It wasn't pretty but the 30th ranked Brains pulled it off
Chicken King Stadium welcomed The Desiccated States an unranked team for both teams opening game of the tournament and unlike in years past Kohnhead actually started out with a 1 in the win column following a closer than expected 30-23 win. An original thought of the 30 points that were scored by the team is that Jackson Watford the quarterback who has been facing a decent amount of scrutiny heading into this tournament responded to those criticisms with a great game. That however is not really the case as evidenced by his lackluster stats going 17-32 for 192 yards with two touchdowns but three interceptions.
TDS as we will be referring to them from now on for ease on myself received the opening kickoff although there was some confusion regarding this as the opponent for some reason had thought the purpose of the coin toss was to recover the coin before the other team. That's how our five captains sent out there ended up on the ground way before the first whistle had been blown. Because of this the referees awarded us the coin toss victory and like normal we chose to defer hoping to get a quick stop.
The Ensign and Quarterback of their team Jarntyr Mornwulf looked decent on the first drive and they drove down the field rather quickly although most of that was due to a long pass interference committed by Percy Whitehead. He has struggled immensly with penalties in the past and this time after getting beat down the field all he could do was attack Ahnah Tuuluuwaq the intended receiver as opposed to attempting to make a play on the ball. This blatant pass interference was called as much and go Mornwulf and the TDS offense lots of yards. Ultimately a big 2 yard loss on 3rd and 1 from our 25 with Josef Travis getting his first ever national team tackle and tfl forced them into kicking a 40 yard field goal. Sundew Twinklefeather converted it from 40 and this one was right down the middle which might give you an indictation that she is a good kicker however that statement would not hold up over the course of the game.
Next up it would be the Jackson Watford led offense that would take the field but despite this being a passing offense for basically the entire first half we committed to running the ball and it proved pretty successful. The offense would slowly yet steadily march down the field with Deacon, Butler, and a touch of Whitworth being the recipe for the long drive. Watford would go 1-3 on the drive with his only completion being a 5 yard one on 3rd and 5th to Albie Terry getting the rook his first ever catch and to successfully move the chains.
The drive would end in a field goal but we knew we could have gotten more from it as from their 39, Marco Polisson beat Tom Rudd with a double move down the sideline and was open enough for an easy touchdown but Watford overthrew the diving Polisson and we had failed to get the six points. The Polisson-Rudd battle was one to watch as Tom Rudd would limit Polisson decently well although he got beat deep a couple of times.
Eventually Deacon's effort on 3rd and 4th in the redzone would be stopped well short and we would have to settle for a 30 yard field goal from Wanda Parkinson to tie the game at three. The second quarter would see our offense spend most of the time with the ball as TDS couldn't get anything going and our defense looked on fire early on. We would open up the playbook some more giving Watford some more throws while continuing to pound away on the ground.
Aside from the drive started by the forced fumble on Edgallin Hendra with the Lieutenant getting stripped by Espinosa and Haney dove on it to give us the ball at their 12 we really struggled to score in the redzone. A 10 yard strike to Billy James to put us at the 2 saw us score on the play after with Jackson Watford electing to pitch the ball on a triple option and Kaitlin Deacon found the endzone on a play taken out of the Kohnhead City playbook. A trend quickly emerged on our other drives of the second quarter, we would drive down the field using a mixture of runs and passes and convert some key first downs before reaching the redzone where the run game would stall and we couldn't gain anything. Then Wanda Parkinson would come in and kick short field goals (two in the quarter from 28 and 27) knowing that we could have and should have scored more.
A missed field goal from Twinklefeather and no other real scoring chances for TDS had us rolling and up 16-3 at halftime against an unranked team that had showed an inability to compete with us thus far. However we were hit with some unfortunate news at the break that top running back Kaitlin Deacon who had scored our only touchdown had been ruled out of the game with an elbow injury. We now know that the injury will likely not lose her any games but could limit her in the next couple of matches and she has been ruled questionable for our clash with 4th ranked Ko-oren.
Maybe it was the injury or maybe it was something Watford said to Sparks but whatever the reason was our offensive philosophy really changed in the second half and not for the better in my opinion. While the run heavy by committe approach had only netted us 16 points we had double the possession and looked like the better team. Watford despite his complaints had a very efficient half going 9-13 for 72 yards and no scores but he had no interceptions which was the big thing.
However Watford was not happy with the lack of throwing that he got in the first half and in the second half we opted for a more pass heavy approach. Official reports will talk about how the Deacon injury and Watford's good play in the first half as the reasons for this but I wonder how much say Jackson Watford has in play calling and this.
Whatever the reason is Watford threw the ball a lot more in the second half but was a lot less successful and efficient going 8-19 for 120 yards and of course two touchdowns and the three picks. Our first drive was definitely the most successful with Watford going 3-4 with 27 yards and his first touchdown of the day which was an 11 yard strike to Maggie Brown on a slant out of the slot.
Up 23-3 it looked as if Kohnhead would get that victory we were talking about earlier but things got worse, a lot worse. TDS found the end zone on their next drive but Twinklefeather who had already missed a field goal back in the second quarter hit the upright and had it doink in to make it a 23-10 game. Still a big lead and most of that drive came off of a 51 yard rush from Noah Mindiron showing it might have been an anomaly. They were scoring due to big plays and without those our defense had been completely dominant.
Unfortunately for us, Jackson Watford went into turnover mode and on our next drive he would throw one over the middle intended for Marco Polisson who beside buring Rudd deep before an overthrow on our first drive hadn't done much the entire game. The throw would be a poor floater into double coverage and Tom Rudd would get the first interception of the day and would return it five yards to give TDS some more hope as we looked vulnerable.
Fortunately our defense held and on 3rd and 7 at our 32, Mornwulf would return the favor given to TDS as Shane Holman would pick him off and give Kohnhead the ball back and returned it all the way to the 50. 2 plays later, Butler now serving as the primary back with the injury to Deacon would pick up 37 on a big run that would bring us into the redzone again. However Jackson Watford did not feel like scoring a touchdown and so he gave the ball back to the other team more specifically threw an interception to Xian Jie in the endzone to give them a touchback and the ball back.
This time our defense couldn't make up for it and TDS would march down the field converting one fourth down in the process and make it a one possession game with Neamfinh Zodaktec's 18 yard score. Unfortunately for them Twinklefeather who hit the upright and had it doink in last time was not as luck this time and once again hit the upright only to have it bounce out this time.
Just like that the 23-3 lead we had built up had turned into a 23-16 game with the offense looking absolutely horrific, and it wouldn't stop there. Watford would have his third straight drive with an interception although this time it wasn't on him as Polisson just had this one go right through his hands and into the hands of Rudd once again who picked up his second interception on the game.
TDS would drive decently far but lined up for a 51 yard field goal after stalling out. While odds are Twinklefeather might have missed, Espinosa was taking no chances and rushed in leaping like a warrior to block it and got a finger on it keeping it a 23-16 game. Then on the next drive Watford finally connected with Polisson deep who got a 43 yard touchdown to boost both of their stats and give us a 30-16 lead that we would not be losing even though TDS got another seven with Mornwulf taking it in for the score.
Overall this is a poor start to the tournament for Jackson Watford and while if Kohnhead want any hope at advancement or of upsetting Ko-oren after going 0-2 against them in World Bowl XL he and the team need to play better. Sparks has reiterated Watford is most definitely our quarterback no matter how poorly he played today and believes he still has that elite play in him. In other group news, a Saint Kanye loss to unranked South Newlandia has really opened up the ground and as it stands Kohnhead are in first place however a trip to 4th ranked Ko-oren looms for next weekend and we could be without our top running back although signs point to her being okay.
Injury Report
RB Kaitlan Deacon - Q Elbow
RG Michael Carter - DTD Illness
WR Dillan Mccarthy - D Hamstring
S Roman Jimenez - Q Head
