06-24-2018, 09:46 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-27-2018, 08:39 PM by GoonerBear.)
Root for the Underdog
The New Orleans Second Line can beat the Orange County Otters to reach the Ultimus.
We start just looking at their last game against each other. A one-point escape by the Otters at home. With this upcoming game, the Second Line don't have to have long memories to carry that chip around. They have the QB play to compete, too. Borkus Maximus III completed passes at a 2/3 rate all game long, much more efficient than his counterpart, Mike Boss, who completed one pass above .500.
Third-down conversions were going the way of the Big Easy, too. The Second Line went 11/20 for a 55% conversion rate. The Otters? 5/15, 33.3%. If that's how it's gonna be come conference final time, I don't think the Otters are going to repeat the breaks they got in that Week 13 match-up.
When looking at the bigger picture headed in, New Orleans only had that one loss out of their last 8 games. Orange County had two in the same stretch, though the second one is very concerning since they lost to an Arizona Outlaws outfit out of the running.
With a 78-yard gap in yards allowed in that game, I'd look for N.O. to tell O.C. "no" and get the edge to advance to the Ultimus.
(214)
That Magic Moment
For the Yellowknife Wraiths, it must have looked like a bad rerun or a sequel worse than the nightmarish original. Down 21-0 in the second quarter to a 7-7 Baltimore Hawks squad and looking like they were freefalling to another upset loss. In that same second quarter, however, was the moment that sparked Yellowknife to life. Dermot Lavelle's 31-yard pass to Mat Akselsen for a breakaway touchdown was something else to watch.
It was the moment everyone could feel the tides turn back in favor of the favorites, that maybe there was still some stability in this thing after all and the Wraiths had regained that feeling of their identity. That sense of who they are and how they got to host a semifinal. That touchdown was the moment the floodgates opened for the Wraiths. Though the Hawks put up a field goal to try to hold on another possession, the comeback was on and the Hawks' counteroffensive would never come to pass.
It was like watching a different game, and it was still just as sweet for Yellowknife to win, to come from behind and to exorcise some lingering ghosts of their past to advance to the Ultimus against the New Orleans Second Line. Bring something to fend off the bayou voodoo.
(213)
Playoff Series MVP
In the Yellowknife vs Baltimore matchup, I give my MVP of the game award to Marcus Kane, strong safety, Yellowknife. In the aforementioned comeback for this game, though the Wraiths' defense struggled early in allowing three touchdowns in the first half, Kane led the way for the defense to hold the line, recording 12 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and a sack. Kane was all over and almost anywhere he was needed. To borrow one of my favorite sayings from Gregg Easterbrook, "Defense starts rallies. Offense stops them."
On a night where Yellowknife QB Mat Akselsen struggled to complete passes inside the pocket, he needed all the time he could get to make their big plays count. The Wraiths' defense seemed renewed once they had stopped Baltimore and the offense notched their first touchdown with 59 seconds left in the first half. With a two-score game much more manageable and a halftime break to reset, refresh and recalibrate plans, Kane led the defense with his wide presence, courage to charge into the backfield when called upon and success in disrupting the Hawks' drives, starting the Wraiths' rally to come from 21 points down and finish with a win by 14.
(200)
Ultimini MVP
There were plenty of players who featured well in the DSFL's championship game. The contest was quite a back-and-forth with major plays from both sides turning the tides and culminating in Tijuana's last-second victory. My MVP of this game is, in some ways, an obvious choice, though until the end, I wouldn't have pegged him as such. Kicker/punter Kyle Corbett of the Tijuana Luchadores, a rookie free agent taken up in the middle of the season, ended up making the difference at the very end with a 50-yard field goal to snatch the Ultimini at the last second 21-20.
Earlier on, however, Corbett had missed his first extra point after Tijuana finally got on the board. That left an 11-point gap where the Luchadores would later have to go for two to move within three points, fail the try, then go for two again later on after a touchdown pulled them to a 20-18 margin late in the game. They failed that attempt, as well. But with Tijuana's defense still containing Showbiz, Harp, Valentine and Strike outside of field goal range long enough, the offense got it together to put on the final drive of the game, heading into two-minute warning mode.
With 10 seconds left and on the 33, they had their options cut out for them. If they ran a play, they risked running out of time with no timeouts. They could have tried a 50-yard field goal, though they would be calling on their rookie who missed the XP earlier. Coach went with the kicker to try to end the game on the spot, and Corbett didn't even look like he remembered his earlier miss. Big players make big plays in big moments, and Corbett made his name and his team champions. He is this game's MVP because his team put the last task in his hands and he delivered.
(313)
The New Orleans Second Line can beat the Orange County Otters to reach the Ultimus.
We start just looking at their last game against each other. A one-point escape by the Otters at home. With this upcoming game, the Second Line don't have to have long memories to carry that chip around. They have the QB play to compete, too. Borkus Maximus III completed passes at a 2/3 rate all game long, much more efficient than his counterpart, Mike Boss, who completed one pass above .500.
Third-down conversions were going the way of the Big Easy, too. The Second Line went 11/20 for a 55% conversion rate. The Otters? 5/15, 33.3%. If that's how it's gonna be come conference final time, I don't think the Otters are going to repeat the breaks they got in that Week 13 match-up.
When looking at the bigger picture headed in, New Orleans only had that one loss out of their last 8 games. Orange County had two in the same stretch, though the second one is very concerning since they lost to an Arizona Outlaws outfit out of the running.
With a 78-yard gap in yards allowed in that game, I'd look for N.O. to tell O.C. "no" and get the edge to advance to the Ultimus.
(214)
That Magic Moment
For the Yellowknife Wraiths, it must have looked like a bad rerun or a sequel worse than the nightmarish original. Down 21-0 in the second quarter to a 7-7 Baltimore Hawks squad and looking like they were freefalling to another upset loss. In that same second quarter, however, was the moment that sparked Yellowknife to life. Dermot Lavelle's 31-yard pass to Mat Akselsen for a breakaway touchdown was something else to watch.
It was the moment everyone could feel the tides turn back in favor of the favorites, that maybe there was still some stability in this thing after all and the Wraiths had regained that feeling of their identity. That sense of who they are and how they got to host a semifinal. That touchdown was the moment the floodgates opened for the Wraiths. Though the Hawks put up a field goal to try to hold on another possession, the comeback was on and the Hawks' counteroffensive would never come to pass.
It was like watching a different game, and it was still just as sweet for Yellowknife to win, to come from behind and to exorcise some lingering ghosts of their past to advance to the Ultimus against the New Orleans Second Line. Bring something to fend off the bayou voodoo.
(213)
Playoff Series MVP
In the Yellowknife vs Baltimore matchup, I give my MVP of the game award to Marcus Kane, strong safety, Yellowknife. In the aforementioned comeback for this game, though the Wraiths' defense struggled early in allowing three touchdowns in the first half, Kane led the way for the defense to hold the line, recording 12 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and a sack. Kane was all over and almost anywhere he was needed. To borrow one of my favorite sayings from Gregg Easterbrook, "Defense starts rallies. Offense stops them."
On a night where Yellowknife QB Mat Akselsen struggled to complete passes inside the pocket, he needed all the time he could get to make their big plays count. The Wraiths' defense seemed renewed once they had stopped Baltimore and the offense notched their first touchdown with 59 seconds left in the first half. With a two-score game much more manageable and a halftime break to reset, refresh and recalibrate plans, Kane led the defense with his wide presence, courage to charge into the backfield when called upon and success in disrupting the Hawks' drives, starting the Wraiths' rally to come from 21 points down and finish with a win by 14.
(200)
Ultimini MVP
There were plenty of players who featured well in the DSFL's championship game. The contest was quite a back-and-forth with major plays from both sides turning the tides and culminating in Tijuana's last-second victory. My MVP of this game is, in some ways, an obvious choice, though until the end, I wouldn't have pegged him as such. Kicker/punter Kyle Corbett of the Tijuana Luchadores, a rookie free agent taken up in the middle of the season, ended up making the difference at the very end with a 50-yard field goal to snatch the Ultimini at the last second 21-20.
Earlier on, however, Corbett had missed his first extra point after Tijuana finally got on the board. That left an 11-point gap where the Luchadores would later have to go for two to move within three points, fail the try, then go for two again later on after a touchdown pulled them to a 20-18 margin late in the game. They failed that attempt, as well. But with Tijuana's defense still containing Showbiz, Harp, Valentine and Strike outside of field goal range long enough, the offense got it together to put on the final drive of the game, heading into two-minute warning mode.
With 10 seconds left and on the 33, they had their options cut out for them. If they ran a play, they risked running out of time with no timeouts. They could have tried a 50-yard field goal, though they would be calling on their rookie who missed the XP earlier. Coach went with the kicker to try to end the game on the spot, and Corbett didn't even look like he remembered his earlier miss. Big players make big plays in big moments, and Corbett made his name and his team champions. He is this game's MVP because his team put the last task in his hands and he delivered.
(313)
[OPTION]S27: 16 GP | 164 Att, 675 Yds, 8 TD | 35 Rec, 234 Yds, | 22 PC, 3 SA
[OPTION]S28: 16 GP | 176 Att, 743 Yds, 6 TD | 38 Rec, 311 Yds, 1 TD | 34 PC, 1 SA
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]ISFL Postseason Stats
[OPTION]S24: 2 GP | 28 Att, 103 Yds, 1 TD | 4 Rec, 16 Yds, 1 TD | 3 PC
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]ISFL Postseason Stats
[OPTION]S24: 2 GP | 28 Att, 103 Yds, 1 TD | 4 Rec, 16 Yds, 1 TD | 3 PC
[OPTION]S25: 3 GP | 56 Att, 225 Yds, 1 TD | 3 Rec, 39 Yds | 3 PC
[OPTION]S28: 3 GP | 44 Att, 222 Yds, 3 TD | 9 Rec, 72 Yds | 6 PC
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]DSFL Regular Season Stats
[OPTION]S20: 14 GP | 241 Att, 1176 Yds, 14 TD | 9 Rec, 62 Yds | 10 PC, 3 SA
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]DSFL Postseason Stats
[OPTION]S20: 1 GP | 14 Att, 74 Yds, 1 TD
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]Awards and Honors:
[OPTION]Ultimus Champion: S24, S25, S28
[OPTION]ASFC Champion: S24, S25
[OPTION]DSFL Regular Season Stats
[OPTION]S20: 14 GP | 241 Att, 1176 Yds, 14 TD | 9 Rec, 62 Yds | 10 PC, 3 SA
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]DSFL Postseason Stats
[OPTION]S20: 1 GP | 14 Att, 74 Yds, 1 TD
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]Awards and Honors:
[OPTION]Ultimus Champion: S24, S25, S28
[OPTION]ASFC Champion: S24, S25
[OPTION]Ultimus Offensive Player of the Game: S28
[OPTION]NSFC Champion: S28
[OPTION]DSFL Offensive Rookie of the Year: S20
[OPTION]DSFL Pro Bowl: S20
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]Career Events
[OPTION]S20: Selected 38th overall by the Kansas City Coyotes
[OPTION]S21: Selected 32nd overall by the San Jose SaberCats
[OPTION]NSFC Champion: S28
[OPTION]DSFL Offensive Rookie of the Year: S20
[OPTION]DSFL Pro Bowl: S20
[OPTION]=======================================
[OPTION]Career Events
[OPTION]S20: Selected 38th overall by the Kansas City Coyotes
[OPTION]S21: Selected 32nd overall by the San Jose SaberCats
[OPTION]S28: Announced retirement, traded to Yellowknife Wraiths