Serpent Eagles fly to Vangaziland for massive World Bowl tilt against Pot 1 side Vangaziland
Banijan defenders celebrate a score at home against HUElavia
VANGAZILAND- As we talked about in our last article, the Banijan World Bowl campaign has been resurrected. After an 0-2 start, Alastair Jobs has gotten everybody focused and turned the campaign around. In Busukuma, the team avenged their Matchday 1 overtime loss in HUElavia, by turning around and beating the HUelavians in a closely contested game at home, 33-21. Isaka Jawara was the focal point for the offense, and the star quarterback did not disappoint. Three touchdowns through the air, as Okparro and Alan Saba both added a touchdown carry on the ground. Five touchdowns scored, even if a PAT was missed and a separate two point conversion was missed. The offense is rolling right now, the team is carrying momentum.
But we are still not in the position we want to be in. Take a look at the table- we are one game behind the joint group leaders, Terre Septentrionale and Vangaziland. Those teams are both 5-1, and Terre Septentrionale holds the tiebreakers, having beaten Vangaziland. It is a tough scenario- a joint game behind both the group's leaders, as we desperately try and chase for a spot in the knockout stages. But not all is lost. The Banijans still control their own destiny. We have games remaining against both Vangaziland and Terre Septentrionale- we will travel to Vangaziland here for Matchday 7, and then turn around and play the Nordiques in Busukuma on Matchday 8.
There we no thoughts in their heads about Terre Septentrionale, however- everyone's minds were on the task at hand- Vangaziland. "Vangaziland is in Pot 1 for a reason." Said Alastair Jobs, the Head Coach. "They're a strong, well-coached program with a bunch of talent. They are disciplined, fundamentally sound, and there's a reason they are ranked in the top 10. Their ranking is fully deserved, and their 5-1 record is deserved as well. However, knowing all of their strengths, we still come in with plenty of confidence. We have always believed that we are better than the #19 ranking. We believe that we have the talent level to be elite in this sport once again. It wasn't on display in the past couple of World Bowls. But it has been these last few games."
"But you know what wins mean. By themselves, they mean very little. When you string together wins consistently, create a winning tradition, winning mentality, winning expectations- well, everything and anything is possible. Even pulling off what would surely be an incredible upset over Vangaziland. The firm belief, the self-confidence, is there. We're going to have to execute. The fans in Vangaziland are great- we're going to have to keep our heads. But we can do it."
What are the keys for the Serpent Eagles as they look for their fifth victory in a row, to take them one massive step closer to the knockout stages of World Bowl XXXIX? The first key, of course, is the line of scrimmage. This team will spread it out and air it out, on the back of their all-world quarterback Isaka Jawara, proud alumnus of The Loyola University, most commonly known as Loyola-Istria. They need to give Jawara time. There will already be plenty of pressures- he'll likely have to run a silent count, for one. There will be crowd noise. But we give this player enough time, and he'll torch any defense in the multiverse.
Another key is physicality at the point of attack. Now, this goes to the defensive side of the football. Vangaziland is not the easiest side to stop- they've got talent on that side of the ball too. While we lead the group averaging 26.5 points per game, they are not far behind us at all, averaging somewhere around 24 points per game. WE have to be physical at the line of scrimmage when we don't have the ball. That means with their recievers. We have a couple of yards of cushion- we need to disrupt that timing. Our corners, Saihou Fadika and Dembo Guissé, are capable of being physical. We imagine the coach will emphasize that, give our D-Linemen the extra half second to throw the play off beat and get to the quarterback.
It's a big game. It's on the road. We're the underdogs. But who are we? We are Banija. This nation has the talent to be elite in this sport- all we gotta do is show it on the field. We need to reverse the free fall we've had, and lay a foundation for the future. This is one of those pivotal games as we work to move up the ranks. Will those four wins in a row end up being nice, but meaningless as we drop out in group play for the second tournament in a row? Or will this Vangaziland game validate those performances, and put a message to the rest of the group that we mean business?
We'll find out, tomorrow night, in Vangaziland. Go Serpent Eagles!
