08-04-2019, 07:48 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-07-2019, 02:42 PM by Fordhammer.)
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Ready to be graded, 11,736 words
Preseason Game 1: Austin Copperheads @ Philadelphia Liberty
Time for the very first official game in Austin Copperheads history and it’s on the road against a strong team in the Philadelphia Liberty. The Copperheads would open the scoring in the first quarter with 29 yard field goal from Alfredo Crisco, followed by 1 yard touchdown run from Dick Wizardry to put the Copperheads up 10-0. The Liberty would storm right back with a 53 yard touchdown connection between Adriana Falconi and Jordan von Matt and a 27 yard field goal from Kyle Frost to tie it at 10 apiece at the end of the first quarter. The Liberty would pick up where they left off in the second quarter with a 47 yard boot from Kyle Frost and a Lennox Garnett interception returned for a touchdown to put Philadelphia up by a score of 20-10. Dick Wizardry wouldn’t go down without a fight, however, and would rumble in an 8 yard touchdown run before the end of the half to make the halftime score 20-17 in favor of the Liberty. There was no scoring in the third quarter, but Alfredo Crisco would tie the game up with a 49 yard field goal to open the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, from there the Liberty would take control again with a 39 yard field goal from Frost and a 29 yard passing touchdown from Falconi to Vander Jones to win the game by a score of 30-20. All-in-all, despite losing the turnover battle by a fairly large margin, the final score was closer than expected.
Let’s take a look at the stats breakdown of the game. Easton Cole of the Austin Copperheads completed 25 of 51 passing attempts for 259 yards with no touchdowns and 4 interceptions for a passer rating of 31.4. Adriana Falconi of the Philadelphia Liberty completed 19 of 37 passing attempts for 273 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception for a passer rating of 82.4. The Copperheads split rushing attempts between Mendonca who had 10 rushing attempts for 62 yards and Wizardry who had 5 attempts for 29 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Liberty split carries between 2 main running backs, Hank who had 16 attempts for 47 yards and Jones who had 13 attempts for 56 yards. The Copperheads had several receivers get into the mix of things on offense including Anoa’i who had 6 receptions for 83 yards, Wizardry with 6 receptions for 60 yards, Larson with 5 receptions for 55 yards, and Hardwick with 5 receptions for 43 yards. Jordan von Matt was the primary receiver for the Liberty with 5 receptions for 138 yards and a touchdown, Varga added 5 receptions for 45 yards, and Jones’ lone reception was a 23 yard touchdown to seal the deal in the fourth quarter. On defense the Copperheads were led by Bakshi who had 14 tackles while Castle added the only turnover. The Liberty were led by Thomas who had 8 tackles including 1 tackle for loss, but also got interceptions from Cox III, Bohne, D’Attoria V, and Garnett who returned his for a touchdown.
FINAL SCORE: L 30-20
Preseason Game 2: Orange County Otters @ Austin Copperheads
Second game of the preseason and this time the Copperheads are at home, but the opponent is even stronger than the last in the Orange County Otters. The Otters would take control of the game early and never really let the Copperheads get back into it. In the first quarter, the Otters would open the scoring with a 42 yard field goal from Alex Dasistwirklichseinnachname, followed by a 1 yard rushing touchdown from Apollo Reed and a 32 yard touchdown connection between Gus TT Showbiz and Vinny Valentine. Alex Dasistwirklichseinnachname would add a 37 yard field goal in the second quarter to make the halftime score 20-0 in favor of the Orange County Otters. The Austin Copperheads would get their first points on the board to open the third quarter with a 11 yard touchdown pass from Easton Cole to Django Anoa’i to make the score 20-7. Once again though, the Otters would put their foot on the gas pedal. Apollo Reed would run in another 1 yard touchdown, Alex Dasistwirklichseinnachname would boot in another 30 yard field goal, and the star of the game, Apollo Reed, would bang in a 5 yard rushing touchdown to make the score at the end of the third quarter 37-7. Alex Dasistwirklichseinnachname would make the score 40-7 on a 44 yard field goal, but Alfredo Crisco would knock in 2 35 yard field goals to make the score 40-13. To close out the game Gus TT Showbiz would toss a 5 yard touchdown to Sunnycursed to make the final score 47-13 in a dominating performance by the Otters.
Time to jump into the stats breakdown. Easton Cole for the Austin Copperheads completed 18 of 43 passing attempts for 225 yards with a touchdown and 2 interceptions for a passer rating of 47.1. Gus TT Showbiz for the Orange County Otters completed 24 of 39 passing attempts for 424 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions for a passer rating of 94.4. Wizardry led the Austin rushing attack with 76 yards on 15 attempts. Apollo Reed of the Orange County Otters had 105 yards and 3 touchdowns on 28 rushing attempts. Django Anoa’i was Cole’s top target bringing in 5 receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown. Wizardry and Tidwell both had 4 receptions and 55 and 37 yards respectively while Hardwick had 3 receptions for 47 yards. Blaze for the Otters had 8 receptions for 138 yards while Valentine had 5 receptions for 161 yards and a touchdown. Sunnycursed had 5 receptions for 72 yards and a touchdown as well. The Austin Copperheads defense was led by Bakshi who had 10 tackles and a tackle for loss while Jensen had 10 tackles, a forced fumble, 3 passes defended, and an interception. Ginsberg led the way for the Otters on defense with 10 tackles, a tackle for a loss, and 2 sacks.
FINAL SCORE: L 47-13
Preseason Game 3: Colorado Yeti @ Austin Copperheads
Time for a preseason battle between two teams that were predicted to be pretty dang bad this season. Which team was more bad? Let’s find out. The Yeti would take an early lead on a 46 yard Adam Anderson field goal, but the Copperheads would bounce right back with a 6 yard touchdown connection between Easton Cole and Mako Mendonca giving the Copperheads a 7-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter would be all Colorado as Anderson would knock in a 44 yard field goal and Wolfie McDummy would find ShaDarrien LaMelllana with an 18 yard touchdown strike to give the Yeti a 13-7 lead at halftime. Midway through the third quarter, Alfredo Crisco would cut Colorado’s lead to 3 with a 19 yard field goal, but just a couple minutes later Adam Anderson would make the lead 6 again with a 41 yard field goal bringing the score to 16-10 at the end of the third quarter. Austin would take the lead midway through the fourth quarter as Troy Humuhumunukunukuapua'a would pick off Wolfie McDummy and take it 40 yards to the house. Minutes later, once again, Adam Anderson would boot a 28 yard field goal to take a 19-17 lead. With less than 2 minutes left in the game, Alfredo Crisco would make a 46 yard field goal to give Austin the 20-19 lead. Unfortunately, that was too much time left to spare and with a minute left of the clock, Anderson would successfully make a 20 yard game winning field goal, giving the Colorado Yeti and 22-20 victory over the Austin Copperheads.
Statistics time! Easton Cole of the Austin Copperheads once again struggled against NSFL defenses as he completed 18 of 42 passing attempts for 183 yards with a touchdown and 4 interceptions for a passer rating of 24.3. Wolfie McDummy of the Colorado Yeti would play only marginally better as he would complete 14 of 30 passing attempts for 185 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions for a passer rating of a flat 50. Wizardry got the majority of carries for the Copperheads as he would rush 14 times for 52 yards. Terry Taffy would be the main running back for the Yeti as he would rush 24 times for 113 yards. Django Anoa’i was once again Cole’s favorite target with 6 receptions for 68 yards, while Mendonca brought in the lone receiving touchdown. Bishop was McDummy’s favorite target with 5 receptions for 96 yards while LaMelllana had the lone Yeti receiving touchdown off of a 3 reception, 53 yard performance. The Austin defense was led by Robertson who had 9 tackles and a sack, while Bakshi had 8 tackles and a sack. As aforementioned Troy Humuhumunukunukuapua'a had a crucial pick 6 that kept Austin in the game. The Yeti defense was led by McCoy who had 8 tackles and a sack and Mo Berry who had 7 tackles and 2 sacks.
FINAL SCORE: L 22-20
Preseason Game 4: Austin Copperheads @ Baltimore Hawks
Saved the ugliest game for last and when I say it was ugly, I mean it was a freaking bloodbath and one that most people saw coming from a mile away as the winless Austin Copperheads headed out to take on an Ultimus favorite in the Baltimore Hawks. The Hawks would storm into this game at 100 miles per hour and wouldn’t slow down. Early in the first quarter Corvo Havran would find Yulic Nagasawa on a 15 yard touchdown pass. While that would be the only scoring in the first quarter, things are about to go off the rails for the rest of the game. ForThe Brand would knock through a 41 yard field goal to put the Hawks up 10-0 in the early minutes of the second quarter. Just a couple minutes later, Marquise Brown would finish a drive with a 1 yard rushing touchdown. Midway through the second quarter Yulic Nagasawa would find his second receiving touchdown of the game from Corvo Havran on a 9 yard reception. Finally, in the closing minutes of the half, Marquise Brown would run in another touchdown on a 8 yard rush to make the score 31-0 at halftime. If you think the Austin Copperheads could make adjustments at halftime and make the game a little bit closer you would be wrong. In the third quarter Marquise Brown would get a pair of 1 yard touchdown runs to bring him to 4 touchdowns on the day and bringing the score to 45-0 at the end of the third quarter. There would be no mercy shown in the fourth quarter. Marquise Brown would get his fifth rushing touchdown of the day just seconds into the quarter to bring the score to 52-0. At this point in the game, Brown decides to let some of his teammates get the ball as Verso L’Alto would haul in a 6 yard touchdown pass from Havran and Dorfus Jimbo would grab a 9 yard touchdown pass likewise from Havran. To put the cherry on top of the shit sundae for the Copperheads, ForThe Brand would boot a 18 yard field goal with 6 seconds left on the clock to make the final score and abysmal 69-0 (nice).
There aren’t many stats for the Copperheads in this one, but let’s go ahead and take a look at them anyway. Easton Cole was really fed to the sharks on this one, but he completed 14 of 32 passing attempts for 123 yards with no touchdowns and 4 interceptions for a passer rating of 15. Corvo Havran of the Baltimore Hawks completed 28 of 43 passing attempts for 466 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 132.5. Wizardry would run the ball 13 times for 56 yards for the Austin Copperheads. In one of the most stellar individual performances I’ve ever seen, Marquise Brown would run the ball 30 times for 164 yards and 5 touchdowns. Tidwell would bring in 5 receptions from Cole for 42 yards while Anoa’i would grab 4 receptions for 50 yards. 3 different receivers for the Baltimore Hawks would hit the century mark in this contest. Verso L’Alto would nab 9 receptions for 106 yards and touchdown, Nagasawa would get 7 receptions for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns, and Maddox would get 5 receptions for 145 yards. Bakshi would be the leader on defense for the Copperheads as he managed to get 13 tackles while Jensen would have 10 tackles and a pass defended. Horne was the leader for the Hawks with 8 tackles and 2 sacks. All-in-all, I’m not sure if a game could be any more 1 sided than this contest… I’m not even sure if you could call it a contest to be totally honest.
FINAL SCORE: L 69-0
So, there you have it. That’s the end of the preseason and in a not so surprising fashion the Austin Copperheads went 0-4. Sure, there were a couple of stinkers in there, but they also managed to be surprisingly competitive in a couple games despite always being down in the turnover battle. From here on out the games are for real. Preseason is over and the Austin Copperheads are out for vengeance and when I say vengeance, I mean hopefully they will win at least 1 game this season. As players earn TPE the Copperheads will become increasingly competitive, but it’s hard to imagine any sort of sustained success this season with the current personnel. Let’s get right into the regular season games.
Regular Season Game 1: New Orleans Second Line (0-0) @ Austin Copperheads (0-0)
Here we are at the start of the regular season. The games count for real now. The Copperheads start out the season by hosting the New Orleans Second Line, another team that was predicted to struggle mightily this season. Let’s get right into the action. Both teams are clearly still shaking off the rust in a slow first quarter. The lone score in the quarter goes to Tyler Swift on a 2 yard run to put the Second Line up by a score of 7-0. In the second quarter though, the Copperheads would manage to cut into that lead with a 27 yard Alfredo Crisco field goal. Nearing the end of the half, however, the Second Line would regain the 7 point lead off of an Alex Frost 28 yard field goal to make the halftime score 10-7 in favor of New Orleans. The third quarter would open with a bang as Dick Wizardry would pound out a 2 yard rushing touchdown to tie up the game at 10 all. A couple minutes later, Forrest Gump of the New Orleans Second Line would break off a 6 yard touchdown run to put them back on top by a score of 17-10. With no time left on the clock in the third quarter, however, Easton Cole would find Django Anoa’i for a 14 yard passing touchdown to tie it up at 17-17 entering the final frame of the game. Similarly to preseason, things just didn’t go the Copperheads way at the end of the day. The lone score in the fourth quarter went to New Orleans on a 17 yard passing connection between Stan Francisco and Bona’beri Jones to give the Second Line a 24-17 win over the Austin Copperheads in the opening week of the season.
Let’s take some time to now break down the stats from the game. The Copperheads still went with a pass heavy game plan despite Easton Cole’s inexperience in the league. Cole would complete 21 of 43 passing attempts for 247 yards with a touchdown and 3 interceptions for a passer rating of 45.4. Stan Francisco of the New Orleans Second Line would complete20 of 36 passing attempts for 199 with a touchdown and an interception for a passer rating of 69.1. Wizardry was the primary running back for the Copperheads in this matchup, carrying the ball 19 times for 97 yards and a touchdown. The Second Line split carries between veteran, Tyler Swift, who had 12 carries for 60 yards and a touchdown and newcomer, Forrest Gump, who carried the ball 21 times for 76 yards and a touchdown. Cole did a good job of spreading the ball around amongst his receivers in this game. Hardwick had 5 receptions for 48 yards, Tidwell had 4 receptions for 88 yards, and Anoa’i had 4 receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown. Stan Francisco had 6 connections with Fyodorovich for 69 yards and 3 connections to Jones for 46 yards and a touchdown. The Copperheads defense was led by Bakshi who had 10 tackles, Jensen who had 9 tackles and a pass defended, and Robertson added 5 tackles with 2 passes defended and an interception. The Second Line defense was led by Bode who had 8 tackles, a tackle for loss, and a fumble recovery, and Harrison who had 6 tackles, 2 passes defended, and 2 interceptions. This game came down to the turnover battle and the preseason that haunted the Copperheads continued into the regular season.
FINAL SCORE: L 24-17
Regular Season Game 2: Arizona Outlaws (0-1) @ Austin Copperheads (0-1)
After a close loss against another struggling organization, the Austin Copperheads welcome a team on the rise in their second game of the season, the Arizona Outlaws. This one turned out to be a low scoring event, where neither offense could really get things going. Both teams would find themselves scoreless at the end of the first quarter. The scoreless tie would finally be broken in the second quarter as Spencer Lawes would boot a 32 yard field goal to put the Outlaws up by a score of 3-0 which would also be the score headed into halftime. Midway through the third quarter, Alfredo Crisco would nail a 19 yard field goal to tie the game back up at 3. Costly mistakes by the Copperheads would seal the deal in this contest. With just a couple minutes remaining in the third quarter, Raymond Vans would pick up a Copperheads fumble and return it to the house to put the Outlaws up 10-3. The Copperheads wouldn’t be able to recover from that mistake and Spencer Lawes would put the icing on the cake by making a 47 yard field goal at the start of the fourth quarter to make the final score 13-3 in favor of the visiting Arizona Outlaws.
As previously mentioned, both offenses struggled in this one but let’s take a look at what they were able to do statistically speaking. Easton Cole of the Austin Copperheads had his most efficient game of his career in the NSFL as he would complete 14 of 23 passing attempts for 165 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions for a passer rating of 82.7. Andrew Reese of the Arizona Outlaws would complete 12 of 27 passing attempts for 189 yards with no touchdowns and an interception for a passer rating of 52.9. Dick Wizardry had a huge number of carries for the Copperheads as he would get the rock 43 times and would gain 139 yards. The Outlaws split carries between Shady and Murphy. Shady would run the ball 16 times for 71 yards, while Murphy carried the ball 12 times for 54 yards. Anoa’i was Easton Cole’s primary target with 5 receptions for 87 yards. Brock Landers of the Arizona Outlaws made a big impact with his limited action as he would gain 87 yards on just 2 receptions. Unsurprisingly, Bakshi was the leader on defense for the Copperheads with 12 tackles. Robertson, Towers, and Kuusela would all add sacks on the day, while Castle posted the only interception. The Outlaws were led by Mack on defense with 13 tackles and a pass defended, while Barnes added 12 tackles. Raymond Vans was all over the field with 8 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 4 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 recovered fumble, a blocked punt, and a defensive touchdown… player of the game status right there.
FINAL SCORE: L 13-3
Regular Season Game 3: Austin Copperheads (0-2) @ Orange County Otters (2-0)
Coming off of 2 relatively close losses, the Copperheads head to southern California to take on one of the heavyweights in the league in the Orange County Otters. Probably as most people could have predicted, this one turned out not so pretty for the Austin Copperheads. The Copperheads were able to fend off the Otters offense for about half of a quarter when Apollo Reed finished off a drive with a 2 yard touchdown run. Just a couple minutes later, Alex Dasistwirklichseinnachname would nail a 44 yard field goal to put the Otters up by a score of 10 to 0. With no time remaining on the clock in the first quarter, however, Easton Cole would find Django Anoa’i on a 19 yard connection to bring the score to 10-7. The second quarter would be scoreless, but after the break the game was all Otters as Gus TT Showbiz would throw touchdown passes to Vinny Valentine on a 13 yard connection and Sunnycursed on a 6 yard connection to make the score 24-7 at the end of the third quarter. Alfredo Crisco would make a 33 yard field goal to start the fourth quarter making the score 24-10, but the game would continue to be dominated by the Otters. Just a minute after the field goal, Showbiz would once again find Vinny Valentine on a 30 yard touchdown pass, followed by a 1 yard touchdown run by Apollo Reed. Showbiz showing how deadly he can be with the deep ball as he finds Sunnycursed on a 43 yard touchdown pass. To close out the game, Vinny Valentine gets his third touchdown of the game off a 1 yard pass making the final score 52-10.
And here are the major stats from the game. Easton Cole of the Austin Copperheads completed 22 of 39 passing attempts for 262 yards with a touchdown and 3 interceptions for a passing rating of 53.6. Gus TT Showbiz showed that volume doesn’t mean one cannot be deadly as he completed 15 of 28 passing attempts for 237 yards with 5 touchdowns and an interception for a passer rating of 106.7. Wizardry being the main back for the Austin Copperheads ran 27 times for 124 yards, while Apollo Reed of the Orange County Otters ran 23 times for 97 yards with 2 touchdowns. Anoa’i was Cole’s top target on the day with 6 receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown. Tidwell added 62 yards on 6 receptions. Sunnycursed was the main target for Showbiz with 5 receptions for 100 yards and 2 touchdowns. Blaze added 63 yards on 5 receptions while Vinny Valentine 61 yards on 4 receptions with 3 touchdowns. On defense the Copperheads were led by Bakshi with 7 tackles, a pass defended, and an interception. The Otters were led by Ginsberg who had 13 tackles and a pass defended while rookie phenom Grievous had 10 tackles, 4 sacks, and 2 passes defended. All-in-all an expected outcome in a very mismatched game.
FINAL SCORE: L 52-10
Regular Season Game 4: San Jose Sabercats (1-2) @ Austin Copperheads (0-3)
I don’t think people were expecting San Jose to get off to a slow start like this, but anyway, they take on the league basement dwellers in Austin in this week 4 matchup. Chris Orosz of the San Jose Sabercats would open the scoring midway through the first quarter on a 6 yard run, but the extra point by Neo Donaldson was missed putting the Sabercats up by a score of 6-0. Nearing the end of the first quarter, Rod Tidwell would haul in a 25 yard pass from Easton Cole and Crisco would make the extra point putting the Copperheads ahead at the end of the quarter 7-6. The Sabercats would bounce right back though as Xavier Flash would bring in a 1 yard pass from Christ to put the cats back up by a score of 13-7. In a classic back and forth battle though, Dick Wizardry would bust open a 4 yard touchdown run to put the Copperheads ahead at the end of the half by a score of 14-13. The third quarter would almost end of scoreless, but Ahri Espeeyeeseetee would grab an 18 yard touchdown pass from Christ but ANOTHER missed extra point and the lead is only 19-14. That however, would not matter as Christ would find Olsen on a 19 yard pass to go up 25-14… oh yeah another missed extra point. The Copperheads would try to fight back in the closing minutes with a Easton Cole to Dick Wizardry 10 yard passing touchdown, but it wouldn’t be enough and the Sabercats win by a score of 25-22.
Here are the stats from this game. Easton Cole of the Austin Copperheads would complete 14/19 passing attempts for 199 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception for a passer rating of 120.3. Joliet Christ of the San Jose Sabercats would complete 25/34 passing attempts for 296 yards with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 129. Dick Wizardry would lead the Copperheads running game with 96 yards on 21 attempts. Orosz would lead the Sabercats in rushing attempts with 14 carries for 53 yards and a touchdown, but Joliet Christ was the star of the show with 104 yards on 13 attempts. Hardwick was Cole’s favorite target of the day for the Copperheads with 4 receptions for 77 yards. Additionally, Tidwell had 3 receptions for 40 yards and a touchdown, while Wizardry had 3 receptions for 26 yards and a touchdown. Xavier Flash was Christ’s main target of the day with 6 receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown. Additionally, Olsen had 53 yards and a touchdown on 6 receptions, while Espeeyeeseetee had 93 yards and a touchdown on 5 receptions. The Copperheads defense was led by Bakshi with 11 tackles and Humuhumunukunukuapua'a with 10 tackles. The Sabercats defense was led by Pennington who had 10 tackles. All-in-all, a very close game with the Copperheads coming up just short in the second half.
FINAL SCORE: L 25-22
Regular Season Game 5: Austin Copperheads (0-4) @ Baltimore Hawks (3-1)
After a close loss at home to a semi-struggling San Jose Sabercats team, the Copperheads hit the road to take on one of the league heavyweights in the Baltimore Hawks. By all intents and purposes, this has the makings of a nasty blowout for the Hawks, but lets see what happens. Just a minute into the game and Axel Hornbacher intercepts an Easton Cole pass and returns it 61 yards for a touchdown to put the Hawks up 7-0. Just a minute later, the Copperheads were able to get some points on the board with a 33 yard field goal by Alfredo Crisco to make the score 7-3. This is where the Hawks really took control of the game though. To close out the first quarter of the game, Marquise Brown would haul in a 9 yard touchdown pass from Corvo Havran to make the score 14-3 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Yulic Nagasawa would collect an 8 yard touchdown pass from Havran just a couple minutes in to make the score 21-3. Austin Roenick would then interception Easton Cole and return it to the house to make it 28-3. Finally, to close out the scoring in the second quarter Corvo Havran would find Errol Maddox on a 38 yard touchdown pass to make the score 35-3 at the end of the half. Midway through the third quarter and the Hawks would strike again with an 8 yard touchdown reception by Dorfus Jimbo to make the score 42-3. The Copperheads would get a couple of score back on a 45 yard Alfredo Crisco field goal and a 1 yard Dick Wizardry touchdown to make the score 42-13 in favor of the Hawks. To close out the game ForThe Brand would make a 37 yard field goal to make the final score 45-13.
Here’s the stats breakdown from this Austin Copperheads breakdown. Easton Cole had a pretty bad day completing 16 of 34 passing attempts for 164 yards with no touchdowns and 5 interceptions for a passer rating of 21.8. Corvo Havran of the Baltimore Hawks would complete 24 of 35 passing attempts for 267 yards with 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions for a passer rating of 105.3. Dick Wizardry unsurprisingly was the Copperheads leading rusher with 93 yards and a touchdown on 26 attempts. Mako Mendonca would add 45 yards on 9 rushing attempts. Marquise Brown was the leading rusher for the Hawks with 125 yards on 24 attempts. Anoa’i was Cole’s top target on the day with 57 yards on 5 receptions. Errol Maddox was the top Hawks receiver with 130 yards on 7 receptions with a touchdown. The Hawks also got receiving touchdowns from Nagasawa, Brown, and Jimbo. The Copperheads were led by Bakshi on defense who had 11 tackles and Jensen with 9 tackles and a pass defended. The Hawks were led by Horne who had 10 tackles, a recovered fumble, and 3 passes defended. The Hawks had interceptions from Green, Roenick, and 3 from Hornbacher. Yep, as predicted this one wasn’t close and there was really no chance for the Copperheads to get into the groove of things.
FINAL SCORE: L 45-13
Regular Season Game 6: Orange County Otters (4-1) @ Austin Copperheads (0-5)
So after a stretch of difficult games, you would think that the Copperheads would get to maybe come back home and play an easier opponent… well, you would be wrong because the Copperheads have to face off against the Orange County Otters once again. Vinny Valentine opened the scoring up for the Otters midway through the first quarter on a 20 yard pass from Gus TT Showbiz to put Orange County up 7-0. Nearing the end of the first quarter, however, Alfredo Crisco was able to boot a 24 yard field goal to make the score 7-3 in favor of the Otters at the end of the first quarter. Vinny Valentine would get right back to work in the second quarter though as he would haul in a 50 yard touchdown pass from Showbiz to make the score 14-3 for Orange County. Only about a minute later, Showbiz would find Johnny Blaze on a 1 yard touchdown pass to make the score 21-3 for the Otters. After that Alex Dasistwirklichseinnachname was able to make a 47 yard field goal to make the score 24-3. Similarly to the first quarter, Alfredo Crisco would make a 28 yard field goal to close out the frame, making the halftime score 24-6 for the Orange County Otters. To open up the third quarter, Dick Wizardry of the Austin Copperheads would finish off a drive with a 2 yard touchdown run, but the extra point was missed bringing the score to 21-12. With only a couple minutes remaining in the quarter, Alex Dasistwirklichseinnachname booted a 47 yard field goal to extend the Otters lead to 27-12. To start the fourth quarter Apollo Reed would catch a 16 yard touchdown pass from Showbiz to make the score 34-12. In the last minute of the game Easton Cole found Rod Tidwell on a 9 yard pass for a touchdown to make the final score 34-19 in favor of the Otters. Not the blowout that occurred the last time these two teams met, but still not great by any means.
Here are the stats from this week 6 matchup. Easton Cole of the Copperheads completed 19 of 42 passing attempts for 214 yards with a touchdown and an interception for a passer rating of 59. Showbiz of the Orange County Otters completed 22 of 35 passing attempts for 280 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 125.9. Dick Wizardry of the Austin Copperheads rushed 25 times for 127 yards and a touchdown while Mako Mendonca rushed 16 times for 87 yards. Apollo Reed was the lone rusher for the Otters with 83 yards on 19 rushing attempts. Anoa’i was Cole’s primary target with 110 yards on 8 receptions while Tidwell added the only receiving touchdown for the Copperheads. Blaze caught 7 passes for the Otters which was good for 48 yards and a touchdown. Vinny Valentine had 4 receptions for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns while Sunnycursed added 71 yards on 4 receptions. Chase Jensen led the Copperheads defense with 9 tackles while Robertson added 6 tackles, a sack, and a pass defended. The Otters defense was led by Hobbs who had 16 tackles and 3 passes defended. Grievous added 11 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and 2 passes defended. Once again this was just a tale of one team being severely outmatched by another.
FINAL SCORE: L 34-19
Regular Season Game 7: Austin Copperheads (0-6) @ San Jose Sabercats (3-3)
I’m going to give it to you straight guys, this one is ugly. There’s really no other way to describe it than straight up bad. It was an ass-whooping from beginning to end so let’s get right into the recap of the scoring. The Sabercats opened the scoring midway through the first quarter on a 1 yard touchdown reception by Xavier Flash from Joliet L Christ to make the score 7-0. A few minutes later, Ahri Espeeyeeseetee would bring in a 5 yard touchdown reception from Christ to make the score 14-0 at the end of the first quarter. Think that the Copperheads and tighten up the score a little bit in the second quarter? Nope. The Sabercats open the second quarter scoring with a 23 yard field goal by Neo Donaldson to bring the score to 17-0. The second quarter would be relatively slow, but in the closing minutes of the half Christ would run in a 6 yard touchdown to make the score 24-0. The Sabercats would only continue their dominance in the third quarter as Christ would find Cameron Olson on a 29 yard touchdown strike bringing the score to 31-0. To close out the third quarter, Neo Donaldson would boot through a 39 yard field goal making the score 34-0. Joliet L Christ would not let up at all in the final frame of the game. Christ would run in a second rushing touchdown on the day making the score 41-0. Christ would then go on to find Flash on a 40 yard touchdown pass with the score now at 48-0. To close out the game, with no time left on the clock, Christ would run in a 55 yard touchdown making the final score of the game 55-0. If you are a Copperheads fan, it’s probably best to just forget this one altogether.
Let’s look at the stats from this game and when I say that I mean the really good stats from the Sabercats. Easton Cole of the Austin Copperheads would complete 8 of 21 passing attempts on the day for 89 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions for a passer rating of 51.5. Joliet L Christ of the San Jose Sabercats would complete 29 of 44 passing attempts for 383 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions which is good for a whopping passer rating of 123.6. Dick Wizardry got the majority of carries for the Austin Copperheads, rushing the ball 14 times for 79 yards. Christ, in addition to an amazing passing day, was also the Sabercats leading rusher, running the ball 14 times for 94 yards and 3 touchdowns. Davenport also ran the ball 12 times for 71 yards and Orosz ran the ball 8 times for 34 yards. Rod Tidwell of the Austin Copperheads was the only receiver with notable stats, catching the ball 3 times for 55 yards. Olsen was Christ’s top target on the day for the Sabercats with 7 receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown. Flash added 90 yards and 2 touchdowns on 7 receptions. Wright had 7 receptions for 48 yards. Espeeyeeseetee had 5 receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown and Justice had 2 receptions for 65 yards. On defense, the Copperheads were led by Castle who had 8 tackles, a sack, and a pass defended. Jensen also had 8 tackles, a tackle for loss, and a pass defended. For the San Jose Sabercats, Pennington led the way on defense with 11 tackles and a sack. Yep, this one wasn’t good.
FINAL SCORE: L 55-0
Regular Season Game 8: Austin Copperheads (0-7) @ New Orleans Second Line (3-4)
Yeah so the last game wasn’t pretty and this one isn’t a whole lot better, but here’s some good news for Copperheads fans. This is at least the last blowout of the season, at least after this the games become increasingly more competitive so there’s that. Alright, lets get right into the scoring recap of this one. The first quarter of the game would be completely scoreless, but the New Orleans Second Line would get on the scoreboard first on a Forrest Gump 3 yard rushing touchdown to make the score 7-0 midway through the second quarter. Less than a minute later, the Copperheads would charge down the field but have to settle for a 24 yard field goal from Alfredo Crisco. That’s more points scored than against San Jose at least. Unfortunately, the New Orleans Second Line would charge down the field once again and cap off the first half with a 9 yard Tyler Swift touchdown run making the score 14-3. The third quarter of the game would open with a 12 yard touchdown pass from Stan Francisco to Vladimir Fyodorovich increasing the Second Line lead to 21-3. Alex Frost would increase that lead even further just a couple minutes later with a 29 yard field goal. The Austin Copperheads would try to make it a game with time expired in the third quarter with a 14 yard connection between Easton Cole and Django Anoa’i to make the score 24-10. The fourth quarter of the game would open up with 4 yard Tyler Swift touchdown run making it 31-10. Thjalfi Halvorsen would then bring in a 3 yard touchdown pass from Stan Francisco, but the extra point was missed, making the score 37-10. Once again, the Copperheads would score, but it was too little too late in this game. Dick Wizardry would run in a 1 yard touchdown bring the score to 37-17. With less than a minute left in the game, however, Tyler Swift would run in another touchdown making the final score 44-17.
Here are the stats from this ass-whooping. Easton Cole of the Austin Copperheads got bitten by the turnover bug again in this one as he would complete 17 of 37 passing attempts for 167 yards with 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions for a passer rating of 34.4. Stan Francisco of the New Orleans Second Line would complete 15 of 25 passing attempts for 142 yards with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 102.4. Dick Wizardry got the lion’s share of carries for Austin, carrying the ball 24 times for only 63 yards and a touchdown. Mako Mendonca would also carry the ball 8 times for 41 yards. Forrest Gump of the Second Line would carry the ball 25 times for 99 yards and a touchdown. Tyler Swift would carry the ball 20 times for 91 yards and 3 touchdowns. Stan Francisco would also get involved in the run game, carrying the ball 8 times for 77 yards. Django Anoa’i would be Easton Cole’s top target on the day with 5 receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown. Mendonca would add 1 30 yard reception as well. Fyodorovich was Francisco’s top target with 5 receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown. Bakshi led the way for the Copperheads on defense with 13 tackles and a fumble recovery. Bode was the leader for the Second Line in this one with 10 tackles. Taylor had 2 interceptions with Harrison adding the third on the day for the Second Line.
FINAL SCORE: L 44-17
Regular Season Game 9: Chicago Butchers (6-2) @ Austin Copperheads (0-8)
Time for the battle between the two expansion teams. As you can tell from the records at this point, the two teams took very different paths in terms of the draft, expansion draft, and free agency. You would probably expect the Chicago Butchers to butcher the Copperheads in this one, but you would be surprised as this one turns out to be surprisingly close. The first quarter of the game goes completely scoreless, which is already a win for the Copperheads and two games in a row where Austin’s defense was able to hold off opposing offenses for at least a little bit. The scoring would open in the second quarter with a 26 yard field goal by Alfredo Crisco to give the Austin Copperheads a 3-0 lead. In the last minute of the first half, Kulture Fulture would make a 34 yard field goal to tie the game at 3, which would also be the score at the end of the first half. The only score in the third quarter would come from Askel Danielsson on a 1 yard rushing touchdown, giving the Chicago Butchers a 10-3 lead. In the fourth quarter, Kulture Fulture would make a 39 yard field goal to make the score 13-3, but the Austin Copperheads would come right back and make it a game. Dick Wizardry would break through some tackles and score on a 6 yard touchdown run bringing the score to 13-10 with 5 minutes left in the game. Unfortunately, the Austin Copperheads couldn’t quite pull this one off and Kulture Fulture would knock through a 30 yard field goal with no time left on the clock to make the final score 16-10 which is a totally respectable score compared to the previous couple weeks and against a team that is pretty superior.
Let’s look at the stats in this one. Easton Cole of the Austin Copperheads would complete 15 of 23 passing attempts for 98 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions for a passer rating of 74.2. Rose Jenkins of the Chicago Butchers would complete 16 of 29 passing attempts for 219 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions for a passer rating of 79.5. Wizardry would have a nice day running the ball with 121 yards and a touchdown on 30 rushing attempts. Mako Mendonca would also get some carries with 55 yards on 12 attempts. The rookie phenom Torenson would have 24 rushing attempts for 108 yards. Danielsson would add 36 yards and a touchdown on 8 carries. Django Anoa’i was Cole’s top target on the day with 4 receptions for 33 yards. Oles for the Butchers would have a nice day with 5 receptions for 100 yards. On defense, the Austin Copperheads were led by Bakshi with 14 tackles and a forced fumble. Jensen would add 6 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery. The Butchers were led on defense by Stokeley who had 11 tackles and a sack while Lewis added 9 tackles. All-in-all, I think this game was much closer than anyone suspected and maybe the Austin Copperheads are starting to turn a corner in their ability to at least compete in some of these games.
FINAL SCORE: L 16-10
Regular Season Game 10: Austin Copperheads (0-9) @ Arizona Outlaws (5-4)
The Copperheads are coming off of a close loss at home, but now they have to go on the road to take on the Outlaws in Arizona. The Copperheads played the Outlaws closely in the beginning of the season, but this time they don’t have the homefield advantage. In this contest, however, the Outlaws would take control of the game quickly and not give the Copperheads much of a chance to get back into it. The scoring would start midway through the first quarter when Jeffrey Murphy would run in a 5 yard touchdown bringing the score to 7-0 which would also end the scoring in the first quarter. Spencer Lawes would boot a 19 yard field goal to open the scoring in the second quarter bringing the score to 10-0. Murphy would then get his second rushing touchdown of the day on a 2 yard carry making it a 17-0 game. With 14 seconds left on the clock, Lawes would make another field goal, this one 29 yards, to make the score at the end of the half 20-0. The Copperheads would open the scoring in the second half on a 8 yard connection between Easton Cole and Django Anoa’i to make the game 20-7. Towards the end of the third quarter, however, Lawes would yet again make another field goal making the score 23-7. The Outlaws would get on the board again in the fourth quarter on a 13 yard connection between Andrew Reese and Jammerson Irving bringing the score to 30-7. The last score of the game though would come from the Copperheads on a 2 yard Mako Mendonca rushing touchdown to make the final score 30-14. I guess I lied earlier when I said the games would be closer. This wasn’t all that close.
Let’s look at the stats from this bad boy. Easton Cole of the Austin Copperheads would complete 16 of 28 passing attempts for 161 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception for a passer rating of 70.7. Andrew Reese of the Arizona Outlaws would complete 29 of 44 passing attempts for 346 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception for a passer rating of 87.9. Dick Wizardry of the Austin Copperheads had 21 carries for 57 yards while Mako Mendonca had 10 carries for 30 yards and a touchdown. Shady for the Arizona Outlaws had 16 carries for 65 yards while Murphy had 12 carries for 65 yards and 2 touchdowns. In terms of receiving, Anoa’i was once again Easton Cole’s top target with 5 receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown. Tidwell added 3 receptions for 47 yards. Shady was Reese’s top receiving target with 9 receptions for 106 yards while Landers had 7 receptions for 126 yards. Irving also added 5 receptions for 54 yards and a touchdown. On defense the Copperheads were led by Jensen who had 10 tackles and 2 passes defended. Bakshi and Castle also each added 10 tackles. McKinnie of the Arizona Outlaws had 8 tackles and a pass defended while Vans, who is having a phenomenal season, had 8 tackles and a sack.
FINAL SCORE: L 30-14
Regular Season Game 11: Colorado Yeti (0-10) @ Austin Copperheads (0-10)
It’s the moment you have all been waiting for. A clash between the titans of the NSFL. Who will come out on top of this battle of the century? That’s right ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for THE TOILET BOWL! Which one of these winless teams will come out on top and lose out on the first overall pick? Let’s find out. Less than 2 minutes into the game and the Austin Copperheads are the first to strike. Mako Mendonca with a 1 yard rushing touchdown makes the game 7-0 in favor of Austin. With less than 2 minutes left in the first quarter and Alfredo Crisco widens the margin with a 25 yard field goal to make the game 10-0 for the Austin Copperheads at the end of the first quarter. The Yeti strike first in the second quarter on a Thomas Carrasco 3 yard rushing touchdown to make the score 10-7 still in favor of the Copperheads. Austin would bounce right back though on a 10 yard Dick Wizardry rushing touchdown making the score 17-7. With less than 2 minutes in the half, however, Logan Lejune would intercept an Easton Cole pass and return it 34 yards to the house to make the score 17-14 in favor of the Copperheads at the end of the half. The Yeti would strike again to open the second half on a 34 yard connection between Wolfie McDummy and James Bishop to give Colorado their first lead of the game 21-17. The Copperheads would take that lead back though on a 7 yard connection between Easton Cole and Django Anoa’i making the score 24-21. The only score of the fourth quarter would be a 7 yard Terry Taffy run which would give the Colorado Yeti the 28-24 lead and the win in the toilet bowl… which is almost like losing in a way.
Let’s look at the stats from this instant classic game. Easton Cole of the Austin Copperheads would complete21 of 36 passing attempts for 220 yards with a touchdown and an interception for a passer rating of 73.8. Wolfie McDummy of the Colorado Yeti would complete 16 of 30 passing attempts for 213 yards with a touchdown and an interception for a passer rating of 73.3. Dick Wizardry would get the majority of carries for the Copperheads with 75 yards on 17 carries with a touchdown. Mako Mendonca would add 32 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Terry Taffy of the Colorado Yeti would get 117 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries while Carrasco would get 61 yards and touchdown on 10 carries. Anoa’i was Easton Cole’s top target on the day with 7 receptions for 73 yards and touchdown. Tidwell would add 49 yards, Wizardry 57 yards, and Hardwick 37 yards. James Bishop of the Colorado Yeti would have a great day with 5 receptions for 129 yards and a touchdown. On defense, the Austin Copperheads were led by Robertson with 8 tackles. Jensen would add 7 tackles and a sack, while Humuhumunukunukuapua'a would get Austin’s interception. Knurtsson of the Colorado Yeti would get 7 tackles, while Lejune would have 5 tackles, 3 passes defended, and an interception returned for a touchdown. Pretty close game between two pretty bad teams.
FINAL SCORE: L 28-24
Regular Season Game 12: Austin Copperheads (0-11) @ Yellowknife Wraiths (8-3)
Alright so the toilet bowl is over and the Copperheads lost… or won, depends on how you really want to look at things. It’s all about perspective. Anyway, now the Copperheads have to travel up to the great white north to take on the Wraiths who are riding a pretty nasty winning streak. The Yellowknife Wraiths would open the scoring up mid first quarter on a 1 yard Brad Pennington run to make the score 7-0. 3 minutes later, Jerrod Canton would carry the ball 3 yards into the end zone making the score 14-0 in favor of the Wraiths at the end of the first quarter. The Copperheads wouldn’t go down without a fight though. Alfredo Crisco would boot a 30 yard field goal, followed by Mako Mendonca pounding through a 1 yard touchdown run which together would bring the score to 14-10 still in favor of the Wraiths. Unfortunately, before the end of the half Cooter Bigsby would connect with Josh Parker on a 31 yard passing touchdown to make the score at halftime 21-10. The only scoring play in the third quarter was a 25 yard field goal by Stephen Harris Jr. to give the Wraiths a 24-10 lead going into the final frame of the game. The Copperheads would strike first in the fourth quarter on a 14 yard Dick Wizardry run bringing the score to 24-17. Those would be the last points the Austin Copperheads would put on the board though. Stephen Harris Jr. would knock through one more field goal to make the final score in this one a 27-17 Wraiths victory.
Here are the stats from this week 12 matchup. Easton Cole of the Austin Copperheads would complete 16 of 34 passing attempts for 162 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions for a passer rating of 61.2. Cooter Bigsby of the Yellowknife Wraiths would complete 34 of 58 passing attempts for 402 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception which was good for a passer rating of 78.4. Dick Wizardry and Mako Mendonca split carries for the Austin Copperheads in this matchup. Wizardry carried the ball 17 times for 89 yards and a touchdown while Mendonca carried the ball 12 times for 51 yards and a touchdown. Jerrod Canton was the main running back for the Wraiths as he would carry the ball 13 times for 70 yards with a touchdown. As per usual, Django Anoa’i was Easton Cole’s top target on the day with 6 receptions for 76 yards. Peter Larson added 5 receptions for 45 yards. Josh Parker was Bigsby’s favorite guy in this game with 9 receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown. Helanen added 67 yards on 7 receptions. Canton had 58 yards on 6 receptions and Nate Swift had 132 yards on 5 receptions. On defense the Austin Copperheads were led by Bakshi with 10 tackles and a pass defended and Jensen with 8 tackles, a sack, and 3 passes defended. Castle had the lone interception in the game. The Wraiths were unsurprisingly led by Danny Grithead who had 12 tackles, 2 sacks, and 2 passes defended which is a pretty typical day in the office for one of the MVP favorites. At the end of the day, I think these games are showing that the Copperheads are getting better. Playing a very good team on their field and only losing by 10 is a far cry from the early season where we would have lost by 30 or more.
FINAL SCORE: L 27-17
Regular Season Game 13: Austin Copperheads (0-12) @ Philadelphia Liberty (6-6)
Well, it’s been a long season for us Copperheads. I would say a lot of ups and a lot of downs, but it was mostly down as you can see from the season record. I will say this though, we haven’t lost the locker room throughout the course of this season. Everyone is still very much so on board not with what the Copperheads currently are, but what they could be in the future. We all knew that this season was going to be rough, but we are still updating regularly and gaining as much TPE as possible to make this squad more competitive in future seasons. Okay, lets get right into the last game of the inaugural season for the Austin Copperheads. Alfredo Crisco would open up the scoring for the Copperheads early in the game with a 47 yard field goal giving the Copperheads the 3-0 lead. To close out the first quarter though, Fast Boija would run in a 6 yard touchdown to give the Liberty a 7-3 lead. The second quarter would be all Philadelphia Liberty with Kyle Frost hitting an 18 yard field goal bringing the score to 10-3 and Fast Boija getting his second of the game on a 2 yard run bringing the score at halftime to 17-3. Similarly to the start of the first half, the Copperheads would open the scoring in the second half with Dick Wizardry finishing off a drive with a 3 yard touchdown run to make the score 17-10 still in favor of Philadelphia. This is where Adriana Falconi would take over the game though. Falconi would find Vander Jones on a 4 yard passing touchdown to make the score 24-10 and then find Jones again on a 26 yard passing touchdown to make the score 31-10. The fourth quarter would be all Austin Copperheads, but familiar story line, it was too little too late. Alfredo Crisco would get another field goal making it 31-13. The final score of the game would come from an Easton Cole to Dick Wizardry 5 yard touchdown pass making it 31-20 and that was all she wrote. The Austin Copperheads would finish the season a perfect 0-13… 0-17 if you count the preseason.
Let’s look at the stats from this season finale. Easton Cole of the Austin Copperheads would complete 18 of 37 passing attempts for 203 yards with a touchdown and 3 interceptions for a passer rating of 40.7. Adriana Falconi of the Philadelphia Liberty would complete 23 of 45 passing attempts for 366 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception for a passer rating of 84.1. Dick Wizardry got the majority of carries for the Copperheads with 21 rushing attempts for 99 yards and a touchdown. Mako Mendonca would add 41 yards on 9 carries. Fast Boija was the star runner for the Liberty with 9 carries for 40 yards with 2 touchdowns. It’s very fitting that Django Anoa’i was Cole’s top target in the season finale with 6 receptions for 94 yards. Tidwell would have 3 receptions for 69 yards and Wizardry would have the only receiving touchdown for the Copperheads in this one. Falconi really spread the ball around well in this one for the Liberty. Brannigan had 76 yards on 6 receptions, Jones had 75 yards and 2 touchdowns on 6 receptions, von Matt had 126 yards on 5 receptions, and Varga had 83 yards on 4 receptions. On defense the Copperheads were led by Bakshi with 8 tackles, a tackle for loss, a pass defended, and an interception. The Liberty were led by Garnett who had 15 tackles, a sack, a pass defended, and an interception. The other interceptions came from D’Attoria V and StrongSafety8.
FINAL SCORE: L 31-20
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So there are all of the games separately, I thought it would be nice to do a quick little rundown of each player on their cumulative season statistics, just so people can see how things played out, who were the real impact players, and what not. As I said in the previous section, this was a rough season, we all knew it would be a rough season, but we went out there and did the best that we could. So here are the cumulative season statistics.
QB – Easton Cole ® (@JKortesi81) – Cole had 416 passing attempts on the season and completed 217 of those attempts for a completion percentage of 52.2. He passed for 2351 yards total with a long of 43 yards. He threw just shy of double digits in touchdowns with 9 and threw 21 interception. All of this was good for a season passer rating of 55.3. It was definitely a rough season for Cole, but he will definitely be better next season. The Copperheads have a lot to look forward to with his development.
FB – Dick Wizardry (@AdamS) – Wizardry had an outstanding season as one of the premiere running backs in the league. He was utilized heavily as Easton Cole is still in the phase of his career where he needs limited reps during the game. Wizardry had 305 rushing attempts for 1259 yards for an average of 4.1 yards per carry. He had a long of 20 yards and finished the season with 9 touchdowns. Wizardry was also involved in the receiving game with 37 receptions for 297 yards. He had a long of 37 yards and had 2 touchdowns. In blocking, Wizardry had 15 pancakes and allowed 5 sacks.
FB – Mako Mendonca ® (@Mooty99) – Mendonca played back up to Wizardry for a good portion of the season, but with Wizardry moving to the defensive line next season, Mendonca all of a sudden has some big shoes to fill. He carried the ball 112 times for 454 yards for an average yards per carry of 4.1. His long on the season was 17 and finished off the season with 3 touchdowns. Similarly to Wizardry, Mendonca was also involved in the receiving game. He finished the season with 13 receptions for 101 yards with a long of 30. In blocking, Mendonca had 10 pancakes and allowed 4 sacks. Mendonca will definitely have a bright future in the league.
WR – Django Anoa’i (@tlk742) – All-in-all the Copperheads didn’t do a ton of passing on the season, but when they did pass Anoa’i was definitely the primary target of Easton Cole. Anoa’i finished the season with 63 receptions for 848 yards for an average of 13.5 yards per reception. He had a long 32 yards and finished the season with 5 touchdowns. He led all of the receivers in almost every single statistical category. He will definitely be a factor moving forward as Cole increases in TPE and the passing game opens up a little bit more.
WR – Rod Tidwell ® (@SDCore) – For being on a team that doesn’t pass much and not being designated the primary guy, Tidwell still had a nice season. He finished with 39 receptions for 515 yards for an average of 13.2 yards per reception. He had a long of 43 yards which was the Copperheads longest passing play of the season and had 2 touchdowns. These numbers will surely go up again as the passing game improves. Tidwell serves as an excellent option opposite of Anoa’i.
WR – Sam Hardwick (@ralams123) – Hardwick served as the third receiver, but again, all of these numbers could be incredibly better on a team that focused on passing so I don’t blame him for the limited reps in game. Hardwick finished the season with 28 receptions for 331 yards for an average of 11.8 yards per reception. He had a long of 30 yards an finished the season without a touchdown, but when the team only has 9 receiving touchdowns on the season total there just aren’t a ton to go around. He also helped with kick returns. He would return 12 kicks for 292 yards for an average of 24.3 yards per return with a long of 36.
TE – Peter Larson ® (@Tomasnz) – So Larson switched from quarterback to tight end to start this season. Being a true rookie tight end on a team that doesn’t pass a whole lot isn’t going to translate to a ton of offensive statistics. Larson finished the season with 37 receptions for 259 yards for an average of 7 yards per reception. He had a long of 23 yards on the season and did not have any touchdowns. That being said, he was effective on the line. He had 24 pancakes and allowed 0 sacks on the season. He is another candidate of players that will look significantly better as the passing game improves.
OL – Edmond Beaver-Dantes ® (@Beaver) – There’s not a lot that you can really complain about here. Beaver-Dantes finished the season with 60 pancakes and 2 sacks allowed which for the offensive linemen on the team was a best in both categories. Statistically speaking, Beaver-Dantes was one of the better offensive linemen in the league this season and that is something that Austin will 100% take. Can’t wait to see how he blows it up next season.
DE – Grayson Kuusela (@WannabeFinn) – First up on the defensive line we have Grayson Kuusela. He finished the season with 42 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, and 3 sacks. I know for a fact that this wasn’t quite the production he was looking for, but I think his stats will definitely improve with the addition of Wizardry on the line. Overall, there is just going to be a lot more disruption there which will lead to more opportunities to get at the quarterback and force some turnovers.
DE – Joseph Henry (@`uncleleo'skomrade`) – On the opposite side of the defensive line we have Joseph Henry. He finished the season with 35 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 1 fumble recovery, and 6 sacks. I think Henry actually had a pretty damn nice season. He led the team by a pretty hefty margin in tackles for loss and sacks. It will be interesting to see how his production is affected as I predict Kuusela will step up to the plate next season.
DT – Bruce Waynner ® (@BruceWaynner) – Waynner finished the season with 27 tackles and 2 tackles for loss. I think most everyone knew that defensive line was going to be a weakness for this squad, but at least I was hoping for a little bit more than this. Really needs to step up, but will likely be a casualty of the Wizardry move to the defensive line.
DT – Nick Snider ® (@eighthroundpick) – Snider finished the season with 15 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, and 2 sacks. Overall, I think the team was hoping for more out of the middle of the defensive line which is a big reason Wizardry decided to change positions. Maybe this will encourage some more gains out of this squad altogether.
LB – Sandip Bakshi (@Player1) – Bakshi had an excellent season as the leader of the Austin Copperheads defense. He finished the season with 124 tackles which was the most in the league by the way, 1 tackle for loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 2 interceptions, and 3 passes defended. He was kind of a jack of all trades for the Copperheads defense. He should be proud of the way that he played and I look forward to seeing what he can do with a bolstered Austin defense next season.
LB – AJ Robertson (@Nathan_Hall) – Robertson was the only other linebacker on the roster and definitely played second fiddle to Bakshi, but still had his moments. He finished the season with 76 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 forced fumble, 3 sacks, 1 interception, and 12 passes defended. He played his role well this season. I think the team would like to add a third linebacker somewhere along the line to help out in the middle of the field, but all-in-all, this was not the weak link in the Austin defense.
CB – Spencer Castle (@AsylumParty) – Our first defensive back is Spencer Castle. He finished the season with 65 tackles, 1 sack, 3 interceptions, and 16 passes defended. It’s tough being part of a defensive back group that just doesn’t have the experience to be effective at this point in their careers. Castle did what he could and will still likely be a player that’s called upon next season.
CB – Dermot Lavelle Jr. ® (@White Cornerback) – Lavelle Jr. was considered a highly touted prospect coming out of the DSFL and he was thrown to the sharks in his rookie season in the big leagues. He finished the season with 56 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 interception, and 8 passes defended. He was also the teams main kick returner as he returned 40 kicks for 999 yards for an average return of 25 yards and had a long of 92. He returned 15 punts for 65 yards with a long of 17. While this might not seem super impressive, you have to know that that breakout season is coming. Lavelle Jr. is going to be a star and there’s really nothing anyone can do to stop him from getting there.
SS – Chase Jensen ® (@dizzyDC) – Jensen had a really nice season as the starting strong safety after moving from tight end at the begi