*The Greatest Games

[Blasoon]

The Greatest Games

Liberty VS Otters Ultimus VI

We’re in Anaheim, California; there’s one minute and twenty-seven seconds left in the Ultimus Bowl. The Philadelphia Liberty stand at the precipice of greatness on Orange County’s one yard line. It’s fourth and goal as the Liberty have one more play to win their first ever championship and topple the newly emerging dynasty of the ISFL. On the other side, lining up tensely in their own endzone, the Orange County defence is looking to enshrine themselves as a dynasty to last forever in the history books. Before Philly snaps this ball, we need to do a deep dive and find out how we got here.

First let’s look at the team snapping the ball. This Philadelphia Liberty are playing in their first ever Ultimus Bowl. They have often been the bridesmaids of the NSFC, making the postseason twice before this year, and being bounced out both of those times in painful fashion. Here in their first Ultimus Bowl, they’re looking to show to their conference rivals up, and become the first NSFC team to win the Ultimus Bowl. There’s no doubt in the minds of the viewers and commentators worldwide that the Liberty are the underdogs in this matchup. They secured the top seed of the NSFC with a record of nine wins and five losses. It was enough to win them the top seed of their conference, yet it wouldn’t have even got them into the playoffs in the ASFC. This Liberty team would show flashes of brilliance throughout the season, with seven out of nine of their wins being dominant, and wins by more than two scores. Conversely, their losses to the Otters in the regular season have solidified their position as the underdogs tonight. ISFL hall of famer Tight End Paul DiMirio would say heading into the game ‘I’d be lying if I said I was confident in the game, I was just excited to be there, and on the road against a good Otters team I knew it would be a tough match. However, our Liberty squad was super talented, especially on offense’.

And he wasn’t wrong. This Liberty team was far more than their record. On offence, led by quarterback Tyler Oles, the Liberty put out some incredible numbers. Oles himself threw for over five thousand yards and twenty nine touchdowns in the regular season. DiMirio would be three yards shy of sixteen-hundred and would catch ten touchdowns whilst averaging eleven point eight yards per catch. Wide receiver Josh Garden would finish with one thousand five hundred and ninety-three yards and ten touchdowns. These are the second and third receiving targets in the league, and before the ball gets snapped, you have to believe that one of these two men will be on the receiving end of Oles’ pass. And it will be a pass. If there is one thing both teams bring to this game, it’s a suffocating front seven. Linebacker Jaylon Lee and defensive tackle Eli Kamaka both recorded fourteen sacks over the year, and more impressively, both caused four forced fumbles each. When looking at this offence and defence, they clearly rank second in the league in their efficiency metrics.

The number one offence and defence in the league is in this game, on the other side. The Orange County Otters are looking to put the final piece on their dynasty by completing their third straight Ultimus win. If they can pull this off, they’ll match the Arizona Outlaws in league championships, and match their three-peat. And since the collapse of the Outlaws, the Otters have been the dominant force of the ISFL. Led by two time MVP Mike Boss, this season has been more of the same for the Otters. They secured the number one seed in the league with a record of eleven wins and three losses. This season has been another incredible one for Boss, as he’s thrown for five thousand five hundred and sixteen yards and forty-one touchdowns. In his supporting cast, we’ve seen exceptional performances like always. Wide receivers Bradley Westfield and Robert Phelps both had over one thousand yard receiving and twelve touchdowns on the year. But the definitive star of this receiving corps would have to be running back Jordan Yates, who’s just had an insane season. On the ground, he’s been pretty pedestrian, only rushing for about two hundred and fifty yards. But in the air, he’s been the Otters’ best receiving option, picking up one thousand eight hundred and sixty yards through the air and fifteen touchdowns; the most touchdowns on any receiving player in the year. On the defensive side of the ball, this Orange County team has been nothing short of monstrous in their pursuit against pass attempts. Linebackers Julian O’Sullivan and Angus Winchester have left bodies in their wake as they secured eleven and eighteen sacks, respectively. But of course, there’s more than just pass rush to this defence as hall of famer Ian Bavitz brought down six interceptions and forced a fumble during his regular season. Needless to say, this game is packed full of talent on both sides of the ball, which makes the connotations of this play even more tense.

For Orange County, the tension and pressure on their defence is immeasurable and it might be even greater as unbeknownst to most, this game represents the last time that this core of Otters can win a championship and secure their place in history. Unbeknownst to many at the time, O’Sullivan had requested a trade, and in the following off-seasons, there would be a fair amount of restructuring for the Otters, and so this goal line stand means even more to them.
So here we are, fourth and goal, ball in the hands of the Liberty. But how did we get to this point in the game? Why is there so much on the line for one play? Let’s look at how this game’s played out so far. The first half showed the deadlock that this game promised. With the exception of a forty-nine yard reception enjoyed by Westfield in the first quarter, and a sixteen yard touchdown to DiMirio in the early second quarter, these two teams have been the embodiment of ‘bend, don’t break’ as they’ve relegated each other to two and one field goals, and the first half would end thirteen to ten for the Otters.
The third quarter was a masterclass in defensive play. All in all, Boss would get sacked three times during the quarter, would be picked off once and the Otters would punt two times; altogether scoring no points. Oles wouldn’t fare much better, getting sacked once in the quarter, and being unable to put together a drive longer than forty-eight yards, and the Liberty have had to punt three times in the quarter, scoring no points as well.

But this fourth quarter has seen an absolute explosion in the game’s tempo. Almost four minutes into the quarter, the Otters would complete a six minute long drive to get the ball in the hands of Phelps to score a touchdown and extend the lead to ten. But as we’ve seen throughout this game, these teams are just trying to outdo each other and so on the ensuing kickoff Garden would be able to take the ball deep out of his own endzone and take it one hundred and two yards for a retaliatory touchdown and to ensure that Orange County would enjoy their two score lead for exactly seventeen seconds. This brief respite in scoring would end, as the dominance of the Liberty defence and pass rush would re-emerge to hold the Otters to only a field goal, and only allowing them to stretch the lead to six. And after forcing Philly to punt, hopes of the Otters doing enough to maintain the lead would be quashed when Vikian Marmeladov would break up Boss’ attempted pass to tight end Steven O’Sullivan and force a three and out giving the Liberty five minutes to score a game winning touchdown drive.
And we need to look deeply into this drive, because the Liberty played it almost perfectly. Starting from their own twenty-eight, the Liberty would drive sixty-six yards with only one incompletion to get them to Orange County’s five yard line. Here, Oles would spike the ball with three minutes remaining. On second and goal, Oles’ pass would just barely be out of the reach of DiMirio. On third and goal, an almost certain touchdown on a screen pass to Garden would be stuffed at the one yard line from a superhuman effort by cornerback Marc Spector and would force fourth and goal. The Liberty would then take a timeout to prepare for their last shot at immortality.

So here we are, at the one yard line, both teams with one last shot to bring this game to an end. For the Liberty this represents the chance to finish off the goal they started when they entered the league for seasons ago, and to potentially establish their team as the ISFL’s next powerhouse, whilst also curbing the dynasty on the other side of the field from them. For the Otters winning this game represents the chance to realise their team as one of the greatest in the ISFL’s young history, and quite potentially, the last time this core could win before certain key pieces move on. I’ve spoken enough now, one play to determine it all.

Welcome to the Greatest Games.

“Liberty snap the ball into the arms of Oles”

“He already has to worry about Winchester charging at him, so he’s scrambling now!”

“Launches the ball”

“Garden has it! Touch-”

“No! He dropped it!”

“Josh Garden had it for a split second and he dropped it! Turnover on downs, and that’ll likely be the ball game. What a heart breaking end for this Philadelphia Liberty team”

“The Orange County Otters will run the clock out and they will complete the three-peat! The Orange County Otters are the World Champions yet again!"


I'd like to thank @timeconsumer @124715 @JuOSu and at @Bwestfield for their help in my research about this game and for putting up with all of my incessant questions. 

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[infinitempg]

Man I remember chat freaking out when Garden dropped the ball. One of the most insane moments in league history.

[Memento Mori]

Our sim doesn't produce many iconic games (I blame the AI's inability to manage the clock) from a purely football standpoint, I think the main draw is always the users behind the dots and the emotion you feel at the time. This is the one game from before I joined the league that I've gone back and read through the whole play-by-play of, because of how often people did and do talk about it. Would encourage other newer people to go and find it too.

Love the write-up.