"LET'S GO SURGE! ZAP THOSE BIRDS! LET'S GO SURGE! ZAP THOSE BIRDS!"
If you think the St. Kanye Surge supporters' section during their World Bowl away games is noisy, it's nothing compared to what one would hear whenever the team plays at home at the Pencurve Electronics Field. That especially held true during their Week 7 rematch (not to mention "revenge match") against the Banija Serpent Eagles. From the moment both teams marched onto the turf, until the referee blew his final whistle, the fans kept chanting those six words, hoping to hype up not only each other, but also the Yeezie players themselves. Did it work though? Were they able to zap the Banjies and even their series at one win apiece? The answer to that, according to the scoreboard, is a resounding yes - Surge 52, Serpent Eagles 30.
The second meeting between the two top five sides started out a tight affair, just as the first one was, and in both instances, the home team would pull away after the break. Surge quarterback R.J. Linetti had another marvelous night, throwing 32 of 37 for 346 yards and three touchdowns (QBR 132.66) and rushing for another. "It sure feels good, not only to get back at an opponent like this, but beat them by more than they beat us as well," he said. "We took that loss against them as something to learn from, and it worked in our favor." Added head coach Jeff Delphine, "Despite us outsmarting them this time, I still hold a high level of respect for the entire Serpent Eagles organization. Any team who'll be facing them should be preparing as seriously as we did, in order to have a fighting chance." Coach Delphine was later seen shaking hands with his Serpent Eagle counterpart Thomas Hall at midfield.
1Q STK Dobler 29 pass from Linetti (Rasputin kick)
STK 7-0The Surge struck first, and struck quickly at that. Ensa Faye barely had time to react to Bruce Dobler catching the pass and outrunning him and the rest of the Banija defense on the way to the score.
1Q BNJ Orjea 13 pass from Chineze (Achaje kick)
Tie 7-7A false start penalty and a Simon Carver sack saw the Serpent Eagles start their first drive at their own five-yard line, but it didn't prove to be a problem as they advanced the ball with every play and capped off the drive with an Ikem Orjea TD.
1Q BNJ Sello 34 run (Achaje kick)
BNJ 14-7Later Kuenda Sello, who gave the Yeezies so much trouble in Week 2, would put the visitors ahead as he went past several guys in purple like a greased pig.
1Q STK field goal Rasputin 38
BNJ 14-10James Rasputin cut the Serpent Eagles' lead to four on what would be his only field goal attempt of the day.
2Q STK Dobler 15 pass from Linetti (Rasputin kick)
STK 17-14From midfield, Linetti almost took the ball all the way to the house, but he was tackled at Banija's fifteen-yard line. The Kanyeans would still score though, on a short pass to Dobler, his second end zone visit of the contest.
2Q BNJ Jelan 57 pass from Chineze (Achaje kick)
BNJ 21-17Wideout Chinweuba Jelan showed the same explosiveness he had shown five games ago as the lead seesawed back to the Serpent Eagles.
2Q STK Linetti 18 run (Rasputin kick)
STK 24-21Linetti made several tacklers miss as he took the ball in for the score, putting the home team back ahead with just ninety seconds to go in the first half.
2Q STK Kerrigan 66 return of blocked field goal (Rasputin kick)
STK 31-21This was, in all likelihood, the play that swung the momentum in the Surge's favor. The Serpent Eagles decided to make it a tied ballgame at the half, sending in Komani Achaje for the field goal attempt with ten seconds remaining. But Yeezie strong safety Axel Bartlett was able to knock down the kick into the hands of free safety Raheem Kerrigan, and Kerrigan would score, making it a ten-point St. Kanye lead at halftime.
3Q STK Malloy 72 punt return (Rasputin kick)
STK 38-21The visitors had the ball to start the second half, but they failed to capitalize as the blitz-happy Kanyean defense forced them into a three and out. Travis Galubasi punted to Greg Malloy, who ended up taking it all the way for the biggest lead of the game by either team so far.
3Q STK Moore 17 pass from Linetti (Rasputin kick)
STK 45-21On second and 2 at St. Kanye's 40, Chineze handed the ball to Sello, trusting him to gain those couple of yards to move the chains (and maybe even some more). Sello sprinted, going past the marker.... and into the path of Justin Varley. The collision caused Sello to drop to the ground and drop the ball, which was then picked up by Oliver Law and returned to Banija's 25. Two plays later, the Surge have more than doubled up on the Serpent Eagles' score.
3Q BNJ field goal Achaje 46
STK 45-24Lamin Kah would have been the recipient of a 60-yard bomb from Chineze, but upon review, he would be ruled out of bounds. Two more incompletions later, Banija would settle for three, but while it wouldn't get blocked this time, it was still a three-touchdown St. Kanye lead.
4Q BNJ Jelan 24 pass from Chineze (Pass failed)
STK 45-30Varley's hit on Sello looked serious initially, but the Banijan back would end up returning in the final frame. He ran the ball 43 yards to the Surge's 24, setting up a Chineze pass to Jelan to cut the deficit to fifteen. It would have been only thirteen, though, if Law hadn't deflected the two-point conversion intended also for Jelan.
4Q STK N. Jackson 3 run (Rasputin kick)
STK 52-30The Yeezies stayed on the ground throughout this drive in order to eat as much clock as possible. Noah Sherman ran the first 67 yards, Linetti the next ten, and Nico Jackson took care of the last three (as well as the six points).
With the revenge win, the Surge catch up to the Serpent Eagles at 5-2, with the former now in second place in Group C on head to head. The TJUN-ia Jags continue to top the group, pushing their perfect record to 7-0 on a 29-3 win over the New Gesem Pilgrims (1-6). The United States of Great America (3-4) continue to prove that they are the better of the group's two unranked sides, completing a sweep of Caleonia (0-7) with a 33-23 victory.
The World Bowl XLIII playoff picture is slowly taking shape, with the Jags being the only ones in the group assured of a trip to Delaclava as of now, and Caleonia being eliminated. Here's how things are looking in the other three groups:
- In Group A, Delaclava beat Pius Desurongcrandis anew in the Battle of the Phoenixes, 25-13. The hosts (7-0) book their postseason tickets; Pius D., at 1-6, is surprisingly still in the running, but cannot have a first round bye.
- In Group B, the Cordian Isles North Stars (3-4) send United Adaikes (0-7) packing their bags, defeating them 17-nil.
- In Group D, the South Newlandia Elephants (4-3) take the Chromatika Iron Legion's undefeated record away, beating them 31-20. Despite falling to 6-1, the Legion have qualified for the playoffs as well.
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| MD | Opponent | Rank | Uniform | Score | Record | Place |
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| 1 | New Gesem | 31 | Purple/Purple | W 53-26 | 1-0 | 1st |
| 2 | @Banija | 4 | White/Purple | L 27-38 | 1-1 | 3rd |
| 3 | USGA | UR | Purple/Black | W 36-16 | 2-1 | 3rd |
| 4 | @Caleonia | UR | White/White | W 27-0 | 3-1 | 3rd |
| | BREAK | | | | | |
| 5 | TJUN-ia | 13 | White/Purple | L 13-26 | 3-2 | 3rd |
| 6 | @New Gesem | 31 | White/White | W 48-14 | 4-2 | 3rd |
| 7 | Banija | 4 | Purple/Purple | W 52-30 | 5-2 | 2nd |
| | BREAK | | | | | |
| 8 | @USGA | UR | White/Purple | | | |
| 9 | Caleonia | UR | Purple/Black | | | |
| 10 | @TJUN-ia | 13 | Purple/Purple | | | |
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