World Bowl 47 - Everything Thread

by **Ranoria** » Sat Oct 07, 2023 9:57 pm

Quarterfinal Results (Ranoria Scored Side)

TJUN-ia 21–10 HUElavia
@Golden Elephants Stadium (1,600), Elephant Valley, South Newlandia

Quebec and Shingoryeo 26–10 South Newlandia
@ Elephant Field (15,400), Elephant Valley, South Newlandia

Semifinal:
Quebec and Shingoryeo vs TJUN-ia
@ Elephant Field (15,400), Elephant Valley, South Newlandia

by **Drawkland** » Sat Oct 07, 2023 10:38 pm

"The Epiphany Game"

Two weeks passed, and Brooklyn was no closer to deciding between Sadeg State University and Cavsar. It was really crunch time now, with only a couple weeks left until the spring sport signing day. Though there was still plenty of time until the football signing day, Brooklyn’s desire to play either baseball or basketball alongside football necessitated the earlier commitment, which would be the de facto selection for her collegiate gridiron home. The University of Raikennax was technically still on her radar, but she’d just about weeded them out. Still, she kept the idea around just in case she had a sudden change of heart.

Decision time was rapidly approaching, and the stress was increasing to levels Brooklyn didn’t think was possible. Though they meant well, the constant hounding from her parents did nothing to help the situation. She’d already partly asked for help from her friends and teammates, though the results were either an obvious landslide in Sadeg State’s favor, or just inconclusive. With the days slipping away, Brooklyn had to do the unthinkable. She had to take the advice of an idiot … because maybe that perspective would be enough to jar the right answer loose.

A couple days before the last home football game of the season, Brooklyn scrolled through the contact list on her phone. She reached her intended target towards the bottom of the list. She took a deep breath to collect herself, then clicked the call button next to the name “Uncle Jack.”

“Hyello?” The youthful voice of Jack Hoy quickly blared out from the phone speaker after mere seconds of ringing. “Who is this?”

“It’s Brooklyn.”

“Beebs!” Jack exclaimed in return. “What a surprise!”

“Do you not have me saved as a contact?” Brooklyn asked, a little confused.

“Oh, I do. I never check my phone screen before I answer a call though. I prefer the mystery.”

“Um, alright then.” Brooklyn had never called Jack before, only shooting him texts every couple months.

“So, Beebs,” Jack said in a slightly more serious tone, “What can I do for you?”

“Well …” Brooklyn hesitated. “You said that I could always call you if I needed advice, right?”

“Yeah, I believe I said that. Good advice, mind you.”

“Uh huh. I’ve just been stressing about choosing a college lately, and I feel like it’s impossible to make this decision. So basically I was wondering if you could help shed some light on that situation. I dunno.”

“I gotcha.” Jack paused for a moment, as if in thought. “So what schools are you considering again? I heard that you got a few major football offers and I know you said you were going to prioritize those if you got them.”

“Right now I’m looking at Sadeg State and Cavsar.” Brooklyn paused, then decided to elaborate. “Technically Raikennax too, but I’ve just about weeded them out. Really it’s between SSU and Cavsar. The choice for Sadeg State is obvious, but they were the last of those three schools to send me a football offer. It didn’t seem like they were super interested in recruiting me until they realized that I was a big target for Cavsar. And I mean a big target, because the Cavsar coach has been really keen on trying to recruit me. It seems like they want me more, but choosing Cavsar directly over Sadeg State seems impossible.”

“Man, this is exactly what I told you to not worry about a few months ago.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that you need to forget about what other people would think about your choice. This is your career, your future. It’s your life. There’s no point in using it for somebody else’s satisfaction. Even if it’s your mom and dad.”

“That’s easier said than done,” Brooklyn muttered. “And it’s not like that’s the only factor in play.”

“Okay, so think of it this way,” Jack suggested. “College is your chance to show the country, really the world, who you are. You’ll be on a bigger stage, and that’s both a blessing and a curse by the way. Especially with the fact that you’re a woman, you’re going to be under the microscope with every surge and slump. Even more so if you’re gonna be playing for one of those NSCF schools.”

“Thanks, you’re really making me feel better,” Brooklyn said dryly.

“I’m not done!” Jack insisted. “Listen, I think you need as much time as you can get to show off your skills, and enough space to make mistakes. You should look at the rosters of both schools and see where their gaps are, see where you’d have less competition. I dunno, maybe it sounds a little gutless, but I think that’s what you need given your, uh, unique circumstances.”

“Hmmm …” Brooklyn trailed off, then dashed to her computer to pull up this season’s depth charts for both Cavsar and Sadeg State. “I know for sure that Cavsar is gonna have Logan Oakley starting until he graduates. There’s no way I can challenge him for the job, so I really won’t have a shot to start until I’m a sophomore. Which I think would be fine, because I agree that I’ll need some time to develop.”

“That’s fair. Who’s waiting in the wings behind him, though?”

“Some guys named ‘Dick Vico’ and ‘Kevin Sajak.’ I don’t recognize either of those names so I don’t know if they’re big prospects or anything,” Brooklyn admitted.

“I think I remember hearing some talk about Sajak,” Jack mused. “That being said, those guys being a year or two older than you and already being in the system could be a downside. You’d definitely have to fight for the starting job while they’re still in, and every time you’d have a bad game there’d be half the fanbase begging for the other guy to get snaps instead. I mean, shit, it feels like that’s how Cavsar’s been operating for the last half decade.”

“Well, I dunno.” Brooklyn glanced at the letter from Cavsar, a few inches away on her desk. “Coach Linhart said in his letter that he would anticipate me being the starting QB for the last three years of my college career, after Oakley graduates and if I develop as he expects. And as I expect, for that matter.”

“Of course he said that,” Jack scoffed. “He’s trying to get you into the program. I have no doubt he wants you to be the starter, but if you’re not running laps around the other guys, it’s not going to be as clear-cut as you think.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Brooklyn frowned. She honestly hadn’t considered that possibility.

“And meanwhile, State’s been trotting out Fox slash Hext for what feels like the last million seasons, if I’m remembering right. Can’t remember which one is older, but they’ll definitely both be gone after your novatim season. Is there anybody decent behind them?”

“I dunno. There’s a novatim this season, Jimmy Chapman.”

“Hold on, let me check.” It sounded like Jack was typing on something in the background. “Yeah, looks like he was an okay high school QB they picked up out of some Drawk City suburb last year. I’m gonna be honest, Beebs, I think State is the move here.”

“Really?” Brooklyn said, her heart jumping a bit at the direct recommendation.

“Just in the way of getting playing time and limiting your competition,” Jack specified. “Obviously there’s a ton of other factors to consider, which I’m sure you’re well aware of. But, you hit my line looking for advice, and that’s what Uncle Jack has to say.”

“Could you please not talk in the third person?”

“Ol’ Jackie does as he pleases, Beebs!”

“Please stop,” Brooklyn made a retching noise for effect, but she couldn’t help letting out a giggle as well. “Oh! By the way, were you planning on coming to one of my games this year? My last home game is this week.”

“Damn, really?” Jack always made a point to attend one of Brooklyn’s home games every season, but it was usually difficult due to the fact that he was now playing football on another planet. “Okay, wait, it’s in like two days? I gotta check my dimensional calendar.”

“Yeah, it’s senior night against South Craggold.”

“Oh, I gotta be there!” There was some commotion on the other line, like a sort of rapid rustling, before Jack spoke again. “Alright, it’s happening. Thanks for the reminder, because I totally forgot. I’ll be there!”

“Yay!” Brooklyn grinned. Jack Hoy was an interesting man, but Brooklyn did enjoy his company just like a family member. It helped that Jack was one hell of a hype man.

“Alright, I gotta go, but I’m glad you called. Hope you’re doing okay, Beebs.”

“No problem. Thanks for the help.”

“See you on Friday!”

A couple days later, Brooklyn’s senior night was underway. Her North Craggold Wolves stood at 8-1 on the season, tied on record with their cross-neighborhood rivals, the Bulldogs of South Craggold High School. Not only was this game the last home game of Brooklyn’s high school career, against their biggest rivals no less, but it would also decide which of the high schools from the Craggold neighborhood of Sadeg would get a first-round bye in the district playoffs.

Four seniors huddled in a corner of the locker room, trying their best to savor their final pregame moment. Mark Holmes and Kevin Briggs were doing that in a way that only they could, while Brooklyn Beck and Julian Gallagher were trying as hard as they could to not burst out laughing.

“I hate South Craggold so much man. It’s unreal. Literally everything about them is disgusting.” Mark Holmes spat, shaking his head in disdain. “Like, what kind of color scheme is green and yellow? Who ever decided that should be legal?”

“Yeah, and like, what the hell kind of a mascot is a Bulldog anyway?” Kevin piled on. “The most basic mascot selection in history, besides being the Drawks or something. I’m not even convinced they’re a real school. Seriously.”

“They’re savages, savages I tell you!” Mark pumped his fists in anger. Brooklyn couldn’t tell if it was genuine anger or just playing it up for the bit. “The south side of this neighborhood should be obliterated off the map entirely.”

“So true!” Kevin nodded vigorously. “It would only improve EVERYTHING. There’s literally zero benefits to being anywhere near that vile section of the great city of Sadeg!”

“Hey now,” Brooklyn interjected. “Before you drone strike the entirety of South Craggold, could you at least make sure you keep Craggold Field intact? I quite like going to Knights games.”

“Fine, whatever,” Mark whined.

“As far as I’m concerned, that ancient pile of junk can go with the rest of it.” Kevin waved his hand dismissively. “Who the fuck cares about baseball anyway?”

“Alright, that’s it!” Brooklyn put her hands on her hips. “No targets for you tonight, Kev! Have fun with zero receptions on senior night.”

“No no no no no WAIT WAIT!”

A few minutes later, the team geared up for the game, and the Wolves football team burst onto the field as they always did. With the bigger demand game, the North Craggold athletic department got some temporary bleachers to place over the track and really pack the park. When Brooklyn led her team to the turf, it was to a roar of excitement (and subsequent chorus of boos from the visitor’s side) so loud that it almost drowned out the marching band’s playing of the fight song. Almost.

The game was utter chaos worthy of such a restless crowd. North and South Craggold had accidentally collectively decided that defense was optional, and began a thrilling blow-for-blow shootout. Brooklyn and Mark were splitting carries with plenty of read option carries, and Brooklyn kept the defense honest by gashing the dogwater South Craggold secondary every few plays in the air. South Craggold had a pretty fearsome offense as well, thanks to their three senior receivers and a senior tight end to boot. North Craggold’s secondary was their biggest strength on defense, but they had their hands full. There was nowhere to hide the subpar guys. On any given play, one of the Bulldog receivers was well open.

At halftime, the scoreline was almost identical. It was tied at 30, with both teams boasting three touchdowns, three field goals, two turnovers (one fumble and one on downs), and just a single punt each. It felt like that kind of matchup where whoever had the ball last would be the one to win it.

Brooklyn herself already had a good line: 1 rushing touchdown, and 1 passing touchdown (that being on an out route to Mark on the goalline), with just over 200 all-purpose yards. She was really itching to get back on the field and finish business, but in the commotion she’d nearly forgotten. It was senior night.

Almost too quickly, Brooklyn was held outside the locker room, meeting her parents and getting in the alphabetically ordered line. The football seniors made their way back onto the field, as the North Craggold stadium announcer started the procession.

“We will now introduce each of our senior Wolves for the last time, along with their parents present at the game. Please join us in thanking them for their dedication to our school and community throughout their high school careers.”

It began with the tight end Jerry Ashby, and it obviously wouldn’t be very long until it was Brooklyn’s turn. While they waited to move forward, Elie planted a short kiss on her daughter’s cheek. Dustin was content to watch Brooklyn with a beaming look on his face. For some reason, Brooklyn herself was barely conscious of the moment. It almost felt like a dream sequence.

“Now our quarterback, number three: Brooklyn Beck!” Brooklyn and her parents moved to the fifty yard line on the front sideline and paused for the photo opportunity from the school photographer. It was hard to concentrate, as the North Craggold crowd came to their feet for a loud standing ovation. For four years, Brooklyn had been an amazing athlete throughout the school’s programs, and one that almost everybody appreciated. More importantly, for three years, she was the quarterback. She had led this team to victory week after week, and this moment was all her own. Win or lose, Brooklyn had made this little piece of Sadeg hers. She didn’t expect it, but she felt a little prickle on the edge of her eyes.

As soon as it came, it was gone. Over the din, it was hard to hear the announcer call out “number 86, Kevin Briggs.” The crowd rippled back into their seats with a smattering of claps and residual cheers being all that was left. Well, it wouldn’t be a real day at North Craggold without Brooklyn figuratively dunking on Kevin at least once!

Finally Brooklyn and the rest of the seniors got back to the locker room. Thankfully there were still the senior processions for the marching band and cheerleading squad to go, so they still got enough time to rest up and prepare for the second half.

“This is going to come down to the last drive, I just know it,” Brooklyn said to Kevin and Julian in the final minutes of halftime. “You guys better be there for me. One last time, right?”

“We still got the playoffs, right? It’s not the biggest deal,” said Mark.

“This is our farewell party,” Brooklyn disagreed. “Yeah, we may have a couple more games, even some at home, but this is what people will remember. And I’m not losing to South Craggold no matter what.”

“Fair.”

“I thought I was getting blackballed tonight, and now you want to beg for my help?” Kevin sulked a bit. Brooklyn had followed through on her word of not giving Kevin a reception, though it wasn’t intentional. She had given him a target in the second quarter, but it sailed uncatchable above his head.

“Don’t worry, Kev. You’ll get your ball.” Brooklyn meant it. She felt bad about her crowd burst covering up Kevin’s senior moment, so she knew she had to make it up to him.

That moment would come sooner than they expected. On the first drive of the second half, Brooklyn got the ball for North Craggold and they drove down the field with a scintillating pace, getting four straight first downs on four consecutive plays. When the Wolves got into the red zone, Brooklyn tossed a pretty touch pass to Kevin running a corner route in the end zone. Kevin came down with the catch right in front of the home sideline, and the crowd burst into cheers.

They wouldn’t have much time to savor it, however. South Craggold was just as keen to keep the race going, and they would go down to score a touchdown themselves. The back-and-forth battle raged on for the third quarter and through the fourth. Two more field goals, two more touchdowns, and suddenly Brooklyn found herself with the ball and four minutes to go.

“Alright O, this is our chance to put the game away.” Coach Bill Franco instructed his offense on the sideline before the kickoff. “I know we’ve been moving the ball at will tonight, but we have to either come away with six or leave no time on the clock. We can’t give them another chance to score!”

Everybody understood the assignment. Brooklyn and the Wolves offense gained a couple first downs, leaving three minutes to go on the clock. Brooklyn was firmly in “The Zone” for this drive, and it seemed like all the pressure of the situation had evaporated. It was just her, the field, and the other players in a vacuum. The cacophony of the crowd, the context of the circumstances, they were all irrelevant. The ball needed to go downfield, and Brooklyn was gonna get it there.

1st and 10 from midfield. Brooklyn got the snap from shotgun, Mark pushing to the side for pass protection, giving her the extra moment to make a good throw. She saw Julian breaking to the sideline on his out route. It was perfect. He was open, he could make a sideline catch and pause the clock, right on the border of a first down. Brooklyn fired the ball approximately one split second before she saw the South Craggold safety screaming down the field right towards Julian’s spot. The safety brushed past Julian at full speed, intercepting the ball, and running with a full head of steam the other way.

Brooklyn had started running sideways before the ball had even reached its unintended target. As the safety tried to tightrope the sideline, Brooklyn caught up and shouldered him out of bounds, but the damage had been done. Now South Craggold had the ball with a bit under three minutes on the clock and right on the edge of their kicker’s field goal range.

The North Craggold offense trudged back to the sideline, except Brooklyn. She paced back and forth with a manic energy as the visitor’s section jeered loudly. Surely this would be game over. One first down and South Craggold could run out the clock en route to a game-winning field goal with no time left … except the North Craggold defense didn’t like that idea. The best defensive stand of the game came between the 30 and 40 yard line, as the Wolves punched back at the Bulldogs for three downs. South Craggold only mustered six yards, only drained away two minutes, and their kicker came on to salvage the three points. He nailed the kick, but now the pressure was really on.

As the next kickoff ensued, Brooklyn stared blankly at Coach Franco, expecting to get ripped into. Instead, the coach just shrugged, as if to say “this is your mess, go ahead and clean it up.”

That was all that Brooklyn really needed. The offense came out onto the field in a much worse situation, but the Zone was still activated. Brooklyn barked out the play with complete concentration, and they got to work quickly.

First play, Brooklyn took advantage of South Craggold’s soft prevent defense by gashing up the middle on a scramble for a dozen yards.

Second play, Brooklyn handed the ball to Mark on a nasty draw play, and he rumbled forward for a gain of 8 before going down. The Wolves were nearly at midfield, but time was waning. Only 10 seconds remained on the clock.

Third play, Brooklyn got the snap looking for a pass, but protection broke down on an all-out blitz. Brooklyn saw this coming, though, so she already had an escape route in mind. She considered tucking and running, but she saw Kevin streaking towards the sideline. She zipped the ball to him, and Kevin tapped his toes to come down with the catch.

Now there was only 3 seconds on the clock, 40 yards to go. Franco called his last timeout, though the sideline catch had stopped the clock anyway. This was the game.

“55 yards is too far for our kicker. I like our chances better on a 40-yard pass. Here’s the play.”

Too quickly, the offense came out of the huddle and rushed back to the line. There was a hook and ladder set for the left side, with Julian running a go route to the right to steal some attention of the defense. Brooklyn called out the cadence, kicked her leg, and clapped for the snap.

The crowd was already roaring. South Craggold decided to play aggressive, and sent two extra rushers to try and put down Brooklyn before she could even get rid of the ball. At the last possible second, she noticed the pressure, mentally cursing and rushing sideways out of the pocket. She couldn’t possibly scramble here, 40 yards was much too far and the secondary was swarming with Bulldog defenders. It had to be in the air. With the pocket breaking down, the delicate timing of the hook and ladder was toast. Now it was a real fire drill.

Even though Brooklyn wasn’t planning on running it herself, South Craggold still had a linebacker spying her, mirroring her movement just across the line of scrimmage. Brooklyn’s mind in the Zone noted this curiously, faster than she could consciously think it. Two extra rushers, plus a spy? There had to be a hole downfield. The issue was that there was no time to find the hole. The spying linebacker decided he’d had enough, and he crashed down across the line of scrimmage to challenge Brooklyn directly.

She had to change course, rolling back to her left to move out of danger, only to find herself in more danger as the pass rushers from the pocket had finally caught up. She sidestepped past them, running laterally to the other side of the field, hoping she could see something downfield, but everything was moving too fast. Even in the Zone, this task was impossible. It was all she could do to stay afloat.

As the Bulldogs closed in again, Brooklyn stepped, juked, and spun out of trouble some more, begging her O-linemen to give her some sort of help. As she glided back across the hashes to the right side of the field again, the offensive line caught up and knocked down some of the chasing defenders, giving Brooklyn a precious few extra moments.

She looked downfield again. It was utter chaos. The receivers were criss-crossing around, the defensive backs were blanketing almost everything, there was no opening in sight. Suddenly, Brooklyn felt somebody coming up on her. She instinctively ducked, and a South Craggold defender dove and slid right over top of her. She’d somehow kept her balance, but in her peripheral vision she saw the rest of the Bulldog pursuers gaining on her again.

Brooklyn couldn’t do this forever. It was now or never. She and the other seniors had made a jab several times in the past. Occasionally Brooklyn chucked the ball downfield with little more than a prayer, trusting that Julian would come down with the ball, as if she was saying “fuck it, Jules is down there somewhere.” For once, that was the exact thing on her mind. There were no more options left, and she wasn’t gonna end this game on a sack or a weak last-second incomplete toss.

With all of her remaining energy, Brooklyn set her feet and launched the ball to the end zone. It was a high, arcing pass, essentially a Hail Mary. It was in the air so long, it gave half the secondary a chance to get underneath the landing spot, like a horde of center fielders competing for the same fly ball. All of the Craggold neighborhood collectively held their breath.

The ball came down, bounced off somebody’s hands back into the air, bounced off somebody else’s hands, and bounced a third time. The ball had to come down or slap down, right? It bounced a fourth time, but this time it was slapped with considerable force towards the back of the end zone. The gaggle of receivers and defenders turned their heads, only to see the outstretched hands of Julian Gallagher snatching the ball from the air behind the pack, getting his feet in bounds before falling flat on his back.

Touchdown Wolves. Game over.

It was jubilation. Like the additional stomach space you find to fit in dessert, Brooklyn found an additional gallon of energy she didn’t know she had left after that scramble, sprinting the 40-yard dash to the end zone to mob Julian. The rest of the North Craggold football team rushed the field to join them as the shocked band managed to count into the fight song among the chaos.

The Wolves piled on top of Julian near the goalpost, with Brooklyn right in the middle of the throng. Listening to the crowd roar, surrounded by her teammates and friends, something suddenly clicked in Brooklyn’s head, just as the residual adrenaline from the Zone faded away.

She knew where she was gonna go.

by **Banija** » Mon Oct 09, 2023 12:39 pm

Banijan Defensive Backs Team Meeting, two days before the World Bowl Quarterfinal

Head Coach Thomas Hall walked into the Defensive backs meeting. The core of this Banijan defense was founded on the secondary- and it was a partnership that had simply worked, to a great extent, during this World Bowl. Not exactly a tournament where elite defenses shone through, but Banija had the best scoring defense of the bunch- something that they had not done in a long while. That had driven the Banijans to their 15-0 record so far, where a dominant defense, alongside an elite offense, had been too much for any of their opponents to overcome.

But now, they were no longer in group play. They were in the last 8 of the competition. And only elite teams were in the way between them and a third world title. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best- and this was a challenge the Banijans embraced. And the secondary, in particular. They knew the types of receivers they would face against Chromatika. The best QB in the world, Gwenderyn. You had quite possibly the best receiver in the world as her WR1, Alessandra Mio. And while the Banijans had performed well in this tourney so far, many thought the position was a place of weakness for the Serpent Eagles.

Thomas Hall, of course, was a cornerback himself in his playing days- one of the greatest the RFL has ever seen. So for this speech, he simply put up quotes from the media. “Hey men!” Thomas Hall told everybody. “I want you to see all these quotes. This is what the world is saying about us. They say this secondary room is too old. They say Lisa Bonsoon is the best CB in the world. The measuring stick.” He paused. He wanted the message to sink in. It did not take much to offend these Banijans, who were driven by their rapid pursuit of greatness.

“They told me that Mio is going to burn us all to a mother fucking crisp! Can I get a HELL NO!”

“HELL NO!” The players replied.

pWe know where this game will be decided- in our secondary. You know my belief. We have got the best cornerback trio in Banijan history. Top two outside CBs in this competition are in this room. The best nickel back in this tournament is in this room. We are going to shut them the hell down, and we are going back to the Semifinals. WHO IS WITH ME!”

Late third quarter, first and goal for Chromatika at the Banijan 6 yard line

The Banijans had just called a timeout. A waste of a timeout, especially considering the situation. But it was something that they had to do. There were only 10 men on the field for Banija, some confusion coming from the sideline. Considering the importance of holding the Iron Legion to a field goal here, since they were only up 17-14, it was worth using the timeout. If they needed it later though... The Banijans could not think like that.

Makang Secka made his way back to his head coach, alongside Koman Tabor. “Coach, we are getting the fucking stop here. I do not give a damn if it KILLS me. We are getting a stop.”

“Yes, we have to do it here.” Head Coach Thomas Hall said. He then beckoned both Secka and Tabor over. “You know, in these situations, they love to throw that fade to Mio. Gwenderyn throws a beautiful fade. Secka, considering which side is the right side of the field, Mio might be lined up on your side of the football. We will shade safety help towards you, especially towards the middle of the field- but we know she is going to work towards that sideline. Get inside position, and make sure to battle- the sideline is your friend.”

Secka simply nodded. The 33 year old superstar CB was in the zone. He got out there, and the coach was right. Only Mio lined up on the far side of the field, a ton of space to work. Mazzi creeped up toward the goal line, in case she tried to work her way inside. Gwenderyn called her cadence, and the ball was snapped. Secka jammed Mio, not allowing her to get a good release. The big WR floated towards the corner of the end zone. The ball was thrown towards the corner, Secka leapt up in the air... And picked it off.

“COME ON BABY- THIS IS OUR FUCKING HOUSE! THIS IS OUR YEAR!” Makang Secka was yelling, after he was ruled down for a touchback after the end zone INT. The first one there to celebrate with him was Koman Tabor, as the two chest bumped. Secka punted the ball in celebration into the stands, as he was pumped. An absolutely massive stop for the Banijans, with Chromatika threatening to take the lead. And a hell of a way for Secka to show that he had not even lost a single step, even at age 33.

Big time rivalry win over Chromatika in the quarterfinals of the World Bowl put Banija on the door step of their 4th striaght Final

RANORIA CITY, RANORIA- 'To win in the playoffs, it is never something that is easy.'' Said the Banijan head coach, Thomas Hall. ''Especially when you are playing a nation with the kind of talent, and tradition, as Chromatika. We are so familiar with each other, of course. It is the third consecutive cycle where we meet in the late knockout stages, so of course there is a ton of familiarity there. There are no special gameplans. They know what we want to do, despite all the changing faces. And of course, we know what they want to do. It is about going out there, executing, doing what we are supposed to be doing, and laying it all on the line to get the win here in this quarterfinal.''

Arguably, the pressure in this game was much more on Chromatika than it was on Banija to kick things off. While the Iron Legion would win the coin toss and receive, neither offense did much with their first possesion. Lana Rhodes did get a first down for the Iron Legion, but they could not do much with the football after, as they had to punt. The first drive for the Banijans went similarly. Ebou Hairte hitting Kalu Alazar for a first down gain on a 3rd & 4, but they could not do anythign with the football after that. A diving PBU by Chromatik CB Lisa Bonsoon on the ensuing series forced a Banijan punt. And then, it would be the Iron Legion who would start driving down the field.

Gwenderyn, even if she is not at 100%, is still Sarai freaking Gwenderyn. ''Obviously, she is one of the best to ever do it- there is nothing like Sarai Gwenderyn in her prime. Especially with these kinds of weapons around her.'' Said the Head Coach, Thomas Hall. ''You do what you can to shut her down. We have the horses in the secondary to really limit this passing attack, as our secondary, even at their age, are among the absolute best in the world. But of course... You cannot completely shut her down for a full four quarters of action. She is just too damn good.'' Too damn good, indeed. Her second drive of the opening period looked absolutely nothing like her first. With Makang Secka and Koman Tabor trading off on shutting down Alessandra Mio(held the Iron Legion WR1 to just 1 catch for 14 yards in this contest), Gwenderyn was spreading the ball around, using her RBs and TEs.

They eventually got to a 2nd & 2 at the Banijan 24 yard line. The ever so dangerous RPO. Read the EDGE rusher, faked the handoff to Lana Rhodes, and then she was darting the other way. There was only one player there, as everybody had crashed on Lana Rhodes. She might be hurt, but she is still Sarai. She stiff-armed the Banijan strong safety, putting him down on the ground as she dove into the end zone for the opening touchdown of the game. A disappointing start for the Banijans, to be sure. But this was life when facing Chromatika- an early 7-0 led for the Chromatiks was not exactly something that was rare. Things were looking bad when the Banijans responded to the Chromatik score by... Going three and out. Gwenderyn having a chance to go up two scores early?

Fortunately for the Banijans, the Serpent Eagles stepped up, forcing a three and out of their own. The Iron Legion really tried to feed Mio on this drive, but could not. 2nd & 4, Gwenderyn was forced to throw it away under heavy pressure. On third and 4, they ran a reverse for Mio, but Bango Uster blew the play up in the backfield for a loss. Great job for Banija, forcing a punt. And then, the Banijan offense finally was able to really go to work. The key play of the ensuing scoring drive? A 34 yard pass to Gabriel Yafet. who was able to gain separation on a deep crossing route, and then tack on some yards after the catch as well. Zamandi Ayana would eventually punch it in from 17 yards out, to tie the game at 7.

The defenses dominated for most of the rest of the second quarter- until, of course, the Iron Legion could hit another big play of their own. A double move by WR Demitrius St. Pierre burned his man, and Gwenderyn was simply able to loft it over the top of the middle of the field. Demitrius St. Pierre caught the ball, and was brought down at the Banijan 13 yard line- a 52 yard passing play for the Iron Legion. The very next play, the Chromatiks would not waste any time, as Lana Rhodes took a HB toss and ran it 13 yards for a touchdown. Chromatika was back in the lead, up 7. The Banijans would get a field goal at the end of the half, but that meant the Iron Legion would lead at halftime, by a score of 14-10.

In the second half, once again, it would take time for the offenses to really get going. Banija went three & out with our first possesion. Then, the Iron Legion possesion got two first downs, but then saw them forced to punt the football. They pinned us deep, at our own 7 yard line. That was when the Banijans went to work. Nothing like a legendary long drive at a World Bowl, right? The Banijans marched down the field. 9 plays, 93 yards, just quite a few big chunk plays. The key big play? Once agan, Gabriel Yafet. He had a 22 yard pickup on a corner route to start the drive, and then he also had a 24 yard gain on a simple underneath crossing route, where the EVU grad broke a couple of tackles in route to all those yards after the catch. He also had the touchdown on this drive, with a 9 yard touchdown reception on an inside slant route to give Banija our first lead of the day.

For the first time all day, we had gained the lead. A three point lead, but a lead in all. That led Chromatika to try to respond with a TD drive of their own. But while it was good, it would be the Banijan defense who would swing the game at the end of this drive. Gwenderyn tried to throw a fade to Mio on first and goal, and Makang Secka intercepted the ball in the end zone for a touchback. A huge play- they were pretty much guaranteed to at least tie the game if they did not turn the ball over. The Banijans tried to make them pay, by driving down the field ourselves. We got into decent position, before taking a stack on a 3rd & 3 that forced us into a long field goal. However, the Kijeera kick was wide right, keeping the score at 17-14, in favor of Banija.

The Banijan defense really stepped up after that, forcing two short completions on the first two plays of the series, and then Ashenafi sacking Gwenderyn for a 7 yard loss and forcing a punt. After the punt, we started with what looked like would be another long drive. But after a few good runs by Ayana, and one by Secka, we had a 2nd & 1 at our own 44 yard line. And, well... We will go the commentator for this one.

Banijan Radio Commenator wrote:There is a second and short here for the Banijans, at our own 44. The clock is ticking, as we are under ten minutes left in this one, and up by just 3, 17-14. Hairte is in the gun, and does his cadence, and the ball is snapped. He fakes the inside handoff to Ayana- and pops up, ready to throw the ball. The safety comes crashing down. Gaye is running an out route- Hairte pump fakes on the out route, and Bonsoon fell for it! She tries to undercut the throw that was never there, and now Gaye is running WIDE open up the sideline. Hairte lofts it, and true to form, hits Gaye at the 15 yard line! But nobody is around him, as the slot WR waltzes into the end zone for a 56 yard touchdown catch! Oh my, oh my, is that the dagger? How can you not love this team???

A huge, long TD pass, as the fourth quarter TD made the score 24-14. A two possesion game, and now at a point where there are a limited number of possesions left in the ballgame. The Banijan defense, riding high, got a stop. Chromatika had gotten 1 first down, but once again, on third down, the defense would get a coverage sack, as eventually the pocket would collase and Birom Ogunsola would end up with the sack. The Iron Legion, facing fourth and long, forced to punt and get a stop from their defense. And they did get a stop from their defense. Forcing a three & out after three straight running plays, allowing us to run some clock. We punted, knowing the Iron Legion were in four down territory the rest of the way from here.

Enox Silverman, trying to make something happen, tried to catch the ball with dudes running right up into him. Should he have called for a fair catch? Well, probably. But, he did not. He caught it, and then was hit immediately- a muffed punt. Silverman fumbled, and the Banijans would recover the football. That would really end it there. The Banijans would take 11 plays from there, all on the ground, and Zamandi Ayana finished the time consuming drive by driving home the final dagger, a 3 yard touchdown run to make it 31-14 with under three minutes left.

That would end up being the final score- Banija 31, Chromatika 14. A fierce contest and a hell of a battle, the Banijans had the upper hand on the day, and in the rivalry- eliminating Chromatika from this competition for the third consecutive cycle. But it is a rivalry that is marked with mutual admiration, and respect. Ebou Hairte and Sarai Gwenderyn exchanged jerseys after the game, and almost all the Banijans talked up their Chromatik rivals after the game, saying that the Iron Legion were on the brink of delivering Sarai Gwenderyn the first World Bowl title of her career. “Will it happen at some point? Almost certainly.” Thomas Hall told reporters. “But that time, simply is not now. This Eagle is still soaring.”

A hell of a win- taxing physically, mentally, emotionally, against an opponent. But time stops for no man, especially in this sport, and in this competition. Next up? We Drawkland in the semifinals. A game that promises to be a high-scoring shootout, since Drawkland have the 01 offense in this competition, and Banija have the 02 offense. Can we beat them to make our fourth consecutive World Bowl Final?

by **South Newlandia** » Mon Oct 09, 2023 1:12 pm

Cutoff for the first semifinal!

Semifinal Result (scorinated by SNL)

#1 Banija 26–32 #5 Drawkland
@Reinhild Aerodynamics Arena, North Ashialand, Ranoria (70,400)

World Bowl 47 Final (scorinated by Ranoria)

#5 Drawkland - TBD

More info to come in the other semifinal. This concludes my involvement with the World Bowl, and I'm going to leave you in the capable paws of the Snow Bear. Thank you all for participating!

(O.O) · by **TJUN-ia** » Mon Oct 09, 2023 2:29 pm

After sweeping Bongo Johnson aside in Elephant Valley, the Jaguars of TJUN-ia were back in the World Bowl Quarterfinals and looking to move on beyond that into the Final 4 itself. Getting back to the Semis, two years after our last making it that far, would be an indication that TJUN-ia has turned a corner in its gridiron development and a sign that maybe we have a shot beyond that...but nobody was taking anything for granted, not this deep in the playoffs. Gus McKerrin knew that things were obviously going to be tough from here on out, but he had no choice in the matter - he and his team had to fight and prove, once and for all, that we belonged in this dance for glory.

And so, the small Golden Elephants Stadium would host our Quarterfinal showdown against fellow IAC regulars HUElavia in a contest that certainly told stories. HUElavia, managed by Raphael Schneiderman, entered this WB as the higher-ranked team, #5 vs #7, but we would actually play this game as the higher seed, #10 vs #2. That mismatch of seeding and ranking certainly made the tension palpable before kickoff...but we needn't have worried at all. Fabrício Duarte Lobo was always going to be a problem for us in this game, but we managed to hold him to just one TD all game (via Valeriano De Matteo) while Lutz Schulz managed a PAT and 1/2 on FGs. Our defense allowed us the time to thrive and Gareth Baldwin would get to work with 3 TDs on the day, 1 each to his WRs (Victor Que-et-Vous, Gilbert Nyamutsamba and Fremont Whitehorse) while Clayton McGee did their duty and added 3/3 on PATs. In the end, it finished 21-10 - enough to do what we needed to do and that's that. Back to the Semis we go. Back to the final 4 once again.

This team, this fucking team, is showing its stuff to the world...and we are far from done yet. The team that won HUElavia's group lies ahead in the form of Quebec and Shingoryeo, the #3 seeded Grim Reapers who entered this WB as the #12 team - another stark difference. Beating a national institution like Clemence 'Phlegm Clem' Boileau and this stacked team will be an obvious challenge, one that we may not over come. But we have to try, at the very least, to fight for our place here.

The time to fight is now. GO JAGS!

SCHEDULE (Group B)
MD1: @Tikariot (UR) W 36-3 (1st/1-0)
-------------------------Double Header------------------
MD2: vs The Kytler Peninsulae (UR) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 27-17 (1st/2-0)
MD3: @Chromatika (2) - Henza Center, D'rea W 36-26 (1st/3-0)
-------------------------Double Header End------------------
MD4: @-Anthor- (16) W 26-20 (2nd/4-0)
-------------------------Double Header------------------
MD5: vs Valanora (23) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 40-23 (2nd/5-0)
MD6: @Lisander (43) W 29-23 (1st/6-0)
-------------------------Double Header End------------------
MD7: vs Sarzonia (13) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 24-3 (1st/7-0)
-------------------------Double Header------------------
MD8: vs Tikariot (UR) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 52-17 (1st/8-0)
MD9: @The Kytler Peninsulae (UR) - Qardinal Field, Borlfield W 16-13 (1st/9-0)
-------------------------Double Header End------------------
MD10: vs Chromatika (2) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 41-41 (54-51 2OT) (1st/10-0)
-------------------------Double Header------------------
MD11: vs -Anthor- (16) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington L 35-49 (1st/10-1)
MD12: @Valanora (23) - Lathalein Celestial Stadium, Mar Sara W 34-21 (1st/11-1)
-------------------------Double Header End------------------
MD13: vs Lisander (43) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 41-3 (1st/12-1)
MD14: @Sarzonia (13) - Joe Gibbs Stadium, Woodstock W 21-8 (1st/13-1/+191PD/#2)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Ro16: vs Bongo Johnson (43/#16/D4) - Elephant Field, Elephant Valley, South Newlandia W 31-14
QF: vs HUElavia (5/#10/C3) - Golden Elephants Stadium, Elephant Valley, South Newlandia W 21-10
SF: vs Quebec and Shingoryeo (12/#3/C1) - Elephant Field, Elephant Valley, South Newlandia

by **Quebec and Shingoryeo** » Mon Oct 09, 2023 6:38 pm

2025-29
2029-37

2025-29: Head Coach - Walton High School - Walton, Yoseo-Manitoba
--
2029-34: Head Coach - Pahkatequayang South Secondary School - Pahkatequayang, Mahan
2035-37: Defensive and Recruiting Coordinator - Latilutakówa National University - Pahkatequayang, Mahan
--
2037-42: Defensive Coordinator, Universite St. Croix - St. Croix, Joongyeong Federal Province
2042-55: Head Coach - Yongma College - Twin Cities, Acadie
--
2056-2061: Current job
2062-: TBD

In the past half-decade, the battle between St. Croix Bleu et Blanc and Saguenay Fighting Irish had taken another meaning to it. Not only were both programs, who were long considered a staple to both the QIS and the NSCF football, helmed by two young coaches of similar principles but opposing principles too. Hannah McKendry Kabuye and CC Youngblood, after all, were both the co-ordinators to now-retired Kweon Joon-Ho in their earlier days.

While they had overlapped little in the days when St. Croix was away from the NSCF for an eight-cycle period, mostly to restructure the program that had undergone firing of both its head coaches, coordinators and several members of staff, both co-ordinators would be remembered for their traits that they would later show into their head coaching careers - McKendry Kabuye as the fiery energiser comparable to her now-father in law Lance Kabuye, Youngblood still the same thoughtful mastermind with glasses and quirky sense of words.

'It is interesting how life would turn out that way with Hannah McKendry and myself,' Youngblood would later recall, when asked about the coincidences of him facing off against Hannah McKendry many years later. 'Because we are really the opposite figures. The coaches who had fit well into the St. Croix mold thanks to what we had brought to the program and vice versa, but you know the difference is night and day.'

Five more years would follow. Nothing particularly memorable had come out of his time as the Double-B's defensive coordinator this time, but by this point there was no need to. His resume was evident as a coordinator, a head coach, and a leader of men and women whose athletic and academic performances have been no less than stellar. Keep in mind that even among his earliest students in Vontaze Ahn, who actually had 4.2 in high school and scored 18 average out of 20 on his Baccalaureat examinations, would go onto record a Summa Cum Laude in Computer Science at Saguenay. Combine that with a Tiger Bowl win and you know the rest.

Now, accepting the challenge away from the comfortable domains of St. Croix, where Kweon Joon-Ho would remain standing for another decade, was not the easiest of choices. Yongma College, whose longtime coach Alexis McCallion had retired after 28 years with the Twin Cities' school, had just finished with combined 11-25 record. Neither brilliant nor awful, the program was undergoing a state of mediocrity that had followed McCallion in his last years of coaching career, and everything looked like there was a need of fresher face with energy to put on board.

In some ways, Youngblood had found this a wonderful challenge - Twin Cities, after all, was a wonderful city to live with strong sporting traditions, high quality of education and public services, and most importantly was down the road from the Twin Cities Steelers' team that had long been famous for their iron curtain defences. With the terrible towels and the green caps being everywhere in town, CC knew that the Eagles definitely offered way less pressure for him to succeed, and maybe push himself further into the QFL or more traditional programs. Having come from LNU and St. Croix, two national contenders and regular invitees to the New Year's Six Bowl, he knew that would at least suffer as a buffer.

Playing in the AUS, a conference traditionally known for smaller, localised fanbases and more balanced style of play, Youngblood knew he would have to adjust to the pace of the games, perhaps a bit faster on the offence and slower on the defence. Fortunately for Youngblood, he was inherited an Yongma College squad that lacked talent, but still possessed strong talent across the board. It was a group that still had multiple top 20 recruiting classes, including junior halfback Mickael Konson and sophomore linebacker Jean-Louis Hayes, and with around a half-dozen transfers in the offseason, Youngblood felt that foundation for a consistent NY6 challenger could be made.

Fortunately for Youngblood, success would come calling him again in the Maritimes. In his first season as the head coach, only after finishing with a 4-8 record the year before, Yongma College would finish with a 10-2 record and the AUS Championship Game appearance, where they would fall short to Hampden College on a 33-31 triple-overtime thriller. This would end up securing the Eagles their first postseason bowl appearance in 12 years when they would beat Saguenay State handily off 380 yards passing from Claudio Seo-Delandrea, being named as the QIS Coach of the Year in process.

All of sudden, he was on the radar again. He was once a highly-regarded defensive coordinator for two major programs, sure, but there was a different level of attention being given out to a young coach with pedigrees and a turnaround he would provide. The story would continue as well. In the twelve years that would follow, Yongma College would end up making it to 6 more NY6 games (including a national semifinal), with them winning 3 more (Apple, Heartland and Armed Forces) and recording 5 top-10 finishes. Being prone to the cycles that would come into place for the program like theirs, they would have some ups-and-downs to their season-to-season results and would never make the final step to the Tiger Bowl game itself, but there was little to deny the success Youngblood was bringing to the Yongma College program.

For very long time, Youngblood had not considered other options - his three children were still growing and at an important phase in their lives, and it was known that he was considered the first person to be offered the head coach position when his hometown LNU Mustangs, and a northeastern power in Songwha State Dinos had their vacancies available. Both times he refused - he was happy with the contract extensions Yongma College had provided at two occasions, and wanted to see if he could break through.

The levee would eventually break, however, when the Saguenay Fighting Irish would end up calling. Their head coach, three-time Tiger Bowl winner Baek Sang-Joon, would decide to retire in middle of the 25th NSCF season, and Mario Chun-Kim, the offensive co-ordinator and the interim head coach, made note that his intention was to retire after the season as well. The Fighting Irish, who knew that they had little to lose after an unimpressive 8-4 season with Chun-Kim in temporary charge, knew they had to get this hiring right.

It couldn't be an unproven coordinator with astronomic rise in career, for there existed too much volatility with those type fo careers. The program's standings had come with particularly high expectations and experience handling the media and the largest fanbase (and haters) in all of Quebec, and the weight of it all had meant that this was regarded as the final collegiate stop for the coaches. Baek Sang-Joon, by far, was the longest-tenured coach in the program while his predecessor Aaron Chang, who retired after 12 years with the program, was comfortably the second-longest tenured coach of the program. So the figures were not the friendliest for those wanting more daring hiring.

So the name C.C. Youngblood had come to be particularly enticing. Youngblood could recruit, Youngblood could relate to players, Youngblood could give quirky talk and motivational words to players, and had the right connections to the athletics community thanks to his experience growing up with his father, a former basketball GM, and older brother who was climbing the ladder of international sporting diplomacy. It also helped that he had proven it on every step of the way, and was a good defensive mind, something that the team had come to value even more especially in the NSCF era, where the likes of Kasen Harrowitz and Lance Kabuye were out there prowling.

by **Ranoria** » Mon Oct 09, 2023 8:52 pm

Semifinal Result (Ranoria Scored Side)

Quebec and Shingoryeo 45–24 TJUN-ia

World Bowl 47:

(O.O) · by **TJUN-ia** » Wed Oct 11, 2023 6:26 am

Fair Enough. Quebec just had enough to sweep us aside.

Reaching this point 2 years on the bounce is a good thing for our sport. But it's not our time yet.

One day, TJUN-ia will win a Big 5 title...but it is not our time yet.

We will be back...hoping, like always, that next time is our time.

GO JAGS!

SCHEDULE (Group B)
MD1: @Tikariot (UR) W 36-3 (1st/1-0)
-------------------------Double Header------------------
MD2: vs The Kytler Peninsulae (UR) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 27-17 (1st/2-0)
MD3: @Chromatika (2) - Henza Center, D'rea W 36-26 (1st/3-0)
-------------------------Double Header End------------------
MD4: @-Anthor- (16) W 26-20 (2nd/4-0)
-------------------------Double Header------------------
MD5: vs Valanora (23) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 40-23 (2nd/5-0)
MD6: @Lisander (43) W 29-23 (1st/6-0)
-------------------------Double Header End------------------
MD7: vs Sarzonia (13) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 24-3 (1st/7-0)
-------------------------Double Header------------------
MD8: vs Tikariot (UR) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 52-17 (1st/8-0)
MD9: @The Kytler Peninsulae (UR) - Qardinal Field, Borlfield W 16-13 (1st/9-0)
-------------------------Double Header End------------------
MD10: vs Chromatika (2) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 41-41 (54-51 2OT) (1st/10-0)
-------------------------Double Header------------------
MD11: vs -Anthor- (16) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington L 35-49 (1st/10-1)
MD12: @Valanora (23) - Lathalein Celestial Stadium, Mar Sara W 34-21 (1st/11-1)
-------------------------Double Header End------------------
MD13: vs Lisander (43) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 41-3 (1st/12-1)
MD14: @Sarzonia (13) - Joe Gibbs Stadium, Woodstock W 21-8 (1st/13-1/+191PD/#2)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Ro16: vs Bongo Johnson (43/#16/D4) - Elephant Field, Elephant Valley, South Newlandia W 31-14
QF: vs HUElavia (5/#10/C3) - Golden Elephants Stadium, Elephant Valley, South Newlandia W 21-10
SF: vs Quebec and Shingoryeo (12/#3/C1) - Elephant Field, Elephant Valley, South Newlandia L 24-45

by **Quebec and Shingoryeo** » Wed Oct 11, 2023 8:10 pm

2025-29
2029-37
2037-55

2025-29: Head Coach - Walton High School - Walton, Yoseo-Manitoba
--
2029-34: Head Coach - Pahkatequayang South Secondary School - Pahkatequayang, Mahan
2035-37: Defensive and Recruiting Coordinator - Latilutakówa National University - Pahkatequayang, Mahan
--
2037-42: Defensive Coordinator, Universite St. Croix - St. Croix, Joongyeong Federal Province
2042-55: Head Coach - Yongma College - Twin Cities, Acadie
--
2056-2061: Head Coach, Universite du Saguenay - South Bend, Saguenay
2062-: Head Coach - Saint John Steelers - Twin Cities, Acadie[/i]

It was a surreal feeling to be back in Twin Cities after five years away.

Not that C.C. Youngblood was unfamiliar with the city - he had lived in a Downtown Habpo penthouse with his wife and three children for thirteen years after all. The 59-year old had been familiar with the Saint John Steelers' athletic complex approximately twenty kilometres to the northeast, right around where the suburbs would start fading into the farmland that had been mostly used for dairy farming. In his coaching career, he has sent no less than a two-dozen players to the Steelers over his time as a coordinator and a head coach for two reputable programs - local name Yongma College and Universite du Saguenay - and with the Steelers' coaching search ongoing following the retirement of longtime Robert Anhauser, the feelings would hit him even harder than expected.

While exiting his car, he noticed that the parking lot was still empty, most likely due to the middle of the offseason mode. How open and green the surroundings were, it was still a sight for him even after all the years of rural life in South Bend. Now with a light look of smug in his face, he found himself moving forward with much-needed confidence to attend the interview. His gaze fixed into the black wall with yellow stripes of the buildings, Youngblood had a good feeling about the occasion, and while not trying to be overconfident about his chances, Youngblood knew that the QFL general managers normally did not recruit prime-time head coaches. Not only were the collegiate and the professional games so different from one another due to the common nature of drafting vs. recruitment, as well as the level of egos that had to be managed on regular basis.

Time here flew slowly - most things have been the same. The owners have been the same with Morsons having owned the club since the 1940s and now onto their fifth generation, the longest in all of QFL, while some coaches with reputation would stay for years. Youngblood knew that if selected, he would be in for a long ride - Anhauser his possible predecessor have spent 21 years coaching with the Steelers and while two Imperial Bowls spoke relatively little success during that time period, his consistency more than not spoke for themselves as one of the biggest teams in the nation.

It would be around ten in the morning when C.C. Youngblood would officially sign into the Complex's guestbook. With his shades deflecting light, and the prospects looking decent after a decent draft. It was still a decent core with aging Gennaro Giannelli at fullback, Marianne Ebert-Juzang at guard and Theshenden Tamauskas-Aravossitas at the defensive edge, the team lived and died by the line of scrimmage. It still needed more work in tightening up the defences, and they definitely needed a new Quarterback and OC as soon as a hiring to be made, but in any case the team looked more solid than not, a 10-6 team with Royal Football Conference final appearance was going to be a great landing pad for the coach of his pedigree and yet unfamiliarity. And with CC Youngblood, at this point in life he wanted more certainty than not.

'Ah, Mr. Youngblood,' said Kennedy Morson, the team's owner now in his sixties. The Quebeco-Licentian's looked aged gracefully, with greying hair combined with a well-made grey suit. In his lifetime, the old businessman has seen and done plenty, including him helping out with the successful operations of the Olympics just six years ago, but he always considered his Steelers to be the most important asset of his career. It was his baby, as it had been for his parents and grandparents, and he wanted to see another Imperial Bowl win before he would retire . 'It is absolutely pleasure to have you here.'

C.C. seemed particularly happy today - the old man had managed to remember him, even if the rumours of Alzheimer's were true. But for now he seemed to be in good state - Steelers are in good hands, and the Reapers, whose road to the World Bowl seemed turbulent but the results still suggested more wins than losses - and was ready for the interview. 'Of course, why else would I be here for?' Youngblood answered, perhaps feeling a slight tinge of excitement over it. 'I am sure that we are here to discuss important things, possible visions and schemes you may wish to run.'

'Well, sure, but let's not think too much. us two and Mr. Bollick are are going to spend next couple of hours, talking.' Morson said, trying his best to lift his voice up. 'We will talk football, we will talk life, and maybe a bit about whiskey. Would you be interested in joining?'

All C.C. did was to smile back at him. 'Well it is the right time to do so, isn't it?' Youngblood answered.

by **Drawkland** » Wed Oct 11, 2023 8:22 pm

"The Press Conference"

The pandemonium at North Craggold High School took a few minutes to clear out, but thankfully the school security team was able to keep the entire student populace from spilling out of the bleachers and rushing the field. South Craggold’s team and fans were quick to leave, while the North Craggold students continued cheering and merrymaking in the stands, very few willing to venture out of the stadium and go home.

Brooklyn herself was still riding high from exhilaration as she managed to extricate herself from the throng of Wolves players in the end zone. Eventually, even Julian himself finally got to his feet and jogged back to the sideline, pumping his fist, which cued another round of cheers. Brooklyn got to the sideline and took off her helmet, taking a moment to breathe. She saw her parents coming around the bleachers, with Jack Hoy in tow. She grinned, and stepped forward to meet them, but she was intercepted.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a trio of people stepped in front of Brooklyn, blocking her path. It was a news crew from one of Sadeg’s local channels. She saw the camera, the sharply dressed reporter, and knew what was about to happen.

“Hello!” The reporter gave a small wave to Brooklyn. “I’m Haley Atwell from DSLA. Do you mind if we conduct a short interview for tonight’s newscast?”

“Yeah, sure, let’s do it,” Brooklyn puffed. She was still a little out of breath from the end of the game. She hadn’t done an interview before, and she could see the uncertainty on her parents’ faces as they came up behind the news crew. Still, she was hyped up and figured it would be a great time for her first real media experience.

“Okay, we just have a couple questions for you. This won’t be live, we’ll just grab the footage and let you go on your way, alright?” Atwell, the reporter, turned to her producer, who gave a nod. “Alright, here we go.”

The cameraman set himself up, the reporter came alongside Brooklyn, and the producer pointed his finger to indicate it was time to go.

“Haley Atwell here for Channel 7 News! I’m at North Craggold High School following their big win over South Craggold in this neighborhood rivalry. I’m here with Brooklyn Beck, daughter of GLD quarterback Dustin Beck and quarterback of this North Craggold team. Brooklyn, how are you feeling about this win tonight?”

“I’m pumped up!” Brooklyn responded immediately, with a big grin on her face. “This was my last regular season game, in front of the home crowd and everything, and I’m just glad we were able to deliver.”

“I’d say you delivered in spades!” Atwell continued without missing a beat. “This was senior night for you and many of your teammates. What does it mean to you to win a game like this?”

“I love all my teammates,” Brooklyn answered. She didn’t know where the words were coming from, they were just flowing freely. “We’ve grown together a lot in these four years, especially my class, and it’s great that we were all involved tonight. I have a lot of love for all these guys, and this victory is all of theirs, too, not just mine.”

“The team chemistry seems to be on point, especially in that final drive,” Atwell seemed to agree. “Now we have to mention this, it is a little unusual for a woman to be playing this level of football, especially in such a position like quarterback. There have certainly been doubters during your high school career, how would you respond to them?”

“Anybody who doubts me is wrong,” Brooklyn replied fiercely. “And they can continue to be wrong, if they choose to. All you have to do is watch me, my work on the field speaks for itself.”

“That work was certainly on display tonight.” Atwell smiled, then nodded at some unheard cue. “That leads us to our final question. An athlete like you is certain to be sought after by many top college programs. Will you continue to play football in college?”

“I will.” Brooklyn turned to look at the camera, surprising herself by what she said next. “In fact, I even know where I’ll be doing it. Next weekend is the signing day, and I plan to announce my choice of college via social media livestream, so anybody that wants to watch this momentous occasion is free to do so.”

“Well, isn’t that an exciting announcement!” Atwell turned to the camera as well. “Stay tuned here in Sadeg, I suppose! For Channel 7, I’m Haley Atwell.”

As soon as they’d arrived, the news crew left, leaving Brooklyn to finally run up to her parents and Jack. A few teammates had gathered to listen to Brooklyn’s interview, but they gave her the space when they saw her parents hovering nearby.

“Amazing game, Brookie!” Elie came forward and hugged her daughter tightly. That was really all she could say to sum up the events of that evening.

“BB, what the hell were you talking about there?” Dustin asked gruffly, but he too came in for a hug. “A livestream? We never discussed anything like that. And since when did you make your decision?”

“About ten minutes ago,” Brooklyn answered with a smile. “And I really don’t know, it just made sense. I figured that would be the best place to get the word out.”

“It’ll get people talking, that’s for sure,” Dustin grumbled. “Your media skills are gonna need some work. Besides that though, you balled out tonight. That’s my girl!”

“Are you kidding me?” Jack interjected. “That interview kicked ass. You could feel the passion! It came straight from the heart! Miles better than the dry-ass cliche interviews you see all the time.”

“I’m not sure you’re the best role model for media relations, Jack,” Elie chuckled. “This was fine, though. Brooklyn needs to make a public account if she’s going to be a big name player anyway, so this is a great opportunity for that.”

“Yes, see!” Jack nodded vigorously. “Building a brand! That’s what it’s all about.”

Blurbr
Brooklyn Beck
@BEB3

Sadeg State. Cavsar. Raikennax.

I will be attending one of these schools next year. The announcement will be streamed on this page tomorrow. Get hyped!

The announcement was simple. It was the first post on Brooklyn’s new Blurbr account, one specially made for her as a future public figure. The interview the week prior aired on the evening news that night, and was quickly picked up by various sports outlets that weekend. When Brooklyn opened her new account and posted that Blurb, it sparked a small frenzy among those who were paying attention to the story.

Most of that engagement were people shocked by the fact that Cavsar was among the candidates, while others seemed intrigued that these big-name schools were willing to offer Brooklyn a chance at playing football. Whatever the case, it got the job done.

Dustin pulled some strings to use North Craggold’s gym as a staging area. He was feeling very frustrated with the fact that Brooklyn refused to tell him what her choice actually was, but he helped her set things up for the livestream regardless. There was a table and a small backdrop, as well as a phone to record and stream. A couple local news outlets were invited to the event, but besides them and the Becks, the airy basketball court was empty.

“Are you sure you can’t tell me?” Dustin asked one more time, as Brooklyn was setting up the cardboard box from behind the backdrop. “I am your father. I deserve to know first.”

“I told you, no way!” Brooklyn grinned. “I want to see your reaction when I say it.”

“That doesn’t fill me with confidence that you’ve made the right choice,” Dustin grumbled.

“The right choice is the one that I’m making.” Brooklyn huffed. “I’ve thought about it for months, and last week during the game I had an epiphany. This is the best for me! Now leave, I have to put the correct hat in.”

“Fine,” Dustin twisted his lip, but he couldn’t help but smile a bit. She was his daughter, after all. Stubbornness was a trait shared by everybody in the Beck family line. He walked around the backdrop to take a seat behind the camera, which was due to start live recording in a few minutes.

Brooklyn took a peek around her to ensure nobody was looking. In front of her were three ballcaps which she had bought at the mall earlier that week. Sadeg State’s gold and navy, Cavsar’s tan and maroon, and Raikennax’s red and white. Dustin had insisted that the Cavsar hat not enter his house, so Brooklyn kept it in a plastic bag on the porch to keep it clean. Now, the three caps sat on the floor. She stacked them in order, ensuring the hat on top was the one from her college. That’s right, it was her college now. No longer a concept, no longer a quandary. It was definitive in her mind, and in a few minutes, she would put pen on paper to make it official.

She put the stack of hats in a cardboard box, which had stickers of all three school logos on the front, and brought the box around to the table. On the sitting side of the table were three white envelopes with the respective school’s names written on them in pen. Each envelope contained the national letter of intent for their respective school, which Brooklyn would take out and sign once she made the announcement on stream. The only other item there was a small sheet of paper, which Brooklyn would use as notes for her announcement.

“Alright, are we ready to go?” Brooklyn asked. Dustin and Elie gave thumbs up from behind the phone camera, while the few media members in the back nodded. “Let’s get it going, then.”

Brooklyn came around to make sure the stream started correctly. There were already a couple thousand waiting for the stream to come on, and she decided to wait a few minutes before beginning, just in case there were any stragglers. The time passed, and eventually she took her place behind the table, in front of the camera. She was wearing a black tee-short with the Grid Corps logo on it, as a nod to her dad.

“Welcome everybody to my stream. I’m Brooklyn Beck, as I’m sure you can guess. As you know by now, I am announcing my official college choice here, in a couple minutes. I can tell you that this was a very difficult decision for me to make. On top of all the stress any student has to consider when making this kind of choice for their future, I had the additional stress of great expectations to worry about.

“Each of these schools had excellent offers that piqued my interest. Many schools were interested in me for my baseball or basketball talent, which is par for the course for a great female athlete like me. For me, though, I wanted something more. I’ve played football through high school, not just to be a five-point athlete, but because I love the game. I’ve grown up with it. I’ve played it all my life. And most importantly, I’m good at it. These three schools had the guts to consider me a viable option for their football programs, and I’ve chosen to reward them for that faith.

“I’m here today to announce my intent to play not just football, but baseball and perhaps basketball at the school of my choice. Football may be my passion, but I love those other sports and all three of these schools have given me the option to branch out as a multi-sport athlete at the collegiate level. That’s why I’m signing a national letter of intent today, and I’ll sign the corresponding letter of intent for football on football signing day later this year.”

Brooklyn took a deep breath, and gave a nervous smile to the camera. She had finally reached the end of the real script. There was nothing else to do but make the announcement.

“Alright, so, without further ado,” Brooklyn started, and she leaned forward to grab the cardboard box. Both from nerves and for a bit of dramatic flair, she took off the lid slowly, just out of view of the camera. She grabbed the hat from the top of the stack of three, rubbing the ball in between her fingers, and smiling to herself.

“My college home is going to be -”

by **Drawkland** » Wed Oct 11, 2023 8:39 pm

CORPSGUY725'S BLOG

World Bowl XLVII Championship Preview
The extremely short blurb

Hello everyone. corpsguy725 here, and I'll be live streaming the World Bowl XLVII final later tonight, so if anybody wants to watch me melt down in real time, now's your chance. If this stream succeeds I may do this for more Corps games in the future.

Anyway, for those who are just now tuning in, or need a refresher, here's a little mini rundown of this championship game. Drawkland and Quebec & Shingoryeo face off for the third (!) time this cycle, as they played home-and-away in the group stage. Game 1 was a 30-20 win for Drawkland at home, while the away game in Quebec was a 51-31 loss for the Corps that dropped them to second in the group on the final matchday (elevating Q&S to first in the process).

Both games featured freakishly good performances from Lane Proudfoot, who I'm still not sure is a good or shitty quarterback yet. The name of the game this cycle has been the running game, with the one-two punch of Mike Banks and Hadrian Taylor doing most of the damage, featuring the occasional Jack Hoy cameo to really fuck up the opposing defense. Proudfoot brings some RPO or play-action throws out of his ass a couple times a game for big yardage to catch the defense sleeping, but otherwise he's handing the ball off or dink/dunking to keep the ball moving. All three games in the playoffs so far have gone this way, with Gyatso-Kai and upstart Kytler Peninsula going down in similar fashion while the defense balls out. The semifinal game against Banija was a lot more exciting, coming down to the wire and requiring more ... "proficient" play from Proudfoot, but ultimately the defense locked down and got the job done. More on that some other time.

The difference between Quebec Game 1 and Quebec Game 2 was the defense. The Drawkian offense in both was solid, multiple touchdowns, several field goals, etc. While the running game has been the motor keeping the team moving this cycle, the Grim Reapers knew this and shut it down as early as possible, forcing Proudfoot to pass. Unfortunately for Quebec, their secondary is dogwater and got torn up by Proudfoot both times. The only issue in Game 2 was that the defense couldn't do shit, plus a couple special teams touchdowns put the Reapers over the Corps late in the game with no time for a Drawkian comeback.

So what happens here? It's difficult to beat the same team thrice in a season, but the "regular season" series was split between these two teams. This is about as familiar as any team will get with each other in a national team type tournament, at least in a single cycle's time. I, personally, have no clue what will happen, but I will assume the worst. I mean, that's my schtick at this point, right? It all comes down to if the Corps defense can learn from their Game 2 mistakes, while praying that the Reaper D doesn't do the same. Lane Proudfoot seems like a pretty good passer, but can he consistently do it when all the pressure is on him, and there's no running game to rely on?

The Corps has some off a gutsy win against Banija, the best team in this cycle's tournament, ending their undefeated run. Quebec, meanwhile, dogwalked a tired TJUN-ian outfit in their semifinal. The Drawkians have faced real adversity recently, while the Quebecois had a relatively smooth cruise to punch their ticket to the final. The Corps could be primed for the challenge, or too gassed from the previous effort to repeat. The Reapers could be well-rested and ready for a tough match, or they could be completely unprepared to face a tougher unit. It's a coinflip.

That being said, I'm excited to watch Drawkland play for the championship once again. It's been too long (over 20 years) since our last win, with four championship game losses along the way. Is this the cycle we finally break out? Or are we going to really become the Audioslavia of World Bowl finals? No matter what, I think we can begrudgingly say that the first year of the Lane Proudfoot era (God, I really hope it's not an era) was a success. On Corps, or whatever.

corpsguy725 out

by **Ranoria** » Wed Oct 11, 2023 8:41 pm

World Bowl 47
Cutoff!
World Bowl 47:Quebec and Shingoryeo vs Drawkland
@The Elysium (82,450), Rouyoute, Ranoria

On behalf of myself and everyone's favorite elephant - congrats to our new champions, commiserations to the runner up, and thanks to everyone who participated!

by **Drawkland** » Sun Nov 12, 2023 9:05 pm

The History

It began with the tenure of Dak Waterman. 34 years ago by the Drawkian calendar, the Grid Corps shocked the World Bowl community with an unprecedented run to the final. 17th-ranked Drawkland pulled a 7-1 record in the group stage, their only loss being a 19-16 OT nailbiter against former co-hosts and friendly rivals Frenline Delpha. In the Round of 16, the Corps gave payback to Frenline Delpha with a 50-23 blowout. They followed it with a 27-20 quarterfinal win over future rivals Chromatika, and then a gutsy 6-3 semifinal win over future rivals Banija. The championship matchup was Drawkland against Abanhfleft, that being the first World Bowl final appearance for either nation. It was a rout ... but not for the Fleftics as many expected. It was the Drawkians, on the back of Daniel Madison's MVP performance (2 receiving TDs, several clutch first down catches, and two excellent tide-turning plays on special teams), who won the title 37-7. The greatest QB of his generation, Waterman led Drawkland to their first World Bowl title in only their third cycle.

At that time, it felt like the world (bowl) was Drawkland's oyster. The next cycle, with suddenly huge expectations, the Corps started their title defense with an undefeated 14-0 group stage run. They dispatched the Royal Kingdom of Quebec in the first round, 20-14 ... only to fall to Banija in the quarterfinals 10-12. Then began a short era of near-misses, generally excellent group stages, but no return to the title game. The nearest miss was a heartbreaking 12-14 loss in the semifinal of World Bowl XXXII to Greater Vakolicci Haven, of all teams. The Corps may have destroyed Abanhfleft (for the second time) in the 3PPO grudge match, 40-22, but bronze was no longer a satisfactory result for the Corps.

Then came the era of Dustin Beck. The hyped Sadeg State graduate tore up the GLD in his rookie season, earning ROY honors and a backup spot on the national team beginning in World Bowl XXXV. His talent was too good to leave sitting on the bench, however, so the Grid Corps coaching staff decided to split time. Waterman would play the first half of games, and Beck would play the second half unless the team desperately needed a score late in the 4th. After all, Beck was still young, and quite boom-or-bust. Waterman was more reliable. It turned out that the 4th quarter emergency maneuver was never necessary. Their 7-3 group stage record came on the wake of two horrific losses to Main Nation Ministry, and a defensive meltdown late in the game against South Covello. That latter loss to Main Nation Ministry, a 0-7 clunker at home, featured Dak Waterman tearing his rotator cuff on an awkward sack. For better or worse, this was now Beck's team going into the playoffs of World Bowl XXXV.

Somehow, Dustin Beck pulled it off. He needed plenty of help, like the Round of 16 game against Pridnestrovia which was won on a last-second kickoff return lateral from Jack Hoy to Daniel Madison that quite honestly should not have worked. The quarterfinal against Abanhfleft was equally insane. Beck himself fired the game-winning touchdown on a fake field goal attempt from the holder position to Rich Covington in the end zone. The Corps had to face Main Nation Ministry once again in the semifinals, but this time Drawkland finally came out on top, 20-14. Improbably, Drawkland was back in the World Bowl final, and the hopes rested on the shoulders of Beck. Once again, he delivered, especially thanks to a clutch field goal drive to end the game late in the fourth. Beck captured MVP honors for his 2-touchdown performance, much to the chagrin of Jack Hoy, and Drawkland had its second title in as many championship game appearances.

Now, if you read this, and I told you the Waterman-Beck partnership would reach two more finals in the next three cycles, you'd expect Drawkland to have come away with more silverware, right? Well, if by "silverware" you meant "silver medals," then yes, you'd be correct. The Corps turned into a juggernaut in the following playoffs, only to suffer humiliating losses in the championship games (10-31 against Pridnestrovia in XXXVI, and that farce of a 39-65 loss to Free Republics in XXXVIII). The loss in XXXVIII proved to be the last ride for Waterman in a Drawkland uniform, and the Corps because the exclusive Dustin Beck show in XXXIX. You'd think that maybe the change and increased schematic security of having one man under center would help, but the Beck-only era fell just as painfully short from glory as the rest.

For the greater part of two decades, the Corps either had an excellent group stage with an early playoff exit, or a mediocre group stage with a deep but still untitled playoff run. Beck led Drawkland to two more World Bowl finals, just to be flattened by a great defense both times (3-13 against Ko-oren in XLI, 10-40 against Ranoria in XLII). The loss to Ranoria seemed to seal the deal on Beck's legacy with the Corps. Good, but just not good enough. Winning a lot of games, but going silent in the ones that really mattered. There seemed to be no big name Drawkian waiting in the wings to be Beck's successor, so ol' Dusty stuck around for a few more cycles to tide things over. For another half decade, Drawkland floundered. The Cropduster finally hung it up after the disappointing round of 16 loss to Saint Kanye in World Bowl XLVI.

So who was the fabled "quarterback of the future," that Beck felt comfortable enough to leave the Corps to? That would be Lane Proudfoot. Beck was reluctant to do so, but he was too old to keep playing Corps football. For better or worse, it would be the Cavsar alumnus Proudfoot taking the reins. For over three decades, the Corps was piloted by gunslinging QBs with a fearless attitude, a great eye for receivers, and the ability to break out from the pocket when need be. Lane Proudfoot is antithetical to that style of play, preferring to hand the ball to a running back 50 times a game and take naps on the sideline while the defense works. Now the Corps has always had a solid running back room, but how can you expect some scrub QB like that to lead Drawkland back to the promised land?

The Run

Somehow, it was working. Lane Proudfoot played game manager, letting the three-headed monster of Mike Banks, Hadrian Taylor, and occasionally Jack Hoy run rampant over opposing defenses. The only stumbles came at the very beginning and very end of the extended group stage. The opening day loss to HUElavia wasn't terribly out of the ordinary - HUElavia were the hosting home team and the top seed in the group, and the Grid Corps were figuring out how to operate in their first game of Proudfoot starting under center. Then, of course, the final day of the group stage, where Drawkland fell to Quebec 31-51. That was a total shootout, featuring the Corps defense melting like butter all game until their eventual complete collapse late in the fourth quarter. Proudfoot still performed admirably, as he had in the 30-20 win over the Grim Reapers earlier in the group stage, but it simply wasn't enough.

That loss to Quebec was more than just a bite on the team's record. It put both nations at 12-2 in the group standings, and the 20-point margin put Quebec ahead on tiebreakers. Drawkland went from leading the group, as they had for a vast majority of the group stage, to being resigned second place. The Corps were the best second-place team, edging out South Newlandia by a mere 5 points in overall PD, but they had the spot nonetheless. Given how the playoff bracket came out, it felt like South Newlandia got to be on the easier half of the bracket anyway, but that's just how the cookie crumbles.

So Drawkland was set to face Gyatso-Kai, a developing national team which has had some solid moments, impressive upsets, but no serious deep run yet. The winner of this game would surely go on to face the juggernaut of Saint Kanye in the next round. Though Gyatso-Kai came to play, those Boarqupines were not prepared for the Drawkian rushing attack. The group stage had been dominated on the ground with ball control in Drawkland's favor, and this match was no different. The first two Corps drives were long, consuming almost seven minutes each, and both ended in touchdowns. Mike Banks scored the first and ran in the first two-point conversion to boot, which put the pressure on Gyatso-Kai early in the game. The Boarqupines had their first drive of the game go quite well, also getting into the end zone, and they too made the two-pointer to make the score 8-8. Hadrian Taylor scored the second touchdown for Drawkland on a shifty 14-yard run, and once the Corps missed the 2-pointer there, it was 14-8 Drawkland. The Corps defense tightened up considerably on Gyatso-Kai from there, sending pressure at their QB Mit Wobet, and he was unprepared, going three-and-out. Just as the Boarqupines thought they had the better of Drawkland's running and short passing game, Lane Proudfoot pulled off one of his trademark play-action deep shots, nailing Kenneth Hewitt for a 50-yard gain. Proudfoot found Johnathan Kimbrough a few plays later for a passing touchdown, plus a fade route to Jackie Morris for the two-pointer.

At halftime, the score was 22-8 in Drawkland's favor, and that's when things really turned awry for Gyatso-Kai. The Boarqupines came out of the locker room determined to claw back into the game. They drove down the field with efficiency, eating plenty of clock, until they got into the red zone. A run stuffed for minimal gain on first down, an incompletion on second down, and now it felt like they were about to waste a golden opportunity. A field goal would do no good, with how Drawkland was working on offense, so they needed end zone. Wobet probably committed too hard to this ideal. On third down he was flushed from the pocket, rolling to his right, and he saw A'den Kato open in the end zone. He thought he was open, at least, until Prokopios Vortigern Rooijakkers seemingly came out of nowhere and snatched the ball out of the air for an interception. The turnover was bad enough for Gyatso-Kai, but the ensuing eight minute, 80-yard touchdown drive by Drawkland really felt like the dagger. The Boarqupines eventually got back into the end zone in garbage time, but it was too late. David Merit added a field goal in the fourth quarter, bringing the final score to a 32-15 Drawkland win.

The quarterfinal was sure to be a tougher matchup ... until it wasn't. The feared Saint Kanye had been upset by the upstart Kytler Peninsulae in the first round, leaving Drawkland to face the unranked Rushmori squad. On one hand, it was an easier match on paper. On the other hand, the Corps coaching staff had spent the last two weeks putting together a tentative plan for playing Saint Kanye, so they were behind the curve on gameplanning. Thankfully for Drawkland, that didn't seem to make a difference. The tough Kytler defensive line was doing their best to control the trenches, and the Drawkian running game suffered early in the game because of it. The first Drawkian drive stalled out on the edge of field goal range, so Merit scored the first points of the game. The Kytlerians couldn't get anything going on their first drive, and punted. The Corps attempted a first-play pass on the next drive, but Proudfoot telegraphed his throw a bit too heavily, and Kytler's Martijn van der Sar jumped the out route and came down with the pick. The Peninsulars knew they had to take advantage of the short field, and they did, scoring the first touchdown of the game to go up 3-7. Both offenses would trade punts, and finally the Corps got their offense in line. Proudfoot took a more proactive role in the offense, directing traffic in the short passing game and opening up more room for the running backs to roam. Thankfully, once the backs got past the venerated D-line, the middle of the field was a lot softer, leading to plenty of rushing yards. Banks once again got to paydirt first for Drawkland to punctuate the lead-taking drive. The Corps went for two, and Jack Hoy got his first action of the postseason. Proudfoot executed the classic "QB pretends the snap went over his head, which freezes the defense just long enough that they don't realize the running back got a direct snap" play, and Hoy slid into the end zone for two. This left the score at a testy 11-7 going into halftime.

Unfortunately for the Kytler team, they would be outlasted. Without the short field afforded by a turnover, they couldn't sustain a drive long enough to put more points on the board. Meanwhile, Proudfoot had found his short passing rhythm, so the defense couldn't target the running game hard enough to prevent the Drawkian backs from running rampant. The Corps offense scored another touchdown on the ground, this one also coming from Banks, and added the PAT to finally have a two-score lead (18-7). The Kytlerian offense once again stalled out and punted, and this is when Drawkland really put the game away. The Corps drive ended the third quarter and they had the ball around midfield as the fourth quarter began. Drawkland slowly moved into field goal range, bit by bit, just eating up yards. Lane Proudfoot had not attempted a pass longer than 15 yards all game. All of a sudden, he pulled out the play-action stinger, launching a deep ball to Kimbrough, who had split the defense right up the middle and caught it in the end zone for a touchdown. From here, the game transitioned to garbage time, and the Kytler squad was kept off the board until late in the fourth when they scored to make it a respectable 25-13 (they went for two and failed). Drawkland was heading to the semifinals for the tenth time.

The Clash

The Grid Corps may have lucked out in their quarterfinal draw, but there was no skirting around this semifinal matchup. The Serpent Eagles of Banija awaited, and even if they'd lost in the prior round, it'd be the Iron Legion of Chromatika instead. It felt like a throwback, going alllll the way back to World Bowl XXX where the success truly began. This semifinal with Banija, 34 years later, was a lot different. It wasn't a matchup between two middling squads searching for their big breakthrough. This was a matchup between a pair of two-time champions, nations who are no longer strangers to the World Bowl semifinal. Banija and Drawkland were opposing ends of a multi-sport rivalry which had years of history, and once again the stakes could hardly be higher. Banija were looking to make their fourth straight World Bowl final, and ideally finish the job to attain the three-peat, something which has never been done in World Bowl history. Drawkland were looking to return to the final for the first time since Banija's run of dominance. On top of that, both teams were running with quarterbacks whose time was limited. Banija's Ebou Hairte merely served as the one-cycle stopgap between the reign of Ice Chineze and the supposed era of Kadesh Odika. Lane Proudfoot may be around for more than a single cycle, but he's the most vocal of anyone that he doesn't plan to stick around very long.

The other semifinal featured Quebec & Shingoryeo vs TJUN-ia, two teams which had never been to a final and were sure to be underdogs to whichever team triumphed between Corps and Eagle. This Drawkland vs Banija matchup was the de facto championship, pending incredible collapse in the following round. Not only that, but this was a matchup of the tournament-best offense (Drawkland) vs the tournament-best defense (Banija). To make matters worse for Drawkland, Banija had the #2 best offense, while Drawkland's defense ... left a little to be desired. Among the 16 playoff teams, Drawkland's defense ranked 13th. It had gotten the job done so far, but they also hadn't played an offense in the top half of playoff teams. This is the kind of game that is won by whoever has the ball last.

Reinhild Aerodynamics Arena was the stage for this clash of titans, and the game did not disappoint. At the beginning, it really felt like the #2 offense against a #13 defense. Banija scored pretty easily on their first two drives, as Ebou Hairte lead the passing offense with extreme efficiency. In the first quarter, Hairte had over 100 yards passing, 2 TDs, no incompletions, and a two-score lead. The Drawkian offense had yet to gain a first down. The #1 offense seemed entirely quieted by the #1 defense. Mike Banks and Hadrian Taylor had both taken a couple carries for minimal gain, and Proudfoot hadn't even thrown a completion. The second quarter came along, and finally the Grid Corps started to move the ball. Banks and Taylor started getting traction as offensive coordinator George Connell switched up the blocking schemes a bit. Proudfoot made a couple short passes, but he was wary to stay clear of Koman Tabor and Makang Secka, who just got off a game where they easily held off Sarai Gwenderyn. A bad incompletion by Proudfoot stalled the drive, but it was in David Merit's field goal range, so Drawkland finally got on the board. Midway through the second quarter, the score was 14-3 Banija.

Of course, the Serpent Eagle offense was undeterred. The Grid Corps defense started to sell out on the passing game to stop Hairte's air attack, and it seemed to work. Zamandi Ayana was expected to pick up the slack with the ground game, but the Corps put Proko in the middle of the field to focus on the run. Proko followed Ayana like a hawk, and his clinical tackling skills nearly invalidated Ayana's big frame. Still, Banija made it this far in the tournament for a reason. The offense moved down the field, albeit with additional difficulty, and came away with a field goal just outside the red zone.

It was here that the Corps offense finally started to cash in on their gameplan. Though they hadn't gained much yardage at first, Drawkland's offense had been quietly wearing down the Serpent Eagle personnel. Banija's front seven, once a vaunted unit, was now a mishmash of reasonably decent linemen and linebackers who shuffled frequently to keep personnel fresh and ideally keep the opposing offense off balance enough to get the results needed. The same could be said for the Serpent Eagle secondary, which was a powerful unit trying their hardest to avoid the allegations of being Over The Hill. It had worked for them so far ... but this was a long tournament. Cracks would begin to form. So, while the Corps had started with runs that went nowhere, and passes that didn't complete, it didn't show the full picture of what was happening. Lane Proudfoot was handing the ball off on draw plays, so for 3-5 seconds, the secondary was focused on keeping up with the Corps receiving core, who were running rampant. Deep routes, double moves, criss-crossing all over the field at full throttle, they were wearing down the aging Serpent Eagles. Now, this was still an elite unit with juice left in the tank. The Drawkian receivers were still covered pretty well, nobody was really breaking free. But late in the second quarter, they got the little additional step they needed. Instead of clamping down immediately, the Banijan defensive backs were a half second too late. The window was easily long enough for Proudfoot to hit his receivers on curls, slants, and quick outs. The defense was loosening, the running backs were getting more space, and Drawkland rolled down the field with an efficiency they hadn't shown all game. With minimal time left on the clock before halftime, Lane Proudfoot executed a beautiful handoff to Mike Banks, who rumbled a few yards into the end zone for Drawkland's first touchdown of the game. Proudfoot hit Johnathan Kimbrough in the numbers on a stick route for the two-pointer, and Drawkland had cut the lead to one score. Banija's two minute drill went nowhere, and the rivals went into the locker rooms at halftime with a 17-11 scoreline in Banija's favor.

Banija got the ball to begin the second half. The Serpent Eagle offense moved the ball reasonably well, gaining first downs and crossing midfield, but it wasn't as dominant as their first couple drives in the first quarter. Hairte was throwing more incompletions, Ayana was struggling to gain yards on the ground against Proko & Friends, and the rest of the running back committee wasn't getting much from their few touches either. Still, Hairte willed Banija into field goal range before the Grid Corps defense finally forced a fourth down, where Banija smartly took the three points to extend their lead to more than a touchdown, 20-11.

Drawkland's offense, on the other hand, had finally come alive. The final offensive drive for the Grid Corps in the first half was merely an appetizer for what was to come. Proudfoot continued to throw as necessary, but the huge Drawkian O-line was starting to win the battle in the trenches against the increasingly frazzled Banijan front seven. Banks and Taylor found more gaps, gashed for more yardage, and Proudfoot mixed in the occasional quick pass to keep the defense on its heels. On 2nd and 5 at the 10 yard line, Proudfoot found Taylor on a halfback screen. Taylor cruised behind his escort of blockers into the end zone without having to break a tackle. Being after halftime, the Corps elected for the more conservative PAT, bringing the score to 20-18.

With both offenses working so efficiently, and the defenses forcing an emphasis on the short game, the time began to wane quicker than expected. Banija once again worked nearly to the red zone, but the Corps defense was providing textbook bend-but-don't-break stops. Once again, the Serpent Eagles were forced to kick a field goal, but this time it only grew their lead to five points. 23-18 Banija.

The momentum was beginning to palpably shift in North Ashialand. Scoring points is always ideal, but if you're only kicking field goals while your opponent scores touchdowns, you're not going to stay in the game for much longer. So seemed to be the fate of the Serpent Eagles as Proudfoot led the Grid Corps down the field again. From the consistent rhythm of Banks and Taylor pounding the rock, the Banijan defense grew restless. They knew that the patented Proudfoot play-action dagger was coming, it felt like every handoff had that shot lurking around the corner. Tabor and Secka had their hands full trying to contain the likes of Jackie Morris and Kenneth Hewitt on every play, and the lack of secondary help gave even more room for Banks and Taylor to roam underneath, eating up more yards with less effort. Still, the Proudfoot deep shot never came. Eventually Mike Banks broke free for a 12-yard touchdown run to finally give Drawkland the lead. One PAT later, and the Corps sat pretty at 23-25.

One may think that it would be panic time on the Banijan sideline at that point, but the offense still strode out confidently to retake the lead, as they figured they would. When a trio of incompletions came before the Serpent Eagles even crossed midfield, it officially became panic time. Banija were forced to punt as the fourth quarter began. Jack Hoy had yet to touch the ball that game, as Banks and Taylor were handling the rushing duties well. Hoy was the dedicated special teams return man, of course, but Banija had yet to punt to that point, and all the kickoffs sailed past the end zone for touchbacks. This was Hoy's first chance with the ball, as Mukisa Kkombe's kick spiraled and hung in the air. He received the punt and gashed past half the Banijan punt unit, finally being brought down just past the fifty yard line. With excellent field position and momentum on their side, the Drawkian offense punched forward until Proudfoot found his favorite target, Johnathan Kimbrough, on a corner route for an 18-yard touchdown. The lead was now two scores for Drawkland, and they kicked the PAT to go up by 9.

It was do or die time for Banija. Down two scores, only ten minutes left in the fourth quarter, they needed to put points on the board to keep their threepeat hopes alive. To their credit, Hairte stepped up the challenge and commanded his passing offense with reckless success. The Drawkian secondary focused perhaps a bit too hard on defending the boundary, and the Banijan receivers ate up yardage up the middle of the field. It seemed like the Serpent Eagles were liable to score their first touchdown since the first quarter ... but once again the Corps D stood strong in the red zone. Banija had the ball 1st and 10 at the 17 yard line, an excellent spot for the offense to be in. You can take a shot or two at the end zone, but you still have enough room to take midrange yardage and keep the drive going. Well, those two shots at the end zone fell flat thanks to great defensive plays by Zeke Kyro Cruz and Proko, and suddenly Ebou Hairte faced 3rd down. This was certainly four down territory, so an incompletion wouldn't be the end of the world, but they needed to move the ball at least a bit to make the 4th down conversion less of a challenge. Hairte got the ball from shotgun. His first read was underneath, but it was covered. His second read was Gabriel Yafet running an out route right past the sticks, but he was covered. His third read may or may not have been open, but Hairte never found out. The Serpent Eagle O-line, which had kept Hairte upright all game, finally cracked. Leo Cross bull rushed Moses Busara with such a fiery energy that the left tackle couldn't keep up. Cross buried Hairte into the turf for the first sack of the game, and now Banija had no choice. The field goal was a necessity. Maybe their defense could put up a stop, and they could get the ball only needing a touchdown to take the lead. Pili Kijeera kicked her fourth field goal of the night to reduce the deficit to six. 26-32, Drawkland still lead.

Now all the Corps had to do was run out the clock, or at least put more points on the board, and the game would be over. Unfortunately, the extremely predictable two running plays and a desperate curl route on 3rd and Long fooled nobody, least of all the Banijan defense. Proudfoot was lucky his third down pass wasn't picked, because Makang Secka read it like a book. Thankfully Jackie Morris made enough of a play on the ball to keep it out of Secka's hands, and Drawkland were able to punt the ball away. Now it was up to the defense, which had kept Banija out of the end zone for nearly three quarters, to do it one last time.

At first it seemed like time was going to be a factor, but Hairte zipped the ball downfield quickly enough that it was no longer about whether Banija could score before the clock hit 00:00, but if Drawkland could keep them from scoring at all. Slowly, almost painfully so, the Serpent Eagles slithered towards the end zone by flying through the air. Kawsu Gaye caught a post over the middle with some room and sprinted towards paydirt, but he was thankfully brought down by Phoenix Keye at the five yard line. The ultimate disaster was averted, but it was now time for an extreme level of stress. Coach Thomas Hall called his first time out with a couple ticks over a minute left in the game. Banija had the ball on the five yard line, a six point deficit, and just enough time to run four plays to save the season. Drawkland just needed one stop - or rather, four stops in a row.

First play. Zamandi Ayana tries to bulldoze through the line, but the Corps front seven denies him. At best, a half yard gain. Time out.

Second play. Ebou Hairte tries a fade pass to Kalu Alazar in the corner, but Zeke Kyro Cruz has him locked up. Ball is tipped harmlessly away, but at least the clock is stopped.

Third play. Hairte looks to pass, but hands the ball to Ayana on a sneaky draw play. Every Drawkian fan clenches, until they see Proko's lithe frame shoot into frame and ram into Ayana well short of the line. Ball on the two yard line, Hall lets the clock run a little bit, then uses his final timeout with just a few seconds left on the clock. This super semifinal, this "de facto championship," another chapter in this storied national rivalry, would come down to one play. What do you even do in that situation?

Final play. The crowd roars in Reinhild Aerodynamics Arena. Hairte surveys the defense, and decides not to check out of the play. There should be an opening, Margaret willing. Leo Cross stands across the line of scrimmage, but the O-line was taking no chances. Cross would be double teamed, a non-factor in this play. Hairte gets the snap, and the entire offense rolls to the right. Cross is invalidated behind the play. Kyro Cruz is stuck in 1-on-1 coverage against Alazar on the other end of the formation. Everything is going according to plan, until Chris Finley spins out of his block against Jelani Emeka. Hairte had just brought the ball up to throw, but suddenly has to scramble away from the looming Finley. He stays on his feet, but now the timing is disrupted. The patterns stop, and there's mere milliseconds left until somebody comes crashing down. Hairte looks back and forth, seeing nothing, and he knows there's nowhere to go but forward. With a prayer, Hairte tucks the ball and turns to the end zone. For a brief second, he feels like the goalline is in reach. He goes to extend the ball ... but Proko is there. The "undersized" Drawkian deftly swats at Hairte's arm before it can fully extend ... and the ball bounces free. All of the gridiron world gasps as the ball tumbles to the turf. With one bounce, the ball could go anywhere from a Banijan's hands in the end zone, out of bounds, or five yards back with no chance of recovery. The ball flips off the turf ... and into the outstretched arms of the pursuing Finley. He wraps the ball in his arms like a father protecting his child from a collapsing building, sliding to a stop on the grass as the celebration begins.

Somehow, the mediocre Grid Corps defense stopped the best offense in the tournament they didn't share a sideline with. Somehow, Drawkland had knocked off the defending two-time champions, ending their streak of final appearances. Somehow, Drawkland was back in the promised land, and they weren't even the underdogs this time.

The Championship

For the first time since Banija began their three-cycle run of form, Drawkland made it back to the Promised Land. Lane Proudfoot, against all odds and conventional knowledge, led the Grid Corps to the championship game. The opponent was Quebec & Shingoryeo, the very same team Drawkland played twice in this group stage. This would be the rubber match to end all rubber matches. At the halfway point of the group campaign, the Grid Corps beat the Grim Reapers, losing by as much as 14 in the first half, but coming back to win by 10 on the back of Proudfoot's then-best passing performance at the international level. As mentioned earlier, the second leg was not as kind to the Drawkians. Knowing that Drawkland would attempt to take advantage of the weaker secondary, Q&S instead allowed looser coverage and put the offense into air raid mode. The result was a barnburner which Drawkland lost thanks to a couple of fumbles late, a 20-point deficit in a game that featured 82 total points scored by both teams.

They say that beating a team twice in a season is hard, but beating them three times is nearly impossible. Perhaps it was ideal that the Corps fell to the Reapers on that final matchday. It may have made their playoff run more difficult, but after having to overcome the likes of Banija, playing against the upstart Quebec could be seen as taking the weight off the bat. One thing was certain: the Grid Corps defense was not about to allow over 40 points again. With plenty of film and in-person experience over the past couple months, it was certain that Drawkland had a plan in place.

When you face a team for the third time in a season, you have to throw in some wrinkles. What worked in game one didn't work in game two, and what didn't work in game one continued to not work. Mike Banks and Hadrian Taylor had been solid throughout the playoffs, but they were beginning to tire out, approaching the 18th game of what's supposed to be a lower-stress international tournament. Not to mention, they were both nearly non-factors in the two games against Quebec. Taylor had some receptions in the passing game, but he wasn't effective like he had been in other games. There did happen to be one running back who was nearly foaming at the mouth for some action. Jack Hoy.

As discreetly as they could, Glenn Romano and the Grid Corps planned to have Jack Hoy make the start at running back for the World Bowl championship. There was no guarantee it would work out, but Romano hoped that the jolt in offensive scheming would be enough to catch Quebec on their heels. The defense had its own work to do. Defensive coordinator Simian Schofield studied the film closely and felt that the secondary would be able to firmly stop the O'Mara-led passing attack this time.

It was time for the championship. The Elysium was built to be a true cathedral of sport, arguably the greatest venue in all of Ranoria. This pseudo-Valhalla provided the stage for this grand matchup. The tenured Quebec and Shingoryeo in their first World Bowl final, going against Drawkland in their seventh such appearance. The Grim Reapers were dressed in their all-white kits, contrasting against the black and red of the Grid Corps. Quebec won the toss and elected to defer to the second half, so Drawkland got the ball to begin the game.

The crowd, filled with fanatic fans of both sides, was fervent as the Corps offense took the field first. Jack Hoy got the first carry, and he busted straight up the gut for an eleven yard gain and an immediate first down. From there the offense was off and running. Proudfoot had a couple quick passes to keep the line moving, but Hoy was the motor that gained most of the yardage. The Quebecois defense only held the Drawkians to negative yardage twice on that opening drive, and it ended with Hoy punching in a touchdown from five yards out for the opening score. Proudfoot hit Jackie Morris on a goalline slant for the two-point conversion, and Drawkland had a lead.

The Grim Reaper offense had some fight in them, too. The Reapers took to the air, with Donovan O'Mara leading the charge. O'Mara made some decent passes, but he also had some misses deep. The Corps defense was taking away the big play, forcing O'Mara to work underneath, and he didn't adjust quickly enough to keep the opening Quebecois drive alive. Quebec were forced to punt a few yards shy of midfield, and the Drawkian offense got the ball back looking to make more noise.

It wasn't quite as efficient as the first drive, but the Corps was still holding strong in their second drive. Perhaps they got a little too predictable with giving Hoy the ball, though, because the Reaper defense stuffed him on back-to-back plays around the 30 yard line. Proudfoot's first two reads were covered on third down, and he didn't have time to escape the pocket before Frederic Benn-Kocian hunted him down for the sack. David Merit came on with the field goal and scored his first points of the championship, adding three to Drawkland's total from 45 yards out.

The Quebecois offense again couldn't sustain a drive long enough to get points on the board, only getting one first down before being forced to punt. The Drawkian offense had a chance to really run away with things, as Hoy powered the ball across midfield on the first play of the ensuing drive. The 26-yard run energized the Drawkian sideline, perhaps a little too much so. Hoy was once again stuffed on back-to-back downs, and though Proudfoot shot a bullet to Johnathan Kimbrough, the tight end couldn't extend far enough for the first down. With momentum on their side, Romano kept the offense on the field for the 4th down. Proudfoot handed off to Hoy, who met fair resistance on the end of the line. Hoy attempted to bounce further outside, but Thor Elliott was there to tackle Hoy short of the line to gain.

Drawkland had gifted Quebec great field position, and that was enough to spark up the Reaper offense. O'Mara got the ball across midfield in one play by hitting Hamad Bhatt on a nice hitch route, and Manon Ellis followed that with a twelve-yard run to get the Reapers just outside the red zone. Soon after, O'Mara found Raphael Bentick in the end zone for Quebec's first-ever score in a World Bowl championship. Bentick ran a nice post route that split the safeties, giving O'Mara a window just big enough to avoid Proko in the secondary. Clemence Boileau elected for just the PAT this time, and Michael Brousseau obliged to make the score 11-7.

Now we had a game. Though Drawkland still had a lead and looked much more confident on offense, another wasted drive could result in a deficit. That simply couldn't do. Jack Hoy seemed to have a renewed vigor, and he workhorsed the ensuing drive. Proudfoot mixed in a clutch 20-yard pass to Robin Arrington on third and long to keep the drive alive. Hoy capped the drive with a three-yard run on 3rd and Goal to put Drawkland up by more than one score again. Hoy snuck across the line on a draw play for the two-pointer, and the Corps took a 19-7 lead.

At that point it was midway through the second quarter, and neither team would score before halftime. The Reapers went three and out twice, and the Corps punted once and couldn't get close enough for a field goal before time expired to end the half. The 12-point Drawkian lead would hold for halftime as both teams went to rest up and prepare for the second half. The Grim Reapers were still very much in the game, but the Grid Corps had looked much cleaner throughout the first half. The Reapers would need to be perfect in the second half to come away with their first World Bowl championship.

They would not be perfect. Quebec got the ball to begin the second half thanks to the earlier deferral, and proceeded to squander the opportunity. On the second play of the drive, O'Mara barely overthrew his receiver Philippe-Noel Gallant. The ball bounced off Gallant's hands, with just enough air under them to fall into the hands of Prokopios Vortigern Roijakkers, who had been playing deep safety on that play. Proko dove forward and snagged the ball, though he was tagged before he could get back up to return it. The crowd roared from the interception, and the Drawkian sideline was fired up. The Corps offense came out ready to do immediate damage.

Immediate damage was exactly what the Corps inflicted. Proudfoot tossed a beautiful play-action pass to Kimbrough, who got several yards of separation on a nice corner route. It wasn't enough for a touchdown, but Drawkland had the ball goal-to-go. Proudfoot took another pass from play-action, and once again called Kimbrough's number, floating one over the defender and into the waiting arms of Kimbrough on a goalline out route. Drawkland scored another touchdown, kicked the PAT now that they were up in the second half, and suddenly Quebec was trailing by three scores, 26-7.

There was still plenty of time in the second half, but it was starting to be desperation mode for the Reapers. With the passing game being essentially the only option, given the waning clock, the Corps pass rush pinned their ears back and prepared to make O'Mara's life a living hell in the pocket. The Corps secondary was honed in on the pass, and it was tough to get anything going. Both teams punted on their next drives, and as time ticked down towards the end of the third quarter, the Reapers finally got something going. The Corps D had given up defending the run, deeming it unnecessary, so Ellis was able to gain some yards on the ground. O'Mara fit a couple passes into tight windows, having to resort to short passes to keep ahead of the aggressive pass rush. With thirty seconds left in the third, O'Mara hit Bhatt on a red zone curl, and Bhatt spun around Paul Gore to get enough room to score the touchdown. Being down with such a deficit, Coach Boileau tried for a two-pointer. If it succeeded, then they'd only need another TD with Two and a field goal to tie, rather than two TDs to lead. If they failed, they would need two TDs anyway. Unfortunately for them, the gadget play didn't pan out, and they resorted to a 26-13 deficit.

It was time for Drawkland to respond. With just fifteen minutes and change left in the game, the Reaper D knew that they couldn't allow Hoy to waste a lot of clock with the ground game, so they focused on stopping the run. Even Hoy wasn't invincible, and it became Proudfoot's job to extend the drive. It was reminiscent of the first game between these two squads, where Proudfoot was forced to primarily pilot the passing game to stay alive. For three straight sequences, Hoy got less than five yards on two consecutive carries, then Proudfoot got approximately a dozen in the air on some sort of curl, in, or out route. The Quebecois defense was getting increasingly frustrated. They finally keyed on the pass for the fourth 3rd down of the drive, only for that play to be a Jack Hoy draw to get another first down. With the Corps now in field goal range, one could expect them to remain conservative, even to their detriment, since three points on a drive would still elevate the lead to a 16-point margin. Instead, Proudfoot pulled the ball up on a sneaky play-action pass, hitting Jackie Morris who worked free on a disgusting stop-and-go route outside the numbers. Morris caught the ball in stride, and with the safeties playing shallow for the run, he easily trotted into the end zone for six. Another PAT from Merit later, and Drawkland extended their lead to twenty, with the score now 33-13.

By now, it was obvious how the game was going to end. It was glorified garbage time, and though Quebec put up a pretty solid drive to respond, a trio of incompletions on the outside of the red zone put them in a tough spot. On one hand, they were in field goal range, but a field goal this late in the game would be an embarrassingly pathetic try. Instead, the Reapers went for it on fourth, but O'Mara's pass sailed incomplete.

The Corps offense was playing on cruise control at this point. The Reaper defense slowed them down, but the combination of Hoy's energetic running this late in the game, coupled with Proudfoot's aggravatingly accurate midrange passing, was too hot to handle. It seemed that luck simply wasn't on Quebec's side. Whenever the defense blitzed, the Drawkian offense had a quick pass or a countering run called. This was mostly to Proudfoot's credit, as he was doing a good job at surveying the defense and calling audibles where it was needed. The true dagger came on a second down at Quebec's 40 yard line. The Reapers had a huge blitz called, hoping to hit Proudfoot before he could get the ball out and put the Corps too far behind the chains. Unfortunately, Romano had called for a halfback screen to Hoy. As the front seven rushed towards Proudfoot on the snap, Proudfoot calmly backpedaled and flicked the ball out to Hoy, who now had a convoy of big blockers and a lightly defended secondary. Hoy cruised down the field, rushing past his convoy once the last white shirted defender had been sucked into a block. The Drawkian side of the crowd, now firmly confident in the eventual result of the game, cheered loudly as Jack Hoy highstepped into the end zone. Hoy dropped the ball behind him in satisfaction, and started pointing at his ring finger as the rest of his teammates arrived behind him to celebrate. The score was 40-13. It was time to finish things.

Quebec and Shingoryeo put up a frantic drive to keep themselves in the game, even though it was far too late, short of an insane series of miracles. O'Mara padded his statline with his third touchdown of a day, a garbage time toss to Gallant. Once again the Reapers failed on the two-point conversion, and that brought the score to 40-19, where it would stay until 00:00.

While the Reapers called their remaining timeouts, hoping against hope for something crazy, Jack Hoy calmly gained a few yards at a time, giving Drawkland the final first downs they needed before the clock ran all the way down. The final play of the game was Lane Proudfoot kneeling, his only credited rush attempt of the game. That -1 rushing yards was the fewest by any Drawkian QB in a World Bowl Final. The referee whistle blew to signify the end of the game, and it was over. After literal decades of waiting, Drawkland was finally back on top of the World Bowl.

The Aftermath

The celebration for Drawkian fans, and sympathetic neutrals, lasted long into the night and through to the following morning. It may not have been a particularly exciting finale for the average football fan, but most got their fix in the semifinal against Banija anyway.

For his efforts in this championship game, Jack Hoy was awarded Championship Game MVP. He had three touchdowns, two on the ground and that one long screen pass, and over 200 all-purpose yards on the game. Outside of the numbers, he was clearly the main driving force behind the Corps offense in a game that the offense dominated. It was controversial, as some believed Lane Proudfoot deserved the honor, but naysayers would point out that Proudfoot probably doesn't give a shit about that anyway.

The flurry of media questions after the game ended were mostly centered around the feelings of the Grid Corps members, having finally broken through and won the chip for the first time in what felt like ages. Some members of the roster hadn't even hit puberty the last time Drawkland won the World Bowl, and now they were professionals playing for their nation and winning it themselves. Jack Hoy and Leo Cross received a lot of questions about it, since they were the only ones who'd been there the last time Drawkland won it all. Both said they were happy to have done it, though there was some melancholy that it didn't happen last cycle, in Dustin Beck's swansong.

A lot of local fans were interested in what Lane Proudfoot had to say. Proudfoot plied his trade in Fiston, so the local fans in Ranoria were all-too-familiar with the Cavsaran Casanova. One interviewer asked of Proudfoot, "Some fans and pundits criticize your style of play, saying you use the run game as a crutch too often, even to your team's detriment. Do you think this championship win will change that narrative at all?"

"I don't know about all that," Proudfoot answered plainly. He was never known as a trash-talker, or much of a media personality at all. However, he broke into a small smirk and continued, "There is this, though. Fans in Ranoria especially like to compare me to another high caliber quarterback, and how we perform in the big games in the RFL. All I'm gonna say is that I'd prefer this kind of ring to the other one. Hope she savors that Winter Bowl, because I think I've got the better WB. Next question please."

Speaking of Lane Proudfoot, many wonder if he'll return under center for the Grid Corps next cycle. At first he was merely viewed as a stopgap as Drawkland waits for their next legendary QB of the future to rise, but after this Bowl, some wonder if Proudfoot is that guy. Proudfoot indicated that he would come back, but it doesn't seem like he'll be a true long-term option. Only time will tell.

As for Drawkland's legacy in the World Bowl, this win goes a long way to cement this nation in the upper echelon of World Bowl winners. Allamunnic States remains at the top with six titles, with Dancougar and now Ko-oren tied for second place at four titles apiece. Now Drawkland escapes from the surprisingly large group of two-time winners, becoming the fourth nation to win three World Bowl titles. Given the momentum of several nations in the two-timer club, it's doubtful that Drawkland will be alone for much longer.

This was the twentieth World Bowl appearance for the Grid Corps. In those 20 cycles, 10 of them resulted in a semifinal berth, and 7 of those in a championship game. The amount of time between each title win prevents most people from considering Drawkland having a true dynasty. That being said, you can't deny the pedigree of a team with a 50% semifinal rate, one that makes the final in over a third of all their tournament entries. Maybe it will take another twenty cycles, but the Grid Corps has their sights set on true greatness.

Drawkland isn't going away. This could be the real beginning. As loyal Drawkians echo forever ... On Corps.

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