Task 1:
The Season 31 Ultimus and Ultimini races have just concluded, and this seems like just as good a time as any to look back at the playoffs and dissect just how the winners - the Hahalua and the Birddogs respectively - managed to overcome the other teams around them and win the biggest games of their seasons.
The best place to begin is probably with the DSFL, where the level of competition in the playoffs was as even as it has been in a long time. In the South division, the Birddogs and Seawolves made it into the playoffs in a tie at 9-5 - broken only by the Birddogs one game advantage in divisional games to give them home advantage in their match. In the North division meanwhile, the two playoff teams were the 8-6 Grey Ducks, and the 7-6-1 Coyotes, who leveraged their come-from-behind tie against the Pythons to grab the final spot in the playoffs by the skin of their teeth. As you can tell from the records, no team was far-and-away the favourite to take home the Ultimini, and the closeness shown in those records followed through to the Conference Championship games.
First up, the matchup between the Grey Ducks and the Coyotes; long-time adversaries, but at the same time two teams with historical alliances that only made this match even more interesting. With famous alumni and raucous fans in the stands, both teams battled hard, but the Grey Ducks held a 27-23 lead with 1:51 to go. However the Coyotes - led by sophomore QB Carter Knight - would March down the field and score a TD with 44 seconds to go. The slightly favoured Grey Ducks were left distraught as the clock reached 0:00 and their season was over at the hands of the Coyotes in the divisional. If that matchup sounded dramatic, it only gets even more dramatic in the South version of this game, where the Birddogs hosted the Seawolves. The Birddogs led comfortably 34-20 with 5:36 left in the game before the Seawolves answered back with a quick TD to make it a one-score game. All the Birddogs had to do was bleed the clock out… but instead they threw a pick two plays later. With short field in their favour, Malcolm Savage and the Seawolves scored yet again to tie the game up in the dying minutes. Dallas rushed the ball to play for overtime… only to fumble the ball at their own 17 to give the Seawolves the chance to win outright. Norfolk made it to the Dallas 3-yard line, drew up a pass play… and that pass would be intercepted by Lance Witt to force the game into overtime. Dallas would eventually win 37-34, in what may just be one of the greatest matches in recent memory.
This brought us to the Ultimini matchup; the favoured Birddogs hosting the still-strong Coyotes. There is no need to beat around the bush here; the Coyotes had their chance to finally take the crown that has long-eluded their franchise, but they blew it in heartbreaking fashion. After a scoreless third quarter, the Coyotes were leading 20-9; two Knight interceptions and three Birddog TDs later, the game was officially over, with the Birddogs hoisting the Ultimini after a 31-20 win over the Coyotes. While it would be safe to say anyone feasibly could’ve won the Ultimini this year, the Birddogs - with the tied-best record in the entire league and their beating of the other best team in the Conference Championship - likely deserved the title this year - although, as a Coyote alumni, it doesn’t make it hurt any less.
Next up was the ISFL playoffs, and there were tense affairs all the way through these playoffs. In the ASFC, the Copperheads entered the playoffs as the unquestioned best team in the conference, rocking a 12-4 record that bested even the best NSFC teams. Lagging behind three games back were the other 2 ASFC playoff contenders; the Outlaws and the Hahalua. These 2 teams were tied every way imaginable by records - even down to the home/away splits - so the Outlaws hosted the wildcard game solely due to sweeping the Hahalua during the regular season. The NSFC side was even closer meanwhile; the Yeti earned a bye with an 11-5 record, but the two wildcard teams (the Sailfish and the Butchers) once again were split only by thin margins - this time, the Sailfish had a better point differential in their regular season matchups against the Butchers, and as such hosted their wildcard game.
The wildcard games produced away wins which tend to mean shocks, but with how close both wildcard races were it didn’t come as much surprise that the Hahalua and the Butchers made it through to their respective Conference Championships. It was at this stage against superior opposition that their true abilities would be tested. In the NSFC CC, things went by the book; the strong Yeti defense did enough to hold the Butchers offense at arms-length, and solid scoring from their own offense brought them into the Ultimus with a 23-10 victory. The ASFC CC meanwhile was… less by the book. The Copperheads entered the game as massive favourites given their regular season heroics, and they struggled early against an upstart Hahalua team. The Hahalua led 20-10 at the half which was shocking enough to fans throughout the league, but fans likely were even more shocked that the Hahalua managed to stem any comeback attempts the Copperheads threatened, and ran away 30-27 victors over the team many saw as the strongest coming into the playoffs. This meant the Ultimus - after what was likely the biggest shock of this season’s playoffs in the ASFC - would be the Yeti hosting the Hahalua.
It was a warm day in Yeti Stadium, Colorado, as the Yeti played host to the underdog Hahalua who were looking for an upset. The game started somewhat slowly, with the half drawing to a close with a score line of 9-3 in favour of the Hahalua. While there was a very early safety to speak of, both teams struggled a lot to get their offenses going, with defenses reigning undoubtably supreme. This of course would change eventually, and by the end of the third quarter the score was much closer, now 20-17 in favour of the Hahalua. Both teams would trade field goals leaving the Hahalua up by a FG with only 6:16 left in the game. Hahalua fans could feel the nervousness in the air, and maybe began to get excited; however, that all quickly fell away when Joel Drake picked off an errant pass by Joliet Christ Jr. and took it to the house for a pick 6. Now, with 5:08 left and down by 4 points, the Hahalua would need to do the improbable on enemy turf by scoring a TD to once again take the lead. The 10-play, 59-yard drive that followed was the stuff of fiction and - with a 1-yard pass to Lalo Salamanca - the Hahalua once again took a 3-point lead. And this time, they would hold on for the last 1:44, and ran out of Yeti Stadium as Ultimus champions for the first time in their short history. To say this was the biggest playoff surprise in recent league history would be probably incorrect - that honour would likely be given to my old team, the S25 SaberCats, who nobody predicted would even have a chance. But to say even a few outside of Honolulu believed the Hahalua could go all the way would be a very big stretch. This playoff run is certainly one for the history books, and one the Hahalua can look back on as a high point during the first chapter of their league history.
The Season 31 Ultimus and Ultimini races have just concluded, and this seems like just as good a time as any to look back at the playoffs and dissect just how the winners - the Hahalua and the Birddogs respectively - managed to overcome the other teams around them and win the biggest games of their seasons.
The best place to begin is probably with the DSFL, where the level of competition in the playoffs was as even as it has been in a long time. In the South division, the Birddogs and Seawolves made it into the playoffs in a tie at 9-5 - broken only by the Birddogs one game advantage in divisional games to give them home advantage in their match. In the North division meanwhile, the two playoff teams were the 8-6 Grey Ducks, and the 7-6-1 Coyotes, who leveraged their come-from-behind tie against the Pythons to grab the final spot in the playoffs by the skin of their teeth. As you can tell from the records, no team was far-and-away the favourite to take home the Ultimini, and the closeness shown in those records followed through to the Conference Championship games.
First up, the matchup between the Grey Ducks and the Coyotes; long-time adversaries, but at the same time two teams with historical alliances that only made this match even more interesting. With famous alumni and raucous fans in the stands, both teams battled hard, but the Grey Ducks held a 27-23 lead with 1:51 to go. However the Coyotes - led by sophomore QB Carter Knight - would March down the field and score a TD with 44 seconds to go. The slightly favoured Grey Ducks were left distraught as the clock reached 0:00 and their season was over at the hands of the Coyotes in the divisional. If that matchup sounded dramatic, it only gets even more dramatic in the South version of this game, where the Birddogs hosted the Seawolves. The Birddogs led comfortably 34-20 with 5:36 left in the game before the Seawolves answered back with a quick TD to make it a one-score game. All the Birddogs had to do was bleed the clock out… but instead they threw a pick two plays later. With short field in their favour, Malcolm Savage and the Seawolves scored yet again to tie the game up in the dying minutes. Dallas rushed the ball to play for overtime… only to fumble the ball at their own 17 to give the Seawolves the chance to win outright. Norfolk made it to the Dallas 3-yard line, drew up a pass play… and that pass would be intercepted by Lance Witt to force the game into overtime. Dallas would eventually win 37-34, in what may just be one of the greatest matches in recent memory.
This brought us to the Ultimini matchup; the favoured Birddogs hosting the still-strong Coyotes. There is no need to beat around the bush here; the Coyotes had their chance to finally take the crown that has long-eluded their franchise, but they blew it in heartbreaking fashion. After a scoreless third quarter, the Coyotes were leading 20-9; two Knight interceptions and three Birddog TDs later, the game was officially over, with the Birddogs hoisting the Ultimini after a 31-20 win over the Coyotes. While it would be safe to say anyone feasibly could’ve won the Ultimini this year, the Birddogs - with the tied-best record in the entire league and their beating of the other best team in the Conference Championship - likely deserved the title this year - although, as a Coyote alumni, it doesn’t make it hurt any less.
Next up was the ISFL playoffs, and there were tense affairs all the way through these playoffs. In the ASFC, the Copperheads entered the playoffs as the unquestioned best team in the conference, rocking a 12-4 record that bested even the best NSFC teams. Lagging behind three games back were the other 2 ASFC playoff contenders; the Outlaws and the Hahalua. These 2 teams were tied every way imaginable by records - even down to the home/away splits - so the Outlaws hosted the wildcard game solely due to sweeping the Hahalua during the regular season. The NSFC side was even closer meanwhile; the Yeti earned a bye with an 11-5 record, but the two wildcard teams (the Sailfish and the Butchers) once again were split only by thin margins - this time, the Sailfish had a better point differential in their regular season matchups against the Butchers, and as such hosted their wildcard game.
The wildcard games produced away wins which tend to mean shocks, but with how close both wildcard races were it didn’t come as much surprise that the Hahalua and the Butchers made it through to their respective Conference Championships. It was at this stage against superior opposition that their true abilities would be tested. In the NSFC CC, things went by the book; the strong Yeti defense did enough to hold the Butchers offense at arms-length, and solid scoring from their own offense brought them into the Ultimus with a 23-10 victory. The ASFC CC meanwhile was… less by the book. The Copperheads entered the game as massive favourites given their regular season heroics, and they struggled early against an upstart Hahalua team. The Hahalua led 20-10 at the half which was shocking enough to fans throughout the league, but fans likely were even more shocked that the Hahalua managed to stem any comeback attempts the Copperheads threatened, and ran away 30-27 victors over the team many saw as the strongest coming into the playoffs. This meant the Ultimus - after what was likely the biggest shock of this season’s playoffs in the ASFC - would be the Yeti hosting the Hahalua.
It was a warm day in Yeti Stadium, Colorado, as the Yeti played host to the underdog Hahalua who were looking for an upset. The game started somewhat slowly, with the half drawing to a close with a score line of 9-3 in favour of the Hahalua. While there was a very early safety to speak of, both teams struggled a lot to get their offenses going, with defenses reigning undoubtably supreme. This of course would change eventually, and by the end of the third quarter the score was much closer, now 20-17 in favour of the Hahalua. Both teams would trade field goals leaving the Hahalua up by a FG with only 6:16 left in the game. Hahalua fans could feel the nervousness in the air, and maybe began to get excited; however, that all quickly fell away when Joel Drake picked off an errant pass by Joliet Christ Jr. and took it to the house for a pick 6. Now, with 5:08 left and down by 4 points, the Hahalua would need to do the improbable on enemy turf by scoring a TD to once again take the lead. The 10-play, 59-yard drive that followed was the stuff of fiction and - with a 1-yard pass to Lalo Salamanca - the Hahalua once again took a 3-point lead. And this time, they would hold on for the last 1:44, and ran out of Yeti Stadium as Ultimus champions for the first time in their short history. To say this was the biggest playoff surprise in recent league history would be probably incorrect - that honour would likely be given to my old team, the S25 SaberCats, who nobody predicted would even have a chance. But to say even a few outside of Honolulu believed the Hahalua could go all the way would be a very big stretch. This playoff run is certainly one for the history books, and one the Hahalua can look back on as a high point during the first chapter of their league history.
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1305 words