NSCF 24 - Everything Thread

[Banija]

NSCF Scheduling Philosophies- the rise of the Neutral Site Game
NSCF teams generally don't use it much, but Loyola and NMU are each scheduling one neutral site game every year. Why?

BUSUKUMA, NATIONAL CAPITOL REGION- Banija's capitol city has been a source of joy and horror for Banija's NSCF schools. Ironically, both schools have lost NSCF championship games as favorites at the Stadium of the Restoration. Loyola-Istria, carrying a 14 game winning streak into the NSCF 18 title game, fell by two touchdowns to Mar Sara Tech, while Northern Moravica last season fell by 10 to Sadeg State. But it's the national stadium and the capitol city- the spiritual home of gridiron within the country.

These teams don't come here all that often. Loyola-Istria hasn't been here since NSCF 18, when they came here twice- once to play Richardson in the Rebel's Cannon Bowl, and the second to play in the title game that season. And they haven't been back. Northern Moravica came here last year, of course, for the NSCF championship game. There's usually a NSCF game at this stadium though, almost every year- either via a bowl game, a neutral site game, or the title game.

But even if teams are not coming here every year, both Banijan schools have put a premium on scheduling neutral site games. The Rebel's Cannon Bowl for Loyola-Istria has been played seven times, but only once on campus. Two years ago, the Blue Thunder played in St. Jakob. Northern Moravica went all the way out to Sonnel to play in Silver Beach. And this year- both schools are throwing week 13 bonanzas. Université St. Croix is coming to our nation's capitol to play Northern Moravica in the regular season closing game, while Richardson University will visit the Ruwani Motor Speedway, all the way out east, to play Loyola-Istria.

What's clear is this- other NSCF teams aren't consistently and aggressively scheduling off campus games like this. Richardson is the only other one that does so consistently, and that's with Loyola. So the question is, why? Northern Moravica AD Horace Browning said it was about growing the brand. "Northern Moravica is beneficial to not just be a brand tied to the northern part of Moravica- but we are Moravica's public school. We are the country's biggest brand. We've got fans and alumni across the country, including a big fanbase in Busukuma. We want to engage them where they are."

"That is the thought process behind our scheduling. That's why we went to Silver Beach last year too- while there wasn't a huge fanbase there yet, there was definitely potential for one. And we've gotten big engagement out there." With a decent sized Quebecois community in Busukuma, St. Croix has reason to want to play in the Banijan capitol city as well. A lot of those fans can be engaged. And it is looking more and more like that game will be the centerpiece of a Banijan-Quebecois sporting bonanza that week. Local high school powerhouse Cass Tech will play Erksine CI, a Quebecois powerhouse prep school, in the same week. Erksine may bring a number of sports teams to play various Busukuma high schools that week.

From Loyola-Istria's perspective, it is similar. "Loyola, while intertwined with Banija's largest city, has always been a national brand." Said their Athletic Director, Patrick Zervos. "We had a great one time opportunity to engage not only with the Banijan community in St. Jakob, but the gridiron community there at large. It's a sport that's growing exponentially in popularity in Siovanija & Teusland, and we had the chance to grow both the sport and the school in that country. Now, as for our visit to Ruwani- it will be a spectacular backdrop to what is the NSCF's greatest international rivalry. 150,000 in a racing stadium. A part of the country that we haven't been to in years, since joining the NSCF. We can engage Loyola fans there, bring a lot of our fanbase from the west coast out east, and travelling Ranorian fans can see a part of the country they haven't seen before."

"Plus, the venue is tailor made for an event like this. All that tailgating space. So much parking. It's going to be a party at Ruwani Motor Speedway." And it truly is. Ruwani and Aissa officials are excited for it. Ruwani, of course, is a suburb of the much larger city of Aissa, located just 15 minutes south of the city. Even if the other NSCF schools generally do not prioritize this- though an asterik for the Salamantics Universities, who play all over Ko-oren- it looks like scheduling one neutral site game a year is set to stay for Banija's NSCF schools for a long, long time.

[Karditan]

None of the fans in the stands of Ledbetter Field knew what to do with their hands. They’d never experienced anything like this before, in their years of watching the Pride--whether they’re freshmen who scoped out a game the season before to get a feel for the campus vibe or alumni who’ve been religiously attending every kickoff for the last five decades.

As Filigree Fox, the hotshot freshman receiver, spiked the ball in the endzone after doing the unthinkable. Opening scoring… of a game involving a Karditani squad… with an offensive touchdown. It wasn’t a dinker of a play either! Tzeentch managed to find him a whole twenty yards out from the line of scrimmage, and the Cavsar defense was clearly not ready for that from the scouting report. [cornerback to be named later] wasn’t completely slacking but was still a step too slow to even really pressure Filigree, who was already off to the races as he caught the ball.

Eventually the crowd managed to… clap. Slowly at first, tentatively, trying to remember what genuine excitement is rather than the sardonically sarcastic golf clap they do for the litany of field goals that make up most of their games. But the tempo began to pick up, and they started finding their voices in shouts and chants, as “CavSux!” rang out across the crisp Fillydelphia night. A night that’d prove to be rather long for the visiting team.

Emerald was back in the starting lineup. His leg still wasn’t 100%, but it was a high enough percent for the physio to give just enough leash to throw several hundred pounds of himself at maximum force into other living beings for the entertainment of a bloodthirsty populace. And Gunsmith was still stewing on the sidelines that he wasn’t the one selected to initiate that process of vigorously slamming hunks of sapient meat together. Then when Emerald forced a fumble out of [quarterback to be named later] that an opportunistically positioned Verdant Miasma ran all the way home, Gunsmith retired to the locker room early. It’d have been a big controversy if the [coach to be named later, mine this time] had noticed, but Gunsmith knew nobody else in the stadium would be able to tear their eyes away from the scoring cavalcade the Pride were putting on.

It’s too early to think about transferring, he told himself. But the thought lingered.

[Drawkland]

CAVSAR UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL


Name: Cavsar University
Nickname: Gladiators
Colors: Crimson and Tan
Denonym: Drawkian
THIRD Season, Ranked #14
Stadium: Roy Memorial Stadium
Capacity: 148,777
Head Coach: Scott Linhart
Assistant Coaches & Coordinators:
[O] Mick Melville
[D] Austin Lewis
[ST] Lawrence Malloy

CAVSAR UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL

OFFENSE

PS  ##  Name               Year     
QB  3   Darian Lewis [CDG] Novatim
QB  8   Lane Proudfoot     Sophomore

HB  22  Mike Banks         Sophomore
HB  21  Miles Taggart      Freshman
HB  23  Henry Spears       Novatim
FB  42  Angel Clemens      Senior

WR  15  Joe Johan          Senior
WR  85  Bennett Ruskel     Junior
WR  19  Isaac Sanders      Junior
WR  18  Ivan Scola         Sophomore
WR  81  Crawford Reid      Freshman
WR  10  Stas McKinney      Freshman
TE  11  Jonathan Kimbrough Sophomore
TE  87  Ryan Willaims      Sophomore
TE  88  Sylvan Magee       Novatim

C   57  Derek Hammond      Senior
C   58  Dwight Handel      Freshman
C   52  Gerardo Bettino    Novatim
G   60  Carl Cokes         Senior
G   68  Romeo Purdue       Junior
G   65  Xavier Moore       Freshman
T   70  Luke Plipus        Sophomore
T   79  Dennis Jeffries    Freshman
T   72  Niel Pratt         Novatim

DEFENSE

PS  ##  Name               Year     
DT  96  Steve Venner       Senior
DT  97  Dmitri Venner      Senior
DT  77  Arsenio Caspian    Freshman
DT  95  Rowan Boxham       Novatim
DE  90  Duke Dawson        Sophomore
DE  91  Indie Manfred      Novatim
DE  94  Garrett McBay      Novatim

OLB 40  Al Thatcher        Senior
OLB 41  Mars Georgeson     Junior
OLB 47  Brenden Richard    Freshman
OLB 44  Bradford Walton    Novatim
ILB 56  Thomas Gordon      Junior
ILB 46  Bill Romero        Sophomore
ILB 55  Gil Cordell        Freshman
ILB 51  Brandon Michael    Novatim

CB  23  Art Bergerson      Senior
CB  33  Paris Dane         Junior
CB  25  Dan Waters         Sophomore
CB  35  Cody Ricchetti     Sophomore
CB  26  Jorah Holt         Freshman
CB  31  Artenio Marley     Novatim

S   29  Tristan Wilks      Senior
S   39  Bellamy Vernon     Junior
S   20  Chandler Storm     Freshman
S   35  Lorne Gunnarson    Novatim

SPECIAL TEAMS

PS  ##  Name               Year     
C   52  Remus Fairburn     *
C   50  Branden Perez      *

PR  0   Ozzy Otten         Junior
PR  85  Bennett Ruskel     *
KR  0   Ozzy Otten         *
KR  29  Tristan Wilks      *

K   1   Lenox Upton        Senior
P   5   Steven Italo       Novatim

H   5   Steven Italo       *

* Denotes player is listed elsewhere in the roster
+ Drawkian culture requires that most students study for 5 years for an average bachelor's degree.
  Previously, players were noted as "+Senior" or "super seniors" if they were in their final year.
  That was confusing some people, so now it's shifted to where Seniors are in their final year, etc.
  There is now a class under Freshman, noted as "Novatim". All first-year players are called this.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my Scorers: Yes.
Choose Scoring Events: Yes.
Godmod Scoring Events: Yes.
RP Injuries to my Players: Yes.
Godmod Injuries to my Players: Non-career ending, TG is appreciated.
Godmod Other Events: Yes.
Honestly, just don't destroy my organization. Have fun making a funny or quirky game occur. I will certainly enjoy anything you throw my way.
Style Modifier: +5

Similar to Sadeg State and other Drawkian teams that play on an international level, Cavsar University's roster has a lot to offer skill-wise. As far as tactics are concerned, Scott Linhart is an extremely balls-out style coach deserving of a +5 modifier. The spread offense is utilized most often, prioritizing space and the open field for the skill position players. Linhart exclusively recruits mobile quarterbacks, as he expects QBs to make plays with their feet (either designed or on the fly). Running backs are more likely to be quicker, lither guys than big bruisers, but there's usually one that can pack a punch if necessary (often the fullback). Vertical passing plays are quite common, and it's rare for passes to go to the flat or right past the line of scrimmage. Sadeg State is known for aiming at tight ends often, but Cavsar leans on them heavily. Thankfully, they nearly always net a Top 5 TE prospect every time they go for one, so it's not much of a weakness. The receivers, as you might guess, are quick and agile, but perhaps falter when it comes to catching in deep traffic. The playbook is probably 65/35 pass/rush, with shotgun formations being a vast majority of what you'll see.

The Cavsar defense is not known for being bruisers, save for the D-line. You can say that the Cavsar defense or secondary is their biggest weak spot, but their defensive line is always extremely exceptional. It's not uncommon for every starter on the D-line to come away with 1+ sacks on the game each. The secondary can leave some things to be desired, but they're good enough to keep the passing game at bay to allow the D-line to really work their magic. Like Sadeg State and many Drawkian defenses, man defense is often the default and will be what to expect. If you can beat man coverage, you'll have a way easier time against Cavsar, but don't count it as a win just yet. They probably blitz a little less than SSU, but they will still pepper them in often. After all, the D-line usually keeps the pressure happening just on their normal scheme. The defense defaults to nickel coverage most often, but any formation with 4 D-linemen can be expected.

The CU special teams are not renowned for a lot of trickeration, but you'll see something special every once in awhile. However, they are absolutely aggressive on 4th down, and will usually keep the offense on the field if it's under 3rd and 5. Also, the Gladiators go for two every time, and I mean every time, unless it's a late game situation where a PAT is specifically necessary to preserve or make a win. The punters and kickers don't get a whole lot of work, but the return game is something to fear as well. The blocking is very solid and the quick shifty returners can make a lot happen in the blink of an eye. As far as kicking, the punters and kickers kick about as good as, say, college kickers or punters. Nothing special there, although they do err on the side of power over accuracy thanks to those long Drawkian legs.

Speaking of which, see this dispatch about Drawkian physiology. If you don't want to deal with that though feel free to just handwave or ignore it, it's fine by me.

CAVSAR UNIVERSITY SCHEDULE

Conference Games
MD1  @ Sadeg State University
MD2  @ Hoofstra University
MD3  v Felswyr State University
MD4  @ Anasb Central University
MD5  v Adirondack University
MD6  v Sadeg State University
MD7  v Hoofstra University
MD8  @ Felswyr State University
MD9  v Anasb Central University
MD10 @ Adirondack University

Non-Conference Games
MD11 v Salamantic Universities
MD12 - (pending)
MD13 @ New Lakeland University (pending)

[Drawkland]

SADEG STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL


Name: Sadeg State University
Nickname: Skyhawks
Colors: Gold and Navy
Denonym: Drawkian
EIGHTH Season, Ranked 1st
Stadium: Skyhawks' Gridiron Park
Capacity: 95,500
Head Coach: Brand Manlio
Assistant Coaches & Coordinators:
[O] Art Beckham
[D] Jarrett Schwartz
[ST] Joshua Redding

NSCF 23 CHAMPIONS

SADEG STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL

OFFENSE

PS  ##  Name               Year     
QB  1   Nick Parks         Senior
QB  7   Toby McKinley      Junior

HB  27  Raymond Morgan     Senior
HB  25  Augustus Velas     Freshman
HB  20  Jeremy Gilmore     Freshman
FB  44  Tom Adams          Senior
FB  48  Dennis Grant       Sophomore

WR  16  Brandon Brown      Senior
WR  85  Tyrelle Patternson Senior
WR  13  Shane Jonas        Junior
WR  81  Jim Tacoma         Sophomore
WR  80  Elywn Pim          Freshman
WR  10  Clint Roy          Novatim
TE  87  Jay Gibson         Senior
TE  84  Gordon Dallas      Sophomore
TE  89  Gregory Seymour    Freshman

C   55  Brennan Palumbo    Senior
C   50  Aris Quincy        Freshman
C   58  Bailey Wilfred     Novatim
G   64  Rafa Vince         Senior
G   69  Cameron Labe       Junior
G   62  Manuel Santos      Freshman
T   77  Emmett Oswin       Freshman
T   71  Craig Ramsey       Freshman
T   72  Mattie Holland     Novatim

DEFENSE

PS  ##  Name               Year     
DT  75  Windsor Hathaway   Senior
DT  92  Chris Favreau      Sophomore
DT  99  Randall Hartford   Freshman
DT  95  Tom Samson         Novatim
DE  91  Mike Mikari        Senior
DE  96  Hyperion Hyde      Junior
DE  90  Kasey Mason        Novatim

OLB 40  Godfrey Bonner     Senior
OLB 41  Chris Boyd         Senior
OLB 54  Ed Brooks          Sophomore
OLB 43  Judd Maxwell       Freshman
ILB 52  Nico Michaels      Senior
ILB 42  Julius Martin      Junior
ILB 45  Eddie McCrae       Sophomore
ILB 52  Tobin McNeil       Freshman

CB  33  Samson Abel        Senior
CB  35  Rusty Fuller       Sophomore
CB  39  Walter Danielson   Junior
CB  22  Vlad Amato         Freshman
CB  28  Jaden Brahm        Freshman
CB  38  Martin Carver      Novatim

S   23  Clifton Monroe     Senior
S   34  Donnie McKee       Sophomore
S   31  Patrick Rose       Freshman
S   37  Nash Monroe        Novatim

SPECIAL TEAMS

PS  ##  Name               Year     
C   50  Blake Tyson        *
C   51  Alphonso Lloyd     *

PR  0   Dewey Belrose      Sophomore
PR  13  Shane Jonas        *
KR  0   Dewey Belrose      *
KR  23  Clifton Monroe     *

P   4   Fion Palmer        Senior
K   5   Nat Knox           Freshman

H   4   Fion Palmer        *

* Denotes player is listed elsewhere in the roster
+ Drawkian culture requires that most students study for 5 years for an average bachelor's degree.
  Previously, players were noted as "+Senior" or "super seniors" if they were in their final year.
  That was confusing some people, so now it's shifted to where Seniors are in their final year, etc.
  There is now a class under Freshman, noted as "Novatim". All first-year players are called this.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my Scorers: Yes.
Choose Scoring Events: Yes.
Godmod Scoring Events: Yes.
RP Injuries to my Players: Yes.
Godmod Injuries to my Players: Non-career ending, TG is appreciated.
Godmod Other Events: Yes.
Honestly, just don't destroy my organization. Have fun making a funny or quirky game occur. I will certainly enjoy anything you throw my way.
Style Modifier: +4

Like all Drawkians, especially international caliber ones, Sadeg State's players are a top notch group with much to offer skill-wise. The offense primarily operates out of the shotgun with a back lining up alongside the QB, but the most common under-center formation has to be the I. The pistol make a common appearance, and don't be surprised to see a Wildcat every once in awhile. The run/pass split is around a 55/45, but with Brand Manlio's preferred QB recruits, don't be surprised to see many designed passes ending up in scrambles for big chunks of yards. Drag routes, slants, mid-distance crosses, posts, and corner routes are the most common in SSU's playbook. Runs are often a generic pitch, runs up the gut, or - Coach Manlio's favorite - option plays. SSU is known for having massive talent on the offensive side of the ball, especially in the backfield, but also lining up wide. Watch for tight end passes for huge gains, they're a common target in this scheme.

And while the team is renowned for its offense, you can't discount the defense. Talented shutdown corners and DBs are the hallmark and the pass rush is fantastic, but pass defense in the middle of the field leaves a lot to be desired from the Linebackers. The biggest issue about the Skyhawk's secondary is that they go for the ball too much - while this results in lots of turnovers, a missed pick obviously results in an opposing receiver in the open field. Blitzes sit on top of the playbook at SSU, just like many Drawkian books. Don't expect to run a similar running play twice, the front 7 is likely to come up with a counter blitz on the fly and smack the back for a loss of yards. Man coverage is called about 70/30 versus Zone coverage, another reason why missed interceptions are dangerous. Cover 2 Man coverage with a 4-3 front is the most common play the defense will run.

Special teams is known for its trick plays, but they don't run them as often as, say, the Grid Corps would. The SSU offense would be much more likely to stay out in 4th and under 2 than bring out the special teams for a fake or a regular punt/kick. Speaking of punts/kicks, the return game for the Skyhawks is also fearsome, with massively fast and shifty players returning most balls, not to mention the regularity of laterals during returns (not that they do much of that outside of special teams though). As far as kicking, the punters and kickers kick about as good as, say, college kickers or punters. Nothing special there, although they do err on the side of power over accuracy (good luck praying for a kick 6).

Also, see this dispatch about Drawkian physiology. If you don't want to deal with that though feel free to just handwave or ignore it, it's fine by me.

Home, Away, Home Alt, Away Alt

SADEG STATE UNIVERSITY SCHEDULE

Conference Games
MD1  v Cavsar University
MD2  @ Felswyr State University
MD3  v Anasb Central University
MD4  @ Adirondack University
MD5  v Hoofstra University
MD6  @ Cavsar University
MD7  v Felswyr State University
MD8  @ Anasb Central University
MD9  v Adirondack University
MD10 @ Hoofstra University

Non-Conference Games
MD11 - (pending)
MD12 v Elephant Valley University
MD13 v Mar Sara Tech

[Buffalostan]

Week 2

      1   2   3   4   F
GMS   7  10   6   3  26
CHU  13  10   7   7  37
BOX                                                                GMS  CHU
  1 Kincade Hinton 77 yard interception return (Callum Ryan kick)    7    0
    Jang Bo-Ah 34 yard field goal                                    7    3
    Jang Bo-Ah 23 yard field goal                                    7    6
    Heath Heinz 26 yard pass from Aurel Stratgos (Jang Bo-Ah kick)   7   13
  2 Josh Moore 1 yard run (Callum Ryan kick)                        14   13
    Callum Ryan 21 yard field goal                                  17   13
    Jang Bo-Ah 21 yard field goal                                   17   16
    Rai Swift 48 yard pass from Aurel Stratgos (Jang Bo-Ah kick)    17   23
  3 Callum Ryan 21 yard field goal                                  20   23
    Callum Ryan 23 yard field goal                                  23   23
    Trent Conner 1 yard pass from Aurel Stratgos (Jang Bo-Ah kick)  23   30
  4 Callum Ryan 27 yard field goal                                  26   30
    Felix Hamilton 93 yard punt return (Jang Bo-Ah kick)            26   37

How to tell the difference between the Buffalo team and the Buffalostan team.

Things are getting confusing in the Big Eight (what else would you expect of a conference with six teams?). The Buffalo squared off against a team from Buffalostan this week, leading to many frantic sub-editors poring over corrections. Fans unused to seeing a Buffalostani team in NSCF may be equally confused. So here’s a quick guide to telling the difference between the team of Buffalo (Cold Hill), and the team from Buffalostan (Green Mountain State).

Quarterback play

Is the ball flying into the arms of a cornerback? It’s probably the Buffalo quarterback Aurel Stratgos who’s responsible. If it were Buffalostani Josh Moore, the ball would be ten yards over the head of both the wide receiver and the cornerback.

Offensive line play

Does the team have an offensive line? Yes? Then it must be the Cold Hill Buffalo you’re watching. Buffalostan’s Green Mountain State is far too progressive to actually try to stop the defensive linemen from beating the quarterback like a red-headed stepchild.

Cornerbacks

Cornerback play is a very difficult way of telling difference. If the cornerback is jumping the route and taking the interception to the house, it could well be the Buffalostanis’ very own Kincade Hinton. Completely losing the runner and giving up huge yardage on the catch? It could also be Kincade Hinton, who did that, too, three times getting burned by Rai Swift, once for a score, once getting bailed out by Joe Saunders with a late tackle that still just left a 1 yard slant to Trent Conner all that was needed for another score. So 50+ yards either way and it’s the Buffalostanis. Anything in between and it might be a Buffalo cornerback.

Match result

An easy way of telling the difference between the Buffalo and Buffalostanis is just to see who wins. For example, say there’s a super fast return man back and ready to receive, with a one-score game in the fourth quarter. Punt that shit out of bounds, right? Wrong! Not if you’re a Buffalostani team.

[PotatoFarmers]

The Kimibatoam Bowl, named after the 4-time MVP Jimmy Kimibatoam, also known as the "Attack versus Defence" derby, is an annual match between the University of Mancodas (UoM) Mammoths, and the Maximus Rochester Institute for Science and Technological Research (MRI) Gijikyhandasari Yeraiqhospifasas. (Now that's a mouthful). As they are the only two univeristies (or college, depending on who you ask) in Poafmersia offering gridrion as one of their main sports, UoM and MRI will fight for the sport's only gold medal at the annual Inter-College Sports Tournament (ICST). The 17th edition of the Kimibatoam Bowl last year saw UoM attempt to defend their title and clinch their 11th Bowl over MRI; and the successful defence means adds to UoM's glorious history in the sport.

Gridrion is one of those sports in Poafmersia who has some base, but keeps getting clumped together with similar sports. Badminton gets clumped with table tennis. Basketball with netball. Field hockey with ice hockey. And then, the most awkward one of all - Gridrion, and rugby (both union and league fornats are played in Poafmersia by different communities). Best thing is, there seems to be no appetite at all for gridrion to be played at a professional level, for all its popularity at the ICST. As a result, many of the sportsman end up using the Bowl as an audition for rugby; the latter has been gaining traction in recent years, and talks of forming a national team have bubbled out of the surface.

The rules of participation in the Bowl is simple - you can only represent the school if you are a student of the school. And naturally, this extends to the NSCF team, because of the nature of both competitions. And given the general lack of thirst for sports scholarships, it means that foreign recruits are rare - Poafmers generally fill up the rosters of both universities. It is generally a four year cycle, as the players who make up the team typically only play in the years when they are studying for a bachelor degree. As they move on to the masters and so on, it becomes less rare to see such players. Poafmers simply can't and won't let their external activities affect their studies, should they choose to pursue post-graduate study programs.

The 17th Kimibatoam Bowl also acted as a qualifier for the NSCF. This was necessary as Poafmersia, in their first year, is only allowed to enter 1 team for the competition. Both universities agreed that the winner of the Bowl would gain this additional year of experience - it would at least allow Poafmersia to be in the position of being an NSCF member association. Both teams argued that this will likely be the only opportunity for Poafmersia to participate in any international gridrion competition, and it was agreed by the Poafmersia Sports Council, the oversight body for sports in the country. And therefore, the team is here.

[Valanora]

Valanora Times
Power Rankings Week 2

It is still very early in the season but there have already been more than a handful of upsets as well as eyebrow raising results and you can definitely tell that the NSCF season is well and truly underway. Some debut schools have stepped up and surprised the classical blue bloods of the respective conferences, while others are finding their footing hard to maintain and struggling to really settle in. Conference realignment has also made some conference more difficult than there were before, like the Zephyr going from a three horse race to a potential four or five horse race depending on how the Fleftic university decides to go this season. Mar Sara well and truly felt the added depth when trying to get a bit of revenge against Trent State after a humiliating loss away from the Empire during last seasons Out of Conference games but were unable to capitalize on the momentum from their first week blowout to be able to get a much desired away victory. Elsewhere Northern Moravica was also upended in a surprise away day, showing that there is quite a bit of depth and the opening prognosis of the playoff spots being hard to come by all the more apparent.

5. Raynor University (VAL) 2-0 - Zephyr
Two wins are two wins and though the Rockets have not had the same sort of shine to their game as they did as a season ago, though that was expected to happen when the powerhouse of the school in Jelan graduated and the team is trying to find its rhythm. Luckily the team did not need to be at their best against Thereisnogodistan and served a steady helping of Duke Beckett against their opponents, be it by the ground or the air, with the sophmore racking up a hundred eighty-nine all purpose yards and two touchdowns in the victory. This is a team that looks to get better as the season goes on and the team starts to build up the sort of chemistry it had last season. For the moment though, grinding out victories is good enough and they will be reviewing tape of the Tech against Trent State game to put together a gameplan that should help them get a better chance at a victory. While the two might not like each other the weeks that they play one another, the rivalry between Raynor and Tech is a friendly one and they will likely be getting whatever notes the Tech staff has that they look could be useful to their rivals.

4. New Lakeland University (CDG) 2-0 - Woodlands
It was a narrow victory for the Dagans while traveling to Quebec to face off the perceived better of the two Quebecois school but it was a victory and on the road which is hard to come by it feels like early in the season. The Dagans put up a far better accord of themselves in the first week against St. Croix but a victory against Saguenay has its own sort of prestige to it, although it feels that the Dagans might need to run the table in order to get a proper seeding in the playoffs with the perceived weakness of the Woodlands as a whole this season. There is plenty of time for that yet to still change, with the Quebecois schools, Brat Tech, or one of the other two schools to show they are more than how they appear on paper.

3. Trent State Univeristy (TJU) 2-0 - Zephyr
Some thought that Tent State's upset of Mar Sara Tech during the out of conference last season was something of a scheduling trap game, some might say the same of this season's first game between the Feathercaps and Raiders, but you have to give credit where credit is due. Trent State is taking their conference realignment in stride with two wins from their first two games and having been able to keep Tech more or less under control is a huge testament to how much they are looking to put up a fight and take the conference from the Vanorian schools. They will have a difficult test in the following week that will really see how they stand in the conference, as they look travel to the Empire's capital and try to take down the Rockets in their first away game of the season. A win in Raynor City would be a big statement while a loss will open up the Zephyr to a number of schools looking to vie for conference supremacy.

2. Kohnhead City University (KND) 2-0 - Big Eight
They are not the traditional blue blood of the conference but Kohnhead City is quickly becoming one of those sort of powers in their time in the competition, as an opening win over Richardson and then a very impressive twenty point victory on the road speaks to their developing stature. A forty-three point outpouring on the road and in a very competitive conference is truly something remarkable and we will be keeping a keen eye on how they perform from here on out, particularly when they have to travel to Cold Hill, the other team in the Big Eight conference that has started with two wins from their opening two games.

1. Sadeg State University (DRK) 2-0 - Horizon
It was a massive away day in Chromatika for the Skyhawks, looking to show their strength after the title victory last season and yet the Firehawks were wanting to declare that they were above their home ground "curse" as it were and ready to give the Skyhawks a real fight for the conference. It was a game that could not be settled in regulation but in the overtime period the Skyhawks were able to kick a field goal and keep the home team off the scoreboard, scoring an early and impressive victory over a quality opponent on the road. While Hoofstra might have the conference lead on the tiebreaker, the Skyhawks are the champions of the entire NSCF and so far are looking good for their crown and likely a team that like Raynor University that will most likely be getting better as the season goes on, which has to be a very frightening prospect for the rest of the competition if that indeed turns out to be the case.

[Chromatika]

GWENDERYN
Part 1: Birth and Family
or, the Beginning and Foundation of a Life
By: Aimée de Pierre, Guest Columnist

All journeys have a beginning, and it can be argued that for humans, that beginning is either at the moment of birth or at conception, or when the parents meet for the first time. You ask Sarai when she began, however, and she would say, without missing a beat, that it was ten days before her sixth birthday. Why? We will get to that.

Sarai Michelle Bradwyn Gwenderyn was born on June 17, 10 B.R.R. (Before Rainbow Revolution) at the ROYG Central Medical Center in Z'ai'ai, Mountain District, Chromatika. Born between a Medium Red mother - Estrid Bradwyn was a shift supervisor in one of the Chromatik Party's factories - and a Light Blue father who had left his color for love (if people from two different levels got married those days, their children would be born into the lower of the two), Gwenderyn's existence itself was a miracle - she was one of seven children born that year where one parent had lowered their color to another. Jay Gwenderyn was a unique man, but more on that later.

Story goes that the two first met in a mandatory parade held in downtown Z'ai'ai; Jay was manning one of the banners when he lost his footing midway through the parade. To drop a banner of the Chromatik Party can be a serious offense; he was saved from humiliation and possibly much worse by a woman standing by the sideline. All he caught were blonde curls, piercing green eyes, and a fair face. After the parade, in the celebration that followed - mostly subdued, everyone doing what they're supposed to to not get in trouble - Jay Gwenderyn searched for that woman for three hours before finding her seated alone in a corner of the grass.

The story of how they dated for five years - mostly in secret from the eyes of the public - and then eventually married - to the chagrin of everyone around Jay's inner circle - is something that Sarai has not chosen to share with me. Too personal, I take it. No matter - the most important thing to take away is that Sarai's parents truly loved each other. Their marriage was not one of convenience nor color caste preservation; it was one of true admiration and commitment. Such a marriage was very rare in that era of Chromatik history - and it really influenced Sarai.

When Sarai was five, Jay Gwenderyn was demoted from his job as a technician because the supervisor of his shift didn't like the fact that he had a kid with a red. "You're a disgrace," the supervisor had stated, "A plague in our society. Everyone should be doing everything they can to go up the ladder, not go down it!"

Sarai says that her father never regretted his choice. To him, family was first, and he had chosen his family instead of having his family chosen for him. It did impact them financially, though, as he wasn't able to get jobs meant for Blues anymore - to the Party, he was less than a Red. They lived in poverty, frugal but surviving, just as the Chromatik Party intended. Then, the event that changed Sarai Gwenderyn's life forever happened.

It was ten days before Sarai's sixth birthday, and she was very excited for it. Her parents had promised that she would get a stuffed bear - one that she had been eyeing on a store shelf for years. By nickel-and-diming every NMS that they could muster, Estrid and Jay had saved just enough; they were looing forward to the absolute joy that would be on Sarai's face. Unfortunate for the Gwenderyns, fate had other plans in mind.

At 9:13 PM CST (Chromatik City Standard Time), young Sarai Gwenderyn wandered into the police station to report that her parents hadn't come home from work. They were sometimes late, but never this late. Unfortunately, given her parents' stature, priority wasn't given to finding Estrid and Jay; Sarai was taken to one of the numerous government-run orphanages in the city and left there to fend for herself. She says that she remembers the last time that she saw both them as clear as day: It was 8:30 that morning, and they'd just dropped her off at the Northern Z'ai'ai School for Red Children; after thanking the lady in charge, they'd both kissed her on the cheek and told her that they loved her. She'd waved them goodbye, not knowing that that would be the last time that she'd see either of them.

There has been considerable effort done to track down some of the missing people during the Chromatik Party's reign after the Rainbow Revolution. However, there are still tens of thousands of people missing, and unfortunately, neither Estrid nor Jay have been found. All Sarai knows is that a locket that belonged to her mother turned up about five years ago during an excavation of a mass grave on a small hillside between Z'ai'ai and Umbar; however, there wasn't DNA or any other evidence to indicate whether it had been taken from Estrid or if Estrid had been buried there. As for Jay, there is a mention of someone matching his description during the Rainbow Revolution working with the Rainbow Revolution's Army as a communications expert, but most of those records don't have names, so there isn't a way to be certain.

"I know they're gone," Sarai says flatly, "They'd have come found me otherwise. They were victims of the system, and denying that will change nothing. It's been best for me to not think too much about it and move on. I will remember them for choosing me over the system, for giving me the best childhood that they could afford."

After her parents' disappearance, Sarai spent four years at the Northern Z'ai'ai Orphanage for Wayward Children before the Revolution happened. The post-Revolution government completely revamped the orphanage system, setting up a foster care system as well as better facilities for those that couldn't find homes. As one of the oldest kids at the Orphanage at the time of liberation, Sarai was put on the shortlist to be put into foster family homes. That is how she ended up with two people that would shape the rest of her life - Dr. Jade and Lloyd Barrister, who was ultimately the ones to introduce Sarai to gridiron football.

---

The Flame of the Firehawk: Ablaze
Part 2: Old Wounds Reopened

Team   1Q  2Q  3Q  4Q  OT  |  Tot
SSU     7  10   7   3   3  |   30
FSU     7   7   7   6   0  |   27

1Q
07:22 SSU TD - Jay Gibson 21 yard pass from Nick Parks (Nat Knox Kick)
01:42 FSU TD - Otto Mitchell 40 yard pass from Sarai Gwenderyn (Sara McAllister Kick)

2Q
10:38 SSU TD - Nick Parks 22 yard run (Nat Knox Kick)
05:11 SSU FG - Nat Knox 42 yard Field Goal
01:33 FSU FG - Otto Mitchell 22 yard pass from Sarai Gwenderyn (Sara McAllister Kick)

3Q
08:19 SSU TD - Tyrelle Patternson 61 yard pass from Nick Parks (Nat Knox Kick)
02:51 FSU TD - Sarai Gwenderyn 29 yard run (Sara McAllister Kick)

4Q
11:23 FSU FG - Sara McAllister 38 yard Field Goal
04:22 SSU FG - Nat Knox 41 yard Field Goal
01:13 FSU FG - Sara McAllister 44 yard Field Goal

OT
1OT SSU FG - Nat Knox 41 yard Field Goal

FIREHAWKS' ROOST, FELSWYR, MOUNTAIN DISTRICT, CHROMATIKA - "Oh come on, Naia," Sarai Gwenderyn was speaking feverishly in the sidelines, "We have to go for this. Michelle isn't ready to kick into that crowd. That's too much to throw on a Freshman kicker when there's Drawkian linemen on the other side! It's only fourth and two, we can pick this up and go for the win."

After another instant classic between Sadeg State and Felswyr State, it was getting down to this play. On FSU's side, Otto Mitchell had caught two touchdowns against his countrymen. Both of them were well-aimed throws outside the reach of the Skyhawks' corner. However, the defending NSCF champions would not go down without a fight, Nick Parks showing his quality by throwing two touchdowns through the air and adding another one on the ground. His throw to Tyrelle Patterson in the third quarter was a thing of beauty - Paul Mattieu, the best Firehawk corner on the roster, was caught off guard.

Felswyr State needed two McAllister Field Goals in the fourth quarter to just tie the game; in the tying drive, Sarai Gwenderyn found Niles Gwivern twice on third down conversions and ran for twenty yards herself. The Junior Quarterback went 20 of 31 for 239 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 50 yards with a touchdown on the ground.

Sadeg State got the ball first in overtime, and three plays that went nowhere led to Nat Knox hitting his third Field Goal of the game.

Felswyr State took over, and despite Gwenderyn reaching a first down at the fifteen yard line, the Firehawks got stuck. Nyata Antonucci's bid for a short third down conversion was handled by Nico Michaels, leading to the current situation.

"They've got you read," responded Naia Curentino, "No, I think Michelle can do this."

That was how Michelle Breille saw herself trotting off the field. Right after the last kick that Sara had nailed, she had sidelined herself with a massive headache; given her health issues, she was being held out.

The freshman kicker took a deep breath, shared a look with Nellie Katt, and nodded. Kaia James's snap was perfect. Nellie Katt's hold was also on point. Michelle Breille, as she had done so many times in her high school career, hit the ball square-on and followed through.

What she forgot was that Drawkians are much taller than other people. Dewey Belrose, the hero of the game last season, is still on the Drawkian roster. And, just like last year, he blocked the kick.

For the second straight year - and for the third time in a row in Chromatika - Sadeg State left Felswyr with dejected home fans. Both the last game at Reborn from Ashes and the first game at Firehawks' Roost have been defeats to Sadeg State.

One day, they'll be victorious at home. One day. Today wasn't this day, and old wounds had been reopened.

[Quebec and Shingoryeo]

Celestia and Zephyr Conference - MD3 Cutoff!

Sorry for lots of delays and sudden notices, everybody. Hopefully this cutoff tune will help explain my mind right now.

Celestia Conference
Salamantic Universities Professors (KOR) 70–0 Green Coast University Bullfrogs (BVR)
Northern Moravica University Cougars (BNJ) 42–14 Elephant Valley University Red Elephants (SNL)
University of Loyola-Istria Blue Thunder (BNJ) 33–38 University of the Commonwealth of Baker Park Warriors (CBP)

P Celestia Conference                                          Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD 
1 Northern Moravica University Cougars                           3    2   1    97   82  +15
2 Salamantic Universities Professors                             3    2   1   115   36  +79
3 University of the Commonwealth of Baker Park Warriors          3    2   1    92   83   +9
4 Elephant Valley University Red Elephants                       3    2   1    84   67  +17
5 University of Loyola-Istria Blue Thunder                       3    1   2   107   86  +21
6 Green Coast University Bullfrogs                               3    0   3    23  164 −141

Zephyr Conference
Mar Sara Tech Raiders (VAL) 38–14 Ceneisis Naval Academy Ensigns (AFT)
Raynor University Rockets (VAL) 33–13 Trent State University Feathercaps (TJU)
University of Mancodas Mammoths (PFA) 35–17 Thereisnogodistan Community College Atheists (NGD)

P Zephyr Conference                                            Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD 
1 Raynor University Rockets                                      3    3   0    96   59  +37
2 Trent State University Feathercaps                             3    2   1   100   70  +30
3 Mar Sara Tech Raiders                                          3    2   1   133   81  +52
4 University of Mancodas Mammoths                                3    2   1    98   67  +31
5 Ceneisis Naval Academy Ensigns                                 3    0   3    51  122  −71
6 Thereisnogodistan Community College Atheists                   3    0   3    64  143  −79

[Banija]

Horizon
MD3

Who really cares about us at the third cutoff of NSCF 24?

Horizon Conference
Adirondack University (SAS) 27–42 Hoofstra University (KRD)
Sadeg State University (DRK) 48–30 Anasb Central University (STR)
Cavsar University (DRK) 16–26 Felswyr State University (CMT)

Horizon Conference                 Pld   W   L    PF   PA   PD 
1 Hoofstra University               3    3   0   118   56  +62
2 Sadeg State University            3    3   0   122   85  +37
3 Felswyr State University          3    2   1    69   60   +9
4 Anasb Central University          3    1   2    87   96   −9
5 Adirondack University             3    0   3    69   96  −27
6 Cavsar University                 3    0   3    54  126  −72

[Drawkland]

Big Eight & Woodlands
MD3

Late Drawk is late

BIG EIGHT
Kohnhead City University (KND) 63–30 Cold Hill University (RAN)
Swisston City University (KND) 74–10 Rajendragadh College (PRT)
Green Mountain State (BUF) 23–23 Richardson University (RAN) (23–30 OT)

  BIG EIGHT CONFERENCE                Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD 
1 Kohnhead City University              3    3   0   127   57  +70
2 Richardson University                 3    2   1    52   53   −1
3 Cold Hill University                  3    2   1    91  103  −12
4 Green Mountain State                  3    1   2    96  107  −11
5 Swisston City University              3    1   2   123   76  +47
6 Rajendragadh College                  3    0   3    48  141  −93

WOODLANDS
Brat Tech (CDG) 60–23 Tchust Fhergys University (MAL)
New Lakeland University (CDG) 43–16 Atheburn National University (GRU)
Université St. Croix (QUE) 3–10 Université du Saguenay (QUE)

  WOODLANDS CONFERENCE                Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD 
1 New Lakeland University               3    3   0    90   45  +45
2 Université du Saguenay                3    2   1    42   33   +9
3 Atheburn National University          3    2   1    86  107  −21
4 Brat Tech                             3    1   2   109   79  +30
5 Tchust Fhergys University             3    1   2    58   96  −38
6 Université St. Croix                  3    0   3    22   47  −25

[TJUN-ia]

Final: Raynor Rockets 33-13 Trent State Feathercaps
BOXSCORE
Q1
RU TD (Schau 34 yd to St. Pierre, Conversion Missed)
TSU TD (Baldwin 22 yd to Whitehorse, Conversion Missed)

Q2
RU TD (Schau 34 yd to St. Pierre, Conversion Missed)
TSU TD (Baldwin 8 yd run, McGee Conversion)

Q3
RU TD (Schau 7 yd to Iqbal, Mundal Conversion)
RU TD (Apolo 85 yd PR, Mundal Conversion)

Q4
RU TD (Schau 4 yrd run, Mundal Conversion)

Welp...you knew that was coming soon enough and, just as the critics say, our first road game in the Zephyr wasn't really fun at all. Valhalla Falls felt more like Helheim today as the Rockets blasted to the top of the conference tree, Håkon Schau turning us upside down in a humbling performance that echoes the one we put up aginst Mar Sara Tech last week. RU clearly watched the tape and now, TSU are 2-1...better than nothing, of course, but 3-0 was right there for the taking. Another 2-1 team, the Mancondas Mammoths, will come to Notts next week where Johnny Bridgeford hopes to bounce back before the 3-game road stretch in the midpoint of this season. WE ARE! TRENT STATE!

---

SCHEDULE (ZEPHYR Conference + 3 Non-Conf)
Week 1: vs Ceneisis Naval Academy (AFT) W 47-17 (1-0)
Week 2: vs Mar Sara Tech (VAL) W 40-20 (2-0)
Week 3: @Raynor U (VAL) L 33-13
Week 4: vs Mancodas (PFA)
Week 5: @TCC (NGD)
Week 6: @Ceneisis Naval Academy (AFT)
Week 7: @Mar Sara Tech (VAL)
Week 8: vs Raynor U (VAL)
Week 9: @Mancodas (PFA)
Week 10: vs TCC (NGD)
---------------------Non-Conference---------------------
Week 11: vs Elephant Valley (SNL)
Week 12: vs Cold Hill (RAN)
Week 13: @Swisston City (KND)

[Ko-oren]

The Salamantic Problem #1 - A Place to Call Home

As is often remarked (or mocked by Banijan media), the Salamantic Universities Professors (or Salamantic Universities Salamantics?) have no single place to call home. Which is only strange because every other NSCF team has a single headquarters that is also their home venue for most, if not all, of their games. Those venues see between 5 and 10 home games per season, after which it's thanks for the memories and see you next year. The Professors operate a bit differently, for the reason that the University itself works differently. We're not a single Loyola-Istria or University of the Commonwealth, we're the Universities and our players come from different majors at different institutions. They do their post-grad studies one half of the year, and the other half of the year they play for the Professors while keeping up with their classes remotely. Yes, it means that their degrees, doctorates, and papers take up to twice as long to finish, but they're not lost for academia nor for football during that time - and as long as the players like it, the Professors will be there for them. Tune in to The Salamantic Problem #2 and #3 for player logistics and recruitment, but this is Chapter One:

A Place to Call Home.

Every other club in Ko-oren has a single home stadium, used exactly eight times for all clubs except the two (or three, in very weird edge cases) lucky teams that sit atop their divisions at the highest level of Ko-orenite Gridiron Football - they host their divisional finals, and the best among the remaining two clubs hosts the Ko-oren Bowl, for lack of a better (marketable) term. Meandering between the schedules of the Top League, the Second Division, and the Development League are the Professors. Their games get scheduled in a stadium that 1) doesn't already host a game that weekend and 2) is located roughly near a university and 3) is outfitted with all the gimmicks that NSCF football deserves. That's space for your marching bands, your wild animal appearances, your war dances, and so on. That narrows the list of potential home grounds down quick.

Gridiron Map
Pictured are all 'professional' Ko-orenite Gridiron teams. The coloured squares are reserved for Top League sides. NSCF, despite appearing in the legend, is not on the map - because that's what we're trying to figure out here.

As you can see, there are no Top League teams in the southeast - any of the four eastern islands, nor anywhere near the peninsula in the mid-south. The northwest is also sparse on teams, but then again, it's also sparse on people.

1) Stadium is Gridiron-ready but can't already have an event that weekend
Half of these stadiums are in use during the NSCF every weekend. The other half... may also be in use, if you're unlucky, if the ground is shared with a association football, rugby union, or rugby league team. That effectively rules out the larger (Top League) stadiums in the southwest, as well as Aminey's, one of Schemerdrecht's, and more.

2) Stadium is located near a university
Thankfully, we have a list for this. Great cities that survive criteria #1 and #2 are Maethoru, Mayara, Senoren, Ferrovente, Rozenvoorde, Straudum, Étouille, Amillon, Mawrystwyth, and Llandy. We can narrow this down further now that we know that the Professors routinely sell out stadiums - so we'll need at least twenty thousand seats (but the Salamantics can fill far more than that).

3) Stadiums with enough seats that can handle some nonsense
Maethoru, Senoren, Ferrovente, Rozenvoorde, Straudum, Amillon, and Llandy are all venues under 20,000. That leaves us with the following:
Exhibition Centre (41000) Mayara
Wolves' Lair Stadium (37000) Mayara
Parc des Lignes (22000) Granon (that's near Étouille)
Hertfield (33000) Mawrystwyth

Three of these are Top League stadiums (both Mayara ones and Mawrystwyth's) and will therefore not attract a new audience to the sport. Granon's 22000-seater is the only remaining stadium.

Then what is up with the pre-season communication? They're playing in Laringen, Amillon, Esporro, and Arakura, right?

Yes, that's true... they're playing in those stadiums because there's a new Gridiron market there, on fields that are more often used for a rugby code, and need some paint before the Professors can play there. They break the above rules loosely: Arakura is 'nearby' the East's greatest college town, Furune. Laringen is nowhere near a university either. Esporro is close to Ferrovente but is under 20000. Amillon is a soccer stadium, and typically only seats 12000 without all the extra bleachers put in specifically for the Salamantic Universities. Because the players come from all over the country, the games are to be played all over as well.

So... the search continues.

Yes, unfortunately, the search continues. Until that time, see you in Granon/Étouille, Arakura, Laringen, Esporro, and Amillon.

[Kohnhead]

Fun predictions that will most definitely be wrong

Today I am going to be predicting the scores for the next week as well as the final conference standings as well as any currently scheduled OOC games that have been made available to the public. I will also be predicting the results of the playoffs however will be using records for seeding due to simplicity purposes. Now I will definitely be very wrong in regards to all of these and I give any team that fails to perform the way I predict to either blame me or praise me depending on how they turn out.


Week 4
Cold Hill 27-16 Richardson
Rajendragadh 6-36 Green Mountain State
Kohnhead City 48-29 Swisston City
Green Coast 13-31 Commonwealth of Baker Park
Elephant Valley 6-28 Loyola-Istria
Salamantic 15-17 Northern Moravica
Hoofstra 6-10 Felswyr State
Anasb 23-27 Cavsar
Adirondack 13-39 Sadeg State
Tchust Fhergys 15-26 Saguenay
Atheburn National 14-33 St. Croix
Brat Tech 9-21 New Lakeland
Ceneisis Naval 17-16 Thereisnogodistan Community
Trent State 34-17 Mancodas
Mar Sara 34-37 Raynor


Conference Standings
Big Eight
Kohnhead City 9-1
Cold Hill 8-2
Richardson 7-3
Green Mountain State 3-7
Swisston City 3-7
Rajendragadh 0-10

Celestia
Northern Moravica 7-3
Commonwealth of Baker Park 7-3
Loyola-Istria 7-3
Salamantic 6-4
Elephant Valley 2-8
Green Coast 1-9

Horizon
Sadeg State 9-1
Felswyr State 9-1
Hoofstra 5-5
Anasb 3-7
Cavsar 3-7
Adirondack 1-9

Woodlands
New Lakeland 10-0
Saguenay 5-5
Brat Tech 5-5
St. Croix 5-5
Atheburn 4-6
Tchust Fhergys 1-9

Zephyr
Raynor 10-0
Mar Sara 7-3
Trent State 7-3
Mancodas 4-6
Ceneisis 1-9
Thereisnogodistan 1-9

OOC Week 1
Loyola-Istria 35-29 Kohnhead City
St. Croix 16-31 Swisston City
Cold Hill 38-21 Felswyr State
Northern Moravica 29-27 Raynor
Baker Park 33-31 Mar Sara
Trent State 41-17 Elephant Valley
Richardson 7-7 Hoofstra (13-7 OT)
Cavsar 0-20 Salamantic

OOC Week 2
Raynor 30-37 Kohnhead City
Swisston City 42-21 Mancodas
Felswyr State 12-21 Loyola-Istria
New Lakeland 24-24 Northern Moravica (31-38 OT)
Mar Sara 35-17 St. Croix
Sadeg State 39-26 Elephant Valley
Salamantic 12-7 Saguenay
Baker Park 17-20 Richardson
Trent State 28-36 Cold Hill
Green Coast 16-15 Hoofstra

OOC Week 3
Kohnhead City 17-27 Felswyr State
Swisston City 24-27 Trent State
Northern Moravica 32-17 St. Croix
Loyola-Istria 29-14 Richardson
Sadeg State 31-31 Mar Sara (38-37 OT)
Atheburn 12-30 Elephant Valley
Cold Hill 51-7 Green Coast
Mancodas 17-12 Salamantic
Raynor 42-16 Brat Tech
New Lakeland 27-25 Cavsar


First Round
1. Sadeg State (11-1) 34-31 8. Loyola-Istria (10-3)
4. Cold Hill (11-2) 42-47 5. Kohnhead City (10-3)
2. New Lakeland (11-1) 17-24 7. Felswyr State (10-3)
3. Raynor (11-2) 27-38 6. Northern Moravica (10-3)

Semifinals
Sadeg State 37-20 Kohnhead City
Felswyr State 21-18 Northern Moravica

Felswyr State 31-30 Sadeg State

[Ranoria]

"Golden! Start warming up. Aurel, sit your ass on the bench." Chris Dale practically snarled.

"Excu-" Aurel started, and Dale whipped around.

His glare silenced the nineteen year old, "Sit down. Your dumbass has given me one hell of a lot to think about." Whatever came next was cut off by an elated crowd in Kohnhead City.

"Start the Buses!"

The stadium filled with its gathered faithful's claps, mocking a team that had never experienced something of its like, never really been put in a position where it was plausible, even.

"Start the buses!"

The Buffalo defense marched back onto the field as the crowd quieted down, exhausted as they had been all night. Why the chanting, if the defense was only now taking the field?

Well, they were down 42-23, and Aurel Strathos had just thrown his fourth interception. Samuel Church had never wavered at safety, stuck to his job, and had been rewarded with his second on the night, one he returned all the way to the 15 yard line. Well that's great, you might be saying, the Buffalo defense is nasty this year! They can hold them to three and get right back into this thing!

Yeah well, you're forgetting a few things. Even this early in the game, the turnover machine that Aurel Strathos had become had subjected his defense to having already been on the field for a whopping 76 snaps. Thirty of those had been carries by a legitimate OPOY candidate, maybe even an MOP after the statline and highlights he'd have at the end of the night - Herman Whitworth. You give this man the ball in the red zone, good things happen.

Inside linebacker Robert Lewan and Whitworth - they went back a long way. Lewan had won a good chunk of their meetings, a nasty, hit-first backer, but he'd been bested in the majority of their meetups, and there was no flu to pin things on this time.

The linebacker came down hard and fast, but so did the star running back. A crack of pads at the line of scrimmage and Lewan was shrugged off, and Agnor Virdian, one of the better defensive backs in Ranoria, just wasn't quite strong enough to present a counter to the stiff arm that put him in the dirt.

Yeah, it was Whitworth's fourth touchdown run, in case any of you are wondering.

49-23.

Felix Hamilton didn't even bother taking the kick back, and Austin Golden, senior quarterback and a former 4 star recruit in his own right, took the field. The broadcasters made sure to note that a good chunk of the defensive starters were out of the game at this point. That last touchdown by Whitworth had put the nail in the coffin after all.

Golden was fine, and Aurel winced at every completed pass.

"You know there's no way I can run you out next week, right?" Dale didn't even look at the former #2 recruit, tapping his foot, anxious for this one to be over. "These first three weeks, you've shown me the worst quarterback play I've ever had to coach through. And I had plenty of under the radar guys before Thorn Davis showed up."

"Coach, I know I can-"

"Then do!" He turned and snapped. "I can, high upside, talent, I don't give a damn about any of that. We run the most aggressive offensive system in the NSCF, and you can't put up points, you can't score touchdowns, and you sure as hell can't maintain possession."

The kid was petrified. Mouth moving, but nothing was coming out. He pulled his helmet, in his lap, a little tighter to his chest, and suddenly his eyes were downcast.

You ever have your entire world shattered? Shown blatantly and undeniably that whatever belief you had in yourself was a load of shit? Yeah, probably not his best night.

Cold Hill Cleaned Up and Thrown Back to the Buses Against Mighty Eagles In Statement Victory

Four interceptions for Aurel Strathos, four touchdown runs and just over two hundred rushing yards for Herman Whitworth. There's no flu to pin this thing on this time, no missing starters. Cold Hill was healthy and at their best as far as anyone could tell, still rolling with a defense that finished the domestic season as easily the best in the school's history.

And here we are. Another blowout at Chicken King.

Plenty of times, the camera cut to arguments on the Buffalo sideline. Aurel Strathos in particular. Arguing with receivers, yelling at his quarterbacks coach, once yelling at Chris Dale just a minute or two before throwing a fourth interception. If anyone's keeping track, that's tenth on the season for him, and his second straight week with 4, this time chipping in with a lost fumble as well.

So what the hell is going on? We know Kohnhead City is not only great, but rising, but this is insane. Cold Hill should never be pushed to the side like they were last night. And really we've only got man to point our finger at: Chris Dale.

The head coach of the Buffalo has taken heat in the past, be it for Angelo Gordon's reckless aggression or Deondre Rhine's battle with addiction and the behavioral issues that stemmed from that battle. But when you win championships, that gets swept under the rug. And Dale is coming off back to back domestic championships, he's got two NSCF rings on his finger. But can he maintain that after the precedent he's set?

Deondre Rhine was a nut, he was out of control, but he came in and threw his forty touchdowns. So what now? We've got players who think as long as they produce, they're off the hook. Of course there's plenty of high-character individuals who haven't caused any trouble. But fans will remember a waived DUI charge against running back Brannon Hillis the night before Ranoria's national championship game and a swept-under-the-rug accusation of assault levied against linebacker Robert Lewan the night after. A team imposed suspension on wideout Heath Heinz.

And Aurel. The successor to Rhine, now sitting on the bench, as confirmed by Chris Dale in the postgame press conference.

"I know Aurel has an arm, and I know what he can do, but he isn't doing it, and we're out of patience. Austin Golden will go into next week as the starter, and we're going to make an active effort to give Pierre [Truman] and Hannah [Young] some snaps.

We know what we have when we roll out Aurel, we have to figure out was else we have on the roster, because he just isn't getting it done."

And of course, with calls for his job loud by the second half, no reporter was missing a chance to get that juicy quote. So here came rising game day journalist Micah Andrews, asking what Dale's thoughts were on the calls for his job, and if he believed that it was a necessary step to fix the culture of the Buffalo locker room.

I have no concerns about my place in this program. Our locker room is strong, we know who our leaders are and they set the tone. Any further speculation about my firing should be directed to our athletics website, where one can readily see our stellar record over the past six seasons.

If anyone's able, feel free to grab the salt. But his own confidence may not get him far if this kind of slip up begins to be routine, and Kohnhead City has shown they are perfectly capable of making it just that. And if the Buffalo miss the playoffs this season, don't expect the program to look so kindly on Dale's comments.

[Kohnhead]

Start the Buses

It was a dominant performance in all aspects by Kohnhead City

Kohnhead City got two wins against Cold Hill last season and yet the argument could be made that both had large asteriks around them. The first game is now known as the flu game and for good reason, half of Cold Hill's squad was decimated with the flu and in that same game star quarterback Deondre Rhine went down with a grueseome knee injury. It came as a surprise to no one that Kohnhead won 44-6 given that we were a talented squad and everything that happened to Cold Hill. Despite this game freshman Aurel Strathos still led Cold Hill to the Big Eight title with a 47-40 win over Kohnhead City in week nine to pretty much lock it up.

The second game that has an asterik next to it was the first ever conference championship which was an unofficial (see friendly) match played in Drawk City that we won 43-40. While it was a fantastic game to watch and gave us both bragging rights and confidence heading into a tough out of conference slate it didn't matter for much more than that. It might have been a conference championship game but Cold Hill still won the conference and thus were still guaranteed a spot in the playoffs although we would make the playoffs by committee vote.

There would be no asterik after this week three game between two undefeated schools in a match that would go a long way in determining who would win the title and more importantly get a guranteed spot in the eight team playoff field. Strathos had struggled in his first season as the official starter with six interceptions through his first two games and while Cold Hill won them both, he inspired no confidence against two inferior opponents.

On the flip side Emilee Johansson our freshman quarterback from Chromatika has showed her skill the first two games although she has also shown her youth and room for improvement as we dominated Richardson 21-3 and then smashed Rajendragadh College 43-24. Everyone was expecting her to have a more difficult time against a decent defense that the Buffalo have and most were expecting a game like the ones we saw at the end of last season.

No one was expecting a 63-30 blowout in front of our fans led by Herman Whitworth who missed the last game with an injury although many think it was more of a precaution to allow him to rest up before theis important game. Whitworth had 31 carries for 207 yards and four scores as he obliterated this Cold Hill defense while Johansson did what you might expect her to do in a game like this, play well but not have to carry the load. But you don't need to carry the load when you have an absolute beast in the backfield with you in Herman Whitworth.

Kohnhead City was flawless on both sides of the field with Johansson playing well and the defense despite technically allowing 30 points playing a lot better than that number suggests. They picked off Strathos four times including two by freshman Samuel Church who is having a great start to his first Kohnhead City season. Irving got an interception and as did Dwayne Michael our third safety who plays a decent amount in some different packages.

We started out on fire and didn't let our foot off the gas and when we scored to go up 35-16 Blitz Taurus who had caught the score (the first of his collegiate career) decided to have some fun. He walked over to the Cold Hill sideline (never a good sign), took off his helmet, and... pretended to piss in it right in front of them. This obviously did not go over well with an already ticked off Cold Hill sideline who prepared to destroy him but any semblance of a fight was stopped quickly as Taurus' teammates pulled him away. Coach Donnelly has already announced a one game suspension for "rude and inappropriate behavior toward an opposing team" and you have to wonder what he was thinking.

Sure he's a young kid enjoying his first touchdown and a rout of a rival but he is Ranorian and the team he's doing this to is Ranorian in front of some Ranorian fans. He does realize that if he wants a career in the RFL these are the people who he's going to be playing with or against same with if he wants to make the Ranorian World Bowl team. To his credit he has apologized saying that these actions do not reflect who he is and that he got carried away adding that it will not happen again but it overall just isn't a good look.

The rest of the game got so bad that the Kohnhead City crowd started to chant "Start the Buses!" which just goes to show how dominant we had been over the game. Right as this chant was going on Aurel Strathos the supposed next great Cold Hill quarterback was being benched for his four interception performance by coach Chris Dale who had to listen in horror to the raucous and giddy crowd. Some might have been expecting a Kohnhead City but no one was expecting a 63-30 rout over the NSCF 22 Champions as it finally looks like it might be Kohnhead City's time to win the Big Eight.

If Kohnhead City are ever able to get over this amazing win then they will need to prepare themselves for their matchup with cross-nation rivals Swisston City University who are coming off of a 74-10 victory and upset Kohnhead City 68-33 last season showing their quality. Also of note the two major rivals to the Mighty Eagles for the Big Eight title in the two Ranorian schools Cold Hill and Richardson meet next week meaning one will slide down to a 2-2 record.


A more than dominant victory for Swisston gives them victory of the season

William Carey walks untouched into the endzone

An overtime loss to Green Mountain State before a disheartening loss to Richardson last week had Swisston in a bad place with an 0-2 start. However 0-2 Rajendragadh College out of Pratapgadh gave us the perfect opportunity to turn that around. Swisston matched Kohnhead City's mark of 74 points in a win against Lissmore Christian College last season and won by seven more points after only allowing our opponents to score 10 points. Last year we hung 68 on Kohnhead City, this year we hung 74 on Pratapgadh.

As one would expect from a 74 point outburst Diego Rodriguez was lights out throwing for 407 yards alongside 6 touchdowns through the air with only one interception as he consistently found his receivers down the field despite barely playing into the second half. Kaytlynne Sellers picked up her first 100 yard outing on the ground picking up 108 yards and a score showing that a running back can have lots of success in an air raid offense. We didn't need to do much after the first quarter where we scored four touchdowns but Swisston just couldn't stop scoring and just couldn't stop destroying the Rajendragadh offense whenever they touched the ball.

No starter (save for the kicker Nydia Leon) played in the fourth quarter but our backups continued to dominate scoring two scores in the final frame but allowing the first touchdown of the day for our opposition. Now obviously an extremely dominant win against the basement of the conference doesn't change much for Swisston but it's good to see us finally get something in the win column which had been missing.

The real question is what can Swisston do next week in Chicken King Stadium against Kohnhead City who we shockingly beat 68-33 last season in one of our meetings. Kohnhead City have been dominant so far recently picking up a 63-30 win over Cold Hill as they sit at 3-0 making a win over them much more difficult than it was last season. I'm expecting Swisston to drop to 1-3 with this game as they struggle to gain much ground in a very difficult Big Eight Conference.

BIG EIGHT CONFERENCE                Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD 
1 Kohnhead City University              3    3   0   127   57  +70
2 Richardson University                 3    2   1    52   53   −1
3 Cold Hill University                  3    2   1    91  103  −12
4 Green Mountain State                  3    1   2    96  107  −11
5 Swisston City University              3    1   2   123   76  +47
6 Rajendragadh College                  3    0   3    48  141  −93

[Ranoria]

Dollars and Disbalance: The Damage International Competition Has Done to College Football

We love to see it. Kuenda Sello and Ifeatu Chineze coming over from Banija and taking the NSCF by storm. Kieran Kweo-Atkison, now playing in the Ranorian Football League, mauling the competition. Victoria Mio, Koman Tabor, and Candice Ferret helping form the backbone of Cold Hill's defense. Clancy Gluber cracking skulls all over the field from his position at linebacker.

Of course, it's a little less satisfying when Abram Fairbanks and Alaexander Ackerman up the mantle of the Blue Thunder. Or when Konstantin Vollmacht and Sage Sterling suit up for Felswyr State's Firehawks. Adoree Natali shipping off to Mar Sara Tech. Ballast Queen at Stoneshore. The list goes on. But ultimately, it seems Richardson and Cold Hill get a net positive. With a much greater recruiting pool, it doesn't hurt for them to lose a few domestic recruits to get a ton of talent from overseas. But the NSCF season, it doesn't happen in a vacuum.

Other schools - not smaller, just perhaps not as fortunate - miss out. Ranoria State has a hard time selling their program to recruits who could now go play for a program with that sort of lights-out offense, but also on the international stage. Such as, say, Loyola-Istria. They want to sell you on their star power? On how much press a player can get, the brand they can build? Universite du Saguenay in Quebec, and as much as there is to do in Ranoria City, we all know those Quebecois can party like no other.

Vricksinburg State's hard nosed, tough program? Northern Moravica. Felswyr State. Compete on the international stage, see a new country, what's not to love?

A running back who wants to tear it up? Richardson is always going to be option A in Ranoria, but The University of Dietrich could generally give them a run for their money. No more. After all, why not simply attend the University of the Commonwealth and take advantage of all they have to offer?

Point being - there's a talent drain on schools who aren't able to participate in the NSCF. And really, this wouldn't be a huge problem. Generally it's only the top five to fifteen or so recruits who get looked at internationally, so in the grand scheme of things, college football itself isn't losing its quality. The problem comes when you have schools like Richardson or Cold Hill, who still compete domestically, taking full advantage.

Over in Banija, Loyola-Istria and Northern Moravica no longer compete domestically. Everyone knows they'd likely crush any other school in the country now (even if the University of Moravica is in denial), but domestic football runs without them, and it's still a highlight of everyone's weekend. There's even plenty of playful banter between the NSCF competitors and their domestic counterparts. In Ranoria however, there's no such banter, no ignoring the truth.

In 3 of the last four seasons, we've had a matchup between Richardson and Cold Hill in the championship.

Ranorian National Championship Matchup by the following edition of the NSCF
*indicates non-NSCF participant
Bold indicates winner

NSCF 16: Richardson vs *Ranoria State
NSCF 17: Richardson vs Cold Hill
NSCF 18: Richardson vs Cold Hill
NSCF 19: *Vricksinburg State vs Cold Hill
NSCF 20: *University of Dietrich vs *Ranoria State
NSCF 21: Richardson vs Cold Hill
NSCF 22: Richardson vs *Vricksinburg State
NSCF 23: Richardson vs Cold Hill
NSCF 24: Richardson vs Cold Hill

A little bit ridiculous, no?

And to be fair: Richardson and Cold Hill didn't begin taking on foreign recruits until after NSCF 17. Those recruits would be wideout Kieran Kweo Atkison and inside linebacker Isaiah Bryce for Richardson. But the die had already been cast. Richardson and Cold Hill were both more attractive options, as evidenced by plenty of transfers to both schools. Cornerback Xavier Yannick-Lotz to Richardson, while nose tackle Carter Johnson and tackle Karl Korsch transferred from other programs to Cold Hill. Recruits knew as well as anyone that if they wanted to get theirs, those were the two programs.

And so we had two straight matchups of Richardson and Cold Hill in the national championship. Hell, we might've had three in a row if the coaching staff had just been able to make a decision between Ifeatu Chineze and Alton McNair sooner...and we all know who the best option was. And prior to NSCF 20, we finally got a matchup without either squad. Deondre Rhine was suspended just before the playoffs and the University of Dietrich knocked off Richardson in the semifinal - with the help of a couple egregious pass interferences in the fourth quarter that weren't called.

Ever since, of the eight participants in Ranorian championships, only Vricksinburg State has broken the duopoly, before NSCF 21, when Deondre Rhine struggled to produce with a total absence of passing weapons around him, and even then they couldn't finish the job by winning it all.

What's the solution? Well, there's a significant amount of support to simply push Richardson and Cold Hill into being NSCF-exclusive, and while the opposition will point out the loss of traditional rivalries, well, we don't have much in the way of those anymore. The University of Dietrich Snow Bears, Richardson's traditional rival, has beaten them just once since the beginning of NSCF play, and that was in the aforementioned semifinal under questionable circumstances. Ranoria State, often seen as Cold Hill's arch-nemesis, dragged them down before NSCF 17 and hasn't won since. Perhaps its time to allow the other schools to have a fighting chance. Let the Governors and Buffalo fight for the glory of the NSCF season, and avoid the injuries that playing a minimum of 28, and maximum of 32, football games in one year can have. Better yet, the domestic title is an afterthought now.

Want proof? Cold Hill head coach Chris Dale is constantly taking flak despite winning several recent championships. Richardson defensive coordinator Eric Dietrich was fired for not even a full season of poor performance in the NSCF - not the domestic play, where he was stellar throughout his career - and even the legendary Richard Steinheil has begun to hear whispers that his job is at stake. He's missed out on two title game appearances in the last ten seasons in Ranoria, but that just isn't nearly enough anymore.

Another advantage of course, would be that the NSCF season and domestic could be run concurrently, as having football on for more than half the year, well, may drive some poor wives crazy with how much time their husbands - often saying they could've made it if not for their bum phalanges - spend watching it. No, we're not saying we have the pull to change when the NSCF season occurs, but thankfully the world's somewhat fluid timeline allows some adjustments to be made without bothering anyone.

So, what do you all think? Feel free to reach out to me @Will_Jackson_RSSN or leave a comment in the box below!

[Valanora]

Valanora Times
A Saber and History

The Battle for the Royal Saber is always the two highlight games for both Mar Sara Tech and Raynor University during the conference part of the schedule, as the two Empire schools get their chances to lay claim to Vanorian supremacy for the season. Last season when the Rockets were riding an undefeated record into the first game in Mar Sara, they were looking to establish not only national dominance but also dominance over the conference and an early jockey for positioning in the OSPI. When the Raiders had looked a bit rusty in those first few games, as they were bleeding in the new talent on both sides of the ball, it had looked to be a game where the Rockets could have easily gone into the Lathalein Celestial Stadium and come away with a victory. Instead, the Raiders showed that they were a team that was being made stronger by the adversity that had been going through and played the Rockets tough for the entire game before late into the game they were able to gain an upset victory over the previous NSCF semifinalists with a field goal and gave Raynor University a bit of a pause, perhaps showing their foes later in the season how to defeat the Rockets and cut their desire for a NSCF title short, even if the Rockets would earn their own back in the game in the capital later in the season.

Going into this game in Mar Sara this season, it is more of the same, even if the Rockets have not been absolutely on the sort of offensive tear through the Zephyr as they were during last season, as they had been combatting with the numerous offensive happy schools out of the Big Eight for the right to say they had the best offense in the NSCF. Surprisingly the Rockets come into their first Battle for the Royal Saber with one of the best defenses so far in the season, currently ranked as the sixth best in the NSCF. If the Rockets are going to avoid another upset in Mar Sara, it will be strength against strength as the Raiders have the best offensive output in the NSCF so far into the season and will also have the benefit of playing in the Lathalein Celestial, a stadium where they seem to thrive even when they are in a down season. Let us not forget that a few seasons ago when they were in a transition season, the Raiders were able to ride some unexpected home victories into the playoffs, even if they were not able to go deep into the knockouts that season. It still shows that there is a certain magic in the air for the Raiders when playing at home, something that doesn't seem to travel as well as they'd like.

The question then gets asked a lot, for as good as the Vanorian schools have been in the NSCF, why does the entire not bother to enter into the World Bowl, why is there not a professional gridiron league in the Empire if there is that amount of good talent that is constantly being produced by the universities and academies? While like most things, the answer is very complicated and has a lot of different facets as to exactly why this is the case. The first answer is the lack of popularity for the sport outside the collegiate atmosphere, as it seems to really only have a constant following among those who pay attention to collegiate athletics as well as youth athletics, with the various academies that produce the different prospects for the schools. The second of course is that lack of a professional league to keep the players at their highest possible levels that would have the would be national team of gridiron to be able to compete with those around them. As we all know, Vanorian team events are very competitive and seen as community building rather than faux wars, and so an inability to be competitive is and continues to be a major deterrent for entering into the World Bowl.

However that is about to be challenged with a team being entered into the AO Bowl, a team that is going to be coached by Mar Sara Tech's NSFC winning coach Sander Ivarsson. His team is not very deep, usually only going two players deep at each position, but it is filled with players who have graduated from Raynor University and Mar Sara Tech over the last three seasons, a few of these players having been playing overseas and a few others playing in the semiprofessional regional leagues across the Empire. The AO Bowl will be a test to see if there is an appetite for a higher level of gridiron competition within the Empire and if it is worth the VSC expanding its budget, as it was only a half decade ago that they had considered withdrawing the Vanorian schools from the NSCF due to budget concerns. It will be a bit of sport and a bit of politics unfortunately, but should that team perform well when they do start to compete, we may well see the expansion of gridiron in the Empire much like basketball has seen since the Dragons have started performing well in the IBC.

[Chromatika]

Notes from The Rebel
Prelude: Sarai Michelle Bradwyn Gwenderyn
Part 1: Birth and Family

GWENDERYN
Part 2: The Pigskin
or, Introduction to Gridiron Football
By: Aimée de Pierre, Guest Columnist

So... How did Sarai Gwenderyn end up being introduced to Gridiron Football when she had grown up in the environment like an orphanage in Z'ai'ai? The answer? Adopted parents.

Dr. Jade and Lloyd Barrister were both biochemists working in a garbage disposal lab before the Rainbow Revolution, working on ecologically friendly ways to get rid of waste. Not being a fan of the Chromatik Party, their field was innocuous enough that they weren't really a part of the Party's agenda; as far as the privileged people of the BIV population went, they were perhaps some of the most model ones that secretly wished for change.

"When the Revolution happened, we knew that one of the things we wanted to do afterwards was take care of the displaced children," states Dr. Lloyd Barrister when I asked him about the decision to adopt, "We were never successful in having any children of our own and were always appalled by the state of the different orphanages that the (Chromatik) Party had around. So, after helping the Revolution win, we were one of the first people to sign up to adopt. It just happened to be that we were living in Z'ai'ai at the time, which is how we ran into Sarai."

The Barristers ended up becoming auxiliary staff to the Chromatik Ambassadorial staff in the first five years of the new Chromatik administration under Premier Alina Krasnikova due to the connections that they had within the previous Party's more fair-minded people prior to the Revolution. This meant that Sarai's education from her Red background were all done by her new parents, accomplished as best as they could prior to high school in the midst of traveling to different countries in Atlantian Oceania, namely Cosumar and Banija.

"To go from knowing only Z'ai'ai to traveling to other countries was such an eye-opening experience for me," admits Sarai, "It really showed me just how much I was missing out. It was in a visit to Ramusok when I was thirteen that I saw gridiron football for the first time. We were eating dinner at a steakhouse one evening - I think it was the one night a month that we would go to a fancy restaurant and eat out - and we saw that the restaurant was packed. Dad was a bit confused because he'd checked to make sure that Cosumar's national team wasn't playing that evening - trying to go anywhere when the Vanquishers were playing was a bad idea. That was when we realized that the crowd were wearing Ramusok Capital University and Stoneshore College jerseys, and that they were playing each other that evening. I hardly touched my food, I was so engrossed in the game. I think I begged my parents to stay till the game was over. The funny thing is, I don't even remember who won, but the game that I saw was so intriguing and I was hooked."

As they continued to travel back and forth between Cosumar, Chromatika, and later Banija, Sarai continued to watch the NSCF scene, being drawn to the sport as if by a magnet. "For my fourteenth birthday, my parents got me a pass that allowed me to watch NSCF games as long as the network coverage was from Atlantian Oceania. I don't think I followed any particular team - any gridiron football was better than none - but it was my favorite thing to do."

Three months later, while in Istria City, Dr. Jade Barrister bought Sarai her very first gridiron football, and Gwenderyn took to the Quarterback position like fish to water.

"I could tell that she was special almost immediately," says Jade Barrister proudly when asked, "She was throwing tight spirals like on TV from more than fifteen yards out an hour after having the ball, and within a week, we couldn't run fast enough to catch the balls that she was throwing. One afternoon, she'd said that she was going to the local park to work out and she wasn't coming home in town for dinner. We went there, and she was playing seven-on-seven with some Banijan youth and really impressing everyone. Some of the parents of other kids there started telling us that she had a gift with her arm."

This led to the Barristers having to make some difficult decisions regarding their career. They could settle in Banija and have Sarai go through the Banijan high school system, which had an established gridiron structure; however, they had some inside news from back home that presented a secondary option: Eustrace Hampton, Jr. The Chromatik pioneer was highly instrumental in the Chromatik Football Federation incorporate Gridiron Football as an official sport sponsored by them; this was what officially started the wheels churning for what would become Felswyr State University.

After discussing it at length with Sarai, the Barristers and fifteen year old Sarai Gwenderyn made the decision to return to Chromatika. "It wasn't easy," explains Dr. Lloyed Barrister, "We loved our job with the Ambassadors. However, we had committed to our daughter when we adopted her, and if she wanted gridiron to be her career, we were going to do our best to support her. With Chromatika just starting off on the path to having gridiron football available, we knew that she could have the opportunity of being one of the first stars in the sport. In a country like Banija where there were established systems, we felt like we could run into people trying to turn her into something she was not. We do wonder what could've happened if we'd stayed in Banija, but we don't have any regrets."

Sarai Gwenderyn won the starting job in the first Gridiron Football team for Mt. Nial High School very easily. Her first year with the Anacondas was a disaster as Mt. Nial didn't have a decent defense nor any players to help Sarai on the offensive end. The Anacondas went 3-4 despite Sarai scoring fifteen touchdowns on the ground and twenty through the air. It remains the worst season Sarai has ever had as a signal caller, but she insists that it was highly instrumental.

"We were figuring stuff out on the fly," Gwenderyn remembers, "The Offensive Coordinator was Darin Colbert, and he'd only seen Gridiron at the World Bowl level. We made our playbook and I even helped the Defense figure stuff out, too. Our three wins came in a row at the end of the season, and for senior night, we beat the conference leader by three touchdowns. We knew that it had been a season to learn from."

The next season, Gwenderyn's Sophomore year, the Anacondas were fully online. Averaging over 35 points a game, Mt.Nial High School went 6-1, losing to their rivals in Z'ai'ai Central. This led them to the Mountain District Playoffs, where they defeated Umbar Hills by a score of 42-17 before facing Z'ai'ai Central once again. This time, Gwenderyn threw for five touchdowns and ran for two more as the Anacondas triumphed 49-24. They lost in the Semifinals of the national tournament, clipped by East Omnio High School, a team led by senior Quarterback Jill Kieran (now the starting QB for the Chromia Cyan) and a senior Wide Receiver by the name of Alessandra Mio, who caught four touchdowns on the match. East Omnio ended up winning the second National High School title.

By the Junior year of High School, Sarai Gwenderyn was starting to draw national attention. The Chromatik Football League was starting to form, and there was talk about a Chromatik school joining the NSCF. The Anacondas absolutely ruled the Greater Z'ai'ai Conference, going undefeated and having a point differential of over two hundred. They won the Mountain District title game by more than thirty points, and everyone had them pegged to win the National High School Title. They did so in a tight affair in the title game, winning 21-17 against Franscesca Larriet-Cortes High School where with thirty seconds left, Gwenderyn juked a middle linebacker by the name of Mi-Hyeon Park for the title-winning touchdown.

Two weeks before her senior season, Felswyr State started calling Sarai. She asked them to give her until the High School season was over - Sarai was bent on making sure that Mt. Nial High School would be the first team to repeat as champions. At this point, winning the Greater Z'ai'ai Conference was a given. They struggled on their season finale against Z'ai'ai Central, Gwenderyn needing to find Tight End Hans Everson with fifteen seconds left. In the rematch for the Mountain District Title, Gwenderyn really popped off, contributing to six scores on the ground as the Anacondas took care of their rivals, 56-13.

In the National High School Gridiron Playoffs for Post Rainbow Revolution Year 8 were three schools that had the power to win it all - Mt. Nial High School led by Sarai, Freanscseca Larriet-Cortes High School led by their stifling defense featuring Mi-Hyeon Park and Lara Jun, and Winter Heights High School from Felswyr, led by Running Back Victoria Kaiser-Williams and the best Kicker in the nation that year - Sara McAllister.

The Anacondas ran into the Glaciers in the Semifinals, and despite their kicker missing three Field Goals - Sara McAllister scored on all five attempts for Winter Heights - Gwenderyn was able to eke out the win at the end by scoring on a keeper in overtime. Which led to a rematch with - you guessed it, reader - Franscesca Larriet-Cortes High School.

It was the first National High School Playoffs Final to be held in the Capitalizt Dome. More then forty thousand people showed up to watch a high school football game featuring players that most people were guessing would be on Felswyr State the year after. Most of Sarai's teammates in that Mt. Nial squad now play for other schools in the CCGC, while Franscesca Larriet-Cortes High School has produced multiple players that have played gridiron in multiple levels in the country.

In the middle of the second quarter, Mi-Hyeon Park took Gwenderyn to the turf and landed on Sarai's left ankle, which needed to be taped up at halftime. It wasn't malicious - just an injury that happened in the course of play. Despite her limited mobility, Sarai was still able to engineer two touchdown drives in the third quarter to bring back the Anacondas against the Memoirs. With the game tied with two minutes to go, Gwenderyn would then engineer a perfect two-minute drive that ended on a QB keeper - with Mi-Hyeon Park frozen due to a designed fake, unable to do anything but watch Gwenderyn hobble into the end zone for the two-peat.

"That was the best game ever," admits Gwenderyn looking back, "I loved competing against Mi-Hyeon back then, and that final drive remains in my memory as one of the special highlights of my career. Nobody has won the championship twice in a row since then - it's something that I will always remember with pride. When I made the decision to play my high school career in Chromatika, nobody could imagine that the sport would grow so much in four years. I never thought that by my Senior year, we'd be in the Capitalizt Dome. I never thought we'd run into players like Alessandra, Mi-Hyeon, and Sara that early. However, the rate in which our nation has embraced Gridiron Football is something that I am very proud of. It was an honor to be a part of the initial seasons of High School Gridiron, and I hope the Anacondas continue to win."

Two days after winning the title, Sarai Gwenderyn officially committed to Felswyr State, but more on that in the applicable section of this series. Gwenderyn left her high school career as the all-time leader in Passing Yards, Touchdowns, and Titles - all records that she still retains to this day. Even then, the nation could tell that she was special - but nobody could guess the impact that she would have on the country when she entered the campus at Felswyr State University.

---

The Flame of the Firehawk: Ablaze
Part 3: Correcting Course

Team   1Q  2Q  3Q  4Q   |  Tot
FSU     3   7   9   7   |   26
CU      8   8   0   0   |   16

1Q
12:21 CU TD - Mike Banks 13 yard run (Darian Lewis run)
06:11 FSU FG - Michelle Breille 31 yard Field Goal

2Q
08:33 CU TD - Jonathan Kimbrough 9 yard pass from Darian Lewis (Mike Banks run)
03:20 FSU TD - Stan Devlin 33 yard pass from Sarai Gwenderyn (Sara McAllister Kick)

3Q
13:21 FSU TD - Sarai Gwenderyn 18 yard run (Missed PAT)
07:51 FSU FG - Sara McAllister 41 yard Field Goal

4Q
05:38 FSU TD - Sage Sterling 28 yard fumble return (Sara McAllister Kick)

ROY MEMORIAL STADIUM, CAVSAR, DRAWKLAND - For two quarters, Cavsar University looked like they would trip up Felwyr State once again. Darian Lewis was keeping an eye on his turnovers, Mike Banks was running wild, and they'd even scored two two point conversions. For Felswyr State University's credit, they'd managed to keep the game close - Sarai Gwenderyn doing her bit with a pass to Stan Devlin on a Wide Receiver screen that saw the Freshman tear through the core of Cavsar's defense. With Michelle Breille scoring her first Field Goal of her career - FSU is trying to ease her in in case Sara McAllister can't play - the Firehawks were six points behind.

Thankfully, a gridiron football game is composed of four quarters, and Isidora Noles is a very cerebral Defensive Coordinator. FSU pitched a complete shutout in the second half, forcing Cavsar into three turnovers while Sarai Gwenderyn and the offense did just enough as the Firehawks kept their perfect road record intact and bounced back after the narrow defeat to Sadeg State. Sage Sterling strip-sacked Darian Lewis in the fourth quarter for the final margin.

"We need to get better in beginning of games," admitted Offensive Coordinator Naia Curentino, "But we have always been a team that makes adjustments as needed, so I wasn't too worried. The team really came through in the second half."

When asked about giving Michelle Breille two kicking attempts (she missed the PAT), Special Teams Coordinator Vera James stated, "Sara has agreed to splitting kicking duties while we give Michelle some opportunities to get past her nerves. We are hoping that Sara will be able to be with us for the entire season, and this seems to be the best way to ensure that while also making sure that Michelle will be ready to go if she needs to step in."

Next up, Felswyr State will head off to Hoofstra University, the other 3-0 team that actually has the best Point Differential in the conference up to this point. Usually heralded for their defensive prowess, Hoofstra has been on an offensive tear, scoring more than forty-two points in their last two contests.

"This game will really be a litmus test as to where we are right now," admitted Naia Curentino, "Slow starts won't do us any good in Hoofstra."

Undefeated road record against hot start to the season. Time to see which statistic will falter.

[Banija]

Loyola-Istria Head Coach Alanso Isa driving into practice

It was a rough, frustrating start to the season so far for Alanso Isa. He was, of course, a championship winning head coach who had followed in the footsteps of a man who had never lost a playoff game- good ol' Alastair Jobs. Following up a legacy like that is almost impossible, but even with all that pressure, Alanso Isa had done an admirable job, especially in the beginning years. Always making deep playoff runs, the almost year of NSCF 18 where the team almost had a one loss champion, and then the glory year of NSCF 21, where the Blue Thunder stormed to the title and lifted the trophy.

But since the highs of that title, things have not been so great. The Celestia was an absolute beast of a conference this year, adding perennial Mineral Conference champions, UC-Baker Park, to the fold after the shrinkage of the NSCF from 36 schools to just 30. NSCF 22- didn't make the playoffs. Which, of course, for Loyola donors and alumni, was a strange feeling. Loyola had won their bowl game that year, of course, downing UC-Baker Park to have a good turn towards the offseason.

But NSCF 23 wasn't too great either. Oh, it started great- the redemption tour. Sweeping the Salamantics school that had swept Loyola just a year prior. Beating Northern Moravica on their home field. Starting 8-0 with the world, almost unanimously agreed to be #1, and the chase for four, to overtake Utica as the most decorated NSCF program of all time, was on. Unfortunately, Week 9 it all unraveled. Got steamrolled by Northern Moravica on their home field. And never recovered- lost to rivals Felswyr State twice, both at the Istria Lightning Yard, including the quarterfinals. And, to add insult to injury, fell in the Rebel's Cannon Bowl to Richardson University for the second straight season.

Losing to rivals? Not winning playoff games? Just two years of doing that after unprecedented success, of course, but still- Loyola fans were nutters. They had crazy high expectations. The crazy thing is that they were being met for so long? But now Loyola, after the last two years and the start to this year, was firmly 1-2. A losing record? At Loyola? The criticism was being ratcheted up on the internet, on talk radio, and at these donor outings.

You always knew fans were unhappy when donors talked about at these. And Isa was a man, as great as a coach he was, who was susceptible to feeling the outside pressure when the noise dialed up a notch. One donor asked him straight out- "what happened against UC-BP? Why isn't the Celestia ours?" He got so many variations of the same question. And another- when will we consistently beat Northern Moravica again? Nothing like losing 5 of your last 6 games to your local rival that will piss everyone off in the donor base. There's nowhere to hide from NMU fans- they're your colleagues, they are your family members.

Alanso Isa was listening to callers on talk radio as he drove through traffic to the facility, and he heard it all.

"Coach Isa lost his magic touch! We used to always pull out close games- now, he can't seem to pull out any. Gotta beat our rivals!"

"Felswyr did a number on him. We've never beaten Felswyr, and now we suddenly can't beat any of our rivals. 5 of 6 to Northern? And what the hell was the playcalling at the end of the game against UC-Baker Park- 4th and 3 late in the fourth and we ran a quarterback draw that gone blown up? Are you serious? NOt to take anything away from the Warriors, they beat us fair and square on our home field, but c'mon."

"The Istria Lightning Yard used to be a fortress. REmember the day when we had like a 35 game winning streak at home? We've technically lost four games in a row at home now, dating back to week 9 last season against Northern Moravica. What the hell happened? We claim to have the best home field advantage in college football, but we can't say that if we can't win games at home."

Isa turned off the radio. The fans were feeling frustrated. And he felt the frustration too- he knew Loyola-Istria was the place to go, the place to be. He despised Northern Moravica. He knew Richardson was worthless. They'd be favorites surely against Elephant Valley- but what about the Salamantics in two weeks? When Isa got to the office, he resolved to stay off media and try to devise a gameplan to impress against both Elephant Valley in Week 4 and the Salamantics in Week 5. If the frustrations were existent, but fairly low now, a loss in South Newlandia would put them in a place where Isa did not want to go...

[Buffalostan]

Week 3

      1   2   3   4  OT   F
RIC   7   6   3   7   7  30
GMS   0   6   7  10   0  23
BOX                                                                   RIC  GMS
  1 Dustin Devlin 22 yard pass from Astrid Verona (Shirley Woo kick)    7    0
  2 Shirley Woo 44 yard field goal                                     10    0
    Cash West 48 yard pass from Josh Moore (kick failed)               10    6
    Shirley Woo 49 yard field goal                                     13    6
  3 Todd Cayson 6 yard pass from Josh Moore (Callum Ryan kick)         13   13
    Shirley Woo 46 yard field goal                                     16   13
  4 Elliot Roach 5 yard run (Shirley Woo kick)                         23   13
    Callum Ryan 43 yard field goal                                     23   20
    Josh Moore 9 yard run (Callum Ryan kick)                           23   23
 OT Jarius Greene 3 yard pass from Astrid Verona (Shirley Woo kick)    30   23

Some of the top new stories currently occurring in Millennial England.

President Willy Snotnilc survives impeachment trial

The Temporal Senate has voted to acquit President Snotnilc in his impeachment trial, bringing to an end a sordid chapter of Buffalostani politics. House Speaker Danny Hasturd said that vote reflected the Democratic Party’s “lack of concern for public morals”. Mr Hasturd, who will of course himself never, ever be implicated in any scandals relating to corruption or sexual misconduct, was confident in his prediction that the impeachment trial would lead to the election of Republican candidate George Shrub III, who previously served as Governor of Texico, warning voters not to misunderestimate Mr Shrub’s message of compassionate conservatism, heroic record of military service, and keen analytical mind. His opponent is likely to be incumbent Vice President Al Bore, whose policy platform of continued fiscal discipline leading to moderate debt reduction is the kind of sexy red meat the voters are sure to eat up. When asked who he intended on voting for, undecided voter Chad Hanging said he had a minor preference for Mr Bore but was considering a vote for third party candidate Rufus Noodle as his vote in Sweaty Palms Beach County “probably wouldn’t make a difference either way”.

Joe Downs passes 10,000!

The Joe Downs Industrial Average passed 10,000! for the first time. Unfortunately, such a level of hyperinflation has immediately destroyed the economy. The intern responsible has been reassigned and has instead been put in charge of regulating the housing market.

Arnie Legstrong wins yellow jersey

Arnie Legstrong has won a nice yellow jersey. It’s got a really good color pattern and almost all the stitching is in tact. The cyclist won the lovely yellow jersey when he won the prison raffle at the federal penitentiary where he is currently serving a lengthy sentence for doping offenses, having been caught trying to import banned drug products into Frankreich, whose gruelling grand tour road cycling race the Tour of Frankreich imposed notoriously strict and effective anti-doping measures, before collapsing owing to a lack of any clean riders able to actually take part.

[South Newlandia]

Red Elephants lose, and it won’t be the end

Cougars         21 14  7  0   42
Red Elephants    0  0  7  7   14

1Q: NMU 11 yd TD (Wagner-Young -> Singateh) 7-0
1Q: NMU 3 yd TD (Esther) 14-0
1Q: NMU 23 yd INT return (Coulibaly) 21-0
2Q: NMU 39 yd TD (Wagner-Young -> Singateh) 28-0
2Q: NMU 8 yd TD (Wagner-Young -> Lewis) 35-0
3Q: EVU 34 yd TD (Jones) 35-7
3Q: NMU 2 yd TD (Marenah) 42-7
4Q: EVU 8 yd TD (Herron -> Schapiro) 42-14

The Cougars, playing at home in Herzegovina City, really didn’t leave the Red Elephants a chance in their first ever away game. After a 35-0 half, the Cougars rested the majority of their stars, and the Red Elephants barely got in the game even after that. Throughout the game, Lawson could hardly get anywhere at all, and Herron had trouble finding any targets. The Cougars came away with three interceptions in the first half alone, recorded by Gonzalez, Guissé, and Coulibaly, the last one of those getting returned all the way to the house. This was going to be life for the Red Elephants – the #3-ranked team in the multiverse had taken them off of the hype they had created after the upset in week 2. In fact, some credible sources predict that the Red Elephants will lose the next nine games in a row, finishing 2-8 in Celestia. The worst part is, that seems very realistic in an extremely tough conference. Next up, the Red Elephants return home to play the other Banijan school, the Blue Thunder, and probably collect another bludgeoning.

[Beaverriver]

Disclaimer: The Pond does not officially represent the views and beliefs of Green Coast University and Beaver River. This is just a view of a couple of students at Green Coast University

The Pond
The 5 worst things to happen to Beaver River Football

The last couple of weeks have been rough to say the best. Suffering 3 blowouts in a row including a 70-0 blowout last week at Salamantic got me wondering about the low points of Beaver River football. Our past hasn't been great as we have only played in the in the NSCF a couple of times and it is unknown whether Beaver River has ever competed in the World Bowl. I wish that we were a gridiron nation but alas, we're not. But there's still enough gridiron history in this nation to warrant a list of the worst things that has happened in Beaver River football.

1. The 70-0 lost against the Salamantic Professors this past week
This was the worst blowout that I have seen the Bullfrogs been a part of and I have watched us play Corvan State. The Bullfrogs offense couldn't get started at all as they punted in three of the first five drives with the other two being a pick six and a fumble recovered by the Professors. Meanwhile the defense just couldn't stop Professors Quarterback Dagunak Juldhauthaunden who let up the score board in the first half with 4 passing touchdowns. And to make matters worse, the Bullfrogs still got steamrolled by the 2nd stringers. At this point, Green Coast is probably the worst team in the NSCF this season.

2. Starting the season with three blowouts
Unfortunately, last week's game is only a symptom of a broader problem. The team has given up no fewer than 47 points to start the season. This would be fine if the Bullfrogs were a offensive juggernaut. Unfortunately, every team we've played so far have figured out our offense to the T. The Bullfrogs have only scored 23 points which any competent team in this league can put up on this team in one half and any other team in an entire game. And it is surprising as the Bullfrogs performed well this season in the Beaver River College Football Championship, placing 2nd. Maybe this is only a symptom of a broader problem.

3. Beaver River never sends a team to a World Bowl.
It is shocking that while Beaver River has had a decent College Football environment that we have never sent a team to a World Bowl. If we want football to improve in Beaver River, we must give our players more of a reason to continue football past college. In many other nations, football players dream to play and even win the World Bowl while our players never get the chance to do the same. Only if our leaders weren't too afraid of more violent sports and just let the athletes take the health risks associated with football. Besides, we don't have a professional league to damage their brains even more than they've already had.

4. The Bullfrogs past two stints in the NSCF were awful as well
Honestly, it's confusing why the BRCFA allowed Green Coast to participate in this season's NSCF. What are they Oparea fans? The Bullfrogs has only won three games in the two past seasons that they were in the NSCF. NSCF 6 ended with a 1-10 record with a point difference similar to the one we have now. It didn't get that much better for NSCF 7 either as they got a whopping 2 wins. It's honestly just embarrassing college sports in Beaver River by letting us play in the NSCF again.

5. Oparea decided to start a football program
At least Green Coast is dominant domestically. Meanwhile, Oparea stinks up Beaver River Football by deciding to field a football team. They have never won a championship and have always played worse than us. And the only times that Oparea beat us were on fluke plays like returning a missed field goal for a touchdown. Seriously, luck is the only reason Oparea wins. If I were the board at Oparea University, I would disband the entire university in embarrassment of the excuse of a football team that they have.

[PotatoFarmers]

Attack vs Defence?

Every sport has their own attack and defence systems. Poafmersia, with the variety of team sports played in the country, definitely has a preference towards fast, attacking plays. Both of the college gridiron teams, however, has extreme differences in play style, which is why the Kimibatoam Bowl is widely seen as one of the extreme battles in Poafmersia. Football in Poafmersia is very attacking. Both variations of hockey adopt a slightly defensive stance in recent years, but mainly balanced. But trying to see the most offensive team vs the most defensive team fight - that is what draws people to the Bowl. Red vs Blue, offensive vs defensive, all-out vs safety-first. You can't imagine a more extreme game in any other competition. For the football fans, even Dalaris City vs Kistina Galaxy is not as excitingly extreme.

The Bowl, known as "the Poafmersian match of Attack vs Defence", is something that has been seen as the true battle of ideologies. Yes, player quality is one part of the show. Training is one. But when the quality is often similar in Poafmersia, tactics are often what matters. Take for example, how the Maximus Rochester Institute for Science and Technological Research (MRI) attempted to hold out the defence in an attempt to get a safety being 1 point up with 2 minutes on the clock in the 13th Kimibatoam Bowl. Or how University of Mancodas (UoM) played out a really nicely executed Blitz at the 17th Bowl. The battle of tactics is more commonly seen in the Bowl, which has really close results all around. That is literally how Poafmersia has done the sport all this while.

We don't want to talk about the UoM Mammoths' game strategy in general. That, to be really frank, is really dependent on the opponent and everything. And ahead of the next two tough games which could be instrumental in deciding whether UoM gets to the top half of the conference, there is likely to be quite a number of changes. However, we can talk about the thinking process in both sides. Mammoths want to get more points, more attack opportunities, the more the merrier. The MRI side prefer defence. Park the bus, safety first. The offence opportunities should be taken slowly such that the points all go through. Honestly otherwise, there isn't much difference. The technical aspects aren't that much of the focus, the tactical aspects is more of a focus in Poafmersia.

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

Banijan double creates Celestia(l) logjam
By Aaron Hardison
UC Correspondent for The Sunday Times

Having survived the opening season gauntlet, the University of the Commonwealth find themselves in a tie atop the Celestia standings along with Northern Moravica, Salamantic, and Lo...whoa.
That's the instinctive word you want to write next, but in fact, the other team currently at 2-1 is Elephant Valley, who will visit Gleason Field for the next home game, which follows this week's away tilt against Green Coast University.

There was a certain amount of discontent in the stands at the Lightning Yard in Istria at the conclusion of UC's 38-33 win, as one might expect from fans of a program that is the gold standard in NSCF in addition to the domestic game in the Kingdom. Warrior fans know full well that small cracks in the veil of invincibility can lead to a slow erosion of dominance, something that has been seen on College Hill, in Shirley, at Scotland Stadium and Broadmoor Borough--to name just four--on a regular basis over the last 30 years. If Loyola begins seeing their home nation opponents rising up to secure regular success over the Blue Thunder, that's when the panic button might need to come in handy.

If there has been anything learned about NSCF through the participation of the team over six previous campaigns, it's that trying to figure where you stand (or sit) isn't easily done until you've seen all the opposition once; perhaps the greatest testament to UC's MinCon success was the constant turnover in membership meant that measuring itself against the opposition was really only possible by treating all comers as potential champions.