(S24) - PT 4 - Trial by Fire

[qWest]

I don't know how, I don't know why, but somehow, for the entirety of my tenure at Orange County, the San Jose Sabercats have absolutely had our number. Sure we've definitely come up on top a couple of times, but there is something so scary about those Sabercats games when I see them coming up. This definitely dates back to the way that SJS, in week 4 of S22 (my first season in the ISFL), took over the game in our home stadium and gave me my big "welcome to the big leagues" moment. I was fresh off of a decent season in the DSFL and a really nice stretch of wins to open the season, performing well against Honolulu, New Orleans, and Austin. Especially after taking 18 carries for 90 yards and a touchdown on the road in Austin, I was ready to keep building momentum against a team I thought we would run all over. However, despite what I might have thought would have been an easy game on paper, San Jose's defense definitely came to play, especially when it came to shutting down Nakamura. In a brutal 24-17 loss at home, Nakamura ended with a truly terrible 2.7 yards per carry on just 7 rushes. Being so absolutely shut out of the game and helpless to help try and keep the team stay in the game was probably the most accurate introduction to the kind of games that we all experience with this sim and in this league.