NSCF 34 - Everything Thread

(O.O) · by **TJUN-ia** » Sun Oct 12, 2025 10:47 am

The Trent State Feathercaps were 3-2 entering this week, a record they hoped they could build on in the weeks to come. At least, that was what Johnny Bridgeford had said entering this week. They knew they had a tough one ahead, but there was still hope they could put up a good showing and try to attack the rest of this schedule with as much fire and fury as possible.
But that didn't happen. Sure, 23 points and 3 TDs from Robin DeMarcus sounds good, but in The Brig, that was never going to be enough against the UC-Prairie Blue Jays. Craig Kelly has a machine at his disposal and Larry Cunningham put belt to ass...and there was nothing TSU could really do. The 'Caps fell 44-23, move to 3-3, and now must prepare for Homecoming and a must-win scenario.

The Green City Royal Eagles were 2-3, but they seemed to be trending in the right direction. Sure, things could've been better, but you could sense that Paul Abdullahi's team were improving week-to-week and they just hoped that this momentum could continue.
Against the Fusa College Mountain Foxes on the road, the Eagles did not slip up. In fact, it was actually quite comfortable. Ngimphiwe Cele balled out, got 5 TDs, and GCU won 44-23. Back-to-back wins brings GCU back toward a winning record, but now comes a huge game up on the horizon: Homecoming. Against those Blue Jays.

TSU SCHEDULE (MINERAL Conference + 3 Non-Conference)
Week 1: BYE
Week 2: vs Green City (TJU) - Earth Trophy XVIX W 33-26 (1-0)
Week 3: @Prince Pieter's College (ROT) L 20-23 (1-1)
Week 4: vs St. Paulus College (ROT) L 3-9 (1-2)
Week 5: @Delino State (TRA) W 33-7 (2-2)
Week 6: vs Fusa College (AMN) W 47-29 (3-2)
Week 7: @Columbus-Prairie (DHE) L 23-44 (3-3)
Week 8: vs UNSJJSM (UNC) - Homecoming
Week 9: @Nowa Kalanianska (UNC)
Week 10: vs Mar Sara Tech (VAL) - Senior Day
Week 11: @Raynor (VAL)
Week 12: Conference Championship Week
---------------------Non-Conference---------------------
Week 13: vs Nordhammer (NKR)
Week 14: vs Silver Coast (SAS)
Week 15: @IU Busoga (BUS)

GCU SCHEDULE (MINERAL Conference + 3 Non-Conf)
Week 1: vs Raynor (VAL) L 7-10 (0-1)
Week 2: @Trent State (TJU) - Earth Trophy XVIX L 26-33 (0-2)
Week 3: BYE
Week 4: vs Prince Pieter's College (ROT) W 17-16 (1-2)
Week 5: @St. Paulus College (ROT) L 14-20 (1-3)
Week 6: vs Delino State (TRA) W 58-10 (2-3)
Week 7: @Fusa College (AMN) W 36-14 (3-3)
Week 8: vs Columbus-Prsairie (DHE) - Homecoming
Week 9: @UNSJJSM (UNC)
Week 10: vs Nowa Kalanianska (UNC)
Week 11: @Mar Sara Tech (VAL)
Week 12: Conference Championship Week
---------------------Non-Conference---------------------
Week 13: against NCIS (CAD) (to be confirmed)
Week 14: @Cavsar (DRK)
Week 15: vs SU Sinyal (SIN) - Senior Day

by **Valanora** » Sun Oct 12, 2025 11:31 am

Horizon Conference - Week 8

Cutoff.

Bitternea International University (KYP) 15–32 Z'ai'ai Institute of Technology (CMT)
Cavsar University (DRK) 23–20 Starmara Tech University (CMT)
Sadeg State University (DRK) 12–39 Mountain District University (CMT)
Drawk Corps University (DRK) 37–3 State University of Sinyal (SIN)
Silver Coast State College (SAS) 41–14 Llangliff University (SHV)

Ps Horizon Conference                        Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD 
 1 Cavsar University                           7    6   1   242  156  +86
 2 Mountain District University                7    6   1   260  146 +114
 3 Drawk Corps University                      7    5   2   209  167  +42
 4 Silver Coast State College                  7    5   2   195  130  +65
 5 Z'ai'ai Institute of Technology             7    4   3   224  154  +70
 6 Sadeg State University                      7    4   3   196  171  +25
 7 Starmara Tech University                    7    3   4   147  142   +5
 8 State University of Sinyal                  8    3   5   195  235  −40
 9 University of Nordhammer                    7    2   5   153  217  −64
10 Bitternea International University          8    1   7   103  232 −129
11 Llangliff University                        8    1   7   188  362 −174

by **Banija** » Sun Oct 12, 2025 2:04 pm

NMU grabs its first road win of the season as Horace Horton stars in NMU's 21-16 victory over Saguenay

SOUTH BEND, SAGUENAY- NMU has really been all over the place this season. A week 1 bye, and then a pair of tough rivalry losses to open the season put them behind the 8 ball just as things really got going. Losing at home to Loyola-Istria in overtime is always gutwrenching- the biggest rivalry NMU have, in the home opener, and Loyola wins? That's a brutal one. To then follow that up with a trip to Lakiska, and managing just three points on the Busoga Islands, in a 7-3 loss in that rivalry? Brutal. "We had a lot of soul searching after those losses- very emotional, very tiring, but of course, the season is never over in week 3- even if those were big games." Hannah McKendry, the head coach, told reporters. "But we had to re-double down on how to reform our offense, really call upon our leaders to restore the season."

Since then, against the lighter part of the schedule, NMU went 2-1. A pair of strong home wins over some of the conference's bottom feeders, including a 30-14 win over the Institute of Sport, and last week's 26-3 victory over West Java. But when things got even a little challenging, again, the team buckled- this team in a shootout, they couldn't keep up with the Flying Dutchmen of Holland Tech, with a 39-28 road loss really having the team peering over the edge of a disaster season. "Look, at NMU, there's so much to play for- but when your only wins are against the worst two teams in the conference, at home, you haven't really proven much of anything." Said a Banijan TV commentator. "This Quebecois stretch... They need to win at least one, if not both- or else the school could waste Horace Horton's senior season."

They are not in a position, of course, where they want to do that. And the Celestia after dark game, in South Bend, was a good position for the Cougars to try and restore their own reputation. Saguenay were sitting at 2-3, in a similar position to NMU- not quite in terms of their wins, but with both teams having losses pile up early, it was almost a playoff eliminator in Week 7. "There are more at-large spots than ever this season, with only four conferences- 8 spots available. But the competition for those spots will be tougher than ever." Said the same Banijan TV commentator. "If you're starting 2-4... I mean, you're going to need at least 9 wins to make the playoffs. You'd have to win out from here- and that's probably impossible. So an early playoff KO game for two teams who are watching their national archrivals have fantastic seasons."

And of course, Hannah McKendry might be the least popular woman in Saguenay- a loud chorus of boos whenever her face was showed on the jumbotron at Schwartz Stadium.

Absolutely true- both USC and Loyola came into week 7 sitting at 5-0, which helped increase the angst at the fanbases of these other schools. But both teams were ready for this unique environment, an 11 PM local kickoff, and they both threw every punch they had. It was a rough start for the Cougars on offense, as their three offensive drives in the first quarter only netted two first downs, combined. And on one of the drives they got a first down- they immediately threw a pick on the very next play. Skylar did a bad job of looking off the CB, and Nsubuga Nkulo jumped the out route to Mark Lutt, and he was racing down the sideline. Mark Lutt brought him down from behind, but still- not how you want to start on the road.

The Fighting Irish got a FG off of that turnover- and then got another FG as the quarter ended. A 6-0 early lead for the Fighting Irish, as NMU fans were having similar frustrations- can't get anything done in these big games, against big teams. But on a drive that started with 11:13 left in the second quarter, they finally, FINALLY, got something going. And the first big play wasn't what you'd expect. DeColdest Carey, one of the most electric weapons in CFB, is a cornerback- but gets a couple of offensive packages. Electric speed, wicked in the open field... why not use him as a spark? NMU went for something real funky- a wildcat formation. 1st & 10 at their own 22 yard line, only the third time they've used the formation all season. Horton in the gun. Heavenworth next to him. Carey in the slot, and motioning across. It was a read option for Horton... Who made the correct decision to hand the ball off. Carey had space, and a wicked spin move to break a tackle, and he was flying up the sideline, until he was pushed out of bounds at the Saguenay 43 yard line.

A 35 yard gain on the opening play of the drive- and a momentum switcher. With the drive in motion, they moved methodically down the field from there- including a big 3rd & 10 catch from Horton for 14 yards to set them up with a 1st & goal from the Saguenay 7. And they didn't need to worry much after that either, with Heavenworth going up the middle immediately for 7 yards and a touchdown. Suddenly, NMU leading for the first time all day. There were further opportunities in the quarter, as well. Just 2 plays into the ensuing drive for Saguenay, who was it? DeColdest Carey, his star performance. A diving interception, giving NMU Back the football on the plus side of the field.

"From there, we wanted to go for the kill shot." McKendry told reporters after the game. And it didn't quite work out. They went long on 1st & 10 from the opposing 40, and Mark Lutt was open.. but Skylar underthrew the pass. Lutt had done all he could to simply turn into a DB for a play to prevent an interception for Saguenay. The rest of the drive didn't quite go as planned either- while Horton got 6 yards on a carry, Skylar had to throw it away on 3rd down. And then on fourth? Their true freshman K missed a 51 yard FG. He's been struggling all season- leading to a McKendry clipboard slam as the kick sailed wide left. While the teams exchanged a few more possessions, the Fighting Irish turned it on during their 2-minute drill, with Joo throwing a fade route to Nihat Cokcu in the closing seconds of the first half. So halftime came, and Saguenay led, by a score of 13-7.

But it was the second half where a game like this would be decided. And while the third quarter seemed like a punt fest to start things off, NMU knew that they had the best player not only on the field, but probably in the entire conference, with Horace Horton. "The offense has got to go through him." Said Apollo Esther, the NMU RBs coach. "When it does- good things happen. When we don't get him his touches... Bad things happen." And so, get him his touches. A 4 play, 77 yard drive. A 9 yard pass to Horton. Then, a 14 yard run, on a HB toss, to Heavenworth for a first down. Then, why not split him out wide and run him on a post route? NMU did exactly that. They even brought Carey onto the field as a decoy, and it worked- fake the reverse to Carey, throw a strike down the field to Horton for a first down. After that, split both backs deep in the backfield- Horton left, Heavenworth right.

Skylar flipped it left, and Horton had a huge hole between his tackle and guard- and then, after stiff-arming a Saguenay LB to the ground, he was off to the races. The blocking on the outside was excellent, and he outran the safety, diving for the pylon for a 34 yard touchdown run. "An electric run, and electric series, from a difference maker." Said a Banijan TV commentator after the game ended. "He showed in the third quarter why he's so dangerous- just every time they need something, he's there." And despite that drive, after that, it was all about defense again. Teams forcing punts, Saguenay adjusting their focus on defense, as NMU led by a singular point- 14-13.

And the defenses, once again, came to star. A Heavenworth run off tackle, where she thought she had a 10 yard gain- until Saguenay LB Landon Shin punched the football out, which was recovered by the hometown kid, In-Goo Kang. A nightmare scenario for the Cougars. Still leading by one, but the Fighting Irish starting with the football inside their own 30 yard line. And they got a couple of first downs, as well- before the NMU defense held up. A first & goal from the 2 yard line- but the NMU D held them back. A first down run up the middle, for nothing, the play blown up by NMU DT Jermaine Williams. On 2nd down, this time they did a HB toss- loss of a yard. Third & goal from the 3, they were under center, but had 3 WRs all split left, which was the wide side of the field. But the secondary was on one, blanketing everyone- and Kyle Turner ended up with the sack, for a 4 yard loss, to set up 4th 7 goal from the 7. Could've been worse- but Saguenay hit the chip shot FG, making it 16-14 in favor of the home team, with just over 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

And a few drives later, the Fighting Irish got another drive going, with a legitimate chance to put this team away. Getting to the red zone for a third time, they wanted to score a TD To make this a 2 possession game- and all but put away NMU. But with potentially their playoff hopes on the line, a diving interception by Kelan Turner, the nickel back, might have saved the season. "Turner... i can't say enough about his development." McKendry told reporters afterwards. "A play that we absolutely had to have, they have a 3rd and 6... He read the QB, and made a diving pick inside his own 10 yard line. He made a game saving pick for us, and the team was ready to take advantage of it."

4:33 left. Down by 2 points, at our own 7 yard line. 2 AM local time. On the road. Was this a situation for Amy Skylar to show off her clutch genes? She did against Loyola, although her kicker couldn't make the drive pay off. Even with a delay of game on first down(crowd noise) pushing them back to the 4, Skylar was ready for the environment- and started dealing. She got the team down the field- the big play taken away, but fitting the ball through those tight, intermediate windows. She got them all the way down to the Saguenay 32 yard line, where they had a 4th & 4 with about 1:30 left on the clock. A hell of a drive from a first year starter- and remember, with the team down 2, a FG gives them the lead. And they trotted their true freshman kicker out there, who had missed from 51 earlier, to kick the go-ahead FG .

Banijan Radio Commentator wrote:As the FG unit comes onto the field here, Hawk Rukodzi has the pressure mounting on him. He's been an OK kicker so far- he's got a lot of leg, but his accuracy can go all sorts of places. Not quite a Chormatik kicker- but the kicker we've got. 4th & 4, McKendry's opted to kick the 49 yarder. Saguenay's HC used a timeout to really make him think about it, trying to amp up the pressure. McKendry spent basically the entire timeout talking to him, try to encourage her kicker. She's got faith, clearly- and so does this NMU team. But NMU Nation? Well... For the game to come down to Rukodzi's right leg, is tough.

He's out on the field, and so is everyone else. He marks his spot- and backs up to take his steps. Remember, our punter, Tariro Takawira, is our holder. He's out there. And we've got a true freshman long snapper, in Nathan Vudzijena. We need a clean operation, make it as easy as possible for an already nervous field goal kicker. The kicker gives the signal, and Takawira signals to the long snapper. Vudzijena gives off a clean snap to Takawira... Who's standing up! He throws the ball about 10 yards.. AND THERE'S HORACE HORTON! OH MY GOODNESS! THE TIGHT END IS WIDE OPEN, AND TAKAWIRA THROWS A DUCK TO HIM AND IT IS COMPLETE FOR A FIRST DOWN, AT THE 25- BUT THE TE CAN RUN! HORTON'S RUNNING DOWN THE FIELD, AND HE'S FINALLY BROUGHT DOWN AT THE SAGUENAY 8 YARD LINE!

Chaos! (They pause for a moment, before continuing.) Oh my, what a trick play! A fake FG- in THIS moment, at THIS Time- and who else is getting the ball besides Horton! Saguenay went all out to block the kick, and they didn't account for Horton, who was lined up as a blocker on the far right side! Oh my, the crowd is stunned, as the NMU sideline is going crazy for first and goal.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what the first play call was at the Saguenay 8 yard line, considering the opposition had 2 timeouts left. A fade to Horton in the corner- that was caught, for a touchdown. 1:03 left in the football game- and Horton had given his squad a 20-16 lead- 21-16 with the PAT. The defense would have to go back on the field, but Saguenay needed a touchdown, instead of a FG. And while the Fighting Irish got into Hail mary range, you know who is part of the NMU hail mary coverage team- and Horton got the exclamation point on the game by picking off the pass, and going down in the end zone for a touchback- and a victory. Him immediately turning around to punt the ball into the Saguenay student section earned him a postgame unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, as the postgame scene descended into a bit of chaos, with Saguenay fans throwing all sorts of stuff at Horton. The Celestia Conference decided to suspend him for the 1st quarter of NMU's week 8 contest, at home against USC- no word yet on a punishment for Saguenay.

McKendry explained her bold fake FG call in the post game media availability. "Look- I've got all the faith in the world in my kicker." Coach speak, naturally. "But we've got this package, we've had it in the playbook since last season- but we didn't get to run it last year, with Horton out all season. I've been saving it for the right moment, and this was it. He's not usually blocking there, but in a situation like this, the opposition is unlikely to play FG safe- so we thought he'd be open. We were right, he was open, and the most electric player in football made the play of the game with the game on the line. How can I not put the football in his hands when it matters most?"

NMU improved to 3-3 on the season, with the victory being their first road win of NSCF 34. A victory that could change everything. They've got USC at home- USC are tied for the conference lead, at 5-1, but Aberstadt's win has shown that they are beatable. Not easy to do, of course- but all things are possible. "We're likely home underdogs in this one, and that's OK." McKendry told reporters. "But- this game, this victory against Saguenay, is proof of concept. We can perform in the toughest of circumstances, and we can look to prove it against the best of opponents."

3:23 AM, local time in South Bend, central campus at Université du Saguenay

Horace Horton had snuck out of his hotel room, of course- which was right outside of Saguenay's campus- and had walked back onto central campus. A hell of a win. With such a late game, NMU's flight back to Herzegovina City didn't leave until Noon local time, so he figured he'd celebrate his victory. He was out with Jermaine Williams, the team's starting DT, Tidiane Wane, who was NMU's CB1, and DeColdest Carey, who had a couple of big plays himself.

Campus was mostly deserted- a big party culture here, of course, but it was past 3 AM after a loss. If they had won, it might be different- but a loss sent most of the students inside, ready for bed. "So, can you explain to me exactly what we're doing?" Jermaine Williams asked.

"C'mon, we're having a little bit of fun!" Horace Horton told his teammates. "Our guys should be here by now..." And just then, he saw. A massive trojan warhorse. Could fit four people inside of it. He laughed.

"Hey Horace." Said one of the Banijan fraternity students. "Look- we've done it."

"How the hell did you get this thing here?" Carey asked.

"We pushed it for a full freaking kilometer." Said another one of the fraternity brothers. "But that's because we wanted to save power- this thing is motorized. And look- it plays the NMU fight song-" he pressed a remote, and the warhorse was playing the NMU fight song at a low volume. "It also sticks out the NMU flags-" and at the press of another button, two NMU flags sprung out of the top of the motorized wooden horse.

"Well- let's get in." Horton climbed in. His teammates looked at him warily- but they entered in. Williams, then Carey, and then Wane. Then, two of the fraternity brothers entered in, with the third on a moped, that would ride next to it. "LET'S RIDE!"

And for the next 45 minutes, they rode all around Saguenay's main campus- by the dorms, by the library, the mess hall, some of the bars, etc... the warhorse zooming everywhere across campus. Nobody could see who was in it, and the flags were there to ensure people knew it was a gift from NMU.

"Fuck these guys." Horton said, laughing, as they got out. "What a time, what a ride."

Cougars.Student.Daily
6 hours ago

Reports of a motorized warhorse driving around Saguenay's campus for 45 minutes in the middle of the night blasting the NMU fight song? Can't be mad about that, can we

by **Dhemixia** » Sun Oct 12, 2025 6:50 pm

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Columbus Dominion(Est.1873)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cunningham's Law

Schedule

*blue indicates home games
~~Week 1: @ Fusa College~~ W 30-29
~~Week 2: BYE~~
~~Week 3: vs. UNSJJ~~ W 39-16
~~Week 4: @ Nowa Kalanianska~~ W 20-9
~~Week 5: vs. Mar Sara Tech~~ W 51-17
~~Week 6: @ Raynor~~ L 37-50
~~Week 7: vs. Trent State~~ W 44-23
Week 8: @ GCU
Week 9: vs. Prince Pieter's
Week 10: @ St. Paulus
Week 11: vs. Delino State
------------
Non-conference play
Week 11: @ BYU (SPIT Bowl)
Week 12: vs. Fluff State
Week 13: @ Cavsar

As a wise man named Cunningham (most likely my king Larry) once said, "the best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer." In the pursuit of the reaction instead of the answer, some may call this ragebaiting, a facet of common trolling etiquette that has long since been mastered by the Dhemixian youth. Larry Cunningham's NSCF run somehow combines these into one.

Time and time again, when it seems Craig Kelly's seat must be scalding hot, he supernaturally finds a way to be 8-2 or something of the likes every season. Forgive me if I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but this just defies all logic, understanding, reason, and comprehension. Craig Kelly, a man who is physically incapable of running the ball outside of the red zone because it's "the beta way of playing football", always manages to bumble his way into success.

In ushering in another era of superconferences without divisions that actually make an attempt to be balanced for once in a while, many speculated NSCF 34 would finally be the season where the jig is up and when people finally come to see Craig Kelly for what the Dhemixian public has always seen him as: an abysmal head coach. You may be asking, "Why would season 6 of Kelly's reign of terror finally expose him as a fraud? Shouldn't this be cementing him as legit considering he's survived this long?" Great question; the answer's complicated.

The entirety of NSCF for some time now has chalked up all of the Possession Philanthropist's success up to this point, especially his masterclass undefeated conference season last time around, to a combination of three factors: getting carried by a generational QB, a Ricky Rat conference schedule softer than Iarocav's hands somehow, and solely depending on momentum as motivation just waiting to be destroyed with a loss. The reason this season was penned as the fated "collapse year" was a chain reaction of these causes, beginning with conference realignment.

Over the NSCF 33 offseason, the format was altered back to remove divisions with 10-team conferences and 11-week regular seasons. The biggest changes of this realignment came in the schools that were moved following the Zephyr's impending combustion as the diet fraudference it was. The Grand Exultians migrated from the Horizon to the Celestia, Ranoria, Drawkland, Cardenao, and Chromatika added a third school into their respective conferences, and the biggest one by far, the Vanorians emergency ejecting from the sinking ship that was the Zephyr straight into the Mineral.

As many casuals came to realize, Mar Sara and Raynor are actual football schools, and that drastically shifted the balance of power in the conference away from the Jays and towards parity. This was the point in which the Mineral transitioned out of being a weak conference, and where Craig Kelly boon #1 was removed. It was only logical, then, to believe that getting carried was next on the chopping block, considering how Larry CunningHIM hadn't experienced losing a Mineral game yet. Both Raynor and Mar Sara were seen as guaranteed losses for UC-Prairie with a sophomore QB catching the snaps, which would surely kill his confidence and remove Craig Kelly boon #2. Then, in a chain reaction with Larry Cunningham losing momentum, the whole team would lose momentum and wholly shatter to get crushed, finish 5-5, and remove Craig Kelly boon #3.

In the haters' (and rational thinkers') minds, this is a formula to utterly destroy Craig Kelly and all that he's built with the Blue Jays. It's fair to believe that too, considering all that the Possession Philanthropist had done up to that point, and how he didn't look like stopping that any time soon. Like clockwork, UC-Prairie lost at Raynor because they're not used to strong conference opponents and thoroughly flamed out the next game to kill the season.

Except, they actually ended up beating the Raiders at home by a wide margin... and then actually won a game pretty handily after losing to Raynor. What UCP haters of NSCF's past failed to take into account was that Larry Cunningham is him, he emanates aura at all times, and has too much aura to do such a feeble thing as collapse midseason. Unfortunately for those unlucky enough to have predicted UCP's demise this season, they're 5-1 in second place of the Mineral, and Cunningham is still shotgunning beers in gas station parking lots at 3 in the morning.

That's Cunningham's real law: the best way to grow as a player isn't to continue succeeding, it's to taste failure and pick up the pieces from that point. And also something about aura, mustaches, beer, and parking lots, I guess.

by **Ranoria** » Sun Oct 12, 2025 7:40 pm

"The Last To Die:"
Landon Rayne Stakes Richardson's Claim As The NSCF's Championship Favorite, Plants The Flag In LeBois

Alex Eisenberg after recording his third quarterback takedown in Richardson's sack of the Blue Bowl

The flex schedulers knew what they were doing shuffling around to put Richardson’s trip to LeBois into the evening slot. Loyola-Istria took a bow, and it left the Governors and Broncos as the last two undefeated teams in the NSCF as week 7 came to a close. Here’s the problem - despite LeBois Santura winning a bunch of football games, their offense still hadn't been informed the season was starting. Their 5-0 start was somehow achieved despite scoring a meager 75 points behind quarterback Delbin Kasekende III. A guy who was supposed to be a star, with big wideout Denario Southward out wide as his top option.

But here was his chance. With the undefeated, hyper-offensive Governors in town, DK3 had a chance to rewrite the narrative this season. Even in a loss, the amount of possessions they'd get should give him every opportunity to score and rack up numbers and highlights alike. The Richardson defense was tough - but they had vulnerabilities. And with a Blue Bowl flooded with fans and a defense that had conceded just 37 points so far - they had a shot.

For the record, that lasted all of two drives. DK3 came out fearless as always, ready to push the ball hard down the field. The crowd was at his back, his team was behind him. His coach believed in him. So when he took the snap and saw the interior defensive line pushing the pocket, no problem. He started to roll out, then bang. The ball came out, and DK3 was lucky enough to land right on top of it, buried under defensive end Alexander Eisenberg.

The crowd wasn't swayed, not when DK3 was sacked, and not when he tried to force the ball to Denario Southward only for Landon Rayne bat the pass into the air, juggle it around a bit, and finally secure it just after Southward tried to bat it away.

Rayne avoided one tackle, tip-toeing comically along the sideline as he got his balance, and ran that thing straight back for a touchdown. The Governors immedietely took a 7-0 lead, and unfortunately for the Broncos, things didn't get any better. Ezekiel Cameron ended their next drive on a sack, and that's when the Dex Banka show started. Richardson's superstar quarterback doesn't like playing in the fourth quarter, you see. And today, he had no intention of doing that. Every time he dropped back, he was locked in, the stadium noise only seeming to fuel the junior passer and reigning Big 8 MVP as he connected on his first 12 pass attempts and racked up over two hundred passing yards in the process. Rio Good and Chad McOxley looked like all-world caliber receivers catching balls while Jack Archer and Vincent Hwang-Dalbec ran wild when they got the ball, combining for twenty four carries on the day.

It took the end of the first quarter to kill the forty two thousand plus strong crowd's enthusiasm. Already down 21-0, Banka only made it worse, ending the game with four touchdown passes and well over four hundred passing yards as the Governors scored seemingly at will on a team that was slotted in as the Big 8 favorite before the season. It was so bad that not only was Banka benched - as usual - prior to the fourth quarter - but as the stands emptied in the fourth, Richardson's final couple of field goals pushed the blowout so hard that the Broncos - at 5-1 - had a point differential of just one.

"We had this one circled," said superstar cornerback Landon Rayne, "We're the last to die. There's a target on our backs, and that's just the way we want it. I want the best these guys got."

The stars of this team seem to be aligned - they thrive on competition, rise to it. And when they got a team that, offensive woes or no, looked like one of the best in the tournament, they played their most complete game. Dex Banka had what may have been a career performance given the competition, Alexander Eisenberg's trio of sacks led a team total of six, and the team managed to pick off a star quarterback twice in the blowout. But we've seen juggernauts and fraudulent alike fall in this competition - are the Governors the real deal? Between this win, and the sweep of the Ranorian round robin - a group of teams that haven't lost to any non-Ranorian teams to this point - they are indisputably the favorite to win the whole thing at this point.

Quick Notes:

- A Chloe Dalla touchdown pass to freshman wideout Ignace Rouse-Juruni gave Cold Hill the lead against the Auraterran Naval Academy, and a Derek Boss interception sealed it
- University of Dietrich outlasts Raukieff, but the 0-7 Pilgrims once again takes a Ranorian team to the brink. In the end, it was a 41-combined-carry performance from Sammy Fontaine, Derrick Dareaus, and Mike Santana that wore down the opposition to clear the way for a Ryan Moore touchdown catch to win it.

by **Valanora** » Sun Oct 12, 2025 8:47 pm

Who is Sidney Jones? The sophmore starting quarterback for the Rockets of Raynor University is something of an enigma, as few people know who the Chromatik really is even if they are die hard fans of the team. A five ten, one ninety five pound scrambling quarterback who is tossing around the rock in the past few weeks like a seasoned veteran sure, she has thrown for three hundred plus yards in four of the first seven games, and has guided the offense to back to back weeks of posting at least fifty points. While she might be the driving force behind the most vaunted offense in all of the Mineral right now, there is not much known about the person behind all the numbers that are being put up. That does not come as a huge surprise to those who are in the know, as much like most Vanorians, Chromatiks are known for being quite professional in how they handle themselves and are not known for being flashy or super expressive with their personalities. Hard working and polite are the apparent watchwords of Chromatiks and much like those from the Empire, can make them a bit of an enigma for the fans of the teams or players.

Maintaining an extremely high grade point average during primary school, she has shown quite the high level of intellect and the way she composes herself on the field also shows a lot of maturity. She was not recruited with the idea of playing in the first season she was on campus, she was supposed to be the understudy to Ella Solberg last season and redshirt, with the view of competing for the starting job this season but likely not coming into the full possession of the number one job until next season. While the coaches believed she had a high ceiling, they did not want to put the pressure on her from the first day of campus that comes with being the quarterback for the Rockets, especially when the previous quarterback was Odin Sorbo who was perhaps the best quarterback to ever suit up for Rayor in their history. Yet after the Rockets struggled for the first few weeks to start last season, losing two of the first four games of conference play, Jones was given the job and asked to guide the team back to the promised land, which she then did. Getting the Rockets into the playoffs and then winning an away game in the first round was a feather in her cap and showed she had the mental and emotional maturity to handle the most scrutinized position at one of the most scrutinized teams in the NSCF.

While those in Chromatika described her as not being the most mobile quarterback, she has learned to scramble here in the Empire, as the Rockets pass happy attack has a lot of plays with long developing plays and require a quarterback able to extend the play and still deliver a strong, accurate throw. That is all within her purview and while no one will ever confuse her for Solberg who was a run first quarterback, she has been able to add a few wrinkles to her game that has allowed her to continue and grow into her first full season as the starter. She shows a level of humility as well as grit in allowing herself to be coached up by the staff, letting them help guide her to be a better player. That is the sort of humility that you want from your best players, from the players whom you want to be leading the team and able to rally them when the going gets tough. While still an underclassman, it is clear that the offense around her believes in her abilities and responds to her leadership, perhaps showing that she might be a natural born leader and fell into a perfect position her with the Rockets to blossom fully into the role.

What's the most important thing to know about Sidney Jones though? Well if you ask her coaches, it is her never say die attitude, she believes that no game is truly lost until the final blow of the whistle from the referees and will keep pushing to get the job done until she no longer can. For fans of football, it probably is a bit reminiscent of the way that those with the national team speak of Laborious Hawk and some of the other high profile players who are able to contribute at a high level for a prolonged period of time. Excellent athletes and individuals seem to carry that trait of always looking for the way to find a path to victory and that is something Jones seems to possess in great abundance. As the schedule continues to get more and more difficult for her and the rest of the Rockets, it is that sort of attribute that will hopefully allow them to overcome all the obstacles that will try to stop them from reaching their goals. While the goals of a team like the Rockets are quite lofty, the team will always be aiming for that moon because even if they miss they will be among the stars, right there with their hard working, driven quarterback leading the way.

The path ahead of the Rockets is tough and knowing they still have their bye coming up before the Battle for the Royal Sabre, which will be in Mar Sara and is shaping up to potentially be a conference title game decider, they know the path ahead will not be easy. With Jones at the helm and having seemingly hit that midseason form that seemed to elude her and the rest of the team during the final stretches of the season last go around, there is a hard won belief that the Rockets are up to the task. They have been growing in strength since that week two loss and are only seemingly getting better week after week, letting the strength of this new forged Mineral mold them into a sharper, better version of themselves. While the likes of UCP, Tech, Prince Pieter's, and St. Paulus all eagerly await with gaping maws and outstreched claws at the first sign of weakness from the Rockets, the team instead is honing their blades and striking back with everything they have behind a leader who has been forged through adversity both at the primary school level and in her first season and a half at the NSCF level. Targets have been set and the Rockets are ready to fire.

by **Drawkland** » Sun Oct 12, 2025 9:19 pm

Big Eight & Celestia
Week 8

This weekend absolutely evaporated bro what happened

BIG EIGHT
Troptopia institute of Technology (ASE) 20–25 New Cardonia International State (CAD)
Richardson University (RAN) 34–24 Alexandria University (CAD)
Cold Hill University (RAN) 17–3 LeBois Santura University (CAD)
University of Dietrich (RAN) 30–7 Auraterran Naval Academy (EQA)
Vikramdayu University (VAI) 22–17 University of Raukieff (TMN)

   BIG EIGHT                                 Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD
 1 Richardson University (RAN)                 7    7   0   271  152 +119
 2 Cold Hill University (RAN)                  7    6   1   148   94  +54
 3 University of Dietrich (RAN)                7    5   2   157   93  +64
 4 LeBois Santura University (CAD)             7    5   2    88  101  −13
 5 Alexandria University (CAD)                 7    4   3   193  104  +89
 6 Vikramdayu University (VAI)                 7    4   3   208  174  +34
 7 New Cardonia International State (CAD)      7    4   3   198  190   +8
 8 Bingham Young University (UTA)              7    3   4   161  224  −63
 9 Auraterran Naval Academy (EQA)              8    1   7   128  232 −104
10 Troptopia institute of Technology (ASE)     8    1   7    92  204 −112
11 University of Raukieff (TMN)                8    0   8   152  228  −76

CELESTIA
University of Aberstadt (KAT) 20–0 Kobale University (GEX)
Northern Moravica University (BNJ) 28–0 Université St. Croix (QUE)
University of Loyola-Istria (BNJ) 70–33 Université du Saguenay (QUE)
Islamic University of Busoga (BUS) 30–16 University of West Java (RIA)
Institute of Sport Mediro Dholeman (WAL) 17–37 Technical University of Holland (BAT)

   CELESTIA                                  Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD
 1 University of Loyola-Istria (BNJ)           7    6   1   220  104 +116
 2 University of Aberstadt (KAT)               8    6   2   123   61  +62
 3 Université St. Croix (QUE)                  7    5   2   132  109  +23
 4 Technical University of Holland (BAT)       8    5   3   195  184  +11
 5 Lithrelir University (GEX)                  7    4   3   166  143  +23
 6 Northern Moravica University (BNJ)          7    4   3   152   98  +54
 7 Kobale University (GEX)                     7    4   3   125  119   +6
 8 Islamic University of Busoga (BUS)          7    3   4   119  102  +17
 9 Université du Saguenay (QUE)                7    2   5   155  186  −31
10 University of West Java (RIA)               8    1   7    86  200 −114
11 Institute of Sport Mediro Dholeman (WAL)    7    0   7    61  228 −167

by **Quebec and Shingoryeo** » Sun Oct 12, 2025 10:23 pm

Mineral Conference - Week 8

Cutoff.

Raynor University (VAL) 41–10 Uniwersytet Nowa Kalanianska (UNC)
Trent State University (TJU) 23–0 Université nationale de Saint-Jean-Jacques-sur-Mer (UNC)
Green City University (TJU) 16–27 University of Columbus-Prairie (DHE)
Prince Pieter's College (ROT) 46–34 Fusa College (AMN)
St. Paulus College (ROT) 34–21 Delino State University (TRA)

 #                                                           Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD 
 1 Raynor University                                           8    7   1   298  187 +111
 2 University of Columbus-Prairie                              7    6   1   248  160  +88
 3 Mar Sara Tech                                               7    5   2   191  146  +45
 4 Prince Pieter's College                                     7    5   2   221  165  +56
 5 St. Paulus College                                          7    5   2   150  146   +4
 6 Trent State University                                      7    4   3   182  138  +44
 7 Green City University                                       7    3   4   174  130  +44
 8 Université nationale de Saint-Jean-Jacques-sur-Mer          7    3   4   176  206  −30
 9 Uniwersytet Nowa Kalanianska                                7    2   5   183  191   −8
10 Fusa College                                                8    0   8   165  320 −155
11 Delino State University                                     8    0   8   122  321 −199

by **Chromatika** » Mon Oct 13, 2025 8:00 pm

Part 1: Predictions
Part 2: Blue Conference

Chromatik High School Gridiron - Season Sixteen, Part 3: Green Conference

Season 1 Champions: Central Heights High School (MVP: QB Harold Jieter)
Season 2 Champions: East Omnio High School (MVP: WR Alessandro Mio)
Season 3 Champions: Mt. Niar High School (MVP: QB Sarai Gwenderyn)
Season 4 Champions: Mt. Niar High School (MVP: QB Sarai Gwenderyn)
Season 5 Champions: Flames of the Revolution High School (MVP: RB Nyata Antonucci)
Season 6 Champions: Staramara Tech High School (MVP: Edge Nicole Manstrom)
Season 7 Champions: Franscesca Larriet-Cortes High School (MVP: QB Liara Anderson)
Season 8 Champions: Vitoron School of Charge (MVP: QB Anne-Maurice Vivayavich)
Season 9 Champions: Myana Northwestern High School (MVP: QB Nicole Estera)
Season 10 Champions: Myana Northwestern High School (MVP: CB Lisa Bonsoon)
Season 11 Champions: The Chromatik Institute (MVP: QB Raul Sébastien Santos)
Season 12 Champions: Mt. Niar High School (MVP: QB Dante Flowers)
Season 13 Champions: Staramara Tech High School (MVP: OLB Freya Odinsdóttir)
Season 14 Champions: Staramara Tech High School (MVP: QB Amy Skylar)
Season 15 Champions: Lanar High School (MVP: Kenneth Jordean-Johnson III

Predicted Green Conference Finish:
1. City of Lorentine High School Wizards
2. J. H. Yadasky High School Heroes
3. Gurshan High School Drills
4. Umbar Hills High School Grizzlies
5. East Omnio High School Geomancers
6. Chromatik Army High School Recruits

Matchday 1
Gurshan High School 18–24 J. H. Yadasky High School
Chromatik Army High School 13–14 City of Lorentine High School
Umbar Hills High School 16–3 East Omnio High School

Pocket passer Lottie Greenhorn shines in the Heroes' win over the Drills, finding Wide Receiver Nicholas Sweetly for two scores and 141 yards on eight grabs; the Grizzlies lean on sixteen tackles from Middle Linebacker Anemoon Klekenbaeld to handle the Geomancers, and in the closest game of the day, Arian Sadow leads a 87 yard drive with three minutes left, finding Freshman Wide Receiver Andrew Somme for a thirteen-yard drag route to win the game with eight seconds remaining.

Matchday 2
J. H. Yadasky High School 30–28 East Omnio High School
City of Lorentine High School 26–7 Umbar Hills High School
Gurshan High School 14–10 Chromatik Army High School

The Wizards' Ariana Sadow continues to shine. Two touchdowns and four field goals were what City of Lorentine scored, and the defense dominated with Outside Linebacker Rocio Baztán getting three sacks and an interception. Gurshan scores their first win behind a pair of scores from Canna Gorlen on the ground, and East Omnio gives the Heroes' a run for their money with four rushing touchdowns from Wena Agher, only upended by Greenhorn finding Sweetly once again with less than three minutes remaining. J. H. Yadasky looks rather sharp.

Matchday 3
Chromatik Army High School 21–17 J. H. Yadasky High School
Umbar Hills High School 3–17 Gurshan High School
East Omnio High School 16–21 City of Lorentine High School

The Wizards continue to roll in this Conference despite East Omnio staying in it for more than three Quarters, Ariana Sadow having another good game; the Drills win a defensive battle away at Umbar, and Chromatik Army finds their first win of their year with Frianca Posse accounting for 244 of their 312 yards on the day, Lottie Greenhorn having three interceptions on the day.

Matchday 4
J. H. Yadasky High School 26–6 City of Lorentine High School
Gurshan High School 7–3 East Omnio High School
Chromatik Army High School 3–31 Umbar Hills High School

It was supposed to be a big game, but the Heroes made mincemeat of the Wizards. Arnout Binnenmars has three sacks on Ariana Sadow, Greenhorn shines with 312 yards and two scores, and it wasn't even close. Gurshan wins a fistfight against the Geomancers in a defensive affair, and the Grizzlies' Running Back Ayla Roghein has three touchdowns on the ground to put away the Recruits.

Matchday 5
Umbar Hills High School 58–13 J. H. Yadasky High School
East Omnio High School 13–3 Chromatik Army High School
City of Lorentine High School 22–6 Gurshan High School

Every team has a bad day, right? J. H. Yadasky commits seven turnovers, four of them directly contributing to scores, and the Grizzlies run over the Conference favorites. East Omnio wins the battle of the bottom feeders as Wena Agher does just enough, and the Wizards get back on track with Sadow putting together three scoring drives.

Matchday 6
J. H. Yadasky High School 17–13 Gurshan High School
City of Lorentine High School 26–21 Chromatik Army High School
East Omnio High School 34–12 Umbar Hills High School

The Heroes return back to norm, edging past the Drills to complete the season sweep; the Wizards' Sadow carries them past the Recruits, and East Omnio puts together their second win in a row, the Grizzlies falling back down to earth.

Matchday 7
East Omnio High School 40–12 J. H. Yadasky High School
Umbar Hills High School 20–6 City of Lorentine High School
Chromatik Army High School 38–14 Gurshan High School

East Omnio is making a run? Their third in a row is over the Heroes, but the Heroes gave the game to them; the Grizzlies' defense shines in forcing four turnovers from Sadow and the Wizards, and the Recruits' win over the Drills takes away any remaining hope of the Drills returning to the Conference Championship Game.

Matchday 8
J. H. Yadasky High School 30–0 Chromatik Army High School
Gurshan High School 23–20 Umbar Hills High School
City of Lorentine High School 28–0 East Omnio High School

Heroes fall off? Not really. This thirty-point shutout over the Recruits returns them to the forefront of the Conference title picture, while the Drills' field goal late puts the Grizzlies in an unenviable situation. The Wizards shut out the Geomancers, too.

Matchday 9
City of Lorentine High School 63–44 J. H. Yadasky High School
East Omnio High School 7–14 Gurshan High School
Umbar Hills High School 30–13 Chromatik Army High School

A hundred and seven points scored, fifteen touchdowns. Over eleven hundred yards of offense. The Wizards finally prevail on Sadow's seventh touchdown through the air. Gurshan defensively dominates East Omnio, and Umbar Hills holds on to hope.

Matchday 10
J. H. Yadasky High School 26–27 Umbar Hills High School
Chromatik Army High School 16–12 East Omnio High School
Gurshan High School 37–18 City of Lorentine High School

The Heroes definitely faded down the line, done in by the Grizzlies' Ayla Roghein scoring a three-yard run with eight seconds remaining. Unfortunately, the Drills beat the top of the table Wizards with Gorlen shining. Chromatik Army wins their third game of the year to end on a high note.

Green Conference                         Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD 
1 City of Lorentine High School           10    7   3   230  190  +40
2 Gurshan High School                     10    6   4   163  162   +1*
3 Umbar Hills High School                 10    6   4   224  164  +60*
4 J. H. Yadasky High School               10    5   5   239  274  −35
5 East Omnio High School                  10    3   7   156  159   −3
6 Chromatik Army High School              10    3   7   138  201  −63

*Gurshan High School ahead of Umbar Hills High School via H2H Result (2-0)

Despite the play of Lottie Greenhorn, the Heroes faded down the stretch. City of Lorentine will be joined by Gurshan High School, a team that swept the head-to-head against the Grizzlies to earn their right. Both Chromatik Army and East Omnio have a lot of work to do, and the Grizzlies' defense will be back, even if they lose their stud in Anemoon Kiekenbeld.

Chromatik Roundup: Cavsar Shocks Lava, Firehawks and Hellcats Roll

For three quarters, the Staramara Tech Lava hung with the defending Champions Cavsar Gladiators. Jair Lleyamana was reading the game well, the defense was hanging tough, and they had a seven point lead.

Then, disaster struck. Lleyamana fumbled the ball at the three yard line, the ball punched out by Ryker Achilles; the Gladiators went on a fourteen-play drive to score, and with their defense taking away the run, the Gladiators were able to get in position to kick the game-winning field goal.

Basically, the Lava held for as long as they could defensively before the pressure put on by Cavsar proved to be too much. It was a testament to just how far this team has come - being one step away from being able to contend with the biggest players. It was nice to see that the running game is a bit susceptible for the rest of the conference; they'll need to be able to complete the game to make the playoffs. Four losses is a lot - usually, if you have more than five, you won't sniff the postseason - and with two games against other Drawkian schools and a game against Silver Coast State College looming, the Lava could be headed for another disastrous season.

If they don't make it, what will they pull? Will Jair be left behind? Will they faire coaches?

A lot of decisions to be made in the future regarding this Lava squad.

Z'ai'ai's offense is truly clicking. Sure, it's only Bitternea International, but to see Holliday find Pomme five times for three more scores on the season shows that the combination is really working. Add in a defense that's feasted on inferior competition, and the Hellcats will now turn to face the biggest trials left - the three Drawkian schools.

They're taller, they're more athletic, and they have a lot of experience playing on the gridiron If the Hellcats have truly taken some strides, it will be proven in the three games left for the Hellcats.

As for the Firehawks, they handled their first loss of the season by taking things seriously and getting back to work. The domination of Sadeg state by 27 points was no small matter. Six field goals were the only reason why the Firehawks didn't score even more than this as they forced four turnovers and Nicolas Berg had three touchdown throws. Pia Solem had a big night with nine catches for 149 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Mountain District held on to their spot as one of the best teams in the Conference.

Have one loss, and have another crack at Cavsar for the title - that will be the goal for Mountain District going forward. Nobody else has more than a loss, and with the games against Drawk Corps and Silver Coast remaining - the only two schools with two losses - the Firehawks can effectively eliminate them from the Conference Championship Game.

The Chromatik schools are 13-8. In comparison, the Drawkian schools are 16-5. There's still work to do if Chromatika is to prove itself to be the class of the Horizon Conference.

by **Quebec and Shingoryeo** » Tue Oct 14, 2025 1:31 am

The Mathletes - Scientific, Literary Venue of Sports Journalism

NSCF-34: Moogoongwha bill to pass a blanket ban on Trojan Horses in all Saguenay university campuses fail, 27-37

Alois Moh

SOUTH BEND, SAGUENAY -- A bill that was proposed to prohibit all forms of trojan horses in the state of Saguenay was defeated at the provincial legislature in South Bend, after a highly contentious vote that involved members of the Moogoongwha caucus exchanging verbal battles with each other.

The Saguenay provincial MLA, D'Artagnan Djornobuah-McBride, introduced a special bill las Friday that would designate all forms of a trojan horse, or lookalike structure, to be brought into the properties of all universities and community colleges in the country, as an act of felony.

The Provincial Protection Act Against Infiltration, introduced by Djornobuah-McBride, follows as a response to the rogue act by a half-dozen Northern Moravica Uniersity students, following the Cougars' victory over the Fighting Irish. The final quarter, which had ended with back-to-back highlight performances from Northern Moravica superstar Horace 'Horny' Horton with a fake field goal reception and then a Hail Mary interception, resulted in the home fans throwing much debris onto the field, specifically targetting Horton.

As a result of this incident, members of the Royal Quebecois Police were dispatched to provide a separation barrier between the crowd and the players, as both teams were subsequently escorted to the locker room. The following hour's incident, which involved a trojan horse coloured to Northern Moravica colours, driven all across the campus for an hour.

According to Djornbuah-McBride's bill, 'No person shall bring or produce a trojan horse to the property of all university and community college properties in the province of Saguenay on all hours. Whoever violates this section is guilty of a felony charge that is to be filed by the Royal Quebecois Police.'

Djornobuah-McBride, a Moogoongwha MP, represents Sangju South, a traditional swing riding in the conservative heartland of the province. A former alumnus of Saguenay's Cavani School of Business, he told The Mathletes that the controversial act, one that had followed a highly-contentious saga, drew his attention.

'It is a must-do, one that we need to act early and earnestly to avoid possible security risk to our university campuses, especially as the foreign interference questions continue to ramp across the country,' Djournobuh-McBride answered to The Mathletes. 'It was only last year when a Quebecois national, no matter his words and actions, was assassinated in a town square by them Tumbran state agents, and those Banijan students' actions, no matter innocuous it may appear, could be translated into something heinous in future time. Safety hazard on home, internationally a risk.'

The bill, however, was defeated 27-37 on the vote yesterday afternoon, as Djornobuah-McBride's wishes were not met. 19 of the 25 members of the Moogoongwha Government voted for the bill, while 3 of 14 Liberal, 2 of the 11 Shinminjeon, one of two Greens, and two independents also came to Premier Carole Marissen's support.

What it led into, however, was a mountain of remarks as the debate floor was immediately met by the other parliamentarians at the floor. Leading the crusades was Alphonse Yi, a maverick Liberal MP who crossed the floor after being expelled from the Moogoongwha caucus following his now-infamous, 'Marissen is a Norvell' remark following the Fighting Irish's loss to St. Croix Bleu et Blanc, 34-37, also at South Bend.

'Mr. speaker, Mr. McBride is an idiot, first and foremost, for thinking that the Fighting Irish would improve their performance by removing the horned devil from Bonneville with a blanket ban,' he said, to a raucous audience. 'We don't need a Shatbolt, someone who looked like he got shot a million times by electric bolts each passing game, to tell us that.

'But what we need is a competent coach, and the best way to start this is by start preparing for transition on the director's end. Dr. Nalen, you have come the long way but it's time that you start letting us look into our future and not the past.'

Similar concerns were raised by Jeanne Yoon, the Leader of the Sagueneen Shinminjeon Alliance, as she raised why Djournobuah-McBride, whose son Tetairoa M. Taumoepeau plays high-level football at the A&M Central High School in College Junction, would raise such proposal.

'Mr. Speaker, I believe that Mr. McBride has taken some bribe from the Touchdown Jesus down the road,' she raised her voice, as a mix of cheers and boos followed. 'I don't know Mr. McBride's relationship with his son, but why is a parent, whose son is playing at the A&M Central of all schools, wanting a ban on this? Mr. Speaker, if we ever wondered about Mr. McBride's corruption as a parliamentarian, this is the living example. This bill is stupid, this bill is nonsensical and this bill reeks of favouritism that Mr. McBride has to address with not only those of the legislature, but to the constituents of Sangju South whom he represents.'

The NSCF President, Solange Viel, was also particularly critical on the proposed legislation, saying that those measures are unrealistic and unnecessary.

'Such a ludicrous piece of legislation has no place in our society, in the year 2072 we live in,' Viel said on a media statement. 'While I appreciate Mr. Djournobuah-McBride's passion for the sport and the Fighting Irish, who have been our longtime institution and representative to the competition, we appreciate even more of the Saguenay Legislature, both from the members of the Government and the Oppositions, to not fall into idiocy.'

As for the comments, neither Northern Moravica coach Hannah McKendry nor Saguenay coach Shatbolt were able to be reached by The Mathletes.

by **Katzeburg** » Tue Oct 14, 2025 4:54 am

"You're letting me go?!"

Chris Andrews had been a long-time professor at the University of Aberstadt, entering academia at the relatively young age of 25. He had been at the university through a number of its largest trials and tribulations over the last three decades - from the chaos caused by the Katzeburgian Revolution to the open-top bus parade which ran through Seecester after one of the university's Alumni was named President; something which ended in relative disaster as the bus driver had one too many beers before kicking off the parade and ended up veering the large paper-mâché float of Ben Kramer into a small pond just south of where Circle Park now stands, leaving a unique sculpture to chaos which would end up standing on campus for close to ten years as it slowly decayed.

His area of expertise was one of rather niche value in the grand scheme of things, overseeing the one and only Bachelor of Stand-Up in the entire country. A great programme which was originally developed in the years after the Revolution and backed by the government as a way to divert Katzeburgian popular culture from comics making the same "what was the deal with ration lines before the Revolution?" jokes in a vain attempt to try and develop some unique Katzeburgian comedic heritage, Chris took over the programme around 15 years ago; moving across from his role in the wider Faculty of Arts to take up the at-the-time prestigious position.

But times changed. And so did the fortunes of degrees, and the Stand-Up degree had definitely seen better days than of late. The course had slowly declined in numbers over the years, going from packed lecture theatres to a couple of guys in a room who were only there to workshop bits for their podcast, but Chris had always seen the potential in the course. With the right type of backing, he could transform the programme into something greater. So when he submitted a request for additional funding earlier in the academic year to Dean Hal Williams and the board, he was hopeful that this could be a way to revitalise the course - expand on what makes them unique in a way to put UoA on the map.

What he wasn't expecting however, was to be called in to discuss the programme's funding and be met with the school's athletic director Ed Matthews.

"Look, I'll lay it onto you straight," Ed said, kicking back in his chair and lifting his hands onto the back of his head. "We're a football school now."

Chris screwed up his face in confusion. "What do you mean? What does that have to do with letting me go?"

"We're a football school now," Ed repeated. "So anything we do has to be in a way to advance the fortunes of our own football team. Nothing more, nothing less. Stand-up just no longer pays the bills. Not that it did in the first place, mind."

"That's ridiculous. You can't just come in and claim we're a football school purely because we've won a few games!"

"You are right there, my friend," Ed said nonchalantly, drumming his fingers against the back of his head. "But the board can. And they've given senior staff full reign to enact this new vision for the school. And it's not just a few games - at the rate we're heading, we could be playing off for a conference championship in a few weeks."

"Oh, so we pick up a couple of lucky wins against Quebecois teams and suddenly we're going full hock of this as a school? What about our long-standing academic traditions and prestige? What about what makes us unique as a university?"

"You seem to be forgetting a couple of wins against Busoga Islands and Grand Exultian schools too there," Ed said which a heavy dose of smugness. "Besides, what makes us unique doesn't really make us money. Maybe people want to be stand up comedians; we don't know. We don't want to know. Frankly, it's probably a student body we could do without."

"So what, I'm simply first off the dock then?" Chris scoffed.

"Somewhat. We're doing evaluations of all academic programmes and where they sit both in terms of money making capacity and potential as well as how it situates itself against our vision of a modern University of Aberstadt."

"But what of my request for additional funding?" Chris said, his voice now wavering as the full weight of what has happening in front of him began to lay on top of him. "My proposal would have turned the programme around and truely reinforce what makes this course and our school unique."

"I wouldn't put too much weight on that funding request," Ed waved away dismissively. "You'll have the funding to see this current crop of...students... through to the end of the year."

Chris pushed himself up and out of his chair in rage. "You can't do this. The student body won't stand for this! Why are you even doing this in the first place? Where is Hal?"

A half-smile tugged at the edge of Ed's face at the mention of the Dean. "Oh, he's here if you want to talk to him. He's just probably not in a fit state to do many of these layoffs, though - he's taking the news about our focus on football pretty hard as well."

"What do you mean?" Chris growled.

"He's in his office across the hall," Ed said, motioning to the door. "Feel free to pop in and have a look."

Chris didn't need another reason. He snapped on his heels and paced towards the door. He knew the Dean would move the cosmos to do right by his school. To do right by what made the University of Aberstadt the University of Aberstadt.

"Dean?" Chris said, bursting through the door into Hal's office, pitch black save for the slim lines of sunshine which pulled through from the closed window blinds. He couldn't see anyone in the room at all, the chair which Hal would normally be seated at left empty. He stopped and listened for a moment and finally, he heard it. A faint sob echoing out from underneath the desk itself. Chris cautiously stepped towards the noise, finally popping his head over the desk to see what lay below.

Tucked away, under the desk in an almost child-like state, was the Dean of the University of Aberstadt. His faced lined with tears, he was slowly waving a plush toy of the University's sporting mascot Corky in the air while singing the school fight song.

"Hey there, Corky Boy... Waddling through the crowd, so f-fancy free..."

Ducks move into Celestia Championship contention with win over Kobolds

The University of Aberstadt has continued its red-hot streak at the NSCF level, extending its winning streak to four games with a shut-out 20-0 win over Kobale University at Circle Park and putting the side into the mix for a potential Celestia Conference Championship Game berth.

The Ducks ran out to an early lead in the first quarter after quarterback Rain Sams snuck over the line himself on a rushing play, before wide receiver Arlen Ferber continued his bright offensive season for the Ducks by keeping off a pair of Kobolds defenders to crash into the endzone and put the Ducks two scores up.

A pair of field goals from senior kicker Harland Marshall secured the victory for the Ducks, who move to a 6-2 record heading into a visit to Grand Exultia to take on Lithrelir University in what could be a championship game eliminator for the Phoenixes should they fail to secure a win.

As has been a running theme throughout the Ducks' debut season at the NSCF level, the defence has been the star of the show - Maurie Troy showing why he is one of the best Katzeburgians to line up in the backline in the sports history with another stellar showing from the Linebacker position, recording six tackles as he sat at the centre of shutting down the Kobolds offensive system.

"Maurie has been by far and away the level-head we need in the centre of the park when the opposing offense is out on the field," Head Coach Geraint Short told media ahead of the side's trip to Grand Exultia. "He has shown real growth throughout his time in the programme and the fact he is now in his senior season leading the line and pushing us to a NSCF-best defensive record is proof enough of the type of team we are building here - one of consistent growth and development."

With three matchdays left in the regular season, the Ducks may have a nervous wait ahead of them to see if they will still be in for a Celestia Conference Championship Game spot after their clash with Lithrelier University - with the Ducks pencilled in for the bye on the penultimate matchday.

But for Short, the fact the team is still in the mix heading into the back end of the regular season is achievement enough. "Given this was our first season at this level, we were expecting a bit of an unknown season performance-wise," Short said. "But it's fair to say that how we are travelling heading into our last couple of games has been well beyond expectations to date - just securing a winning conference record is a huge achievement for this programme and really puts us in a good stead for the long-term future of the programme."

Rumours have surrounded the programme in recent weeks that the University is considering a full-scale expansion of Ducks football, including the construction of a new stadium on the southern side of Seecester - which would place the new-look Ducks ground among the largest sporting stadiums in the country; a massive affirmation as to the University's confidence the Ducks will continue to perform at this level going forward.

Short, however, would refuse to go into details at the team's media call on campus. "I don't know much about our future plans as of yet," he told media. "I've had plenty of good conversations with our athletic director about what we want to be prioritising as a programme and university going forward, and I'm committed to helping the side achieve that at this level. We're doing so well in our debut season, the challenge now is to keep that pressure up over a longer term and try and embed ourselves as a leading programme in the competition - but that's often eaiser said than done."

Katzeburgian bookmakers have put the Ducks and Phoenixes on roughly even odds ahead of their Matchday Nine clash in Grand Exultia - with a win for the Ducks putting them in with a strong shout of a top three finish in the Celestia Conference ahead of their final matchday clash with Banjian side Northern Moravica University - who themselves may be looking for a late charge into contention themselves.

by **Banija** » Tue Oct 14, 2025 8:22 am

NMU earns first shutout of the season as they cruise to victory over the Bleu et Blanc at Mugisha II Memorial Stadium

HERZEGOVINA CITY, MORAVICA- Northern Moravica had a slow start to the season, starting 1-3, including an opening day loss, at home, to their biggest rivals in Loyola-Istria. Sometimes, it takes time to figure things out- and NMU are insisting that they have. "Getting off to a flying start in a new format, sometimes, isn't in the card for your squad." Hannah McKendry, the NMU head coach, told the media after the game. "But it shows our mental toughness to adjust back, and get the season back on track. The season isn't two games long, and we fixed our issues on both sides of the football. We now have a defense that can get stops, an offense that dominates teams physically, and it's showing in results- it's no accident that this is our 3rd win in a row."

No accident, indeed. Just 2 weeks ago, USC were 5-0, on top of the conference alongside Loyola-Istria. Now, their conference title hopes are in peril after a trip to Herzegovina City. They lost at home against Aberstadt ,and then the NMU defense put on a show here, stealing the spotlight in a 28-0 shutout victory over the Bleu et Blanc, in a game where they forced 4 turnovers. "We've got talented guys across this defense- they're getting a lot of attention elsewhere, but quietly we've got quite a talented set of players on defense for us as well." The head coach said. "It was like a perfect storm- quality gameplan, rock solid execution, players and coaches, locked in and in sync. Consistency from minute one to minute 60- it's a performance that we'll need to replicate a few times, I'm sure, as we make a playoff push."

The defensive numbers were impressive. Obviously, 0 points, and 4 turnovers, are the gaudy stats. They allowed only 195 yards of total offense from USC, including just 54 on the ground- absolutely dominating at the point of attack. They also had 4 sacks, and a pressure rate of 48%- they were getting into the backfield seemingly at will all night long, just disrupting the offense and not allowing it to operate. With their star player on offense suspended for the opening quarter for punting a football into the Saguenay student section last week, everybody knew NMU would need the D to step up, avoid a shootout- and they did just that. Elite on both sides of the football, it makes them 2-0 against the Quebecois schools this season.

The road gets no easier from here. NMU's next 5 opponents all currently have winning records, especially their next two- the Grand Exultian schools. Both of those schools sit right next to NMU in the standings, at 4-3, a packed middle of the conference. "A great chance to separate ourselves from the rest of the middle of the pack- and add some quality wins to the resume." Said Amy Skylar, the team's starting quarterback. Following that, is a looming huge game against Aberstadt to end the conference season- the Katzeburg school that could very well be playing for a Celestia Conference championship when NMU come to visit. While the road is tough, the path is there for the Cougars- assuming they keep winning.

Media Watch: Banijan TV broadcasters flex Week 11 contest between NMU and Aberstadt from noon kickoff to primetime

HERZEGOVINA CITY, MORAVICA- When the Banijan NSCF TV deals were renewed for NSCF 34-40, they had gotten something that they had asked for, for a long time- the ability, with the consent of all involved, to request up to two games a season be flexed out of their original time slots- pending the approval of all stakeholders. They have used both of theirs for Loyola-Istria- flexing the school's upset loss to West Java to Noon, from 3:30, and working with all involved to flex their week 10 home game, against Kobale University, to 4 PM.

Matong Sports has confirmed that, after discussion with Katezburgian broadcasters, University of Aberstadt officials, NMU officials, and both officials from the conference and NSCF, NMU's kickoff against the University of Aberstadt, in Week 11, will be moved from 4 PM to 8 PM. "Aberstadt has had a pretty strong domestic season, and it is going to be an important game for both teams, basically no matter what." Said the Matong Sports Executive Vice President for College Football broadcasting. "NMU is having a strong stretch, and it could be a critical game in the race for a conference championship- so putting that game at night, locally, seems to make sense. And even if no conference title hopes are at stake, it'll be a huge game, to see which of these two teams can get a big resume bumping win, before the cutthroatness of non-conference play begins. Playoffs are a legitimate hope for both teams, so we want this game to be amplified."

NMU's Athletic Director, Po Kabuye, denied rumors that NMU requested the game be played in a 'much larger stadium in Katzeburg', as opposed to the school's smaller, on-campus stadium. He said, emphatically, that he would never disrespect his opponent like that- although numerous sources said that NMU was pushing for exactly that, to allow for more traveling fans, and to have a big game atmosphere. "NMU would never allow a conference home game to be moved off campus, and we wouldn't ask that of our opponents, either."

Matong Sports has used their flex- Banijan public television has also put out that they will not request to flex any NMU home games, so the opportunity for a second flex spot for NMU football will not be used this season.

Leslie Allin, standing with his father after the conclusion of the Loyola v. Saguenay football game

Leslie Allin was standing on the field, at the Istria Lightning Yard, smiling with his father. How could he not be? His line was absolutely ridiculous for the day- 27-31, 393 yards, and 5 touchdowns- 5! And that was all through just three quarters of play, as the Blue Thunder did basically whatever they wanted against a Saguenay team whose season seems to be cratering quickly. "What a recovery." His Dad said to him, laughing. His Dad, of course, was a Saguenay alumnus- but of course he was out here rooting for his son. You couldn't quite split family like that- he loved Saguenay, but he loved his son. And Leslie Allin was pretty damn popular in Saguenay, as well- most fans of the Fighting Irish are mad at their coach for overlooking the hometown legacy in recruiting.

"Still can't believe we lost to West Java." Leslie told his Dad. The stunning loss had nearly rocked the program- a 5-0 Loyola team losing to an 0-6 West Java team on the road? They had been accused of looking ahead to their opponent, and for Allin, it was unfortunately correct. He had grown up rooting for Saguenay, and going to Saguenay games with his Dad- it did rub him the wrong way that Saguenay had never made him a scholarship offer in high school. Next season, he'd have his chance on revenge in South Bend, but leading his team to 70 points? Well, you couldn't do better than that. The West Java game had been a disaster- Allin had thrown 3 interceptions, and completed just 51% of his passes, on a day where they could do nothing right.

"Well, look- you're back on track." His Dad told him. "Still in first place in the conference, yes?"

"Yup. 6-1." Leslie told him. "We've got three games left- and we're going to USC next week."

"I'll be there, with your mother." His Dad told him. "You know how we feel about USC. But they're gonna be pissed off, and angry. They are still contenders, and are gonna be pissed off that they just got shutout. Think you can handle them?"

"Dad, I grew up hating USC." Leslie reminded him. "Taught by you. And while it's a tough road trip, if we win, we're really in the driver's seat to win this conference. We can't let that opportunity slip away- the automatic playoff berth that comes with it is mighty valuable. I don't want my fate to left up to the damn committee."

"That's what I want to hear, son." His Dad said, clapping his back. "Hell of a game. And that mentality- winner's mentality. My only thing for you today- you've gotta work on the tush push." They both laughed. Loyola had run a tush push on 4th & goal from the 1 on the opening drive, and he had failed. "You've got to get behind the guard- not go straight at the center. You didn't allow them to push."

"Man, we scored 56- can't you be happy for once?" Leslie said, laughing. "Nah, you're right- I'm sure that's the first thing Coach Zervos is gonna say in film on Monday."

"That's why I entrusted your development to him." Leslie's Dad said, smiling. "Now go- celebrate with your teammates." Leslie went back into the locker room. 70 points, 600 yards of total offense, 8 offensive touchdowns- just an absolutely blistering day for this offense. Their first goal of the season was accomplished weeks ago- beat NMU. Their second goal, win the Celestia, was in front of them- and Leslie Allin was confident that his right arm could lead them there.

by **Drawkland** » Tue Oct 14, 2025 11:13 am

"The Night Flight"

Brooklyn Beck wanted that feeling in the outfield of Williams Ballpark to last forever. Mobbed by her Skyhawk teammates, adrenaline still running full bore through her veins, half the crowd on their feet, it was pure beauty. That feeling couldn’t stay, but Brooklyn still held a huge grin on her face throughout the trophy presentation ceremony and the afterparty in the clubhouse at Dellaburg. Sadeg State had won a championship, and Brooklyn was the one who made it happen. Not to diminish the contributions of her teammates and friends, but Brooklyn delivered the final blow when it mattered most.

The ecstasy soon mellowed into a subtle glow of satisfaction that lasted through Brooklyn’s last few weeks of the spring semester. Besides a few presentations and exams, her college education was finished. She’d cruised through the preparation and figured short of complete bombs across the board, she would pass and complete her degree without issue. C’s get degrees, and all that.

There was one day in the dead week between the last meaningful day of class and finals week where Brooklyn had nothing going on. Her presentations were complete and rehearsed enough to be functional. She’d studied enough for her exams and didn’t want to risk overworking herself. She considered going to work out at the athletic training center, perhaps hitting the batting cage, until she realized the latter wasn’t really necessary either. It would be better to work out with football in mind. After all, the NSCF season was right around the corner.

“The NSCF,” Brooklyn murmured to herself. In an instant, all the wondering and worrying about her final NSCF season roared back. Baseball season had successfully shoved it into a closet in the back of her mind, but it all came pouring out. There was awkwardness with the Sadeg State team because of how the DOCA season ended, and the state of that roster in general. There were the strange suggestions by Scott Linhart that the QB position at Cavsar could be available. There was the very real possibility that this would be the last time Brooklyn ever played real football.

Whatever the case, Brooklyn started off to the training center to work out. Maybe as her mind wandered, the answer would come to her. She couldn’t believe that she was legitimately considering sneaking off to Cavsar for this last NSCF season. Of course, if you asked high school underclassman Brooklyn if she’d consider committing to Cavsar she would’ve said ‘never in a million years!’ And yet, Brooklyn was almost a coin flip away from going there straight out of high school.

Maybe she could’ve seen this coming. Controversy was going to be inescapable for Brooklyn on the gridiron just because she was born a woman. Still, it never felt like she was fully accepted at Sadeg State. Half the fanbase thought it was ridiculous that she received a football scholarship in the first place. Her NSCAA participation was ridiculed by many, her getting starts over Jimmy Chapman in the NSCF was hugely divisive (to say nothing of Chapman running out of town). Many people inside and outside of Sadeg figured she was the nepo baby to end all nepo babies. None felt that sentiment more than her own athletic director, Donnie Hollis.

If there was anybody that didn’t want Brooklyn taking snaps for the Skyhawks, it was Donnie Hollis. It wasn’t really Brooklyn’s fault. Her own father essentially forced Hollis’s hand to let Brand Manlio recruit her for football. She wouldn’t expect anyone to like her under those circumstances. Still, she felt that she was treated unfairly. She tried her best. She worked hard, probably harder than anyone else in the Sadeg State athletic department had worked in a long time given her multi-sport commitments. It was obvious that it wouldn’t be enough to repair that bridge. The bridge arguably hadn’t even made it off the blueprints in the first place.

Brooklyn pondered all these things as she sat between reps in the mostly-empty weight room. Why had she chosen Sadeg State all those years ago? The obvious expectations of everyone (including herself) to follow the footsteps of her parents was the biggest factor, but that alone wasn’t enough to tip the scales. She thought back to the epiphany she had during the senior night game at North Craggold high school. Winning the game, bringing the fans of Sadeg to their feet, it just felt right. She knew those fans adored her, and she wanted to make them happy as much as she did herself. She felt like staying in Sadeg would’ve retained a lot of that good will from the people of Sadeg.

And yet, since the moment she set foot on Sadeg State’s campus, it felt like a whole different fanbase. Perhaps that should’ve been obvious for her, but Brooklyn knew that college was going to be more difficult. The expectations and stakes are much higher, especially at a place like SSU. She was just going to have to earn it a little more. In her mind, she did. She made great plays for the football team. She didn’t really fall apart outside of the last NSCF season. She played hard, she put up great numbers, she did things that few DOCA-level quarterbacks could do. Somehow, none of that was enough.

When Brooklyn left the training center to head back to her apartment, the one major question lingered. If she’d chosen Sadeg State for the Sadeg football fans, and the football fans didn’t want her anymore, then what reason did she have to stay?

An hour later, Brooklyn was staring at her phone screen in her living room. Grace Robbins was away working on some group project in another class. The face of a former teammate stared back at her from the contact screen. This call was going to be a little weird, but the business had to be taken care of before anything else could be decided. With a deep breath, Brooklyn punched the call button.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Jules.” Brooklyn said quickly. “Sorry to bother you, I just had a quick question.”

“What’s up?” Julian Gallagher asked, his voice seeming to indicate that he was preoccupied.

“Well, let’s just say that’s nothing official yet,” Brooklyn started. “I’m just trying to figure everything out. But if I was theoretically spending the next couple months in Cavsar …” she paused, wondering if Julian would get the gist.

“Uh huh …” Julian said after a moment.

“I’m just saying it’d be a big pain to be in a hotel all that time. And I doubt any apartments are keen to rent to somebody for just a few months.” Brooklyn set her jaw. “Do you know if there’s any place I could crash for the summer? In theory?”

“I see.” Julian said, a slight chuckle leaking through his voice. “Well, I don’t think my girlfriend would be cool with me housing another woman for weeks on end.”

“Oh, of course, duh.” Brooklyn stuttered. “I, uh, didn’t know about that. I’m sorry, I wouldn’t have asked-”

“It’s not a big deal, B.” Julian laughed, less discreet but it didn’t sound malicious in nature. “I think I know a couple people who might have a spare futon or something. I’ll ask around.”

“I appreciate that,” Brooklyn said earnestly. “But, um, maybe try to be a little discreet about it? Nothing’s set in stone right now. Like I said, trying to figure things out.”

“Yup, uh huh.” Julian clicked his tongue after a beat. “Okay B, I’m a little busy right now, but I’ll get back to you at some point.”

“Yeah, it’s finals week, I get it,” Brooklyn replied. “Thanks, Jules.”

“No prob.”

Brooklyn dropped the phone from her face and let it thump down on the couch. That could’ve gone worse. She really didn’t know that Julian had a girlfriend now. It wasn’t that much of a surprise. He was his own person, living in Cavsar for years now, and clearly a high-profile player nowadays. The high school group chats had been getting drier and drier over the years, so it’s not like he was withholding that information intentionally. In any case, she had no time to think about that or think about thinking about that.

The call was also a covert attempt to gauge Julian’s reaction to her possible transfer. He didn’t seem opposed to the idea, nor surprised by its existence. Perhaps he and Coach Linhart had already discussed this eventuality. Maybe they were in on the plan together, or at least Linhart was bouncing the idea off him. In any case, Julian had a very easy opportunity to shoot Brooklyn down during that phone call, and he didn’t. He was willing to facilitate it. That tacit acceptance of trying to find a place for her to stay meant that he wasn’t opposed to the idea in the first place.

Maybe it was crazy for Brooklyn to uproot everything in the space of two weeks. But risk taking was part of her DNA. It was how she played the game. She’d gotten what she wanted from Sadeg State: a chance to play football and a championship. It was unfortunate that she didn’t get both on the gridiron, or anything as far as the NSCF was concerned, but she accomplished something. She wouldn’t be leaving Sadeg empty-handed. If she was already hated or derided by so many fans, how could an insane move like this make things any worse?

After a little more time to think, Brooklyn once again stared at the phone number on her phone screen, finger hovering over the call button. She’d only called this number a few times before, and this might’ve been the first time she didn’t have to whisper to keep her parents from overhearing. Another deep breath, another poke of the thumb, another tense wait with the dial tone.

“Scott Linhart speaking.”

“Hey, Coach Linhart.” Brooklyn slowly let out her breath. “I’m in.”

Finals week was finally over. Brooklyn breezed through her finals, finding time to pack her bags throughout the week. She’d be living out of a couple suitcases for the next threeish months, so it was a bit more of an ordeal than packing for a typical trip. Her career with Sadeg State was over. Beyond the graduation ceremony happening in a week, she was officially free.

“Are you going on a vacation or something?” Grace asked when she saw Brooklyn pull one of her finished suitcases into the apartment hallway. “Doesn’t NSCF training camp start on Monday?”

“Uh, yeah.” Brooklyn said as nonchalantly as she could manage. “I’m not going too far. Just a quick weekend thing, leaving tonight.”

“That’s a pretty big bag for just spending a night or two,” Grace narrowed her eyes.

“Oh, it’s a whole thing,” Brooklyn waved her hand dismissively. “I’m just trying to get out the door in time at this point. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.”

“Okey,” Grace shrugged and returned to her room. This wasn’t even cracking the top five for weirdest things Brooklyn had done.

Brooklyn quickly ducked back into her bedroom to finish packing her other bag. Grace obviously wasn’t buying her excuse, but it didn’t matter. The only person outside of Cavsar that knew what Brooklyn was doing was her mother, who she begged to keep secret until it was public knowledge. That was just in case of some unforeseen emergency. Everybody else in Sadeg had to be kept in the dark. If that news spread while she was still in town, there’d be way too many opportunities for disaster.

Less than an hour later, Brooklyn was jamming down the Sadeg highways in her Plexen B30, trunk and passenger seat full of bags. Sadeg’s main airport had a couple direct flights to Cavsar per week, but they were rarely at good hours. This one was a borderline redeye, but that was all the better for Brooklyn’s purposes. The sun sank low in the valley, disappearing under the horizon just as Brooklyn pulled into the long-term parking lot.

She timed it perfectly. Once she’d checked her bags, gotten through security, and wandered through the concourse, she arrived at the gate just two minutes before departure time. With a nondescript Base Corps ballcap on her head and no identifying logos on her clothes, the chances of her being recognized were slim to none. Thankfully the agent at the gate wasn’t a football fan, because he didn’t blink twice when BECK, BROOKLYN E. popped up on her ticket scan.

Somehow, this normally mundane process of getting settled on the plane filled Brooklyn with as much anxiety as she felt standing on the sidelines ahead of a fourth quarter drive. It defied all logic and reason. Nobody outside of Cavsar or her mother knew about this. Even if they did, what could anybody do about it? It’s not like enraged Skyhawk fans were going to pull her off the plane. Still, she kept her hat bill low and neck pillow tight to obscure her face until the plane was in the air.

Eventually, finally, the plane took off, rising quickly into the air and jetting over the bright sprawl of Sadeg. Brooklyn peeked outside the window, identifying the different parts of town. Craggold. Monument Park. Sadeg State’s campus. Even though she knew she’d be back for graduation in a week, it felt like she was leaving Sadeg behind for good.

She was flying through the night, Cavsar bound. And somehow, it felt right.

(O.O) · by **TJUN-ia** » Tue Oct 14, 2025 11:18 am

The Trent State Feathercaps were 3-3 and that felt deserved...but sometimes, one game is all it takes for moods to change nationwide. Against the UNSJJSM Toucans, the team hoped for a much-needed rebound with the Horseshoe on their side, and they would get that...and then some. Pitching a shutout in a football game does happen, albeit rarely, but to see it happen here? Against a MinCon regular in the Toucans? That seemed unlikely to many...but here it was. A shutout in Conference against a team from Nova Calania. Robin DeMarcus only managed 2 TDs but the real story was a Pick-6 Jérémie Mimeault-Touchette threw to Frederick Samuel-Smith in this 23-0 statement. 4-3 now, with the long trip to Nowa Kalanianska up ahead.

The Green City Royal Eagles we back up to 3-3 after winning back-to-back games, but an emotional Homecoming was always on the cards. Facing the UC-Prairie Blue Jays on this special day was always either going to be the perfect trap or the perfect slip-up spot for GCU...and so it would prove. Defensively, this one was close for a while and Ngimphiwe Cele's 2 TDs kept the hosts in this fight, but Larry Cunningham had only suffered 1 loss for a reason, and he made sure he wouldn't get his 2nd tonight. 27-16 the final, GCU moved down to 3-4 with the Toucans on deck...

TSU SCHEDULE (MINERAL Conference + 3 Non-Conference)
Week 1: BYE
Week 2: vs Green City (TJU) - Earth Trophy XVIX W 33-26 (1-0)
Week 3: @Prince Pieter's College (ROT) L 20-23 (1-1)
Week 4: vs St. Paulus College (ROT) L 3-9 (1-2)
Week 5: @Delino State (TRA) W 33-7 (2-2)
Week 6: vs Fusa College (AMN) W 47-29 (3-2)
Week 7: @Columbus-Prairie (DHE) L 23-44 (3-3)
Week 8: vs UNSJJSM (UNC) - Homecoming W 23-0 (4-3)
Week 9: @Nowa Kalanianska (UNC)
Week 10: vs Mar Sara Tech (VAL) - Senior Day
Week 11: @Raynor (VAL)
Week 12: Conference Championship Week
---------------------Non-Conference---------------------
Week 13: vs Nordhammer (NKR)
Week 14: vs Silver Coast (SAS)
Week 15: @IU Busoga (BUS)

GCU SCHEDULE (MINERAL Conference + 3 Non-Conf)
Week 1: vs Raynor (VAL) L 7-10 (0-1)
Week 2: @Trent State (TJU) - Earth Trophy XVIX L 26-33 (0-2)
Week 3: BYE
Week 4: vs Prince Pieter's College (ROT) W 17-16 (1-2)
Week 5: @St. Paulus College (ROT) L 14-20 (1-3)
Week 6: vs Delino State (TRA) W 58-10 (2-3)
Week 7: @Fusa College (AMN) W 36-14 (3-3)
Week 8: vs Columbus-Prsairie (DHE) - Homecoming L 16-27 (3-4)
Week 9: @UNSJJSM (UNC)
Week 10: vs Nowa Kalanianska (UNC)
Week 11: @Mar Sara Tech (VAL)
Week 12: Conference Championship Week
---------------------Non-Conference---------------------
Week 13: against NCIS (CAD) (to be confirmed)
Week 14: @Cavsar (DRK)
Week 15: vs SU Sinyal (SIN) - Senior Day

by **Valanora** » Tue Oct 14, 2025 11:24 am

Horizon Conference - Week 9

Cutoff.

State University of Sinyal (SIN) 0–24 Silver Coast State College (SAS)
Mountain District University (CMT) 38–23 Drawk Corps University (DRK)
Starmara Tech University (CMT) 29–30 Sadeg State University (DRK)
Z'ai'ai Institute of Technology (CMT) 32–23 Cavsar University (DRK)
University of Nordhammer (NKR) 17–27 Bitternea International University (KYP)

Ps Horizon Conference                        Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD 
 1 Mountain District University                8    7   1   298  169 +129
 2 Cavsar University                           8    6   2   265  188  +77
 3 Silver Coast State College                  8    6   2   219  130  +89
 4 Drawk Corps University                      8    5   3   232  205  +27
 5 Z'ai'ai Institute of Technology             8    5   3   256  177  +79
 6 Sadeg State University                      8    5   3   226  200  +26
 7 Starmara Tech University                    8    3   5   176  172   +4
 8 State University of Sinyal                  9    3   6   195  259  −64
 9 Bitternea International University          9    2   7   130  249 −119
10 University of Nordhammer                    8    2   6   170  244  −74
11 Llangliff University                        8    1   7   188  362 −174

by **Ranoria** » Tue Oct 14, 2025 7:15 pm

@Big8StanUniversity of Dietrich HC Jarett Shepherd claims "milk of the strawbango" to be key in his team's seemingly inexhaustible stamina. The strawbango is a fruit grown only in southern Ranoria, and its juice is known as 'water' to the locals. The Snow Bears are currently unbeaten against teams not from Ranoria so...W? Ironic for the Ranorian national champions to only be losing to Ranorian teams, isn't it?

@KemekoBynes Ya'll are missing out. Get that milk of the strawbango straight from the source, I swear it's got me playing on a different level.#Water #SnowBearsRoar

Cold Hill University - The Tundra
2nd Quarter

Derek ripped off his helmet, panting. "The fuck is wrong with these guys?" He asked his coach as the kick return unit came on to take the kickoff. "It's like their entire gameplan is to get away from me."

"What?" DBs coach Charlie Steel looked up at his star pupil with a raised eyebrow.

"They won't come near me. Nothing over the middle, nothing deep. They even seem like their climbing line is coming at me!"

"Yeah, no shit. What, you pissed off you haven't gotten to the ball?"

Derek sagged down on the bench and gratefully accepted a hot chocolate, "Yeah, I mean they're avoiding me at any cost. It's like they're singling me out"

"Of course they're focusing completely on taking you out of the game!" Derek flinched as his coach yelled at him for the first time in years, "It's because they'll lose if you don't! They're targeting you because you're the only shot they have!" Derek dropped his hot chocolate as Steel grabbed his chestplate and yanked him forward, "They're sending the whole damn team, because you're worth every bum on the rest of this defense combined!"

Derek didn't even notice the uncomfortable stares of his defense, and Steel somehow managed to rip him to his feet, "The more they single you out, the more they admit you!" He emphasized each word now by slugging Derek in the chest, "Are! The! Problem! The minute you falter we'll lose and they know it!"

Derek nodded. It was corny. It was stupid. But damn if his coach saying it didn't make his very breath ignite with passion for the game.

"Now go out there, and I swear to you, if you want a damn championship, you will never lose a rep again!"

Cold Hill University - The Tundra
4th Quarter

Chloe Dalla was having a rough week, alright?

LeBois Santura's defense had just eluded her attempts to understand the things it does. Two of her classmates had dropped out during a four person group project, leaving her to carry the load even more than she already was. She'd accidentally fallen asleep in her locker after practice Wednesday, and missed the Paws for Play event that week, where Fluff State brings in a bunch of puppies from a local shelter for students to play with. And Derek?

Yeah she didn't even want to think of that obtuse idiot. Besides, his BFF from high school was currently her worst nemesis, and she was definitely blaming Derek for it.

But no time for thinking things, Chloe skedaddled out of the pocket as Priest Hunter came through on a stunt and looked to Ignace Rouse-Juruni. The freshman wideout had quickly become her favorite target, but Tito Bird had been tasked with covering the Quebecois receiver. He was doing a damn good job at it, too. Dalla pump faked, unfortunately did not get him to bite, and tried to tuck it and run just for that same Priest Hunter to jump on her back. The ball came out, and she tried to grab it, only to cry out when her hand hit the ground.

The Broncos defense celebrated around her, and she had to do more of a turtle than an elephant style movement to get up, clutching her throwing arm against her chest. Play was of course stopped, but she managed to swivel back to the balls of her feet, wincing as she walked to the sideline. Chloe was panting, trying in vain to keep pressure off the arm as it throbbed, then a shadow completely blocked out the already bleak sunlight of the Tundra. She looked up. Way up.

And there was that infuriating teammate.

"You okay?" He said lamely.

"Figured you could use some more playing time," She moved to punch him in the arm, then squeaked and held onto her arm. "So I uh, fumbled it for you, yeah."

"Chloe." Derek pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Get it back for me?" She asked with the sweetest expression she could manage while he pulled on his helmet. "You do owe me one."

Derek had already been stepping past her, and backpedaled as he made his way onto the field, "For what!?"

Derek waved off Chloe's "For being so oblivious," his eyes already locking in on Delbin Kasekende III. "Watch the boot!" He called out to his defensive line before running back to his spot deep, knowing it was futile - those guys up front barely existed besides Giles. The strong safety adjusted his sleeve, not even bothering to take a stance. He saw DK3 point him out to the offense, as he had all game. It hadn't made much of a difference - the safety bounced on his heels, because he knew, they had no answer for him. A sack, a pick, and several tackles and pass break ups. Derek was a one man army for this defense. And up ten to three, their lead was on his shoulders.

The ball was snapped, and Derek identified the play immedietely. He ran down, completely abandoning his zone and settling into the zone in front of tight end Vittorio Bermuda's route. When DK3 rolled out and looked for his target, he pulled the ball down, and Derek shuffled along, eyes locked on the star quarterback. And the second Kasekande flipped his hips, Derek sprinted. It was just a little dump off to runner Wesley Mack. And Mack's timing couldn't have been worse. He turned to run and took one step before securing the ball, and had no time to react before the blur of Derek's torso flashed through the space where he had been, launching the ball back and sending Mack spinning out of bounds in a heap. Derek was stumbling to recover his balance after the hit, but when DK3 tried to dive on the ball, he had enough stability left to smash his hands into the quarterback's chestplate, knocking him on his ass, and fell down onto the ball inside the LeBois twenty.

Derek got up and raised the ball in the air, his boys rallying around him, and sprinted off to the sideline, only to see Thomas Romeijnsen running out to take over. His eyes scanned the bench, just to see Chloe Dalla out of her pads, arm in a sling. He managed to slow down, and extended the ball, which she gratefully accepted with her undamaged arm.

"Not a bad run for an elephant."

The Final Hurdle:
With Win Over Alexandria, Is Flawless Conference Stage Assured?

Governors DE Terrance Savage during the team's home win vs Alexandria

Nothing's given easily in the Big 8, but after knocking down their Ranorian countrymen, dragging LeBois Santura through the dirt, and now notching a convincing win against the Swordsmen, it's safe to ask - can the Governors escape this new-look format as an undefeated team in the conference slate? New Cardonia State of course still poses a threat, but at 3-4, that road trip doesn't feel nearly as threatening as some Richardson's survived in the past. After that, we've just got the Bingham Young Miners to worry about in a trip to Dietrich Stadium. A Zuercher-less, 3-4 Miners squad, mind you. But that's one that has to have everyone a little wary. Ranorian fans are more familiar than most with the likes of Blake Zuercher and Myles Davis running wild in the RFL, BYU puts out legit pro talent. Their offense has been respectable - clearing twenty points per game - but their defense has been downright atrocious. And against a Banka-led attack that features a pair of elite running backs behind him, that will likely be their undoing.

"We're not taking anything for granted," Dex Banka said after one of his quieter games this season, notching just two touchdown passes in the 34-24 win. "We're playing in the toughest conference in football, and we strive to be the best Governors team we can be every Saturday. New Cardonia is gonna get our best, just like everybody else."

Of course, it's easy to rattle on about the superstar quarterback. Anyone jumping to the two-way star Vincent Hwang-Dalbec or Jack Archer as the key to this team's success is taking a cheap cop out trying to sound like they know ball, even if those two are downright elite. Because despite the point totals, this defense is still one of the NSCF's best.

With Landon Rayne playing truly dominant football on one side and Levi McNair emerging as a high-end starter on the other, Richardson is one of few college football teams that has multiple corners capable of truly playing coverage. Cassius North and of course, Hwang-Dalbec make up a strong linebacker duo, and then the defensive line is downright ferocious. Alexander Eisenberg and Terrance Savage are terrorizing the edges, but that's been the status quo since last season. The emergence of Ezekiel Cameron on the interior? That's been the boost. With South Newlandian Alan James already entrenched as a starter, Cameron has finally come on as a playmaker. He took a couple seasons, including a redshirt year, to pack on the size necessary to play at this level, but the sophomore is an elite run defender and, when he can make plays in the pass rush, opposing teams tend to just collapse.

The team gives up a lot of points, of that there is no doubt - but they're playing a lot of snaps. Their aggressive offense on the other side can go cold or extremely hot, minimizing their breaks. But they do what they need to do - disrupt, take the ball away, and make stops when they're needed the most. Kasen Harrowitz may not have the top-of-the-tournament defense he typically aspires for, but his unit is still a masterpiece. Richardson has won every game they've played this season. They've trailed in the fourth quarter just twice, and they've only had one team come within a score of blemishing their record. You don't do that without a complete football team.

They're the team to beat, they've got a target on their backs, and they wouldn't have it any other way.

by **Drawkland** » Tue Oct 14, 2025 7:27 pm

Big Eight & Celestia
Week 9

This is more of my intended cutoff time for this tournament. Oh, there's only two conference cutoffs after this one? Shocking.

BIG EIGHT
Auraterran Naval Academy (EQA) 20–3 Vikramdayu University (VAI)
LeBois Santura University (CAD) 9–9 University of Dietrich (RAN) (17–16 OT)
Alexandria University (CAD) 10–29 Cold Hill University (RAN)
New Cardonia International State (CAD) 17–27 Richardson University (RAN)
Bingham Young University (UTA) 29–13 Troptopia institute of Technology (ASE)

   BIG EIGHT                                 Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD
 1 Richardson University (RAN)                 8    8   0   298  169 +129
 2 Cold Hill University (RAN)                  8    7   1   177  104  +73
 3 LeBois Santura University (CAD)             8    6   2   105  117  −12
 4 University of Dietrich (RAN)                8    5   3   173  110  +63
 5 Vikramdayu University (VAI)                 8    4   4   211  194  +17
 6 Alexandria University (CAD)                 8    4   4   203  133  +70
 7 New Cardonia International State (CAD)      8    4   4   215  217   −2
 8 Bingham Young University (UTA)              8    4   4   190  237  −47
 9 Auraterran Naval Academy (EQA)              9    2   7   148  235  −87
10 Troptopia institute of Technology (ASE)     9    1   8   105  233 −128
11 University of Raukieff (TMN)                8    0   8   152  228  −76

CELESTIA
University of West Java (RIA) 13–30 Institute of Sport Mediro Dholeman (WAL)
Université du Saguenay (QUE) 27–10 Islamic University of Busoga (BUS)
Université St. Croix (QUE) 12–27 University of Loyola-Istria (BNJ)
Kobale University (GEX) 6–30 Northern Moravica University (BNJ)
Lithrelir University (GEX) 27–13 University of Aberstadt (KAT)

   CELESTIA                                  Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD
 1 University of Loyola-Istria (BNJ)           8    7   1   247  116 +131
 2 University of Aberstadt (KAT)               9    6   3   136   88  +48
 3 Université St. Croix (QUE)                  8    5   3   144  136   +8
 4 Technical University of Holland (BAT)       8    5   3   195  184  +11
 5 Northern Moravica University (BNJ)          8    5   3   182  104  +78
 6 Lithrelir University (GEX)                  8    5   3   193  156  +37
 7 Kobale University (GEX)                     8    4   4   131  149  −18
 8 Université du Saguenay (QUE)                8    3   5   182  196  −14
 9 Islamic University of Busoga (BUS)          8    3   5   129  129    0
10 Institute of Sport Mediro Dholeman (WAL)    8    1   7    91  241 −150
11 University of West Java (RIA)               9    1   8    99  230 −131

by **Valanora** » Tue Oct 14, 2025 8:10 pm

The Battle for the Royal Sabre, the rivalry game between the Rockets of Raynor University and the Raiders of Mar Sara Tech, perhaps the most important game in the season regardless of anything else going on during the conference slate. The out of conference games do not matter in that moment, the conference records do not matter in that moment, the chances of making the conference title game or the playoffs do not matter in that moment. All that matters is you against the other team, your biggest rival in the game and in the nation, and finding that way to get the better of them in the game that matters so much for so many people. Victory in this game does not just bring a win on the board, it brings the bragging rights for the team that wins and the edge in the recruiting battle, it gives you the edge up when it comes to making the aforementioned conference title game, and of course it comes with the trophy that the game is named after. While Raynor has traditionally held the edge in the contest, the Raiders have had a slight edge the last few NSCF seasons and of course get the honor of hosting the game this season with the switch to a single round robin instead of the traditional double round robin.

On top of everything that this game normally means and has on the line, there is a bit more for the Rockets to have to try and keep on their side while the Raiders are looking to play the role of spoiler and introduce a little bit of chaos in the Mineral here at the tail end of the conference slate. After losing at home in week 2, the Raiders have looked pedestrian in nearly all their games and then traveling to Columbus-Prarie to take on the Blue Jays with their seventeen game conference winning streak, the team imploded and played the worst game they could have possible done. Rather than exposing the Blue Jays as a team built upon fraudulent victories over the past two season, the Raiders instead raised an awful lot of questions about themselves. An offense that has been good but never dominant in any game and a defense that has given up a lot of points even in the five games that they have won, on top of allowing the Blue Jays to score at will in Dhemexia. It is not a winning formula and why they sit a game behind both the Rockets and Blue Jays heading into the last few games of the conference slate.

The Rockets however took their week one home upset loss and took a long look in the mirror about who the team was at that moment and who the team wanted to be. Barring the home game against Blue Jays, which they did still win in an over eighty combined point shootout between the top two teams in the conference, the defense has been a lot more stingy and played the way that the team had hoped to see them play. Bending and not breaking, as well as forcing the opposition into a lot of turnovers and pouncing on them, all the while the offense has been humming with the growth of sophmore gunslinger Sidney Jones who has really started to have a lot of chemistry with the skill players at her disposal. One of the most talented wide out rooms in all of the NSCF and with one of the best offense in all of the NSCF by points scored, it is hard to see how the team seemed to be struggling to score in the first few weeks of the season. Credit to both the coaching staff but also for the players for not letting the shock loss become a demoralizing moment but a moment that they took and grew from. If the team continues to hum and they do manage to win the rivalry game, there will be a lot of comparisons to the team that lost its first two games of the season before going on an eighteen game winning streak over the rest of the season and the next, winning a title in the process.

Yet Lathalein Celestial Stadium is a fortress for the Raiders and it is widely suspected that the home stadium of the Raiders is going to be packed to capacity, the home crowd no doubt looking to be loud and try to cause some mental errors from the visiting Rockets. It is a venue that the Rockets do not have the best record at and where the Raiders have typically been almost unbeatable, it is the fortress from which they raid the rest of the opposition in pursuit of their own goals. Yet last season the Rockets under the freshman guidance of Jones came into this bristling sports theatre and walked away with a victory that at the time looked like it signaled a team that was ready to make a second NSCF title game in three seasons. Jones has only gotten better in the year since then but the Raiders need this win if they are going to keep up any chance of making the conference title game. A win for Raynor secures their spot in the conference title game heading into their bye week before one final home game to end the conference slate against Trent State Feathercaps, who have not looked the best this season outside their shock win at Mar Sara.

Kirai Englefond has to look at this game as a battle against his countryman as who has the better future about them, who might have that inside edge towards making the World Bowl team in a few years time. Jones is a year and classification lower but the comparisons are there, both coming to their respective Vanorian universities with a lot of hype and both having to play from early on. However it is Sidney Jones that has been playing the better between the two Chromatik quarterbacks this season and even last season, it has been Jones who has been living up to all the hype and who has won the head to head matchups thus far. While this is a team game, there is no doubt there is a competition between these two high caliber quarterbacks and if Englefond is not able to deliver a win here not only will the Raiders not be able to make the conference title game but all the edge would be towards Sidney. Mar Sara might need to lean on Josiah Brown more, as the bruising back on paper would have the edge against a Rockets defense more prepared to stop the pass than the run but in this game of two rivals you do not know what to expect. With a berth to the title game on the line, you have to believe that the Rockets are going to come out swinging and the home side will have to be able to endure those blows if they are to give themselves a chance. If not, then the legend of Sidney Jones grows a little more and the Rockets will cement their place in the Mineral hierarchy.

by **New Rotterdam City** » Tue Oct 14, 2025 8:37 pm

CLOCK TOWER
Morass | A Visit Over the Wall | Discussion | Minuets, First Part

Van Prins Ballroom
114 Steenwijkstraat, Oesterstrand-op-Appel

Only the terraces of Eden may seem to rival the Van Prins ballroom.

October 14,
the Fall Ball

The lightest chill had been cast upon the green lawns of Oesterstrand, coming up from the dark river water on whose choppy swell shone the moon.

The lightest tension hung in the cool air of the Prince Pieter's campus, which must have been tangible to the cardinals and the rock doves alit on elm trees in the Amsterdam Quad

and to the bullfrogs in the outskirt creeks

and to the white-tailed deer along the river marshes, whose attention was caught by the skein of geese that suddenly took to the sky

certainly to avoid this awful hanging tension.

As for the human population of Prince Pieter's, not a soul could be found

Not in Van Pijpers or Scheemakers,

Not in Zwaan Hall nor Goot Hall,

Not in the Wamerdam Library nor the Lansing Union

Not in a spot on this campus,

except the muraled walls of the Van Prins ballroom

in their finest coats and crispest hats and fluffiest dresses and stiffest corsets.

7:35
Dries van Buren stands by the punch table with Fritsloo and Schmeenk. The rector's address is over. Prince Pieter's spills out onto the ballroom floor, ready to begin the dancing at eight.

Van Buren, Fritsloo, Schmeenk. They survey the ballroom, like cougars ahunt.

7:39
Perhaps more like pelicans than cougars.

7:42
Dries splits from the other pelicans and stalks his away around the table of hors d'oeuvres.

He blinkingly smiles at some upperclassmen girls, who pay him no mind.

7:43
Dries awkwardly bows to a girl, who pretends not to notice and then giggles with her friends.

7:49
The pelicans are reunited.

7:51
Schmeenk sees a girl from his chemistry class, and tries to make gentlemanly conversation. They stiffly discuss the midterm.

Fritsloo eats deviled eggs to appear busy.

Dries surveys the ballroom.

7:53
"I love the shade of yellow on your dress."

"Thank you."

"It reminds me of a plantain."

"Um."

7:55
Pelicans reunited. Situation getting desparate.

7:57
"For the first dance of the night...make your way to the dance floor...a bohemian walz in 3/4 time..."

Dries splits. While the dance floor fills, some girls are looking around with the same nervous eyes as his.

"Dries van Buren."

"Paulien."

"Your hand?"

"After you."

8:00
The opening dance steps of the Fall Ball.

8:02
A beautiful flute arpeggio.

8:09
Partners switch, except for a few furtive couples.

"Dries—"

"Johanna—"

"May I—"

"After you—"

8:14
It occurs to Dries that he hasn't spoken a word to either of the girls he's danced with.

8:16

"Dries."

"Renske."

8:25
"Dries van—"

"Nope."

8:32
"Dries van Buren."

"Carolijn Geelvinck."

"A pleasure."

"Did you sit out the last one?"

"I needed water."

8:40
"I'm Dries."

"Mirjam."

"Are you in my Economics 130 with Dr. Coomans—"

"Did you do the take-home quiz already?"

"—yeah."

"How badly do you want this dance?"

8:47
Some men gather at the hors d'oeuvres table while the band takes a break.

"Dries."

"Cor Waemelink."

"How's your night?"

"My date vanished. My friend Jakob's cousin."

"Shit."

"Plenty of fish, they say."

8:52
"Please return to the floor for the final minuet of the evening..."

8:58
"I never asked you your name."

"Anika."

"Dries."

"You didn't come to the dance with anyone?"

"No. My friends weren't. I didn't want. Y'know. To embarrass them. If I had one. Whatnot."

"Right."

"Did—um—"

"He left with some girl during the flute arpeggio."

"Damn."

"It's alright."

"Lots of fish."

"What?"

"Nevermind—"

9:00
Rector Wolfswinkel takes the stage. The band wraps.

"May we applaud the chamber orchestra?"

Applause.

"I hope your Fall Ball has been nothing short of the magnificent experience that has so shaped my memory of this place, and the cherished memories of all Prince Peter's alumni. it feels like hardly a moment ago that I myself was on that floor beneath those marvelous chandeliers..."

9:13
"...and speaking of alumni, I would be pleasured to invite the luminary Sir Lars Quirijn Waemelink, Esq., class of '06, and Dame Floortje Bleekemolen-Waemelink from the class of '09, to present us with the Fall Ball "Lord" and "Lady", as is time-honored tradition..."

9:18
"...because what really is "honor" if not "tradition"—what really is "chivalry" without "temperance"—what really is "success" without "animus"—"

"Dries."

"Yeah?"

"We're going."

"I don't think we're really allowed—"

Anika grabs his hand and yanks him through the crowd.
--

Continued MD10...

by **Dhemixia** » Tue Oct 14, 2025 8:56 pm

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Columbus Dominion(Est.1873)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Point of No Return

Schedule

*blue indicates home games
~~Week 1: @ Fusa College~~ W 30-29
~~Week 2: BYE~~
~~Week 3: vs. UNSJJ~~ W 39-16
~~Week 4: @ Nowa Kalanianska~~ W 20-9
~~Week 5: vs. Mar Sara Tech~~ W 51-17
~~Week 6: @ Raynor~~ L 37-50
~~Week 7: vs. Trent State~~ W 44-23
~~Week 8: @ GCU~~ W 27-16
Week 9: vs. Prince Pieter's
Week 10: @ St. Paulus
Week 11: vs. Delino State
------------
Non-conference play
Week 11: @ BYU (SPIT Bowl)
Week 12: vs. Fluff State
Week 13: @ Cavsar

Well, it appears we're here folks. After five entire seasons, four playoff appearances, two Mineral championships, and one playoff win, Craig Kelly has reached his Rubicon. Side note, what even is a Rubicon? That may be one of the dumbest metaphors for something I've ever seen. Whatever. Who cares? The point I'm trying to convey is that this unassuming game at The Brig against the same team the Jays won the Mineral CCG against last cycle, Prince Pieter's, is the game that will define Craig Kelly's entire career.

Now, that's not to say that his career hasn't been defined before, quite the opposite actually with the state of the Jays fanbase and their stance on him, but I'm speaking from a pretty objective standpoint. Picture this: You've had five years to bake in a fraud conference and get thrown into the same conference as the Vanorians, you go and take a game off one of them and enter week 9 at 6-1. You have to go and play the next best teams in the conference after yourself and the Vanorians to see if you can handle a competitive conference with actual football teams in it. Then imagine you have no prefrontal cortex.

Congrats! You've just tasted the Craig Kelly Experience™. Following a big away win against the Royal Eagles, the Possession Philanthropist now has to come home and win a big game against a team who is absolutely dying to get revenge against a purple blood like UC-Prairie. Objectively speaking, in the world where Craig Kelly wins, he's proven to be legit and may actually be able to do some damage. Should he lose, we were all right and always have been, and he's still and always will be a fraud and a failure to his parents. The former is the actual nuclear option here in all honesty, because supposed "NSCF ball knowers" are going to have to start recognizing Craig Kelly as the good coach that he isn't. Universe over, thanks for playing.

Thus, you come to a moral divide. Deep down, you want him to and know he will lose this game. It's the Craig Kelly thing to do, and the Possession Philanthropist selling is all anyone has ever known. I don't blame you for that either, it's fun to hate on Craig Kelly and ragebait his defenders like it's your 9-5! But then, in a certain subsect of the compassionate few in the audience and the dedicated Jays fans, you want to believe this time it's different. The whole time you've wanted quality football to watch, but what has stopped you from watching it the whole time was having to acknowledge that Kelly is actually good at his job if he wins. Deep down, you're finally starting to hope he wins and breaks the cycle of fraud that he started at UCP. It simultaneously means that you're rooting for the end of the universe, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.

There's no running from the truth here: UC-Prairie will always be a fraud school associated with being frauds no matter how much success the Jays have, but the goal is to appeal to the informed public. The casuals' opinion of the Jays and Craig Kelly will never be changed, if you go after the informed public, you get the rest of the NSCF to start to believe as well. So, to get the informed public to finally believe in the Jays after years of failure, you have to either put up or shut up.

Much like Craig Kelly on twii.tur, if he was even mildly as successful on the football field as he is whenever he remembers how to post every three months, he would be putting up, and putting up absolute NUMBERS.

by **Quebec and Shingoryeo** » Tue Oct 14, 2025 9:01 pm

Mineral Conference - Week 9

Cutoff.

Fusa College (AMN) 9–36 St. Paulus College (ROT)
University of Columbus-Prairie (DHE) 29–20 Prince Pieter's College (ROT)
Université nationale de Saint-Jean-Jacques-sur-Mer (UNC) 17–48 Green City University (TJU)
Uniwersytet Nowa Kalanianska (UNC) 12–3 Trent State University (TJU)
Mar Sara Tech (VAL) 23–22 Raynor University (VAL)

 #                                                           Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD 
 1 Raynor University                                           9    7   2   320  210 +110
 2 University of Columbus-Prairie                              8    7   1   277  180  +97
 3 St. Paulus College                                          8    6   2   186  155  +31
 4 Mar Sara Tech                                               8    6   2   214  168  +46
 5 Prince Pieter's College                                     8    5   3   241  194  +47
 6 Trent State University                                      8    4   4   185  150  +35
 7 Green City University                                       8    4   4   222  147  +75
 8 Université nationale de Saint-Jean-Jacques-sur-Mer          8    3   5   193  254  −61
 9 Uniwersytet Nowa Kalanianska                                8    3   5   195  194   +1
10 Fusa College                                                9    0   9   174  356 −182
11 Delino State University                                     8    0   8   122  321 −199

by **Andso Mangis** » Wed Oct 15, 2025 4:27 am

We may never win but hey att least it was fun along the way

by **Katzeburg** » Wed Oct 15, 2025 1:47 pm

"Thank you for coming, I think I've figured out just exactly what is going on behind the scenes here."

Dean Hal Williams gestured for his guests to take a seat in his office, preying they ignored the fact that the once dark green walls which previously lined the room had now been taken over with a raft of white papers and red string. Documents were absolutely everywhere, and as athletic director Ed Matthews stopped to take a look at a specific section affixed to the wall on his left - namely the collage of documents containing what seemed to be very little else other than the Dean's drawings of the school's athletic mascot Corky the Duck - he knew that whatever he was about to be seated for would not be worth the price of admission.

"By the cosmos, you absolutely stink," said the other voice who was making her own way to a seat in the Dean's office - Janet, Hal's long-trusted secretary who, as much as it pained her to think to herself, had seen the Dean in much worse circumstances than the greasy, sweaty, wired yet looking like he was yearning for the sweet embrace of a month's sleep all-at-once man which stood before her. "Have you had a shower in the last week?"

"There's been no time Janet!" Hal waved dismissively. "We need to act now lest the school collapse within itself. Let me show you just what I've been working on."

Hal strode over to the wall and stretched his arms out wide to show off his handiwork - not that it needed the extra showmanship. "I've been wanting to talk about the last home game of the season, can we talk about the last home game? I think senior officials at NMU have worked with senior UoA officials to collude and try and squeeze the game for every last possible barin while also ensuring that the more well-known school gets the win and a spot in the Conference Championship."

"You do realise that you are a senior official here as well, right?" Janet said incredulously. "You are kind of outing yourself here."

"Not me of course," Hal batted back before pointing at Ed. "I'm talking about our high-and-mighty athletic director and the board!" Ed leant back slightly in his chair with a smile starting to creep across his face - this could be about to get very entertaining.

"It all started when I got an email from Emma in your athletic department about NMU moving the game and asking to get preparations started. But I've never heard of an Emma in the athletic department, so I do some digging. Our faculty files show nothing. No-one called Emma. So I follow up with NMU directly - maybe it's a case of it was someone from their university sent this instead. But they respond telling me that this had already been sent over to the UoA athletic department and to check up with them. But then I start seeing the news - that our game had been moved out of Circle Park and to a bigger stadium and that got me thinking. Things were shifting against us for the last game of the season, a game we needed to win - And I think it's because of people working against us within our own walls."

"You realise none of this makes any sense, right?" Ed said, shrugging his shoulders while glancing at Janet. "I think you've just gone a little off the boil after the news came down from the board about our shifting focus to football."

Janet shook her head. "I knew you were bad before heading to Grand Exultia, but did the loss to Lithrelir really break you that badly?" Janet said. "We played like garbage and were lucky it wasn't a bigger loss - the bye week coming up might actually do us some good."

"That's besides the point!" Hal yelled, thrashing his arms. "And anyway, they only got so lucky because Short decided to bench Rain Sams for the game - meaning our playcalling was out of whack! And why would they do that, Ed?"

"To give Sams a rest because he was carrying a slight injury he picked up in practice earlier in the week?" Ed said, his voice making it obvious it was relatively common knowledge that Sams went down with a slight arm injury mid-week, meaning Freshman QB Wright Hafner got his first start of the season against the Grand Exultians - throwing three interceptions in a poor showing which helped the Phoenixes to a comfortable 27-13 win.

"Wrong!" Hal said, wagging his finger at the athletic director. "It was to ensure we would lose the game and head into the final week potentially tied with a number of other schools for the second conference championship spot - meaning it would literally be all to play for against NMU."

Hal moved across the office to the other wall, pulling down another document. "Let me continue about how I know this is the truth. I go down to the athletic department building and start knocking on doors, trying to find Emma; but she's not there - there's never been an Emma within the athletic department!"

"Can you show me the email you originally got from this Emma?" Ed asked, fearing he already knew the answer. Hal snatched it from the wall and threw it over to the athletic director. "Hal," he said. "This was from me. It even has my name in the top corner. Are you able to read?"

"Of course!" Hal said, grabbing the document back and re-reading it, his face crunching up into a ball as he saw it was in fact, Ed's name at the top of the email. "Ok, good spot there, but that is besides the fact that there has been a request to move the game and in fact, fix it in favour of NMU entirely."

"Are you sure about that?" Ed said, pulling his hand down over his face. "I highly doubt there is any evidence which would actually be a request from NMU to do anything of the sort."

"Ahh! Then explain this!" Hal said, waving a document around in the air before slapping it on his desk. "This document shows that the request came from the very top of NMU itself - someone who is cousins with the current athletic director and quarterback coach! That's right - Iguru Kabuye himself - a member of the board of regents. We're through the looking glass here, people!"

"Can I have a look at that?" Ed asked, curious to see where this thread led to. Hal quickly swept up the document and passed it to the athletic director. He studied it for all of about two seconds before handing it back to the Dean. "Just as I thought. This says 'Ignorable'. This is your performance review from last year, Dean. The handwriting has just blurred a lot of these letters together."

Hal snatched back the document and studied over it in a panic. Ed was right, but Hal sure as hell wasn't going to let him get the satisfaction. "It's a shame to see you get sucked in so easily into NMU propaganda," Hal said mockingly. "Even assuming that is the case - let's instead look at this!" Hal pushed himself up from the desk once more and bounded over to the right wall off his office, plucking a sheet off which had been pinned down by numerous bounds of red string. "The smoking gun," Hal said with a wave of the document. "This proves without a shadow of a doubt that NMU have requested the game be fixed in their favour!"

Ed reached out his hand for the document. At the very least, he had to enable the madman's delusions purely to see where this rabbit hole led to. He again studied the document, before chuckling to himself and passing it across to Janet for her to look at.

"Hal, that document is the agreement we signed with NMU and the television providers to move the game to an evening slot. The only thing being fixed is the timeslot - more eyes on what will be the biggest game in our history means more barins for us and the programme itself."

Janet let out a loud sigh as she finished looking over the document Ed had passed her. "You've been spending way too much time with Dr. Professorin up at ASU haven't you?" Janet said, putting the paper down and crossing her arms. "He had a similar crackpot theory about how the World Bowl is rigged to ensure only the top 12 nations progress year in year out."

"And I'd imagine even that would have a tinge more sense than the Dean's grand conspiracy that the entire NSCF is out to get us."

"But what about the request to move stadiums for the game?" Hal said, his voice now a whimper. "That was real. Wasn't it?"

Ed got up out of the chair and dusted himself off. "No. It never made any sense from the start and I have no ideas where those rumours came from. The nearest stadium to us would be up in Abersee and the board would never allow ASU to cash in from a game of this stature, and our only other options would be to move the game entirely to Axmund or Katzestadt - both of which would be several hours drive for our student body."

"Oh so you're greedy, but not stupid to know when something would be bad for the students then?" Hal snapped.

Ed simply ignored the attack and continued speaking. "I have to imagine it's solely something pushed out by Banjian media and let to simmer by NMU given how much of a different atmosphere Circle Park presents compared to other grounds they've played at this season. It's our last home game of the season, and probably the last one for Circle Park - so we'll need to send it off with a bang."

"So we're not moving the game out of Circle Park?"

"Why would we? We are however, moving it to an evening kickoff. Have you started preparations for that yet, Dean?"

Hal's faced dropped. "Oh, shit. I have a lot of work to do."

"Indeed you do. Let's get through that game in a couple of weeks and then we - you, me, and the board - need to have a discussion about your role here at the University of Aberstadt. I think given this period of change is upon us, we need to consider our options."

by **Chromatika** » Wed Oct 15, 2025 8:22 pm

Part 1: Predictions
Part 2: Blue Conference
Part 3: Green Conference

Chromatik High School Gridiron - Season Sixteen, Part 4: Red Conference

Season 1 Champions: Central Heights High School (MVP: QB Harold Jieter)
Season 2 Champions: East Omnio High School (MVP: WR Alessandro Mio)
Season 3 Champions: Mt. Niar High School (MVP: QB Sarai Gwenderyn)
Season 4 Champions: Mt. Niar High School (MVP: QB Sarai Gwenderyn)
Season 5 Champions: Flames of the Revolution High School (MVP: RB Nyata Antonucci)
Season 6 Champions: Staramara Tech High School (MVP: Edge Nicole Manstrom)
Season 7 Champions: Franscesca Larriet-Cortes High School (MVP: QB Liara Anderson)
Season 8 Champions: Vitoron School of Charge (MVP: QB Anne-Maurice Vivayavich)
Season 9 Champions: Myana Northwestern High School (MVP: QB Nicole Estera)
Season 10 Champions: Myana Northwestern High School (MVP: CB Lisa Bonsoon)
Season 11 Champions: The Chromatik Institute (MVP: QB Raul Sébastien Santos)
Season 12 Champions: Mt. Niar High School (MVP: QB Dante Flowers)
Season 13 Champions: Staramara Tech High School (MVP: OLB Freya Odinsdóttir)
Season 14 Champions: Staramara Tech High School (MVP: QB Amy Skylar)
Season 15 Champions: Lanar High School (MVP: Kenneth Jordean-Johnson III

Predicted Red Conference Finish:
1. Tihon Elite Academy Fog Wall
2. Staramara Athletics Academy Rangers
3. East Shantarr High School Order
4. Pùr Heights High School Destroyers
5. East Rhoni High School Kayaks
6. West Rhoni High School Warhawks

Matchday 1
Pùr Heights High School 19–29 Staramara Athletics Academy
East Shantarr High School 16–24 Tihon Elite Academy
West Rhoni High School 27–0 East Rhoni High School

Performer of the Week: Staramara Athletics Academy Running Back Seth Borello (21 carries, 181 yards, 3 touchdowns)

Matchday 2
Staramara Athletics Academy 13–7 East Rhoni High School
Tihon Elite Academy 49–3 West Rhoni High School
Pùr Heights High School 30–26 East Shantarr High School

Performer of the Week: Tihon Eliate Academy Tight End Arnau Bescós (13 catches, 181 yards, 4 touchdowns)

Matchday 3
East Shantarr High School 16–3 Staramara Athletics Academy
West Rhoni High School 20–36 Pùr Heights High School
East Rhoni High School 17–13 Tihon Elite Academy

Performer of the Week: Pùr Heights High School Running Back Kim Ha-Rin (21 carries, 160 yards, 3 touchdowns)

Matchday 4
Staramara Athletics Academy 21–17 Tihon Elite Academy
Pùr Heights High School 23–20 East Rhoni High School
East Shantarr High School 15–42 West Rhoni High School

Performer of the Week: West Rhoni High School Tight End Oswald Gilbert (11 catches, 148 yards, 3 touchdowns)

Matchday 5
West Rhoni High School 6–26 Staramara Athletics Academy
East Rhoni High School 7–13 East Shantarr High School
Tihon Elite Academy 37–31 Pùr Heights High School

Performer of the Week: Tihon Elite Academy Quarterback Kimberly Decrane (31 of 39, 413 yards, 4 touchdowns)

Matchday 6
Staramara Athletics Academy 27–13 Pùr Heights High School
Tihon Elite Academy 26–34 East Shantarr High School
East Rhoni High School 15–10 West Rhoni High School

Performer of the Week: East Shantarr High School Quarterback Bénédicte Spanghero (21 carries, 141 yards, 3 touchdowns)

Matchday 7
East Rhoni High School 23–7 Staramara Athletics Academy
West Rhoni High School 44–24 Tihon Elite Academy
East Shantarr High School 26–51 Pùr Heights High School

Performer of the Week: Pùr Heights High School Quarterback Kent Jordyn (13 of 16, 201 yards, 3 touchdowns; 14 carries, 151 yards, 2 touchdowns)

Matchday 8
Staramara Athletics Academy 7–9 East Shantarr High School
Pùr Heights High School 27–10 West Rhoni High School
Tihon Elite Academy 54–13 East Rhoni High School

Performer of the Week: Pùr Heights High School Defensive End Jérémie Martin (7 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles)

Matchday 9
Tihon Elite Academy 19–41 Staramara Athletics Academy
East Rhoni High School 6–10 Pùr Heights High School
West Rhoni High School 30–22 East Shantarr High School

Performer of the Week: Staramara Athletics Academy Quarterback Ryin Nakt (12 of 14, 119 yards, 2 touchdowns; 14 carries, 141 yards, 2 touchdowns)

Matchday 10
Staramara Athletics Academy 21–6 West Rhoni High School
East Shantarr High School 27–25 East Rhoni High School
Pùr Heights High School 17–40 Tihon Elite Academy

Performer of the Week: Tihon Elite Academy Wide Receiver Hendrik-Jan Dalvoorde (11 catches, 151 yards, 2 touchdowns)

Red Conference                           Pld    W   L    PF   PA   PD 
1 Staramara Athletics Academy             10    7   3   195  135  +60 Conference Championship Game
2 Pùr Heights High School                 10    6   4   257  241  +16 Conference Championship Game
3 Tihon Elite Academy                     10    5   5   303  237  +66*
4 East Shantarr High School               10    5   5   204  245  −41*
5 West Rhoni High School                  10    4   6   198  235  −37
6 East Rhoni High School                  10    3   7   133  197  −64

*Tihon Elite Academy ahead of East Shantarr High School via H2H PD (+34) after H2H Result (1-1).

It was the year of the dual threat Quarterbacks. The Rangers were carried by a defense that conceded less than fourteen points a game, Fientje van Null recording sixteen sacks on the season, and Ryin Nakt having to do everything for them on offense. Pùr Heights took a major step forward, Kent Jordyn having a much better Sophomore year - proving to be clutch with Running Back Kim Ha-Rin also contributing in spurts. Tihon Elite Academy suffered way too many upset results despite having Kimberly Decraene, the Order's Spanghero was way too inconsistent, and though the two Rhoni schools did way better than expected, it wasn't enough. It will be the Rangers against the Destroyers for the ticket to the Promotion/Relegation Round.

Chromatik Roundup: Firehawks in Great Spot, Lava Floundering, Hellcats Show Promise

Opponents Remaining:
Mountain District University Firehawks (7-1): @ Silver Coast State College Cadets (SAS) (6-2), vs. Llangliff University Grenadiers (SHV) (1-7)
Staramara Tech University Lava (3-5): @ Drawk Corps University Corps (DRK) (5-3), vs. Silver Coast State College Cadets (SAS) (6-2)
Z'ai'ai Institute of Technology Hellcats (5-3): @ Sadeg State University Skyhawks (DRK) (6-2), vs. Drawk Corps University Corps (DRK) (5-3)

The three Chromatik schools inside the NSCF are in different places with two games left in the Conference slate. Mountain District, fresh off of a 38-23 handling of Drawk Corps, has Nicolas Berg playing at an ultra-high level. The Vanorian Freshman had five touchdown passes and over 350 yards on the day in 80% accuracy; they did lose to Cavsar, but still sport the second best defense and the best offense in the conference. The defense isn't as dominant as it has been in the past, but it is very opportunistic and good at getting the ball back to the offense. They round out the season by taking on Silver Coast State College, another 6-2 team that has the best defense in the Conference before taking on bottom feeders Llangliff University to close things out. If they can handle Silver Coast State College, they'll be able to maintain hold of a top two spot in the conference. This will help the Gladiators, but the Firehawks want a chance to take down the Gladiators anyway.

Berg has proven to be exactly what this team needed. He's hyper accurate, has great attention to detail, and reads the game quickly. His connection with the receivers has been building well through the year, and with the quick release, the new-look offensive line hasn't been too stressed.

Staramara Tech suffered another heartbreaking defeat at home, being subjected to a nine-point comeback in the Fourth Quarter. The Skyhawks' Reed Harper found Jace Phoenix in the end zone with thirteen seconds left, and the Lava had floundered another good effort from Jair Lleyamana, who contributed to over 250 yards of their offense. The defense continues to break too often, and the corners are not playing as well as the team would like. They have to keep up their offensive intensity for the entire game in order to win games, and that simply isn't happening.

They have both Drawk Corps University and Silver Coast State College left in the schedule - and if they don't sweep, they'll finish the Conference slate with less than a 5-5 record. With their Out-of-Conference schedule being what it is (Mar Sara Tech, Northern Moravica, and Saguenay are 17-12), thinking that they can do better than 7-6 is more of a wish than fact. What would the Lava do if they don't make the Playoffs for the second season in a row? Do you move on from Lleyamana despite the fact that he's contributing to over 75% of the offense? Fire coaches while knowing the entire roster was built on one way to play the game?

None of them are good options - but something does need to change if the Lava are to graduate from an interesting story to being a legitimate threat to the rest of the NSCF.

These next five games may be the most important games that the Lava have had in a long time.

As for Z'ai'ai Institute of Technology, momentum has truly shifted in favor of the Hellcats. How do you take down the defending NSCF Champions? You have your Quarterback find your best target, Saralynn Pomme, nine times for 171 and three more touchdowns. Pomme has proven to be perhaps the only Chromatik receiver to ever outjump Drawkians on catches. This will be tested in the next two games to come - against Sadeg State and Drawk Corps - but the Hellcats have shown that the warmup they've had in the last two games have been instrumental in finding what they will do going forward.

Rounding things out against the two Drawkian schools isn't great, but taking down Cavsar is a plus. Also, their Out-of-Conference slate is far more forgiving than their Chromatik counterparts.

They began the season 2-3. Now, they're 5-3. What is their ceiling?

by **Banija** » Thu Oct 16, 2025 7:24 am

NMU head coach Hannah McKendry, standing in front of the team for Monday's team meeting

"OK guys- we're 5-3!" The team clapped thunderously. It had been an up and down season for Northern Moravica, starting 1-3, with losses to their two biggest in-conference rivals, to start the season. Including a backbreaking, gutwrenching, overtime loss, at home, to the hated Loyola-Istria, to kick off NSCF 34. Things were teetering on the brink of disaster, especially in an era of overreactions and click bait articles and win now mentality. But the team didn't panic, and Hannah McKendry kept her faith in the team. The coaching staff made the adjustments they needed, on both sides of the football, and they suddenly had sprung themselves from the bottom of the table, right back to the thick of the conference title race. Get the football to Horace Horton more, simplify the calls on defense, and let their best players play- and it had been working. 4 wins in a row, including an unlikely sweep of both Quebecois schools, had put this team at 5-3. And while Loyola set the pace at 7-1, and likely to take the first spot in Busukuma, there were a chaotic 5 teams tied in the loss column, with 3 losses, for the other conference title game spot, with just two games left to play. And Northern Moravica was one of them.

The first thing she showed in the slideshow, was a screen capture of the conference standings- the 2-6 spots, specifically, which had 5 teams all tied in the loss column, with 3 losses a piece. "I told you before- the prior three games were about us. Showcasing that we weren't giving up on our season. Showcasing that we were capable of far more than what we had shown over the course of the first four games of the season. Showing our community, students and alumni and fans, and showing the NSCF world at-large, that Northern Moravica football is still Northern Moravica football- and we have done that. Rivals with lots of history, Saguenay and USC, beating them both in the same season is a tall order- and we did so. After the USC game, what did I say? I said that the last 3 games of the conference schedule would show if we're made of championship material. We've got a chance for a rematch with Loyola- to show the country, and the entire competition, that Loyola's not better than us. We started slow, yes- but I promise you, nobody wants to play us right now. And if we get to Busukuma, we're gonna steamroll the hell out of the Blue Thunder."

"F$&@! Loyola!" Horace Horton cried.
"Dirty bastards!" Echoed another played.
"We're the kings of this country!" Said a third player. Coach McKendry quieted everybody down before continuing.

"Three teams we haven't played before. And three teams, after 8 weeks, who are in the thick of the race to reach Busukuma. Traveling to Kobale University, in what was, functionally, an eliminator game. And that is exactly what happened- we probably knocked them out of the race to reach Busukuma, with our win. 30 to 6. It wasn't an easy trip. But we can talk about how we did on offense. When you're on the road? Gotta protect the football. Took one sack. Had 0 turnovers. Get rid of the negative plays." She broke for a short applause for the offense, and then continued. "Be consistent- 376 yards of total offense. Do a good job of getting the ball to our playmakers. Horace, stand up." The Star TE/HB stood up. "Being able to impact a game even when he's the sole focus of the defense's gameplan. We didn't get him the ball as many times as we wanted. He had 18 touches- his fewest since our trip to Lakiska. 14 carries for 71 yards, and then while he only had 4 catches, he had 80 receiving yards- including a 57 yard touchdown." She then played a replay of his touchdown. He had been lined up in the slot, to the QB's right- with Mark Lutt on the outside. Attacking the safety, with Horton running a post, while Lutt ran a go route. Horton had left the poor CB that they had put on him in the dust, as Skylar threw a perfectly in stride pass for the touchdown over the deep middle of the field. The other 3 catches were all for first downs, as well. Big time players, make big time plays in big time moments. Best player in the g-d damn conference." And the room stood up and clapped for Horton. Even on a quiet day by his standards- having over 150 yards from scrimmage is just a testament to his own skillset.

"Now, I want to talk about our unsung heroes- the defense. You see how good we've played these last two games?" She looked around, beaming. "Not to gas you guys up too much- but we have been at our highest level. Last two games, at home against USC, and away against Kobale. Good, quality teams, both in the race to reach Busukuma. We've allowed 6 points- total. We've allowed 448 yards of total offense- across two games. We've forced 7 turnovers, combined, in those contests. People talk about the Aberstadt defense being the best in this conference, and fair enough, I'll give 'em credit- they've allowed way fewer points than anybody else, despite Lithrelir putting up 27 against them just 2 days ago. But right now, if there's a defense that you'd pick to stuff Loyola's into a box in three weeks time in Busukuma, I wouldn't pick Aberstadt. I wouldn't pick Richardson. There's only one group of players I would pick- and they're right here, in this room." The room erupted into a cheer. "IT'S FINALLY LOOKING LIKE A REAL ASS NMU DEFENSE!" She bellowed, as the room started yelling.

Then, she quieted the room down. "Ok, ok- now, we've seen what has gone right. But we've got to keep this up. We've got another eliminator game- there is no time in the schedule to make up this game against Lithrelier." She told the room. "The Phoenixes got a pretty talented team, and they are a team with NSCF experience, so they won't be as intimidated by our home environment. Any team that puts up 27 against Aberstadt, a defense that has been so dominant, we've got to be ready for. Championships, including conference championships, are won on defense. Look at some of these clips of Oscarlot Goldheart, their running back." And she showed clips of the star Phoenixes running back. "They succeed out there by being tougher than the team in front of them, tougher than the man in front of them? Are they tougher than us?"

"HELL no!" Yelled Jermaine Williams, the starting DT.

"Then you better make sure this fucker's ass is on the ground." McKendry told her team. "They may have looked good- but they're gonna feel us. Make sure they feel what their compatriots at Kobale U felt- that when you play against Northern Moravica, there's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide- we're kicking the hell out of all comers." The room cheered, and then she released them all to positional group meetings. She knew that the stakes were simple- a win, and there were still alive for the conference title game. Big wins beget big games- and a big win here, against LIthrelier University, at home, would lead to a potential conference title play-in game in Katzeburg next week. Those are the type of games you live for, right?

Loyola's got 'one foot in Busukuma' as road win over USC puts the Blue Thunder on the brink of qualifying for the Celestia Conference Championship Game

JOONGYEONG, QUEBEC- Dennis Zervos has talked, repeatedly, about the importance of consistency over the course of the season. "It's a long college football season, and the best programs have the same approach every single week. Whether it's a big game, or a small game, or you're coming off a series of wins, or a devastating loss, you've always got to approach with focus and resilience." And a Loyola program that is on the rise, with their conference championship last season, and their slow and steady march back to Busukuma for a second straight season, Dennis Zervos is leading the charge. In Week 7, they had a stunning loss to the worst team in the conference- the University of West Java. Entering the game at 5-0, while West Java were 0-6, it was the Riandera school that shocked the world. A high-flying Loyola offense got grounded- Allin threw three picks, and Jackson-Smith had a fumble, as we lost the turnover battle 4-1 in this stunning, 16-10 upset loss.

West Java fans, who were 22.5 point underdogs heading into the contest, stormed the field in almost confusion- as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Dennis Zervos, Loyola's head coach, spoke about it afterwards. "Look, they smacked us around- you've got to give them credit for turning it up when it mattered most. They earned this win. But for us, it's a turning point. Sometimes it's hard to remember this, but the players know now- any given Saturday. No matter how a team has been playing, especially if they are in front of their own fans, they can beat you. My players are too young to remember those treacherous trips to the Jungledrom. Thank the good Lord in heaven, we don't have to go back. But- that'll teach you. Today, we have to decide- is this what kind of team we are? Is this a blip in a season where the possibilities are endless? Can we banish this loss into the realm of a trivia question 10 years from now at a bar? Or will all the haters, those NMU fans and Richardson fans, use this as fuel- saying that it was the start of our downfall? That we were never that good?"

Well, the Blue Thunder were tested basically immediately after that, when they fell to 5-1. Because following them? The big 2 Quebecois schools, in back to back games. First, Université du Saguenay came to the Istria Lightning Yard facing not a team devoid of confidence, but a pissed off, angry football team- one that had spent all week getting trolled by NMU fans online, ready to showcase to the conference that they were the Celestia's elite program. And the Blue Thunder did exactly that, dropping 70(!) on Saguenay in a stunning, 70-33 victory. The offense was blistering- 8 offensive touchdowns, 7 of them in the first three quarters. After the 3rd quarter, Loyola led by a score of 56-19, and didn't even play in the fourth quarter(where they scored two more TDs). A near flawless performance- 600 yards of total offense, over 400 team passing yards and 200 team rushing yards, where, despite being on the wrong side of a goal line stand in the opening quarter, they just unleashed hell on their visitors.

That game, was a statement game for the Blue Thunder. When they are at their strongest, this is what they look like. But then that gave way to a tougher game, a very tricky trip to Joongyeong. USC, just like Loyola, started 5-0 on the season. They are right in the thick of the race for a conference title. And, just like Loyola, in Week 7, they lost their first game of the season- USC fell against Aberstadt (who are in second place in the Celestia), while Loyola lost to West Java. Of course, Week 8 went in completely different directions- Loyola scoring 70 while USC scored 0. But entering this game, so much left to decide in this conference. A 7 PM kick, and with Aberstadt losing earlier in the day, these two entered the 7 PM game as the top two teams in the Celestia- 6-1 Loyola-Istria, facing off against 5-2 USC.

The stakes, dramatically high. Winner would go to the top of the standings, taking the top seed in the Celestia conference with 2 games left in conference play, and a fast-track path to Busukuma for the Celestia Conference Championship Game. A USC win, in particular, would leave for quite a chaotic final two weeks, with 6 teams being within 1 game of the #1 slot in the conference. A Loyola win here would solidify their perch on top of the conference, and absent a complete collapse in the last two weeks, not only put them into the conference title game- but put them there as the #1 seed. Not to mention, both teams want to polish that playoff resume- you don't know who you'll need to impress in the NSCF Committee.

But despite a nighttime kickoff at the Stade St. Croix, with some cold weather(34 degrees Farenheit at kickoff!), it was the Blue Thunder who would travel to Quebec, and travel back home with victory #7. Nobody was scoring 70 today, but Leslie Allin was efficient, and at the head of a balanced attack. 19/27, 213 yards, a touchdown, and a lost fumble. "USC represented a unique challenge for Leslie Allin." Dennis Zervos told the media after the game. "Obviously, another emotional game, a ton of family in attendance from Saguenay province. But these guys were not going to allow big plays. He had to sit in the pocket, go through his progressions, and be both accurate and on time in the short to medium passing game- and he did exactly that. Even in a game where we couldn't open them up by stretching the defense, his high standard of excellence helped lead us to victory."

Loyola's two running backs were both critical as well, with Jackson-Smith (20 carries, 76 yards, 1 TD), and Marko van Aalten (14 carries, 49 yards, 1 TD) having to earn their yardage as well. Not an easy day on offense- but the floor, West Java excluded, for this offense is pretty damn high. 27 points, despite nobody having an absolutely spectacular day. But this offense truly shined when it counted the most- three times, the Blue Thunder got into the red zone, and three times, they scored touchdowns. Don't waste good opportunities. Both RBs scored inside the red zone, with Jackson-Smith scoring on a HB dive from 4 yards out, while van Aalten took a toss 16 yards into the end zone. Leslie Allin's TD pass came from inside the 5, where he hit Feliciano on a crossing route. The young Ranorian had quite a day, setting up van Aalten's TD with a 40 yard catch and run on the play before van Aalten's fourth quarter TD. Catch a corner route, break a tackle, and then fly up the sideline- who doesn't like 40 yard gains in the fourth quarter?

A good day from the offense- not great, not necessarily blitzing their opponents, but good. But the Loyola defense, that stole all the headlines early in the season for this team? No, they came to play. They started kind of slow, allowing USC to churn half the clock in the first quarter on the game's opening drive, and then have them score a touchdown. But the opening drive is always the easiest for an offense, the scripted drive. After that? Defensive dominance. Chad Vaughn immediately blocked the ensuing extra point attempt, for one. But USC only scored 6 points the rest of the game- a long field goal in the 2 minute drill at the end of the first half, and another field goal that came off of a turnover the USC defense forced, when they started a drive in Loyola territory. Everything they were doing on defense, was working. And this was, at most, a one possession game until the final 4 minutes. Forced a pair of turnovers as well.

"Damion Battles is just a monster." Said Loyola's defensive coordinator, Rameses Oto. "With him at his best- we can do anything on this side of the football." The star EDGE rusher is finally breaking out, and he's just a game wrecker. Through 8 games, he's got 9.5 sacks, leading the team, and one of the best in the conference. Both a sack today and a forced fumble, among his 4 tackles- he's elite in both run and pass defense. A lot of creativity on this end, some new looks. We saw their blue chip freshman, Abel Hammer, play opposite Battles, moving Kimsterling to MLB. A new wrinkle- one that seemed to work. You can't double team both Vaughn and Battles- and when they're both on, like they were today, your running game will be non-existent, and your QB will spend most of the game running for their lives- which is exactly what happened all game long. "There is no gameplan that can't be wrecked by an elite front 4- and today, that's exactly what happened." Oto said simply. "Their consistency is a key part of why we sit at 7-1, and now we've got to do the same against Kobale, at the Lightning Yard."

Loyola sit atop the Celestia, at 7-1. And sitting at 2-6 in the conference, are 5 teams with 3 losses. 4 of them have played Loyola, and they all lost. The fifth is Lithrelier, whom Loyola will visit in Week 11. Meaning, the scenarios for Loyola are simple in Week 9. Win against Kobale, at home? You're going to Busukuma. If they lose, a NMU win against Lithrelier, also at home, will put Loyola into the conference title game. If neither of those happen, then you've got a host of chaotic scenarios and potential tiebreakers in week 11 that the Blue Thunder, frankly, would care to avoid.

For Loyola, the message is simple- win, and you're in.

NSCF 34 - Everything Thread

NSCF: 3-3

Big Eight, Celestia: MD8

Brooklyn Beck (S7:E1)

NSCF: Same Old, Same Old?

Big Eight, Celestia: MD9

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