NSCF 16 Everything Thread

[Frenline Delpha]

Cut-Off Time

Match Day 1

Zephyr Conference
Innusburg University (ALS) 14–0 University of Lisianski (LSI)
University of Aldhuld (ALS) 0–10 Thereisnogodistan Community College (NGD)
Zenderfield  College (MUS) 0–27 Ceneisis Naval Academy (AFT)

  Zephyr Conference                             Pld    W   L    PF   PA 
1 Ceneisis Naval Academy (AFT)                    1    1   0    27    0
2 Innusburg University (ALS)                      1    1   0    14    0
3 Thereisnogodistan Community College (NGD)       1    1   0    10    0
4 University of Aldhuld (ALS)                     1    0   1     0   10
  University of Lisianski (LSI)                   1    0   1     0   14
  Zenderfield  College (MUS)                      1    0   1     0   27

[Valanora]

Horizon Conference
Drawk Corps University (DRK) 13–27 Emmanuel Theological Seminary (RMT)
Ramusok Capital University (COS) 39–33 Harbor College (KAL)
Stoneshore College (COS) 13–3 University of Stratison (STC)

Mineral Conference
Mount Maris University (TRV) 12–7 The University of Westshire (WSU)
Castle Valle Rojas University (TRV) 32–7 Stoltz University (SSV)
Frontier State College (END) 6–16 University of Konigsberg (VOR)

[Kalalau]

Sequoia Conference
Karl Marx University (BAU) 7-3 University of Luvenstat (KCZ)
Calix City Institute of Archaeology (KBC) 7-0 Bokator University (BKR)
Coimbra University (LUS) 20-19 University of Jackson (KWP)

Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD 
1  (Calix City Institute of Archaeology)    1    1   0     7    0   +7
2  (Karl Marx University)                   1    1   0     7    3   +4
3  (Coimbra University)                     1    1   0    20   19   +1
4  (University of Jackson)                  1    0   1    19   20   −1
5  (University of Luvenstat)                1    0   1     3    7   −4
6  (Bokator University)                     1    0   1     0    7   −7

Woodlands Conference
Utica University (OSR) 30-16 Universite du Saguenay (QUE)
Universidad de Hermanas del Ampliamirada (AQL) 17-7 University of Iqaluit (QUE)
Palæontological-Centered Research (NTN) 7-14 Universite St. Croix (QUE)

Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD 
1 (Utica University)                             1    1   0    30   16  +14
2  (Universidad de Hermanas del Ampliamirada)    1    1   0    17    7  +10
3  (Universite St. Croix)                        1    1   0    14    7   +7
4  (Palæontological-Centered Research)           1    0   1     7   14   −7
5  (University of Iqaluit)                       1    0   1     7   17  −10
6  (Universite du Saguenay)                      1    0   1    16   30  −14

OOC: Clearly, my computer or browser does not like the preformat of the first line of table, and right now I cannot figure out how to fix that...my bad.

[Valorem]

Valorem-Meritus Dispatch
In an exciting start to the Fusilier season, the University of Konigsberg has defeated Frontier State College 16-6 on the road. Rookie QB Quinn Iseya accounted for one touchdown early in the second quarter, with a 32 yard pass to WR Heinrich Norbert, and for the second touchdown late in the third quarter passing to WR Jerry Stern for 5 yards on 3rd and goal. In addition, the punishing Fusilier defense forced a safety on Frontier State's drive just after Iseya's first touchdown. We at the Dispatch hope that this strong showing is a good omen for the rest of the year.

Next week, the Fusiliers will be traveling to the University of Westshire, a returning member of the Mineral Conference from last year. Iseya's performance should be enough to inspire the team, as he was as yet unproven going into the Frontier State matchup. It's always rough starting the season on the road, but Konigsberg seems to have shown that they can handle it.

[Ranoria]

Richardson University Governors: Week One, vs Flebeshar State University

As the two teams stood at the entrance to the field, the end of the hallway of the relatively high-quality locker rooms of Richardson University, Kevin Gerhart was still stretching. He'd worked up a good sweat during his warm ups, unlike some of the others. It was his opinion that if you weren't sweating by the end of pregame, then your muscles would be tight at the beginning of the game, and that could only lead to injuries and poor play. One of the worst things one could do to their body was jump-starting cold, stiff muscles and tendons with the rigors of one of the most harsh sports in the world, and he refused to let his team down by playing below his talent or by being carted off the field for who knows how long.

And so, the defensive captain of the team, turning to face his brothers, in their azure and silver uniforms, grunted, his stern gaze passed over each and every one of them, trying to identify who was suffering from nerves, who was too calm, and who was excited to get out there and play the greatest sport known to human kind, his booming voice echoing through the corridor. "We all know what we have to do. All of our assignments, our talents, our strengths, our weaknesses, our effort, our drills, all of it comes down to one thing." He smirked under his custom face mask, knowing that this was, perhaps, a bit cliche, but not entirely caring, "We have to win!"

Outside, a collective roar could be heard as the Governors charged out onto the field, jumping and sprinting down the field, shouting out their excitement to the home crowd. They were met by a wild cheering from the student body, the stadium bursting with the sound of their support, as the team assembled on the sideline, turning on their heels towards the Ranorian flag that waves proudly above, the national anthem playing in the background, helmets in their left hand, the other balled into a fist over their heart.

All of this could only last so long, though, of course, and the game started off rather abruptly for John Garrett with a hammer to one of the Governor's players on kickoff, starting off the first drive of their new season on the seven yard line.

As the young quarterback trotted out onto the field, he felt a light slap to the center of his backplate, looking back to see his old friend, Johnny Farmer, the tight end, giving him a nod, confident smile written on his face as he ran by the quarterback, lining up on the left of the offensive line in a linemen's stance, Joey Giordano, their senior tight end, doing the same on the other side. Garrett himself took his place under center, where he'd be taking most of his snaps, Soup Shorts, their four year starting running back, now, ready from behind him. Coach Richard Steinheil had already pre scripted a good ten plays for them to open the game up with, and they all knew their assignments.

"Set," Garrett looked to the defense, trying to diagnose any blitzers, and finding none, "Hut!" In an instant, the game had begun, Garrett faking a hand off that he'd worked a dozen times to Soup Shorts, pulling the ball back out while Giordano and Farmer ran a quick crossing route, which Flebeshar's linebackers immediately picked up on, with his recievers running medium deep routes. This, fortunately, played out exactly as they had planned, with Shorst being wide open on the flat route.

By the time he was moving upfield, Giordano had shed his man and was playing as a lead blocker for the team's mainstay running back, giving chip blocks to a good few defenders before Shorts was finally taken down at the twenty seven yard line, a collective cheer going throughout the stands as the rest of the players moved to catch up, the offense not giving the defense any time to rest up, lining up in the same formation, handing it off up the middle this time, Shorts powering his way through the c gap that had been left wide open by Bradley Johnson and Bark Seth for a seven yard gain. For the moment, at least, they had all the momentum, and the next snap came fast enough to catch the defense off guard, Shorts' next run taking him outside the tackle for five yards and a first down, out of bounds at the thirty nine.

This gave the defense time to sub out some of its players, Shorts coming out of the game as well, Melvin Strong taking his place at tailback, the next play was almost too obvious. Javier Gilmore and Anthony Foster, on the same side of the field, darted up and ran a crossing pattern, with Gilmore going out and up and Foster cutting straight in. Garret's pass, to the amazement of many doubters, was dead-on, hitting Gilmore in the chest as the receiver took off like a bolt, trying, and failing, to stiff arm the free safety and going down at the ten yard line in enemy territory.

The noise in the stadium reached a fever pitch at this point, their offense having obviously established itself early in the first quarter and taking its time getting lined up, the next play, at this point, being their red zone calls, and he knew exactly who should come open on this route.

He took the snap and first looked to Javier Gilmore, who was double covered, too tight for him to force the throw, then to Foster, who was in a similar predicament.

Then he saw the defensive end come screaming off the edge, arm high in the air after a successful rip move, and stepped up into the pocket, arm moving to where he knew his tight end would be almost before he saw him, the ball shooting off to cover the short distance between Garrett and Farmer in a flash. His eyes went wide, though as he was going down, having seen a linebacker's hands dart out to snatch his pass out of the air, right next to Farmer.

John Garrett, fist weakly hitting the ground as he caught his breath, mentally cursed himself for making such an early mistake that could have just cost them the game. But as he stood up, he noticed that the stands were still cheering, and saw Farmer doing some sort of attempt at a dance in the end zone.

How..?

His eyes drifted up the scoreboard, when a smirk took over his feature, watching the replay of the linebacker's fully extended arms grabbing the ball while Johnny wrapped a single arm around it and twisted his hips, jerking it right out of the defender's grip.

Looks like I got away with one, then.

Next thing he knew, Farmer was had pulled him into an embrace, laughing as he did, holding the ball above them, "You see that John!? You see that!? We're going to be pulling off plays like this for years! We're here now! We're here! I told you you could do it, didn't I!?"

---

Their defense came on to the field ready to show their dominance on both sides of the ball, Kevin Gerhart lining up in a 2i, over the inside eye of the right guard, watching his opposition's hips for any movement. His heavily muscled frame was twitching, back foot moving back and forth, planting and unplanting. If he was planting as the snap went, then he'd gain a half second. If not, then it didn't hurt him at all.

And, trying to establish the run on the first drive, Flebeshar tried an outside handoff, their back coming from one side, taking the ball, and darting to the other side. Unfortunately, that's not how it went down, the star defensive tackle blasting past the guard and center, bringing up both his arms and bringing his hips through in order to simply overpower their blocks, and proceeding to crash into the tailback for a loss, getting up with a roar, making himself seem just a little more terrifying than he already was.

On second and twelve, the defense lined up in a conservative look, hoping to allow three to five yards at most. When the ball came back, though, they were suprised when the running back, this time, faked taking the handoff and proceeded to come up and help block Gerhart, who threw him off, but it bought enough time for the gaurd to get a good block and the center to pick up Stills, their other interior defensive lineman.

Gerhart, grunting, pushed back his opposition, and his hands shot up to knock down the coming pass, but not fast enough, the ball connecting with a reciever who'd absolutely burnt Bryan Gray, their number two corner, and picked up a good twenty yards.

Obviously, this team wasn't going to just sit back and take it. The next few plays consisted of runs, some going backwards, and others picking up good yards, getting them another thirty yards closer to the end zone.

Davon Stovall watched the quarterback as the next ball was snapped, and stayed with his man, locking him up until they tried to run a man up in a streak past him, the quarterback throwing the ball just a bit prematurely. He went airborne, it was too high to pick off, unfortunately, but he was able to bat it down to the ground, bringing up fourth down and forcing a field goal.

---

The next drive started just as dominantly as the first, with the Governors pounding the run game up the middle, and doing it well, Soup not able to break off any massive runs, but also managing to maintain about five yards every time they handed off the ball. Once they came to a third and four, though, John Garrett got the ball again.

He looked downfield and saw that Gilmore was covered. In a desperate situation, he might have still thrown to the stud wideout, but for now, he looked to the senior receiver, Anthony Foster, who was well over six feet tall, and lobbed the ball up in the air so that it dropped right in to his outstretched arms, perhaps a bit overthrown, but the big-bodied receiver was able to haul it in just before going down, getting up and handing the ball to the referee, looking straight to the sideline for the next play call, knowing that any sort of celebration could very well hurt his team.

Another snap, another pass, this one landing in the hands of Javier, who managed to take it up to the twenty yard line, this time, before going down. As Garrett moved to get to the line of scrimmage, he smirked, starting to feel like this was his game to take, and took the snap again. But, once more, the defensive end, the same one as before, was descending upon the young quarterback.

He didn't make a risky throw this time, he didn't have time to, quickly identifying a hole in the offensive line and darting through it, avoiding the sack and taking off, tucking the ball with both hands to ensure its safety and blasting past the linebackers in man coverage before diving towards the end zone. He could practically taste the six points when the wind was knocked out of him, the strong safety's shoulder smashing into the vest that protected his rib cage, sending the farmboy to the ground at the one yard line, barely managing to hold on to the football.

Man, this sucks.

The announcer was saying something about #9's being slow to get up, but he couldn't focus on that, on all fours and feeling big, strong hands wrap around his waste and pull him up. He looked to see who his helper was and was surprised to see Bradley Johnson, who grunted, "The air's up here, John. We didn't do our job, protecting you. Good work, making the play."

He nodded weakly, scooping up his mouth guard from the grass field, wiping it off on his jersey and taking it back between his teeth, knowing that the plastic had likely saved them from being shattered, and lined up, once again, under center, handing the ball off to Melvin Strong , who placed a hand against Johnson's back as the massive guard threw the tackle opposite him into the turf, taking that opportunity to dart across the plane for a second touchdown, stretching their lead to ten, and, after the extra point, eleven.


The rest of the half rolled on inconsequentially, neither team able to score again, heading into the locker room with the Governors up 14-3.

"Hey, John," the new quarterback looked up at Johnny Farmer, who'd caught his first touchdown with the Governors, as well as his first with their old high school team, the Tillers, "I told you that you were going to light it up, didn't I?" He turned to their head coach, who had been reluctant to give their new star a scholarship at first, "Isn't that right, coach?"

The entire locker room laughed, knowing the story of how Garrett had come to play for the Governors in the first place, and how their coach hadn't believed in him.

At least, for now, it seemed that they'd found a diamond in the rough.

---

The third quarter didn't start as well as they'd wanted it to.

The Broncos managed to march the ball down rather methodically, scoring their second field goal of the game and, reducing the gap between the two teams while also running a good deal of time off of the clock.

The Governors, meanwhile, managed only seventeen yards on offense, handing the ball off to Soup Shorts, who broke off an eleven yard run, and then, in three more attempts, managed only a measly six, forcing them to let off a good punt that pinned the visitting Broncos inside the five. Not that it mattered.

This time, Flebeshar's quarterback let it rip from the first play on, not wanting their drive to stall out again, and moved the ball rapidly to the fifty, Kevin Gerhart obviously becoming increasingly frustrated with this shredding of their secondary. The next snap, this one from the shotgun, the tackle blasted through the line and drove into the quarterback, who had been attempting to scramble once he saw him coming through, and left in in the dirt seven yards back.

"Let's go!" Gerhart turned to his defense, pointing at the downed quarterback, stop them! Let's make a play here, make a play there, and get the ball back!" He stalked back to the new line of scrimmage that he himself had created, eyes on his men, and lined up once the playcall was given, hoping to repeat the previous play. This time, however, he was unable to bust through, but someone else was, Jarett Hauptmann, their outside linebacker, blitzing and knocking down the quarterback a split second too late, as he'd already found the hole in the coverage his blitzing had created, turning a second and seventeen into a third and three in a single play.

The next play was a run to the outside, to Tank Carradine. Despite his effectiveness as a player, Carradine was driven back two yards by the offensive tackle, and allowed another after he wrapped up the running back, just barely allowing them a first down.

Kevin Gerhart internally cursed, knowing that their vaunted defense was letting this game slip through their fingertips. At the same time, he knew that, although it was easy to fall into the trap of having made plays himself, he knew he had to make some more if he were truly going to contribute to beating this team.

Obviously, this wasn't going the way they wanted, the next play taking them to the fifteen yard line, first and ten in the red zone. But, as Flebeshar State's quarterback dropped back, Tank Carradine seemed determined to make up for his earlier blunder, bringing him down for a short loss on a sack. The stadium went wild as he made the play, hoping against hope that this offense, which seemed to have caught fire in the second half, wouldn't be able to punch the ball in.

Their prayers seemed answered on the next play, when, on a draw that seemed designed to fake out the defense, Gerhart again brought down the running back for a loss, continuing his domination of the offensive line. At third and now fourteen, another field goal seemed certain. Unfortunately, that quarterback managed to escape the pocket, Carlos Junior in hot pursuit, and throw a ball up in the air for his tight end, who went up and caught it, clutching the ball tight to his chest in preparation for when Ross Monarch slammed into him, trying, and failing to knock it loose at the two yard line.

The next play, they ran the ball up the middle, Gerhart notching his fifth tackle of the game on the stop, but it only took one more for Flebeshar State's running back to power through and find the end zone for a Broncos touchdown.

---

John Garrett, as he came on to the field late in the fourth quarter, was honestly surprised that the Broncos hadn't gone for two to tie the game. Perhaps they had faith that their defense could stop this Richardson team one more time and get their offense, which was on a roll, the ball back just one more time. But for now, he was up 14-13, and he intended to stretch that out just a bit more.

Javier Gilmore had managed to get them up to the thirty on his kick return, giving them only seventy yards to score a touchdown that would likely seal the deal at this point in the game, with only three minutes to go now.

The ball hit his hands, and again he let Shorts have it, their mainstay back powering his way through another tackle for a good seven yard gain, and an eight yarder on the next run, trying to show that he had some gas left in the tank at this point in the game. After a third, six yard, run, Melvin Strong subbed in, and the Governor's offense did something that they rarely did: They pitched the ball. Strong caught it without so much as looking at the ball and avoided the first linebacker, spinning around and churning his legs up-field for an eleven yard first down before coming off the field, seeing that their coach wanted them in a four wide set, shotgun formation.

This, now, was John Garrett's offense entirely, and he used it to its utmost, finding Javier Gilmore once, Anthony Foster twice, and Larry Foster and Dylan Tweed once each to move up the field for thirty five yards. On the next snap, he didn't see any open recievers, though, and scrambled, going to the outside and nearly finding the first down marker before running out of bounds.

It almost seemed to easy, now, with three yards to go, but as he stepped back, holding the ball up and prepared to put the nail in the coffin, a flag came out. The backup left tackle, Brandon Billing, who had allowed the two earlier pressures, had a false start, costing the team ten yards.

The next snap, he messed up again. This time, John Garrett didn't see the defensive end coming, and, just as he pulled back to throw, saw a blur out of the corner of his eye. The following hit sent him crumpling to the ground, ball still in his arms, but barely, the play setting them back eight yards, giving them twenty one to go on second down to score a touchdown.

Garrett stood up, shaking off the hit as Billing was pulled out and their coach put in another play call to get them back within striking distance.

Johnny Farmer looked back at him before the snap to make sure he was alright, receiving a curt nod before the snap came. This couldn't be a quick pass, they had to get close enough to the end zone that they could score on the next play. Garrett stepped up into the pocket before Johnny Farmer came out of his break, giving him a good two yards on the linebacker, and an easy throw for a quality quarterback, the tight end turning upfield to get a couple more yards before being brought down at the three, the clock now reading two minutes, thirty seconds, and counting.

Garrett let some time roll off the clock before taking the ball in his hands one last time, eyes turning first to Farmer to throw off the defense, and then snapping back to Gilmore, who had gotten behind the corner. It wasn't a hard pass, straight into the air, and by the time it got there, Gilmore was being taken down, but the defender hadn't been able to get a hand on it or strip it, and that meant that the Governor's had managed their third touchdown of the game.

The crowd let up yet another cheer as they went up by eight, now, with less than two minutes left in the game, they had almost certainly taken their home opener, but it was to early to celebrate just yet.

The next drive, Garrett sat next to Farmer, nervously drumming his foot against the grass as they waited in silence, watching their defense give up play after play after play. Flebeshar State's offense seemed unstoppable, now, and their defense looked completely gassed out. They continued to march down on them, yard after yard after yard, until they ended up with a third and seven.

The pass that followed really wasn't a mistake. He was going to a receiver who'd been good all game, but this time, there was a different corner on him. Garrett watched, in disbelief from the sidelines, with twenty seconds to go, as Davon Stovall went vertical, over their receiver, his hands coming down and scooping the ball before they could touch the man's waiting arms.

Richardson's student body went berserk in response, continuing well on through the kneel down that sealed the win for them.

They were 1-0. For a while, for tonight, that was all that mattered.

[The Redvale]

A Tale Of Two Sisters

Chapter Two: A Devious Plot

“Gods, I just hate that girl. I hate her face, I hate her hair, I hate the way she throws, I hate the fact that she came in from another country and took the job that I'd worked for three years to earn, and I hate it that the fans actually gave me hell last season but that they like her as soon as she shows up,” said Amalie Russey, speaking quietly to sophomore halfback Dante White and freshman wide receiver Devante Hayward. She was, of course, referring to Cosumarite quarterback Peri Fothergill, who had been able to come in during training camp and win the starting job over the more famous and established Russey, who had started all of last season.

Amalie was tough and she had run the veer system decently, but now that Paco Reyes was the offensive coordinator and Michael Cho was the head coach, things were changing scheme wise. The hard running veer system of the past had been turned into a style of play that was closer to the pro style system that saw runs used to set up the pass, and saw the offense focus on balance. The man behind the veer wasn't even here now, meaning that a drift away from that was natural, but Amalie didn't know that it would hit her this hard. “Sometimes I wish coach Allan had never left,” she added, watching Peri making warm up throws on the sideline as the Castle defense prepared to get the ball back after a long opposing drive before halftime. “I wish Arielle had never left…”

“For what it's worth, I still prefer the way that you throw the ball,” said Devante, reaffirming to her that she was his favorite. He'd been the number two receiver prospect coming out of high school in Markham, and he had quickly risen to become the number two man in the Castle receiver rotation. His support was valuable, even if he wasn't the one picking the lineup, and if there was a big conflict between players like there had been last season, Amalie would want him to be on her side. “She throws more accurate, but she doesn't have the arm power that you inherited from your dad, or the crazy velocity that you have. She's going to get exposed by a more athletic defense, and then you'll get your chance.”

There was a general sense of hostility towards the outsider from some of the players towards Peri, Devante being one of the ones who wasn't so accepting of a foreigner coming in and taking the starting QB job as a freshman who hadn't played against great competition in high school. Strangely enough, however, some other players seemed attracted towards her because of that, they viewed her as the exotic quarterback that would bring her experience from a country that had many more wins on the international sporting scene. She was polarizing to both the players and the fans, but she seemed unaware of it as she led their offense effectively in the first game. Well, in the first half of the first game at least.

“Dante, should I be a good person this week or nah? Because… I'm on the verge of taking some extracurricular measures to get this job back.”

“I don't think that's needed,” said Dante, raising an eyebrow. “Like Devante said, we’ll have to see if she can survive playing against a more athletic defense. Let's see what happens when she has to play Mount Maris next week. Our defense might be the most athletic in the conference and the competition, but it's not like we can tee off at her on practice and bring our best when we're scrimmaging. What were you planning, anyway?”

“I'm thinking of finding Marquis and slipping him some cash in exchange for him taking a cheap shot at her in practice,” admitted Amalie, her voice lowering even more as she glanced back at her rival quarterback. She was referring to Marquis Arana, the hard hitting linebacker that was now the leader of the front seven, and the defense as a whole. “If he caught her when a play was dead, I'm convinced he could end her season in a single hit. It's just a matter of making sure he's not going to rat me out if there's heat on him for doing it.”

“Why would he have something against Peri? It's not like he plays on offense-”

“But he does remember what things were like before she showed up, probably better than most of us do. I know that he supports me as the starting quarterback over an outsider who doesn't know this country or school, and I know that he's not happy with the coaching change.”

“Is anyone happy with the coaching change? I don't know, Ami, this all reeks of being a bad idea. The kind of thing that sounds good on paper but has a lot of things that can go wrong. It's the kind of thing that would have bad effects if you were caught, and there's a lot of ways that it could happen. All for something that might work or might not, because she could shake off the hit and then you've wasted your money and still put yourself at risk for this.”

There was silence, and the small group of players stood and watched as RJ Rose shot the gap and sacked the Stoltz quarterback on third down with three minutes left in the first half. The crowd jumped to their feet and their cheer echoed around the cavernous Bay Coliseum, the state of the art new stadium built for the Red Valley campus that had somehow retained some of the working class grit of older stadiums, and the bench went wild as Rose stood over the downed quarterback and stared him down before running back to the sideline. The ball was punted and the punt was returned by Jay Skov to the Castle thirty five yard line, and then Peri and the offense started running out to work on getting some more points on the board before halftime. They held a 14-7 lead at this point, but against much worse competition, that wasn't necessarily satisfying.

“Amalie, can you come help call some of these plays like we did in practice?” asked the young offensive coordinator, Paco Reyes. He'd installed some of the same plays that his father, Diogo, had traditionally run, and it was helping the passing game so far. They were hitting their opponents on many quick slanting passes that didn't go for too long but were hard to cover, and very once and awhile, they'd mix it up by going deep on play action. And Peri had been great, with the short passing game being a perfect fit for her because of her excellent accuracy and her ability to get the ball out fast.

But something about being the one on the sideline who had to help call the plays through hand signals and sign waving was disappointing to Amalie, and not just disappointing but absolutely infuriating. She was supposed to be the one out there playing, not the one that was on the sideline watching and relegating herself to just assisting the staff. She felt like doing that was like giving up and admitting that she wouldn't start, and she couldn't bring herself to do it. “I'm not going to be able to help you, coach. I think I'm going to head in early, I don't feel all that great,” she said, and then she turned and started towards the tunnel to go to the locker room.

She kept her head down, avoiding looking into the eyes of her teammates or the staff or anyone in the stands, and she especially looked down to avoid anyone being able to see that she was having a hard time holding back tears. Somewhere, it had all gone wrong for her. But at what point in her career had she experienced her crash? If she knew the answer, she probably wouldn't be in this position.

~

While one Russey sister was lamenting her career and wondering where things had gone wrong, the other was happy to be in the same position: backup quarterback who was roaming the sidelines and helping the staff run the offense that was on the field. Arielle Russey had broken her leg in garbage time of a blowout game last season, and she didn't think that her transfer to Mount Maris and her switch from cornerback to quarterback would work because of that. But legendary former coach and current advisor Diogo Reyes had been able to pull strings to convince the new staff to go ahead with the transfer anyway, and Drago Morena had decided to stay for his fifth year instead of going pro and leaving the Friars with no quarterback.

The move made Morena a campus legend, especially after he led them to both domestic titles before their season in the Mineral Conference had begun, and the fans had begun speculating about how well Arielle was doing with her rehab process and if she was going to be able to play the difficult position effectively last season. But for now, she was relegated to being the third string quarterback who was only just now getting back to practicing in full pads and playing contact football. Still, it wasn't a bad position to be in after she had broken her leg before, because the injury made the position switch much more complicated.

Now, she was standing on the sideline with the offensive staff members and helping to get the plays to the offense for what was turning into a real slugfest. They were playing at home at the massive Arena of Light, but they were still down 6-7 to Westshire after their two made field goals hadn't been enough to match the touchdown that their opponents had scored. The game was being played in the tropical rains that sometimes hit Maris, but the stadium was still packed despite the downpour. And the fans still were demanding that their team played like the conference champions that they were, even as the rain slowed down their quick passing attack by wetting the ball and making it harder for their receivers to catch.

With the rivalry matchup versus Castle looming large on the horizon, the margin for error was close to zero. The message from the fans was clear: mess up here, and you'd be in a position to give up your conference title two weeks into the season. Last time, they'd had to fight down to the last day to win the conference because of losing early to Castle. They didn't want that to happen again, but right now, the most pressing concern wasn't even the team they'd face next week.

Drago looked to the sideline for the next play, and Arielle flashed a series of hand signals that indicated that they'd be staying in the pistol formation and going for big yardage with an outside run that would allow Inko Sheffield to show how explosive he was coming off of the edge. Drago nodded, and called out the play to the team as they huddled quickly, and he made sure that they broke their huddle quick enough that their opponents couldn't sub. “Down!” Drago screamed, after pointing out which player was acting as the middle linebacker so the offensive line could shift into position to make the correct blocks. “Set! Eight hundred blue, eight hundred blue! Ready…”

He was using a long and drawn out snap count to try to draw the defense offside, that they were holding firm as the rain continued to pour down and turn the dirt into mud with four minutes left in the game. “Go!” he shouted finally, as the ball was snapped to him and he stepped back and faked a throw over the top before handing it off to Inko Sheffield, who immediately planted his right foot and exploded off of it, hopping to the outside around left tackle Rui Castille. He was behind Castille, but when the hulking tackle tilted his helmet to the left to indicate that the outside lane was the right one, Inko sped up and put on speed as he went around him.

Now, he was in the open field and the outside linebacker was the biggest threat to make the tackle, but he made the mistake of going low and allowing Inko to use his infamous side step to cut around him in the same way that he had cut around Castille. He now had the secondary to beat, but receiver Eli Desjardins had held up the corner and the strong safety had overcommitted to stopping a run to the other side and crept too far into the box before the play. Now, he was in no position to stop Inko, and the free safety had to run across the field to try to meet the halfback before he hit the goal line. He would meet him, but he'd be run over and the Mount Maris back would easily cross the goal line while stiff arming the safety and keeping him at distance.

“Touchdown, Friars! Scored by number three, Inko Sheffield!” the stadium announcer said, and the night sky was lit up with small fireworks as the crowd celebrated and breathed a collective sigh of relief. They would go for two but the run would fail, but that was fine. They had the lead now, and at least for now, the pressure was off of head coach Francis Allan if they could hold on for the final minutes. And as Arielle stood here on the sideline and watched the biggest stadium in the country rise up at once, she realized just how big this team was for the locals and just how important they were nationally. She'd always known it, but watching this game live from the sideline had really showed her… And that was what told her that she'd made the right choice in following her coach to the big school up north.

[Abanhfleft]

I’ve been meaning to do this story for a long, long time now but I’ve only found my motivation and stories right now. So, this was a long time coming, but it’s finally come in the end. And now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the story of Kelly Profit’s last year in college.

Kelly, Part One

128 Fenwick Street
Barangay Penalosa
Thereisnogodabad, Fhulghamous Peninsula

“As we enter the last two minutes of the Championship Bowl, the Wanda Island Wizards and the Garufaloe Sidewinders are still level at 28 points apiece. Wanda Island is on 3rd and 17 and unless Harrison Aumann can make something happen here, the Wizards will have to give up possession to the Sidewinders, a scenario which the Wizards will not want to contemplate because the Sidewinders have led the FNLAF in terms of clutch yardage. If Garufaloe gets possession in these last two minutes then it is almost certain that they will score, and Wanda Island will not want that to happen if they want to achieve their historic three-peat in the Championship Bowl.”

“Come on, Harry boy,” I said to the television. “You can do this. You’ve been on 3rd and 17 in the last two minutes before. Don’t just fall back on your playbook, son; give your own twist to the plays if you have to. You can do it.”

“And now the teams are back on the line. Harrison Aumann is making his calls, marshaling his troops around. Here comes the snap, and Harrison Aumann looks to try to sneak in with the line of scrimmage. Wait a minute—he’s handed it to Emerson White! Where did White come from? And now Emerson White’s away! He’s got the first down and more. The Sidewinders are falling over themselves trying to catch Emerson White! He could go all the way! And he does! Touchdown, Wanda Island! And the Wanda Island Wizards now have a six-point advantage over the Garufaloe Sidewinders in the last two minutes of the 2021 Championship Bowl, and it’s all thanks to Harrison Aumann’s genius and trickery and Emerson White’s lightning-quick feet!”

The sound I made when I cried out to celebrate Wanda Island’s touchdown was loud enough to wake the dead. It was certainly loud enough to wake up my Grandpa Razzy who was napping in the couch beside mine in the family’s living room, where I was watching the Championship Bowl live on our HDTV flat-screen. “Don’t play football in the house, kids; you’re going to break my stuff,” Grandpa Razzy said before he immediately dozed off again.

“Sweet dreams, Gramps,” I said to Grandpa Razzy before I sat back down on my seat and said to the TV, “All right, Harry boy, hold on to this lead and defend it with your lives if you have to. Just get the point and defend like hell against Garufaloe and you’ve got this championship under your belt as well.”

“There appears to be either a discussion or an argument going on in the Wanda Island sidelines. I’m not much of a lip-reader myself but I can tell you that it looks like Harrison Aumann and his coach are having a talk or a disagreement over something involving their next play. Anyway, the teams are now back on the field and it looks as if the kicker is not coming on. I think the Wizards are going for two points instead of just one!”

“Okay, Harry, I think I understand why you’re going for the deuce,” I said. “You want to make sure that the Sidewinders can’t come back after this, what with you guys leading them by eight points, but if you mess this up then you’ve only got a six-point lead over them and they can still win this thing. But I believe in you, Harry. I know you can do it! Win that three-peat!”

“Harrison Aumann is marshaling his backs around once again. You just know that whenever he does that, he’s got something good cooking in his mind. Here’s the snap, and here comes Emerson White running down the line as Aumann hands him the ball… no, wait! It’s a feint! Harrison Aumann still has the ball and now he’s running down the left side where he’s in acres of space and now he’s running for the end zone! He shrugs off one tackle! Two tackles! Three! And he’s over the line! The two points play is successful! Wanda Island now leads Garufaloe 36 to 28! Garufaloe will now have to call upon their clutch players if they want to have a shot of sending this game to overtime! What a smart and sneaky move by Harrison Aumann!”

But despite their best efforts, the Garufaloe Sidewinders were unable to find a way through Wanda Island’s defense, and the Wanda Island Wizards won their third consecutive FNLAF (that’s the Fleftic National League of American Football) Championship Bowl. It was a historic achievement not only for the Wizards as a team but for Wanda Island in terms of sports, as they had always been overshadowed by the two big shots in the Capital Islands, Riuwiee and Releinthi, since time immemorial. Harrison Aumann was named the Championship Bowl MVP also for the third consecutive time, officially making him the best product of the American football program of tiny Thereisnogodistan Community College. Makes it kind of hard for anyone else to live up to his legacy, doesn’t it?

Hang on a minute. Have I introduced myself to you yet? Forgive my rudeness. My name is Kelly Profit. Oh, so you want to know my full name? Well, all right, if you must. It’s Kelly Erasma Ramoncita Profit. I got my two middle names from my grandparents Erasmus Aumann (you’ve already met him, he’s Grandpa Razzy) and Ramoncito Proffetta (the family changed their name to Profit when they immigrated to Abanhfleft but Lolo Chito stubbornly holds on to his name in its original form), but honestly, though, things would be much easier if you just called me Kelly. At least I know that I’m the only Kelly in the Aumann and Profit families.

And I’m just going to say this for the record (although I think you’ve already pieced this together), but yes, Harrison Aumann is my cousin. He was the star quarterback of Thereisnogodistan Community College in his day and I’m now the star QB of TCC in my day. But hang on now, Kelly, I know you’re saying. Aren’t you a woman? How in the world are you the star quarterback of an NSCF-caliber college? Well, the answer’s simple: TCC is a small college with a small athletics program, and when Cousin Harry graduated and got drafted by the Wanda Island Wizards, the coach, Francois-Michel Nkong’o, immediately started searching for a new quarterback for the college. A lot of guys attended the auditions but none of them were really up to the coach’s standard (Harrison did set the bar a little high, after all). I didn’t even want to get involved but my buddy Rey Kang (who’s a cornerback or a linebacker for the team now, I think) managed to convince me to give it a shot. Harry was there as well since he was still packing his bags for his trip to Wanda Island and I think he put in a good word for me to the coach, and that’s how a girl like me became the starting quarterback of an NSCF-caliber college. It also helps that I’m also the only quarterback on the team. Like I said, TCC is a small college so we’ve got only a small team which is why we’ve all been praying to the injury gods not to let any of us get hurt because finding a replacement would take a very, very long time.

I have to admit though that I’m a pretty good quarterback myself. You could say that it runs in the family. Grandpa Razzy, er, Erasmus Aumann was the star quarterback of the University of Santa Magdalena in his college days and really made a name for himself with the Riuwiee Knights when he went pro, and Lolo Chito, er, Ramoncito Proffetta was quite the speedy running back for Orange University and the Porcusces Pistoleros. Both Cousin Harry and I got Grandpa Razzy’s sharp eyes and Lolo Chito’s lightning-quick feet and Harry uses both to his full advantage by becoming an all-around quarterback who can both pass and rush the ball whenever it was needed.

With such an impressive footballing pedigree, you would think that I would be an immediate shoo-in for any team I chose, right?

Wrong!

You see, the problem with being a girl who plays American football in Abanhfleft is that there’s little if any chance of playing for a team after I graduate from TCC, which I’m about to do this year. Also, no one takes girl American footballers seriously here. Sure, there’s the Bikini League, but as you can tell from its name, it’s just a way for sexually frustrated nerds and prepubescent kids to release their tensions, so to speak. I know some of the girls who’ve gone on to play in the Bikini League, and while they like playing in it, I know that I won’t because I know that it’s just another tool of exploitation of the patriarchal society. I don’t mean to go all feminist on you there, but I have my standards, but I prefer to play football without having to show my skin to slobbering perverts.

And that’s why I’ve chosen to finally tell you my story. But to understand my reasons for doing so, we’ll have to go back to World Bowl XXIX. Or was it World Bowl XXVIII? I can’t remember, to tell the truth. What I do remember is that it was the World Bowl where Abanhfleft finally made their grand return to the World Bowl after they voluntarily refused to participate in the last edition after the tragedy that was the crash of Air Abanhfleft Flight 5116, which claimed the lives of 103 people, among them 25 members of the Abanhfleft national American football team. It was also the World Bowl where tiny little Thereisnogodistan Community College made it all the way to the final and almost won it all except for Schottia spoiling the party and actually winning the damn thing. Still, at the moment when Thereisnogodistan stepped onto that frozen field in Quebec to face off against Schottia in the final, I felt like a million bucks, like I was the queen of the world and on top of it as well. Sure, when Schottia won the World Bowl I lost some of the good vibes I felt that night, but ultimately I still look back at that World Bowl fondly as the time that Thereisnogodistan finally became a member of the American football elite. So when the time came to get back to reality and compete in the NSCF, I kind of lost my perspective on the whole thing, the competitive fire that kept me committed to the cause. I had seen the Schottian players and how their small and fledgling league had managed to develop a core of players both male and female who were good enough to win a World Bowl. The same really couldn’t really be said about Abanhfleft, though. Sure, there’s the Bikini League, but I already told you before that it’s more for the titillation of the masses rather than actually trying to promote the sport among the women of Abanhfleft so thank you, but no thank you. I want to play for a team because I’m a good player, not because I look good in lingerie.

Let’s face it, there’s no chance of that happening in Abanhfleft anytime soon. There is a proper women’s American football league in Abanhfleft, or at least there used to be when I was convinced to join the Atheists of Thereisnogodistan Community College but now the whole league’s folded, and most of the girls who used to play for that league either went abroad to search for other opportunities or just said “Fuck it” and went to the Bikini League because it’s still a steady paycheck even though you have to sometimes shake what your mama gave you to earn said paycheck. I don’t think I can keep doing that week in and week out, though, so the only real choice I have is to either go abroad to play for a team that fields girls along with boys or forget about American football altogether and just continue being a psychologist (that’s the degree I’m taking in TCC, by the way). And therein lies my dilemma. I don’t want to go abroad just yet because I’m a freaking spoiled brat and I don’t think I can yet handle living away from my family (I’m still living in my Grandpa Razzy’s place, for crying out loud!), and at the same time, I don’t want to be yet another doctor or psychologist in the national healthcare system. I want to make a name for myself; I just don’t know how to do it.

But I do know that I’m going to make my name in American football whatever happens. That I am sure of, I’m telling you. But I just don’t know how to do this. That, as they say, is another story for another day.

[The Redvale]

The Fighting Gaels

Saga I: Revival

Chapter Two

Jani Vargas felt like he was fighting for his life. Left tackle Clas MacVerish had taken a bad first step and had been beat to the inside by an over aggressive TJ Muir, freakishly athletic defensive tackle Kyle Strom was collapsing the block that was set by the center and the right guard, and inside linebacker Hunter Christie smelled the metaphorical blood in the water and dropped out of his coverage zone to run downhill and shoot the gap between the right guard and right tackle. Gale Rozier was blanketed by Jorgen Daugaard out wide, and Lukas Allen was playing in the slot and having trouble finding open space between the defensive zones, and Quebecois freshman Felix Grenier-Lussier hadn't been able to get any release whatsoever. Muir nearly caught Jani and brought him down with a two handed sack, but Jani’s reflexes were quick enough to start spinning out of it, and then he hopped to the side and allowed the larger defensive end to fall flat in his effort to dive towards him.

Still, Hunter Christie was coming in like a missile, and Jani realized that he would only have one, maybe two, seconds to get rid of the ball without getting flattened. As the line broke down further and the defenders charged in, Jani slung the ball deep to aim for Ivan Shaw on the post route, just as he was slammed into by Christie and taken all the way to the ground. That was a tackle that definitely hurt more than others, he thought as he slammed down back first and felt the deceptively strong linebacker landing on him. He couldn't help but groan after that, though he was distracted from the feeling of being tackled by the cheers from the sidelines. As he climbed out from under Hunter, he looked downfield to find that he'd missed the play.

“Great job, Jani! Hang on in the pocket like that on every big hit and you'll make the pros in no time,” said Abel Russey, the new offensive coordinator of the team and the former Janford Bats quarterback that had two daughters playing in Redvale. As the top QB in his team’s history, and one of the all time passing leaders in RCAA history, he had a pretty good eye for talent at that position. If he was giving praise, it was probably deserved. “If you're going to be smaller than other quarterbacks in similar systems, you're going to need to be able to work well under pressure and take hits. So far, you've done both things well.”

“Did I throw a touchdown?” asked Jani, shrugging as he wondered what the result of the play had been. He'd seen the ball heading towards Shaw, but he hadn't seen if it had been caught. And all of the cheers had happened while he was still flat on his back, unable to see anything happening downfield. “I wouldn't know, I was seeing stars during everything that happened after the throw.”

“Not just a touchdown, a forty yard one that you put in between the OLB and the strong safety. Don't worry, our cameras caught it, you'll see it on tape later today,” said head coach Will Kitts, clapping as the special teams unit started to come out to practice the extra point. “You know, I think I've seen enough today. We were going to run a few more sets of drills, but it looks like we don't need to. I have my decision on the quarterback battle in mind, and I don't think I need to see any more practice throws to confirm that.”

“Not fair, coach!” complained last season’s starting quarterback, sophomore Jenson Marek. “I didn't get enough reps to prove myself, how am I supposed to win the starting job if you give me half the first team reps that you gave Jani? Seriously, of course he's going to look better if you always let him play with the starting offense, and I get the second stringers.”

“You came in as the starter, but you didn't impress as much, even when you did have the first team offense playing with you,” remarked Will, nodding towards his sophomore QB in acknowledgement. “Work on your accuracy, and you'll see your first team reps go up. But we can't waste time by putting someone that can't hit an open target with the starters. I'm saying this with all due respect, Jenson, but we aren't going to hand you the job despite obvious problems because you started last season.”

“Maybe I would still be starting if the offensive gameplan didn't completely change-”

“Maybe you would, but the truth is that it did, and you didn't adapt. Jani did adapt to playing here, as we've seen in just about every training camp session so far. Prove me wrong about this, and you'll be right back in the race to be our starter. Again, it's not personal, it's just making the best decision for our team right now and choosing the players that are the best fit for our system.”

“Fuck this system,” said Jenson, ripping his helmet off and throwing it to the ground as he walked off for the end of practice. “Why don't we stick with the system that we won titles with? Actual titles, not high preseason rankings and media hype-”

“Because you saw what happened when we tried to keep using that system without the coach that invented it,” Gale shouted towards him as he walked away. “Unless you want to see two more A&M championships, I suggest you adapt like the rest of the offense has been doing! You played through the nightmare that was last season, I'm not sure how you can actually ask to go back to that. What's the point of being a starter on a losing team, anyway?”

“We lost because coach Wright needed more time to adapt to being in charge, not because the system didn't work-”

“No, we lost because Tywin Wright was a fraud that didn't know football. The fact that he started you at quarterback despite you not being able to hit a barn door from twenty yards out shows that,” Gale replied back, causing some murmurs to spread between the players that were on the sidelines and field. “You had better receivers than we have now and you still couldn't get the damn ball to them. Find a single player that was here last year that disagrees with those statements, I dare you… But here's a hint. You won't be able to.”

“That's enough, everyone,” said Will, blowing his whistle to get the attention of the players. “Practice is done for the day, there's no need to keep arguing over it. Whatever happens at the quarterback position will happen, but you won't be able to change it by complaining publicly and bringing up the last coach’s regime. Don't think of this as the same program that Wright ran, because it isn't, and as much as we would like it to be, it isn't Kieran Shaughnessy’s program anymore either. If you don't agree with the system being put into place here, Tabor A&M is waiting across town for you.”

“Well, I guess that makes me the starter,” Jani said to a few of the receivers, as they picked up their gear and started towards the practice facility locker room. “I didn't expect that, to be honest. Not after I came in here lighter than the others and without knowledge of the system. I'm not complaining at all, though… I just don't want to blow it on the big stage because I'm not ready.”

~

“Hey, Jani! Remember how a few days ago, you came to me and told me how you weren't fitting in and how you wanted to know where you could make friends? Well, I know this place where some of the other players gather sometimes, and there's going to be a party there tonight,” said Gale, running after Jani as the latter headed to the parking lot after practice. Now that they were deep into training camp, Jani was definitely successful on the field. But off of it was another story entirely.

“Where would this place be?” Jani asked, stopping and turning towards Gale instead of following Lukas Allen and his group that was headed back to the dorms. “Some club or someone's house?”

“Eh, not quite. We call it the Warehouse, it’s an abandoned storehouse that's mostly not used anymore, and some of the local students started renovating it and turned it into a place that can be used as a lounge or for parties. There's a bar there, too, and sometimes we go there to celebrate stuff like wins,” stated Gale. “There's three floors, and so far, the first floor is completely redone along with about seventy five percent of floor two. Like I said, there's a party there tonight, to celebrate football season being so close, and all the athletes are going to be there. You might be able to get yourself a girlfriend, too, or at least come home with someone.”

“I've never been the best at the romance thing,” shrugged Jani. “I do want to make friends, though. I feel like even though I've been here for weeks, I don't really know anyone. I'm always either studying or training, or hitting the gym in my spare time to try to get more muscle before the season starts-”

“Bro, if you're too busy with school to do anything, you're doing it wrong. Let me be more specific. If you're doing all of it yourself, you're one hundred percent doing it wrong. What did I tell you about this place? We’re all taken care of. Let's swing by the Warehouse early, and I'll try to set you up with someone to do it for you. What are you studying, again?”

“Political science, and economics… I figured those would help me make sense of what the hell is going on in my own country,” said Jani. “But I never realized how little free time I would have, with that and with football and with working out outside of practice. School was easier back in Constancia, the standards were lower and being good over here would be like being excellent back there. Especially in Salvador, where there's a lot of slums that consider just graduating to be a good performance in high school. I still feel like I learned a decent amount of stuff from going to school there, but I wasn't ready for this place at all.”

“Frontier State just has high standards because it's the only big traditional school in this area. A&M is the newer land grant school, but other than them, there's no prestigious school in Tabor. And Tabor isn't close to anywhere else, so you really have to go out of town if you want to go to school out of the metro area. Because of that, we've gotten a lot of students to come her locally and gotten really big and more and more prestigious because of that,” said Gale. “When you can draw students from the area’s biggest city like we can, you become a prestigious school real quick.”

“Got it. So you're saying that I picked a place with high standards, so I'm never going to have free time? Am I going to have to change my class schedules around or something-”

“Or you can take a shortcut from one of my friends, and study when you feel like it. The perks of being an athlete. And hey, you're a quarterback, meaning you're going to get bumped up the priority list. Some of the volleyball players, softball players, track guys, they were complaining about how they weren't high up enough on the priority list with the girl that organizes this stuff. You don't have to worry about that at all. The quarterback is usually first. I mean, the last guy we had before Jenson, I believe he didn't even do any of his work. That's how taken care of the QB is here,” Gale chuckled, climbing into his sedan and waving Jani towards him.

“I'd like to be able to say that I'm coming out of school having learned something, but I guess football is my main priority anyway-”

“Great, then let’s go for a ride,” Gale nodded, telling Jani to get into the passenger side. “I'm going to make a proper superstar out of you yet, somebody that's going to be fit to be the QB for years to come. That includes doing well on and off of the field, just so you know. They won't take you seriously here as a quarterback if you aren't popular off of the field, and I don't really want to see Jenson take the job back from you. You can already tell by now that I think he's a prick-”

“Yeah, I was able to tell that from the few interactions I've seen between you two. I'm sure there's a story about that, but I should probably wait until later to ask about that. I still don't know what I think about someone else doing my assignments, but if that's what it takes to get better at being a quarterback, so be it. I only have one goal here, after all.”

~

They pulled up at the Warehouse, and it was less assuming than Gale made it sound. But as they climbed out of the car, the more experienced receiver saw Jani’s expression and chuckled. “This place doesn't show the effects of the renovation on the outside yet, but the inside is better looking. We don't want it to look too good because than too many outsiders are going to get interested. We have kind of an insider thing going, because the only people who know that it isn't a shithole inside are the ones that have already been inside,” he explained, as they walked down the pathway leading to the Warehouse and then up to the entrance.

There wasn't a real door, but rather a giant sliding wall that moved horizontally on rails and could be opened by someone with enough strength. Right now, the wall was already opened up, and the two players could see inside the main room before they even got inside. “You're right when you say it looks better on the inside,” Jani stated, stepping inside behind Gale and taking a look around at the remodeled flooring, walls, and at the furniture that had been set up in certain places.

“Heh, this is what it looks like on a quiet day. A lot of the usuals are busy right now, so you're not seeing everyone that usually comes down here. Night time when there aren't games is the best time to come. You get the football guys and also a few other teams like the basketball ones and the hockey ones. Plus some normal students, like the ones that do the stuff we’re here for.”

“Are those students here right now, or are they busy?”

“Ah… Let me see,” Gale said, unsure after taking a look around. He moved across the giant room to the corner where there was a desk set up with some papers, and he looked to the girl that was sitting behind the desk. She had been sleeping, but he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her until she woke up, slightly startled. She was pretty much the most stereotypical Frontier State student imaginable, with typical Gaelic looks and a tattered grey sleeveless shirt and ripped jeans. She also looked like she knew Gale, because she smiled slightly upon seeing him but didn't freak out or fangirl like some on this campus would.

“Jani, come over here and meet my friend, Nina Burke. She's the genius behind just about every RCAA violation to our name that somehow hasn't been discovered. You need some school stuff done for you, or you need some expensive item from town, or you need some kind of social help, she's the one to ask. I can't say she does it all herself, but delegation is a skill in itself.”

“Hello, Nina. I'm curious about how you manage all of this without causing an investigation into us, and how you get the expensive things that the players want-”

“They don't investigate because I'm not stupid about this, and I get free stuff by asking nicely,” Nina replied, as she fixed her messy hair and looked down at the papers that were all over her desk. “Are you here to try to charm me into some more favors, Gale? You can see right here that I'm busy for now-”

“It's not about me,” Gale said, putting a hand up. “It's about Jani, who, like you probably already know, is going to be the starting quarterback on opening day. I need to know if you can fit one more name on your list and add him last minute. He's studying political science and economics, if that changes anything. Is the list completely filled right now?”

“Eh… You're asking a lot of me, Gale. Everyone on my ‘staff’ is busy right now, because you came so late. Economics isn't the easiest subject to scam our way through, either. It's not like, say, Gaelic Studies, and I don't have a connection that's very good with the people that teach that,” Nina muttered, almost as if she was talking to herself and trying to talk herself into or out of doing this. “Then again, the quarterbacks have always been the highest priority. Um… Yeah, let me see what I can do, I'll put his name on the list and see if I can talk anyone into working double.”

“What's this list?” asked Jani, unfamiliar with the terminology.

“The list is basically a list of athletes that me and my friends are helping when it comes to school. We had to organize things into a list so we can keep track of priority, but as a quarterback, you're pretty high up the list. The problem is that my friends are already busy with the other players that signed up before you did. Don't worry, I'll find some way to make it work, I always do. Now, anything else I can help you with?”

“Yeah, this guy desperately needs to get a girlfriend… For appearances, at least, since he's going to be the starting quarterback. We haven't really had one this quiet and awkward, it's not a good look,” interjected Gale. “I'm taking him to the party tonight to help him make some friends, but do you know any girls that'd be willing to be his date? Even if it was just to keep up appearances tonight?”

“Is he fine going with someone that's taller than him?”

“I guess, why?” Jani asked. “You know someone?”

“I know another freshman that might be able to bring him out of his shell a little bit,” grinned Nina, looking around the room and waving to someone that was across the room. “She's from Quebec, so you'll have to mind the accent, but I just met her recently and… She's not really shy or awkward. They say opposites attract, let's see how true that is.”

The other girl that came over was indeed taller, and apparently a member of the women's basketball team. At least, that was what her height and frame indicated, she looked like a power forward or a small center. “You called, Nina?” she asked, looking over the two football players and then the girl that had called her over from the other side of the room.

“Yeah. Jani, meet Jane Burnett. Jane, this is Jani Vargas, the new starting quarterback and your date for the party tonight,” Nina said. “He's awkward, so maybe you can help him get out of his shell. You asked for a date for tonight and I came through for you by bringing you a QB, you owe me a favor now, alright?”

“Fine, Nina. And it's nice to meet you, Jani. I look forward to getting to know you tonight.”

[Ranoria]

Richardson University Governors; A New Era, Chapter 2

John Garrett flipped a pass out to his favorite tight end, hair still wet, having showered after their practice, starting their short walk back to the dorms, "Did you see that the stats came out from last game?" The quarterback slung his bag over a shoulder, one-handing the ball before slinging it back, feet finding a familiar path on the dimly-lit sidewalk.

"I'm just hoping I can play that well again!" Johnny laughed, snagging the pass and mimicking a spike motion, "I mean, seriously, seventy yards and a touchdown? I'm a tight end!" He walked with the ball for a bit, nibbling on a protein bar to recover just a bit after their practice.

"Between you and Javier, that was, what, a hundred eighty five yards and a touchdown? An impressive performance on both your parts, if I may say so myself." His hands reacted quickly to the coming ball, snatching it up, "You guys make my job easy. I'd have had an interception, if not for your heroics in the end zone," he took the ball in one arm, tucking it tight, and ripped it up towards his chest, referencing what Farmer had done to the linebacker on their first touchdown on the day.

"That guy needed to hit he weight room," he dropped the wrapper for his first bar in a trash can, beginning to unwrap a second, now, "But you had something like three hundred yards, didn't you? Plus forty on the ground. I told our coach you could play. Thank god he believed me."

Garrett smiled, shaking his head, knowing that his friend was talking him up, as much in the tight end's mind as his own, "Then there's Kev," he was referring to Gerhart, their star defensive tackle, "He racked up six tackles, two for a loss, and a sack. That's insane for an interior lineman. And did you see Davon's?"

"Yeah, he had two pass deflections and an interception. Pretty awesome." Another wrapper fell into a trash can as he finished that second bar, "I'd rather not line up opposite of him, honestly. He'd shut me down, to hell with being a so-called 'matchup issue.'

"Not just that, he allowed a flat zero yards and zero receptions. He was targeted three times. That's just unbelievable. I'm with you on this one, we're lucky he's on our side." Internally, Garrett noted that he should try to find out about any similarly skilled corners in their upcoming schedule, and watch as much film on them as possible. After all, they could turn off half the field if he wasn't ready for them.

"That's just absurd. Throwing the ball towards him might as well be giving it to us. I love it."

They were silent for awhile, the school's newest star still running through things that their coach had told him after their film session while they walked, his best friend soon pulling out his phone, evidently texting someone or another. His thoughts, meanwhile, drifted to self-doubt. He was throwing to one of the best recievers in Ranoria, a tight end who had been hailed as one of the best prospects coming out of high school in years, and another wideout who stood a t 6' 5". Who couldn't succeed with those targets to throw to, especially with an effective running game like theirs? And what would happen when he did let them down, and broke down? He was only here because Johnny had driven a hard bargain, after all.

And after a few moments of silence, and mulling, Garrett looked over, pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, "Who's that you're texting?"

The larger man looked over, shrugging, "Just some girl I've been chasing around. Sylvia. She's easy on the eyes. Maybe likes the city a bit too much for my taste though, honestly. I'd be happy to have a house in the middle of nowhere, but you know that."

"You and me both."

"So, how about you, do you have anyone in particular you're thinking about?" Farmer pocketted his cell phone as they reached the dorms.

"Thinking?" Their quarterback gave him a sly grin, knowing that his old friend would catch on to his sarcasm, "I'm the quarterback. I wouldn't limit myself to thinking, now would I?"

That got him a slap on the back, Johnny rolling his eyes at the statement, "You goon. Let's get some rest. I could use it."

---

Melvin Strong, meanwhile, walked out with fellow running back Soup Shorts, the two having, together, put up impressive numbers on the ground. The senior starter was the first to speak up, digging around in his backpack for something, "I'm tellin' ya Melvin, if you can bulk up a bit and keep that speed and explosiveness you've got, you're going to be something special." He pulled out a cap with the Governors' logo on the front, pulling it on, "Me? I'm a good back. I can play. But you? With your talent, and the way you've been working, you're going to tear this whole system apart, mark my words."

"You know it Soups, I'm gonna be goin' places. I'm playin' for jewelry, as I'm sure you've heard." He held up his hand, pointing to four fingers, which would have held his high school championship rings if he carried them around casually, "The goal is to be the greatest to ever carry the ball."

"Keep working, and I'll see you in the pros, Melv."

"Hell yes you will."

The two went their separate ways, then, as they had entered the dorms at that point. Melvin Strong, upon entering his dorm, slumped down onto his bed, absolutely exhausted. Even as talented as he was, because of his size, his body had taken a beating from those snaps that he did come in and play on. Soup was right, he needed to bulk up a good deal if he was going to be the three down, star running back that he aspired to be. He wanted to dominate in not only college, but in the pros, the same way that he had in high school, where he lost three games in his four year career.

Weakly plugging in his phone, Strong wriggled under his blankets and closed his eyes, letting the warm embrace of sleep take him.

[Kalalau]

---

Late Heroics from Ramusok’s Fire Breathing Dragon Burn Fisafua's Debut
Story by Abraham Shepherd


RAMUSOK, COSUMAR--A touchdown on the final play of regulation by defending NSCF champion Ramusok Capital University gave the Dragons a 39-33 victory over Harbor College and spoiled what would otherwise have been an extraordinary debut for interim Head Coach Samson Fisafua. On second and eight with just two seconds remaining in the game, Ramusok Capital quarterback Aldur Tronstad found Cozmar Na’Bami on a 43 yard pass ending in the front of the endzone as time expired.

In a game full of offensive firepower, the tick mark in the loss column is the most trying item for Harbor College fans to swallow. In an opening game highlighted not only by the powerhouse nature of both programs but also the controversial departure of Honu coach Goose Carneghy, the game is certain to make the short list of best NSCF 16 games by season’s end. And even with little time to prepare as the man-in-charge, Fisafua came out with guns blazing. While many expected a more defensive-minded approach than under Carneghy, Fisafua not only proved the statisticians incorrect but may have cemented himself as Head Coach for the long run.

Still, that Fisafua came out in full Goose Carneghy throttle mode and yet lost--to Horizon Conference rival and unquestioned (still) number one team Ramusok Capital--is a pain that Honu fans can only describe as heartbreaking. Instead of the hoped-for ”Rooster Strut” on the exit of the stadium, Fisafua would have to take a back seat as the chicken charbroiled by means of the dragon’s nostrils.

In what many thought would be a bit unfamiliar territory on many fronts due to the switch at coach, the Honu find themselves in all-too familiar territory once again--behind Ramusok Capital in the standings sheet, in the lower half of the rankings for the Horizon Conference, and yet, still, likely in the top five of the NSCF’s rankings. And make no mistake about it; the Cosumarite Courier, the publication behind the rankings, has no reason to inflate Ramusok’s strength of schedule. Any need to do so has already been nullified by Ramosok’s brilliant play on the field--both in championships past and in the throwdown awakening to NSCF 16.

And this writer will be the first to admit: if you told us this time last week that Fisafua’s team-- in his first start, on the road, in a hostile environment against the defending NSCF champions--would put up 33 points--we would have taken those odds easily. And just this time last week we, in this very forum, called out Ramusok in a bit of op-ed fury as a means to fuel the fire of competition. We challenged Ramusok to rise up to the occasion; and did they ever--to the tune of 39 points. Maybe we jumped the gun a bit.

In fact, as painful as it is to say it, this Ramusok team may already have the workings of an NSCF champion repeat appearance. So maybe we won’t say it.

The truth is, Fisafua’s unit is only going to get stronger with more time under his belt. And with--as noted--33 points in his opening game in a hostile environment on the road against the defending NSCF champions--we think there are a lot of pieces already in play on which Fisafua and the Honu can build.

Quarterback Cyril Peregrine led the Honu on five scoring drives--four of them touchdowns--and appears to be ready to take the next step as the unquestioned starter for the Honu team. Had he been given the chance, we have no doubts that Peregrine would have held his cool into overtime. Even during NSCF 15 when Peregrine found himself in spot starts toward the end of the season, his confidence was never lacking. And even though the team finished with one fewer touchdown than they needed to keep the game going, that this game came on the biggest stage for opening night likely means positive things moving forward.

In addition to the ice flowing through Peregrine’s veins, tight end Phineas Clocktower looks like the star we all knew was in the making. Clocktower finished with nine catches for 140 yards on the day, adding two endzone spikes of his own on touchdown connections from Peregrine. Clocktower narrowly missed an opportunity to start his day earlier with what would have been a third touchdown; On the Honu opening drive of the game, the tight end was open in the back of the endzone when slot receiver Felix Scribe plucked what appeared to be a pass intended for Clocktower, coming down in heavy traffic with the ball precariously in his arms. Intended recipient or not, it was a play that will certainly make its rounds on SportsTicker’s top ten list this week.

Perhaps more telling than the highly skilled play most expected from these Honu stars was the emergence of John Smith as a legitimate weapon in the Honu offense. Smith added 129 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown of his own, with 14 of those yards added on an end around play that picked up a critical first down in the third quarter. Coming into the season, we knew Fisafua would need to get some more key players involved for the continued development of the team’s offense; it appears Fisafua has taken no hesitation to the lofty task.

What remains to be seen is whether Smith’s breakout game was a product of his own skill development or of Fisafua’s tactical attack strategy; despite the big numbers from Peregrine and Clocktower, the other players many expected to be key components of this Honu offense were surprisingly quiet on Saturday. Wide receivers Asa Tasman and Laird Prefontaine finished with 46 and 61 receiving yards, respectively.

Camerynne Eider added a short field goal on a stalled Honu drive, and outside of offense and special teams, Fisafua’s defensive prowess was on the hunt; a second quarter punt pinned the Dragons deep in their own territory, and defensive end Koa Anuenue caught Ramusok back Otork Mtgivby in the endzone on a well designed defensive misdirection play which saw the ball squirt onto the ground. Called a safety on the field when Dragon offensive lineman Merlin Gunn emerged with the ball at the bottom of the pile, several minutes of video review evidence was unable to determine conclusively whether Anuenue should have been given credit for a defensive touchdown.

Ultimately, however, it goes down as a bittersweet trip to Ramusok on opening day. Pundits can and certainly will debate whether it is more sweet than bitter for the Honu, or more bitter than sweet. At the South Seas Sentinel, we’d like to err on the side of more sweet than bitter. Sure, the game ends with a tick mark in the “L” column; but now there remains just a single trip back to Cosumar during regular season play--a matchday seven tilt against Stoneshore College (who make the trip to Kalalau this coming week). For Ramusok Capital, it means some of the drama is already over, but the coming return to Kalalau is already circled on many analysts’ calendars. A stronger Fisafua, a more disciplined Honu team, and 60,280 rabid fans eagerly await their week six arrival.

For now, the slate gets only marginally easier--if at all--for the Honu, who will host a Stoneshore program eager to set the record straight in their own rivalry with Ramusok Capital by virtue of a strong performance against a common opponent--The Harbor College Honu. As perhaps the strongest one-two opening week punch in all of the NSCF this season, the outcome of the game will most definitely set the tone for the storylines throughout the Horizon Conference and beyond for this season. While the Honu may find a bit of schedule reprieve from the weeks immediately following, a loss on Saturday to Stoneshore could bury them in the already hot prospective playoff race. And with an intense non-conference schedule on slate, including multi-champions Utica University and Universite St. Croix as well as strong NSCF 15 finisher Mar Sara Tech, the going doesn’t get any easier down the stretch for the Honu..

But for the Harbor College program, they may just have the Rooster to weather the storm.

---

Box Score	1	2	3	4	OT	F
Harbor College	7	12	7	7	N/A	33
Ramusok Capital University	7	6	14	12	N/A	39

Scoring summary:
1st Qtr 11:04 (RCU) Aldur Tronstad 16 yard pass to Remy Luukkainen (Alan Highsmith XP) [HC 0-RCU 7]
1st Qtr, 8:44 (HC) Cyril Peregrine 8 yard pass to Felix Scribe (Camerynne Eider XP) [HC 7-RCU 7]
2nd Qtr, 14:10 (HC) Camerynne Eider 26 yard field goal [HC 10-RCU 7]
2nd Qtr, 9:45 (RCU) Alan Highsmith 31 yard field goal [HC10-RCU 10]
2nd Qtr, 7:36 (HC) Koa Anuenue tackled Otork Mtgivby in the endzone for safety [HC 12-RCU 10]
2nd Qtr, 4:17 (HC) Cyril Peregrine 16 yard pass to Phineas Clocktower (Camerynne Eider XP) [HC 19-RCU 10]
2nd Qtr, 0:02 (RCU) Alan Highsmith 40 yard field goal [HC 19-RCU 13]
3rd Qtr, 8:55 (RCU) Aldur Tronstad 4 yard pass to Piet Talaat (Alan Highsmith XP) [HC 19-RCU 20]
3rd Qtr, 5:27 (HC) Cyril Peregrine 12 yard pass to John Smith V (Camerynne Eider XP) [HC 26-RCU 20]
3rd Qtr, 5:11 (RCU) Shabazz Salcousin 94 yard kickoff return (Alan Highsmith XP) [HC 26-RCU 27]
4th Qtr, 12:02: (RCU Otork MtGivby 5 yard run (XP blocked by Laurent Delormier) [HC 26-RCU 33
4th Qtr, 9:12 (HC) Cyril Peregrine 24 yard pass to Phineas Clocktower (Camerynne Eider XP) [HC 33-RCU 33]
4th Qtr, 0:00 (RCU) Aldur Tronstad 43 yard pass to Cozmar Na’Bami [HC 33-RCU 39]

---

[Biancavilla]

Sos del Rey falls to Raynor University in NSCF Debut

Sos del Rey officially made their NSCF debut against Valanora's Raynor University, in a 9-20 defeat. Unable to score a single touchdown, the Sos del Rey offense clearly showed some weaknesses and struggled against Raynor's defensive line, who were able to keep pressure on quarterback Josep Albano (managing 3 sacks) and shut down the Seaturtles' notorious run game lead by halfback Xenokrates Salvay (who suffered a fumble). The Seaturtles managed to get into the redzone 3 times, without ever making it into the endzone. Kicker Robert Arnoni nailed every field goal attempt, the farthest at 46 yards, putting all 9 points for Sos del Rey on the board. One SDSU drive looked very promising, as the Seaturtles marched down the field to the 6 yard line, eating up the Raynor secondary, only to end with Salvay fumbling on a run up the middle that looked like it could easily have been a touchdown had Raynor linebacker Artolien Gaalonel not stripped the football. The Seaturtles' defense made valiant attempts to hold their own, but ultimately were on the field for far too long and tired out. Although they were able to get pressure on the Raynor quarterback, Gleinanonon Neltasyr, and manage two sacks, he would score two touchdowns, both of whom he connected with wide receiver Ripanton Elenren on for 14 points total. Raynor kicker Eiryarron Haeeth made a 34-yard field goal, which would be the last score of the game in the 5th minute of the fourth and final quarter.

In a press conference after the game, Seaturtles coach Vespiano Aloisi said:

"Raynor was definitely the better team out on the field tonight, they just outplayed us. Clearly we have plenty to work on on both sides of the field and we most certainly will. I am not pleased with out performance tonight, but I can understand that this is our very first game playing at this level and we will improve. I definitely expect more performance from our offense, I know Salvay and Albano have a lot of potential and can do great things. We plan on moving forward and learning from the mistakes we made this game, and taking that with us for the rest of the season. Thank you."

[Drawkland]

BIG EIGHT & CELESTIA

Official Cutoff for Week Two.

---

Celestia Conference
Nuovoseronese College of Economics (NVS) 0–40 Leopord Central University (FND)
University of Syracuse (TAA) 7–10 Republica's Naval Academy (FFR)
University of Angelwood-Aprilia (USS) 10–14 Army Academy (FFR)

★-Celestia Conference                       Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD 
1 Leopord Central University                  2    2   0    67    0  +67
2 Army Academy                                2    2   0    43   13  +30
3 University of Angelwood-Aprilia             2    1   1    33   17  +16
4 Republica's Naval Academy                   2    1   1    10   34  −24
5 University of Syracuse                      2    0   2    10   39  −29
6 Nuovoseronese College of Economics          2    0   2     3   63  −60

Big Eight Conference
Richardson University (RAN) 45–10 Mar Sara Tech (VAL)
Raynor University (VAL) 51–7 Grove University (QAD)
Flebeshar State University (FSA) 14–31 Sos del Rey University (BIC)

8-Big Eight Conference                      Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD 
1 Raynor University                           2    2   0    71   16  +55
2 Richardson University                       2    2   0    66   23  +43
3 Sos del Rey University                      2    1   1    40   34   +6
4 Mar Sara Tech                               2    1   1    37   48  −11
5 Flebeshar State University                  2    0   2    27   52  −25
6 Grove University                            2    0   2    10   78  −68

[Frenline Delpha]

Cut-Off Time

Match Day 2

Zephyr Conference
University of Lisianski (LSI) 7–28 Ceneisis Naval Academy (AFT)
Thereisnogodistan Community College (NGD) 3–0 Zenderfield  College (MUS)
Innusburg University (ALS) 37–0 University of Aldhuld (ALS)

  Zephyr Conference                             Pld    W   L    PF   PA 
1 Ceneisis Naval Academy (AFT)                    2    2   0    55    7
2 Innusburg University (ALS)                      2    2   0    51    0
3 Thereisnogodistan Community College (NGD)       2    2   0    13    0
4 University of Lisianski (LSI)                   2    0   2     7   42
5 University of Aldhuld (ALS)                     2    0   2     0   47
  Zenderfield  College (MUS)                      2    0   2     0   30

[Kalalau]

Matchday Two Results

SEQUOIA CONFERENCE
University of Luvenstat (KCZ)14 -3 University of Jackson (KWP)
Bokator University (BKR) 26-9 Coimbra University (LUS)
Karl Marx University (BAU) 10-0 Calix City Institute of Archaeology (KBC)

Sequoia                                   Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD 
1  (Karl Marx University)                   2    2   0    17    3  +14
2  (Calix City Institute of Archaeology)    2    1   1     7   10   −3
3  (Bokator University)                     2    1   1    26   16  +10
4  (University of Luvenstat)                2    1   1    17   10   +7
5  (Coimbra University)                     2    1   1    29   45  −16
6  (University of Jackson)                  2    0   2    22   34  −12

Woodlands Conference
Universite du Saguenay (QUE) 20-10 Universite St. Croix (QUE)
University of Iqaluit (QUE) 6-0 Palæontological-Centered Research (NTN)
Utica University (OSR) 17-0 Universidad de Hermanas del Ampliamirada (AQL)

Woodlands                                      Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD 
1  (Utica University)                            2    2   0    47   16  +31
2  (Universite du Saguenay)                      2    1   1    36   40   −4
3  (Universidad de Hermanas del Ampliamirada)    2    1   1    17   24   −7
4  (Universite St. Croix)                        2    1   1    24   27   −3
5  (University of Iqaluit)                       2    1   1    13   17   −4
6  (Palæontological-Centered Research)           2    0   2     7   20  −13

[Valanora]

Horizon Conference
Emmanuel Theological Seminary (RMT) 23–10 University of Stratison (STC)
Harbor College (KAL) 23–17 Stoneshore College (COS)
Drawk Corps University (DRK) 20–24 Ramusok Capital University (COS)

P Horizon Conference                   Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD
1 Emmanuel Theological Seminary          2    2   0    50   23  +27
2 Ramusok Capital University             2    2   0    63   53  +10
3 Stoneshore College                     2    1   1    30   26   +4
4 Harbor College                         2    1   1    56   56    0
5 Drawk Corps University                 2    0   2    33   51  −18
6 University of Stratison                2    0   2    13   36  −23

Mineral Conference
The University of Westshire (WSU) 7–22 University of Konigsberg (VOR)
Stoltz University (SSV) 10–23 Frontier State College (END)
Mount Maris University (TRV) 9–7 Castle Valle Rojas University (TRV)

P Mineral Confernece                   Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD
1 University of Konigsberg               2    2   0    38   13  +25
2 Mount Maris University                 2    2   0    21   14   +7
3 Castle Valle Rojas University          2    1   1    39   16  +23
4 Frontier State College                 2    1   1    29   26   +3
5 The University of Westshire            2    0   2    14   34  −20
6 Stoltz University                      2    0   2    17   55  −38

[The Royal Kingdom of Quebec]

Part 1

The Truth, Part Two

732 Bridgewater Drive
Walton, Manitoba, Royal Kingdom of Quebec

Dexter's home in Walton was a small limestone home, located only a couple of blocks away from the high school and high school. His car, Daeah D7, gradually slowed down before halting right in front of a short, sidestepped entrance way. It was a quiet July evening; nobody was present on streets as the people were either eating dinner or out of town. This was a great news for the Ahns; had they made it to their Walton home come late afternoon or late evening, their presence would have been noticed by the locals. And of course, given Dexter's status as a local legend and idol to many, to see him in this shape would not have been something that anybody would've wanted.

His father Juwan, after exiting the car early, quickly turned and opened the car door for Dexter, who slowly made his way out of the car as the evening sun reflected off the building.

"Well we're back home again," Juwan smiled at his son, as he helped Dexter walk to his place. "I hope the recovery hasn't been too bad for you, son. It's been rough the last few weeks, but I know we're there for you."

"I understand, dad," Dexter responded, as he outpaced his father to open the door and enter. His pace hasn't been consistent, but Dexter, over time, was able to increase speed and tempo of his walk. It did not really mean that he could recover in time for the season opener, he knew, but at least recovery wasn't completely out of it. "I hope it will improve over time, but right now I feel like I need some rest."

He reached grabbed his son's arms, before reminding him. Knowing the tendencies these elderly Ahn siblings had, it wasn't the time for him to let his son go to his bed...just yet. "Of course. Just make sure to stay on top of all. Your health matters first after all."

"Thanks dad. I'll try to." That's all his son said.

Juwan then watched as his son slowly climbed the staircase, his head down and weary, in a noticeably heavy body. He's noticed that his son has changed a lot; it's been gradual and noticeable since he's returned to going to South Bend for his sophomore year. While Juwan never had the courage nor reconciliation with his parents to really allow himself to visit South Bend more than once - since the very time he dropped him off at McCarthy-Lehoux Hall for the first and possibly last time - he noticed that something must have gone wrong with him while he's in school, and that it caused the circumstances leading his heart attack. What's going on with him? What's plaguing this young mind?He wondered, as he stayed for hours and hours lying on his bed.

---

First and Last Name, but Dexter Ahn Is One Complete Player

By Henri LeBrun

SOUTH BEND, SAGUENAY - The name of Dexter Eui Hyeon Ahn - the 6'4", 225 lb Saguenay quarterback who wears bandanas to practices and could possibly be the QFL's next big-time quarterback - often came to represent two distinct personalities braided within one body.

There was Dexter, freeflowing and liberal, the name of a famous 70s comic book villain, the footballer, the academic behind a 3.85 GPA and rigourous routines of analysis and planning: 728 plays memorised, 18 hours practiced, 4 days per week. The rest goes on his own time to spend for himself, whether it be academics or personal commitments.

And then there's Ahn, the family name he proudly bears from beginning, bonding the youth to his heritage all the way from Gaspecie region. It was as if his extended family, after living mostly out west, saw him coming home to be part of a strong family commitment. He would need to find himself back in family roots; to reconnect with his grandparents whom have exiled his parents three decades back; to pay tributes to his ancestors; to learn lessons from famous great-uncles and cousins; to start a new chapter with his newborn son.

The first and surname seemed to converge in name alone. At Walton High School, a country high school in Walton, Manitoba, Ahn brought the Winterkillers to unchaptered heights in their history, playing significant part in 2 provincial titles and putting himself on the memories of people as one of most electric high school footballers and the top recruit nationwide.

But in classroom 424, on the 4th floor of the school building, Ahn often stayed until late, hoping to discuss economics and approaching public with his economics teacher, Joseph A. Woodchipper, who came to know Ahn as an introspective and well thought out. They never talked about football. With his economics lying on broader future and potential foreverlasting, Ahn eagerly adopted lessons from his teacher and the textbook, Economics and What it can provide," to inspire winding conversations, frequently ducking back to visit Woodchipper on lunch or after school hours to ask questions.

"I think he saw his classes as ways to see his potential as more than just what he could see," Woodchipper said. "He wanted to look deeper into things he couldn't see, but would benefit him and all in long term."

Ahn seemed fascinated by the prospects of green economy brought by the liberalisation of marijuana development and retailing in Quen Minh, which took Woodchipper by surprise. Here was a celebrated phenom, gifted both athletically and intellectually.

At the upcoming season opener in Saguenay Stadium against Queen's Gaels, Ahn will be the focal point, the A to Z, of Saguenay's ambitious effort to defend its national title, its first since 1988. And when the season's over, he will shun all the media interest once more and head back to his quiet environment of His Majesty's Hall, continue his regular routines that largely rotate around his demanding workload as a future academic as he works through crucial second half of his undergraduate degree.

If this chapter of his life can be described as that of a sea voyage, the clipper seems to be benefited with god-given wind, titanium deck and perfect sails. His life seems to be electrifying and mystique, sustained by a loving family, stable home, and attractive personality, which have made his interviews and media conferences some of most popular ones in past decade of college football. And yet he prepared for the other worlds in which he knew would come eventually, but could have just casted them into future. He already served teaching assistant in high school and will be granted with same honours in upcoming academic year. His interest in humanities, in all disciplines, seemed rooted in curiosity of his own life, in his strong family heritage and history of struggles rooted within its members, as well as his own journey of life.

I was as if Ahn family name ensured Dexter that he needs more than his pigskin to set him for life- testing out other passions, working on a possible second career, in case everything goes wrong like his great-great uncle Yannick.

The Dexter

When Ahn family moved into their small apartment in Kingston, Frontenac, when Dexter was around 7, they knew all about Dexter's love for football. Attawapiskat Broncos banners were raised, his walls covered with posters of Song Woo Park (note : think of Peyton Manning) in both Kingston Argonauts and Attawapiskat Broncos. The playbooks were illegally torrented and printed to him on practice so he could learn on his own time eventually, while he wore his #18 in pride. By the age 9, Dexter was going to Argonauts games to watch the pro league in play with his father.

Growing up, Dexter knew he had great deal of talent growing up, in both his strength and intelligence involving the game. As early as grade 5, he would start reading out plays from Winnipeg Raiders playbook he torrented, and as years passed by he would be able to recognise and understand the plays his second idol, Noel Perez, made. At the library, he picked out books and documentaries about Jong Woo Park and Cedric Taillergeon to read about how genius-like quarterbacks handled their developmental years in their game. Mostly, Ahn longed for the moment, at 16:00, when him and his childhood friends would go to the local park and play to straight hours of football before he would head to his father's restaurant for dinner.

In Kingston, even as a young child, Ahn practiced with the Erskine Collegiate's junior varsity team, long coached by his father's friend Jermaine Woo-Johnson. His mother, Bethany Hamelin, noticed something special about his ability to read the defence and draw the plays with ease.

"He knew how to change the tide of his game, even though he was this tiny guy under centre," Hamelin said. "That's when I knew there's something really special coming for him with football."

His father, a restaurant owner after many years of success, noticed the game recognition, too, but opted to press Dexter on his fundamentals and physique, the sort of skills that allowed the elder Ahn to become an urban legend for University of Prince Raoul Island Thunderbirds in late 2000s. Despite Dexter's ability to read the game, Juwan Ahn wanted his son to be able to drop back, scramble and throw while under significant motion or duress. On sunday mornings, when the restaurant wouldn't be open yet, his father and elder cousin Cornelius would wrestle him in the ring for hours as Ahn tested his physical limits and ability to fight, just strength and technique, as Juwan Ahn once called it.

"I didn't want him to go through limitations that I did way too late in my life," Juwan Ahn said. "I made sure Dexter's game was more than either of physique or recognition, because not every quarterback has both and I know how costly it can be when you're not with both."

He was almost too complete. By the end of his sophomore season, when he would take over as the starting quarterback of Walton High School in Northwestern Manitoba after moving there just few weeks before, Dexter already had scholarship offers from programs like Saskatchewan, Goose Bay and Western Ontario. But his coach, Jean-Noel Molyneaux, believed he had barely scratched the potential this quarterback could provide, preferring to decide too much on his own physical attributes and trust in his own skills rather than utilising his own linemen and block schemes. He led the country in 60+ yard completions and 50+ yard touchdowns when scrambling, drawing comparisons to former Sept-Iles Packers hall of famer Don Michalski, whom Dexter watched on red-taped video tapes growing up.

But he worked at it, physically and mentally. He also watched tapes and clips of Jordan "The Deflategater" Keenan and Dante Errecari, as well as his eternal Song Woo Park, then spent hours in the turf communicating his audibles with his linemen. Hamelin can remember him lying on his bed writing motivational quotes to the notebooks, after which he'll type and print them to the walls.

"The results only come after you've proven something," one read. "Victory only comes on your own account," the other read.

There were doubters, Molyneaux said, as he recalls familiarly of questions regarding his strive for perfect play rather than winning play, love of audibles and even freeflowing locks he carried back in high school. There were many who questioned his ability to translate the level of his play into right level, which came even as he was demolishing opponents in two state championships he brought to the small town of 5,600 people.

At Saguenay, the fiercest critic has been coach Aaron Chang, who said that he had been harder on his starting quarterback, the one who would land himself both the national championship and Hector Kweon Trophy, this past season. It's a function of his understanding that Ahn could handle the comments, develop better judgment with what he can and cannot do - and also that his family, both immediate and extended, asked him to continue with critical assessments. Halfway through the season, when Saguenay started trailing 14-3 against Bishop's after a couple of turnovers and only 3/9 completion rate on first quarter, his uncle, former Saguenay quarterback Regis Ahn, texted Chang: "Don't give into believing that he can pull it outta nowhere. Make sure that he listens to you."

"You have to let your kids now what's right and wrong," Regis said in an interview, shortly after the 45-26 Saguenay win. "You cannot be just content about your performance if you have potential to succeed beyond the collegiate level, or just to excel in collegiate level. That's where many coaches, especially those in longstanding mediocrity, has been content about."

By the season's end, Dexter Ahn would pull off a dramatic comeback, scoring 4 touchdowns in last quarter and half to win the 2027 Tiger Bowl, the Fighting Irish's first since 1988.

Not long ago, Gwanael Bernard, then-Saguenay OC, teased Ahn about the QFL and what it would be like if he's drafted by either the Saguenay Saints or the Quebec Voyageurs. Ahn, long familiar with the nation's capital in trips he's made, said that he could just live in South Bend, work on his graduate degree and commute whenever necessary.

"So I was like, 'Dexter,'" Bernard said, sighing as he looked, "I don't know if you have any idea on what will happen."

The Ahn

Growing up, Dexter always had a huge question about his isolation from the greater family. While he knew very well about his famous great-uncles and uncles, many of whom were both famous academics as well, he was physically and relatively isolated from them. As he grew older and went through significant personal transformation in his developing years, this became more evident. His parents' exile from the rest of the family, after their student-teacher affair (his father was 17 and mother 23, for those who wonder) infuriated his grandfather William, was critical.

To find himself better he searched. Family search became a long-lasting endeavour, affecting his family relations, until Dexter found out a way he could get around: He could head to east coast, live with his grandfather and learn from his great-uncles and aunts to help him develop his conditioning and athleticism.

Every summer, Dexter would leave home on last saturday of June, catch the Kipahigan and La Transcontinentale all the way to Perce, Gaspecie, and live with his grandfather and many relatives.

"It took me long time before I let him travel on his own," Juwan Ahn said. "but he's managed to handle himself very well in traveling coast-to-coast so I gave in and give him a chance to reconciliate with my family that I probably won't be able to for a long while."

Dexter was organised and well researched; he found his family's jokbo (traditional Korean genealogy book). Soon he was able to meet his great-uncles and cousins, those whom he never knew of their existence before. Meeting many great athletes across all sports, Ahn loved the idea that he was connecting, that he was getting exposed to the family blood and unity, and he loved traveling to east coast.

"He was as much of boiling blood (Editor's note: term famously spoken by his great-great uncle Sir. Philippe Ahn, the legendary fencing coach) as those in northern Acadie and Gaspecie were," said Michelle Ahn, his great-aunt (Laurent and Yannick's sister), an olympic and 5-time commonwealth game gold medalist sabreuse. "He was such a nice kid, who always wanted to learn from his elders regardless of his sport and how his parents were treated by those around him and that's something that we all respect him for."

Perhaps, after all this, it did not surprise Michelle to hear that Dexter painstakingly wrote and grinded through mountains of archivial documents and relevant essaies, and then wrote exactly how he was going to work on his paper. He knew his seminar class, History of Guayabalense Immigration in Western Quebec, was helping him identify to those around him and connect to his own life, both academic and personal.

"Dexter's always been dedicated student in anything he had particular passion on, and that stretched across many fields," Garcia said. "He's always wanted to make sure that he's still going to be the same even if football football didn't happen."

Did he need to write protest letters to the premier in his sophomore year and become student council president his junior and senior year? Probably not. He did them anyway. Dexter also played in volleyball and wrestling teams, spent a term in coop as a museum programming assistant, served as deputy chairman of a first nations community organisation and once told his parents he wanted to start his own business by age 18 (he did not, but plans to eventually).

"I've always felt that I wanted to improve and strive for best in myself," Ahn said, while highlighting his background. "I knew I wanted to because not only I can be someone I am in many fashions, but also because I'm aware of this strong tradition within my family and do not want to disappoint."

Perhaps that wasn't just him after all- his blood doesn't lie. The summer after his freshman year, when he brought his future thesis plan for his grandfather it surprised him- not only that he contacted the elderly professor emeritus, but that he was willing to plan and discuss with him 3 years in advance. Like his grandfather, the well-remembered Saguenay quarterback William Ahn, he chose to take everything on plate and steamroll through his Liberal Studies degree with 3.85 GPA, a rare feat, according to Dr. Ahn himself.

"I've only known 5 people who's been able to achieve at such high level in the program, including myself," William Ahn, 69, who formerly taught at Mount Ester University and Universite de Gaspe, said. "It's rare that people tackle Liberal Studies program, especially at this academic grade, successfully."

Ahn, who's remained critical academic supporter of his grandson, had his own theory about why his grandson would pick such a dynamic, laborious and difficult program, the one in which he needs to study across several humanities discipline.

"He's seen those before him and realised that at any moment football could end," he said. "I remember having that feeling halfway through my time in my undergrad after talking with my late father and cousin (Philippe) about it. It really played into my mind, and I think Dexter's realising that as well."

It was a sentiment echoed by Dr. Lucretia Swann, his upcoming research supervisor for the upcoming year. Before starting the program, Swann spent a couple of days with Ahn, shortly after the end of his final exam, to look deeper into what this young man was and what he was looking for. They chatted about jazz, movies and probability, but also about his interest in early 1900s Quebecois history, which he said he developed early after reading his great-grandfather's diaries when he was 16.

Adding on top of his, Swann had a hunch he also wanted to learn and write about the overall history of his family, which he's never stated explicitly outside of personal realms.

It became a teaching and research tool, like some of what he's working on.

"I spent good periods of time explaining him that life isn't always going to give what he wants, and he understands that," Swann said of the QFL. "As the coordinator of course HIST 505, my job is to help him in discovering ways that he could develop his passion into a possible career after football, whether it be presenting in conferences or editing academic journals. This is why we discuss methodology and work on his research project after all before he goes onto work on his thesis the final year."

The Fighting Irish

The current Saguenay coaching staff first formed a connection with Ahn in 2023 when Dexter was first introduced to then-Queen's Gaels graduate assistant Mikael Rudd by his uncle Regis. A quarterback mentored by then-senior in his freshman season, Rudd introduced himself to his future protegee before doing a private workout with him over the summer.

Two seasons later, as a 17-year old senior, Ahn won Lord Gántl-Gadáang award for Manitoba high school player of the year as he led the Walton Winterkillers into second state championship. He would meet Manu Ano, with him as the presenter of the award (Manu Ano was an all-Quebecois cornerback back in those famous 2000s Southern Manitoba teams). This connection to Saguenay raised a few eyebrows from competing recruiters, as the family connection and so on added back and forth.

Ano, who was already at his 3rd season as Saguenay defensive coordinator, has insisted he had no connection towards Ahn, who would later get his offer from Saguenay in January. But Ano did something else that benefited Saguenay down the road. Ano recommended Ahn (the only player to win the award twice) to practice his awareness game with his linebacker friend and future teammate Duncan Polyneaux-Ginn and Hall of fame Steelers safety Cody Pamourou, building confidence in dealing with better competition.

Ahn's rushed for 1,780 yards in his 3 seasons at Walton; with the Fighting Irish last season, he has only rushed for 56. He won every possible award a collegiate quarterback he could win and unanimous all-Quebecois, after 5,288 passing yards, 35 Touchdowns and 7 interceptions in 14 games he's started last season, from season opener to Tiger Bowl.

"My team has right group of players for both passing and rushing, so ultimately I'm playing what I'm asked to play and am very happy about it," Ahn said about it, about his huge drop in rushing yards and attempts so far in Saguenay. "I could always run if asked to, so I think of it as a possible option."

Entering this season Ahn has entered the season as the consensus favourite to repeat his Hector Kweon trophy defence come this september by most, and even national championship defence by few. His family has said that he does not contact media for most of the time nor really desires to hear about it. Asked about his plans for the upcoming 2 seasons, Ahn responded with relative ease.

"That's least of my problems," Dexter said. "I want to fulfill all my wishes and achieve as much as possible in South Bend, before heading somewhere unknown."

Dexter's attributes, whether innate or earned, point toward something great. He always seemed to take them with great focus, trying as many opportunities as possible while aiming for the great goal: a QFL career, hopefully long, hopefully record-breaking, but prepared for something else if unlikely happens.

---

"To tell you the truth, that's how it all began. I always felt that something was missing, even as I won titles after titles and fell in the arms of many,m because there was something missing," said Dexter Ahn, speaking to his high school football coach and family studies teacher Maria Vieira as they were sitting in a bench of a local park. Being longtime mentor of his, Mme. Vieira was very surprised to hear of Dexter's sudden decline since the christmas break from Juwan, and when she asked him to see if he's around for a talk and chill session, Dexter didn't see no point in hiding anything much longer. "I've met and dated a fair number, even back in high school, Ms. V, but nothing worked out in long term. And like some of those *****y girls in high school, there's something that I never got things really clicking with girls in Saguenay either. They couldn't really understand me and I definitely had even less of ability nor patience to understand them, I guess."

"So what you're saying is that you've only had terrible relationships all this time were terrible because 0 compatibility and all they were looking for in you was you know what."

"I mean, aside from Leanne, but you know what happened..."

Indeed Ms. V was very much aware about it. Dexter's L'instagramme profile (they added each other after graduation, for those who wonder and ask, "Hey, isn't this breaking many professional conduct rules?") was once filled with this girl named Leanne Thibault, his ex-girlfriend for fall semester of his freshman and autumn semester of his sophomore years. And then all of sudden, it stopped. "Yeah, it's not something that you nor her could have done much on," Mme. V sighed, as the two slowly lit a huge Cuban cigar for each amid Dexter's sigh. "Sometimes feelings aren't always two-sided but they change you for sure."

"Yeah, like how they changed my livers," Dexter responded, before falling into laughter. It was a classic Dexter-styled humour: not the easiest to understand or laugh on but once you do, you can't help with its addicting aspects. "Probably the reason why I'm happy that my worrying health issues and occasional problems with alcohol weren't really told by media. It's as if they wanted to cover what they wanted to see me in public : The golden boy who will will win them the title."

"And you delivered it, as promised, to millions of fans out there across the world."

"Yes. It only affected me for the worse though. The more the pressure mounted, so did all those expectations. And I knew well that Leanne was also as busy as I was in her fine art program, but really I was foolish.

"Ultimately things between Leanne and I really went downhill because of that- and it was then that I was a terrible being because I couldn't believe that I was being such a horrible friend, boyfriend or whatever else I was to someone I really cared about...someone who really knew how to calm me and keep me in control."

"Don't blame yourself," Mme. Vieira patted Dexter on head, as Dexter was very close to burst in tears. "We all make mistakes and that's why we're all humans. Nobody's perfect and you know that. So have you found yourself with someone since then?"

"Funnily enough, yes," said Dexter, after being able to hold back from the sudden burst he nearly had just few seconds ago. "She, this Breanna Smit, we met each other through Leanne. It was not a direct connection, for there was some time between my breakup and me meeting her in person the very first time...."

[Valorem]

Valorem-Meritus Dispatch
The University of Konigsberg Fusiliers are enjoying another strong start to their season. They defeated the University of Westshire 22-7 at their stadium, and now get to come home to Buckley Stadium and the roaring Fusilier fans for Week 3 against Stoltz University. The Fusilier defense was particularly strong in the Westshire game, holding them to just one touchdown - which was scored on the first drive due to a long-range pass. After Westshire's opening drive, the Fusiliers were in command for the rest of the game. QB Quinn Iseya accounted for two touchdowns, passing to WR Heinrich Norbert late in the second quarter and TE Arnfried Davison early in the fourth quarter. RB Cal Gerig, returning to the field for the first time after his concussion last season, answered Westshire's opening touchdown with a monster of a run, going 25 yards for a touchdown after breaking the first tackle attempt. He then cut around the outside for a two point conversion, as Konigsberg's coach wanted to have a lead early on.

Konigsberg's coach, Otto Sheinfeld, stated after the game that "These guys did a phenomenal job on both sides of the ball out there today. After that first Westshire drive, the offense never let off the gas and the defense never once let them cross our 40 yard line. It was something special to watch for me."

The Reiner Material Sciences Laboratory has finally completed work on their concussion-resistant helmets, which will be issued to the team before the next game. This should prevent any major issues like Gerig's concussion last year. Reiner has decided to restrict these helmets to Valorian teams for the first year of release, although they will be available for purchase starting in the 17th season of NSCF.

[Remote Territories]

Emmanuel Finds Grace With God, Sits Atop Horizon Conference
by Matthew Earhart, Student Reporter

SAN AMBROSO--The Pelicans football team has found wonderful grace with God in the opening two games in their debut season in the NSCF, notching wins to His glory on both occasions. The wins also placed the Pelicans at the summit of the Horizon Conference standings, barely edging out defending champion Ramusok Capital University with a matching 2-0 record. It will be of utmost urgency for the Pelicans to remain humble about this particular grace, however, as Ramusok Capital travels to The Mission for a week three match. We at the Apostles’ Creed urge our football brethren to remain steadfast in prayer, as the week three battle can only be described as spiritual warfare for our pre-saved heathen adversaries from Ramusok; wielding the power of the otherworldly dragon as their mascot, it has become quite apparent that the Emmanuel community will need to uplift God’s cause fervently times of quiet solace so as to advance His kingdom in this trying time.

The most recent game recorded a 23-10 victory over the University of Stratison, and offered much for which the Pelican faithful to offer praise. Perhaps the item of highest reverence is God’s deliverance from the Stratison attack in the third quarter, when the adversary evened the score at 10. After a prolonged drive of nearly eight minutes to begin the half, the Tiger runningback found the endzone from one yard out, doubly harming the Pelicans on the scoreboard as well as wearying the ironman crew who would need to return immediately to the field on offense as well. With just the “twelve apostles” representing the Pelican team, Emmanuel’s is the thinnest of all NSCF rosters. It is a testament to God’s glory that our Pelican team does with just a single reserve what other teams do with fifty or sixty or even more. Gideon’s army would most certainly take heart.

However, the setback on the scoreboard was meant only for temporary discomfort, as our Pelicans took heart and renewed their strength with great resolve. Indeed, they have run and not grown weary, they have fought and not become faint! Oh, how my heart takes courage from this showing of God’s power! Let us not forget, my dear readers, that if God brings you to it, He will surely bring you through it!

Prior to this adversity, the Pelicans had scored on a first quarter field goal from Enos Baffin, and added a touchdown in the second when quarterback Jeremiah Drake broke free on a scramble.

The Pelicans’ offense responded to the third quarter crisis with a measure of faith, persevering, verily as they were weary, to fight back for a second field goal from Brother Baffin when the twelve play drive could go no further, giving the Pelicans a 13-10 advantage. While this would prove to be the last score needed to secure the victory for God’s glory, the Pelicans received a much needed boost to their spirits when on the ensuing Stratison drive an interception by Daniel Haceta gave the home team a short field. Haceta was the instrument of God’s use on two consecutive big plays, as the very next play saw Haceta take a backwards pass from Drake and parlay it into a touchdown throw of his own to Mawson Serapion, who had gone unnoticed behind the Tiger secondary amidst the confusion. Having no preordinance of the enemy’s plans, the Pelicans were just to attempt the quick score even if through some small amount of Pharisaic deception. Just as quickly as the adversity had arisen, God proved Himself faithful once again!

Baffin added a late fourth quarter field goal to cap the scoring on the game and to give the game with all certainty to the Pelicans.

When the Pelicans took the field for the final possession, Jeremiah Drake took a knee to run out the clock, and as he has on his knees as at so many times before, the words at this moment came like second nature to him: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name…”

Following the game, head coach Dr. Walter Promenade made the following statement: “All glory to God, all glory to God. I’m very humbled by these twelve keeping the faith when times got rough. The straight and narrow path is not always the most comfortable, but these have navigated it with such perseverance. And we give our thanks to God, for it surely helps our cause when teams have to travel to the ends of the earth to play at The Mission!”

Our very own 108 year old patriarch Dr. Erasmus Birch led the pep band with rousing pipe organ renditions of Amazing Grace in 7/4 timing, and Dr. Ephraim Cairn delivered an inspiring halftime homily on “Love thee thy neighbor.”

[Ranoria]

Richardson University Governors @Mar Sara Tech

As John Garrett walked on to Mar Sara Tech's field, he was almost certain of just one thing: They were going to lose this game.

Their offense had just barely managed 21 points, and this team, meanwhile, had blown out their week one opponent. He wasn't entirely sure whether or not he's be able to keep up on the scoreboard, and his anxiety was getting stronger. Johnny had almost sacrificed his chance to go to Richardson University to try and bring him along, and it was only a matter of time before he let him down.

But as he watched the opening kickoff, his woes seemed to fade away with every yard that Javier returned the kick. He took it at the three, not even watching the ball as he caught it, and surged up the field, knowing right where to make his first cut, darting through the open space between defenders as a result, and slowly pulling away from the crowd of defenders.

No way in hell. As John watched, however, Gilmore began to run out of steam, and was brought down by a leg tackle at the thirty yard line. The receiver came running off the field just as he came on, clapping his hand before their offense lined up. If we can't score on this drive, this is going to be a rough day.

Under center, he saw that the defense was lining up to stop the run, and frowned, knowing that Shorts was looking to run right up the middle. Nelenddal, their middle linebacker, crept up to the line of scrimmage, and Garrett looked to the sideline, then backed up into the shotgun, "Kill kill! Kill kill!" He saw the play clock winding down, and there weren't many audibles he was allowed to call, so he made it quick. "Whiskey right! Whiskey right!" It wasn't a full playcall, but it was one of a very short list of audibles that the entire offense had memorized, Anthony Foster and Dylan Tweed, lined up tight to the offensive line, moving to a more spread out, typical passing formation, with Larry Foster, the freshman on the other side, doing the same.

"Set hut!" He didn't hard count the snap, and when the ball hit his hands, he was already looking to Foster, ball flipping so that the laces were at his finger tips, grip adjusted just in time to set it loose for a seven yard gain. After that, the defense backed off a bit, seeing that their quarterback was learning to read defenses even at his early level of play, and didn't show their blitzes as much. The next snap was the exact play that would have been run before, with Soup Shorts smashing up a wide open A gap, Bradley Johnson putting Aeenonien Haemiel on his back and running up ahead of Shorts to put a block on Nelenddal, the running back going inside to avoid their second linebacker and breaking the first tackle in the secondary, going down, staggering, at the second attempt, which happened to down him at the eight yard line.

John Garrett ran up behind Johnson, giving him a clap to his shoulder pads, the hulk of a man grunting his acknowledgement as Shorts celebrated his fifteen yard run before lining up again, looking to the sideline for the playcall before getting in his stance, ready to take the ball once again. And when he did, this time going through the C, with Joey Giordano putting on a good block for him, he went untouched into the end zone for the first touchdown of the game.

Their quarterback smiled, seeing that they had a lead, but he was still nervous after seeing what this Mar Sara Tech team had done to their last opponent, with a margin of victory well over twenty points.

Fortunately, they managed, in three plays, one yard against the Governors defense.

He was baffled. This offense, which had looked so potent the week before, appeared to be stagnant. More than likely, they were just having a slow start. And that meant that they had to strike again, and get a good buffer before they began to heat up. Again with a handoff, Shorts powered ahead for a nine yard gain this time, giving Luke Stretcher, their offensive coordinator, the best position he'd ever have in football, and he used it.

Garrett's eyes went a little wide at the next playcall, Joey Giordano subbing out for Johnny Farmer, and Shorts for Strong, as they looked to pass.

Strong lined up next to his quarterback in the shotgun, licking his lips before biting his mouth guard and growling. The snap count came, and Garrett took the ball. Strong chipped against the defensive end before running straight up the field, breaking towards the corner after ten yards, and, while Gilmore and the other recievers were further downfield, they were well covered, and Strong was wide open. he hit his running back just as Johnny Farmer hit his break, putting the tight end in front of the speedy back and allowing him to chip at two defenders, knocking them off course, and Strong kept a fast pace behind him that allowed the tight end to clear the path until the free safety got around.

Once that happened, he turned on the burners, streaking off into the other direction and surging down the field, not even looking back for defenders. Even if they were coming, slowing down to check would only hurt him in the long run, and it didn't matter in the long run, finishing the two play, seventy yard drive with a front flip into the end zone, shaking his head as if there was no contest here, Richardson now up fourteen to nothing.

After that, though, the Kevin Gerhart-led defensive line just wasn't enough to hold the Mar Sara tech offense to three snaps. Talalendren, their quarterback, shredded their defense over the next few snaps, putting up forty yards through the air and ground, even managing a short completion against Davon Stovall. The first quarter ended with their senior quarterback scrambling for a seven yard first down, smartly avoiding the big hit from the hard-hitting freshman, Maxwell Blunt.

"Looks like they're here to play, after all." Johnny Farmer crushed a used cup of water in his hand before tossing it into the trash can, "Too late now though. We've got this one in the bag. Just have to keep pace."

"We'll have to keep putting up points. Their offense is pretty good." Garrett shrugged, "Granted, our defense is better, from the looks of it." As he said that, a completed pass on third down turned into an incomplete one, Maxwell Blunt, having been denied a hammerblow to the quarterback, making up for it and laying out Mar Sara Tech's wide receiver, Galaelwa. "Here we go again."

An excellent punt put the ball inside the five, and pinned their offense there as well. This, in turn, led them to be conservative with the pass, so they handed off the ball to Soup Shorts, who ground his way forward to the seven yard line for three, and again to get it to the nine. five carried later, they were at the thirty, and he subbed out for Melvin Strong, who managed four on first down.

I don't even have to throw the ball. Our offensive line is eating them alive.

The next snap was a play action fake, Garrett rolling right, escaping the safety of the pocket, and lobbing it deep to Johnny Farmer, hitting him right in the chest. The tight end, having seen a corner coming at him, transferred the ball to his right, using the other to stiff arm, and broke the first tackle to get a gain of seventeen.

They marched the ball down again, Farmer and Garrett hooking up for their second touchdown of the new year within eight snaps, but, at the end of the half, Mar Sara Tech's coach elected to kick a field goal to at least get some points on the board, making it a score of 21-3 going into the half.

---

Kevin Gerhart, who had assumed the role as leader of this defense, went around the room congratulating his guys, while Bradley Johnson did the same for his own on the offensive side. John Garrett and Johnny Farmer downed a good few cups of Gatorade in an effort to restore lost electrolytes, discussing with their head coach what they'd seen on the offensive side of the ball, and what they could do to keep this machine running as efficiently as it was. But overall, the locker room was light hearted and serious at the same time. There were some veterans in here who had lost games where they'd been up by more than this going in to half time.

But when the referee came in to remind them to walk up, Farmer and Garrett went together, the quarterback smiling to himself as he strapped on his helmet, knowing that, even if he wasn't the quarterback he wanted to be, and that they thought he was, there was no one he'd rather step foot on that field with.

---

The next half was barbaric, to say the least. Mar Sara Tech managed a touchdown on their opening drive, and got some excitement going from their home crowd and their sideline, but John Garrett's leading of a seventy yard drive in which he went 7 for 9 for sixty two yards and another score silenced them, and what optimists remained were dampened when Kevin Gerhart brought down their quarterback on third down, giving Richardson the ball back yet again.

This time, Soup Shorts led the way with forty yards, and on the sixteen yard line, knowing that this could very well put the nail in the coffin, Garrett took the snap, and scowled when Haemiel, who had been pancaked earlier pancake, blasted through their center and spread his arms, looking for the sack. Unfortunately, he was not satisfied, Garrett bolting to the right, motioning to Farmer and Gilmore, when they looked back, with a forward wave, signalling that he was scrambling. Quickly, they began to try and clear his path, Farmer laying out a defensive back and stalling another while Gimlmore chip blocked the safety, granting their quarterback safe passage until his legs were wrapped up at the one, allowing him to fall, ball extended, into the end zone and go up 35 to ten. With the third quarter drawing to a close, that was likely the end of it.

But, in the final minute of the third, Talelendren took a snap once more, looking determined from the twenty yard line, and his eyes flipped to his wide receiver who'd been hammered earlier, having eluded the zone coverage of the safeties, and darted the ball to him for thirty yards in the gap.

Galaelwa didn't wait, sprinting up field with nothing but green in front of him, and for a moment, it appeared that he'd get away for a score that would at least keep them in this one. Unfortunately for him, Davon Stovall, sprinting at a breakneck pace, not only down, but across the field, as the reciever had been nowhere near him, drew even with him at the fifteen and threw a shoulder into the wideout, his body crumbling as the ball went flying, no one else anywhere near it as the corner picked it up and ran forward for a good distance before allowing himself to be pushed out of bounds, far too winded to do much more than that.

He almost collapsed once he got to the sideline, Melvin Strong picking him up under the shoulders and helping him to the benches, "Hey man, good work." Stovall weakly accepted a fist bump, laughing.

"That, that sucked." He had to pause to catch his breath as he watched John Garret drive them down the field once again, play by play, "Never again."

"You gots yourself some burners homie." Strong strapped on his own helmet and ran out, jumping up to meet Shorts in the air before running out into the huddle, taking the ball seconds later and finding eleven yards for a first down. By now, they were twenty yards away from the end zone.

Javier Gilmore rolled his arms at the next playcall. There was no deception here, just a streak route against one on one press coverage.

He smiled at the corner lined up opposite him, Kafindon Tantathsel, "Good game."

Once the ball was snapped, he was gone. A safety moved over to cover him, but by then he was past him, the ball placed just a bit ahead of him, but that allowed for some theatrics, Gilmore leaping to grab it and landing with a roll over his shoulder, springing to his feet and raising the ball into the air with a roar, slamming it into the ground for a spike as they went up 42-10.

The game ended just a minute after one last field goal, to go up 45-10 in a blowout away win for the Governors. John Garrett pumped his fist into the air, having five touchdowns to call his own, four through the air, on the day, Soup Shorts having recorded his first rushing touchdown of the season, tackled him from behind, laughing like a schoolboy, "That's another one! Thank god Johnny knocked some sense into our coaches and brought you here!"

He helped his quarterback up, grinning, "Looks like you're even better than we expected big guy. Keep it up. You're our guy now, all the way to the finish."

Garrett couldn't find words to say what those words meant to him, even if he thought the faith was misplaced, all he could do was smile, he and the Governors having notched another one in the win column.

[Abanhfleft]

Kelly, Part Two

Morgan Freeman Commemorative Athletic Field
Thereisnogodistan Community College
2 miles outside of Thereisnogodabad, Fhulghamous Peninsula

With another school year comes another season in the NSCF. You would think that after all the things we’ve done and gone through in the NSCF, our team could finally afford to have a few more players in its ranks so that one injury to just one player doesn’t automatically put us all in crisis mode. Well, you’d be wrong again. Sure, Governor-General Petrarchos Kulbano redirects most of the funds the colony earns through its diamond exports back into the Fhulghamous itself and he even has his fingers in the TCC athletics pie, and TCC can afford to have a few more players in its team now; it’s just that the college’s attempts at recruiting high school players have been a bit, well, how should I say this politely? It’s been shit. Yes, I said it. Thereisnogodistan Community College’s recruitment process is shit. We’re constant participants in the NSCF, for crying out loud, and yet high school graduates still pick the likes of Fhulghamous Peninsula Colonial State University and the University of Port Thimpodopoulos over TCC! There’s no other explanation for this other than that, yes, TCC has a shit recruitment policy. Also, American football isn’t as popular as basketball and soccer-football over here in our little corner of the Fhulghamous.

So no, the TCC Atheists are still short on players. We only have enough players to actually field an entire team but after that we have nobody on the bench. We only have one quarterback (me), a tailback (Johnny Varn), two wide receivers (Matt Boughton and Basti Chapa)… you know what I mean. And as of right now, TCC has just lost yet another vital component of our team.

Everyone knows the story of Yusuf Khumaira, the son of the Emir of Nineveh of the Sultanate of Oontaz and one day the future Emir of Nineveh himself. Yusuf surprised his peers by going to lowly and relatively unknown Thereisnogodistan Community College (I’m still surprised that the Oontazniks didn’t cast him out for going to a place which they could very well have labeled a heretic and subversive sect just because of our name, but I guess we’ve finally advanced out of that particular stage of cultural development) instead of Oontaz’s Big Four, the University of Saint Muhammad (not the same as the Prophet Muhammad of Islam, though), De La Fayette University, Ateneo de Manitogoro University, and the University of Oontaz. Yusuf then shocked his peers even further by becoming an American football player as opposed to a soccer-football player, and not just any American football player; as a kicker. Nobody pays any attention to kickers in American football except when they miss conversions and field goals or on the other hand make an outrageous field goal from a range other sensible people would consider crazy.

But Yusuf was a fucking artist when it came to kicking some field goals; he knew how to kick the ball just right so that it would go between the goalposts even despite a hurricane-force crosswind. Must be from his own soccer background. And everyone remembers Yusuf for that wicked field goal he scored in Quebec against Ko-oren in World Bowl XXVIII (so that’s what it was), the World Bowl where lowly Thereisnogodistan almost won it all. Through the biting wind and despite his own form going against him (four missed field goals out of four attempts! Four!) Yusuf still took the shot anyway at the recommendation of Coach Nkong’o, and he scored the field goal despite the ball really almost not making it through the posts.

That was simply one of the most memorable events in World Bowl history, and now Thereisnogodistan Community College needed somebody to replace Yusuf and do much the same thing for us again. Yusuf had finally graduated with a degree in fine arts (how that will help him run the Emirate of Nineveh when he finally takes the throne, I don’t know, but mine not to reason why) and had been immediately drafted into the FNLAF by the Dorfdifving Dreadnoughts, still as a kicker. I wish him all the best succeeding at Dorfdifving or wherever else he may end up. Yusuf, if you’re reading this, I’m telling you right now that if you make it in Dorfdifving then I know you can make it anywhere!

That just reminded me of my own situation. I was going to graduate come the end of this school year and still I have only two options available to me when I finally leave the hallowed halls of TCC: either I become a practicing psychologist, or I go abroad to play for a team in one of the nations in which girls and boys can play together in American football. Sure as hell I won’t go to the Bikini League, though.

But back to the story at hand first. With the new NSCF season on the horizon, TCC needed a new kicker and fast. But where were we going to find one? I cannot stress this one point enough, I believe: TCC’s recruitment is shit. They literally didn’t get any takers when they went around recruiting in the high schools in the colony last year so once again we were asking for volunteers from the current student body. We would consider ourselves lucky if we could get just one decent kicker, even if he’s just here for one season and he graduates along with me next year. Yeah, that’s how crap the situation in the team is right now. But you could say that it’s not as crap as, say, Sporting Ceneisis Women, where they lost Allie “The Final Piece of the Puzzle” Vacek to St. John’s Arsenal over in Quebec because she wasn’t being used properly by the team. TCC just needs a good kicker. Sporting Ceneisis Women must have another world-class striker or center forward in front of Sonny Torres and Samantha Leroux if they want to mount another title challenge in years.

But enough about soccer. I’m talking about American football here. Although, in a sense, soccer is also where this particular tale began, in a certain sort of way. So there I was, walking across the athletic field to the American football training ground carrying my gear and helmet when I heard someone running up behind me. It was Rey Kang, one of TCC’s two cornerbacks and the guy who got me involved with the Atheists in the first place. “Yo, Kel, wait up!” Rey shouted, and I stopped in my steps and let him catch up to me. Rey was panting a little bit by the time that he caught up to me. “What the hell is wrong with me?” he muttered almost to himself. “Why can I run in full armor and helmet for forty minutes and not even break a sweat but I can’t jog so much as ten yards before I’m more exhausted than a fat guy chasing after a veggie soy burger?”

“That’s just because you’re not thinking that you’re playing a game,” I told him. “Sometimes, it’s all in the mind, brother,” I added. “You have to convince yourself that you’re not gonna get tired just running around the place.”

Rey laid a hand on my shoulder and panted out his next words. “Damn, Kelly, I’m really gonna miss you next year,” he said. “Not just me; the whole team’s gonna miss you.”

“Aww, Rey, that was so sweet of you,” I said purposefully a little bit too cheerfully. “But seriously though, I’m going to miss not only the team but also this whole place, this college. This is where I, we, really made a name for ourselves. We made it all the way to the final of the World Bowl just by our lonesome. Everyone knows we gave our best against Schottia; hell, they won the title just by a point! I don’t care what everyone else says, Schottia’s players were semi-pro and we’re all amateurs, and we managed to keep competitive throughout the game! God, I really will miss all this. I don’t know what I’m going to do next after I graduate, to tell you the truth.”

“Yeah, well, before we get to that, I’m here to tell you something, Kel,” Rey said, still clutching his side in faint pain. “We finally did it. We finally found a new kicker.”

“Oh, really?” I asked. “How did we get him?”

“He was the only one who appeared for the tryouts. But it’s not just that. He’s from Oontaz too, just like Yusuf. And he’s also a motherfucking artist with the ball. Coach really thinks we uncovered a hidden gem here. He wants your opinion on the guy before we officially induct him into the team, but I’m telling you, when you see him, you’re gonna love him instantly. He’s that good.”

“Huh, when you say it that way, I guess I have to see to believe for myself. All right, Rey, lead the way.”

We walked across the rest of the athletic field before we finally hit the Am-football training ground. A lone guy was there, kicking and dribbling a soccer ball around. He was definitely Oontaznik; his face and his skin were proof positive of that. He also had mad skills with the soccer ball; the only guy I could remember having that kind of great skill moves was Juan Dominador Macaspac, the Oontaznik national team striker who’s now also their coach, or manager, or whatever the hell you call the guy who calls the shots in a soccer team. The guy let the ball bounce off of his feet once, twice, three times, and then he let it land on the grass and gave it a mighty whack of a kick! The ball sailed high into the air and right through the training goalposts, which were honestly as high and robust as a pair of actual competition goalposts. I had to whistle in appreciation of that shot, and that whistle attracted the notice of the guy who had to be our new kicker. “I take it you’re going to be my new teammates,” he said.

“That depends,” I said, putting on an air of indifference which had already been shattered by my earlier whistle. “I’m Kelly Profit, starting and only quarterback of the Atheists. This here is Rey Kang, one of our cornerbacks. Let’s just say that I’m going to be the judge of whether you get to make the team or not.”

“Sure, whatever you say,” the guy said, and then he held out his hand. “Praxedes Julio Ipanema,” he said. “But just call me Des. I was born on the feast day of Saint Praxedes, which is why I was named after her. That should tell you why I prefer to be called Des for short.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? You have a thing against women?” I crossed my arms as I asked the question.

“No, no, nothing of the sort,” Praxedes, or Des, waved away. “I’m just not that comfortable with being a guy named after a woman even if she is a saint. But I’m not the only one. You’re named after your grandparents too, right? Erasmus Aumann and Ramoncito Proffetta, if I remember correctly.”

“I take your point,” I said. “But let’s see what you’ve got. I know you can kick a soccer ball right between the goalposts from 50 yards. Can you do it with an actual football?”

“You mean that brown oval thing you steadfastly continue to call a ball?” Praxedes Ipanema smiled. “Of course I can do that.”

Looks like we’ve got a joker in our hands, I thought. “Well, then, let’s see if you can cash the checks your mouth writes,” I said. I picked up the pigskin and knelt down on the ground on one knee with one pointy end of the ball in the grass and the other in my hand. “50 yards, new boy. Can you do it?” I asked.

“Are you really sure you want to test me like this?” Ipanema asked with a grin. “You might want to let me back up and get a good run-up. One last time: are you really, really sure you want me to do this?”

“This is the game-winning goal, kid,” I said back. “We’re on fourth down and 10 and you’re our only hope of winning this game. If you don’t kick this now we’re going to get penalized!”

Ipanema shook his head, puffed out his cheeks, and let out a long slow breath. He jumped around a few times on the balls of his feet and then he ran. He ran forward and then just as he drew level with me, he cocked his leg back and then hit the ball in my hand soccer-style, with the instep of his shoe and not the toe. The ball sailed perfectly out of my hands, hit the parabola of its arc somewhere over the 20-yard line, and then it grazed the bar thing between the posts before passing through them for an undeniable field goal. Once again, I let out a whistle of appreciation.

“Nice boots, skin man,” Rey said from his place behind Ipanema.

“Looks like you’ve met our new kicker, Kelly,” a familiar deep voice said from the opposite end of the field. It was Coach Francois-Michel Nkong’o, the man who had led Thereisnogodistan Community College to the finals of both the last Baptism of Iron and the World Bowl XXVIII. Of course, he lost both times in both finals, but that isn’t really the measuring stick by which his success in TCC was gauged. In any case, Coach (as he prefers to be called by the team) proved to be a very good and capable coach for TCC and has stayed on as the team’s coach for over seven years.

“So, Kelly, what do you say to our new recruit?” Coach asked me once he and the rest of the team drew level with us.

“He’s got technique, I have to admit,” I said. “But this is all in a training ground environment. I don’t know if he can handle an actual gametime situation, though. I guess we’ll have to see.”

“That’s as close as you’ll come to an admission that you’re good enough for the team as you’re gonna get, Des,” Coach said. “Welcome to the team. This is the best and brightest that Thereisnogodistan Community College has to offer for the NSCF and by extension the rest of the multiverse.”

“I look forward to being part of this great adventure,” Praxedes Ipanema said, and then he gave me a friendly wink. Oh, boy. I have a feeling this is going to be a very, very long season.

[The Redvale]

A Tale Of Two Sisters

Chapter Three: Battle

“I've heard from multiple sources that there's conflict in this locker room, and I can say right now that we're putting an end to that. There's been rumors that certain players are speaking badly about our quarterback, and because I don't want this to become a long and drawn out conflict that destroys our locker room in the same way that Mount Maris suffered through chemistry problems last season and then had their season ended early because of it, I'm going to announce a compromise. Those of you who have a problem, come forward now and voice those problems, in front of everyone. If you don't have the courage to talk about what you think in front of the entire team, than I want you to shut up and I never want to hear from you again about this,” said Paco Reyes, who had been picked by Michael Cho as the staff member to address the issues that plagued Castle’s team chemistry early in the season. “You have thirty seconds to come forward-”

Paco hadn't expected anyone to actually step up, but he was surprised when Amalie Russey stood and moved to the front of the room, almost unsurprised by his challenge. While he had expected the dissidents to want to save face and hide their true opinions, she looked ready to tell everyone what was on her mind… And that could either be cathartic, or be the start of something bad. “If you thought I was going to sit down and shut up, you're damn wrong,” she said, with anger in her voice. “Yes, I have problems with a teammate, and I'm not going to hide who it is or try to be passive aggressive like a coward. I'm going to say right here and now that I'm the best quarterback on this team and that Peri Fothergill should wait her turn. Apparently one of the friends that I told decided that it would be a good idea to narc on me, but that's fine, because I'm not too scared to tell others how I feel… If you want to know why I think this, just look at the tape.”

The room was completely silent, and Amalie took that as a chance to keep talking and making her point. “She has accuracy, but she doesn't have my arm, and she has smarts, but she doesn't have my athleticism. She can take a hit, sure, but she can't run like me and she can't hold up to the Redvali game. She barely survived one of our domestic seasons and had to be pulled from the national title game because of how terrible she was, and now we're expecting her to lead us against even better competition. Some of you thought that she would improve over training camp, but if camp has shown anything, it's that my arm has gotten stronger and hers hasn't improved at all, while the wear and tear of playing in a much more physical country is starting to show. I've already shown that I can handle playing the top teams, teams like Mount Maris! I've already shown that I'm the better quarterback, and I still haven't gotten a chance this season!”

When Paco was about to reply, Amalie spoke again, her voice lower but very heavy with emotion. “I know last season was bad, as far as offense goes. I'm being benched because of last season and I know it, and I'm the first one to admit that we won ugly and lost badly last season. I have to take the blame for a lot of it, but during the offseason and during the domestic season and training camp recently, I've done a lot of soul searching and I've looked at my weaknesses and worked to fix them. You can see my improvement in my performances in camp, but again, I'm not getting my chance, no matter how bad our quarterback play is. You want to know why I think that is?”

Everyone wanted to know, and she decided to just come out and make the big accusation. “Francis Allan believed in me no matter what, but he's not here now. And our new head coach is from Cosumar, and so is our new quarterback. I'm just stating the facts and letting you all come up with your own conclusions, but the truth is, it's suspicious as hell for a redshirt junior to be displaced by a freshman that didn't even play for a top high school program, especially at the start of the season. It would be one thing if I got the initial chance and she won the job because I did bad, but it's another thing completely for me to not get a chance at all. That's what bothers me so much, and it's what I'm complaining to you all about. Again, I'm not going to come at you with some conspiracy theory, I'm just going to put the facts out there and let you connect them yourself. It's my opinion that Peri didn't win this job fairly, but that opinion is just my opinion, I'm not going to say that anything definitely happened or anything didn't. But my opinion is shared by more than one prominent player, and I have the feeling that more agree with me and haven't said anything.”

“Maybe Coach Cho didn't mean to be biased, but the fact that all the quarterbacks that he's worked with in the past are from Cosumar has made a subconscious bias. I don't know, I'm just trying to explain how it might have happened,” she added. “But, whatever the reason, I have something to ask you all. Do you want to be the team with the pretty quarterback that looks better off of the field and throws the ball cleaner on it, or do you want the rough around the edges quarterback that doesn't have the glamour but has the raw talent and the proven pattern of winning? Peri looks good, but I'm a winner, and as far as I know, winning is what we care about. Not looks, not completion percentage, but wins.”

When Amalie finally stood back, Michael Cho stood up and moved to the front of the room with Paco. “I don't exactly appreciate the accusations that I've been biased in my team selection, but I appreciate my players being honest enough to voice their concerns. I'll be thinking of everything that's been said when it comes time to select the team for the next game… Peri, do you have anything to say about this situation or do you have any concerns related to what Amalie just said?”

Now it was the turn of Peri Fothergill to step up and defend herself, and she spoke more calmly and quietly than Amalie. “All I have to say is that I think I've earned this starting job fair and square and I think my play in the opening game of our Mineral Conference season was good enough to keep that job. I'm kind of hurt that some of you think I'm not good enough, but I'm just going to use that as motivation to play better… I think Amalie is out of line by saying that I have this job because of being Cosumarite, too. Before she accuses me of winning the job because of my country, maybe she should look at her play last season and ask herself if she only had that job because of her last name-”

“You did not just go there!” shouted Amalie, charging Peri and having to be held back by Paco, who was barely older than her despite being the offensive coordinator of the team. “I won my job through waiting my turn and redshirting for my first year to learn the system, unlike you! And I didn't benefit from having a favorable coach, unlike you! I actually had to work hard to earn the respect and trust of my coach, while you and Cho have always had a bond because of being the only two on the team that are from Cosumar! If you think that the only reason why I'm starting is because my dad is a famous quarterback, you really don't know me at all!”

“Let's calm down, everyone,” said Paco, trying his best to keep this from turning from an argument into a catfight. “There's no need to fight, we can all say what we want to say without making this physical. As passionate as you both may be about this subject, you run the risk of getting hurt for the game if you start a fight. Let's just settle this peacefully, with our words-”

“Paco, I respect you a lot, but you need to shut up,” Amalie said, wrestling against his grip and trying to go for her rival. “There's just some places that you don't go, and accusing someone of only starting because of their family is one of those places-”

“But saying that someone is only starting because of where they're from isn't off limits?” asked Peri, and the room was completely tense as Amalie calmed down enough that Paco could let go of her. “Why don't we just let our play decide which one of us is better, instead of flinging insults at each other?”

“Because only one of us is getting a chance!” Amalie screamed, and then she started walking to the back of the room and the door. “You know what, I'm done here. Talking about this isn't going to help, not when the people that I'm complaining about are the ones making the decisions. I tried to let everyone know what my problem is, but since there's not any chance of things changing, I'm just going to end my argument here. I already clarified what's wrong, and I already made my points. If anyone else wants to talk about what I said, then come find me on neutral ground, where I'm not surrounded by the people that I'm arguing against.”

“Ami, wait! I hope you know I'm not the one that spread around what you said,” Devante said, standing up and turning to her as she walked to the door. “Running off isn't going to help anything, you might as well talk and fully explain yourself now, since the cat’s out of the bag-”

“It's like playing in a rigged game. The only way to win is to not play in the first place, and I see that now. This isn't over yet, but I'm not going to keep going today with this. And I don't suggest that you do either, because this isn't your fight and this is a bad hill to die on,” Amalie replied, and with that, she stepped out of the room and left the rest of the players divided, either for her or against her, as their game with their northern rivals loomed large on the horizon.

~

Mount Maris versus Castle was never expected to be a shootout, but this game felt especially low scoring and rough, with both sides not giving up much ground. Mount Maris held the 9-0 lead late in the fourth quarter after kicking two field goals
in that quarter to expand their lead from the 3-0 one they had gained early in the third, and their home crowd was into the game and was making life hard for their opponents when they were on offense. It was very hard for the offense to communicate, they kept getting the Maris blitzes wrong and losing ground on sacks, and they found themselves having a hard time passing the ball despite some decent success in the run game.

The weather wasn't doing anything to help them, either, because the tropical storm that was hitting the northern coast hadn't let up. The town of North Coast was being slammed hard by the rains and winds, and it was hard to kick field goals or catch the ball with the heavy rains that were coming down… Castle had suggested canceling the game, but the Friars had opted to not move it, and their fans had still sold out the stadium despite the bad weather. They were wearing heavy coats and plastic rain jackets, but they were still out there cheering on their team and keeping the Castle offense from being able to run properly. Peri Fothergill had been good in the season opener, but here in the rain and on the road, she was struggling and was only completing thirty five percent of her passes.

“Ready! Red nineteen! Red nineteen! Hike!” shouted Peri, and the center delivered the ball to her shakily and caused her to have to take an extra second with her drop back. At the same time, Mount Maris’ monster of a freshman outside linebacker, Bryan Costas, got a good jump and battled his way around the right tackle, ducking towards the pocket and forcing her backwards. Ibrahim Marks-Kagawa was open downfield, but she wouldn't have enough time to find him and make the pass as Costas flew in off of the edge and lowered his shoulder into her chest to take her to the ground.

Peri felt like she was seeing stars, and wondered if she'd broken a rib or something as the larger linebacker drove her into the ground more roughly than was necessary, and even as he got up and acknowledged the roar of the crowd, she stayed down and held her midsection. She wasn't quite injured, she figured out as the pain started to subside, but she had gotten the wind knocked out of her by the mountain of a young man that had just tackled her, and she would probably have to rest for a bit to build her strength back up.

Jay Skov helped her get up, and she was able to walk back to the sideline on her own, where Paco Reyes was waiting to see her status. “You going to be able to go back in on the next play or no? You've been having a rough day, maybe it's time for you to take a break and get some rest. I also don't think we should burn a timeout for rest, so if you aren't one hundred percent, you should sit this drive.”

“I just need to catch my breath for a bit, that's all,” Peri said, sitting down on the bench and waving the physic away when he came over to check her out. “I hate to come out in crunch time in the fourth quarter, but that's how things go sometimes, I guess… It looks like Amalie will finally get the chance that she's been asking for.”

~

Arielle Russey didn't know how to feel as she stood on the Mount Maris sideline and watched her sister warm up on the other one, before pulling her helmet on and running out onto the field to take her spot as the quarterback once again. On one hand, she still resented her because of how she had always succeeded based on their father’s help, while that same father didn't care about helping Arielle in the same way and seemingly only cared about his favorite daughter. But on the other hand, Arielle had done a lot of thinking since her transfer, and she had realized that it might be less of a problem with her sister and more of a problem with her father. She realized that one hundred percent of the blame couldn't fall on Amalie, and that revelation caused her to actually feel bad for her twin.

After all, when Amalie was on the bench with no hope of playing, she looked… Broken. For so long, she had been a quarterback that was used to leading her team, and now she had been benched for a player that wasn't from around these parts and didn't have the same experience. Being a redshirt junior and losing the job to a freshman was embarrassing, and Arielle knew that Amalie was barely able to handle it. She knew the look on her sister’s face… She was depressed, very much so. But now, she had a chance to lead a drive and show the reason why she should be the Castle quarterback going forward. “For her sake, I hope she does good right now. I know I'm on the other team now, but I fear for her if she spends too much time on that bench,” Arielle stated, speaking to Drago Morena, who was also watching next to her. “It's destroying her psyche to watch a freshman start over her, I don't even know if she's going to be able to make the most of this chance after starting on the bench twice…”

“She's not used to that, eh? She's used to being known as Abel Russey’s daughter and being compared to him, not to losing the starting job in training camp and being told to wait for her chance. She's never been a backup before, has she?” asked Drago, as Amalie ran a quick passing play and found Marks-Kagawa on a slant route for ten yards.

“Only in junior varsity. Ever since then, she's started, and this is her first real season where she isn't starting. Looks like her arm is still as good as it was before, though, even though she's coming in cold and throwing in the middle of a typhoon,” Arielle said. “If she can get her accuracy up, I can see her winning back the job if she can put them back in this game. With Peri, they weren't gaining any ground through the air and all of their yards came through the running attack… But I know that Paco Reyes doesn't want to play that style.”

Amalie dropped back again in the shotgun formation, but this time, Eke Kuhn collapsed the block from Jax Pace and tried to drive him into her while Bryan Costas came flying around the edge again for the second time during that drive. But Amalie was a better runner, and she spun out of that tackle attempt and out of the way of the rushing defensive tackle, and as Ky Augustus shot the gap and slammed into her, she managed to get the ball out and send it deep downfield to Devante Heyward, who was matched up with Julien Preus and was beating him by a single step. Amalie hit the ground hard, but Devante was able to pull away to take a two step lead on the corner that was covering him, and he extended to make a diving catch that set up Castle for a first and goal situation.

The Marisian crowd went silent, and Amalie bounced back up from the rough tackle and ran to the sideline for the huddle, where Paco Reyes was waiting to show the next play to the team. “We've been hurting them on the ground and our passing game has finally picked up, so I think that now is the time to bring out our play action passing game and go for broke,” he stated. He showed them the play that they would be running from the veer formation, and they broke the huddle and trotted back out, about five yards away from the goal line. The 3-4 defense of the Friars was showing another blitz, because they knew they had the advantage over the Castle offensive line that was tired and didn't quite match up to their more aggressive new defensive look, and Amalie read the defense and pointed out the protections.

“Ninety eight is the mic!” she shouted over the noise of the crowd, and then she rose her right hand and shook it in a gesture that was altering the play and telling Marks-Kagawa to go deep and attack the area between the two deep zones that were held by the safeties, instead of staying in the flat. The offensive line shifted to adjust to her reading the defense and pointing out Ky Augustus as the middle linebacker on this play, and Jared Parker angled himself slightly to the side to prepare to trap Bryan Costas between himself and the tackle if he took the inside route against the run. “Red nineteen! Red nineteen! Ready… Set… Go!”

Jax snapped the ball to Amalie, and Bryan did take the inside route that saw him get trapped by Jared long enough to allow the play to develop. Jay Skov acted as if he was going to be lead blocking for Dante White, running to the line and plugging the hole between the tight end and tackle to keep Costas out of the backfield, but as White passed Amalie, she pulled the ball back instead of giving it to him, and angled her body in the other direction as she looked at the matchup between the corner and Marks-Kagawa. He'd be open in a few seconds, but with the blitz coming quickly, she wouldn't have time to wait. She threw the ball high, aiming for it to hang and allow him to get open, and that was exactly what happened.

Ibrahim faked a cut to the inside well enough to throw the corner off of his trail, and he returned to his original route just in time to snatch the ball out of the air before it could hit the ground in front of the goal line. He stepped across the line, the safety couldn't come down in time to stop him, and Castle had their first points of the game. More specifically, they had six points now, soon to be seven after the conversion. And Amalie Russey had thrown her first touchdown pass of the season, and it hadn't taken her very many attempts at all to do it.

Castle would still not be able to get the ball back from the Friars before the end of the game, with their defense not being able to hold Drago Morena and the powerful Maris offense, but that touchdown was very important nonetheless. That play signified that the quarterback competition wasn't over yet, and that Amalie Russey still had a fighting chance at coming into the next game as a starter. The Castle faithful could only hope that the quarterback battle wouldn't tear the team apart, however, because right now, it was definitely looking like it might.

[Kep]

---

GRIDIRON ASSOCUATION OF KEBEC
Calix City Institute of Archaeology Kings

Head coach: Vince Dill [ COS / 55 y.o. ]
Assistant coach: Manuel Barboza[ TRV / 53 y.o. ]
Offensive Coordinator: Xavier Pierce [ TRV / 57 y.o. ]
Defensive Coordinator: Constatine Denaus [ KBC / 49 y.o. ]
Special teams Coordinator: Nathaniel Choquent [ KBC / 45 y.o. ]
FCS National Titles: 2
Champions Cup: 1
Captain: Porthos Subercaseaux
Arena: Calix City Stadia [ 47.850 ]

---

OFFENSIVE BACKS			Pos	Age

17. Porthos Subercaseaux  (C)	QB	19	
21. Gervais Granet     	        SB	18     
23. Claude Allemand  	        SB	21
25. Pierre-Louis Jaubert 	FB	21

11. Adrien De Verley           	QB	18	
22. Williams Verdaun     	SB	19     
24. Pactrick Reaves Jr.  	SB	19
26. Félix Besnard       	FB	22
OFFENSIVE WIDE-RECEIVERS

13. Edouard Courbet 	        WR	21	
19. Martin Auchest	        WR	19	

81. Thibaud Boulet		WR	18	
84. Vincent Guillaume	        WR	18		
OFFENSIVE FRONT-LINE

41. Mickaël Nicollier  		LG	20	
44. Théodore Aubert  		LT	21	
45. Victor Laframboise		C	21
47. Matthieu Cordonnier		RG	19
49. Rémy Duhamel     		RT	18

42. Amaury De Villepin		LG	19	
44. Lou Veil                    LT	18	
46. Von Dever de Xataoux	C	19
48. Thibault Piaget    		RG	18
50. Josselin Beauvilliers 	RT	20
DEFENSIVE FRONT-LINE

61. Marc-Antoine Demaret        DE	19	
63. Pascal Figuier              DE	18	
65. Josselin Leloup 	        DT	21

62. Sacha Moitessier            DE	21	
64. Aubin Brugière              DE	19	
66. Gwenaël Castex  	        DT	18
DEFENSIVE BACKS

68. Fernand Lazard              CB	19	
70. Matthias Plantier           CB	18	
72. Jean-Philippe Caillat	MLB	21
74. Robin Boissieu              SLB	20	
76. Léonard Beaux 	        WLB	20

67. Thaddée Chaucer             CB	20	
69. Jérôme Cuvillier            CB	18	
71. Jean-Claude Chaucer	        MLB	19
73. Mickaël Auberjonois         SLB	20	
75. Roch Moitessier	        WLB	20
DEFENSIVE SAFTIES

76. Florent Roatta              FS	21	
78. Gautier Lucy                SS	20	
79. Côme Simon 	                SS	21

53. Jean-Dae Cox                FS	18	
58. Malevier Draydbev           SS	20	
64. Maxin Xensay	        SS	19

---

Scorinating Info
Style Mod: -3.50

[Kalalau]

---

Rooster, Rooster...Goose? Honu Down Stoneshore With Risky Tactics
Story by Abraham Shepherd


MOSAIC--The Harbor College Honu notched their first win of the young NSCF season on Saturday, defeating top ten team Stoneshore College at the Plumeria Garden with a score of 23-17. The win places the Honu back on track in the NSCF following a heartbreaking last second loss to defending champion Ramusok Capital during matchday one.

The win also thrusts interim head coach Samson Fisafua even more into the international spotlight. If he wasn’t there already following the controversial interchange that saw official head coach Goose Carneghy remove himself from team activities just a matter of days before the season’s start, he is most certainly there now following his own calculated risks in the victory over a strong opponent in Stoneshore. Fisafua channeled his own inner Goose Carneghy when he elected--and succeeded--in kicking not just one, but two on-side kicks during the game.

The first came to begin the second half, catching a slumbering Stoneshore off guard coming out of the halftime break. With the game tied at ten thirty minutes in, kicker Camerynne Eider executed a superbly timed one-bounce and up scooter toward the right sideline, one that caught the Bruins front line completely by surprise and allowed Honu tight end Azusa Hobbes the chance to squirt in and gain control of the ball just in time to give the Honu an additional possession.

Controversial as the call may have been to start the second half, the latter of the two on-side kick calls was more likely the one that effectively ended the second half. Following a go-ahead Cyril Peregrine scramble to the endzone with 1:48 left in the ballgame, rather than kicking it deep and forcing Stoneshore to go the length of the field to win it, Fisafua once again elected a recovery attempt on a short, surprise kick. Once again, Eider made good on her soccer background, executing perfectly a short dribbler up the left hashmarks that displayed for all the hours she had spent practicing such a kick with a round ball, let alone an oblong one. With a straight end over end trajectory, the ball took a last second curve-spiral that would have made the Harbor College baseball team’s pitching coach smile--a perfectly placed slider from the football turf--that flawlessly split the gap between two Stoneshore linemen. Speedster Laird Prefontaine had just enough RPMs in him to beat them both to the ball, and just enough ability to make his tiny frame slip through as the bigger bodied men crashed on him. It was a hit the wide receiver rarely takes, as previous playcalling has looked to protect the petite playmaker from crushing hits. And from their own 43 yard line, three kneel downs later and the Honu had secured--perhaps some would even say stolen-- a victory.

Following the game, Fisfaua defended his unusual tactics to a curious crowd of media personnel. “I tell you what, that was something. Great job to the guys selling it on both of those, and Camerynne [Eider] really did a heck of job engineering those kicks. They say behind every good man is a good woman, and we definitely had ours today. We really felt that even though the Bruins aren’t known for their offensive fireworks, that with Stoneshore’s formidable defense it was critical to steal away some possessions, and we just weren’t able to do it on turnovers. Going into the second half, we thought we could catch them with their hands in their pockets, and that one worked. So we were thinking after Cyril [Peregrine]’s touchdown that we really did not want to put the ball back in their hands. And the more I thought about it, the more I was like ‘Hey, we already showed them one on-side kick, so now they are expecting it. But because they know that we know that they know to expect it, maybe they aren’t expecting it as much.’ So we went ahead and gambled a bit for the second time. Luckily we played this game at home where our crowd really helped us with the deception with it being so loud. We gambled, and the house won it for us.”

In addition to the low-percentage wagers took (the average success rate for on-side kicks in the NSCF is 18%), Fisafua also showed more of his developing offensive tactics during the game, completely reversing course from the developments that proved successful in the tilt against Ramusok. While tight end Phineas Clocktower notched his obligatory touchdown early in the second quarter, he was otherwise a small portion of the game, gaining only 40 yards on four catches. Otherwise, Fisafua employed heavy doses of Jaelen Bush out of the backfield and depth-chart buried Amos Whaler to nickel and dime the Stoneshore stonewall.. Bush gained 102 all purpose yards on the day both as a runner and receiver, and Whaler recorded the first 100 yard game of his career, finishing with 110 yards on a lofty, team leading twelve grabs.

And as some suspected, we are now seeing the looks of the Fisafua offense in what appears to be a clone of his defensive tactics: a highly morphing scheme that seeks to catch the opponent where they perhaps least prepared for the attack. In the post game presser, Fisafau added the following comment: “Well, we know that the other teams are going to do their homework. Look, Stoneshore is a pretty storied program in the NSCF. They’ve won it all before; they know what they are doing. You can’t expect Coach Hufnagel to come in here and not try to take away our best players. It would be asinine to expect that. But you can’t really sit your studs either. So we practice one game plan that pushes our big weapons, but we also mock up a game plan that is something that the other team probably isn’t prepared for. Between the two, we think we get enough production from our big names to throw enough deception to free our under-the-radar guys. And we feel that it is difficult for other teams to prepare for both, because then they have watered down their defense. But if they are only prepared for one, then we will gladly hit them with the other. This is a simple ‘find-the-weakness, exploit-the-weakness’ tactic that we think gives us a competitive edge.”

With the win and the first matchup with the Honu’s top Horizon competitors behind them, Harbor College now moves into what many pundits have called a lull in their schedule. But Fisafua certainly has it figured out that he can’t take his foot off the pedal and coast now. With the Goose having flown South for the winter, it appears that the Rooster is ready to strut his own.

In a bit of a diversion from our family friendly approach appropriate for the South Seas Sentinel, in a game like this, if Fisafua has the balls to make the calls, perhaps he has earned it. At least this week.

Box Score	1	2	3	4	OT	F
Stoneshore College	7	3	0	7	N/A	17
Harbor College	3	7	6	7	N/A	23

Scoring summary:
1st Qtr 10:15 (HC) Camerynne Eider 36 yard field goal [SC 0-HC 3]
1st Qtr, 2:55 (SC) Vitus Singmirth 3 yard run (Enes Carasov XP) [SC 7-HC 3]
2nd Qtr, 10:49 (HC) Cyril Peregrine 4 yard pass to Phineas Clocktower (Camerynne Eider XP) [SC 7- HC 10]
2nd Qtr, 0:18 (SC) Enes Carasov 33 yard field goal [SC 10-HC 10]
3rd Qtr, 9:02 (HC) Camerynne Eider 27 yard field goal [SC 10-HC 13]
3rd Qtr, 1:16 (HC) Camerynne Eider 34 yard field goal [SC 10-HC 16]
4th Qtr, 8:38: (SC) Shannon Teiten 1 yard run (Enes Carsov XP) [SC 17-HC 16]
4th Qtr, 1:48: (HC) Cyril Peregrine four yard run (Camerynne Eider XP) [[SC17-HC 23]

---

[Ranoria]

Richardson University Governors: A New Era; Part 3: Demons

Garrett was alone in his dorm, where he and Johnny Farmer stayed, sitting cross legged on the bed with a bowl of ramen in his lap, laptop open in front of him.

This was his sunday ritual. He'd go to church, come home, and watch his film, as well as that of their opponent that week. This week, they were playing the one and one Sol Dey Rey University, and, from what he'd seen of the seaturtles defense, they weren't going to let him out of the pocket. Watching their games against other mobile quarterbacks, it became very clear that he was going to have a linebacker, or maybe a safety, on him at all times, and an attempt at escaping his watchful eye would risk a tackle for a loss or even a fumble.

Beyond that, they had a beefy set of linebackers, as well as a very skilled secondary. The secondary were a group of ballhawks from what he could see, which would be an issue, and the linebackers were obviously good at stopping the run, but the defensive line? Not so much.

Against his relatively strong, and very large, protectors, their defensive line was going to get eaten alive. Bradley Johnson would likely record multiple pancakes, and that meant that he could get to the second level. Garrett, honestly, was of the opinion that if they had a fullback to take on the linebackers, then they could run rampant on this defense, because he wasn't going to be able to pass very much against this secondary. Maybe their former quarterback, Derek McNair, could have, but Garrett didn't have the confidence to let the ball rip against this secondary. He knew that, if he did, he would be exposed as the fraud that he was.

But, watching the film, an idea popped into his head. Soup, their first string running back, was about two hundred and forty pounds, big for a halfback and adequate for a fullback. He'd shown ability to pass block, and as hard of a hitter as he was, he could see the back bowling through the hole to make a block. And so, before bringing it up to their coach, he texted Shorts a brief question regarding whether he'd be willing to let Strong take the reigns for a day and continued watching film.

It was still true that he wasn't going to put up the stats he had these last two games, but he'd be able to use Javier Gilmore, Anthony Foster, and Johnny Farmer in the passing game, if only because Foster was six foot five, Gilmore's speed was off the charts, and Farmer was a huge mismatch to anyone covering him.

His phone buzzed, and he looked down, Shorts's response a brief inquiry. Why not give the freshman a shot?

Elijah?

---

The next day, during practice, Elijah Sampson, their six foot, two hundred thirty five pound, redshirt freshman running back, was lining up at fullback between Garrett and Shorts, Joey Giordano playing wing tight end while Gilmore and Foster manned the outside.

Richard Steinheil and Luke Stretcher nodded from behind the offense, smiling at the idea of this new set that they'd never considered using, if only because they didn't have a fullback on the roster. From the get go, it was evident that Sampson was more than willing to lay the hammer down, even putting Ross Monarch, a very good linebacker, on his back at one point in the course of blocking him.

And, near the end of practice, when they finally handed him the ball, his eyes lit up. There were four different handoffs and six passing plays in which the freshman could potentially get the ball, and that was all he needed.

No, not all he needed, more than he could've ever asked for with the backs who were currently on the roster.

---

"Hey Johnny," John walked off the field, holding his pads by the facemask, helmet underneath his shoulder pads, "You're know, with as good as their secondary is, and the size of their linebackers, you'll be getting a good look this week."

"You think?" Johnny smiled, his own pads slung over a shoulder, "Don't be afraid to let it rip every once in awhile though, after all, we've got to keep them on their toes."

"Of course." He was, really, nervous to do such a thing, not sure if he could really try and light up the field against this talented secondary, and was happy that the gameplan involved all three of their running backs working as a trio to power through the defense, along with short out routes and medium, over the middle balls to avoid safeties. He wouldn't be surprised if Farmer ended up with well over a hundred yards in this one. "Hey, are you doing anything tonight?"

"Yeah, actually, I've got a date with that girl."

"Sylvia?"

"Yeah, that's the one." Farmer laughed, looking a bit bashful as if he were a first grader admitting that he had a crush, "I'll be sure to let you know how it goes."

"Just don't go home with her," Garrett gave him a mock glare before quoting a popular boxing movie, "Women weaken the legs."

---

Instead of studying, John Garrett was reading news articles about the Governors while his best friend was on a date, sipping on a mix of whey and whole milk as he did so.

Governors Reign Supreme in 45-10 Win Over Mar Sara Tech

It was on the front page of yesterday's news, and he smiled at the sight, looking down at the smaller print below the headline.

In week one, Richardson University, with a quarterback who hadn't started in the domestic season, sitting behind Derek McNair, who led the team to the National Championship with a historic 5,011 passing yards and 1,027 rushing yards, had a good deal of inquiry surrounding him coming in. Instead of being impressed that the redshirt sophomore had won the starting job, critics were skeptical that he had instead been handed it by under-performing talent from the other two, as it is common knowledge that John Garrett was only accepted to Richardson University due of Johnny Farmer's please. A 300 yard, 2 touchdown performance wasn't enough to quench their doubts.

This, though, a 402 yard, 4 touchdown game with another score on the ground, should do just that. John Garrett looked absolutely unstoppable, displaying not only incredible arm talent, but the ability to read a defense and call a play to counter their schemes, much like the current RFL star Ricky Ray. But, unlike most players with this uncommon trait, he has the athleticism to scramble out of the pocket, able to pick a defense apart from both within and outside of his offensive line's protection.

In the 45-10 win, John Garrett was 23 of 30 for, again, 402 yards and 4 passing touchdowns. This should calm Richardson fans regarding the capability of their starting quarterback, even if Richardson was only permitted to compete against this international competition based on the assumption that Derek McNair, who was drafted soon after winning the championship, would still be on the team.

After reading the article, the quarterback's heart skipped a beat. He was being, even in a roundabout way, compared to Derek McNair? That was unbelievabe.

And, instead of finally proving to the young quarterback that he was something special, all it did was multiply the weight on his shoulders tenfold.

Because now, when he could no longer fake it, his entire team would collapse around him, and everyone would be let down.

[Frenline Delpha]

Cut-Off Time

Zephyr Conference
University of Aldhuld (ALS) 51–21 University of Lisianski (LSI)
Zenderfield  College (MUS) 0–22 Innusburg University (ALS)
Ceneisis Naval Academy (AFT) 30–17 Thereisnogodistan Community College (NGD)

# Zephyr Conference                             Pld    W   L    PF   PA 
1 Ceneisis Naval Academy (AFT)                    3    3   0    85   24
2 Innusburg University (ALS)                      3    3   0    73    0
3 Thereisnogodistan Community College (NGD)       3    2   1    30   30
4 University of Aldhuld (ALS)                     3    1   2    51   68
5 University of Lisianski (LSI)                   3    0   3    28   93
6 Zenderfield  College (MUS)                      3    0   3     0   52