Long Form Task 2: 800 words or more
I will be writing about the S21 playoffs.
The Wild Card Matchups:
Yellowknife Wraiths (7-6) @ Colorado Yeti (8-5)
The Wraiths were coming off of a stretch of three straight seasons which they had made it to the Ultimus Bowl but had lost. In fact, they had either won the division or tied for the best record in the division five seasons in a row, yet had failed to win a championship in any of them. This season, they had finally relinquished their stranglehold on the division title, limping into the playoffs at 7-6 as the #3 seed. On the other side, Colorado seemed poised to beat the Wraiths at home, a revenge from the previous postseason. At 8-5, the Yeti had a very good season, led by their star linebacker, reigning Defensive Player of the Year Mo Berry. Colorado attempted to control the game with defense and a strong rushing attack led by Ashley Owens. Instead, Yellowknife stymied the Colorado run game, holding them to only 2.8 yards per carry on 46 rushing attempts. Cooter Bigsby had an excellent game passing to the receiver trio of Nate Swift, Rayne Gordon, and Bender Rodriguez, and Yellowknife won 26-13 despite great games by Colorado defenders Bubba Thumper and Mo Berry.
Austin Copperheads (7-6) @ New Orleans Second Line (9-4)
Austin and NOLA were facing off for the third straight postseason. Despite Austin's 7-6 record and their status and the road underdog, many thought they might win this game. NOLA had looked like the best team in the league by far, winning their first nine games. Then they got ice cold, losing their final four and heading into the playoffs with low morale after blowing their chance at home field advantage throughout the playoffs. This was a clean game with only two penalties and no turnovers. Austin QB Easton Cole outperformed NOLA QB Stan Francisco, throwing for 335 yards and two touchdowns. Austin also led time of possession by five minutes. NOLA did enough to win, though, overcoming a 2/12 third down conversion performance and riding their star running back duo of Gump and Toriki to victory. The stellar duo combined for 218 rushing yards, two touchdowns, and a whopping 5.9 yards per carry. The defense added five sacks and kicker Prohaska made three field goals to hold off Austin and get the win.
The Championship Round:
Yellowknife Wraiths (7-6) @ Baltimore Hawks (9-4)
Baltimore was the number one seed in the NSFL, reaching nine wins by virtue of the incredible play of their veteran quarterback, Corvo Havran. Havran threw for an incredible 32 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions. The defense also contributed to their excellent season, forcing timely turnovers, including a league leading 12 interceptions, with four each from free safety Walt Green and cornerback Marquees Acho. This game started off a defensive struggle. The first quarter consisted of ten punts on ten drives between the two teams. Right at the end of the first quarter, Bigsby hit Swift for a big 30 yard strike down the field, the first offensive spark of the game from either team. Dougie Smalls hit a 28 yard field goal on that possession to put Yellowknife up 3-0. Then Yellowknife erupted. They scored a touchdown on their next possession, a pass from Bigsby to Gordon. Then CB Mervin Leonard intercepted veteran Havran and returned the pick 83 yards for a touchdown. After forcing a Baltimore three and out, Johnny Snuggles took a punt return 78 yards to set up another Bigsby touchdown pass, this time to Swift. Yellowknife scored all 24 of their points in the second quarter, but running back Mathias Hanyadi ran out the clock, grinding his way to 117 rushing yards. The defense held off a late Baltimore surge capped by two touchdowns by RB Darrell Williams, and won the game 24-19.
New Orleans Second Line (9-4) @ Orange County Otters (10-3)
The number one seeded Otters were coming off another magnificent season by quarterback Franklin Armstrong in which he had won his third straight Most Valuable Player award. Armstrong had 26 passing touchdowns and only two interceptions. He also added good yardage on the ground along side running backs Ludicolo Bigby and Siddhu Sarvellapay, resulting in OCO leading the league in rushing yards. With two strong rushing games pitted against one another, both defenses honed in on the running game. As a result neither team had much success on the ground, with both teams averaging less than 4 yards a carry. So both teams took to the air to jumpstart their offenses, with Francisco attempting 38 passes and Armstrong attempting 40. Francisco outplayed the MVP, with 316 yards, 2 first half touchdowns, an interception, and a 91.6 passer rating. Armstrong was abysmal, completing only 40% of his passes, averaging 4.9 yards per pass attempt, and a rating of 64.2. Despite Armstrong's poor play, OCO overcame an early 14 point deficit to tie the game with one minute left on a Bigby touchdown run. After a 37 yard kick return by Deon Taylor to start overtime, Francisco threw a 23 yard strike to Bonaberi Jones on his only attempt of the drive, and after a few runs to get closer positioning, Prohaska drilled a 46 yard go ahead field goal. On the ensuing drive, safety Mason Blaylock made a huge sack on 3rd and 4, and one incompletion from Armstrong later, NOLA was Ultimus bound.
Ultimus Bowl:
Yellowknife Wraiths (7-6) @ New Orleans Second Line (9-4)
There was no drama in this game. After two tough road wins, Yellowknife was spent. Just like they had done in their previous game, NOLA got off to a hot start, going up 20-0 quickly thanks to a couple touchdown strikes by Francisco and two field goals by Prohaska. NOLA had learned their lesson in the previous game, though, and did not let off the gas. They throttled Yellowknife for 583 yards from scrimmage, including 221 yards and a touchdown from Forrest Gump. Francisco threw for 353 and three scores, Gump and Toriki combined for fifty rush attempts and 225 yards, and NOLA won 33-13, handing Yellowknife their fourth consecutive Ultimus Bowl defeat.
I will be writing about the S21 playoffs.
The Wild Card Matchups:
Yellowknife Wraiths (7-6) @ Colorado Yeti (8-5)
The Wraiths were coming off of a stretch of three straight seasons which they had made it to the Ultimus Bowl but had lost. In fact, they had either won the division or tied for the best record in the division five seasons in a row, yet had failed to win a championship in any of them. This season, they had finally relinquished their stranglehold on the division title, limping into the playoffs at 7-6 as the #3 seed. On the other side, Colorado seemed poised to beat the Wraiths at home, a revenge from the previous postseason. At 8-5, the Yeti had a very good season, led by their star linebacker, reigning Defensive Player of the Year Mo Berry. Colorado attempted to control the game with defense and a strong rushing attack led by Ashley Owens. Instead, Yellowknife stymied the Colorado run game, holding them to only 2.8 yards per carry on 46 rushing attempts. Cooter Bigsby had an excellent game passing to the receiver trio of Nate Swift, Rayne Gordon, and Bender Rodriguez, and Yellowknife won 26-13 despite great games by Colorado defenders Bubba Thumper and Mo Berry.
Austin Copperheads (7-6) @ New Orleans Second Line (9-4)
Austin and NOLA were facing off for the third straight postseason. Despite Austin's 7-6 record and their status and the road underdog, many thought they might win this game. NOLA had looked like the best team in the league by far, winning their first nine games. Then they got ice cold, losing their final four and heading into the playoffs with low morale after blowing their chance at home field advantage throughout the playoffs. This was a clean game with only two penalties and no turnovers. Austin QB Easton Cole outperformed NOLA QB Stan Francisco, throwing for 335 yards and two touchdowns. Austin also led time of possession by five minutes. NOLA did enough to win, though, overcoming a 2/12 third down conversion performance and riding their star running back duo of Gump and Toriki to victory. The stellar duo combined for 218 rushing yards, two touchdowns, and a whopping 5.9 yards per carry. The defense added five sacks and kicker Prohaska made three field goals to hold off Austin and get the win.
The Championship Round:
Yellowknife Wraiths (7-6) @ Baltimore Hawks (9-4)
Baltimore was the number one seed in the NSFL, reaching nine wins by virtue of the incredible play of their veteran quarterback, Corvo Havran. Havran threw for an incredible 32 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions. The defense also contributed to their excellent season, forcing timely turnovers, including a league leading 12 interceptions, with four each from free safety Walt Green and cornerback Marquees Acho. This game started off a defensive struggle. The first quarter consisted of ten punts on ten drives between the two teams. Right at the end of the first quarter, Bigsby hit Swift for a big 30 yard strike down the field, the first offensive spark of the game from either team. Dougie Smalls hit a 28 yard field goal on that possession to put Yellowknife up 3-0. Then Yellowknife erupted. They scored a touchdown on their next possession, a pass from Bigsby to Gordon. Then CB Mervin Leonard intercepted veteran Havran and returned the pick 83 yards for a touchdown. After forcing a Baltimore three and out, Johnny Snuggles took a punt return 78 yards to set up another Bigsby touchdown pass, this time to Swift. Yellowknife scored all 24 of their points in the second quarter, but running back Mathias Hanyadi ran out the clock, grinding his way to 117 rushing yards. The defense held off a late Baltimore surge capped by two touchdowns by RB Darrell Williams, and won the game 24-19.
New Orleans Second Line (9-4) @ Orange County Otters (10-3)
The number one seeded Otters were coming off another magnificent season by quarterback Franklin Armstrong in which he had won his third straight Most Valuable Player award. Armstrong had 26 passing touchdowns and only two interceptions. He also added good yardage on the ground along side running backs Ludicolo Bigby and Siddhu Sarvellapay, resulting in OCO leading the league in rushing yards. With two strong rushing games pitted against one another, both defenses honed in on the running game. As a result neither team had much success on the ground, with both teams averaging less than 4 yards a carry. So both teams took to the air to jumpstart their offenses, with Francisco attempting 38 passes and Armstrong attempting 40. Francisco outplayed the MVP, with 316 yards, 2 first half touchdowns, an interception, and a 91.6 passer rating. Armstrong was abysmal, completing only 40% of his passes, averaging 4.9 yards per pass attempt, and a rating of 64.2. Despite Armstrong's poor play, OCO overcame an early 14 point deficit to tie the game with one minute left on a Bigby touchdown run. After a 37 yard kick return by Deon Taylor to start overtime, Francisco threw a 23 yard strike to Bonaberi Jones on his only attempt of the drive, and after a few runs to get closer positioning, Prohaska drilled a 46 yard go ahead field goal. On the ensuing drive, safety Mason Blaylock made a huge sack on 3rd and 4, and one incompletion from Armstrong later, NOLA was Ultimus bound.
Ultimus Bowl:
Yellowknife Wraiths (7-6) @ New Orleans Second Line (9-4)
There was no drama in this game. After two tough road wins, Yellowknife was spent. Just like they had done in their previous game, NOLA got off to a hot start, going up 20-0 quickly thanks to a couple touchdown strikes by Francisco and two field goals by Prohaska. NOLA had learned their lesson in the previous game, though, and did not let off the gas. They throttled Yellowknife for 583 yards from scrimmage, including 221 yards and a touchdown from Forrest Gump. Francisco threw for 353 and three scores, Gump and Toriki combined for fifty rush attempts and 225 yards, and NOLA won 33-13, handing Yellowknife their fourth consecutive Ultimus Bowl defeat.