07-06-2024, 06:02 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-07-2024, 08:51 PM by wetwilleh. Edited 1 time in total.)
Akane Saruta grimaced as she stood in the bright pink end zone of the gridiron. Already losers before in an earlier game against Mexico City, it looked like her Baja Barracudas--despite the stellar, all star defense praised before the games started as the best of the three teams-- was going to suffer another loss. And the worst thing is that, while by no means at fault for the baffling offensive playcalling nor the general woes that side of the ball had in general, Akane knows she's not contributing to the overall situation either. The woman was used to carrying entire games by herself and just abusing her superior physicality to bully entire teams, and when the level of competition simply just got better, it meant she was just taken down to the level of very good.
The words said by Madden rung in the prospect's ears. She had a raw physicality that was truthfully still not matched by her peers on the field... but one thing they did match her on was speed and stamina. Not only was she used to being stronger than everyone on the gridiron, but Akane was used to being faster as well, which let her blitz often from the backfield for devastating results. Here? The coach mostly had her playing the box, a position that kept her away from most of the action. Don't get her wrong, it wasn't for a lack of trying getting to the ball carrier. But oftentimes the play was simply just made by the time her feet was able to get into position. She'd get into the scrum, but she knew she wasn't getting credited for the tackles either. And there was just not a lot of passes thrown her way, especially in the first game. Maybe her reputation proceeded her, or maybe Cannon got into a rhythm on his weak side, but the end result is that the Yajin knew she could be doing better than she did in the first game. Five tackles may be above average for a defensive back, but it was mid at best for her own standards.
Perhaps she should have been happy with that performance. Now it was 13:19 at the start of the fourth quarter. At this point, Akane had only made three tackles, and only later on in the game. Much like before, at least she could take solace that the Guadalajara targets tended to be on the opposite side of the field than where she lined up; its not like she wasn't influencing the game simply by being on the field. But when it was on her side of the field, it still felt far more difficult to chase down. And when the Japanese woman was stacked on the box, she once again still struggled to actually reach the runner before the play happened. She wanted more action, goddamnit. She wanted to rip and tear those men apart, not just stand around menacingly!
The one saving grace is that unlike the last game, which ended in a disappointing rout of 34-16 Mexico City, the game against the Guardians was much more competitive. The score was a nail biting 14-10, with the Barracudas just barely hanging on to the lead by a thread. Despite that, a costly fumble by the offense had given the opposing team the momentum they needed. The first play on that drive that mattered was a 1st and 15th; blown coverage on the weak side let Nomore Bort speed past the Barracuda secondary for a monster 33 yard pick up. A frustrated, exhausted Akane tried to cut over from the strong side, but simply wasn't fast enough, and O'Fare ended up being the one to take the receiver out. However, most of the rest of the drive was defined more by slow, methodical plays; rushes for a few yards or passes that only barely passed the sticks. The only exception was a 15 yard reception by Poopington, which, frustratingly, O'Fare once again beat Akane to actually bringing down.
The drive was a veritable disaster; nothing seemed to be slowing down the Guardians, whose march down the field seemed inevitable. No matter what the Yajin did, she simply wasn't in the right place, not at the right time, and the entire game was being played around her. As the defense continued to melt down, Akane found herself barreled down a 1st and Goal situation. Once again, blown coverage led to Otis Boudreaux Jr. being wide open in the end zone. All it would have taken was a simple pass to let the Guardians get the go ahead touchdown. However, for reasons known only to Famer, he only barely noticed Boudreaux was open, and that pass ended up being ugly as sin. The pass was dropped, with no Baja defender in sight. Akane, nor the rest of the Barracudas, could let the situation get that bad again. They needed to bring their a-game, to make sure that the Guardians did not pull ahead.The second play was another pass, intended for Baldimir Fraudiola, the tight end. Unlike the last play, the Barracudas, Akane included, were prepared to swarm on Fraudiola, and through the sea of pink jerseys, he failed to noticed Alexander Hordle Jr., who smacked him straight into the ground. Akane, once again, was frustrated the play couldn't have been made by her, but at least it was made.
This, of course, led to the present moment. Third and inches. It was do or die for the Barracuda defense. Akane could feel the pressure mounting up on her. The roar of the crowd swelled the stadium, their hearts and minds set on the designated home team. It was hard to hear anything else; the pre-snap cadence of newly substituted quarterback No Pix was only, at best, faintly audible. Any hopes of the twelfth man causing a false start, however, quickly faded as the center hastily snapped the ball to Pix. Akane could see the prospect quarterback locking eyes on Fraudiola yet again. If this pass went through, Fraudiola was already in the pink. Worst yet, as Pix went into his throwing motion, Fraudiola was in front of Akane! While some other Barracuda defenders were in position to potentially block the pass from the front, Akane knew she couldn't take any chances. If she, the Yajin, couldn't stop the play, who could?
Summoning all the strength she could, the strong safety leaped into the air after Fraudiola. As she feared, the ball had already sailed past the other defenders; it was up to her and her alone to make sure that ball isn't caught. It didn't matter that pass deflection wasn't her particular strong suit; she didn't have time to take the tight end down on the ground. As the football started to go downwards on its trajectory, however, Akane's arm reached out as far as it could, over Fraudiola's shoulder, to swat that ball away. Just barely, the Japanese woman could feel the satisfying thud of the ball colliding with her hand, before she spiked it as hard as she could. While an interception would have been nice, she couldn't afford to tempt fate right now. All the woman needed to do was make sure the play didn't happen.
A second later, the woman fell onto her back, as she heard the crowd erupting in a cacophony of cheering. It didn't take long for the announcer to announce the result of the play.
"PASS INTENDED FOR FRAUDIOLA IN THE END ZONE DEFLECTED BY SARUTA! ITS INCOMPLETE, AND NOW FOURTH DOWN!"
The strong safety grinned as she heard the news. She did it. Not only did she make a play, but she arguably made the play. The Guardians' march down the field wasn't just stopped, but it was stopped by her! Hell fucking yeah! Sure, there was a part of her weirded out, perhaps even dissapointed, that a pass deflection was making her this happy. The warrior in her wanted blood, wanted forced fumbles, maybe a safety sack, something more intense than a simple deflection. But at the same point... she made what may become the game winning play! This was worth celebrating! The safety quickly jumped back on her feet, and did her signature chest pounding that she would do every time she made a big play, making primate-like sounds. Her fans back in Japan would certainly eat it up, as she asserted her authority on the field like a gorilla defending its territory. This was her gridiron, and she was done allowing the Guardians to live on it.
The rest of the game proved uneventful for Akane. While she'd get close, the Yajin would never get another credited tackle for the rest of the game. However, the Guardians would never score another point for the remainder of the contest either. A well timed interception by Victoire Absolue, along with a brutal sack by Thurman Waters made sure of it. Perhaps these moves were flashier highlights than the mere deflection that Akane got, she could concede. But her deflection, she'd wager, was the move that turned the tide around, that allowed her teammates to get their highlights. And Akane knew, as the bowl games continued, in the end, she'll get her real highlight soon enough. But for now, she should just enjoy what she had here.
The words said by Madden rung in the prospect's ears. She had a raw physicality that was truthfully still not matched by her peers on the field... but one thing they did match her on was speed and stamina. Not only was she used to being stronger than everyone on the gridiron, but Akane was used to being faster as well, which let her blitz often from the backfield for devastating results. Here? The coach mostly had her playing the box, a position that kept her away from most of the action. Don't get her wrong, it wasn't for a lack of trying getting to the ball carrier. But oftentimes the play was simply just made by the time her feet was able to get into position. She'd get into the scrum, but she knew she wasn't getting credited for the tackles either. And there was just not a lot of passes thrown her way, especially in the first game. Maybe her reputation proceeded her, or maybe Cannon got into a rhythm on his weak side, but the end result is that the Yajin knew she could be doing better than she did in the first game. Five tackles may be above average for a defensive back, but it was mid at best for her own standards.
Perhaps she should have been happy with that performance. Now it was 13:19 at the start of the fourth quarter. At this point, Akane had only made three tackles, and only later on in the game. Much like before, at least she could take solace that the Guadalajara targets tended to be on the opposite side of the field than where she lined up; its not like she wasn't influencing the game simply by being on the field. But when it was on her side of the field, it still felt far more difficult to chase down. And when the Japanese woman was stacked on the box, she once again still struggled to actually reach the runner before the play happened. She wanted more action, goddamnit. She wanted to rip and tear those men apart, not just stand around menacingly!
The one saving grace is that unlike the last game, which ended in a disappointing rout of 34-16 Mexico City, the game against the Guardians was much more competitive. The score was a nail biting 14-10, with the Barracudas just barely hanging on to the lead by a thread. Despite that, a costly fumble by the offense had given the opposing team the momentum they needed. The first play on that drive that mattered was a 1st and 15th; blown coverage on the weak side let Nomore Bort speed past the Barracuda secondary for a monster 33 yard pick up. A frustrated, exhausted Akane tried to cut over from the strong side, but simply wasn't fast enough, and O'Fare ended up being the one to take the receiver out. However, most of the rest of the drive was defined more by slow, methodical plays; rushes for a few yards or passes that only barely passed the sticks. The only exception was a 15 yard reception by Poopington, which, frustratingly, O'Fare once again beat Akane to actually bringing down.
The drive was a veritable disaster; nothing seemed to be slowing down the Guardians, whose march down the field seemed inevitable. No matter what the Yajin did, she simply wasn't in the right place, not at the right time, and the entire game was being played around her. As the defense continued to melt down, Akane found herself barreled down a 1st and Goal situation. Once again, blown coverage led to Otis Boudreaux Jr. being wide open in the end zone. All it would have taken was a simple pass to let the Guardians get the go ahead touchdown. However, for reasons known only to Famer, he only barely noticed Boudreaux was open, and that pass ended up being ugly as sin. The pass was dropped, with no Baja defender in sight. Akane, nor the rest of the Barracudas, could let the situation get that bad again. They needed to bring their a-game, to make sure that the Guardians did not pull ahead.The second play was another pass, intended for Baldimir Fraudiola, the tight end. Unlike the last play, the Barracudas, Akane included, were prepared to swarm on Fraudiola, and through the sea of pink jerseys, he failed to noticed Alexander Hordle Jr., who smacked him straight into the ground. Akane, once again, was frustrated the play couldn't have been made by her, but at least it was made.
This, of course, led to the present moment. Third and inches. It was do or die for the Barracuda defense. Akane could feel the pressure mounting up on her. The roar of the crowd swelled the stadium, their hearts and minds set on the designated home team. It was hard to hear anything else; the pre-snap cadence of newly substituted quarterback No Pix was only, at best, faintly audible. Any hopes of the twelfth man causing a false start, however, quickly faded as the center hastily snapped the ball to Pix. Akane could see the prospect quarterback locking eyes on Fraudiola yet again. If this pass went through, Fraudiola was already in the pink. Worst yet, as Pix went into his throwing motion, Fraudiola was in front of Akane! While some other Barracuda defenders were in position to potentially block the pass from the front, Akane knew she couldn't take any chances. If she, the Yajin, couldn't stop the play, who could?
Summoning all the strength she could, the strong safety leaped into the air after Fraudiola. As she feared, the ball had already sailed past the other defenders; it was up to her and her alone to make sure that ball isn't caught. It didn't matter that pass deflection wasn't her particular strong suit; she didn't have time to take the tight end down on the ground. As the football started to go downwards on its trajectory, however, Akane's arm reached out as far as it could, over Fraudiola's shoulder, to swat that ball away. Just barely, the Japanese woman could feel the satisfying thud of the ball colliding with her hand, before she spiked it as hard as she could. While an interception would have been nice, she couldn't afford to tempt fate right now. All the woman needed to do was make sure the play didn't happen.
A second later, the woman fell onto her back, as she heard the crowd erupting in a cacophony of cheering. It didn't take long for the announcer to announce the result of the play.
"PASS INTENDED FOR FRAUDIOLA IN THE END ZONE DEFLECTED BY SARUTA! ITS INCOMPLETE, AND NOW FOURTH DOWN!"
The strong safety grinned as she heard the news. She did it. Not only did she make a play, but she arguably made the play. The Guardians' march down the field wasn't just stopped, but it was stopped by her! Hell fucking yeah! Sure, there was a part of her weirded out, perhaps even dissapointed, that a pass deflection was making her this happy. The warrior in her wanted blood, wanted forced fumbles, maybe a safety sack, something more intense than a simple deflection. But at the same point... she made what may become the game winning play! This was worth celebrating! The safety quickly jumped back on her feet, and did her signature chest pounding that she would do every time she made a big play, making primate-like sounds. Her fans back in Japan would certainly eat it up, as she asserted her authority on the field like a gorilla defending its territory. This was her gridiron, and she was done allowing the Guardians to live on it.
The rest of the game proved uneventful for Akane. While she'd get close, the Yajin would never get another credited tackle for the rest of the game. However, the Guardians would never score another point for the remainder of the contest either. A well timed interception by Victoire Absolue, along with a brutal sack by Thurman Waters made sure of it. Perhaps these moves were flashier highlights than the mere deflection that Akane got, she could concede. But her deflection, she'd wager, was the move that turned the tide around, that allowed her teammates to get their highlights. And Akane knew, as the bowl games continued, in the end, she'll get her real highlight soon enough. But for now, she should just enjoy what she had here.