Playoff Series MVP: In the playoff battle between the Yellowknife Wraiths and Baltimore Hawks, it was pretty clear who was the MVP of this game. Wraiths’ QB Mat Akselsen was lights out in this game. His stats were tremendous as he carved up the Hawks defense: 486 yards, 3 TDs, and 0 INTs. He played a nearly perfect game, with a disgusting 121.2 QB Rating in this game. The Wraiths were looking to get back to the Ultimus for the second straight season, this time hopefully winning the whole shebang. The Wraiths did NOT make the mistake many teams in this scenario make and overlook the Hawks. Akselsen made sure of that as he went 28 for 45 and helped Yellowknife cruise to a 37-21 victory here. The Yellowknife QB lead a TD drive on the opening drive of the game. Every time the Hawks pulled close, Akselsen threw a touchdown. When it was 10-9, he found Bubba Nuck on an 8 yard TD pass. When it became 17-15, he lead the team to a Field Goal, got the ball back, and found Bailey Cook for a TD to go up 27-15. After a boring third quarter that saw Baltimore pull within 27-21, Akselsen hit DJ Law for a 47 yard TD that put the game away. He didn’t make any mistakes, and carried the Wraiths to the Ultimus once again. (231)
Playoff Review: First off we had the battle mentioned above between the Yellowknife Wraiths and Baltimore Hawks. While the Hawks put up a decent fight, Yellowknife played very well and took home a 37-21 victory over the Hawks on the back of Mat Akselsen’s 486 yard, 3 touchdown performance. The Wraiths took an early 7-0 lead and never looked back, allowing the Hawks to never take the lead in the game and putting Yellowknife back in the Ultimus. In the other conference final matchup, we had the defending champions, the Orange County Otters taking on the Arizona Outlaws. This was, simply, a bloodbath of epic proportions. Arizona struck first, taking the opening kickoff for a TD. All that did was anger the champs. Mike Boss would lead the Otters to three straight touchdown drives, and 20-7 lead halfway through the second quarter. Bradly Westfield returned a punt 72 yards for a score and the teams traded field goals for a 30-10 Otters lead. The second half wasn’t as exciting as OCO just took over and walked to a 43-19 lead, setting up the Yellowknife-Orange County rematch from last year’s Ultimus. What the Ultimus gave us was a defensive battle. Yellowknife had 4 turnovers in the game, and that was their undoing. The game was a bit of a kicker battle, as Madlad and Lombardi accounted for 6 of the 10 scores in the game. In the end, OCO walked away with a 26-15 Ultimus win that will leave Yellowknife wondering what could have been for an entire offseason. (258)
Going to Disneyland: Choosing the Ultimus MVP can sometimes be a pretty easy thing to do. This game, however, was not one of those times. In a game that featured Mat Akselsen vs Mike Boss, you’d assume that the winner of this matchup would be the MVP. Not when the two combined for 5 interceptions. The running games didn’t do much either. Bradly Westfield would be the only receiver with “big” numbers, 6 catches for 141 yards. He didn’t score however. Eric Kennedy went 8 for 85 and a touchdown, but I don’t like giving the MVP to the team that didn’t win. As a result, that brings me to the defensive players. This game was a defensive battle, so its only fair to give the MVP to a defensive player. While the Wraiths’ Carter had a great Ultimus with 6 tackles, two pass deflections, and two interceptions, the Ultimus MVP is going to Angus Winchester of Orange County. The big man had an impressive 10 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 fumble recovery in this game. He was all over the field and he was a big reason the Yellowknife offense never truly got going. They never had an answer for him, and as a result, the Otters are the world champions once again! (214)
Unsung Hero: On the path to a second consecutive Ultimus championship, the Orange County Otters have had no shortage of unsung players stepping up for them to make a big play or two along the way to the title. My vote for the Unsung Hero of the this year’s playoffs plays a position that constantly gets overlooked. Bradley Madlad, the kicker AND punter of the Otters is my unsung hero this year. In the first game of the playoffs against the Outlaws, Madlad was 3 for 4 on field goals, and 4 for 5 on extra points in the Arizona beatdown. That’s 13 of the 43 points just from him. But, he also had 5 punts for 229 yards in the game as well. In the Ultimus against Yellowknife, he was even more important. With the Otters’ offense continually getting stalled in the first half, Madlad kicked 4 field goals, including 2 in the final minute of the half, to keep the Otters on the board, slowly pulling away from the Wraiths. Madlad would account for 14 of the Otters’ 26 points in the game. Also, he was a huge reason the Outlaws couldn’t get anything going, as he had 9 punts for 415 yards, a 46 yard average, that had Arizona starting in their territory all game. (218)
Playoff Review: First off we had the battle mentioned above between the Yellowknife Wraiths and Baltimore Hawks. While the Hawks put up a decent fight, Yellowknife played very well and took home a 37-21 victory over the Hawks on the back of Mat Akselsen’s 486 yard, 3 touchdown performance. The Wraiths took an early 7-0 lead and never looked back, allowing the Hawks to never take the lead in the game and putting Yellowknife back in the Ultimus. In the other conference final matchup, we had the defending champions, the Orange County Otters taking on the Arizona Outlaws. This was, simply, a bloodbath of epic proportions. Arizona struck first, taking the opening kickoff for a TD. All that did was anger the champs. Mike Boss would lead the Otters to three straight touchdown drives, and 20-7 lead halfway through the second quarter. Bradly Westfield returned a punt 72 yards for a score and the teams traded field goals for a 30-10 Otters lead. The second half wasn’t as exciting as OCO just took over and walked to a 43-19 lead, setting up the Yellowknife-Orange County rematch from last year’s Ultimus. What the Ultimus gave us was a defensive battle. Yellowknife had 4 turnovers in the game, and that was their undoing. The game was a bit of a kicker battle, as Madlad and Lombardi accounted for 6 of the 10 scores in the game. In the end, OCO walked away with a 26-15 Ultimus win that will leave Yellowknife wondering what could have been for an entire offseason. (258)
Going to Disneyland: Choosing the Ultimus MVP can sometimes be a pretty easy thing to do. This game, however, was not one of those times. In a game that featured Mat Akselsen vs Mike Boss, you’d assume that the winner of this matchup would be the MVP. Not when the two combined for 5 interceptions. The running games didn’t do much either. Bradly Westfield would be the only receiver with “big” numbers, 6 catches for 141 yards. He didn’t score however. Eric Kennedy went 8 for 85 and a touchdown, but I don’t like giving the MVP to the team that didn’t win. As a result, that brings me to the defensive players. This game was a defensive battle, so its only fair to give the MVP to a defensive player. While the Wraiths’ Carter had a great Ultimus with 6 tackles, two pass deflections, and two interceptions, the Ultimus MVP is going to Angus Winchester of Orange County. The big man had an impressive 10 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 fumble recovery in this game. He was all over the field and he was a big reason the Yellowknife offense never truly got going. They never had an answer for him, and as a result, the Otters are the world champions once again! (214)
Unsung Hero: On the path to a second consecutive Ultimus championship, the Orange County Otters have had no shortage of unsung players stepping up for them to make a big play or two along the way to the title. My vote for the Unsung Hero of the this year’s playoffs plays a position that constantly gets overlooked. Bradley Madlad, the kicker AND punter of the Otters is my unsung hero this year. In the first game of the playoffs against the Outlaws, Madlad was 3 for 4 on field goals, and 4 for 5 on extra points in the Arizona beatdown. That’s 13 of the 43 points just from him. But, he also had 5 punts for 229 yards in the game as well. In the Ultimus against Yellowknife, he was even more important. With the Otters’ offense continually getting stalled in the first half, Madlad kicked 4 field goals, including 2 in the final minute of the half, to keep the Otters on the board, slowly pulling away from the Wraiths. Madlad would account for 14 of the Otters’ 26 points in the game. Also, he was a huge reason the Outlaws couldn’t get anything going, as he had 9 punts for 415 yards, a 46 yard average, that had Arizona starting in their territory all game. (218)
![[Image: tTMB4jP.jpg]](https://imgur.com/tTMB4jP.jpg)