Task #1 (620 words)
The Silverbacks and Fire Salamanders are permanently tied together, as they were created at the same time. After years of contending, they finally met in the Ultimus this year. They were opposite teams in several ways offensively. The Silverbacks liked to sling the ball while Berlin had the league's best rushing attack. The Silverbacks were led by an elder statesman in Sam Howitzer while the Fire Salamanders were quarterbacked by young Dexter Zaylren. Defensively, they were nearly carbon copies of one another, finishing right next to each other on the sack leaderboard and forcing about 30 turnovers each. The playmakers for both of these teams showed up big this season to get these teams to the playoffs.
For Berlin, the story revolved around their superstar runningbacks. In the days before the season, they made a blockbuster deal to snag Goat Tank from a tanking OCO team. Tank rewarded the Fire Salamanders with 18 total touchdowns and his most efficient rushing season ever. Berlin also snagged Jay Cue Jr. from the Yellowknife Wraiths. He had a bit of a down year by his standards, but that still gave the Fire Salamanders 2 1000 yard rushers. This provided their young QB Dexter Zaylren with a perfect environment for a breakout season and he gave them just that. Zaylren led the league in passer rating while finishing 3rd in TDs and 4th in completion percentage. This dynamic offensive attack, combined with a defense that allowed just 24 points per game led by the sack leader BamBam McMullet. gave the Fire Salamanders the #2 seed in the conference. They blew out the Sailfish in their first playoff game as Goat Tank ran for 136 yards and Zaylren tossed two early scores to Troy Abed. The defense capitalized by holding the Sailfish under 50% conversion rate on 3rd down and by forcing a fumble which they recovered. In their second playoff game, the Fire Salamanders eeked out a win in Philadelphia. The two high-powered offenses screeched to a halt and the Fire Salamanders managed to win by controlling the ball and the clock. In the end, a pair of missed 4th down conversions doomed the Liberty and sent the Fire Salamanders to the Ultimus.
The Silverbacks, in contrast to the Fire Salamanders dynamic offensive attack, leaned very heavily on the arm of Sam Howitzer and he delivered in a big way. He gave them another 5000 yard season while also throwing 34 touchdowns and finishing 3rd in passer rating. His favorite target, Tugg Speedman, led the ISFL in receiving yards and was second in receptions. Their #2 receiver, Joseph Radetzky also finished with over 1100 yards. Like the Fire Salamanders, the Silverbacks finished 2nd in their conference. In their first game, they had an absolute war with the Austin Copperheads. They created over 600 yards of offense in an overtime win. They capitalized on a mistake from Austin to set up Armando Galarraga to kick the game winning field goal. That set up a matchup with an Arizona team that was the league's #1 team. In that game, the Silverbacks shut down the dominant Arizona Outlaws rushing attack while Howitzer threw for 344 yards in the 28-17 win to send the Silverbacks to the Ultimus.
In the Ultimus, these two evenly matched teams had very different performances. Berlin came out flat, with NYS jumping out to a 20-0 lead. Berlin was able to pull the game back to a one score deficit with a great 4th quarter, but their onside kick attempt failed and the Silverbacks scored the game sealing touchdown with 1:16 left to play. Dexter Zaylren's pointless touchdown with 6 seconds to play meant nothing and the Silverbacks were able to hoist their second Ultimus championship.
The Silverbacks and Fire Salamanders are permanently tied together, as they were created at the same time. After years of contending, they finally met in the Ultimus this year. They were opposite teams in several ways offensively. The Silverbacks liked to sling the ball while Berlin had the league's best rushing attack. The Silverbacks were led by an elder statesman in Sam Howitzer while the Fire Salamanders were quarterbacked by young Dexter Zaylren. Defensively, they were nearly carbon copies of one another, finishing right next to each other on the sack leaderboard and forcing about 30 turnovers each. The playmakers for both of these teams showed up big this season to get these teams to the playoffs.
For Berlin, the story revolved around their superstar runningbacks. In the days before the season, they made a blockbuster deal to snag Goat Tank from a tanking OCO team. Tank rewarded the Fire Salamanders with 18 total touchdowns and his most efficient rushing season ever. Berlin also snagged Jay Cue Jr. from the Yellowknife Wraiths. He had a bit of a down year by his standards, but that still gave the Fire Salamanders 2 1000 yard rushers. This provided their young QB Dexter Zaylren with a perfect environment for a breakout season and he gave them just that. Zaylren led the league in passer rating while finishing 3rd in TDs and 4th in completion percentage. This dynamic offensive attack, combined with a defense that allowed just 24 points per game led by the sack leader BamBam McMullet. gave the Fire Salamanders the #2 seed in the conference. They blew out the Sailfish in their first playoff game as Goat Tank ran for 136 yards and Zaylren tossed two early scores to Troy Abed. The defense capitalized by holding the Sailfish under 50% conversion rate on 3rd down and by forcing a fumble which they recovered. In their second playoff game, the Fire Salamanders eeked out a win in Philadelphia. The two high-powered offenses screeched to a halt and the Fire Salamanders managed to win by controlling the ball and the clock. In the end, a pair of missed 4th down conversions doomed the Liberty and sent the Fire Salamanders to the Ultimus.
The Silverbacks, in contrast to the Fire Salamanders dynamic offensive attack, leaned very heavily on the arm of Sam Howitzer and he delivered in a big way. He gave them another 5000 yard season while also throwing 34 touchdowns and finishing 3rd in passer rating. His favorite target, Tugg Speedman, led the ISFL in receiving yards and was second in receptions. Their #2 receiver, Joseph Radetzky also finished with over 1100 yards. Like the Fire Salamanders, the Silverbacks finished 2nd in their conference. In their first game, they had an absolute war with the Austin Copperheads. They created over 600 yards of offense in an overtime win. They capitalized on a mistake from Austin to set up Armando Galarraga to kick the game winning field goal. That set up a matchup with an Arizona team that was the league's #1 team. In that game, the Silverbacks shut down the dominant Arizona Outlaws rushing attack while Howitzer threw for 344 yards in the 28-17 win to send the Silverbacks to the Ultimus.
In the Ultimus, these two evenly matched teams had very different performances. Berlin came out flat, with NYS jumping out to a 20-0 lead. Berlin was able to pull the game back to a one score deficit with a great 4th quarter, but their onside kick attempt failed and the Silverbacks scored the game sealing touchdown with 1:16 left to play. Dexter Zaylren's pointless touchdown with 6 seconds to play meant nothing and the Silverbacks were able to hoist their second Ultimus championship.