1. It came as almost no surprise that the Honolulu Hahalua again found themselves on the peak of the ISFL stage for the second season in a row. What did come as a surprise was the fierce competition for the title coming out of the NSFC, where both the Chicago Butchers and Sarasota Sailfish arrived in the playoffs with better records (13-3 and 12-4 respectively) than the Hahalua (11-5), and the back and forth battle that the Sailfish presented in the Ultimus, almost stealing away the back to back titles for Honolulu. But before we get into the epic and final game of the season, we can take a quick review of how each of the teams managed to find themselves in the championship match.
Honolulu Hahalua
The first game of the playoffs was pretty much a routing from the start for the Hahalua, taking a 21-0 first quarter lead over the fourth seed Orange County Otters that limped into the playoffs with a 7-9 record. Eventually the Otters did manage to muster up some fight after the Hahalua started to let off the gas and score 14 points (half of which were a 4th quarter garbage time touchdown pass from Tron Carter to Goat Tank Jr), but ultimately the game was never as close as the final score of 24-14.
In the ASFC championship game, the Hahalua met up with the third seed Arizona Outlaws, who were riding a high after putting a pretty good beat down on the second seed San Jose SaberCats in the previous round. And the Outlaws actually put up a pretty good fight throughout the game, even holding a one point lead early in the fourth quarter, but the offensive and defensive onslaught of the Hahalua was too much for the Outlaw defense to hold against, and the team from Honolulu threw on an additional 18 points in the final three minutes of the game to put the Outlaws to bed for the final time of the season.
Sarasota Sailfish
The first round of the playoffs featured a matchup of the second seed Sarasota Sailfish taking on the third seed Yellowknife Wraiths, and it was probably the best game of the first round. Showcasing a solid defense all around, not surprising considering the game had the first (Sarasota) and second (Yellowknife) place defenses in the league pitted against each other, and was a tight contest throughout. The Sailfish routinely found themselves in Yellowknife territory for the first half, but only produce 15 points on 5 field goals as the Wraith defense held firm. Eventually a fourth quarter touchdown from superstar running back John Huntsman would propel the team to victory, but only by a three point margin as the Wraiths refused to die without a fight.
In the NSFC championship game, the Sailfish this time met the first seed Chicago Butchers, the only team in the league to have a better regular season record than themselves. This game, however, was the absolute least competitive of the whole playoffs, with Sarasota just bulldozing the Butchers to a 22-2 victory. The game could have actually been much more out of hand than it was, as again the Sailfish offense faltered until late in the game, once again relying on the leg of their kicker, King, to put them up with another 5 field goals.
Ultimus
And here we are, at the season finale with the second and third regular season record holders, and boy was it a game for the ages. The two teams battled back and forth, with 7 lead changes throughout the course of the game. But ultimately, the Hahalua were able to arise victorious and a Zaylren touchdown pass with just 79 seconds remaining in the game to put his team on top and let the defense finish it off.
Honolulu Hahalua
The first game of the playoffs was pretty much a routing from the start for the Hahalua, taking a 21-0 first quarter lead over the fourth seed Orange County Otters that limped into the playoffs with a 7-9 record. Eventually the Otters did manage to muster up some fight after the Hahalua started to let off the gas and score 14 points (half of which were a 4th quarter garbage time touchdown pass from Tron Carter to Goat Tank Jr), but ultimately the game was never as close as the final score of 24-14.
In the ASFC championship game, the Hahalua met up with the third seed Arizona Outlaws, who were riding a high after putting a pretty good beat down on the second seed San Jose SaberCats in the previous round. And the Outlaws actually put up a pretty good fight throughout the game, even holding a one point lead early in the fourth quarter, but the offensive and defensive onslaught of the Hahalua was too much for the Outlaw defense to hold against, and the team from Honolulu threw on an additional 18 points in the final three minutes of the game to put the Outlaws to bed for the final time of the season.
Sarasota Sailfish
The first round of the playoffs featured a matchup of the second seed Sarasota Sailfish taking on the third seed Yellowknife Wraiths, and it was probably the best game of the first round. Showcasing a solid defense all around, not surprising considering the game had the first (Sarasota) and second (Yellowknife) place defenses in the league pitted against each other, and was a tight contest throughout. The Sailfish routinely found themselves in Yellowknife territory for the first half, but only produce 15 points on 5 field goals as the Wraith defense held firm. Eventually a fourth quarter touchdown from superstar running back John Huntsman would propel the team to victory, but only by a three point margin as the Wraiths refused to die without a fight.
In the NSFC championship game, the Sailfish this time met the first seed Chicago Butchers, the only team in the league to have a better regular season record than themselves. This game, however, was the absolute least competitive of the whole playoffs, with Sarasota just bulldozing the Butchers to a 22-2 victory. The game could have actually been much more out of hand than it was, as again the Sailfish offense faltered until late in the game, once again relying on the leg of their kicker, King, to put them up with another 5 field goals.
Ultimus
And here we are, at the season finale with the second and third regular season record holders, and boy was it a game for the ages. The two teams battled back and forth, with 7 lead changes throughout the course of the game. But ultimately, the Hahalua were able to arise victorious and a Zaylren touchdown pass with just 79 seconds remaining in the game to put his team on top and let the defense finish it off.