Quote:2) This week will see the S24 Ultimus and Ultimini races begin in earnest. In 800 words or more, recount any of the previous playoff cycles of either league. How did each team arrive at the playoffs? Were there any dark horse or Cinderella teams that went unexpectedly far, or any presumptive favorites that fell flat? How did the title game play out, and which players made their mark on the field? Tell the story of those playoffs as completely as you can. Do not simply recount your own experience in those playoffs or that of a singular team.
Season 22 of the NSFL (now ISFL) was my first year in the major league as a player, and for that reason it will forever hold a place in my heart as one of the more interesting playoffs that has happened in recent memory. To begin, it is important to recall that this was also the year of expansion in the league, with the 10 current teams being joined by 2 new teams looking to make a mark; the Honolulu Hahalua, and the Sarasota Sailfish. One of these teams would fail to make any real impression on the playoff picture this season, while the other would make quite the splash in their first season as a team. With this in mind, let us begin our conversation about these playoffs by recounting the adventures of the NSFC.
It would not be incorrect to say the NSFC was altogether dominated by one team; the Yellowknife Wraiths. The team that would always just come up short on the big occasion after laying waste to the league did the second part yet again, storming through the entirety of the league and entering the playoffs comfortably with an 11-2 record and home field advantage for their entire playoff run. Behind them - in what bizarrely would be a plucky underdog position due to the pure domination of the Wraiths - would be the Colorado Yeti. The Yeti stormed out to a 5-0 record to start the season, but a massive lull around the mid-season mark where they went 1-5 including all their inter-conference meant they fell off the pace compared to their Wraith counterparts. People knew that they had the talent on their team to maybe do something special, but it would surely take a lot to overcome such a dominant Wraiths team again like they had done in Week 1 of the season. The final team in playoff contention in the NSFC would be the biggest surprise so far with the expansion Sailfish making it in on conference record over the Philadelphia Liberty. As a new team, making it this far was an accomplishment in itself for them, and truthfully no-one expected anything more from them as Wildcard week approached.
Meanwhile in the ASFC, there was carnage to be had throughout the conference. To put it succinctly, this was the scarier conference by a large distance; the team that eventually missed out on playoffs would have the same record as the easy 2nd place Yeti in the other conference. A team that never had to worry about the kerfuffle however was the Orange County Otters. As ever in this timeframe, the Otters dynasty was too strong for most opposition - with the only team able to beat them consistently being the San Jose SaberCats. An 10-3 record would only be enough for an away game against the Wraiths in the Ultimus should it come to that - but bets were still on the Otters to go far either way. The next 2 teams were decided by 3 teams all within half a game of one-another: the Copperheads, the Second Line and the SaberCats. Sadly, the plucky story of the SaberCats winning against all the odds was derailed with a 3-3 record to end the season, making them miss out on the playoffs in a tiebreaker against the Second Line after being forced out by the Copperheads on the last week of the season.
After all of that action, the Wildcard round had finally arrived. First up on the NSFC side, the expansion underdogs in the Sailfish faced off against the strong Colorado Yeti team. And, almost unsurprisingly, the Yeti absolutely dominated the new Sailfish team. The Yeti had the best of Sarasota from the moment the game started and, with as especially strong performance from McDummy, they dispatched of their fishy rivals with great precision. The ASFC matchup would be much more fun however, as the 8-5 Second Line travelled to the 8-4-1 Austin Copperheads. Home field was seen to be of massive advantage in what would be considered a great ground-based matchup - and while there was a lot of running, plenty of respect should be given to the 2 QBs in Francisco and Cole who commandeered their team's passing attacks like no-one else would. Eventually late in the 4th quarter, Ryan Leaf Jr. - a player who had been a thorn in the side of the Second Line all afternoon - would run the ball in one last time to give the Copperheads the win 34-27 in an exciting Wildcard matchup.
With this result, the Conference Championship matchups were set. First up would be the NSFC; the Wraiths hosting the Yeti, coming off a big win over Sarasota. This game was largely set up to be a defensive masterclass and for the most part it was. Both kickers had their moments to shine, but sadly for Yellowknife Dougie Smalls missed a 54 yarder that would've put more pressure on the Yeti to perform. They may have dominated nearly all season and had been massive favourites to pull through against the Yeti in this game, but a 41 yard FG by Silver Banana sealed a hard-fought 17-16 win for a Yeti side who could barely dream about what was happening at this point in the past. To find out who would host them in the Ultimus, the Otters would host the Copperheads in what many would likely consider one of the greatest offensive Conference Championship games in recent memory. With only 6 punts on the day, kicking was a premium with both teams throwing for over 260 yards. However, while Austin could only add 76 rushing yards to that throwing prowess, Orange County added 187 yards of rushing to their total - bringing their total yards to 448 on the day. With a masterclass from Armstrong especially who threw for 4 Touchdowns on the day, the Otters would take this game 50-38 in what was an absolute barnstormer of a match. This confirmed the Ultimus matchup: the dynasty of the Otters would face off against the underdog Yeti...
...And for a while during the game it looked as if it would be completely one-sided. Going into half-time, the Otters had a commanding 14-3 lead, and a Bigby TD on the other side of the half brought the lead to 21-3. All this had done in the grand scheme of things however, was make this Ultimus match one of the craziest of all-time because of what happened next. Before the end of the 3rd quarter, Wolfie McDummy would punch the ball in on the goal-line to make the score 21-10. Soon after, as the game ticked into the 4th, the Yeti charged down the field again with reckless abandon - and after Vincent punched in the ball and the 2 point conversion was converted, the game had a score of 21-18. The Otters were reeling, but they knew all they had to do was chew the clock and then get the stop they needed. And as such, they took as much time as they could in their next possession. By doing so - after a field goal from Alex D. - the Yeti found themselves down 24-18 with 4 minutes left on the clock. This would set up 3 chunk plays that would define this game, and this entire season, in the history books:
3:33 - 3rd & 10 - McDummy completes pass to Bishop for 19 yards
2:15 - 3rd & 6 - McDummy completes pass to Owens for 32 yards
1:10 - 2nd & 4 - McDummy completes pass to Bishop for 10 yards
And with that pass - with 1:10 to go - the Yeti scored to go up 25-24. While the Otters got as far as midfield, they couldn't get their Field Goal unit out fast enough to get a kick off. And as such, the Colorado Yeti would become S22 Ultimus Champions. The most unlikely of winners, in the most unpredictable and crazy of finals, in what was truly an unpredictable year no matter which way you look at it. If any other team in the playoffs won - save for Sarasota - it likely would not be a huge surprise. But that just speaks to the talent that was shown at this point in history, brought about largely from an expansion that shook the landscape of the league forever.
Code:
1384 words