2) This week will see the S24 Ultimus and Ultimini races begin in earnest. In 800 words or more, recount any of the previous playoff cycles of either league. How did each team arrive at the playoffs? Were there any dark horse or Cinderella teams that went unexpectedly far, or any presumptive favorites that fell flat? How did the title game play out, and which players made their mark on the field? Tell the story of those playoffs as completely as you can. Do not simply recount your own experience in those playoffs or that of a singular team.
I would like to take this chance to recount the great playoffs of Season 21. First, let’s look at the contenders on each side and who got left out. As this was the last season with a ten team league only two teams missed the playoffs in both conferences. In the NSFC, the Hawks led the way with a 9-4 record. The Yeti were second with an 8-5 record and in the wildcard spot is the Wraiths with a 7-6 record. Chicago and Philadelphia both finished below .500, so there weren’t really any close playoff races as far as missing the playoffs, but a one game difference between first and second, as well as second and third means there were a lot of possible outcomes even as late as the last week in the season. In the ASFC, the Second Line looked like they were going to run away with the best record as they started the season with 9 straight wins. However, they lost their last 4 games of the regular season and the Otters took the top overall seed at 10-3. In third place was the Copperheads at 7-6 and like the NSFC neither San Jose or Arizona were anywhere close to .500. In the wildcard round the Wraiths traveled to Colorado and took care of business against the Yeti. The Second Line took care of Austin at home in a game that’s final score looks closer than it really was. In the conference championship round both road teams won. In the NSFC, the Wraiths got off to a hot start with a 24-0 lead in the second quarter. Baltimore tried to make a comeback but fell short as they lost 24-19. In the ASFC, the Second Line took a pretty substantial lead early on and they were up 17-3 at the half, but a few Otters scores later and the fourth quarter ended with it all tied up at 24 a piece. New Orleans was able to get in field goal range and kick the game winning field goal on their first drive of the overtime. How many times has neither one seed made the Ultimus Championship game? I can’t imagine it’s happened many times at all considering how much the sim loves home teams. So the Ultimus was set with the three seed Wraiths from the NSFC traveling to the two seed Second Line from the ASFC. The Second Line got off to a hot start in the Ultimus game with both Austin McCormick and Bona’beri Jones catching touchdown passes from Stan Francisco in the first quarter. Add on a Herbert Prohaska field goal at the end of the second quarter and it was a 17 to 0 game at the half. After both teams scored field goals in the third quarter Francisco found Forrest Gump on a 49 yard receiving touchdown to increase the lead to 26 to 3 going into the final quarter. After the Wraiths had to settle for another field goal early in the quarter the Second Line went on a long drive that eventually ended in a Marcella Toriki one yard rushing touchdown to make the score 33 to 6 with just over 5 minutes remaining in the game. The Wraiths did finally find the endzone with just over 2 minutes remaining when Cooter Bigsby hit Orien Drake on a 25 yard pass for the Wraiths only touchdown of the game. There wasn’t enough time remaining though as the final score was Second Line 33 to Wraiths 13. Looking at the box score for this game the offense for the Second Line was really clicking on all cylinders. Stan Francisco had an impressive 353 passing yards and 3 touchdowns and finished the game with over 100 passer rating. Cooter Bigsby had a decent passing game himself for the Wraiths with 278 yards and 1 touchdown. The biggest difference is when you get to the rushing section of the box score. Both Forrest Gump and Marcella Toriki rushed the ball 25 times and both for over 100 yards. Gump had 102 rushing yards and Toriki had 123 rushing yards as well as a rushing touchdown. For the Wraiths, they didn’t have much success running the ball against a stout front seven for the Second Line as Hanyadi only rushed the ball 11 times for 46 yards and Drake had 6 attempts for 11 yards. The total team yardage difference for the game ended up being 578 to 337 and the rushing yardage difference was the biggest contributing factor to this massive difference. The rushing success for New Orleans also meant they controlled the time of possession by a massive amount with 36:50 compared to 23:10. On the receiving side, both Jones and Gump had over 100 receiving yards in the game and both also had a touchdown. That’s right, Gump had over 100 yards both rushing and receiving in the game for a total of 221 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. That performance earned Gump the Ultimus MVP award, which was well deserved after such a great effort.
I would like to take this chance to recount the great playoffs of Season 21. First, let’s look at the contenders on each side and who got left out. As this was the last season with a ten team league only two teams missed the playoffs in both conferences. In the NSFC, the Hawks led the way with a 9-4 record. The Yeti were second with an 8-5 record and in the wildcard spot is the Wraiths with a 7-6 record. Chicago and Philadelphia both finished below .500, so there weren’t really any close playoff races as far as missing the playoffs, but a one game difference between first and second, as well as second and third means there were a lot of possible outcomes even as late as the last week in the season. In the ASFC, the Second Line looked like they were going to run away with the best record as they started the season with 9 straight wins. However, they lost their last 4 games of the regular season and the Otters took the top overall seed at 10-3. In third place was the Copperheads at 7-6 and like the NSFC neither San Jose or Arizona were anywhere close to .500. In the wildcard round the Wraiths traveled to Colorado and took care of business against the Yeti. The Second Line took care of Austin at home in a game that’s final score looks closer than it really was. In the conference championship round both road teams won. In the NSFC, the Wraiths got off to a hot start with a 24-0 lead in the second quarter. Baltimore tried to make a comeback but fell short as they lost 24-19. In the ASFC, the Second Line took a pretty substantial lead early on and they were up 17-3 at the half, but a few Otters scores later and the fourth quarter ended with it all tied up at 24 a piece. New Orleans was able to get in field goal range and kick the game winning field goal on their first drive of the overtime. How many times has neither one seed made the Ultimus Championship game? I can’t imagine it’s happened many times at all considering how much the sim loves home teams. So the Ultimus was set with the three seed Wraiths from the NSFC traveling to the two seed Second Line from the ASFC. The Second Line got off to a hot start in the Ultimus game with both Austin McCormick and Bona’beri Jones catching touchdown passes from Stan Francisco in the first quarter. Add on a Herbert Prohaska field goal at the end of the second quarter and it was a 17 to 0 game at the half. After both teams scored field goals in the third quarter Francisco found Forrest Gump on a 49 yard receiving touchdown to increase the lead to 26 to 3 going into the final quarter. After the Wraiths had to settle for another field goal early in the quarter the Second Line went on a long drive that eventually ended in a Marcella Toriki one yard rushing touchdown to make the score 33 to 6 with just over 5 minutes remaining in the game. The Wraiths did finally find the endzone with just over 2 minutes remaining when Cooter Bigsby hit Orien Drake on a 25 yard pass for the Wraiths only touchdown of the game. There wasn’t enough time remaining though as the final score was Second Line 33 to Wraiths 13. Looking at the box score for this game the offense for the Second Line was really clicking on all cylinders. Stan Francisco had an impressive 353 passing yards and 3 touchdowns and finished the game with over 100 passer rating. Cooter Bigsby had a decent passing game himself for the Wraiths with 278 yards and 1 touchdown. The biggest difference is when you get to the rushing section of the box score. Both Forrest Gump and Marcella Toriki rushed the ball 25 times and both for over 100 yards. Gump had 102 rushing yards and Toriki had 123 rushing yards as well as a rushing touchdown. For the Wraiths, they didn’t have much success running the ball against a stout front seven for the Second Line as Hanyadi only rushed the ball 11 times for 46 yards and Drake had 6 attempts for 11 yards. The total team yardage difference for the game ended up being 578 to 337 and the rushing yardage difference was the biggest contributing factor to this massive difference. The rushing success for New Orleans also meant they controlled the time of possession by a massive amount with 36:50 compared to 23:10. On the receiving side, both Jones and Gump had over 100 receiving yards in the game and both also had a touchdown. That’s right, Gump had over 100 yards both rushing and receiving in the game for a total of 221 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. That performance earned Gump the Ultimus MVP award, which was well deserved after such a great effort.
![[Image: Untitled-1.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/648139102855888899/948346452843839508/Untitled-1.png)
![[Image: Award_Card_Template_-_S26_DPOY.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/721761354846961716/815756424684503110/Award_Card_Template_-_S26_DPOY.png)
[OPTION]Height: 6'1"
[OPTION]Weight: 195 lbs.
[OPTION]Birthplace: Raleigh, NC
[OPTION]Number: 22
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[OPTION]Career Stats
[OPTION]G || Tck || TFL || FF/FR || Sck || Int || PD || TD
[OPTION]141 || 597 || 1 || 5/1 || 6 || 30 || 163 || 3
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[OPTION]Playoff Stats
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[OPTION]Awards
[OPTION]S26 Defensive Player of the Year, S26 CB of the Year,
[OPTION]S23 Defensive Breakout Player, S23 Defensive Performance
[OPTION]Pro Bowls: S22, S26
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