(S24) - PT 4 - Trial by Fire

[GoonerBear]

Rando Cardrissian had to climb his way into a starting position at Virginia Tech, and got his "welcome to the League" moment when he started out for the San Jose SaberCats...once again behind another RB, Quindarius Tyerucker. It felt like a slow two seasons behind Tyerucker, especially with his own speed game not quite up for the challenge. In his first game for San Jose, he rushed 11 times for 34 yards. Tyerucker got 15 carries for 79, a much higher average. He would score two touchdowns all that season and was legitimately surprised to be nominated for Offensive Rookie of the Year that season. He was one of the few starting already in the ISFL, though it felt encouraging to get some recognition from the awards committee. Between college and the DSFL had not been as big a challenge as the jump from DSFL to NSFL. He had won Offensive Rookie of the Year in the DSFL, outpacing contemporaries in the backfield for the Kansas City Coyotes like Baby Yoda in Minnesota. That first game was the first of several incredibly sobering performances in the ISFL over the next two-plus years. Having been through that, so far, he has learned to coexist in peace with Jamar Lackson at halfback and himself at fullback. They don't have to step on one another, and the flexibility has been good for the SaberCats offense on the whole.

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