05-07-2019, 03:52 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-09-2019, 02:33 PM by Fordhammer.)
Week 8:
After the last game, we are back to being winners. It feels good to be back on top, but the work is unfinished. Two of our five wins came against the same team and another one was against a team that we lost a game to in the first matchup. Ultimately, we should be playing better than we are and that's how the whole team felt coming into week 8 and a matchup with the Marshals. San Antonio was still undefeated coming into this week, so it felt like a daunting task to be able to try and defeat them. They were allowing Bigsby to run the offense and run it at an extremely high level. We got to have this game in front of our home fans and we were able to pull out a 20-17 win with our kicker hitting a winning field goal with about six minutes left in the game. I played very well as I was able to rack up 16 tackles and be an absolute force int he middle. Stokeley was also able to get 11 tackles, combing us for 27 in the game and showing how versatile and well we are able to work together. San Antonio was still able to get some decent yardage on the ground, but we did a good job of limiting how much they could get on us. On defense, Emoji and Thomas were each able to get a pick off of Bigsby as well, as we shut down their passing game and limited him to a 50 passer rating. Offensively, we didn't play too well, but Armstrong tossed a touchdown to Chess and Chess was able to find pay dirt on the ground. We didn't look like the well oiled machine we had in previous weeks, but the offense was able to get the job done and the defense did its best impression of bend don't break. This was a big win for us and showed us we are more than capable of beating the Marshals.
Week 9:
A week after beating the perceived top team in the DSFL, we were feeling like an elite level organization. Our defensive players were making plays and our offense was managing the game well enough to keep us in it. These two units working in tandem allowed us to feel confident in our identity as a team and the potential of making a run to the championship. We got to play Tijuana immediately after the Marshals, and we had beat them in the first week of the season. Unfortunately for us, this game did not go the same way as before, as we lost 24-20 to the strong team led by Corco Havran. He had a very high completion percentage this game, although he didn't necessarily rack up a ton of yards. Where they did damage was Gump had two touchdown runs and their other running back was able to get a lot of yards against us. I, personally, was able to rack up 15 tackles, but I got shredded by a lot of short passes and didn't plug the holes as fast as I should have. I began to think that despite our strong linebacker play, we lacked a bit of a push up times on the front end. But that is probably just because our defensive line has not had the same amount of time to develop as our linebackers and even our defensive backs. Offensively, we were unable to get anything going really. We struggled to run and pass the ball and had another interception. It seemed like our offense was struggling to find momentum in a lot of games at this point in the season, which was a bit perplexing considering the immense amount of talent that we had in our running back stable. Still, this tough loss was on the road and we were confident we could rebound for week nine and go get ourselves another win.
Week 10:
A little bit of the blues for us. We just lost a game and right before we had lost that game we hadn't looked super sexy against the Marshals, despite the win. At this point in the season we started to believe that the league was really a two man race between us and the San Antonio Marshals. While we had two more losses than them, we were still the only team who had beaten them and felt like we should be favored to win it all. Our team was lethal, we just had yet to fully reach our potential. In week ten, we got to play against the SeaWolves again. This time we were able to leave Norfolk with a win, 29-19, in another nail biter of a game. Armstrong wasn't incredible slinging the ball, but he got the ball into the end zone three times through the air, which is all this team really needs. I personally racked up eleven tackles and kept moving closer to my goal of being the leading tackler in the DSFL with the performance. Lewis was able to have three tackles for losses and a sack for our team, showing how deep our defense is from top to bottom. Our running backs looked pretty good in the matchup which was encouraging since they had previously had a few games off, not looking too hot. Brock Landers looked good for the SeaWolves as he barely missed out on getting 100 yards. All-in-all, this game was tough, but the team battled it out and we were looking like a team, if not the team, primed to make a run at the Ultimini by the end of the year. I felt supremely confident that this game was one that would help us when games towards the end of the season are tough.
Week 11:
Feeling good coming into week 11, we let our guard down knowing that we could beat any team. We were playing the lowly Kansas City Coyotes, a team with only one win to date. It seemed like an incredibly easy matchup for us, but unfortunately, it wasn't. The Coyotes ended up beating us 28-24 behind the arm of Rose Jenkins and the legs of Taffy. The Coyotes were finally able to pull it together on offense as their rushing attack and quarterback both looked good enough to eventually win a couple of games. As a defense, I felt like we failed. I personally only had 7 tackles and didn't impact the box score in any other way. My running mate, Stokeley, actually played very well, eclipsing me in tackles and getting an interception off of the hot arm of Rose Jenkins. While it may not seem like much, that interception gave us some confidence in the game and showed Stokeley's skills as a coverage linebacker. Offensively, we ran the ball pretty well, with each runner picking up over 50 yards, but we were pretty ineffective through the air. Our receivers were not running crisp routes and Armstrong just did not appear to be in the same form that he usually was. It was a tough game for us as we lost to the worst game in the league, which is just sad. We felt like top dogs coming in and leaving the stadium we definitely felt like we might have gotten too high on ourselves. We knew that it was time for us to get back to the drawing board and go back to the basics of what had been working well. We still had work to do in the season, we couldn't let one game ruin that.
Week 12:
The end of the season is quickly approaching and we know that we need to step it up and take over our last three games. We are still the only team to beat the Marshals and we played them close in our other game, so we know we just need to play well going forward and we have a shot to beat anybody in the playoffs. Cautious optimism is definitely the best way to describe it, but we felt ready for a challenge. We got yes another game against the Norfolk SeaWolves and we were able to pull out another win by a score of 23-20. The game went into overtime and we won on a field goal with about 8 minutes left in the game. While our defense gave Longshaw hell all game, Logan Uchiha gave hell to Franklin Armstrong. He had 2 sacks to go along with 8 tackles and a pick six. The guy was all over the field and made sure that his impact was felt on the field. I was once again not the team leader in tackles, but I finished with 8 and an interception in a rather slow paced game. RDA5 was also able to nab an interception off of Longshaw and showed how many strong parts we had on our defense. In this game, we had to grind out a victory and it showed our teams resilience as well as the fact that the sum of our parts is so much greater than any individual value. Armstrong played well slinging for 200 yards and 2 TDs to go with a 100 QBR. Bona'beri was the best WR on the day, but as a team the offense did a good job of being able to sling it when our four-headed monster in the running back stable got slowed down. It was a very good game by the team. Even though it wasn't a blowout, we battled time and time again to be able to get this win. This was a good win and gave us even more confidence than we already had going forward.
Week 13:
Finally we get a rematch. Even though its only been one week since the loss, our shortcomings against the Kansas City Coyotes was weighing heavily on our minds. It was a game we lost that we know we shouldn't have. We just didn't focus hard enough and this was our chance to properly weigh them and come through and play tough. This time the Coyotes came into our house and were at our mercy. We won the game in convincing fashion 41-3, we were finally rounding into form. From a personal standpoint, I was chasing our single season record for tackles and with two good games I would be able to set the new record. In this game I only recorded 8 tackles, an absolute let down. Despite that, I was still excited about the team's performance. Personal goals don't mean that much and I still had an outside shot to set or tie the record. Franklin tossed two touchdowns and we ran the ball down their throat, going for over 200 yards. Offensively, they struggled mightily as they had under 200 yards total. We absolutely obliterated them in every facet of the game and it was a thing of beauty. We showed how dominant we can be when we lock in and feel like we are playing for something. I think this game put us a bit more front and center on a lot of peoples' radars for the upcoming playoff games. I also believe this game helped us cement our first place finish in our division, meaning that we had home-field advantage for a little while. This was the perfect game for us and the perfect storm was starting to surround us and our championship chances.
Week 14:
Week 14, last game of the regular season. We knew this was an opportunity for us to get better and put final touches on what we have been doing all season. We wanted that 10-4 finish and nothing less, we don't want to end on a bad note. We were finally getting the opportunity to play the Palm Beach Solar Bears again. We hadn't played them in a while and they were 3-10, so we knew this could be a measuring point for us. We were able to beat them 30-10 on our home field to end the season. I finally had an incredible game, getting 15 tackles, forcing a fumble, and breaking up a pass. It was a good game for me to get ready for the playoffs. Bitties also had a pick six for us, so you could say the defense played rather well in the big game. Simply put, their offense sucked because we shut them down. We were flying and looked like a fast team that really wanted something. And we got what we wanted. A win and an opportunity to go into the playoffs on a three game winning streak. This was everything we talked about all season and we went and got it. It was time for us to get in the playoffs, and we were ready for that opportunity.
Post-season Week 1:
Ah, another game against the SeaWolves. What a nail biter it was. We ended up winning the game 16-13 on a winning field goal with 4 minutes left. It was a very stressful game and just like I had said earlier, our grind it out ability played a huge role with the experience we had from earlier in the season. Our squad looked very good and effective in these close games. I stepped up and had 12 tackles, including one for a loss. I knew that everything was on the line so I took it upon myself to step up and play one of my best games yet. Emoji also got an interception for us, as did Grievous. As a defense, we played very fundamentally sound defense and didn't allow any big plays to happen. We kept everything in front of us and looked very effective defensively. On offense, Armstrong didn't have a great game, but he was able to lead us to a much needed victory. NA had a great game on the ground as he was picking up 6 yards a carry and was our saving grace. The team looked steady and very mature. Our experience was clearly paying off for us. We were ready to play the Marshals, but oh wait! They actually lost in the first round. That was exciting because they appeared to be our biggest threat, but the Luchadores didn't seem like too safe of a game either.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:
This was what we had been waiting for all season. The reason that Stokeley and I came down. The opportunity to bring a championship to the great city of Portland. All the hours we had put in, they were now mattering. And let me just say all we did was WIN WIN WIN! None of the stats matter because we won and we beat Tijuana in a tough game, 34-20. It was a hard fought game, but we won and we did it, we won the Ultimini. It all paid off for us coming back down and I had never been so excited. This was the best day of my life and I was ecstatic to win alongside all of my incredible teammates.
LBotY and DPOY:
After winning a game, I won two awards that I never thought I would win. I won the LB of the year award pretty handily, as I led the league in tackles by 27. I'm not sure if this was a record, but I'm sure that it is not very common for such a big disparity to occur. I also won co-DPOY, which was incredible. The awards coming in were not expected and nobody had really mentioned me in it, but I really did it. I have to give a lot of credit to the back of our defense though for helping me make plays and the front line for letting me just crash holes and not worry about anything. IN addition to these awards, I got an MVP vote. It was a crazy time for me and I am proud to be a champ, LBotY, and DPOY. But most importantly, I am proud to be a Portland Python.
2678 words
After the last game, we are back to being winners. It feels good to be back on top, but the work is unfinished. Two of our five wins came against the same team and another one was against a team that we lost a game to in the first matchup. Ultimately, we should be playing better than we are and that's how the whole team felt coming into week 8 and a matchup with the Marshals. San Antonio was still undefeated coming into this week, so it felt like a daunting task to be able to try and defeat them. They were allowing Bigsby to run the offense and run it at an extremely high level. We got to have this game in front of our home fans and we were able to pull out a 20-17 win with our kicker hitting a winning field goal with about six minutes left in the game. I played very well as I was able to rack up 16 tackles and be an absolute force int he middle. Stokeley was also able to get 11 tackles, combing us for 27 in the game and showing how versatile and well we are able to work together. San Antonio was still able to get some decent yardage on the ground, but we did a good job of limiting how much they could get on us. On defense, Emoji and Thomas were each able to get a pick off of Bigsby as well, as we shut down their passing game and limited him to a 50 passer rating. Offensively, we didn't play too well, but Armstrong tossed a touchdown to Chess and Chess was able to find pay dirt on the ground. We didn't look like the well oiled machine we had in previous weeks, but the offense was able to get the job done and the defense did its best impression of bend don't break. This was a big win for us and showed us we are more than capable of beating the Marshals.
Week 9:
A week after beating the perceived top team in the DSFL, we were feeling like an elite level organization. Our defensive players were making plays and our offense was managing the game well enough to keep us in it. These two units working in tandem allowed us to feel confident in our identity as a team and the potential of making a run to the championship. We got to play Tijuana immediately after the Marshals, and we had beat them in the first week of the season. Unfortunately for us, this game did not go the same way as before, as we lost 24-20 to the strong team led by Corco Havran. He had a very high completion percentage this game, although he didn't necessarily rack up a ton of yards. Where they did damage was Gump had two touchdown runs and their other running back was able to get a lot of yards against us. I, personally, was able to rack up 15 tackles, but I got shredded by a lot of short passes and didn't plug the holes as fast as I should have. I began to think that despite our strong linebacker play, we lacked a bit of a push up times on the front end. But that is probably just because our defensive line has not had the same amount of time to develop as our linebackers and even our defensive backs. Offensively, we were unable to get anything going really. We struggled to run and pass the ball and had another interception. It seemed like our offense was struggling to find momentum in a lot of games at this point in the season, which was a bit perplexing considering the immense amount of talent that we had in our running back stable. Still, this tough loss was on the road and we were confident we could rebound for week nine and go get ourselves another win.
Week 10:
A little bit of the blues for us. We just lost a game and right before we had lost that game we hadn't looked super sexy against the Marshals, despite the win. At this point in the season we started to believe that the league was really a two man race between us and the San Antonio Marshals. While we had two more losses than them, we were still the only team who had beaten them and felt like we should be favored to win it all. Our team was lethal, we just had yet to fully reach our potential. In week ten, we got to play against the SeaWolves again. This time we were able to leave Norfolk with a win, 29-19, in another nail biter of a game. Armstrong wasn't incredible slinging the ball, but he got the ball into the end zone three times through the air, which is all this team really needs. I personally racked up eleven tackles and kept moving closer to my goal of being the leading tackler in the DSFL with the performance. Lewis was able to have three tackles for losses and a sack for our team, showing how deep our defense is from top to bottom. Our running backs looked pretty good in the matchup which was encouraging since they had previously had a few games off, not looking too hot. Brock Landers looked good for the SeaWolves as he barely missed out on getting 100 yards. All-in-all, this game was tough, but the team battled it out and we were looking like a team, if not the team, primed to make a run at the Ultimini by the end of the year. I felt supremely confident that this game was one that would help us when games towards the end of the season are tough.
Week 11:
Feeling good coming into week 11, we let our guard down knowing that we could beat any team. We were playing the lowly Kansas City Coyotes, a team with only one win to date. It seemed like an incredibly easy matchup for us, but unfortunately, it wasn't. The Coyotes ended up beating us 28-24 behind the arm of Rose Jenkins and the legs of Taffy. The Coyotes were finally able to pull it together on offense as their rushing attack and quarterback both looked good enough to eventually win a couple of games. As a defense, I felt like we failed. I personally only had 7 tackles and didn't impact the box score in any other way. My running mate, Stokeley, actually played very well, eclipsing me in tackles and getting an interception off of the hot arm of Rose Jenkins. While it may not seem like much, that interception gave us some confidence in the game and showed Stokeley's skills as a coverage linebacker. Offensively, we ran the ball pretty well, with each runner picking up over 50 yards, but we were pretty ineffective through the air. Our receivers were not running crisp routes and Armstrong just did not appear to be in the same form that he usually was. It was a tough game for us as we lost to the worst game in the league, which is just sad. We felt like top dogs coming in and leaving the stadium we definitely felt like we might have gotten too high on ourselves. We knew that it was time for us to get back to the drawing board and go back to the basics of what had been working well. We still had work to do in the season, we couldn't let one game ruin that.
Week 12:
The end of the season is quickly approaching and we know that we need to step it up and take over our last three games. We are still the only team to beat the Marshals and we played them close in our other game, so we know we just need to play well going forward and we have a shot to beat anybody in the playoffs. Cautious optimism is definitely the best way to describe it, but we felt ready for a challenge. We got yes another game against the Norfolk SeaWolves and we were able to pull out another win by a score of 23-20. The game went into overtime and we won on a field goal with about 8 minutes left in the game. While our defense gave Longshaw hell all game, Logan Uchiha gave hell to Franklin Armstrong. He had 2 sacks to go along with 8 tackles and a pick six. The guy was all over the field and made sure that his impact was felt on the field. I was once again not the team leader in tackles, but I finished with 8 and an interception in a rather slow paced game. RDA5 was also able to nab an interception off of Longshaw and showed how many strong parts we had on our defense. In this game, we had to grind out a victory and it showed our teams resilience as well as the fact that the sum of our parts is so much greater than any individual value. Armstrong played well slinging for 200 yards and 2 TDs to go with a 100 QBR. Bona'beri was the best WR on the day, but as a team the offense did a good job of being able to sling it when our four-headed monster in the running back stable got slowed down. It was a very good game by the team. Even though it wasn't a blowout, we battled time and time again to be able to get this win. This was a good win and gave us even more confidence than we already had going forward.
Week 13:
Finally we get a rematch. Even though its only been one week since the loss, our shortcomings against the Kansas City Coyotes was weighing heavily on our minds. It was a game we lost that we know we shouldn't have. We just didn't focus hard enough and this was our chance to properly weigh them and come through and play tough. This time the Coyotes came into our house and were at our mercy. We won the game in convincing fashion 41-3, we were finally rounding into form. From a personal standpoint, I was chasing our single season record for tackles and with two good games I would be able to set the new record. In this game I only recorded 8 tackles, an absolute let down. Despite that, I was still excited about the team's performance. Personal goals don't mean that much and I still had an outside shot to set or tie the record. Franklin tossed two touchdowns and we ran the ball down their throat, going for over 200 yards. Offensively, they struggled mightily as they had under 200 yards total. We absolutely obliterated them in every facet of the game and it was a thing of beauty. We showed how dominant we can be when we lock in and feel like we are playing for something. I think this game put us a bit more front and center on a lot of peoples' radars for the upcoming playoff games. I also believe this game helped us cement our first place finish in our division, meaning that we had home-field advantage for a little while. This was the perfect game for us and the perfect storm was starting to surround us and our championship chances.
Week 14:
Week 14, last game of the regular season. We knew this was an opportunity for us to get better and put final touches on what we have been doing all season. We wanted that 10-4 finish and nothing less, we don't want to end on a bad note. We were finally getting the opportunity to play the Palm Beach Solar Bears again. We hadn't played them in a while and they were 3-10, so we knew this could be a measuring point for us. We were able to beat them 30-10 on our home field to end the season. I finally had an incredible game, getting 15 tackles, forcing a fumble, and breaking up a pass. It was a good game for me to get ready for the playoffs. Bitties also had a pick six for us, so you could say the defense played rather well in the big game. Simply put, their offense sucked because we shut them down. We were flying and looked like a fast team that really wanted something. And we got what we wanted. A win and an opportunity to go into the playoffs on a three game winning streak. This was everything we talked about all season and we went and got it. It was time for us to get in the playoffs, and we were ready for that opportunity.
Post-season Week 1:
Ah, another game against the SeaWolves. What a nail biter it was. We ended up winning the game 16-13 on a winning field goal with 4 minutes left. It was a very stressful game and just like I had said earlier, our grind it out ability played a huge role with the experience we had from earlier in the season. Our squad looked very good and effective in these close games. I stepped up and had 12 tackles, including one for a loss. I knew that everything was on the line so I took it upon myself to step up and play one of my best games yet. Emoji also got an interception for us, as did Grievous. As a defense, we played very fundamentally sound defense and didn't allow any big plays to happen. We kept everything in front of us and looked very effective defensively. On offense, Armstrong didn't have a great game, but he was able to lead us to a much needed victory. NA had a great game on the ground as he was picking up 6 yards a carry and was our saving grace. The team looked steady and very mature. Our experience was clearly paying off for us. We were ready to play the Marshals, but oh wait! They actually lost in the first round. That was exciting because they appeared to be our biggest threat, but the Luchadores didn't seem like too safe of a game either.
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:
This was what we had been waiting for all season. The reason that Stokeley and I came down. The opportunity to bring a championship to the great city of Portland. All the hours we had put in, they were now mattering. And let me just say all we did was WIN WIN WIN! None of the stats matter because we won and we beat Tijuana in a tough game, 34-20. It was a hard fought game, but we won and we did it, we won the Ultimini. It all paid off for us coming back down and I had never been so excited. This was the best day of my life and I was ecstatic to win alongside all of my incredible teammates.
LBotY and DPOY:
After winning a game, I won two awards that I never thought I would win. I won the LB of the year award pretty handily, as I led the league in tackles by 27. I'm not sure if this was a record, but I'm sure that it is not very common for such a big disparity to occur. I also won co-DPOY, which was incredible. The awards coming in were not expected and nobody had really mentioned me in it, but I really did it. I have to give a lot of credit to the back of our defense though for helping me make plays and the front line for letting me just crash holes and not worry about anything. IN addition to these awards, I got an MVP vote. It was a crazy time for me and I am proud to be a champ, LBotY, and DPOY. But most importantly, I am proud to be a Portland Python.
2678 words
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