S18 ULTIMUS WEEK!!!

[Baron1898]

1) Playoff Reviews
The playoffs have already yielded some incredibly interesting playoff games, both at the DSFL and NSFL levels, even though both playoffs ended up with failure for my favorite teams. Down under in the minors, my hometown eternally-cursed San Antonio Marshals pulled off a stunning upset of the 13-1 Tijuana Luchadores (how does it feel now, Tijuana?) on the road, 17-10. The Luchadores jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, and for a bit it looked like history would repeat itself once more. But these Marshals wouldn’t go down without a fight, and clawed their way back into the game. After a 40 yd field goal from Herbert Prohaska put San Antonio on the board going into halftime, the Marshals finally made up the score deficit at the end of the third when future Wraiths runningback Mathias Hanyadi exploded for a 78 yard rush. Midway into the fourth quarter, after a number of key defensive stops, the San Antonio offense finally capitalized and concluded a long touchdown drive with a 1 yard goal line rush from a Ruff Ruff, putting the score at 17-10 in the visitor’s favor. Tijuana went home stunned, and San Antonio advanced to the Ultimini against Portland.

3) All about the QBs
In the NSFC Conference Championship game, the Baltimore Hawks faced off against the Yellowknife Wraiths in the Canadian team’s home field. This game ended with a 29-14 victory for the Wraiths, and also a victory for Cooter Bigsby, the Wraiths quarterback. The game was a duel between the S14 1st and 2nd overall picks, Bigsby and Ravens QB Corvo Havran respectively, and neither quarterback was spectacular. Cooter completed 21 of his 42 pass attempts, an even 50% completion percentage, for 262 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. The Yellowknife offense as a whole struggled, gaining just 13 first downs in the entire game and going 3/14 on third down. However, despite the superiority of the Hawks offense in yards and time possession, a major factor in the Baltimore defeat was the play of Havran. He went 29/50 for 331 yards and a touchdown, but also threw four interceptions, including a 25 yard pick six to Giannis Kroustis in the fourth quarter. Havran finished the game with a dismal 51.3 passer rating, and Bigsby wasn’t much better with a 67.8 rating. Despite this, Bigsby clearly had the safer game and was able to lead his team to a solid victory over the Hawks.

6) Our Time
I don’t care that the Yellowknife Wraiths lost the Ultimus, I am still going to say that S18 was the year the Wraiths deserved to win it all. Call me a homer all you want, but Yellowknife was the superior team all season over the entire competition. The Wraiths steamrolled the entire conference and league on route to a 11-2 regular season record, primarily off the backs of a killer ball hawking defense and a potent offensive attack. Both in their last years of playing, the dual threat of Morgan Marshall and Jerrod Canton dominated opposing defenses on the ground and in the air. Cooter Bigsby enjoyed a plethora of threats to throw to, including an all star receiving corps and the aforementioned running back stable. But the real menace lay on defense - superstar playmakers like Nero Alexander, Danny Grithead, and Ryan Leaf Jr consistently took offenses off of their game and made them pay for every mistake. The Wraiths had home field advantage throughout the playoffs, easily took care of the Baltimore Hawks in the conference championship, and were favored in the Ultimus, despite the final result. The Otters may have taken home their seventh trophy, but it was Yellowknife who deserved the title.

11) Sit Down with a Fan
Interview w/ Upper Net