What part are we at? Checks notes Ah, part 8. It's been quite a while since the last one. It was me ranting over the draft, the ignorance from the media, and the start of the season at Norfolk. Now, 8 games in, we sit at a perfectly average 4-4 record, IN A THREE WAY TIE FOR THE DIVISIONAL LEAD WITH PORTLAND AND KANSAS!! We hold it based on the divisional record, which doubles as the h2h against these two teams, I have literally ZERO idea on how ties are resolved. If anyone knows, drop a link to the source or just drop the tiebreaking criteria below. It will be greatly appreciated.
Let's get to the good stuff though. Since it's been a while, I will do something different. Grab a drink, a snack, something, I don't care, but make sure it's sizeable enough. You are in for a ride. We are going to go through the Norfolk season game by game. I may or may not talk about my brothers over at Yellowknife as well. They are having a great season sitting at a 4-2 record, being second in the NSFC. But we will touch on them after I am done with Norfolk. I mean, it's been a while since my last blog. You guys deserve it.
Enough with the introductions though, let's get to it. For obvious reasons, the preseason games will be omitted. Really, who even cares about the preseason?
Starting off with week 1 and the loss to the Pythons, at Portland. What can I say about that game? We got our butts handed over to us. Lanzer Grievous ran through and held our offence to only 10 points by himself. He had 19 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 fumble. But our defence was just as bad. Having 37 points dropped on you? Even if it's a road game. That's inexcusable mate. I really felt bad after the game. On top of that, I only had a tackle. ONE! After averaging 5/game last season, I only got ONE! 37-10 the final score, Portland get the win.
Week 2. Where winning started happening. A road game against the Marshals. A road game against the struggling Marshals. But in true Norfolk fashion, we only won by a single point, 21-20 after blowing a half time lead, only to hold San Antonio scoreless in the 4th quarter. We are the only team able to do things like that. I had zeroes all over my statline. Don't know why, don't know how, but I did nothing that appears in the statsheet. Dorfus kept his beastlike performances, running the ball in once, going for over 100 yards. Norfolk win by 1, improve to 1-1, important win on the road as well.
Week 3. Another win! First game of the season in front of the Norfolk fans. What other treat than a 34-12 rout over the Kansas City Coyotes? They looked really happy leaving the stadium in the end. Dorfus was a beast. 47 carries(!), 225 yards (!!!!!), 2 touchdowns. Bruh. Bruh. Bruuuuuuuh!!!! The defence was good though. Marquise Acho had a feast on the KC offence. 14 tackles, 2 of them for loss. Dermot Jr. had a pick, Allen Josh and I had 5 tackles and a sack each, it was a close to perfect game from us in both sides of the ball. 2-1 record thus far.
Moving on to week 4. We have Portland visiting us for a rematch. Low scoring slugfest. Defences galore if you want. Lanzer Grievous styled on us again, but we had the last laugh here. Our defence showed up this game. 5 sacks for Norfolk. I had 2, Allen, Rambo, and my boy, Leafer had one each. I kinda feel bad for Frank Armstrong. But at the same time, I don't. Toss the ball away or get sacked. No in between here! On the other hand, Jay and Ahri came in clutch, for a passing TD with 37 seconds left on the game, to give us the 15-10 lead. We failed the 2pt conversion, but guess who came in the clutch and sacked Armstrong, pusing POR back to their own 6 with 27 seconds on the clock? Yup, that was me. 2nd sack of the game, 2nd of the QUARTER I should say! I got the clutch genes! One sack on a 2nd & 9, followed by a clutch sack from Leaf, and the final one, 27 seconds before the game end, to effectively END the game! Whew. It was a rollercoaster. But we got the 15-10 win, improving to 3-1.
Week 5. Tijuana visits Norfolk. The champs visit Norfolk for a game. We are at a 3-game winstreak at the time, they were coming of a 21-10 loss to San Antonio. Forrest Gump torched us for 200 all-purpose yards and 2 TDs, one rushing and a receiving one. Acho dominated on the defensive side of the ball, but it wasn't enough. 21-14 win for La Lucha. Fun fact: The last score of the game happened with 8:49 left on the THIRD QUARTER. I don't think there is much more to say about this game. Almost 24 minutes without scoring. I would have fallen asleep if I were a fan, and I wouldn't blame anyone who did. I really don't. 3-2 overall record for Norfolk.
Week 6. Another win. 2nd win against Kansas, this time on the road. 3rd divisional win in a row. Wow. I don't even know how people survived that heartbreaker. TDs and FGs being traded, leads changing, until the last FG was scored with 16 seconds left. Our kicker came clutch. His name is Cameron Clutch, so there may be a pun hidden, I don't know... The Kansas kicker? Not clutch. Dude missed a XP late in the 2nd, which came back and haunted them in the end. Game could have gone to overtime. Win the toss, score and win. Huge swing. We were lucky enough to win once by a point. When it happens twice, it's too much luck. Let's hope we got some saved for the playoffs.
Weeks 7 and 8, I will go through quickly. We lost both games, 17-13 to the Solar Bears at home. We held the Bears to 17 points, but our offence couldn't come in the clutch and score. We were trailing the whole game. I don't really want to talk about the game at Tijuana though. 31-0. THIRTY-ONE to ZERO. We scored NOTHING. We got obliterated on defence. 3 rushing TDs, one passing TD and a field goal for Tijuana. They are the champs for a reason. We are really going to be on the field to beat them. Merely existing doesn't help.
After those games, we sit at 4-4, atop of the NFC division of the DSFL. Next two games? At Portland and the start of a three-game homestand against San Antonio. We HAVE to win both games. It's important to host the NFC championship game. It really is, since we struggle on road games, since last season even!
General DSFL image: Tijuana lead SFC and the DSFL with a 5-3 record, followed by the Solar Bears, who have a 4-3-1 record, having tied with San Antonio in week 5. Norfolk lead the NFC, in a 3-way tie at 4 wins and 4 loses. Again, as I asked earlier, if you know anytjing about the tiebreaking criteris in NSFL and DSFL, drop them below please!
Now, do I see us win the Ultimini? If we play like we did at Tijuana, no. If we step it up, we have chances.
Let's talk about the Wraiths a bit also, shall we? As you know, I was drafted by the Wraiths. They sent me back down, but I still have to rep the home team. Let's see how they went. and yeah, I will go a bit in depth.
4th quarter comeback in week 1 against the Outlaws at home, and a 26-21 win. The AZ QB, Andrew Reese, torched our defence, throwing 3 touchdowns and completing 27 of his 44 attempts, but the clutch gene was on the YKW side. 10 unanswered 4th quarter points, and the win.
Week 2 was easier than what it looked before the game. 34-17 win over the stacked, but to me, overrated Hawks, handing them their only loss so far. YKW held the Hawks scoreless for 27:27, scoring 27 points in that timeframe. So many 27s appearing there. Not intentional, I swear!
Week 3 was a dismantling of the Second Line. New Orleans are in a rebuilding mode as it shows in their 0-6 record. Everything was on point, 41-10 win for the Wraiths, nothing to see here. 3-0 in the season.
The next 3 weeks didn't go as the first 3 though. 2 losses in those 3 games. A close 13-10 loss to the Sabercats at home. It was really close. SJS scored the winning FG with 84 seconds left on the clock. Sucks to lose like that, but it's part of the game. Playing the champs is always tough. Next week, same result, different ending. Visit to the Otters of the Orange County and 30-16 win for the hosts. One FG in the whole 2nd half for YKW, and the loss came naturally. BUT! You have to come back. And what better than a 51-14 smashing of the rebuilding Colorado Yeti? On top of that? It was a home game. What better a treat the fans could ask for? 20 unanswered points for Yellowknife in the 1st quarter, game over ladies and gents. The 21 unanswered points Yellowknife scored in the 4th were the cherry on top.
Liberty at home and a visit to the Hawks up next for the Wraiths. Looks like 2 wins to me. Even if the game at Baltimore looks tricky. I have confidence in my bros in Yellowknife. I just want to see Brown's face after we beat his team a second time. Sure, the Hawks lead the NSFC, but a win over them clinches the h2h, hopefully putting YKW on top in a possible tie. The ASFC is led by the 5-1 Sabercats, who are eyeing a repeat. And they are favored to do so. In my books though, Yellowknife is there too.
I hope you had fun reading this. I will promise to try and never do it again. Even if I am lying. I will do it again. I am a slacker when it comes to ANYTHING apart football... Thanks for reading this, I love you all, see you on the next one!
Peace!
Let's get to the good stuff though. Since it's been a while, I will do something different. Grab a drink, a snack, something, I don't care, but make sure it's sizeable enough. You are in for a ride. We are going to go through the Norfolk season game by game. I may or may not talk about my brothers over at Yellowknife as well. They are having a great season sitting at a 4-2 record, being second in the NSFC. But we will touch on them after I am done with Norfolk. I mean, it's been a while since my last blog. You guys deserve it.
Enough with the introductions though, let's get to it. For obvious reasons, the preseason games will be omitted. Really, who even cares about the preseason?
Starting off with week 1 and the loss to the Pythons, at Portland. What can I say about that game? We got our butts handed over to us. Lanzer Grievous ran through and held our offence to only 10 points by himself. He had 19 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 fumble. But our defence was just as bad. Having 37 points dropped on you? Even if it's a road game. That's inexcusable mate. I really felt bad after the game. On top of that, I only had a tackle. ONE! After averaging 5/game last season, I only got ONE! 37-10 the final score, Portland get the win.
Week 2. Where winning started happening. A road game against the Marshals. A road game against the struggling Marshals. But in true Norfolk fashion, we only won by a single point, 21-20 after blowing a half time lead, only to hold San Antonio scoreless in the 4th quarter. We are the only team able to do things like that. I had zeroes all over my statline. Don't know why, don't know how, but I did nothing that appears in the statsheet. Dorfus kept his beastlike performances, running the ball in once, going for over 100 yards. Norfolk win by 1, improve to 1-1, important win on the road as well.
Week 3. Another win! First game of the season in front of the Norfolk fans. What other treat than a 34-12 rout over the Kansas City Coyotes? They looked really happy leaving the stadium in the end. Dorfus was a beast. 47 carries(!), 225 yards (!!!!!), 2 touchdowns. Bruh. Bruh. Bruuuuuuuh!!!! The defence was good though. Marquise Acho had a feast on the KC offence. 14 tackles, 2 of them for loss. Dermot Jr. had a pick, Allen Josh and I had 5 tackles and a sack each, it was a close to perfect game from us in both sides of the ball. 2-1 record thus far.
Moving on to week 4. We have Portland visiting us for a rematch. Low scoring slugfest. Defences galore if you want. Lanzer Grievous styled on us again, but we had the last laugh here. Our defence showed up this game. 5 sacks for Norfolk. I had 2, Allen, Rambo, and my boy, Leafer had one each. I kinda feel bad for Frank Armstrong. But at the same time, I don't. Toss the ball away or get sacked. No in between here! On the other hand, Jay and Ahri came in clutch, for a passing TD with 37 seconds left on the game, to give us the 15-10 lead. We failed the 2pt conversion, but guess who came in the clutch and sacked Armstrong, pusing POR back to their own 6 with 27 seconds on the clock? Yup, that was me. 2nd sack of the game, 2nd of the QUARTER I should say! I got the clutch genes! One sack on a 2nd & 9, followed by a clutch sack from Leaf, and the final one, 27 seconds before the game end, to effectively END the game! Whew. It was a rollercoaster. But we got the 15-10 win, improving to 3-1.
Week 5. Tijuana visits Norfolk. The champs visit Norfolk for a game. We are at a 3-game winstreak at the time, they were coming of a 21-10 loss to San Antonio. Forrest Gump torched us for 200 all-purpose yards and 2 TDs, one rushing and a receiving one. Acho dominated on the defensive side of the ball, but it wasn't enough. 21-14 win for La Lucha. Fun fact: The last score of the game happened with 8:49 left on the THIRD QUARTER. I don't think there is much more to say about this game. Almost 24 minutes without scoring. I would have fallen asleep if I were a fan, and I wouldn't blame anyone who did. I really don't. 3-2 overall record for Norfolk.
Week 6. Another win. 2nd win against Kansas, this time on the road. 3rd divisional win in a row. Wow. I don't even know how people survived that heartbreaker. TDs and FGs being traded, leads changing, until the last FG was scored with 16 seconds left. Our kicker came clutch. His name is Cameron Clutch, so there may be a pun hidden, I don't know... The Kansas kicker? Not clutch. Dude missed a XP late in the 2nd, which came back and haunted them in the end. Game could have gone to overtime. Win the toss, score and win. Huge swing. We were lucky enough to win once by a point. When it happens twice, it's too much luck. Let's hope we got some saved for the playoffs.
Weeks 7 and 8, I will go through quickly. We lost both games, 17-13 to the Solar Bears at home. We held the Bears to 17 points, but our offence couldn't come in the clutch and score. We were trailing the whole game. I don't really want to talk about the game at Tijuana though. 31-0. THIRTY-ONE to ZERO. We scored NOTHING. We got obliterated on defence. 3 rushing TDs, one passing TD and a field goal for Tijuana. They are the champs for a reason. We are really going to be on the field to beat them. Merely existing doesn't help.
After those games, we sit at 4-4, atop of the NFC division of the DSFL. Next two games? At Portland and the start of a three-game homestand against San Antonio. We HAVE to win both games. It's important to host the NFC championship game. It really is, since we struggle on road games, since last season even!
General DSFL image: Tijuana lead SFC and the DSFL with a 5-3 record, followed by the Solar Bears, who have a 4-3-1 record, having tied with San Antonio in week 5. Norfolk lead the NFC, in a 3-way tie at 4 wins and 4 loses. Again, as I asked earlier, if you know anytjing about the tiebreaking criteris in NSFL and DSFL, drop them below please!
Now, do I see us win the Ultimini? If we play like we did at Tijuana, no. If we step it up, we have chances.
Let's talk about the Wraiths a bit also, shall we? As you know, I was drafted by the Wraiths. They sent me back down, but I still have to rep the home team. Let's see how they went. and yeah, I will go a bit in depth.
4th quarter comeback in week 1 against the Outlaws at home, and a 26-21 win. The AZ QB, Andrew Reese, torched our defence, throwing 3 touchdowns and completing 27 of his 44 attempts, but the clutch gene was on the YKW side. 10 unanswered 4th quarter points, and the win.
Week 2 was easier than what it looked before the game. 34-17 win over the stacked, but to me, overrated Hawks, handing them their only loss so far. YKW held the Hawks scoreless for 27:27, scoring 27 points in that timeframe. So many 27s appearing there. Not intentional, I swear!
Week 3 was a dismantling of the Second Line. New Orleans are in a rebuilding mode as it shows in their 0-6 record. Everything was on point, 41-10 win for the Wraiths, nothing to see here. 3-0 in the season.
The next 3 weeks didn't go as the first 3 though. 2 losses in those 3 games. A close 13-10 loss to the Sabercats at home. It was really close. SJS scored the winning FG with 84 seconds left on the clock. Sucks to lose like that, but it's part of the game. Playing the champs is always tough. Next week, same result, different ending. Visit to the Otters of the Orange County and 30-16 win for the hosts. One FG in the whole 2nd half for YKW, and the loss came naturally. BUT! You have to come back. And what better than a 51-14 smashing of the rebuilding Colorado Yeti? On top of that? It was a home game. What better a treat the fans could ask for? 20 unanswered points for Yellowknife in the 1st quarter, game over ladies and gents. The 21 unanswered points Yellowknife scored in the 4th were the cherry on top.
Liberty at home and a visit to the Hawks up next for the Wraiths. Looks like 2 wins to me. Even if the game at Baltimore looks tricky. I have confidence in my bros in Yellowknife. I just want to see Brown's face after we beat his team a second time. Sure, the Hawks lead the NSFC, but a win over them clinches the h2h, hopefully putting YKW on top in a possible tie. The ASFC is led by the 5-1 Sabercats, who are eyeing a repeat. And they are favored to do so. In my books though, Yellowknife is there too.
I hope you had fun reading this. I will promise to try and never do it again. Even if I am lying. I will do it again. I am a slacker when it comes to ANYTHING apart football... Thanks for reading this, I love you all, see you on the next one!
Peace!