Tier 2, Task 6
The Norfolk Seawolves had quite a wild ride to the Ultimini this season, at times looking like the best team in the league and at others looking in danger of flaming out completely. Despite these ups and downs, the reigning Ultimini champions from S23 were in the end successfully able to right the ship multiple times through the season and come extremely close to winning the league championship.
The Seawolves came out of the gates blazing and set the league on fire at the start of the season. They rattled off five straight wins, most of which were blowouts, en route to a league-leading 5-0 record a third of the way through the season. The first four of these games featured margins of 14, 20, 20, and 23 points. The Seawolves seemed so dominant that it was shocking to see them enter halftime against the Buccaneers tied at 14, but they quickly erased any doubts with a 27 point third quarter spearheaded by two pick sixes by CB Rickie Vaughne and LB Jimi DeSoto. A combination of stifling defense, a fearsome two headed rushing attack featuring RBs Captain Rogers and Quanter Skrills, and super efficient quarterback play by Suleiman Ramza looked to be a deadly combination. In week 5, they hosted the struggling Kansas City Coyotes who entered the game at 1-3. In the defensive struggle, the score stood at 3-3 late into the fourth quarter before a 71 yard punt return touchdown by Rickie Vaughne sealed the Seawolves' fifth win.
Despite the stellar record, the issues that appeared against the Coyotes would foreshadow upcoming difficulties as well. Just after their 5-0 start, the Seawolves lost four straight to put them straight back into the middle of the pack in the SFC. After a somewhat favorable schedule to start the season, playing a stretch of 3 of 4 road games proved difficult for the Seawolves and the sole home game punctuating the stretch was against the surging Portland Pythons who managed to pull of the 21-9 upset. Offensive issues primarily seemed to drive this struggle, with the running game only able to manage a meager 3.8 yards per carry and Ramza throwing only 2 TDs to 3 INTs
.A home game against the Birddogs proved to be the perfect remedy, as the Seawolves' 28-17 win gave them momentum for the final stretch of the season. A 10-7 win away at divisional rival Myrtle Beach put them in the drivers seat, and the following 16-3 win against the Coyotes basically locked up their playoff spot. After an 18 point loss to the London Royals, a home game against the Luchadores would decide the home team for the SFC playoffs. While the Seawolves lost 10-3, they would get their revenge in the playoffs with a huge road win to send them to their second consecutive Ultimini. While they would ultimately lose to the Royals (but by a much closer margin than their two other games in the regular season), the Seawolves can be proud that they buckled down and were able to gain what once seemed to be an inevitable berth to the championship game after what appeared to be a disastrous midseason slide.
Tier 3, Task 16
By far the most exciting Coyotes game of the regular season and a strong contender for game of the season was the Coyotes' week 3 home game against the Tijuana Luchadores. The 0-2 Kansas City Coyotes looked to be massive underdogs to the 2-0 Luchadores before the game. Their struggling defense looked to be exposed early on, as the Luchadores surged to a 21-7 halftime lead. The Coyotes' dreadful run defense was allowing for huge gains, the longest of which was a 88 yard touchdown run by rookie Bronko Mills just before halftime.
The Coyotes came out of halftime hungry for the comeback however, and none of them more hungry than Joshua Campbell. Campbell, who already had scored the Coyotes' sole touchdown in the first half, added another with an 88 yard punt return midway through the third quarter to tie the game. Minutes later, a Tijuana punt was blocked by rookie linebacker Gary Goodman, and Campbell added yet another score with an 18 yard touchdown pass. The Luchadores were not going down without a fight however, scoring touchdowns twice to take the lead back. A long Kansas City drive answered back to re-tie the game at 35-35 with a few minutes left. With the game on the line, Coyotes safety Mac Griddle made a huge play by intercepting Tijuana QB Mike Boss Jr in field goal position. The Coyotes would miss the 44 yard field goal, sending the game into overtime still tied.
Mac Griddle would not be denied, as on the first 3rd down of Tijuana's opening drive, Griddle would intercept yet another pass and return it 32 yards to the 4 yard line. No field goal was needed this time as Covington would complete a 1 yard touchdown pass to RB Sergio Kitchens to seal the game.
Between the combination of huge individual performances, high scoring, and clutch defensive plays when it mattered, this game was an instant classic and one that I will remember forever as my first win in the league.
Tier 3, Task 26
With the 7th pick in the 11th round of the S24 DSFL draft, the Kansas City Coyotes selected Connor Quigley, offensive lineman out of the University of Massachusetts. While there were way too many fantastic players in the S24 draft class to call Quigley the steal of the draft, he certainly has a claim to that title. The 11th round pick would end up being one of the key pieces of Kansas City's stout offensive line as a rookie, collecting the second most pancakes on the team and the second most among all interior offensive linemen in the DSFL.
The on-field performance was excellent, but the user behind the player ended up contributing far beyond his draft position as well. While he was largely inactive leading up to the draft and had amassed very little TPE even a few weeks into the season, he was determined to increase his engagement in the league and did what can sometimes be the hardest part of improving yourself, asking for help. With some guidance by members of the Coyotes locker room, he learned his way around the forums and quickly increased his TPE earning. In just a month before the end of the DSFL season, he amassed 90 TPE and quickly became a central part of the Coyotes locker room activity.
While his TPE earned is naturally going to look low because of his delayed start, he should be considered near a max earner at this point. Looking forward, his trajectory looks strong and there should be no doubt about his ability to contribute to a team at the ISFL level. I hope that teams realize this and that next season I do not have the same opportunity to write about Quigley being taken in the back half of the S25 ISFL draft as well.
The Norfolk Seawolves had quite a wild ride to the Ultimini this season, at times looking like the best team in the league and at others looking in danger of flaming out completely. Despite these ups and downs, the reigning Ultimini champions from S23 were in the end successfully able to right the ship multiple times through the season and come extremely close to winning the league championship.
The Seawolves came out of the gates blazing and set the league on fire at the start of the season. They rattled off five straight wins, most of which were blowouts, en route to a league-leading 5-0 record a third of the way through the season. The first four of these games featured margins of 14, 20, 20, and 23 points. The Seawolves seemed so dominant that it was shocking to see them enter halftime against the Buccaneers tied at 14, but they quickly erased any doubts with a 27 point third quarter spearheaded by two pick sixes by CB Rickie Vaughne and LB Jimi DeSoto. A combination of stifling defense, a fearsome two headed rushing attack featuring RBs Captain Rogers and Quanter Skrills, and super efficient quarterback play by Suleiman Ramza looked to be a deadly combination. In week 5, they hosted the struggling Kansas City Coyotes who entered the game at 1-3. In the defensive struggle, the score stood at 3-3 late into the fourth quarter before a 71 yard punt return touchdown by Rickie Vaughne sealed the Seawolves' fifth win.
Despite the stellar record, the issues that appeared against the Coyotes would foreshadow upcoming difficulties as well. Just after their 5-0 start, the Seawolves lost four straight to put them straight back into the middle of the pack in the SFC. After a somewhat favorable schedule to start the season, playing a stretch of 3 of 4 road games proved difficult for the Seawolves and the sole home game punctuating the stretch was against the surging Portland Pythons who managed to pull of the 21-9 upset. Offensive issues primarily seemed to drive this struggle, with the running game only able to manage a meager 3.8 yards per carry and Ramza throwing only 2 TDs to 3 INTs
.A home game against the Birddogs proved to be the perfect remedy, as the Seawolves' 28-17 win gave them momentum for the final stretch of the season. A 10-7 win away at divisional rival Myrtle Beach put them in the drivers seat, and the following 16-3 win against the Coyotes basically locked up their playoff spot. After an 18 point loss to the London Royals, a home game against the Luchadores would decide the home team for the SFC playoffs. While the Seawolves lost 10-3, they would get their revenge in the playoffs with a huge road win to send them to their second consecutive Ultimini. While they would ultimately lose to the Royals (but by a much closer margin than their two other games in the regular season), the Seawolves can be proud that they buckled down and were able to gain what once seemed to be an inevitable berth to the championship game after what appeared to be a disastrous midseason slide.
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532 wordsTier 3, Task 16
By far the most exciting Coyotes game of the regular season and a strong contender for game of the season was the Coyotes' week 3 home game against the Tijuana Luchadores. The 0-2 Kansas City Coyotes looked to be massive underdogs to the 2-0 Luchadores before the game. Their struggling defense looked to be exposed early on, as the Luchadores surged to a 21-7 halftime lead. The Coyotes' dreadful run defense was allowing for huge gains, the longest of which was a 88 yard touchdown run by rookie Bronko Mills just before halftime.
The Coyotes came out of halftime hungry for the comeback however, and none of them more hungry than Joshua Campbell. Campbell, who already had scored the Coyotes' sole touchdown in the first half, added another with an 88 yard punt return midway through the third quarter to tie the game. Minutes later, a Tijuana punt was blocked by rookie linebacker Gary Goodman, and Campbell added yet another score with an 18 yard touchdown pass. The Luchadores were not going down without a fight however, scoring touchdowns twice to take the lead back. A long Kansas City drive answered back to re-tie the game at 35-35 with a few minutes left. With the game on the line, Coyotes safety Mac Griddle made a huge play by intercepting Tijuana QB Mike Boss Jr in field goal position. The Coyotes would miss the 44 yard field goal, sending the game into overtime still tied.
Mac Griddle would not be denied, as on the first 3rd down of Tijuana's opening drive, Griddle would intercept yet another pass and return it 32 yards to the 4 yard line. No field goal was needed this time as Covington would complete a 1 yard touchdown pass to RB Sergio Kitchens to seal the game.
Between the combination of huge individual performances, high scoring, and clutch defensive plays when it mattered, this game was an instant classic and one that I will remember forever as my first win in the league.
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336 wordsTier 3, Task 26
With the 7th pick in the 11th round of the S24 DSFL draft, the Kansas City Coyotes selected Connor Quigley, offensive lineman out of the University of Massachusetts. While there were way too many fantastic players in the S24 draft class to call Quigley the steal of the draft, he certainly has a claim to that title. The 11th round pick would end up being one of the key pieces of Kansas City's stout offensive line as a rookie, collecting the second most pancakes on the team and the second most among all interior offensive linemen in the DSFL.
The on-field performance was excellent, but the user behind the player ended up contributing far beyond his draft position as well. While he was largely inactive leading up to the draft and had amassed very little TPE even a few weeks into the season, he was determined to increase his engagement in the league and did what can sometimes be the hardest part of improving yourself, asking for help. With some guidance by members of the Coyotes locker room, he learned his way around the forums and quickly increased his TPE earning. In just a month before the end of the DSFL season, he amassed 90 TPE and quickly became a central part of the Coyotes locker room activity.
While his TPE earned is naturally going to look low because of his delayed start, he should be considered near a max earner at this point. Looking forward, his trajectory looks strong and there should be no doubt about his ability to contribute to a team at the ISFL level. I hope that teams realize this and that next season I do not have the same opportunity to write about Quigley being taken in the back half of the S25 ISFL draft as well.
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302 words![[Image: 67893_s.png]](http://signavatar.com/67893_s.png)
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