-Richard Steinheil leading his team onto the field before the game
Sixty nine thousand people, in Banija's most iconic, national stadium, the Stadium of Resoration. Ten thousand fans of the Governors in the stands, sixty thousand of Loyola-Istria...
And a playoff berth hanging in the balance.
John Garrett, Richardson's star quarterback, up until this point, had racked up 10,022 yards and 80 touchdowns compared to only nine interceptions in his NSCF football career.
Despite the team's 8-4 record, he himself certainly hadn't dropped off, passing for over 3,300 yards and 30 scores, with only 3 interceptions. Despite this, ahead of him, he had a game that was almost a must win for Richardson to even sniff playoff contention, as the committee only allots two spots for non-OSPI qualifying teams. Fortunately,
in the last contest between these two squads, Garrett had put up a career-high 511 yards and 5 touchdown passes, shredding the defense to lead his team to victory.
But Loyola-Istria's squad had their own star, Isaka Jawara. Along with Garrett, he is arguably one of the top two quarterbacks in the NSCF, and is the returning NSCF offensive player of the year. Jawara has led the most explosive, and highest scoring, offense in the NSCF, some of his season highlights including returning from a leg injury to take down rival squad Northern Moravica with three total touchdown and a 4 touchdown game in his last in-conference contest.
Interestingly enough, these squads feature players from the home nation of the other team. For Richardson, that means middle linebacker and true freshman Isaiah Bryce as well as explosive, if troubled, wideout Kieran-Kweo Atkison. Both had been key cogs for this team, with Bryce leading the team in tackles and Atkison being the most explosive threat at wide receiver despite his inconsistencies.
On Banija's side, CB Corrin Fairless has had an up and down season at Loyola-Istria, but the true freshman out of Ranoria managed to secure a starting spot on one of the NSCF's best programs. They are also rumored to be pursuing Daron Dempsey and Freiderick Hans, two of Ranoria's top high school prospects, who have both announced that they will be in attendance.
In the stadium of restoration, the game was set. The 11-1 Blue Thunder and the 8-4 Governors, and Richardson had the ball first.
It quickly became apparent that Loyola-Istria had shown up today, their defense, which had been shredded in the last contest between the two teams, forced Richardson to punt after five snaps, four runs by Melvin Strong that went for as many yards and an eleven yard completion from John Garrett. It was a telling sign, but only one drive in,
it was nothing to worry about, particularly when a Douglas Starling sack ended the drive for Loyola-Istria after a thirty yard march highlighted by Isaka Jawara taking off for a thirteen yard gain.
The first quarter was an unexpected defensive slugfest, with three combined sacks and two other quarterback hits between the two squads, but each defense was, primarily, shutting down the run with their front seven, forcing the opposing offense to be one dimensional.
-Richardson QB John Garrett looking to throw in the 1st quarter
Despite this, Richardson ended it with a chip shot field goal, with a sideline catch from Kieran-Kweo Atkison, who went out of bounds, getting them into range.
-Kieran Kweo-Atkison with a sideline catch to get his team in field goal range
Richard Steinheil, when questioned about kicking a field goal on fourth and goal from the two, said, "Look, could we have gotten it? Maybe. Would our defense have capitalized with a three and out or safety if we hadn't? Yeah, probably. But Ta'Shaun deserves a chance to get in the game, and I don't exactly trust him outside of thirty five yards. We were putting him in a position to make a play, and he did."
The second quarter, however, was where things started to get dicey. With the ball back, Jawara led his squad on a five minute long, eighty five yard march down the field that ended with a Loyola touchdown, the electric quarterback running for the second time on the day from the forty five yard line, leaping over the six foot nine defensive end Emmanuel Miller and shedding a tackle from senior free safety Jason Dim in the process.
The touchdown put the game at a 7-3 lead for Loyola Istria as the crowd roared, and John Garrett's squad was unable to answer, the first half finishing with that very same score, as running back Melvin Strong was having an unproductive outing, hindering the entire offense.
After their last bout ended with 34 points for the Governors, this was a change of pace, with both teams struggling to put points, and yards, on the board.
In the locker room, however, of Richardson's squad, John Garrett, for one of the few times in his two years of captaincy, raised his voice when addressing the football team."This is it! You want a shot at the title game? There's no more time, god dammit! We dropped a game against a title contender, and if we drop this one, we're out of the tournament, period, no if ands buts about it. We're out. I don't know about you, but I'm looking for a championship, to put Richardson on the damn map in this league.
Two conference championships, one playoff win. That's all we have! I want more! I want a damn championship game! So let's go and take one!"
When the Governors came out after half time, they looked ready to go, and they came out blazing. Loyola-Istria's next drive went for negative yards, a quick three and out after freshman defensive tackle Julius Volt flashed his potential, tearing through a talented Blue Thunder offensive line to get to Jawara as he was dropping back on third down. It was a pay that reminded Governor fans of last year's defensive captain, Kevin Gerhart, also an interior DL.
On the next drive, Richardson went five wide, a formation that they rarely employed, meaning that Istria didn't have a lot of film on it, and probably didn't spend a ton of time preparing for it, but while it was the most unbalanced offensive set they had at their disposal, it was also widely regarded as the most lethal, putting the ball in the hands of the best passer in Ranorian College Football and giving him the best weapons he had at his disposal all on the field at the same time.
It proved effective, of course. John Garrett, who'd been running this pro-style Governors offense for years, read every defense the Blue Thunder threw at him, and had enough routes to call in order to expose them for it. He dropped back six times that drive after starting on the twenty yard line. He drove his squad down for their first touchdown of the night on a thirty six yard laser to big-play threat and speedster Dylan Tweed down the seam, who didn't see a ton of playing time due to inconsistent hands and route running.
-Loyola-Istria RB Chibo Obea running the ball in the second annual Rebel Cannon Bowl
Loyola knew, down 10-7, that their defensive coordinator would need some time to figure out how to stop the five-wide, and elected to run the ball a good deal, sometimes putting it in the hands of Jawara, sometimes on the back of Chino Obea, who seemed to be getting stronger as the game went on. The seven minute long drive led to a touchdown, 14-10, now, Isaka Jawara tossing a beauty to senior wideout Anchises Athens on his second pass of the drive, the stronger man going over sophomore corner Millard Johnson for the catch.
Going five wide once again, the effectiveness of the formation was severely limitted when the Blue Thunder defense ran a dime formation, sacrificing any pressure for a blanket of coverage over the field. John Garrett, seeing this, changed the personnel on third down, and took his offense down the field that way, handing the ball off three times for eighteen yards when Loyola failed to sub in new defenders, but eventually, on a third down, Garrett was forced to take a shot for his 6'5" wideout in Larry Foster when senior OLB Sainey Singhateh forced him to throw the ball. Unfortunately, Corrin Fairless made a play, swatting it down and forcing a forty yard field goal.
Ta'Shaun Blue, as usual, missed.
By the time the game had fourteen minutes left, Isaka Jawara was showing just why Loyola had the best offense in the NSCF, having thrown for his second touchdown passing of the night, and third overall.
That made it a 21-10 ball game.
John Garrett knew he didn't have a lot of time left, and abandoned his usual caution. While the quarterback took plenty of shots, he also knew when to hold back the ball,
avoiding contested catches when he wasn't throwing to Foster or, last year, Johnny Farmer. Now, it was every man for himself. It took only six throws for him to get his guys into the ten yard line, sixty yards in that span, but once again, the offense failed to finish, and Ta'Shaun Blue, feeling pressure, went to 1/3 on the night.
-One of Richardson kicker Ta'Shaun Blue's many errant kicks
While many expected the Blue Thunder to run out the clock, they did no such thing, hoping to put this one on ice in the fourth quarter, and many would argue that they did.
After a pair of runs from Chinou Obea got them to third and one, Isaka Jawara, who'd been shredding the defense all night, dropped back. He almost threw the ball, put pulled it back, knowing that that particular throw, with Judas Wolfson in the area, could result in a turn of momentum. So, instead, he did what he always does.
He ran.
From the 29 yard line, Jawara took off, accelerating to his full speed in seemingly an instant, giving the linebackers no time to react. He went past corners the corners and then slowed down, pointing at Judas Wolfson, looking for a block, which he got from tight end Ismaela Baldeg, moving Wolfson far enough to the side to give Jawara the space to go for the score, the star quarterback slowing down and roaring his victory into the stands after the ridiculous 71-yard rushing touchdown. With the momentum, and the crowd, on their side, the Blue Thunder successfully went for two, notching their score up to 29-10, the game looking like a blowout with eleven minutes to go.
-Head Coach Alonso Isa celebrating Jawara's 71 yard score with tight end Ismaela Baldeg, who had a key block on the play
But it wasn't done yet.
Dylan Tweed, on the return, got up to the thirty, and Richardson went five wide. While the Blue Thunder had found an effective defense, John Garrett had been looking over those plays on the sideline, and had dissected it himself. Arguably the best pure passer in the NSCF showed it there, going sixty five yards in three minutes before the ball bounced off the hands of freshman wideout Kieran Kweo Atkison, who had been going off after a two game suspension, only to fail to show up from week ten until now.
When the field goal unit came on, however, John Garrett showed his leadership, waving them off the field and calling the play himself, a simply in route from Gunther Krause, tight end, that went straight to the end zone. But they were still down 17-29 after the PAT, and with only six minutes left now, in the ball game.
Good thing Ta'Shaun Blue, despite being an awful kicker, was an on side specialist. He showed off his athleticism, the ball bouncing off the facemask of a Loyola hands teamer and right into those of, once again, Gunther Krause.
With great field position, and with the Blue Thunder coaching staff not having enough time to make adjustments, John Garrett put up his third touchdown of the night in four minutes. The crowd was starting to doubt their squad's integrity, but there were only a couple minutes left in this one. And they would need a miracle of a second straight onside kick in order to have another shot on offense.
Ta'Shaun Blue lined up, looked around, and sent the ball into the air this time, where Dylan Tweed darted in, snagging it from the air and going down to give his boys one more shot on the offensive side.
Knowing that he needed this one, John Garrett took his boys, again, down to the fifteen yard line, but Loyola-Istria's defense had managed to hold them up at there, with only three seconds on the clock.
Garrett took every moment of his team's final timeout, setting his heart rate to prevent a disastrous overthrow while maintaining the needed intensity. He needed this one. And he'd been here before.
Last season, against Cold Hill, of all the teams...
They'd had six seconds left, there, time for one deep shot.John Garrett took the play, one not too dissimilar from the one they'd scored on the last drive.
He lined up, fighting the fire that threatened to take away his will to keep fighting, and have his cadence.
He took the snap, looking straight downfield.
Five...
John Garrett locked in on his man, knowing that only one guy could be trusted to make this play.
Four...
He pulled back, the pass on its way an instant later.
Three...
Johnny Farmer looked into the air, the ball on its way, and Angelo Gordon in coverage on him along with Marcell Salley.
Two...
He made it to the five, the two coverage guys ready to prevent the play, knowing their assignments. Salley was to go for the ball. Gordon was to tackle Farmer whether he caught the pass or not.
One...
Farmer out-muscled Marcell Salley, the safety once again falling to the ground as the tight end turned up field.
This will be it! The clock has hit four zeroes!
He initially managed to get some separation from Gordon, but the athletic freak leapt out, grabbing onto his legs and pulling him down. The two tussled for a bit, Johnny Farmer dragging him a couple yards before he started to fall, reaching the ball out.
Is it in!?
The ball, and his knees, hit the dirt.
No! He's down at the one! Buffalo win! The Cold Hill Buffalo have won it in a thriller! Unbelievable! The Buffalo have taken the game, and possibly the Conference Title,
from Richardson in a classic, a heart breaker, really! What an unbelievable show from both of these teams tonight, a performance where stars shone and mainstays fought with all their hearts! Appreciate the war that both of these Ranorian schools just fought through here in Cold Hill, wow! What! A! Game! Despite John Garrett coming in and completing ten straight passes, through injury, for over two hundred yards and a pair of scores, despite Johnny Farmer's six catch, one hundred and thirty yard, two touchdown, two sack, nine tackle explosion, it just wasn't enough! Cold Hill has dealt a devastating blow to Richardson's playoff, and championship, hopes.
Just like then, he had one play to make something happen.
He looked across the field at his options. Melvin Strong, Alexander Ethridge-Poe, Marcus Morestead, Larry Foster, Kieran-Kweo Atkison.
Atkison had been inconsistent lately. As much as he loved the idea of giving the freak athlete a chance to make a play, right now, it didn't make any sense.
Melvin Strong and Ethridge-Poe would be blocking. They were out of the picture.
Larry Foster and Marcus Morestead, two big-bodied, red zone threat recievers. Foster had good, strong hands, and was the better athlete, but he had a tendency to overthink in clutch situations. Morestead, despite not getting much playing time, was calm, collected, and a captain.
So that left him one real option.
"Readyyy...set!" he took one last breath and blinked, no longer hoping for a miracle, but having the will to make one happen.
"Hike!"
He took the snap on a short drop, and looked to Krause, who was on a drag headed away from Morestead, then Foster, on the opposite side of the field.
The defense seemed to key in on his eyes, leaving Morestead one on one, and Garrett whipped around, floating the ball to his wideout, behind the corner.
It fell right into the breadbasket before Corrin Fairless's hand shot into Morestead's arms, the receiver only able to resist for a moment before the ball went flying into the air and into the Ranorian's hands.
And the clock struck double zeroes.
John Garrett ran towards the corner, hoping to tackle him, strip it, anything, but when Fairless took a knee, he saw all of his playoff hopes dashed away in an instant.
Loyola-Istria had won it all, and Richardson? They'd lost their last shot at a playoff berth, with a record of 8-5. John Garrett knew as well as anyone that their playoff hopes had been dashed. Despite a 401 yard, three-score outing by their QB, the Governors had fallen.
-Loyola-Istria fans storming the field after big win over rival Richardson
But Loyola-Istria? They had lost one game all season, and with Jawara at the helm, and a ring on their finger from last season, they're looking to repeat history this season in the NSCF playoffs, and have a good shot at doing so.
