(S40) PT #4 - The Glory Days

[Duilio05]

The game that help set in stone to Alex Armstrong that he was good enough to be part of the S40 draft class was during prospect bowl. Up to that point Alex had only played football competitively as part of the military league. In the military league Alex dominated. He earned numerous player of the week awards, DE end of the year multiple times, and even considered MVP during one year. This of course against competition that was in no way would be considered even on par with the level of play in the DSFL let alone the ISFL. Being one to always challenge himself Alex applied for the S40 draft class to see if he could compete against the best. During the prospect bowl playing against his fellow draft class solidified that he was capable of being a potential ISFL super star. His draft class peers were much better and more talented than anyone he had played against in the military league.

[Reno]

The greatest game of Aleksandar’s career had to had been his first career start against Ohio State. Iowa was still a struggling team during his freshman year, the team often lost games due to the offense barely existing. Iowa did have a very competitive defense so the fact his coach gave him the starting nod was an honor. On the first defensive snap of the game, Aleksandar managed to bull rush the opposing right guard over and get a QB hit on the screen pass that they were attempting to knock it incomplete. What followed was a spirited effort as the Iowa defense, lead my Aleksandar, proved to be an absolute menace to the Ohio State offense and would register seven sacks and force two fumbles in what would eventually be a 14-13 loss in Ohio State, but it was the kickstart of the career of Aleksandar who would springboard this start into his career as a master sack generator.

[unconfident]

i think the most memorable game for carly rae jensen in her early football career before she turned professional and was drafted to the london royals would have to be one from her high school days in houston, texas. in a state where high school football is extremely competitive with lots of talent going onto college and professional levels, the game that really put carly on the map was her very first game as a freshman in high school, at just 15 years old she got the start on the defensive line and was absolutely insane. she already had a very clear physical advantage over the other high school players, but then once the game actually started it was clear she also had more talent and technical ability than the opposition. after the game, in which she got so many sacks, tfls and pressures you couldnt even count, there were college recruiters lining up from across the nation trying to have a shot at her.

[zeagle1]

When Donovan Winters was a young lad, his family relocated from Curahee, Georgia to Santa Ana, California in order to give Donovan the opportunity to attend the prestigious Mater Dei preparatory school.  After a strong season on the freshman team, he was called up to the varsity squad, where he started for the next three seasons. He performed extremely well and received recruiting interest from most major programs in the country.

After a lengthy recruiting process where he toured many schools across the country, he elected to take his talents to the desert and attend Arizona State University. He had a quiet first few seasons, but when partnered with good friend Sherwin Blue Jr, Donovan lit the college football world alight. ASU finished the season 13-1 with a Pac 12 championship and a rose bowl victory. Donovan returned for his senior year despite much of the Rose Bowl winning team, including Sherwin Blue, declaring for the draft or graduating. ASU did not quite live up to expectations, finishing 10-3.

[RocketMan13]

Playing in the Mid-American Conference is contradictory. On the one hand, I was a starter on an FBS team in Division 1, part of the highest competitive division in college football. On the other hand, our games were regularly played on Wednesday nights so that they'd be televised. My best game as a collegiate player, or maybe more specifically the game that put me on the map was a matchup against Michigan. Michigan was the reigning Big Ten Champion and had two defensive ends who were going to end up in the DSFL the next season. The offensive coordinator called Power toss to the left, meaning I'd get to pull across the line and get a head of steam against the D end, which resulted in me basically steamrolling an all-American on the first play of the game. That play really set the tone for me and my other teammates on the line, and we played our best game as a unit all season. No, we didn't go into the Big House and get the win, but we did make them feel our presence. I think I'm one of the best Tackles in football right now, and to me that game was the first one that made me think I could get to where I am today.

[slate]

After a small role in his freshman season at Columbia, playing in only 3 games out of the Lions' 10 game season, Leandre Diarra was not really sure if American football was the right sport for him. He had mostly tried it out of curiosity but was planning to focus on track and field as his main sport. The first game of his sophomore campaign changed all of that, though. Diarra had spent the offseason training and studying up, not only learning the playbook but also some fundamental techniques and skills for the sport. Diarra hit the ground literally running in Columbia's season opener against Dartmouth, seeing almost a third of the snaps, exceeding his season rushing totals from freshman year in one game with a nice 10-47-1 statline, and excelling in pass protection as well, a notoriously difficult part of the game for running backs. While it might pale in comparison to some of the high school and college games that his teammates on the Otters had, for someone who had just picked up the sport 1 year prior the game was enough to boost Diarra's confidence and set him on the path to eventually seeing the ISFL field and making American football his professional career.

[manicmav36]

Clint Mustache led what many would consider to be the stereotypical American high school jock life back in the day. Well, for three of the four years at least. However, everything changed when he learned that the musical his school would be putting on for his senior year would be Friday Night Lights: The Series: The Musical. It married three of the things he loved best, football, acting, and procedural dramas. No one could stop Clint from trying out for that musical. Well, some of his football teammates did, because it, “wasn’t cool” and it is “clearly just a derivative of Varsity Blues with unnecessary singing tacked on to appeal to a wider crowd.” But that didn’t matter to Clint, and the rest would be a defining moment for him. Clint would go on to audition and earn the role of the head football coach, Eric Taylor. Clint went on to absolutely crush the role, earning rave reviews like, “Bro, that was lit.” and “Clint was low-key fire.” from his peers.

[RussDrivesTheBus]

Russet's greatest performance pre-ISFL came as a Golden Eagle in Idaho at CSI. Down 23-6 going into the second half, Buster asked the coach on the way to the locker room if he could give the half time talk. Coach agreed. With all the fire in his belly, Russet set his teammates ablaze, and they came roaring out of the gates. The offense, who had clearly struggled in the first half, came out and get a score. Then Buster went to work. The next 3 drives for the opposition resulted in a pick, forced fumble and a punt forced by a huge 3rd down sack from the potato man. And after some back and forth, the defense trotted out for the final drive. Buster was a little gassed, but knew he had to put it on his starchy back. With one last burst, he jumped the comeback route and took his momentum 45 yards for the game-sealing pick 6!

[Skindog44]

PBE Affiliate

[sathona]

Savathûn remembers when she was younger on the planet Fundament and she was first given the football. They didn't really have "Games" on the planet Fundament as people here on earth would really expect them to look. What they did have was a lot of incredibly competitive scrimmage type situations, where Savathûn and her siblings would take turns running around with the football, and then attempting to brutally murder one another in order to make strategic stops on big plays. It was a pretty big adjustment for Savathûn coming to earth and being expected to not murder all of the other players, but on days when she has to play in big games, she thinks back to those early scrimmages with her siblings, and channels a lot of that competitive spirit, back when football was a matter of life or death, a prelude to the many times in the future in which she and her siblings tried to kill one another for other reasons.