05-10-2021, 09:13 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-13-2021, 03:50 PM by UltimateYeehaw.)
Split pay 50/50 between myself and @"Ryan Negs"
S28 Minnesota Grey Ducks Game Balls - Weeks 7 to 9
Words: 1813
S28 Minnesota Grey Ducks Game Balls - Weeks 7 to 9
DEFENSIVE WEEK 7 GAME BALL – CB/NB Kacper Puntky @jackkmart
Coming off a hot 2-game win streak, Minnesota faced an intimidating division rival in the London Royals hoping to keep their streak alive and begin making more of a playoff push. Unfortunately, in a battle of pure defense, the Royals ended up victorious. But the efforts made by our game ball winner will not go unnoticed, and this game ball goes to cornerback Kacper Puntky!
Much like the last time the slot corner won a game ball, his stat sheet will initially look unimpressive. He recorded only a sole tackle in the late second quarter. But what Puntky does best is show up in clutch moments, and that is what he did tonight! With less than two minutes in the third quarter, the Royals led the game with a score of 17-9 and the Grey Ducks began to feel the pressure.
Needing a big stop, the defense took the field yet again as the offense stagnated on the previous drive. But on the third play of London’s drive, Puntky finally had enough and jumped right in front of the intended receiver and intercepted the ball! Landing on his feet, he returned it for 17 yards to set up the Grey Ducks in excellent scoring position at the Royals 30-yard line. Ultimately, however, the offense could not finish the drive and had to settle for a field goal, and the game ended with a score of 17-12.
It was a valiant performance by Puntky nonetheless. He ended the night with 1 tackle, 2 passes defended, and 1 interception! With how often he makes these big plays, Puntky is shopping for turnovers!
OFFENSIVE WEEK 7 GAME BALL - K Gluteus Maximus @Netlet
4/5 on FG (21, 57, 41, 30)
In another defensive battle, our offense put together a ton of great drives but was not able to cap any of them off with a touchdown. However, we all know Big Boi Glute is Mr. Reliable to get us a field goal whenever we need it. In this game against London, that is exactly what he did.
In a game where we scored no touchdowns, Glute came through and hit whenever we asked him to. The majority of his scoring came in the second quarter of the game. With 6:52 left in the quarter, Maximus booted the ball clean through the goalposts for a 21-yard field goal. With 3:42 left and down 7-3, Glute lined up for a wild 57 yarder. He had the wind in his favor and absolutely blasted the ball as it just crossed through inside the post for three points.
Glute is the DEFINITION of clutch, as he also banged a 41 yarder with only 15 seconds remaining in the half to set us up down 14-9 going into halftime. On his last kick, he cleared the post for a 30 yarder at the end of the 3rd quarter to set us up in the final frame 17-12. We did not get the job done but it was a close game against a top team. We will see them in playoffs! The other teams are afraid of us, too, because they all have a Glute-n intolerance.
DEFENSIVE WEEK 8 GAME BALL – FS ‘Captain’ John Price @SnowyWolfz
In week 8, the Grey Ducks had a huge win over the Bondi Beach Buccaneers, after coming off the heartbreaking loss to London in the previous week. And much like all the other games so far this season, the defense played a huge role in the victory. But the biggest contributor was none other than veteran safety ‘Captain’ John Price!
Price as a whole was a force to be reckoned with that night. Any time he was targeted or in the area of the pass, he was sure to bat it down. But you could tell he wanted even more than just the pass defended! Early in the second quarter, the Bucs were driving from their own 25 all the way to Minnesota’s 26-yard line. But the ‘Captain’ saw an opening after Zaylren’s third pass of the drive. On the 1st and 10 throw, Price leaped high into the air and snatched the ball well in front of the intended receiver. Landing on his feet, Price had room to run, and he saw a huge opening down the sideline. He sprinted with the ball and, with the help of some team blockers, returned the interception for 53 yards! This set up the Grey Ducks with excellent scoring position, in which they netted a field goal to extend their lead to 13-7 before halftime.
The entire second half saw Price netting four passes defended scattered throughout both quarters. And while that certainly helped the defense, the Bucs were still determined to stay in the game. The penultimate drive for Bondi Beach eventually led to a turnover on downs a the BBB 34. The offense then did their best to bleed the clock, but the Bucs clock management left them with enough time for at least 1 more drive and play. And with that play, if felt like a story book moment as Price was none other than the one to take down the receiver and end the game as time expired!
The ‘Captain’ ended the night with 3 tackles, 4 passed defended, and the single interception with a record return of 53 yards! If ‘Captain’ Price keeps up this production, the rest of the season should be smooth sailing on defense!
OFFENSIVE WEEK 8 GAME BALL – Rookie WR Janis Lux @Lukstins88
7 catches, 89 yards, 1 touchdown, 12.7 yards per reception
We caught a huge win against the Bondi Beach Buccaneers this week as we welcomed the Australians to the Quack Shack! This was an exciting back and forth battle between two teams that literally came down to the end of the 4th quarter. Our whole offense was humming nicely, but Janis Lux made some standout plays to earn himself the week 8 offensive game ball.
Like he has been all season, Lux was a matchup nightmare for the Buccaneers who did not have anyone who could stay with him on 50/50 balls. Although Lux did not do much damage deep tonight, he carved Bondi Beach up on the short and intermediate routes. Lux wasted no time introducing himself to the Buccaneers defense with some huge first quarter catches. Lux had receptions of 20, 16, 16, and 16 all in the first quarter consistently putting pressure on the defense. He was focused on hard for the rest of the game and had a few nice catches, but nothing compared to his fourth quarter impact.
Bondi Beach scored a go-ahead touchdown with 5:25 left in the game that could have been the nail in the coffin for us. However, the offense fought hard and drove down the field from our own 30-yard line. After a huge 45-yard reception from TE Bobby Tarantino, we were stationed at 1st & goal on the 6-yard line. On 2nd & goal, Jacob Raske scrambled out of the pocket and found Lux for a diving toe-drag catch right at the side of the endzone for the winning touchdown! It was a hell of a game and a truly game-winning performance from Janis Lux.
We can’t lose, we have Lux on our side!
OFFENSIVE WEEK 9 GAME BALL – K/P ‘Big Boi’ Gluteus Maximus @Netlet
3/3 FG (29, 29, 41)
This was another defensive battle against Tijuana, and another game where our kicker came in big for us. While the offense stagnated on many drives, ‘Big Boi’ Glute came through in every situation we asked him to and put points up on the board. He went a perfect 3/3 on field goals where each of them sailed perfectly through the uprights. Glute also accounted for all our points scored in the game!
Although it may not technically be labeled offense, Maximus had a great punting game, too. He sent away 8 punts for a total of 353 yards, for an average of 44.1 yards per punt with 4 of them landing inside the 20. He even had an absolute bomb of a punt that went for an astonishing 65 yards! He made it difficult for Tijuana to get anything going on offense as they were also in for a rough night on offense, only scoring field goals as well.
It was an overtime loss, but none of us have any doubts in our mind if we needed Glute to kick that final field goal, he would have won us the game. Gluteus Maximus never skips leg day.
DEFENSIVE WEEK 9 GAME BALL – Rookie DT Conner Craig Jr. @Dewalt27
The Grey Ducks had another cutthroat defensive battle in week 9, this time against the Tijuana Luchadores! It was an outstanding performance on defense allowing no touchdowns. Had the offense been able to sustain longer drives and scored touchdowns instead of field goals, the Grey Ducks could have easily called this a victory. But alas this was not the case. Nonetheless, we still want to recognize the brilliant defensive performance and in particular the great night by rookie DT Craig Jr.!
The unstoppable force in Craig Jr. came out strong immediately wrapping up the RB Jackson for a 2-yard loss on just the second play of the night! This helped lead the Luchadores to a three-and-out to start the game, the first of many on the night! Craig Jr. did an excellent job at filling the holes and preventing big runs on the defense. So much so, he only recorded 1 other tackle in the late second quarter during the first four quarters of the game.
While the rest of the regular time was relatively quiet for CC Jr., he made a huge impact in overtime. Allowing only short gains maximum, Craig Jr. racked up 3 tackles in the final 10 extra minutes! He even recorded back-to-back big stops on 1st and 2nd down on Tijuana’s last drive. Unfortunately for the Grey Ducks, the Luchadores caught a huge break on 4th and 8 on that drive with 0:42 seconds remaining. They ended up converting, miraculously, and somehow managed to drive 12 more yards in those final seconds to score the game winning field goal. Devastating loss, and heartbreaking for such a defensive performance.
Regardless, Conner Craig Jr. had a record-breaking night! He recorded 6 tackles, tying his personal best, with 3 of them for loss, a new personal record! Just another record for Craig’slist!
Congratulations to all of our game ball winners! Unfortunately, our two close loses officially put us out of the playoff race, but we still fought hard! QUACK!
Words: 1813