacker Micah Hendrix from the Phildalphia, adding a major piece to their defense. The Wraiths looked to regroup, but suffered another loss a few weeks later as they were blown out by the Outlaws in Arizona. Two weeks later the Wraiths were blown out again as they lost to the Otters in Orange County. They won their next two games and were able to finish 11-3, giving them the best record in the league and home field advantage throughout the playoffs for a second year in a row. However, the did look shakier this season than they did the previous year as the lost more games and lost by larger margins and finished with a lower point differential, taking a step back both on offense and defense. However, what mattered for the Wraiths this year was not regular season performance, but playoff performance. They had finished with the best record in the regular season again but this time they were determined to show that they could deliver in the playoffs after a strong regular season.
They opened the playoffs off taking on the Baltimore Hawks in the NSFC Championship game. The Wraiths had won both regular season games between these teams but both had been decided by a single score. The game started out looking like a repeat of the Wraith's Season 7 playoff game as they faced a big deficit early on with the Hawks taking a 21-0 lead. However, the Wraiths were determined not to allow another early exit in the playoffs. They went on to dominate the rest of the game as they finished on a 38-3 run to win 38-24 and advance to the championship game.
This set up a showdown against the New Orleans Second Line who were the ASFC Champions and were also trying to win their first Ultimus trophy. The Wraiths had dominated both regular season games between these two teams, but those games were in Week 1 and Week 3 and both teams had made some midseason trades since then so they were both changed teams. The Second Line were the hottest team in the league as they won 7 of their last 8 regular season games and were starting to look like true contenders, though they did not play the Wraiths in that span. The Second Line struck first in the game with a field goal to take a 3-0 lead but the Wraiths answered back with a rushing touchdown on the following drive to take a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter. The Wraiths expanded their lead on their first drive of the second quarter as Robby Rainey ran in his second touchdown of the day to put them up 14-3. The Second Line responded on the following drive with their first touchdown of the game as Borkus Maximus III connected with Dustin Evans to cut the deficit to 14-10. This score held for the rest of the half as the Wraiths took a 4 point lead into the locker room. The Wraiths looked to pull away early on in the second half as they marched down the field on the opening drive and Eric Kennedy hauled in a 36 yard touchdown pass to take a 21-10 lead. Both defenses came on strong as the teams traded possessions until a Dermot Lavelle interception set up a field goal by Forfeit to put the Wraiths up 24-10, giving them their largest lead of the game late in the third quarter. The defenses continued to impose their will as possession went back and forth a few times until the Second Line got a drive going and Peg Leg cappped it off with a field goal to make the score 24-13. However, this would be the final score of the game as the final 9 minutes were scoreless and the clock ran out with the Wraiths taking a 24-13 victory to win their first championship.
It was a win many seasons in the making, but it was all worth it in the end as the Wraiths were finally able to bring the Ultimus trophy to Yellowknife. It will be interesting to see where the Wraiths go from here. Their core is still aging and will have to face another round of regression this year. Now that they have gotten over the top, some of the Wraiths' players are starting to think about retirement or moving on to other teams. However they should bring back most of last season's roster and are not going to sit back as they are still looking to contend next season as seen by their recent signing of veteran linebacker Wallace Stone. Even with their current stars starting to age, the Wraiths also have some promising younger players to look forward to who will hopefully be able to step up next season to make up for other players regressing. The Wraiths will have to work hard to defend their championship next season, but for now they can take the off season to celebrate their big accomplishment.