Ranorian Domestic & International Sports Newswire

by **Ranoria** » Thu Mar 07, 2024 2:27 pm

OOC: Notes
1- The Ranorian football league doesn’t employ fifth year options or franchise tags. This gives players significantly more leverage in negotiations and leads to more player movement.
2- all those rules favoring the passing game - those aren’t a thing here. Hard hitting safeties and linebackers are at a premium, making the middle of the field a dangerous place to throw, roughing the passer calls are few and far between, and defensive backs are often given a bit of leeway with their physicality prior to the catch.
3- Because of this, expect significantly lower average passing numbers than in the NFL. In 70+ seasons, the RFL has had five 4,700+ yard seasons, two 5,000+ yard passing seasons, and seven 40+ passing TD seasons. By comparison, there have been 15 5,000+ yard seasons in the NFL and 19 NFL seasons of 40+ passing touchdowns. Please keep this in mind if your players - particularly QBs, WRs, or TEs, aren’t having the production you’d expect.
4- also as a result of this, running backs take on a greater role and the average rushing numbers are higher. 2,000+ yards is still a rarity.
5- I'm not committed to any more heavily RP'd seasons, but the league will continue to run as long as I have the currently in place foreign players (as of 2035-2036 cycle) at the very least

6- Few changes last season! First - we've introduced divisions! I say we because I wouldn't have been able to do this without South Newlandia, huge thanks to him there. Everyone's favorite elephant is crucial and indispensable to the scoring of the RFL now. Two teams were taken out of the league - the Lorcondan National Team and Calgary Stampede - to accommodate this. No foreign (or even notable Ranorian) players were on those teams.

With that said, we've moved to a more familiar format for everyone - four divisions per conference, with each division champion and two wild cards from each conference making the playoffs.

Ranorian Conference

Ranorian Heartland
Mariana Tigers
Berlin Snow Bears
Balafre Bootleggers
Ranoria City Falcons

Ranorian Central
Memphis Steamers
Indianapolis Hogs
Nashville Sabercats
Apollotown Sabers

Ranorian Coastal
Highport Hawks
Sierraville Famers
Munich Thrashers
Victorsville Hurricane

Ranorian North
Lafayette Crusaders
Halifax Blizzard
Madison Gladiators
Vancouver Yeti

National Conference

National North
Rouyoutte Aurora Knights
Eglise Mountaineers
Herot Paladins
Fermete Marauders

National Central
Ranoria City Silver
Pittsburgh Ironmen
Dietrich Dynamos
Richardson Fenrirs

National West
Yellowknife Wraiths
Brittany Walruses
Menagerie Pioneers
Edmunton Eagles

National Coastal
Fiston Redwolves
North Ashialand Dreadnaughts
New Quebec Fighters
Port Kruger Phalanx

Significant Offseason moves:

LT Goliath Castellan: Lafayette Crusaders -> Madison Gladiators
The 2x 1st team all pro left the Crusaders in free agency for division rival Madison, signing the richest contract for a left tackle in RFL history in the process to protect Benoit Youngblood's blindside. Combined with Uzziah Amondi - who's beena 1st team all pro every year of his career - and second year Park Si-U at center, and the Gladiators might be fielding the league's best offensive line in front of their young passer.

Nashville Sabercats RB Terrace Peterman -> Ranoria City Falcons
-A second round pick, the Sabercats hoped that an offense fielding Peterman and QB Johnny Green could continue to compete. They were wrong. Peterman is likely a one year rental, much like Kearse was for the Falcons, but the Chromatik back is on a cheap rookie contract that keeps the Falcons under their hard-pressed cap ceiling.
Fermete Marauders CB Victoria Mio -> Ranoria City Falcons
-This was the bigger move. With their aging roster starting to lose their touch, the Falcons needed to make a splash move. With Alessandra Mio likely retiring after this season, both she and Victoria - a former DPOY - restructured their contracts in order to facilitate the move. The Falcons traded veteran guard Jefferson Reeves and a second rounder to the Fermete Marauders, who are loading on draft capital in order to re-load their mediocre squad, with the Marauders effectively just taking on paying the final year of his contract.

Fermete Marauders OLB Django Reeves -> Pittsburgh Ironmen
An Ironmen team that's loading up for one or two final cracks at a title with its current core paid premium draft capital for a linebacker in Django Reeves who's at the tail end of his prime. A hybrid Saguenay alumi, he'll likely split time alongside Kaiser Belfort at linebacker and opposite Frederic Benn-Kocian at defensive end.

Memphis Steamers LT Travis Handon -> Port Kruger Phalanx
Kualu Luani's longside blindside protector was lured away to the Phalanx by a nice contract offer, and allows the Phalanx to have two bookend tackles to run their superstar running back behind.

Dietrich Dynamos RB Kaytlynne Sellers -> Rouyoutte Aurora Knights
For an Aurora Knights squad that fell well short of expectations last season, Sellers is marketed to be the missing piece in their explosive offense.

Fermete Marauders DT Konstantin Vollmacht -> New Quebec Fighters
For a Fighters team desperate to take advantage of their talented quarterback in Ernest Bello, the fire sale of the Marauders was the perfect opportunity to trade for arguably the best player at his position in the world in Vollmacht.

Fermete Marauders OL Mikel Kingston -> Edmunton Eagles
Fermete Marauders OL Donelle Ruffin -> Edmunton Eagles

The Eagles gave up a 1st and third round pick, but it got them two proven veteran Chromatik linemen from a gutting Marauders squad. Along with an early second round pick at left tackle in Houndor Johnson, they've made significant investments on this offensive line to keep Blake Zuercher upright after he took a league high 55 sacks despite playing in just fourteen games, through injury in several.

Brittany Walruses DE Malik Sherman -> Madison Gladiators
The veteran defensive end who's approaching ninety career sacks clearly thinks something's brewing in Madison, and he wants in. Reportedy, the hope for both parties is that the former Winter Bowl champion (with the Ironmen) can play for three to four years while contributing and, if they can draft a premium pass rusher in the next draft, help groom their defensive leader in upcoming seasons.

RFL 2038 - Odd Year Out

Sometimes, you just get some weird results in the regular season. Like the preseason favorites getting absolutely shit on. Or a team with an exciting young quarterback literally having not made the playoffs four years into his career - sound familiar anyone? Oh, and one of those teams that's armed to the teeth but always underperforming finally actually does something! This, kids, is one of those years! Buckle up!

National Conference:

National North: A Passing Of The Torch

1 Fermete Marauders                 16    9   7   423  357  +66    0.562
 2 Rouyotte Aurora Knights           16    9   7   369  383  −14    0.562
 3 Eglise Mountaineers               16    8   8   356  420  −64    0.500
 4 Herot Paladins                    16    6  10   351  375  −24    0.375

Here's the first downright shocker. The Aurora Knights have been one of the most exciting teams in the league since rebranding. They build a new stadium, snagged a veteran top 10 quarterback in Ballast Queen, and loaded their offense to the teeth with wide receivers including speed demon Isaak Rodriguez, who's the best Ranorian wideout in the RFL. But there was some drama this offseason - Rodriguez demanded a trade after missing the playoffs if changes weren't made, so the team hired a new offensive coordinator and brought on Kaytlyne Sellers at running back to feature another strong player in their offense.

Meanwhile, Fermete had torn their roster down to the framing - they couldn't find a trade partner for veteran Sheila Pantoja at QB, but it was presumed to be her final year as a starter. They traded away most of the premier players on their team in order to hoard draft picks. Well - if they were wanting to tank it didn't work. Pantoja posted her first ever four thousand yard season as the team was completely hamstrung without most of its weapons, forcing her to play hero ball. Sure, the turnovers were up, but she may have earned her place as a passer through this rebuild by knocking off an overhyped Aurora Knights team in crushing fashion, beating them in week 17 in their stadium to secure a playoff berth. It wasn't her first shootout of the season, but it would be the most dramatic - the game was tied at 20 at the end of regulation, and after three overtime periods, Sheila Pantoja ran a quarterback sneak behind Chromatik guard Chris Grey to seal the game winning touchdown. It would end 42-34 and send the A-Knights home.

Herot, meanwhile, didn't look so hot in year two of QB Shirinna Lehmann, barely managing a mark of 6-10, and the Eglise Mountaineers continued their eight-year gameplan of feed Calista Weathers to the same results as always.

National Central: At Long Last - The Ironmen Return

1 Pittsburgh Ironmen                16   14   2   383  160 +223    0.875
 2 Dietrich Dynamos                  16   10   6   356  305  +51    0.625
 3 Richardson Fenrirs                16   10   6   361  326  +35    0.625
 4 Ranoria City Silver               16    9   7   277  223  +54    0.562

It cannot be overstated that this one was weird. The Dynamos would finish 3rd in the overall conference standings despite ripping apart their roster and leaving Diego Rodriguez basically to fend for himself. He responded by leading a hyper-efficient passing attack, completing an impressive 69% of his passes and throwing just one interception while repeatedly dialing up stud rookie wideout Marvin Fleming III because he was the only other remotely impressive player. Like Pantoja, he's likely earned himself another contract as his team goes into rebuild mode.

The Fenrirs, again, were impressive, winning ten games and staking their claim as one of the best in the conference, especially in a division where all four teams would be in the top six of the standings. Second straight playoff season for them as they continue to re-establish themselves as a perennial contender. The Silver, after such an impressive season last year, just couldn't keep up the pace and slipped to 9-7 - just out of the playoffs in a hyper competitive division.

But that's not why we're here. The Pittsburgh Ironmen, finally, look to be delivering on their uber-talented roster. Kaiser Belfort led the league with 175 tackles, Eden Park racked up a career high six sacks at defensive tackle, and new signee Django Reeves was an effective hybrid defender. Frederic Benn-Kocian led the charge at defensive end - the former DROY led the league with 19.5 sacks to allow just ten points per game. Leonardo Torrent was an effective passer as always (if not as prolific as his old man) an Apollo Esther was unstoppable, ripping off sixteen hundred yard and twenty touchdown runs as he led his team to the best record in the league.

National West: The Blake Came Back

1 Edmunton Eagles                   16    8   8   371  295  +76    0.500
 2 Yellowknife Wraiths               16    6  10   213  286  −73    0.375
 3 Brittanny Walruses                16    6  10   281  410 −129    0.375
 4 Menagerie Pioneers                16    3  13   237  431 −194    0.188

After a stunningly poor season, the Edmunton Eagles bounced back. Would they have made the playoffs in a better division? Probably not! But in the playoffs they are. Blake Zuercher took a massive step forward in his second season, going from scoring under two touchdowns per game as an offense to nearly twenty four per outing - more than a ten point swing. And with more time of possession and better field position came a improved defense as well. Zuercher and second year wideout Victoire Wilkinson established a strong connection in year two, and they can't wait to see what they do come postseason play.

The Wraiths were the only team with a notably strong performer - Rolan Monroe continues to wallow in an otherwise talentless locker room.

National Coastal: Can Anyone Else Play Football?

1 Fiston  Redwolves                 16   10   6   399  328  +71    0.625
 2 New Quebec Fighters               16    8   8   382  344  +38    0.500
 3 North Ashialand Dreadnaughts      16    6  10   364  355   +9    0.375
 4 Port Kruger Phalanx               16    6  10   310  435 −125    0.375

So much for Konstantin Vollmacht having a big impact - the New Quebec Fighters have yet to make the playoffs with the talented Ernet Bello at the helm, in no small part due to sharing a division with Fiston we're sure. The reigning champion Redwolves continue to be one of the league's top squads, posting yet another consecutive ten win season. Elliot Roach of the Dreadnaughts is likely leaving the team for free agency this season - they've made the playoffs once in his tenure, when he dragged them to twelve wins and earned an MVP.

Ranorian Conference:

Ranorian North: Youngblood Country

1 Madison Gladiators                16   10   6   512  404 +108    0.625
 2 Halifax Blizzard                  16    6  10   258  367 −109    0.375
 3 Lafayette Crusaders               16    5  11   276  435 −159    0.312
 4 Vancouver Yeti                    16    3  13   265  368 −103    0.188

Gladiators fans probably still aren't quite realizing what they have in front of them - their quarterback just led the best offense in the league by some margin, scoring nearly three more points per game than the next best unit in Gwenderyn's Falcons and holding the distinction of being the only team to score 30+ points per game this year. You've gotta realize that in this team's prime in recent history, their quarterback was Jeremiah "The QuillMaster" Quill. Most famous for playing in relief of the deceased Derek McNair in World Bowl 40 and generally being bad at this game despite the fan love. If the team hadn't lost six games, Youngblood would be in legitimate MVP position after leading the league in touchdown passes, nearly becoming the fifth player in the league's history to hit 40 this season.

Instead, they'll have to settle for dominating the division and looking like a significantly stronger team than they were last season. Adding Goliath Castellan at left tackle was huge, and Malik Sherman was a lone bright spot on a bottom-ten defense in the league. As bad as the Halifax Blizzard have been over the last few years, they're about to get worse - reports indicate that Krauts star linebacker Najee Isidora has no interest in re signing with the team after four straight seasons of dominating individual performances and no team success. He's reportedly being recruited by fellow ULI alumn Abram Fairbanks of the Apollotown Sabers. And as bad as the Halifax Blizzard have been, they're about to get worse - star linebacker and World Bowl champion Najee Isidora reportedly has no interest in re-upping with the team after four years of dominant individual performances with no wins to show for it.

Ranorian Heartland: The Elefriends Revenge

1 Berlin Snow Bears                 16   13   3   466  271 +195    0.812
 2 Ranoria City Falcons              16   10   6   461  329 +132    0.625
 3 Mariana Tigers                    16    9   7   385  230 +155    0.562
 4 Balafre Bootleggers               16    7   9   353  396  −43    0.438

First of all - hats off to the Balafre Bootleggers. In a tough, tough division, they at least stayed competitive throughout the year. Meanwhile, the Berlin Snow Bears won the division for the first time since 2033 - the Mariana Tigers have won it once in the interim, other than that it's been all Falcons. Quarterback Gracelyn Jackson continues to improve, and her numbers improved yet again this season, but Dustin van Halfensen and Gauge Lawson were the stars on offense. DVH recorded his first career thousand yard season while leading the league with thirteen touchdown catches, ten of those coming in the red zone, while Lawson put the minor in ass-kicking he earned at Elephant Valley to good use, racking up his fourth straight season of 300+ carries, 1440+ yards, and 10+TDs on the ground. It was good enough to produce the second best offense in the league, edging out Gwenderyn's Falcons. Charles Raleigh and Carolyn Bray former a strong tandem at corner on the back end, and Dominick Ford racked up double digit TFLs while Keeyan Brandt continues to be an effective third down pass rush specialist.

As for the Falcons - they made the playoffs without too much trouble with Gwenderyn leading the league in passing yards for the umpteenth time, and while their defense struggled more than expected, bringing on Victoria Mio was a godsend on the back end. They've always struggled in the secondary, especially after failing to re-sign Gideon Kearse and being unable to replace his pass rush. Mio led the league in interceptions for the second time in her career while being one of the least targeted corners by percentage in the league.

Mariana, meanwhile, snuck in as the sixth seed. Our striped Tiger friends avoided falling into a pattern of doing what they did in 2035 and 2036 - ride an award-winning Thomas Fantikos campaign to a deep playoff run, then put up a respectable season that sees them fall short of the playoffs. The Snow Bear friends and Falcons have missed the playoffs though recently, in this uber-competitive division. No shame in it. That said, second straight year that three teams from this division have made the postseason. Wild, right?

Ranorian Central: Chaos and a Wide Receiver

1 Memphis Steamers                  16   12   4   443  349  +94    0.750
 2 Apollotown Sabers                 16    9   7   296  191 +105    0.562
 3 Nashville Sabercats               16    8   8   299  355  −56    0.500
 4 Indianapolis Hogs                 16    5  11   310  409  −99    0.312

You'd think last season's runners-up, fielding Abram Fairbank, the reigning OPOY in Zamadi Ayana, and Candace Ferrett among others, would easily win the division, especially with the Steamers losing star left tackle Travis Handon. Wrong, apparently. Kualu Luani had a career year at quarterback for the Steamers in no small part thanks to Max Strömberg, who racked up over one hundred receiving yards per game and looked completely unstoppable all season. He's hard to cover, incredible on contested catches if you can stick with him, and if he makes a guy miss as he often does, that blazing speed might just mean it's game over.

The Steamers rode the league's best wideout to twelve wins - will their blatantly one dimensional game plan be enough to push them deep into the playoffs? The Sabers, meanwhile, had a weird season in which they put up a solid number of points, had one of the league's best defenses and PDs, and just couldn't close it out, going 1-4 in their final five.

Ranorian Central: Stay The Course

1 Highport Hawks                    16   13   3   413  272 +141    0.812
 2 Sierraville Farmers               16    7   9   279  368  −89    0.438
 3 Munich  Thrashers                 16    7   9   313  411  −98    0.438
 4 Victorsville Hurricane            16    4  12   217  391 −174    0.250

Sierraville at least made it interesting - they were 7-3 going into week 11, riding an inspired Rylan Rodgers Jr season and Akhello Volson's energy on defense to a potentially wild finish. With two games against the Hawks coming up in the next three weeks, they had a shot at taking command of the division. RB Herman "Warhawk" Whitworth was out for both contests with a high ankle sprain - aways nice to not have to deal with the RFL's single-season rushing leader. The Hawks were right with them at 7-3, coming off back-to-back losses. RRJ went all out, riding into battle on Klaw the snow bear as he had prior to the NSCF 29 Rebel's Cannon Bowl, and Akhello Volson was leading the league in interceptions and passes defended to that point.

Right, then they got demolished in both of those contents and lost out for the rest of the season while the Hawks spring boarded off those big wins to finish 13-3. Nothing too surprising - the Farmers aren't very good despite playing in the impressive National Harvester Goldendome. Byron Joseph passed for over four thousand yards again, and the Hawks continue to be one of the league's top squads.

First two seeds receive a bye, next two seeds get home playoff games, bottom two seeds are the wild cards

National Conference
 1 Pittsburgh Ironmen                16   14   2   383  160 +223    0.875
 2 Fiston  Redwolves                 16   10   6   399  328  +71    0.625
 3 Fermete Marauders                 16    9   7   423  357  +66    0.562
 4 Edmunton Eagles                   16    8   8   371  295  +76    0.500
 5 Dietrich Dynamos                  16   10   6   356  305  +51    0.625
 6 Richardson Fenrirs                16   10   6   361  326  +35    0.62

Ranorian Conference
 1 Berlin Snow Bears                 16   13   3   466  271 +195    0.812
 2 Highport Hawks                    16   13   3   413  272 +141    0.812
 3 Memphis Steamers                  16   12   4   443  349  +94    0.750
 4 Madison Gladiators                16   10   6   512  404 +108    0.625
 5 Ranoria City Falcons              16   10   6   461  329 +132    0.625
 6 Mariana Tigers                    16    9   7   385  230 +155    0.562

Wild Card Weekend

The first round of the playoffs features the most electric wideout in the league this season against last year's runners-up, a rematch of last year's first wild card matchup between the Falcons and Gladiators, who finished with the same seeding as last season. Gwenderyn and co came away on top last season, but this looks to be a significantly more matured Gladiators side - can they be the first to knock out the Gwenderyn in the Wild Card Round? Then an overperforming Dynamos squad against the exciting Blake Zuercher in his playoffs debut. The Marauders, also supposed to be rebuilding, will take on the ten win Fenrirs, who's core of Ryan Blake, Tim Hunt, Deshawn Fredericks, and Chase Okama continue to torment the league.

Round two between the up and comer and the best in the game - last season's outing was a defensive slugfest. This time, there would be no such herecy with such uber-talented quarterbacks on the field.

The Falcons were trying desperately to win one last championship with Victoria Mio on the roster, and her younger sister Alessandra was crucial there - Nikolas Isakasen, after putting up the best numbers of his career for the second straight season, was held to two catches for six yards on four targets. The first of them? A pick six on the opening drive.

After that, however, it was all Gladiators. The Falcons would maintain their lead up until midway through the second quarter, but Benoit Youngblood started to shred the weaker other members of the secondary, his elite offensive line meshed with his athleticism giving him a ridiculous amount of time in the pocket against a barren Falcons pass rush. They tried bringing Jere Rinaldi to blitz, but even monsters like him can meet their match in similar specimens like Uzziah Amondi or Goliath Castellan. Duke Beckett was key here - the veteran back racked up 107 receiving yards and forty rushing yard, leading the way as Beno delivered the most dominant showing of his young career with five touchdown passes and one on the ground.

It's far from the end of a dynasty - but it is the first time Sarai Gwenderyn's Falcons have ever been knocked out in the wild card round, a painful way to go out when they had sold out to get both Mio sisters and a competent rushing attack. While it was a tough outing, Alessandra Mio retired as easily the best wideout in the history of the RFL. Four seasons of 100+ catches and four more with over 90. The two time Offensive Player of the Year led the league in catches five times, receiving yards another five, touchdown catches four times, and, most importantly if you ask her, was a five time RFL champion - twice with Diamond Rhine and three times with Sarai Gwenderyn. From calling plays for a hopeless Rhine with the Dynamos to being one of the faces of the Falcons' dynasty, she's pretty much broken every receiving record the RFL has to offer. Her 1,232 receptions paces Earl Beets by 158. The 17,103 receiving yards? Beats out Quebecois legend Kieran Kweo-Atkison's 13,024 by more than four thousand - that's a good passing season in the RFL. And most impressively, she shattered the receiving touchdowns record of Johnny Farmer - one of the best Ranorians to ever play - his 122 touchdown catches pale in comparison to her 159, and if you hadn't picked up on it, she holds all three of those records where those Hall of Famers hanged their hat on one apiece.

An obscenely prolific career - both in individual stats and awards and championship medals. Mio will be a first ballot Hall of Famer, and after an emotional scene on the field with long time teammates Sarai Gwenderyn, Mi-Hyeon Park, Jere RInaldi, Nellie Katt, and Dierdre Gott as well as her sister Victoria, even the away stadium in Madison gave her a standing ovation as she left the field.

Madison Gladiators 55–34 Ranoria City Falcons

Just like last season, a first seed team out of the Ranorian Heartland takes on a divisional rival in the divisional round as the Snow Bears will lock murder mittens with the Tigers. Blake Zuercher faces the tall task of knocking off Apollo Esther's Pittsburgh Ironmen, and the Redwolves probably have one of the easiest draws in the divisional round in years, as impressive as Fermete's punching up has been all season. And then you've got Benoit Youngblood going through another one of the league's best as he'll take a trip down to Highport to visit Byron Joseph's Hawks, featuring RB Herman Whitworth, TE Vasily Schmidt, and pass rusher Robert Lawrence.

When Jack Hoy fumbled for the first time in his RFL career on the opening drive, fans cursed a bit, and when Sheila Pantoja converted the turnover for the only Marauders touchdown of the game, they were certainly worried - but the gap between these two teams was more than wide enough that it would be trivial in the coming blowout. After exchanging punts, the Redwolves scored on three straight drives. First on a Lane Proudfoot rushing touchdown - not really of his own volition, a defensive lineman jumped on him when he went to pass from the three and he stumbled forward past the goal line - then on consecutive field goals to make it 13-7 early in the second quarter.

The Redwolves tried to be aggressive and take a deep shot to score before half, but Sage Sterling ended that drive with an interception to keep the score where it was as neither offense could get anything going. The Redwolves were stopped on 4th and 1 in the red zone in the third quarter, then on the next drive Lane Proudfoot threw a second interception from the fifteen as the team just couldn't seem to get the ball moving.

But it didn't seem to matter - the Redwolves secondary was creeping up, everyone playing inside fifteen yards. Sheila Pantoja didn't throw deep, everyone knows that - until they didn't. Credit to a Chris Grey offensive line for holding up - Pantoja took a seven step drop and absolutely launched the ball downfield, where her receiver snagged it in field goal range, and while the drive stalled out, it earned them a field goal. She was playing the bet ball of her career, and appeared determined to make it one step further, leading a surgical two minute drive to get another field goal in the closing seconds of regulation to tie this thing up.

She'd keep the momentum up in overtime - her squad couldn't put a touchdown up, but they did get a third straight field goal to make it 16-13 and put all the pressure on Proudfoot and the Redwolves.

Only, it didn't last long. After a Jack Hoy fifteen yard run, Proudfoot launched the ball downfield to Calvin Hale, where his veteran receiver caught it in stride...then made the mistake of trying to juke out the corner. Practically stopping in place, he never saw as Sage Sterling came barreling across the field to knock the ball free, with the corner diving on it before Hale had a chance to even recover from the massive hit. Sterling howled into the stunned Fiston crowd as Calvin Hale remained motionless, then waved for the trainers after the hit. Hale would have to be taken out on a stretcher - a brutal ending to the season for the Redwolves and their championship hopes.

With the win, the Marauders, who's front office had completely lost faith in them and aimed to tank, are on the doorstep of their first Winter Bowl appearance in a whopping 46 years. And for the first time in five years, the winner of the Winter Bowl won't be either the Fiston Redwolves or the Ranoria City Falcons.

Fiston Redwolves 13–13 Fermete Marauders (16–19 OT)

In the fourth quarter, the Marauders were in position. In the red zone, Sheila Pantoja and co were up 17-14 late in the fourth quarter. All they had to do was put the nail in the coffin to send Pittsburgh back to where they belonged on the long list of championship caliber teams on paper that just never got it done.

Pantoja rolled out on a bootleg, catching her receiver, who picked up seven yards on a drag before being knocked out of bounds. It'd have been better if he stayed in, but for now, they were in a good spot.

Then came Kaiser Belfort.

Knowing that Chris Grey was the only good lineman on the front five, the Ironmen ran a stunt they'd been saving - Eden Park's aiming point was Grey's earhole, driving him off the center of the pocket, and Kaiser Belfort crossed his man and came right off his hip, the center not keen enough to pick up on the blitz. Sheila Pantoja never had a chance - she had just started to pass the ball to get rid of it, but Belfort's shoulder sent her and the football flying, and if he hadn't had to extend so far to catch the ball in the air, he likely would've taken it back for six. Instead, the 3x defending Renown heavyweight champion fought his way back for a sixty yard return, completely flipping the field as Pantoja and her offense could only watch in horror. They had their own superstar in Sage Sterling - but the Ironmen were never going to give him a chance.

Leonardo Torrent hit Layna Cinder on a slant, the Chromatik wideout quickly going down and getting the ball to the official. With a minute on the clock and fifteen yards to go, they weren't panicking, just urgent. After that, it was three straight handoffs to Apollo Esther - the heart and soul of this offense over the last six years smashed through the hapless defense, a defense that prior to this offseason may just have had the beef to bring him down, as he had so many times in his World Bowl career to score a game winning touchdown.

Fermete's ownership and front office are under massive criticism - their second year head coach never said it out loud, but he was furious at having a roster he believed could compete gutted, and having fought tooth and nail to the doorstep of a championship berth with such a depleted unit was nothing short of heartbreaking. "Feels like some dudes in suits robbed of us of a chance to make history," said Sage Sterling after the game, clearly irate. "I love all my teammates man, but shit - just Djagno [Reeves], we sent that cat to the Ironmen. He's probably a four point swing alone! We got rid of the best d-tackle in football! [Konstantin] Vollmacht was my guy man, from Felswyr State to the World Bowl, we were brothers, champions everywhere but here. My kids call him Uncle Kon. Mikel [Kingston] and Donelle [Ruffin]!? WIth Chris [Grey] up there, they were one hell of a unit up front for Sheila [Pantoja] to play behind. And props off to her, she played her heart out, but shit, the one that hurts the most? We got rid of Victoria.

Sage rubbed his temples, then waved a hand when one of the reporters tried to question him, "Man, short of my wife, she is the best woman I've ever met. If Sheila is our steady rock, Mio junior was our fire, she was that tachycardiac heart of our team. Former defensive player of the year, best corner in the game I'd argue, anywhere. And we still got this far."

Sterling shook his head and walked off the podium after that - not accepting any more questions, while the Ironmen's Leonardo Torrent was a bit more enthused - advising that after watching his dad when four championships with the Ranoria City Falcons, he was finally excited to get one of his own.

Pittsburgh Ironmen 21–17 Fermete Marauders

Ranorian Football League
2038 Winter Bowl @ Karmin-Falce Superdome

So here we have it - a second year quarterback trying to become the first one since Sarai Gwenderyn to win it this early in his career against an established Ironmen team loaded with talent on defense gunning to win their first championship since the days of Angelo Gordon and Vontaze Ahn. For the Ironmen, they're lead out by newly crowned MVP Apollo Esther at running back, with veteran QB Leonardo Torrent hoping to win his first championship. He's got WR Layna Cinder as his top target, while Cassadagan Brian Shipman protects his blindside and Krauts starter Jakob Engelhaft lines up at center.

The teeth of this team is on the other side though - Kaiser Belfort, the dual sport MMA champion and tone-setting linebacker pairs up with hybrid Django Reeves, while Quebecois defensive lineman Eden Park and Frederic Benn-Kocian have terrorized opponents this season.

The Gladiators are a bit more green behind the ears - Benoit Youngblood won an NSCF championship just two years ago, but he's proven himself at quarterback. Sixth year wideout Nikolas Isaksen has gone from a talent on a bad team to blossoming as one of the league's top receivers now that he has a competent passer, and Raynor grad Duke Beckett at running back is a dual threat who got plenty of snaps for the Krauts. They've got two of the best at their position in the world, too, in LT Goliath Castellan and Banijan LG Uzziah Amondi. Park Si-U at center rounds up the big names on the line, and Billy Beets and Malik Sherman on the defensive front lead that unit - Sherman, ironically, was a member of the last championship winning Ironmen team. He played in a rotational role (alongside DE Jarett Hauptmann) behind Angelo Gordon and Vontaze Ahn.

This one was never going to be easy for either side - but the defensive slugfest that proceeded to ensue defied any and all expectations. An Ironmen offensive line that had been so effective all season was suddenly overwhelmed, as Sherman and Beets repeatedly forced losses on first and second down drive after drive after drive, forcing the Ironmen to lean on Leonardo Torrent much more often than they'd have liked a drive after drive stalled out - but the Gladiators fared little better. Kaiser Belfort was a madman and as good as the left side of the offensive line was, all it took was lining up Frederic Benn-Kocian on the right to completely blow up the passing game as the league's leading sack artist looked downright unstoppable. Both offenses would barely manage two field goals in the first half - it was so bad that when the Ironmen scored a third on the opening drive of the third quarter, it felt like momentum was swinging their way. Points were at such a premium in this game that any score counted.

But that would be the end of the scoring for the Ironmen. Benoit Youngblood, after throwing two interceptions in the first three quarters, did what he does best. In NSCF 27 when he was adjusting to the speed of the game after a gap year, he found a way to scrape out wins in those rough early starts. In NSCF 29, after it looked like Kadesh Odika would make Youngblood's Buffalo just one more feather in his cap, Beno lead his team all the way back in an unprecedented fourth quarter. Just last season, found a way to win in week 17 to get his team into the postseason on an 8-8 record.

And here, while it wasn't exactly pretty, he found a way to win. Madison would open the fourth quarter with three straight field goal drives - not a touchdown in sight - as their quarterback found just enough to get them into chip-shot range, even if he couldn't get into the end zone. The Ironmen, completely stalling out after that third quarter kick, never crossed the fifty again - and Benoit Youngblood only continues to dominate the sport, leading the Gladiators to their first championship since 1999, when current Banija Serpent Eagles HC Thomas Hall won defensive player of the year and led them to the precipice.

And you know what's wild - he's still got room to grow. That's why he's backing up Donovan O'Mara, who we're sure is only going to continue to work with this budding superstar.

Madison Gladiators 15–9 Pittsburgh Ironmen

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