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1) IT IS OUR TIME THIS (NEXT) YEAR
Written: Write 200 words on your team and either why they should be looked at as Ultimus champions this season, or if your team has been eliminated, next year, or the year after for those non-believers.The San Antonio Marshals were a bit of enigma this season. They finished with just a 5-9 record, but still had a positive point differential. When they won, they usually won big. The offense was usually there, but defense was questionable at times. It was just enough to get them into the playoffs. They were not favorited, by any stretch of the imagination. The first-round matchup was against the Tijuana Luchadores, a team that has won the Ultimini a bunch of times, and was considered a heavy favorite going in to the game. The Marshals ended up coming out on top in a close game. In the championship game, the Marshals were the underdog again against a strong Kansas City Coyotes team. The Coyotes came out on top in a one-sided game.
Look ahead to next season, it is hard to say what the Marshals will look like. It sounds like they may be losing their talented, young running back, Tyler Swift. It is unclear if they will be losing anyone else. If they want to contend, I think they need to work on fixing the defense. It really depends a lot on how they draft. Adding a few pieces to get a bit more consistent defensively will help mitigate the lost of Swift and put them in a position to contend next season.
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2) SPOTLIGHT ON THE YOUTH
Written: Write 200 words on one of the players in this year's Ultimus Week that are Season 10 or newer and spotlight on how they can affect this year's Ultimus. (Or have affected)San Antonio already had a solid running back in Fast Boija, but when a guy as talented as Tyler Swift is available in the draft, you make that pick. Swift’s impact was immediate in the Marshals’ run heavy offense. In his first game of the season he had 90 yards while splitting carries with Boija. The second game of the season was his coming out party. 20 carries for 119. Nearly 6 yards per carry. Swift was letting everyone know he was for real. At the end of the season, he ended up with nearly an even split in carries with Boija. Both guys were over 1000 yards and better than 5 yards per carry. There was a good chance that if the Marshals wanted to go anywhere in the playoffs, Swift was going to be a big part of it.
In their first round win over Tijuana, Swift carried the ball 21 times for 118 yards. This is exactly the kind of performance the team needed from him to grind out a close win on the road. 5.6 yards per carry in a game that was won by just a 6 point margin. The Coyotes wouldn’t let that happen to them. In the Ultimini, Swift carried the ball 16 times for 78 yards and 1 TD. A solid showing from Swift, but it would have taken more than just a solid game to lift a San Antonio team above a clearly superior Kansas City squad.
SHL PT
??Soon??
