World Bowl XLI Everything Thread

[Abanhfleft]

DISCLAIMER: Gaelic Gamers is an independent sports blogging website created by four cousins with a common liking and passion for sports of all kinds and is in no way or form affiliated with or organized by any official news organization in the Democratic Republic of Abanhfleft. All statements and opinions posted here are our own and not anyone else's.

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Gaelic Gamers
Presents...

Gabbing on Gridiron
with Dara Keane

WORLD BOWL XLI RECAP: MATCHDAY TEN

Abanhfleft     14  7  3  3  27
HUElavia        0  3  3  7  13

Well now. Now this is actually completely unexpected as well. Are you really telling me Abanhfleft managed to pull off the impossible yet again and squeeze our way into the playoffs despite possibly not deserving it at all? That's impossible. That's not supposed to happen. Is the universe finally about to implode? Well, it can't be worse than trying to divide by zero. Oh well. We're still here, aren't we? Then again, how can our puny little minds even comprehend something as the destruction of the universe? Maybe the universe has already ended but our limited human minds can't understand anything other than our measly little lives. Wow. This got philosophical real fast once again. I really must try to stop declaring plucked chickens from the butcher's as being men.

Back to football now. I always thought our fans in our stadia were among the noisiest things ever known to mankind. The Stadium of the Old Forester only packs in 40,000 or so people but on a packed day with either Ludogorets or the Lumberjacks playing at home, you literally can't hear your conscience inside. That probably explains why there's always at least one away fan who gets into a punch-up with a local fan every time the aforementioned teams have a home game, but that's another matter altogether. I always thought Markovskites in particular, and Flefts in general, were very loud and vocal fans. And then I went to HUElavia to watch our World Bowl game against them, and I was introduced to a whole new level of deafness. It was literally like standing in front of a speaker during an techno or trance concert. I can feel the bass slamming against my chest and liquefying my insides. I really think Wes Soderlund walked away from our game against these guys with not only a shoulder flare-up but also bleeding eardrums. Probably everyone else did too. I know I felt like the same.

But now it's time to introduce the craziness of Fleftic home fans to these people, specifically those from the Kammala-Immola Twin Cities area. The Garufaloe Cobras ain't always the best team in the FNLAF, but their fans are among the loudest, rowdiest, most passionate of the lot. Not as loud or rowdy or passionate as us Markovskites, of course, but they're up there. And once Adeodato Schiavo kicked us off, the place was literally indistinguishable from that place in HUElavia were we first played them. Surely you would prepare for any side that has a reputation for having very loud fans, and I'm sure that the HUElavians have more than adequate training playing in their own place, but even they must have been caught by surprise by the initial wave of sound that hit them. That probably explains why they were held scoreless in the first quarter. As to how we were able to score two touchdowns in the same period, I can only shrug my shoulders. Looks like the myth of poor Glenn Poore is finally getting shattered, at least until the next game. As long as his O-line holds firm, Glenn Poore can tear some shit up. And if you're all wondering why I'm singing the praises of a non-Markovsky Lumberjack, just remember that it was the Lumberjacks that drafted Glenn from KSU (Kimmirut State University) and gave a run out for half a season after Agostino Ionnini busted up his ankle.

HUElavia were able to adapt though, and after four quarters of hard work they were finally able to get to the end zone with a Diogo Fernandes catch, but by then it was too late. Abanhfleft were also beginning to trail off in scoring production, but thankfully the game was over before HUElavia could truly capitalize. But now that leaves us with a date with destiny, and destiny's name is Cassadaigua. One thing about Cassadaigua, is that you never take them for granted, no matter what the sport. Football, baseball, lacrosse, basketball, gridiron... you ignore Cassadaigua at your own peril. But even though I am sure that our team is going to take our next opponents very seriously, I still feel disappointed in the end. The aim of this team was always to make it further than the Round of 16 that we did the last time around. But it looks like our journey is going to end in the same place it did last World Bowl. And I don't know why really, but it just made me sad all of a sudden. This really feels more like menopause than a mid-life crisis, even though those two things could happen at the same time under the right circumstances. I just have a bad feeling about this, is the bottom line of what I'm trying to say here. Goodbye, World Bowl XLI. We hardly knew ye. Arlen Somerset-Cox, Arlen Somerset-Cox, Arlen Somerset-Cox....

[Banija]

Isaka Jawara, sitting in the locker room, about 3 hours before kickoff with Lhor

"Hey, can you grab me a water?" The quarterback said to a random aide. The analyst ran, and came back with a bottled water, and Jawara started drinking. Just then, the Offensive Coordinator walked in and sat right next to Jawara.

"How you feeling, Isaka?" Offensive Coordinator Mamadi Diene asked. "You're back to 100%? I know the doctors told us you were officially cleared to play two nights ago, but I just want to see. Should I be limiting my playcalls?"

"No, don't coach." Isaka Jawara said. "We're playing Sarzonia. You know how it is- any time you watch Banija in an international tournament, you're almost certain to see us play each other- no matter the sport. Except, I guess, the NSCF. And we played twice in the last World Bowl, and we beat them both times. They're going to come into this matchup absolutely pissed off. I have no intention of my potential last ever World Bowl game being losing to our regional rival, in the Round of 16. That would be an absolute killer."

"Well, you know the strategy." Diene said. "Run the football at Cunningham. Look, this isn't going to be a high scoring game- both defenses are too good. A 35-35 type of shootout simply isn't on the cards. They allowed 14 points a game. It's going to be one of those 10-7, 14-10, 14-7, etc... One of those types of games. A lot of punts, but a few plays here and there will make the difference. We know they don't allow big plays. We're going to have 2 or 3 opportunities to really put together a consistent drive. But you've seen the gameplan. What are you feeling?"

It was a sign of trust between the quarterback, offensive coordinator, and head coach that Diene could even ask this question. Changing the game plan 3 hours before the game, in a one on one conversation that the head coach wasn't even a part of?

"Look, they have a lot of aggression, a lot of big hitters on their team. They're going to have dudes flying all over the field. The Stars at their best playing fast. I like what you have in there- things like counters and screens and play-actions, designed to get their defense to slow down just enough to put our guys in space. Especially in the passing game. But this is the Stars. We've got to have something extra up our sleeve, always. That's what it takes to beat these guys."

"Look, Isaka." Diene said. "I want this just as bad as you do. Do you remember the trick plays we drew up, way back in training camp- the ones we haven't ran all group stage?" Diene pulled out a notebook as Jawara nodded. "Look, the players still know these plays. We haven't ran em in practice- but I think, if we're at a point where we are really struggling, we'll be in a good position to run them. I have a hook and lateral in here, with Jelan receiving a pitch from one of our tight ends in the open field. I even got a double pass. I got a couple of more."

"Yea, if we need 'em, throw them in the gameplan." Jawara said. "I think we can beat them straight up- but if we need 'em, we got em. I believe." And then Diene left the room. Jawara liked to sit alone,to get in the zone, before a game. And he threw his big headphones in, and turned the music up. He was determined to be ready to beat the Stars.

[Newmanistan]

THE ROCKET REPORT

MILLER’S FRIEND SPEAKS OUT

By Taylor Larson,

Lance Halterman claims he has been a long time friend of Newmanistan Rockets linebacker Bryce Miller, and also became friends with his ex-girlfriend Jessica Schaefer. He reached out to us here at The Rocket Report to give us some pretty interesting information concerning Miller. We should mention that we did contact Schaefer in regards to the validity of Halterman being a known friend of each of them, and Jessica told us that she has known him for about two years, and considered him a friend while she was dating Miller. I spoke with Halterman over the phone, as he is still at his home in Putnam Lake. Here were some of the things that were said over the call.

“Bryce Miller is not a soccer fan,” Halterman began, “There is only one reason why he would be so upset over the draw against Tikariot which meant that things would become very unlikely to qualify for the World Cup. Bryce couldn’t even tell you who won the last World Cup (86) and it was in Tundra Falls. What he probably did was put down a lot of money on the Rockets in some capacity. Whether it was qualifying for the World Cup, or if it was a simple wager on the match itself.” He went on to talk about Miller, and gambling, “The man has a gambling problem, and it was not helped when he signed his big contract with the (Putnam Lake) Eagles. You would think that it would help, because he would have so much money now that he would not need to place bets, but he continued to do so. He never bet on gridiron, but he would still bet on other sports. He mainly would bet on baseball, and he was pretty good at it. I would say that Bryce probably was a net positive in terms of his baseball gambling bets, but he was not as good on the other sports. That’s what the Dover Bloodhounds do, if you start to have success on them, they sucker you in to making bets on things that are away from your forte and what you are most knowledgeable about. More than likely, he lost a lot of money on that World Cup game.”

That was an interesting way to begin the conversation, especially with adding in the Dover Bloodhounds. Since this is a publication that reaches an international audience, I know that not everyone knows who the Bloodhounds are. You could almost call them like a mafia style organization. In the past, they have been violent and have well publicized run-ins where they have placed “hits” on people who were making too much money off of them. That was decades ago, and the newly refounded Bloodhounds, which seemed to come back with that name about ten years ago, claim that they do not go to the same extent as those before them. They have become prominent again, and for the moment, we have not seen the extent of violence concerning them, but they have plenty of websites out there which all link back to them in a way for them to get money. Halterman replied, “I don’t think she got on his case too much about it. From what I remember, she was a little passive when it came to him and his money, like she felt that she had no right to tell him how to spend it. I am not sure if she even knew how many wagers he was making on all kinds of things. She probably just thought he was making an occasional bet. Or she was just afraid to talk to him about it.

Lance Halterman said that he did not talk to Miller before the day in question, but said that he did speak to him a couple days after. “Bryce was pretty normal about everything. At that time, he said that Jessica had dumped him, and I was kind of surprised by that. I thought they were having a pretty good relationship. He didn’t really want to talk about why.” I asked Halterman if he spoke to Schaefer about why they broke up, “I only talked to her one more time after that day, and it was about a month after. She was short with me on the phone, I think in knowing that I was a bigger friend than hers, and I really regret that I did not let her talk more. Or that I didn’t try to find out what she was thinking. She didn’t tell me anything about the break up other than she wanted to move on from him as quickly as possible.” Halterman said he has come forward with his story now because he does not feel that he can be friends with Bryce Miller any longer, and wishes to talk with Schaefer a little more about the ordeal.

When I spoke to Schaefer, she told me that Halterman was not the type of friend she was going to share much personal information with, saying that he was almost more like an acquaintance than a friend. However, she now says that she really appreciates that he has said what he did and would be willing to talk to him more. As for Miller’s gambling, Schaefer told me that, “I thought we were just going to watch a soccer game in the hotel bar and then we were going to have a good evening together afterwards. I liked soccer more then he did, so I was a little surprised by his reaction over the game. He would make bets from time to time, but it was his money, and if I ever tried to talk to him about a purchase he would make, he started getting antsy about it. I was beginning to wonder about that, and I will say, I am not sure if I could have put up with over the long haul, but I was trying to deal with it.” Schaefer said that she never heard Miller reference the Dover Bloodhounds.

I have been trying to get more information about what happened in the hotel that night, but hotel staff are so uncooperative towards us (as they are with the police), it is really shocking. The Putnam Lake Police Department, when I was able to talk with them, told me that they do think the hotel knows a lot more about this incident, and are just not saying something. The authorities say, however, that without more information, there is not more they can do right now in regards to the hotel. In my last article on this topic, I asked for anyone who might have stayed at the hotel that night and who thinks they had seen the couple, to tell me anything. A few people have come forward to say they had stayed there, but nothing stood out about the night. However, one man, who wishes to not be named, said he saw Miller and the hotel front desk clerk late in the night, after midnight, joking around with one another at the desk. Naturally, the hotel did not have a response to me when I tried to contact them about it, and the police say it’s useful information, but they would need more substance with it. It’s possible a subpoena could be issued on the clerk in question.

As for the football team, coach Bryan Moore refused to talk to me about it, saying that I am “trying to tear the team apart and they have an important game coming up.” True enough, they do have a big game against the Yeezies of Saint Kanye. It is exciting to be able to watch up play them in something else, because on the tracks of NSSCRA, we certainly don’t beat them. If it feels hard to root for this team right now, just remember, Bryce Miller is just one member of the team.

[Karditan]

Sinsinatti Sun

Dramatic Showdown in The Transmodian Commonwealth of New England
no I'm not abbreviating it

By Jonathan Umadden

That's the funny thing with reseeding for the knockout rounds. Theoretically speaking you'd expect most top seeds to win their groups, and thus be rewarded with an easier an easier matchup against the runner-up of another group. But sometimes you get underdogs like TJUN-ia and Quebec winning their groups... and being rewarded with runners up in the top ten rankings-wise like Karditan and Drawkland (respectively). In this way it was lucky that Quebec beat Saltstead on the final day, and had beaten us by 3 more points than we beat them, so that we could dodge the formidable Sonnelians for a little longer—preferably late enough into the tournament that their choking genes kick in. Not that TJUN-ia is a pushover, certainly; but in the case of facing off with an up-and-coming power or an established power, you always take your chances with the earlier.

Of course, the Quebecois result only mattered once the Ironworkers secured their own result in The Transmodian Commonwealth of New England. Liberation Stadium was kept quiet as the New Englanders were kept summarily in check throughout the game. Lin Conway had far less room to maneuver than last time 'round in Indianeighpolis, getting brought down twice by Quentin Jackson alone plus two more spread across the defense. Come halftime, The Transmodian Commonwealth of New England hadn't made it past the fifty yard line a single time. Come fulltime, they'd made it up to the Karditani forty. They let Robert Metzger give it a go to see if they could get on the board (we hadn't scored yet, so might as well); the fifty yarder didn't make it. And then we also failed to convert on that drive starting at our own forty.

The only score of the game would come early in the fourth quarter, when Jereth Yardsborough absolutely obliterated Alfred Demardjian and forced a fumble that Fiona Ruthers scooped up and ran thirty yards in the New Englander endzone. Jeremiah Bull automatically converts the PAT and the game ends with a classic Ironworkers scoreline of 7-0. The third most classic, behind 3-0 and 0-0 (3-0 OT).

[Ranoria]

Z'ai'ai Field, Z'ai'ai, Mountain District
Chromatika
5:30 PM

John Garrett stood at the exit of the tunnel, helmet clutched tight to his side while his right arm dangled loose. A few others stood around. Johnny Farmer sat against the tunnel wall, looking over the field. Angelo Gordon leaned against the outer wall, staring daggers at the empty tunnel on the opposite side of the field, and Ross Monarch paced back and forth, index and middle fingers twitching back and forth. All four were anxious to get on that field.

"Don't get to excited now, John," Farmer broke their silence, "Not a good time to get antsy."

Farmboy nodded, rolling his shoulder a bit to test it, "No, no problem there. I'm not losing this game." The quarterback took a deep breath of the cool mountain air, not enough for any of the team to even consider wearing sleeves, granted. His chin came up as he soaked in the environment, one that would soon be full of cheers, for one side or the other. "I want one more shot at Jawara. I couldn't quite do enough in that last Rebel's Cannon Bowl." His gaze came down and he let that breath out, eyes coming open, "I know he won't let me down. He wants this as badly as I do."

Johnny nodded silently, and turned his eyes back to what would soon be their battleground. He had gone out with a win over Loyola-Istria, but he knew that last matchup, a 29-24 loss in the Stadium of Restoration. Worse yet, the final play of the game, from the fifteen yard line, he'd thrown an interception on what could've been a career defining, game winning touchdown. A touchdown that would've beaten an 11-1, second-place finish Blue Thunder, one that would've gotten the Governors into the postseason.

Instead, he'd lost to his rivals, he'd lost to Jawara, and he'd been relegated to one half of a bowl game...that his team also lost. Farmer hadn't heard the end of it for months, a horrible way to end what had been otherwise a dominant collegiate career.

"Jawara won't let me down," Garrett repeated. The Banijan legend was, by all accounts, in his last season of being the helmsman of the Serpent Eagles. John Garrett had to believe, deep down, that their rematch was written in whatever book, or strings, or ties of destiny that did exist in this world. One last showdown, one last shot at redemption for a game, a play, that had haunted him for years.

Angelo Gordon snorted from where he was lying in wait, muscles coiled like a lion ready to pounce, "Yeah, that freak didn't exactly let me end on a good note either. Thirty Seven nothing in my last year in school. I wouldn't mind getting a clean shot or twelve on him." Gordon's eyes narrowed to slits, and his voice dropped to a practical snarl "No disrespect to Squidroidia, they're great, but I'm with you. They're not gonna stop me from laying some hits on that guy that'll make his first few months of retirement anything but comfortable."

Monarch finally spoke, "Don't be looking past who we have in front of us," he reminded them, "These guys are more than capable of putting those dreams of redemption to rest if we give them an inch."

Gordon pushed himself off the wall, bringing one hand back in a hammer-fist to hit it, "Damn straight. Now let's go remind everyone that we're the damn Ranorian Krauts."

The clacking of spikes on concrete alerted them to the rest of the team making their way out, and Johnny Farmer held out a hand. Garrett pulled the massive tight end to his feet, and Farmer nodded, ruffling his old friend's hair, "Couldn't have said it better myself." The four of them donned their helmets, Farmer's own intensity matching their own as the four spearheads of the Krauts lined up at the opening of the tunnel.

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Of course that wasn't it. Once the whole team was gathered just before kickoff, a voice called them all to a huddle.

"On me!" John Garrett's normally quiet leadership was cast aside as he yelled across the field, gathering his team around him, he looked around, helmet on, bouncing on his heels with excess energy. "What did I ask you all when we started this!?" The team immedietely responded to the influx of energy, bouncing on their heels, nodding, whatever it was, and he waited, looking around, before answering his own question, "How great do you wanna be? How great do we wanna be!?" Claps began to sound across the huddle, and he the star passer continued, "No more talk! Today, you show me! You show me how great you wanna be! Sixteen teams left in the world! Are you happy with that? 16th in the world?" He paused again, taking a deep breath, "Hell no! We're Ranoria! We're the Krauts! We're not here to be contenders, we're not here to be one percenters," he put an emphasis on each word as he continued, the team beginning to cheer in reply, "We are here to take the throne! Every play, you run as hard as you can! You dive for the ball, whatever you have to do, you find a way to win!"

The Krauts around him roared their reply, and he raised a fist in the air, the rest following, "Every play, be great! Be the best you can be! Now, greatness on three! One! Two! Three!"

"Greatness!"

And with that roar of what they all truly believed was a coming victory, the Ranorian Krauts took their spots, be that lying in wait on the sideline, or on the kickoff team, ready to unleash every bit of that anticipation they had lying in wait.

Game on, Squidroidia. No matter how this would ends, they would be getting the best of Ranorian gridiron, the best the Krauts leave on the field, and we doubt they’d want it any other way.

[Quebec and Shingoryeo]

iBlog.que - Player Profiles

For last thirty years, the Quebecois national gridiron team has been a team of collegiate all-stars, who have made their own respective mark both out on the field and on their classrooms. These guys, of course, are very much the regular joes who may be beasts in their own right, but have their own stories and flaws as well. Ultimately, those traits have helped many to have a fruitful professional career and life after the sport.

With that being said, the current crop has done not too badly by making it....why don't we go and find more about them out?

QB Baek Dong-Hyeon - SR - University of St-Gabriel-Richard

Nickname: Bull-baek (Bulgogi Baekban)
Major: Sociology
Bio: Widely regarded by many as the best quarterback in what’s expected to be a poor class for quarterbacks this QFL draft, Baek is an enigmatic mind whose photographic memory not only helps him to memorise the Wolverines’ playbook within half an hour, but also allow him to nap for an extra hour or two before an exam. Attending a prestigious South Detroiter school while playing quarterback at a famous Quebecois college program, he loves studying his fellow players’ behaviour and the social tendencies of locals whenever his Wolverines or the Quebecois national team travel. During his time in Felswyr, he had spent the first hour on his hotel room looking at the walking patterns of local Chromatiks whom were having next to no trouble walking in middle of a cold day.

OG Raymond Hong - SR - University du Saguenay
Nickname: Caribou Hong
Major: Business (management track)
Bio: The Quebec City native who’s widely rumoured to be the first overall pick this upcoming draft, Hong has been no short of praises during his time with the Fighting Irish and of course, the Grim Reapers. All-around blocker whose size and versatility make him a guaranteed starter for next decade (barring injuries), Hong loves his time in Chromatika, where he hopes he could take a look at some of the Chromatik football and gridiron clubs, as well as the vibrant college sporting culture they have over there.

OLB/SS (ROVER) Alanna McKendry-Jarvis - JR - University of Prince Raoul Islands

Nickname: MJ
Major: Mathematics
Bio: Versatile, rangy and fast, AM-J is an intense multipositional player who regularly serves as the terror to opposing receivers and quarterbacks. Mathematics major at UPRI, where she will be returning this fall as a co-defensive captain, McKendry-Jarvis has often spent summer days tutoring local high school kids who would struggle with their Grade 12 Advanced Calculus. After graduation and a hopeful professional career, she hopes to become a teacher.

LS Johannie Materson-Vuong - SR - Universite de Gaspe

Nickname: Joh
Major: History
Bio: Defensive tackle who also doubles as the Gaspe football team’s long snapper, Materson-Vuong is a highly self-aware player who loves playing the game for the sake of playing. Being a long snapper, she is not always expected to be out on the field but when she does, it’s for an extremely important role that requires next to no mistake allowed. As a history major, her favourite era are the International History of the 1950s and onward, especially in regards to the sporting policies within the Quebecois Commonwealth. Unlike most others, she has no plan to declare for the QFL draft after her college career ends, and is expected to return to the same school for grad school.

[Chromatika]

Are you on a Stairway to Victory? Let's find out! Round of Sixteen Cutoff!

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World Bowl XLI Playoffs: Round of Sixteen
R1: ₁Cassadaigua 31-24 ₁₅Abanhfleft*
@ Riders' Arena, Pùr, Heartland District (Cap. 35,210) Kickoff: 5:30 PM Weather: 47 F, Clear Referee: Ken Jackson (Strictness: 7/10)
R2: ₈Ko-oren 6-0 ₉Anthor
@ Dragon's Nest, Anfanhar, Heartland District (Cap. 48,210) Kickoff: 1:00 PM Weather: 54 F, Cloudy Referee: Nicholai Masterson (Strictness: 6.5/10)
R3: ₄TJUN-ia 21-20 ₁₃Karditan
@ Hawks' Nest, Deprí Lanar, Deprí District (Cap. 112,000; 38,000 Seats) Kickoff: 1:00 PM Weather: 50F, Clear Referee: Isabelle Gusten (Strictness: 8/10)
R4: ₅Newmanistan 16-17 ₁₁Saint Kanye**
@ The Hive, Deprí Sanar, Deprí District (Cap. 122,000; 42,000 Seats) Kickoff: 10:00 AM Weather: 44F, Cloudy Referee: Benjamin Sickle (Strictness: 6/10)
R5: ₆Allamunnic States 24-30 ₁₂Delaclava**
@ The Pack, Pria, Coastal District (Cap. 67,290; 19,000 Seats) Kickoff: 10:00 AM Weather: 49F, Cloudy Referee: James Sinclair (Strictness: 9/10)
R6: ₃Banija 16-7 ₁₄Sarzonia
@ The Cove, Lhor, Coastal District (Cap. 51,265; 18,000 Seats) Kickoff: 5:30 PM Weather: 52F, Clear Referee: Anastasia Omales (Strictness: 7.5/10)
R7: ₇Royal Kingdom of Quebec 10-13 ₁₀Drawkland
@ Frozn Stadium, Felswyr, Mountain District (Cap. 32,100) Kickoff: 1:00 PM Weather: 41F, Clear Referee: Niles Monk (Strictness: 9.5/10)
R8: ₂Ranoria 31-20 ₁₆Squidroidia*
@ Z'ai'ai Field, Z'ai'ai, Mountain District (Cap. 113,000, 40,000 Seats) Kickoff: 5:30 PM Weather: 50F, Cloudy Referee: Kenneth Darnold (Strictness: 6/10)

*Abanhfleft and Squidroidia flipped to avoid group stage rematch between Ranoria and Abanhfleft
**Saint Kanye and Delaclava flipped to avoid group stage rematch between Newmanistan and Delaclava

World Bowl XLI Playoffs: Quarterfinals
Q1: ₁Cassadaigua vs. ₈Ko-oren
@ United Center, Urrheddiao, Urrhed Island (Cap. 120,000; 28,000 Seats) Kickoff: 5:30 PM Forecasted Weather: 51F, Windy (No impact, Dome) Referee: Sandra Inero (Strictness: 8/10)
Q2: ₄TJUN-ia vs. ₁₁Saint Kanye
@ The Tidal Wave, Tihon, Urrhed Island (Cap. 95,210; 25,000 Seats) Kickoff: 10:30 AM Forecasted Weather: 49F, Windy (up to 20mph) Referee: Gurav Isherai (Strictness: 7/10)
Q3: ₁₂Delaclava vs. ₃Banija
@ Island Dome, Myana, Myana Island (Cap. 133,000; 35,000 Seats) Kickoff: 1:00 PM Forecasted Weather: 53F, Clear Referee: Amelie Goren (Strictness: 6.5/10)
Q4: ₁₀Drawkland vs. ₂Ranoria
@ The Jungle, Eyrods, Myana Island (Cap. 74,590, 26,000 Seats) Kickoff: 1:00 PM Forecasted Weather: 57F, Cloudy Referee: Mike Bowens (Strictness: 9/10)

[Saint Kanye]

"Welcome back to the World Bowl XLI Round of Sixteen matchup between the Newmanistan Rockets and the St. Kanye Surge. We're here at The Hive in Depri Sanar, Chromatika. 1:25 to go in the fourth, score is 16 to 14 in favor of the Rockets. But it's the Surge with possession. Third and 7. Linetti takes the snap. Play action. Goes for the pass, and..... Oh! It's batted away by Ferguson, incomplete. Dobler, the intended receiver.

Fourth down. Do the Surge go for it here? Let's see. No.... looks like they don't. The special teams unit is coming in. James Rasputin, St. Kanye's ever reliable kicker. This will be a thirty-nine-yard field goal attempt.

Rasputin raises his arms, he silencing the crowd, now lines up. Here we go. Snap by Elroy over to Klein, here comes Rasputin, and there's the kick. There's the ball through the air, through the uprights..... BOOYAH! It is good, and the Surge take the 17-16 lead!"

"Fourth and 4 on their own 36. The Newmanistanis have to go for it. Scanlon takes the snap, finds and open man. Launches it.... intercepted by Law! Runs with it. The thirty. Twenty-five. Oh, brought down at the 22, but it doesn't matter. The Yeezies get the ball back with sixteen seconds remaining!"

"Three! Two! One! Once again, it's all over! THE ST. KANYE SURGE HAVE WON A PLAYOFF GAME!"

"Last season this team entered the playoffs for the first time in their young history, unfortunately losing immediately to New England. But this time around, they survive the first round, knocking off the Rockets 17-16. Here we see the two head coaches shaking hands, Bryan Moore of Newmanistan and Jeff Delphine of St. Kanye. Players following suit. What a scene! What a game! And what a win! GO SURGE!"

---

1Q STK Jackson 17 pass from Linetti (Rasputin kick) STK 7-0
The eleventh-seeded Kanyeans entered the game as three-point underdogs against their fifth-seeded opponents. However. they would manage to strike first. A great kickoff return by Taylor Johns put the Surge at the Rockets' 23-yard line. Quarterback R.J. Linetti scrambled for six yards, after which fullback Nico Jackson caught the ball for six points.

1Q NEW Poindexter ?? pass from Scanlon (Morris kick) Tie 7-7
Not wanting to be outdone, the Rockets scored on the subsequent drive. Tight end Geoffrey Poindexter was the one who caught the pass from Brian Scanlon.

2Q NEW field goal Morris ?? NEW 10-7
After a string of three and outs from both sides, Newmanistani kicker Justin Morris would break the tie and give his team the advantage before halftime.

3Q NEW Hartley ?? run (Kick failed) NEW 16-7
A Chase Hartley run in the third period increased Newmanistan's lead to nine. It should have been ten, if Morris' extra point hadn't missed to the left.

4Q STK Moore 24 pass from Linetti (Rasputin kick) NEW 16-14
The Surge cut their deficit to two with less than five minutes remaining in the contest. Running back Noah Sherman went off for a big 51-yard gain, mowing down two nose tackles and linebacker Bryce Miller before being brought down at the Rockets' 24. On the next play, Linetti threw the ball to slot receiver Patrick Moore, who ran along the sidelines on the way to a touchdown.

4Q STK field goal Rasputin 39 STK 17-16
Rasputin would prove to be the hero for St. Kanye. The star kicker had made a lot of great field goals throughout the tournament, but this was his first game winner. "It's a great compliment, but I wouldn't really say I'm a hero," Rasputin said humbly in a post-game interview. "I just did my job, which was to score through kicks."

---

"I'm so proud of this team," said Coach Delphine after the game. "I've always known they, or rather we, will do great things. This is a great team. We all worked together to beat a higher ranked, higher seeded, more experienced opponent. Now we have a shot at doing it again, to go further in this tournament, and we'll take it."

St. Kanye's quarterfinals opponents will be the TJUN-ia Jags, who also figured in a nailbiter, 21-20 over the Karditan Ironworkers. "Once again, we are the underdogs," said Surge defensive coordinator Kevin Macintyre. "We're ranked higher, but they [Jags] have done better in this tournament statwise [see below]. But we won't let that bring us down. It's a new round, so everything is back to zero. And anything can happen. We can do this." Kickoff is at 10:30 AM Chromatik time at The Tidal Wave in Tihon; the day's forecast of wind would likely be a factor.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Team            | Rank | Group Record | Place | Seed | PF  | PA  | PD  |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
| St. Kanye Surge | 12   | 6-2          | 2nd   | 11   | 156 | 96  | +60 | <--- UNDERDOGS
| TJUN-ia Jags    | 15   | 7-1          | 1st   | 4    | 176 | 87  | +89 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

---

Here are all the other results from the first round of the playoffs:

- The top-seeded Cassadaigua Fillies keep their back to back bid alive as they knocked off the fifteenth-seeded Abanhfleft Armored Revolutionaries 31-24 at the Riders' Arena in Pur.
- The eighth-seeded Ko-oren Dragonflies earned the right to face the Fillies after they defeated ninth-seeded Anthor at the Dragon's Nest in Anfanhar. The score was classic Ko-oren, 6-nil.
- Over at The Pack in Pria, the twelfth-seeded Delaclava Phoenixes won against the sixth-seeded Allamunnic States 30-24.
- Delaclava will play the third-seeded Banija SerpentEagles, who beat the fourteenth-seeded Sarzonia Stars at The Cove in Lhor by a score of 16-7.
- The tenth-seeded Drawkland Grid Corps snuck past seventh-seeded Quebec 13-10 at the Frozn Stadium in Felswyr.
- The second-seeded Ranoria Krauts defeated the sixteenth-seeded Squidroidia Flyers 31-20 at Z'ai'ai Field in Z'ai'ai. The Krauts and Grid Corps will do battle next.

---

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| MD   | Opponent               | Rank | Uniform       | Score   | Record | Place |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 1    | @South Newlandia       | UR   | White/White   | L 6-9   | 0-1    | 3rd   |
| 2    | BYE                    |      |               |         |        | 5th   |
| 3    | The Desiccated States  | UR   | Purple/Purple | W 13-0  | 1-1    | 2nd   |
| 4    | @Ko-oren               | 4    | White/Purple  | W 19-10 | 2-1    | 1st   |
| 5    | Kohnhead               | 30   | Purple/Black  | W 40-27 | 3-1    | 1st   |
|      | BREAK                  |      |               |         |        |       |
| 6    | South Newlandia        | UR   | Purple/Black  | W 25-3  | 4-1    | 1st   |
| 7    | BYE                    |      |               |         |        | 1st   |
| 8    | @The Desiccated States | UR   | White/White   | W 27-20 | 5-1    | 1st   |
| 9    | Ko-oren                | 4    | Purple/Purple | L 3-17  | 5-2    | 2nd   |
| 10   | @Kohnhead              | 30   | White/Purple  | W 23-10 | 6-2    | 2nd   |
|      | BREAK                  |      |               |         |        |       |
| RO16 | Newmanistan            | 9    | White/Purple  | W 17-16 | 1-0    | QF    |
| QF   | TJUN-ia                | 15   | Purple/Black  |         |        |       |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---

Even celebrities have their attention on the upcoming Surge-Jags matchup. Here's a twii from Kanyean NSSCRA driver Jeremiah Brooke addressed to competitor Michael Stefan, who's from TJUN-ia:

JEREMIAH BROOKE ✓

@Jeremiah_B

@Stefan07 Looks like our countries are facing each other in the World Bowl qfs.... how about a friendly bet? Loser has to wear the winning team's merch for a week

#WB41 : #TJUSTK : #ShockEmSurge

[Banija]

The Turning Points- Analyzing the five most important plays in Banija's 16-7 World Bowl victory over Sarzonia


Lamin Kah crosses the goal line for an opening drive touchdown against Sarzonia as a Sarzonian defender watches helplessly

LHOR, COASTSAL DISTRICT, CHROMATIKA- Banija flew east out to Chromatika for another run at the trophy that, many Banijans have felt, has been long evading them- the World Bowl trophy. And we entered the round of 16 against Sarzonia. Now, of course, the Serpent Eagles are interesting- this is our 7th ever appearance in the World Bowl knockout stages. And while we don't have a great record of getting to the knockouts, we certainly do damage once we're here. Entering the game, we were 6-0 all time in the World Bowl Round of 16. Could we make it 7? Fortunately for Banijan fans, we were able to do so, as we won a tough, low-scoring game by a score of 16-7 to get to our second consecutive quarterfinal. We'll travel from Lhor to Myana Island to take on Delaclava for that.

But to focus on this game- we're going to talk about the turning points of our victory. The five most important plays. And just like last time, we're do it in chronological, rather than numerical, order

5. Possession: Banija. 3rd and 2 from the Sarzonia 15 yard line, 9:45 left in the first quarter

So our opening drive was a barnstormer. Our returner took out the ball from 8 yards deep in the end zone(mistake!) and could only get to the 14 yard line. The Stars having the early field position advantage. But our offense came out with much higher ambitions than flipping the field. It was, in total, a 12 play drive that went 86 yards and took nearly five and a half minutes. And here, we'll talk about the final play for the drive. There was a third and two at the opponent's 15 yard line. Lamin Kah ran a deep dig route. Zane Yates blitzed, Sello picked him up blocking, and Kah caught the ball at the three yard line. He turned with nobody in front of him, and simply jumped into the end zone. 7-0.

It had great balance- 8 carries for 52 yards. Sello had 7 of those carries and 47 of those yards(Jawara had a 5 yard run himself on a 3rd and 1). And Jawara was 3/4 passing for 34 yards. And they were three for three on third downs, all third and shorts- two third and 1s, as well as the touchdown on third and two. It was the exact type of drive you'd want to start a football game. An early 7-0 lead.

4. Possession: Sarzonia. 2nd and 5 from the Banijan 14 yard line, 11:34 left in the second quarter

So after the opening drives for the Serpent Eagles, both defenses settled in and really put the clamps down on one another. But a big play for Sarzonia really threatened to turn the game on its head. Sam Rosen was at his own 28 yard line, facing a 2nd and 12. But Matt Largent is a true speedster- it's hard to contain him one on one. BUt they ran a deep crossing route, as he raced across the field. Sam Rosen found him at the 50, and he raced down to the Banijan 19 yard line before one of our safeties pushed him out of bounds. A great play that got Sarzonian fans jumping, 58 yards.

That set up this play. The next play was a 5 yard carry by Clinton. And here, Sarzonia went for it all. Sam Rosen dropped back, and saw Steve Swain, who had a step on his corner. But Rosen was hit from the blind side by Thomamo Bontsi just as he threw the football. It kind of wobbled out, and the linebacker, Baluta Kujabi, picked it off. A huge turnover, as the Sarzonians were knocking on the door. By the skin of our teeth, still 7-0 Banija.

3. Possession: Sarzonia. 1st and 10 from the Sarzonian 1 yard line, 8:01 left in the second quarter

Not that long after the last Sarzonian possession. We had some first downs, but could not make break through. Now, our punter was able to pin Sarzonia at their own one yard line. A fantastic punt by World Bowl rookie Travis Galubasi, who had a great bounce. Sarzonia wanted to run out of this situation. We were being aggressive, putting 8 in the box, clearly signalling that we wanted a safety. Now, they ran a pitch play to Clinton, to try and get him space on the edge. But we were ready for it. We cleared up their blockers, and it would be Richardson grad Isaiah Bryce, who shot through the gap and tackled Ty'Relle Clinton in the end zone for a safety. The defense celebrated, as the Banijans made the game a two possession game- taking a 9-0 lead. THat would be the last score of the half, as the Banijans took that 9-0 lead into halftime.

2. Possession: Sarzonia. 2nd and 1 from the Sarzonian 33 yard line, 14:25 left in the third quarter

Matt Largent only had two receptions in this game. He had the 58 yard reception that we talked about earlier. And he had a 12 yard reception in the first quarter. But they wanted to continue to get the dangerous speedster involved. And so when they had a second and short, on the second play of the second half, they decided to run a jet sweep. Largent came across the line of scrimmage, and as they snapped it, they handed it off to him. And boy, did he hit the hole. He ran right around the offensive tackle, got about 10 yards upfield, and spun to make free safety Muña Guissé miss. All he had was daylight in front of him. And that was that- 67 reverse for a touchdown. A two possession Banijan lead was suddenly down to a two point lead. And the Stars had the momentum.

1. Possession: Banija. 1st and 10 from the Sarzonian 44 yard line, 7:53 left in the fourth quarter

Still 9-7 in favor of Banija at this point. At the 44 yard line of Sarzonia. It wasn't a drive that got us across midfield, however. It was actually a great punt return. One fielded at our own 23 yard line by Chinweuba Jelan, the fifth year senior at Raynor University in Valanora made a man miss en route to flying up field. He was brought down by Sarzonia's long snapper, but of course, not before hsi 33 yard return put them on the plus side of the field. This was the opportunity for Serpent Eagles fans. This was the chance to bury the game. And they did not waste any time. A pitch play to Kuenda Sello had nearly perfect blocking, and after stiff arming Quinn Bowles, he took the ball to the house. 44 yard touchdown run, to make it 15-7. And we converted the extra point to make it 16-7.

And there you have it. The 5 most important plays of Banija's 9 point victory over Sarzonia. The team will go into recovery and prepare for the two-time world champions, the Delaclava Phoenixes.

[Ko-oren]

Map of gridiron teams of Ko-oren

This is the state of gridiron so far: 12 professional teams, each with one second division team, and one 'third division' team for the U-23. On top of that there are two more leagues: one for the coast guard and its associated partners, and one for the national guard, gendarmerie, and their associated partners. Not pictured are the Salamantic Universities, who do not have a single home base as long as they are the only NSCF team in Ko-oren.

From this we see a few things: gridiron is played nationwide, but it's certainly stronger in some areas compared to others. The southwest has a few teams all the way on the peninsula, but the nation's most densely populated area (around Aubury, Ansonville, Maynard) has zero teams - not even in the lower divisions. We could see some teams move from the furthest southwest towards that region. The southwest is also fairly empty: Cirelbourne and Bruncester have only soccer and cricket to play but no gridiron in the area. At least Aubury, Ansonville, and Maynard are rugby union towns. Since the economic downturn in the southeast clubs have either folded or moved, but it seems time that clubs finally move back into the two mining capitals.

The northeast is extremely well represented in gridiron: in many cases, it's played more than soccer (which in turn is strongest in the east, southeast, the capitals, and the southwest). Not only does Schemerdrecht have two pro teams, Sterrenwolde has five teams total, while Nyashawill, Rozenvoorde, Laringen, and Genehof are also in the area. Along the northeastern coast we see more third division and coast guard teams, all the way up to Aevanna. The clubs on the northeastern islands are, apart from the professional squad, mostly 'penal colonies' for players that have been unable to show proper discipline in other areas. Basically: if you can't make it there, you can't make it anywhere. Quite the opposite from what you usually want to hear.

[Delaclava]

Excerpts from post-game press conference the day after Delaclava's 30-24 victory over Allamunnic States - the Delaclav players who are appearing in front of the media have set themselves up in a hotel suite in the Coastal DIstrict. The video is streaming live throughout Delaclava, but only a handful of reporters have been invited into the room to ask questions. The players in attendance are:

Taurus Wright, QB - 20-of-29, 231 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT; 12 rushes, 67 yards, 1 TD
Kevin Alés, WR - 6 receptions, 134 yards, 1 TD
Robbie Hahn, TE - 8 receptions, 57 yards, 1 TD
Ben Dorman, LB - 6 tackles, 2 fumbles forced
Kieran Conley, K - 3/4 FG (made 35, 57, 40; missed 42), 3/3 XP

Players will be referenced below as TW, KA, RH, BD, and KC. Although Delaclava's win took place in the morning, this takes place the next day, so the players know that Banija is their next opponent after their 16-7 win over Sarzonia.

Gentlemen, congrats on the victory yesterday. It's been almost a day, I'm sure you've gotten a chance to recover and relax, and reflect on yesterday's win. How are you guys feeling?

KA: "Great! We were all really buzzing after the win yesterday, but it's been nice to let the adrenaline come down a little bit and enjoy this. It was tough starting from behind a little bit, going down 10-0, we brought it back to 17-10 and then Kieran's 57-yarder to finish the first half was huge. We took control in the third quarter and never looked back. They're the #3 team in the world and have such an impressive legacy. It's a huge feather in our cap."

BD: "We were in a bit of disarray. The win against Sword Island wasn't very good, we lose to a shitty team like Northwest Kalactin at home. So we really had to divorce ourselves from the past, tell ourselves, we're in the Round of 16. This is a new tournament, everyone is 0-0, you have to win four games to win the tournament. How are you going to do it? We put the plan together to really attack them with our speed, on the wings and outside with our offense, and come heavy with the blitz on the defense. It took a little bit to click, but no doubt we figured out the first step. We're very proud to have gotten it done."

What was it like playing in a morning game? 10 AM is a pretty early football start.

RH: "No kidding, and for most of us it was more like 8 AM our time. We wouldn't blame our slow start on that, since we knew what we were up against. But your circadian rhythm kind of is what it is, right? But the cool morning air really got us going, at some point we hit our flow state, it was perfect for us. I wouldn't mind more morning starts if that's what they give us."

Taurus, after Trent Goff was injured, you and Michael Willis had been largely splitting time. I don't think either of you played the full game at any point. What went into the decision to go with you exclusively today?

TW: "I think the goal was always to pick one. Since the competition was weaker in the group stage, we could test a little more while we were qualifying. But getting to a team like Allamunnic States, we wanted to still have the flexibility of either option, but more importantly the game flow and consistency of one primary quarterback. I won't go into too much on how we decided it. It was largely Brian's decision and Michael and I both respected it. We have each other's back regardless of who's in."

We know Brian Mathis was brought in as primarily the advisor, but he was also dressed as the third-string quarterback. He has the World Bowl experience, was there a thought that he might suit up instead? And how much has coach Gorka Bielsa been involved in these decisions?

TW: "Nah, Brian's been a real professional. He's staying sharp and taking a few reps to be ready to go for an emergency, but he's made it clear to Michael and me, we're the guys, he's here to support us. He's been awesome to work with, to have that perspective from someone who's honestly kind of a legend, and he's still playing and has several good years left. BIelsa's pretty much left the decision making to Brian."

Do you think Bielsa's not interested in you or Michael, after his own QB in Trent is gone?

TW: "He trusts Brian to make the decisions. That's all I've got to say on that."

Kieran, what was it like adjusting to the climate here in Chromatika with your kicking?

KC: "Not too bad. I mean, of course I missed the first field goal from 42. It's colder, the ball travels not quite as well. It's subtle, but it's enough. I thought I had a handle on it in practice, but definitely doing it in the game is different. So missing that in the first quarter, and not allowing us to get off to a great start, it was frustrating. But I saw how to adjust and did it. I was honestly a bit surprised that Coach sent me out to try from 57, but I knew what I needed to do to give it a shot. And being down 17-10, we really needed points there. So making that felt good."

Thoughts on the officiating?

RH: "Stick up his ass, honestly. He wasn't even unfair to either team at all. He just doesn't understand - well, is he a girls' lacrosse ref? I know in that sport you can't touch anyone. I think the ref thought this wasn't a contact sport. I was honestly laughing with the Allamunnic linebackers guarding me. We just wanted to play and this clown had to blow the whistle every five seconds."

KA: "In the end, I don't know if it made a difference. Dexter (George) had a touchdown called back, their wide receiver had one called back too. But it's a distraction when two elite teams are working on gameplans and you have to keep stopping for announcements. Worse for the players, worse for the fans."

So, your next opponent will be Banija, obviously they've had very good form. They were 7-1 in the group stage, they beat Sarzonia yesterday evening. Did you watch that game, and generally what do you see in that matchup?

TW: "I think most of us didn't see it. Right?" (looks to teammates) "Yeah, most of us pretty much took the day. We had a pretty early morning game and obviously it was a tough one. We wanted to relax and enjoy the peak of the day. But we do have the tape on it and I think we're looking at some of it after this. I mean, their defense is really good. Suffocating, a lot of pressure. They're definitely bigger, maybe stronger by a little. It'll be a big test for the line, and for us to be decisive and get the ball moving. We're definitely up for it."

BD: "Offensively, they're just not very fast or impressive. They're holding on to a pretty old quarterback. He's gritty and can still play, but Father Time always wins. Their form has looked good, but they didn't play anybody in the group stage, and Sarzonia was a bigger test for them than it really should have been? It was 9-7 at the end of the game and the Stars punter basically gifted them great field position. I'm not saying they're not good, and they can definitely beat us. But we're the best team they've played. So they better come ready."

Ben, speaking of Father Time, you are the oldest player on this squad at 34. Obviously players like you and the Banijan QB Jawara bring a wealth of experience, but like you said, the physical gifts still need to be there. So what's your personal perspective on that?

BD: "Yeah, that's exactly how I can see it. First of all, we do have a lot of linebacker talent in our league, and that keeps me on my toes. I don't have the kind of legacy where I can stick around ten years past my prime. If I want to still be one of the best, I have to put in the work. And at 34, that does mean different things - taking recovery seriously, prioritising optimal performance and short bursts over needlessly heavy workload. And what sets Phoenixes apart, especially our linemen and linebackers, none of us are fat guys. We're all athletes, we're in great shape, and that means our knees and joints are all still there when we get into the twilight of our careers."

Kevin, you're a noted basketball fan. In fact, in a DSGN feature a few years ago, you named Banijan center Sadio Bartaba as your favorite current athlete. Now that Banija defeated Delaclava in the recent IBC final, is that still the case? And are some of you looking to maybe avenge that loss?

KA: (laughs) "Well first, just to be sure, I didn't say one of our own basketball players because, we actually know each other. A lot of us work out together either at the DNAC, or if we're ever in the same area. We stay in touch, we go out to dinner, a lot of us are very good friends. So it's hard to call one of my friends a favorite, like a fan, you know? But yeah, Sadio's an incredible player. He's the captain, he's team-first, he's physical and a great defender and rebounder. Getting the win is more important than being flashy or having the individual glory. So I respect him a lot, and honestly, respect what the Lions basketball team did. They're an incredible team and just on another level from anyone else. At least for me, I think we're more inspired by what our team did. Like I said, a lot of us work out together, are in the same lifting rooms and tracks. So to see them go out and accomplish what they did, it makes me think that's within reach for us. It's inspiring more than anything. But I don't think there's anything extra to beating Banija just because of another sport. We have to make our gameplan, play it better than they play theirs. It's a semifinal berth on the line. We already want to beat them badly enough."

You mentioned the legacy of Allamunnic States earlier, and Delaclava has its own legacy. Two time world champions, three time hosts. That team from World Bowls 13 through 15 was arguably the greatest football squad of all time. How does that impact what your team is doing as you try to chase your own title?

KC: "The expectations can be tough. It's like this - all the reports are saying Delaclava's made it back to the quarterfinals? We haven't made it back to the quarterfinals. We've just made it there. It's not easy having the comparisons drawn when we're still working on our team and getting that experience. It is cool to see older people who actually remember those World Bowl titles, and they see that quality in us that they think we can be world champions too. And we believe that we'll be world champions soon. So it does motivate us to know that it's in our history, it's in our heritage to reach the top of the football world. But we hope the fans know that when we fall short, we're disappointed too, and we're going to keep pushing for that glory until we get it."

KA: "We're here to prove the Phoenixes aren't a relic of the past. We're just as much in the present and future."

[TJUN-ia]

After we somehow won our group at 7-1 to enter our first Playoffs as the 4th seed, everything was certainly looking good for our Jaguars as they moved to Chromatika to take part in the big dance. Gus Mckerrin and the gang have certainly worked hard to finally end the curse and make the Playoffs at last but now, the real work begins as we enter the gauntlet of teams looking for all the glory in this competition. Our run to potential glory began in the Hawk's Nest in Deprí Sanar as the 4th seeded Jags took on the 13th seeded Ironworkers of Karditan, a nation ranked ahead of us in the WB Rankings but a lesser seed in this contest.

At 1 pm sharp on this clear day, referee Isabelle Gusten got TJUN-ia's first-ever playoff game underway. This game would be a tight one indeed with both teams going for it on their first drives - and actually succeeding. P.J. Swarts would strike first in this contest as his game plan worked to perfection, allowing Jake Griffin to find Hubert Valois for the 23-yard touchdown. The resulting kick by Chi On-Ma was good, 7-0 Jags, but Karditan would fightback almost immediately. Grey Skies' game plan allowed Asha Krenkov to barge his way into the endzone for a 3-yard score and with the resulting kick by Jeremiah Bull (who, sadly, isn't a bull) going through, we were tied at 7-7. The 2nd quarter would be just like the first as both teams found the endzone again: Griffin running in for 4 yards and Krenkov finding a pony named Wide Net for a 5-yard score. Both Chi and Bull made their points again and heading into halftime, this game was level at 14-all with everything still on the line.

The second half would be where this game would be decided and one of the big moments came in the 3rd Quarter. Krenkov isn't someone who makes a mistake on a play but that would change here as he threw a ball into coverage and straight to...Pedro Marquinios, who would run it back into the end zone for a 43-yard pick-6. Chi would kick the extra point, 21-14 Jags but Grey Skies was pissed and wasn't going to back off that easily. He sent his team down the field once again and Krensov would run in a 6-yard score to kick off the 4th Quarter - but Bull went just right of the uprights, meaning the Jags still led by 21-20. The rest of this contest would be a battle for survival as the Jags tried to run down the clock before the Ironworkers could have another chance at the ball. Once that failed, they turned to their defence and win this contest themselves - and they certainly did that with Jester Carter getting the big stop that put this game to bed. TJUN-ia had won their first playoff game by a single point and my goodness, it was glorious.

It was a very tight game but in the end, we made it through the challenge by the barest of margins. We enter the quarterfinals to take on another opponent with superior ranking but inferior seeding - the Surge of Saint Kanye, a great footballing nation who will be a great challenge to face in Tihon. The Tidal Wave and destiny awaits us. GO JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE (Group F)
MD1: vs Greater Vakolicci Haven (24) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 10-7 (2nd)
MD2: @Saint-Domingues (UR) W 13-3 (1st)
MD3: vs Drawkland (6) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 25-24 (1st)
MD4: @United Volcano Islands (UR) W 44-0 (1st)
MD5: BYE (1st/4-0/+58PD)
--------------------------BREAK--------------------------
MD6: @Greater Vakolicci Haven (24) W 23-9 (1st)
MD7: vs Saint-Domingues (UR) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 27-6 (1st/OFFICIALLY QUALIFIED)
MD8: @Drawkland (6) - Metro Arena, Metropolon L 17-24 (1st)
MD9: vs United Volcano Islands (UR) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 17-14 (1st)
MD10: BYE (1st/7-1/+89PD)
------------------------------------------------------------
Ro16: vs Karditan (10) - Hawk's Nest, Deprí Lanar W 21-20
QF: vs Saint Kanye (12) - The Tidal Wave, Tihon

[Ranoria]

One Step Closer: Krauts Manage to Get Past Squidroidia,
Quarterfinal Against Drawkland Looms


The Krauts came into this one fiery, and that excitement only increased once victory had been secured

If you were expecting a heavyweight bout, you were more than satisfied by all of the first round matchups, including Ranoria's 31-20 victory over Squidroidia at Z'ai'ai Field. It was the battle of two potential Hall of Fame quarterbacks in John Garrett and Sota Miyamoto, and it was the latter drawing first blood in this one. After John Garrett's Krauts went three and out on the first drive, Miyamoto would lead a surgical march down the field, capped off with a touchdown pass, to take an early lead in Z'ai-ai.

Garrett, on a hot streak as of late, didn't have his usual proficient opening drive to answer. Perhaps that can be attributed to defensive coordinator Colonel Kouumoto Kaii's scheming. It looked like a shoddy opening drive, but Garrett quickly found his usual mojo on a 3rd and 9. Taking a five step drop, the two time MVP found twenty year old tight end Vasily Schmidt, who had just a dozen receptions in the group stage, for a nice 23 yard gain on a gorgeous, over-the-shoulder pass that strong safety Kuse Kuri, despite tight coverage, never had a chance to defend. It got them into Flyer territory at the forty five yard line, and Johnny Farmer would do the rest. By this point, John Garrett and Johnny Farmer have been playing with each other since they were eleven years old. The duo missed a few seasons with Garrett not being the World Bowl starter and their ending up different teams professionally. However, going through a good deal of offseason training together helped, and of course their natural connection were something astounding. Farmer had some autonomy of his route on this concept, we've seen it before, and when he saw cover three, he went right down the seam.

Garrett, of course, delivered the ball in stride, and the 255 pound tight end had no problem smashing through the safeties who would prove nothing more than a stepping stone on his way to a 45 yard touchdown. With that play, Garrett and the Krauts sent the Flyers a message they had told themselves all along: they were going to leave everything on the field, and they would leave absolutely no room for mistakes.

Miyamoto heard him loud and clear and the general of this Squidroidia team looked to answer. Now, to be fair, our defense was able to stall out the opposition on the next two drives, something that seemed systemic with our own offense as the half drew nearly to a close with fruitless drives.

However, after getting the ball with a minute to play in the half, that Miyamoto dialed up Kouji Nakano to show that he could match every bit of that deep arm Garrett just showcased, and aggression was resulted with a 57 yard bomb of a gain, a play only stopped when safety Cliff Henson effectively shoestring tackled the receiver, not that it would matter. The next two plays were runs, and Stein Bell took easily made up the remaining 18 yards to score and draw this one to a tie.

"Our defense was definitely struggling there early on," coach Raul Nieler offered to the press after the game, "But Squidroidia has one hell of a team, you can't expect to beat them on every snap. We tightened up when it mattered late, thank god. Right now, we're going to hit the film room hard, practice harder, and try to go into the quarterfinal with all the teeth we just showed."

To start the third quarter, the Flyers knew they had a shot to get a 2-for-1, as they got the ball at the half. Miyamoto began to mount his answer, and drove hard down the field with a 7 play, 61 yard drive to get into the red zone on third down. However, this was where Angelo Gordon came through. The pass rusher finally broke through and came virtually unhindered off the edge, having only needed a slight club move to clear his path, and launched himself at the quarterback to bring him down. Perhaps the Flyers wouldn't have picked it up anyway, but as it stands, Gordon forced a field goal and kept 4 points off the board. It did, however, still mean the Flyers took the lead. The Krauts came out unconcerned. John Garrett, who threw just two interceptions in the group stage, shredded the Flyers defense, going 7/7 on the drive and finishing with a touchdown on a quick slant to Calvin Hale. Notably, Vice Jackson III had only garnered four carries to this point, with Elijah Sampson taking over most of the workload on that front.

An interception by cornerback Darnell Sleight-- his third overall in this World Bowl -- killed the Flyers' next attempt to either close the deficit or to take the lead altogether once again, and it led to another score for the Krauts, this one a chip shot field goal for Barry Chlorid. Now with a 24-17 lead, it was the first time all game Ranoria had a somewhat comfortable lead. That lead shrunk a couple drives later however, when Miyamoto linked with tight end to get into field goal range. That moved the deficit to just 4 now late in the fourth quarter. There was just a bit too much time run out the clock, and Raul Nieler gave his quarterback the reigns to go and put this one away. Garrett did just that.

Elijah Sampson opened the drive with a pair of handoffs, and the team made sure to eat up every second of the play clock they could. Garrett started to mix in quick passing plays to pick up seven to ten yard chunks and keep the team on schedule, and the Flyers defense was clearly getting frustrated with the conservative attack, especially with their trying to get the ball back to their offense. Farmboy baited them though, and hard. Once they sold out on a jailbreak blitz, Elijah Sampson quietly slipped out of the backfield and, suddenly, had as many linemen in front of him as defensive backs. He would march 22 yards untouched for the final score of the game, to make it 31-20.

Squidroidia, of course, was now in desperate straits, and they played like it. With five minutes on the clock, they hit three straight passing plays and drove forty yards on them before taking a timeout. When the next three plays, all shots to the end zone, didn't pan out, the mixed crowd of Squidroidians, Ranorians, and Chromatiks sat in utter silence.

Once again, with perfect timing, Angelo Gordon shot out like a cannon off the edge. Too fast for the tackle, too strong for the chip he got from a tight end, he would go more conservative this time, wrapping up and ragdolling quarterback Sato Miyamoto before clapping his hands together and bowing to the crowd.

"Game over," the defensive end muttered just loud enough for the microphone he'd been fitted with for this one to pick up on.

Angelo Gordon led the charge on defense with a pair of sacks, including one to put this game on ice

In the postgame press conference, John Garrett made it very clear that, while he knew both Squidroidia and even moreso Drawkland were viable threats to our dream run, he came into this one with a very real goal. He was here for Jawara. "Jawara's not going to lose. I have to think he wants this last duel as badly as I do. So I have to do my part, I have to find a way to get us past Drawkland, come hell or high water."

Next up, perhaps an even greater challenge, if you couldn't tell from that quote: Drawkland. The Grid Corps are in complete win now mode, with many of their stud veterans set to retire, be that from international competition or overall, after this season. Despite our own official #2 ranking, the Grid Corps have twice been World Bowl Champions, and, somehow, they seem hungrier than ever. For their part, they're coming off a tight, 13-10 win over the 7th seeded Royal Kingdom of Quebec and show no signs of slowing down for us.

Can our squad, desperate for a title to show the world we're more than pretenders, match that fire? We'll find out a week from now in Eyrods's The Jungle, when we face off against a nation that's given us all we could ask for in NSCF play.

[Cassadaigua]

Fillies Tested, Prevail,
By Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

Cassadaigua is moving on in the World Bowl 41 playoffs, but it was not without a battle against the Fleftics of Abanhfleft. That is to be expected, as once you get to this point, there are no more Kriegiersien’s to defeat and only the best of the best. Abanhfleft is a former World Bowl champion, so while their current effort will not be to their expectations, they have a rich history that they can be proud of, and such a team can always dig out a big game when they need it. They are also a little smarter than the run of the mill unranked side, who will keep throwing it into the coverage of Hannah Rafferty or Kelsey Rocker.

The Fleftics would receive the opening kick off, and took it 80 yards for a score, utilizing 10 plays in which eight of them were runs. Ronnie Turgeon punched it in from three to make it 7-0, Abanhfleft, and we were under way. Cassadaigua’s Taylor Crimmins was not as conservative as the Fleftics were, and came out slinging as the Fillies answered with a touchdown drive of their own, one that only needed eight plays, seven of which were through the air. The tying score was an 11-yard reception by tight end Cori Finney. It was more of the same for Abanhfleft on their next possession, a slower paced drive, primarily on the ground, that ended in seven points. Then, for Cassadaigua, also more of the same, with Taylor Crimmins hooking up with Alexa Schultz on a 37-yard reception, making it 14-14 with 14:19 left in the second quarter.

“Something had to change at that point,” Hannah Rafferty told me after the game, “we could not keep allowing them to run the ball on us almost at will. So, we challenged the linebackers to step up, as we did with the defensive line. The Fleftics were too efficient, and we started to get a little better on defense. They got a field goal on their next drive, but it was better then giving up a touchdown. After that field goal, our confidence was starting to get going.” Unfortunately for the Fillies, Abanhfleft also picked it up defensively, and contained the pink and black’s offense for the rest of the first half. But their offense could not contain our defense, and with 2:28 remaining in the first half, Kelsey Rocker forced a fumble from running back Turgeon, which was recovered by Lawrence Baylor at the Fleftics 26. Cassadaigua went three and out, but were in position for a Kiersten Baker (Park) 44 yard field goal with 1:01 remaining in the half that tied the game back up at 17. That forced fumble seemed to re-energize this Cassadaigua team.

In the second half, the two teams made defensive stops, but Cassadaigua would take their first lead of the game late in the third when Crimmins hooked up with Brooke Talley for 21 yards along the right sideline to make it 24-17. Then, the play of the game soon after. Glenn Poore had played smart up to this point for Abanhfleft, but with 8:39 left and the ball near midfield, he forced a pass into coverage. Nickelback Meghan Landis made him pay, catching the ball at the Fleftics 30, and taking it 70 yards for a score, giving Cassadaigua a 31-17 lead. Against this team, that can be insurmountable, but Poore was smart on his next drive, bringing his team downfield for a touchdown with 2:41 left on the clock. They had all three timeouts left, so elected to kick off and hope for a stop. They’d never get the stop or the ball again, as the Fillies hang on for the 31-24 win.

Oh, and Stacie Houston, the driver of the #27 Five Star Mobile Blaze for Team Cassadaigua and girlfriend of Jeremiah Brooke, posted on twii’tur:

“Brookie, you know we own TJUN-ia in football (other than that one game). Maybe we can give you some pointers.”

[Drawkland]

CORPSGUY725'S BLOG

World Bowl XLI Round of 16 Review
Life is Torment

Let me get my hot take out of the way first: Drawkland's Grid Corps is living on borrowed time. Our time of reckoning is imminent. Any playoff rounds we advance from here are merely delaying the inevitable result. Pain. Suffering, even. Agony, if you will. Torment, if you're so inclined.

Quebec

So we were set to play the Royal Kingdom of Quebec in our Round of 16 tie. If anything, this was a paper-thin draw. This was quite literally the best case scenario. Quebec were ranked in the 20s coming into this World Bowl. They managed to overcome the Transmodian Commonwealth of New England, who were the top seeds in the group. Despite a solid performance by New England, blowing out their unranked opponents, they lost three key games, which surrendered the group playoff spots to 6-2 Quebec and Karditan.

Quebec have been in and out of the gridiron scene, especially college ball, but their national team never seemed to amount to any huge World Bowl runs. They were the weakest group winner in this World Bowl by rank, and one of the weakest by record (they overcame Ko-oren by point differential. LOL, defensive tactics strike again). With our status as the second-best group runner up, we dodged Ko-oren (thanks for biting that bullet for us, Anthor!) and were seeded with Quebec.

Set to play in Felswyr, Chromatika, merely a day after Sadeg State heroically defeated Felswyr State on the same turf, it was going to be an interesting matchup (and probably not one with a friendly crowd). The cold weather would likely be more of an advantage to Quebec than us. In the end, it didn't make that much of a difference, especially since Niles Monk, the head referee, seemed content with flagging literally any mild offense his team could catch. This man has apparently never heard the phrase "let them play!" Many drives on both sides of the ball ended up being stunted by stupid ticky-tack holding calls or extended by lame PI calls.

With both teams being so aggressive, the low score may be a surprise to some. Ultimately, the aggression was both our undoing, as both squads ended up going for it on fourth down too many times. At least 14 (or 6, if we'd merely kicked) points were left on the board for both team thanks for fourth down plays on the goalline not working out.

The game started with a Quebecois drive that was pretty well-scripted. It succeeded in getting Team Quebec down the field, but a well-timed tackle for loss by Leo Cross on a first down run, and two straight incompletions ended in forcing Quebec to kick a field goal to start the game. The Grid Corps managed to roll down the field in a similar manner thanks to Jack Hoy and Dustin Beck's two-headed rushing attack, and some short game passes that Daniel Madison and Toby Miller turned into more yards after the catch. On 3rd and 5 inside the red zone, Jack Hoy ripped off a huge run which included a great juke on Derrick Askuwheteau on the outside that would lead to a touchdown. However, Ref Monk decided a block by Tom Giles was close enough to throw the flag for holding, and the next third down play didn't work out so well for us, so we too had to settle for a field goal.

From here, each team's offense seemed to falter, especially due to the aforementioned over-aggression. Deep shots were missed, big plays were brought back too often, and too many fakes and fourth down tries resulted in zero points on the board for the rest of the half. The 3-3 scoreline was not what either team wanted to be seeing going into the locker rooms for halftime, but the good news was that there was still plenty of time to make up for it.

Coming out of halftime, the Corps got the ball, and HC Quentin Averfel had another good drive put together to start the half. The drive would get inside the five for the third time that day for Drawkland, and this time, the playcalling was good enough that we could actually hit paydirt. Jack Hoy and Dustin Beck were ripping up turf with the read option, especially against Quebec's college-level defense. On 2nd and goal from the three, Jack Hoy got the ball on the option and slipped through the trenches to score, putting up the first touchdown of the day.

The rest of the third and most of the fourth quarter wasn't so kind to either team. However, with about eight minutes left in the fourth, Quebec got the ball in good field position thanks to a turnover on downs near midfield. Quebec needed a touchdown, trailing 3-10 late in the game, but they didn't want to leave too much time on the clock for Drawkland. Baek Doo-Gwan, a senior back from USC, was called up for most of the drive and he answered. He was rolling through our defense, and a couple quick passes by Baek Dong-Hyeon were starting to make us nervous. With not a lot of time left on the clock, it was looking like we wouldn't have a chance to score again if Quebec scored (and it looked like they would, with a 1st and goal).

From here, Defensive Coordinator Mathis Southers decided to intentionally call a loose defense to let Quebec score. It worked to perfection, with Doo-Gwan sliding right through our linebackers, shedding a "tackle attempt" and hitting paydirt to tie the game.

With about three minutes on the clock, it was looking like we'd have to really put ourselves together to get into field goal range to break the tie and win. But on the ensuing kickoff, Jack Hoy decided he didn't want to take that risk, and instead he put together a beautiful kick return. Unfortunately, Quebec's special teams had a couple guys hanging back just in case, and Hoy couldn't slip past them once he crossed midfield.

Just outside field goal range though, the Corps decided to get into better position and then try taking deep shots. The first part worked, with Hoy spinning past the line and getting to the 40 yard line before being taken down. The next two passes didn't make it to anybody's hands, however, so the Corps were faced to take their field goal right after the two minute warning. Thankfully, the veteran Matthew Watts wasn't fazed by the circumstances, and booted the ball straight through the uprights to make the score 10-13.

Quebec weren't ready to lie down and die, however, with 1:45 left on the clock. Baek Dong-Hyeon began a frantic passing attack, and the Corps was content to sit in prevent defense and merely force Quebec to burn clock by passing it inside. Dong-Hyeon got the right plays, though, and Quebec's hurry-up offense was tuned enough that they managed to get into field goal range with seconds to spare. When Dong-Hyeon spiked the ball for the final time, it bounced on the 35 yard line, with 3 seconds left.

Now all the pressure went to Elonore Casey. The junior from Universite d'Etoile-Nord now had the eyes of his nation upon him. Make this kick, and send the game to a decisive overtime which his nation could come out on top. Miss it, and you all go home. From 50 yards, middle of the field.

The snap was good. The hold was good. Casey's approach was good. The foot met ball. It sailed, and sailed, and sailed, and slid ever so right outside the poles.

Wide right. Drawkland wins.

On to the next.

QF - vs Ranoria

Wait, you expect us to have a chance?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH *pause to suck in some air* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Like I said. We aren't winning this game, and if we do, we're certainly not winning against whoever comes victorious in Delaclava vs Banija. And if we do, that just means our pain will be multiplied tenfold when we have to lose on the multiversal stage in the World Bowl final.

We suck now. Suck it up.

corpsguy725 out

[Chromatika]

Do you Want to Know if you made it to the World Bowl Semifinals? Let's see!

---

World Bowl XLI Playoffs: Quarterfinals
Q1: ₁Cassadaigua 10-10 (10-16 OT) ₈Ko-oren
@ United Center, Urrheddiao, Urrhed Island (Cap. 120,000; 28,000 Seats) Kickoff: 5:30 PM Forecasted Weather: 51F, Windy (No impact, Dome) Referee: Sandra Inero (Strictness: 8/10)
Q2: ₄TJUN-ia 7-41 ₁₁Saint Kanye
@ The Tidal Wave, Tihon, Urrhed Island (Cap. 95,210; 25,000 Seats) Kickoff: 10:30 AM Forecasted Weather: 49F, Windy (up to 20mph) Referee: Gurav Isherai (Strictness: 7/10)
Q3: ₁₂Delaclava 27-13 ₃Banija
@ Island Dome, Myana, Myana Island (Cap. 133,000; 35,000 Seats) Kickoff: 1:00 PM Forecasted Weather: 53F, Clear Referee: Amelie Goren (Strictness: 6.5/10)
Q4: ₁₀Drawkland 6-6 (13-6 OT) ₂Ranoria
@ The Jungle, Eyrods, Myana Island (Cap. 74,590, 26,000 Seats) Kickoff: 1:00 PM Forecasted Weather: 57F, Cloudy Referee: Mike Bowens (Strictness: 9/10)

World Bowl XLI Playoffs: Semifinals
S1: ₈Ko-oren vs ₁₁Saint Kanye
@ RCK Field, Alnio, Capital District (Cap. 100,400, 32,000 Seats) Kickoff: 5:30 PM Forecasted Weather: 50F, Clear Referee: Dramond Green (Strictness: 7/10)
S2: ₁₂Delaclava vs. ₁₀Drawkland
@ The Shock, Wirr Tsi, Capital District (Cap. 51,350, 18,000 Seats) Kickoff: 1:00 PM Forecasted Weather: 53F, Cloudy Referee: Whitney Miles (Strictness: 8/10)

[TJUN-ia]

Pain.

It's all we've known as TJUN-ians and we must experience this feeling again.

In truth, this was the best World Bowl we've ever had. We rose out of the shadow of the group stage after all the strife and we even managed to win a playoff game. Gus McKerrin's team were a machine at times and with an overall record of 8-2, we can certainly leave this competition with our heads held high.

But the way we left this World Bowl was something we all know dear - utter crushing defeat. Saint Kanye tore us apart and we could do nothing about it.

It wasn't only us either. On this night the Top 4 seeds all fell - Cassadaigua? Beaten in Overtime. Banija? Lost by 14 to Delaclava. Ranoria? Lost in OT to fucking Drawkland. Chaos reign over us all and now, who knows who will claim the crown in the end.

Can we consider ourselves a part of the elite now? We honestly aren't sure, but one thing is certain.

If we are elite now, then you better believe we will fight to remain here.

---

SCHEDULE (Group F)
MD1: vs Greater Vakolicci Haven (24) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 10-7 (2nd)
MD2: @Saint-Domingues (UR) W 13-3 (1st)
MD3: vs Drawkland (6) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 25-24 (1st)
MD4: @United Volcano Islands (UR) W 44-0 (1st)
MD5: BYE (1st/4-0/+58PD)
--------------------------BREAK--------------------------
MD6: @Greater Vakolicci Haven (24) W 23-9 (1st)
MD7: vs Saint-Domingues (UR) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 27-6 (1st/OFFICIALLY QUALIFIED)
MD8: @Drawkland (6) - Metro Arena, Metropolon L 17-24 (1st)
MD9: vs United Volcano Islands (UR) - Field of Dreams in The Gardens, New Washington W 17-14 (1st)
MD10: BYE (1st/7-1/+89PD)
------------------------------------------------------------
Ro16: vs Karditan (10) - Hawk's Nest, Deprí Lanar W 21-20
QF: vs Saint Kanye (12) - The Tidal Wave, Tihon L 7-41

[Saint Kanye]

The Cassadaigua Fillies. The Ranoria Krauts. The Banija SerpentEagles. The TJUN-ia Jags. These are the top four seeds of World Bowl XLI, all with separate quarterfinals opponents. How many of those would move on to the semis? All of them? Three? Two?

One?

None.

Yes.

The second round of the World Bowl playoffs proved to be the day of upsets. The SerpentEagles fell 13-27 to the twelfth-seeded Delaclava Phoenixes. The Fillies and Krauts both lost in extra time, the former 10-16 to the eighth-seeded Ko-oren Dragonflies and the latter 6-13 to the tenth-seeded Drawkland Grid Corps. The Jags suffered the worst beatdown of the day, 7-41 to the eleventh-seeded.... wait, is this correct?

The St. Kanye Surge.

Yes.

"It's like a nice piece of music or a well-oiled machine. Everything just worked together," said Surge head coach Jeff Delphine of his team's performance in the game. "Our offense was penetrating their defense. Our defense was stopping their offense. Even the special teams played their part. It's so beautiful to watch." "Yeah, you love to see it if you're a fan of the purple and lime," agreed quarterback R.J. Linetti. "All our effort and teamwork got us here and earned us a result that we'd be more than happy with." Linetti took man of the match honors with 25/29 passes completed for 269 yards and two touchdowns (QBR 128.3) as well as 94 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.

---

1Q STK field goal Rasputin 35 STK 3-0
The Jag defense actually did something of note early in the contest, limiting their opponents to three points on their opening drive. James Rasputin didn't let the wind bother him as he drilled in the 35-yard FG.

1Q STK Sherman 19 run (Rasputin kick) STK 10-0
However, it would be all St. Kanye for pretty much the rest of the way. A forced fumble by Justin Varley on Vinny Mac gave the Surge the ball back on their own 42-yard line. Three plays later, Noah Sherman would juke a couple of defenders on his way to the endzone, increasing the lead to nine (ten after the extra point by Rasputin).

2Q STK Dobler 14 pass from Linetti (Rasputin kick) STK 17-0
Hounded by defenders, Linetti would throw on the run to a waiting BD12 in the endzone. TJUN-ia head coach Gus McKerrin challenged the catch, but lost.

2Q STK O'Connor 38 interception return (Rasputin kick) STK 24-0
A few sequences later, cornerback Aidan O'Connor picked off a pass intended by Jake Griffin to Jack Davidson, giving the Surge a halftime lead of 24-nil.

3Q STK Moore 47 pass from Linetti (Rasputin kick) STK 31-0
Graham Polison (not to be confused with Marco Polisson of Kohnhead) was flagged for pass interference, allowing Patrick Moore to join the Yeezies' scoring party in the third quarter.

4Q STK Linetti 12 run (Rasputin kick) STK 38-0
A Gary Bradman interception in the final period gave St. Kanye good field position. They went on a short drive, but then got stuck in the red zone. Eventually it's fourth and one at the eleven. Linetti would go for it, making a play with his legs to make it 38-nil.

4Q TJU J. Davidson 20 pass from Griffin (Chi kick) STK 38-7
A twenty-yard reception by Davidson ensured that the Jags would not come home empty-handed. It was too late for them to mount a comeback, though.

4Q STK field goal Rasputin 40 STK 41-7
The wind proved to be no problem for St. Kanye's greatest kick machine, as he found the uprights for the seventh time in seven tries (five XPs, two FGs).

---

Despite curbstomping their opponents during the game, the Kanyeans still showed their good sportsmanship after it, shaking the hands of the TJUN-ians as they walked off the field. "I don't think we've seen the last of them," said QB Linetti. "Like us, the Jags are a rising power in the gridiron world. They've shown their growth, making their first playoffs and winning their first game in it [in the Round of Sixteen]. I expect that, when we play them again in a future World Bowl, we'd have a tougher time. But I'd still want us to win, of course."

The Grid Corps will face the Phoenixes in one of the semis matches, while in the other, the Surge will square off against their archrivals the Dragonflies. St. Kanye and Ko-oren are an even 2-2 against each other since last season, the visiting team winning each matchup. However, they will be doing battle in neutral ground this time, specifically, RCK Field in Alnio. "I don't care if this game is going to be a shootout or a snoozefest or whatever else," said Coach Delphine. "All I care about is us getting the win." Kickoff is at 5:30 PM Chromatik time.

---

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| MD   | Opponent               | Rank | Uniform       | Score   | Record | Place |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 1    | @South Newlandia       | UR   | White/White   | L 6-9   | 0-1    | 3rd   |
| 2    | BYE                    |      |               |         |        | 5th   |
| 3    | The Desiccated States  | UR   | Purple/Purple | W 13-0  | 1-1    | 2nd   |
| 4    | @Ko-oren               | 4    | White/Purple  | W 19-10 | 2-1    | 1st   |
| 5    | Kohnhead               | 30   | Purple/Black  | W 40-27 | 3-1    | 1st   |
|      | BREAK                  |      |               |         |        |       |
| 6    | South Newlandia        | UR   | Purple/Black  | W 25-3  | 4-1    | 1st   |
| 7    | BYE                    |      |               |         |        | 1st   |
| 8    | @The Desiccated States | UR   | White/White   | W 27-20 | 5-1    | 1st   |
| 9    | Ko-oren                | 4    | Purple/Purple | L 3-17  | 5-2    | 2nd   |
| 10   | @Kohnhead              | 30   | White/Purple  | W 23-10 | 6-2    | 2nd   |
|      | BREAK                  |      |               |         |        |       |
| RO16 | Newmanistan            | 9    | White/Purple  | W 17-16 | 1-0    | QF    |
| QF   | TJUN-ia                | 15   | Purple/Black  | W 41-7  | 2-0    | SF    |
| SF   | Ko-oren                | 4    | White/White   |         |        |       |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Delaclava]

DSGN.com Football

Semi-sweetness for the Phoenixes in Chromatika
Delaclava puts together second-half masterpiece in Myana to top Banija

Myana, CMT - With a dominant Banija in front of them and staring down a 10-6 halftime deficit, the Delaclava national football team played their best half of the season to defeat the Serpent Eagles 27-13 at the Island Dome and advance to the World Bowl 41 semifinal in Chromatika.

"All the effort, struggling to get along and find our game, we knew it would come to this if we figured it out," said running back Dexter George, whose third-quarter rushing touchdown ended up as the game-winning score. "With the adversity we went through, the infighting and drama - once we got past it, coming back from a halftime deficit seemed so much easier." George ended the day with 83 yards on 17 carries. Taurus Wright went 22-of-32 with 279 yards, one 45-yard touchdown to Mateus Eldridge, and one interception, and added 54 yards on nine carries. Going head-to-head with Banija's Isaka Jawara, a similar run-capable quarterback, Wright showed the importance of youthful athleticism in taking over the game in the third quarter, seemingly undaunted by his lack of experience or championship pedigree. "Football is football, man, and pressure's a real thing," Wright said in his press conference. "I've been playing with unheralded teams my whole life. It's fine, it's gotten me used to ignoring what others are going to say about me, and just playing my best."

While it was the Phoenixes who scored first, leading Kieran Conley to a 41-yard-field goal after the Phoenixes got a stop on Banija's opening drive, Wright and the offensive line were clearly succumbing to the pressure of the defensive line; George and Mark Mayfield averaged around three yards per carry through the first half, and Wright couldn't seem to find an open man in the Serpent Eagles' tight man coverage. Even the fleet of foot Catherina Crushers quarterback was finding it difficult to improvise, frequently hurried and chased. In one such play, a Wright passed intended for Andre Michel instead went into the hands of Saihou Fadika at Banija's 38 yard line. Armed with the short field, the veteran Jawara expertly led his offense up the field, spreading the ball around to running back Kuenda Sello and wideouts Lamin Kah and Chinweuba Jelan, until he found Hatabu Jagne across the middle for the touchdown and the lead. With Conley and Komani Achaje trading field goals, the Serpent Eagles went into the locker room with the 10-6 lead.

"We didn't have to make crazy adjustments at halftime," Eldridge said. "It was a close game and we were doing alright. It just wasn't quite us. We were lettiys ng them come to us, not fighting their pressure with pressure and speed. At our best, we're a bit chaotic and that works well for us to find and create open space." With that in mind, Delaclava took over after the opening touchback, and were creating more movement at the line of scrimmage. It gave Wright and George more room on the ground, and after Wright fed the ball to tight end Robbie Hahn on several short slants, Eldridge was freed up to blow past Fadika for the 45-yard touchdown which gave the Phoenixes a lead they would never relinquish. The Phoenixes, clearly feeling in charge, went for the jugular on the next drive but failed a 4th-and-4 conversion at Banija's 15 yard line. Nevertheless, Jawara threw an interception to Dave Dobren two plays later, setting up a quick 9 play, 41 yard drive that culminated in George's 7-yard touchdown with 26 second remaining in the quarter.

After the Serpent Eagles turned around with another Achaje field goal to pull within a touchdown with ten minutes left, they seemed to be wise to the change in pace from the Phoenixes offense, slowing them down enough to force a punt. Banija was pinned on the 2 yard line with a well-placed punt from Oliver Kurzmann, but they had the ball and were ready to score the 7 points they needed. The drive started well with two quick first downs, Jawara finding Kah and Jelan on the outside. But on the fifth play of the drive, Jawara got chased out of the pocket by Allan Tolliver; he looked up the middle and thought he saw Jelan. Instead, he saw Tate Parker; the Coleport Jazz safety came the other way across the middle, taking the pass in stride towards the opposite corner. He was past the offensive line before anyone could blink, and Parker high-stepped past a desperately diving Jawara, who didn't have the angle, setting the score at its final 27-13 and deflating Banija's comeback hopes.

"It was great to step in there and the make the play," Parker said. "Our defense has been solid all year, but I don't feel like we've made many of those highlight-reel, game-changing plays that turn a game around. But in that moment, you see the ball coming in slow motion. We set that up perfectly with the front line pressure and the opportunity to put the game away was right there."

Parker credited the Serpent Eagles for their performance and said the Phoenixes look forward to seeing them again. "They had a soft schedule before us and I think that hurt them. But they threw everything they had at us and they've got heart. They just need to recharge and reload... they're all old guys and college players. You have to find that happy medium. Our team's all in our mid-20's, we have a few years of pro experience, the physical and emotional maturity, but we're still in our prime. If they can do that right, they'll be dangerous."

Delaclava next faces Drawkland, who subdued a high-powered Ranoria offense to win 13-6 in overtime. Veteran quarterback and offensive consultant Brian Mathis broke down some of the mechanics of the potential matchup: "Offensively, they're pretty safe and standard. Well-balanced, and a lot of talent for sure. But talent only gets you so far. They can get bodied up and pressured, they can get frustrated. I think we've seen in the past that they haven't had a plan when they've been challenged and met their match. If we execute and take away their options across the board, that's our key to success. On the other end, they're a risk-taking defense, we're a risk-taking offense. It should be a really cool clash, fireworks regardless of the outcome, but they're vulnerable if we unload the ball and make quick decisions. And we've always been quicker than them, they've been bigger and more able to clog things up. It's a good matchup, well worthy of a semifinal. We're going to have fun putting our gameplan together."

Two programs who are looking to replicate successes of the distant past, this semifinal is a sort of rubber match for the Phoenixes and the Grid Corps. The two squads split group stage games in both World Bowls 39 and 40; however, Drawkland's 31-16 group stage finale victory in World Bowl 40 had the effect of knocking first-place Delaclava out of the playoffs entirely. Wide receiver and captain Kevin Alés said the team isn't too focused on settling any scores. "We're both become very different teams since then. Our squad's put together a lot of faster and younger talent that's starting to find its rhythm. The Grid Corps are a bit slower and aren't as dominant as they used to be, but they've found a way to tough out victories, and that's the hallmark of a championship squad. So it's a great matchup, and with a World Bowl final on the line? Bring it."

But Alés does feel he has some extra skin in the game as a basketball fan, and recalls the attitude of the Drawkian team while they played their IBC group stage games in Valeina and Quinniville. "I watched the group stage action in my neck of the woods before I went to catch the Phoenixes games. So they were eliminated, sulking, and started talking about how the Phoenixes were only doing well because of the home advantage. 'Home cooking' was the phrase, I think. Are you kidding me? You've all barely practiced this season, and you think you can just waltz into Delaclava and make the semifinals? And then you want to sulk when it doesn't go your way and talk shit about us? Quit running your mouth and put in the work."

"We don't need to prove anything else in this tournament. We made the semifinals. The Phoenixes are for real. And so we're going to go out and have a great game, and the better team will win... But they best come correct and ready to play. Otherwise, we're going to burn them up too."

Scoring Summary

Banija          0 - 10 -  0 - 3 -- 13
Delaclava	3 -  3 - 14 - 7 -- 27

1st Quarter
DEL - Kieran Conley 41 yard FG, 7:02.
2nd Quarter
BNJ - Isaka Jawara 21 yard pass to Hatabu Jagne (Komani Achaje kick), 11:13.
DEL - Conley 43 yard FG, 5:09.
BNJ - Komani Achaje 36 yard FG, 1:35.
3rd Quarter
DEL - Taurus Wright 45 yard pass to Mateus Eldridge (Kieran Conley kick) 13:04.
DEL - Dexter George 7 yard run (Conley kick) :26.
4th Quarter
BNJ - Achaje 48 yard FG, 10:09.
DEL - Tate Parker 37 yard interception return (Conley kick) 4:32.

[Ko-oren]

In our financial reports of the state of professional (and semi-professional) sports in Ko-oren, we've focused on the clubs themselves, on the amount of members they have, and the tickets they sell week in, week out. It shouldn't come as a surprise that venue size impacts a club's financial capabilities. Therefore, adjusting the venue size so that income outpaces maintenance costs is key, and so far we have also highlighted some clubs that should increase their venue size in order to capitalise on the amount of fans they could be bringing in. Not everyone can be a winner: some clubs absolutely do play in venues that are far too large for their status, but seeing as the stadium is already built, and in all cases shared with another (often larger) club, maintenance alone cannot undermine a club's finances.

Ko-oren is home to 373 stadiums, counting only 1) permanent venues that are 2) regularly used by 3) professional and semi-professional teams in 4) the seven big sports (soccer, gridiron, rugby league, rugby union, cricket, baseball, ice hockey). Those are some important caveats, seeing as there are examples where each of the four rules are broken:
1) Gridiron plays a 'home away from home' game twice a season where they play in their market's hinterland. Nearly all of these games are played in temporary venues, open to a fairly small audience (but yield some unbelievable footage).
2) Baseball and lower division cricket clubs play in various grounds throughout the season, in and outside of their cities. For baseball especially, these grounds are normally school grounds, otherwise not used for professional sports.
3) Ko-orenite football enjoys massive popularity (easily top 4) but its players are (formally) amateurs.
4) Ice hockey only just got the 'big sport' status. Field hockey, Aussie rules, and basketball are likely next to get the same status to bring us to 10. Lacrosse and kabaddi will remain 'minor' sports for the foreseeable future. Cycling, athletics, and other Olympic sports exist outside of the major/minor sport rating.

And here are all 373, arranged by capacity:


Only two venues break 60,000. Just a handful more (10 in total) break the 40,000 barrier. The vast, vast majority (322 out of 373) seat under 20,000, with the smallest venue seating 2400. 248 stadiums have a capacity under 10,000.

Obviously, some cities have multiple stadiums. Just consider Greencaster, with teams active in cricket, gridiron, soccer, and rugby league, which have slightly different requirements (though the latter three can be played on the same field). Also, the smaller clubs have no place in the Surbourneshire Square and play in smaller, suburban stadiums that are closer to their much more localised fanbase. The following is a graph of all towns and cities with at least one stadium, by number of stadiums in that city:


On the left we see Katashi, with 15 venues total, across rugby league, soccer, gridiron, and baseball. The city supports an entire lower division baseball league, leading to their high total. Tied for second are Willowbourne and Greencaster, active in the four sports mentioned above, and both have some parts of the urban area that have a distinct local culture and are physically barely connected to the rest of the urban area at all - and all their clubs and arenas are counted as part of the urban area. After these two, it's Santa Teresa (9), followed by Sterrenwolde and Mayara (8). Interestingly, both Mawryshire cities (Mawrystwyth and Llandy) have 7 each, for cricket, rugby union, soccer, and gridiron. Out of 196 cities that have at least one entry in the list, 128 have just the single entry. 14 cities have five or more.

A better look at the top of the list (3 or more entries):


Points of note include:
- Burnet is on the list with a population of just 83,940. Arakura, Granon, Aubury, Penstead are not far behind, all with populations under 120,000 - Aubury and Granon even have four stadiums each.
- Aminey is one of just three Millionnaire cities, but has 6 venues to show for it, overtaken by Llandy which has under 1/5th of its population.
- Aevanna's total of 4 is propped up by the inclusion of ice hockey in the list. Should field hockey be included in the list, cities like Schemerdrecht, Sterrenwolde, Rozenvoorde (and Laringen, not in this chart) will see higher totals. Aussie rules will boost the numbers of Llandy, Mawrystwyth, and Eaglebury. Basketball will add one to each of the capital cities (Mayara, Maethoru, Gehrenna, Senoren), Aminey, Étouille, and other towns on the western and southern Bay coasts.

[Drawkland]

CORPSGUY725'S BLOG

World Bowl XLI Quarterfinal Review
Life is Misery

Okay, alright, okay, fine. Margaret, or whatever deity of chance there is that dictates all our fates, you are an official comedian. That's right. You're pulling a fast one on me! It's called, you're doing a little trolling! Pranking poor old corpsguy725.

All I wanted, all I asked for, was an anticlimactic and uneventful early loss to tuck away. This is unprecedented.

Ranoria

I'll be honest, even as the most loyal Grid Corps fan, this game was extremely worrying to me. Even as the 6th-ranked team in the World Bowl, the 2nd-ranked Ranoria were really a much better team than us. We lucked out in the Round of 16 with an advantageous draw, so to go from that to a much more fair Quarterfinal draw against the #2 felt just that much worse. Not to mention, the stratification in the upper echelons of the World Bowl rankings had grown over the last few Bowls. The gap from #2 to #6 is greater than the gap from #6 to #10.

With this in mind, we knew it was going to be a tough match. Ranoria is a super aggressive squad, especially on offense, as are we. It was set to be a difficult game for us both, especially because of the head referee, Mike Bowens. Similar to the ref in our match against Quebec, we expected this would kill a lot of drives with their strict penalty calls.

Ranoria would be a challenge on both sides of the ball. It'd be difficult for our aging defense to keep up with their offense, and it'd be difficult for our hot-or-cold offense to consistently overcome their defense. To have a chance in this game, we really needed some sort of miracle to make things easier on one side of the ball. We would get that miracle on the first drive of the game, but not the way anybody expected to happen.

Ranoria got the ball to start the game, and John Garrett strode out with his offense, ready to come out strong and grab an early lead. This proceeded as well as you'd expect, with Garrett directing traffic down the field via his arm and Vice Jackson's legs. It wasn't until they'd crossed midfield and gotten into field goal range that the Corps defense began to get a rhythm. A stuffed run by Jackson and an incompletion led to 3rd and long, with Garrett needing to make a play. The Kraut offense set to pass, but the initial coverage was tight. Garrett slid in the pocket to buy some time, then was forced to his right. Garrett reared back to make his throw, but he didn't see Leo Cross in his blind spot. Cross, who'd just beaten Tyler Williams and accelerated to full speed across the pocket, slammed into Garrett with the force of a freight train. Garrett didn't have any time to react, barely keeping the ball in his grasp as he was buried onto the turf. While we were jubilant in the moment that Cross sacked Garrett outside of field goal range, the cheering died down once everyone noticed Garrett not moving on the turf below.

Slowly, he got up, which relieved some of us, but he came up gingerly holding his right arm in his left. He was clearly hurt, and quickly jogged off the field. After the injury timeout, the Krauts had to punt, and Drawkland got the ball for the first time in the game.

The powerful and energized Ranorian defense seemed to have the step on Dustin Beck from the get-go. While Jack Hoy could reliably manage to slip past a defender every couple plays, Beck seemed to have a magnet in his pad with attracted Krauts. Our passing attack to start off was limited, and what few yards Hoy could put on the ground weren't enough to keep the drive sustained. Drawkland would punt for the first time.

When Ranoria's offense came back out onto the field, many a Ranorian heart sank when they realized Jeremiah Quill was under center, not John Garrett. News soon spread that Garrett had torn his shoulder and had other arm injuries. He was going to be out for the game, the rest of the tournament, and maybe even into next season. The news was heartbreaking for his many fans, especially those across Ranoria. But for the time being, there was a job to do, and the Kraut offense were hoping to do so in the name of their fallen leader.

Things would not end up so storybook. Quill was an impressive athlete, especially lethal on the ground. His passing, however? Dogshit. And I mean this kindly. However, worse than losing the athlete Garrett was losing the leader Garrett. For better or for worse, the Ranorian NT lived and died at the hand of Garrett - the offensive scheme was more his than any coach's. With their primary signalcaller out, Ranoria's coaching staff was forced to be more active in playcalling. None of them seemed to have that chessmaster instinct that Garrett possessed, and it showed. The Ranorian offense was effective, but it lacked that little extra spark that made them so much better than any other World Bowl offense.

This slight advantage is all the Grid Corps D needed. The front seven transformed into a nightmare for Quill on the ground and the secondary equally scary in the air. Not even the running back room of Ranoria could get much going against the Drawkian front.

This was evened out on the other side of the ball with a complete offensive ineptitude I haven't seen from the Grid Corps since last week. Dustin Beck didn't seem to be in good shape on the field. He felt behind a step, a little less flick on his ball. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but he didn't seem himself.

Anyway, the first quarter was boring. Bunch of punts back and forth, and this led to most of the second quarter being boring as well. There were a few failed 4th down conversions too, but those were pretty uneventful. The most exciting point of the half was when Quill had finally led Ranoria to the red zone, and got the ball first and goal. A couple short runs, and Quill dropped back to pass on 3rd down. The Grid Corps defensive line had a sneaky switchup rush that decimated the Ranorian O-line, and Phillip Tomek wrapped up Quill for a seven-yard sack to force a field goal. At least somebody had finally scored!

With the Grid Corps desperate to score before halftime, they put together a quick drive with a deep passing attack that managed to work through the prevent defense. On a play that broke down with less than 20 seconds to go, Beck scrambled from the pocket to get the first down and temporarily stop the clock. He's the one that got clocked though, as Ross Monarch hit Beck so hard he coughed up the ball, and Ranoria took over.

With 12 seconds remaining, Ranoria decided to try and get into field goal range for a quick score. Quill made a bad read though (and forgot to account for Drawkian size), and Jordan Max came down with an interception. With time waning and no way to score, Max sprinted as far as he could downfield before stepping out of bounds.

With 1 second left in the half, Matthew Watts trotted out to kick a 55-yard field goal, and nailed it to tie the game at 3. The back-to-back turnovers would be the most interesting sequence of the game.

The second half was boring, both teams fizzling on offense, with Watts and Chlorid adding another field goal to their resume. On a failed Beck hail mary, regulation had ended with a score of 6-6.

With the IFAF overtime, the Grid Corps lost the toss, and had to make their offensive drive first. With just a quarter of the field to go, it should've been relatively easy to get a score in. For the Corps, it was. Jack Hoy kept his wheels rolling, and after only 3 big rushes, slipped his way into the end zone. After a trusty Watts PAT, Drawkland had quickly gone up 13-6. Anything other than a touchdown for Ranoria would mean a loss for them, and a win for us.

Vice Jackson would start off the drive nicely with a 5-yard run. Then Quill would manage to squeeze out a yard, to lead to a 3rd and 4. Not feeling confident enough in the run, they decided to pass. Quill looked for the trusty hands of Johnny Farmer on the inside. His pass, however, was errant, and the ball hit Keegan Masters' outstretched hand. The ball popped into the air, and Masters backpedaled to snatch it back and fall to the ground.

Interception. Drawkland wins.

.... what horrors await us now?

SF - vs Delaclava

The pain train rolls on. Choo choo, motherfuckers. Clearly my life must only be dominated by pain and suffering. Instead of getting a lame but low-stakes loss in the first round or even the Quarterfinal, we're now stuck in the upper echelons of the tournament. Now even more people are going to be watching when we inevitably crash and burn. Now the agony will be even more hilarious for the uninvested neutral, and especially our rivals.

A semifinal is bad enough, because that just gives us one more opportunity to play like ass and get embarrassed. Can you imagine if we get 4th place in this tournament? I find it all-too-likely. The pain I will experience when we lose this round is double what it would've been if we lost in the first round. So now, imagine if we somehow win this tilt against Delaclava (who are eager to get another win against us so they have a larger well to shittalk with). Now we have to play either Ko-oren (who's embarrassed us before), or Saint Kanye (beat TJUN-ia 7-41, much more convincingly than we could). Either way, we'll be slapped around and dismantled on multiversal television. Everybody will see our failure and laugh at us. Jeer at our national heroes as they visibly falter and fail. See how this is so much worse?

I officially hate this World Bowl.

Oh, you want me to actually predict our matchup with Delaclava via tactics? LOL. Their younger and hungrier core will run us over and destroy us in a very effective way, and I'll run to the liquor store for the 3rd time this week to drown more of my sorrows.

corpsguy725 out, can the Grid Corps be out now too?

[Chromatika]

World Bowl XLI Playoffs: Semifinals
S1: ₈Ko-oren 10-3 ₁₁Saint Kanye
@ RCK Field, Alnio, Capital District (Cap. 100,400, 32,000 Seats) Kickoff: 5:30 PM Forecasted Weather: 50F, Clear Referee: Dramond Green (Strictness: 7/10)
S2: ₁₂Delaclava 3-10 ₁₀Drawkland
@ The Shock, Wirr Tsi, Capital District (Cap. 51,350, 18,000 Seats) Kickoff: 1:00 PM Forecasted Weather: 53F, Cloudy Referee: Whitney Miles (Strictness: 8/10)

World Bowl XLI Playoffs: Third Place Playoff
3PPO: ₁₁Saint Kanye vs ₁₂Delaclava
@ The Capitalizt Dome, Chromia, Capital District (Cap. 144,000) Kickoff: 5:30 PM Forecasted Weather: 51F, Cloudy Referee: Kevin Durmond (Strictness: 8/10)

World Bowl XLI Playoffs: Championship
Final: ₈Ko-oren vs. ₁₀Drawkland
@ Henza Center, D'rea, Capital District (Cap. 66,530) Kickoff: 5:30 PM Forecasted Weather: 53F, Cloudy Referee: Calvin Jones (Strictness: 7.5/10)

Remember that the 3PPO is scored tomorrow, and the Final on Friday.

[Delaclava]

Statement from the World Bowl XLI Phoenixes

To our fans, friends, families, and compatriots,

Thank you.

Thank you for supporting us at the start of this season, as we trained, got ready, and came together as a unit for the first days of practice.
Thank you for providing us your support and optimism as we struggled and failed, grew frustrated and tried to improve.
Thank you for your patient yet tough love as we fought, publicly embarrassed ourselves, and hurried to pick up the pieces before it was time for kickoff.
Thank you for flooding Sullivan Stadium in Quinniville, and bars and lounges and watch parties all around Delaclava, and Dave Wilson Stadium in Woodstock, as we continued to win and continued to get better, and somehow continued to win some more.
Thank you for showing us that as we started to believe we could really win the whole damn thing, that you had believed it the whole time.
Thank you for letting us know that you had our backs in victory, and even more firmly in defeat.

We started this season just trying to find a way to belong again. We had brought football and the World Bowl back to Delaclava, two tournaments ago; now, we wanted to bring Delaclava back to the World Bowl. It was a thrilling, soul-crushing, deliriously joyful, and improbable ride from afterthought to title contention.
Last night, we faced yet another of the best teams in the world. This time, it wasn't our performance, it wasn't our night. The better team always wins, and that better team very much was not us.
It's not the result we sacrificed our time and energy and moments with loved ones to get, but it doesn't take away from what we accomplished this tournament. We're disappointed in the games we didn't win, but even prouder for the games we did win; we hope and know that you are too.

We've all lost in our lives before, and come back stronger. We hate to lose this game too, but we're not going to cry or sulk about it. We're going to get up, dust ourselves off, and come back even better once again. We owe that to ourselves and to all of you.

What's next for us? Well, we're going to play our third place game against Saint Kanye. For us, this isn't a game to blow off or scoff at. We get an opportunity to play together and play for you one more time, and perhaps end our season on a win. We're going to give it our full effort, and appreciate your support for the final game of our season.

Then, we're going to come home, greet our families and loved ones, and get to a TV and watch the World Bowl championship. We're going to watch the entire game, and we'll see the winner of that game lift the trophy.
As we're watching, we'll be figuring out how we're going to lift that trophy ourselves.
And we can't wait to have you back for that journey.
But first, once more in Chromatika... Go Phoenixes!


~~ The Delaclava national football team

[Saint Kanye]

So, we meet again, Ko-oren.

After starting the World Bowl XLI playoffs with a narrow victory against the Newmanistan Rockets and then absolute domination over the TJUN-ia Jags, what was the reward for the St. Kanye Surge? Another clash (third in this season, fifth all time) with their archrivals the Dragonflies. What to expect? Will the Ko-orenites perhaps rely on their tried and tested formula and focus on shutting down the Kanyeans' scoring, or maybe they'll come up with something totally new to throw them off? Well, the Surge thought as they walked off Chromatika's RCK Field at the end of their semifinals bout, it was definitely the former. The Dragonflies scored ten and advanced to the title game, while they only got three and will have to settle for bronze.

Despite being denied the more preferable result, the Kanyeans remained on the field and, you guessed it, shook hands with their Ko-orenite counterparts. "They [Dragonflies] really are good and decent people," said Surge linebacker Justin Varley. "We only hate them when we play them. Not before, not after, just during the game itself."

Varley was able to help his team force stops and turnovers, but that wasn't enough to lift them to victory, as their offense was also getting shackled by the opponents' defense. Ko-oren scored early in the first, but wouldn't again until the middle of the third. Said Varley's teammate, running back Noah Sherman, "Yep, we got served the Ko-oren special today. The Sherpa Empire has dumplings. Filindostan has seafood. These guys have snoozefests, and the only way it could have been more bearable is if we had won."

---

1Q KOR Welsh ?? pass from Plasman (Bennett kick) KOR 7-0
Rem Plasman shook off St. Kanye's defensive line and threw on the run to Bryan Welsh for the game's first, or rather only, touchdown. Abner Bennett (incorrectly referred to previously as Abdul, apologies) nailed the extra point to make it 7-nil, Dragonflies.

4Q KOR field goal Bennett ?? KOR 10-0
Then it was nothing but punts, fumbles and interceptions for both sides, that was, until Bennett added three points from ?? yards out to make it a two-possession game.

4Q STK field goal Rasputin 42 KOR 10-3
In far contrast to when they seemingly scored at will against the Jags, the Surge were desperate to get anything going. Only their trusty kicker James Rasputin prevented them from getting shut out, like in their previous Ko-oren game [a 3-17 loss in Matchday 9 to knock the Yeezies off the group lead].

---

The Surge's opponents in the third place playoff will be the Delaclava Phoenixes, who fell by an identical scoreline to the Drawkland Grid Corps. "It's gonna be a tossup for sure," said the Yeezies' head mentor Jeff Delphine. "We have both superior ranking and seeding (twelfth vs. sixteenth; eleventh vs. twelfth), but the Delaclavs have way more experience, hosting thrice [World Bowls XI, XV and XXXIX] and winning twice [XIII and XV]. We'll try our hardest to win, of course, but no matter what the outcome will be, I'll still be proud of my squad and how they poured their hearts out and got as deep into this tournament as they can." Kickoff is 5:30 PM Chromatik time at The Capitalizt Dome in Chromia.

---

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| MD   | Opponent               | Rank | Uniform       | Score   | Record | Place |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 1    | @South Newlandia       | UR   | White/White   | L 6-9   | 0-1    | 3rd   |
| 2    | BYE                    |      |               |         |        | 5th   |
| 3    | The Desiccated States  | UR   | Purple/Purple | W 13-0  | 1-1    | 2nd   |
| 4    | @Ko-oren               | 4    | White/Purple  | W 19-10 | 2-1    | 1st   |
| 5    | Kohnhead               | 30   | Purple/Black  | W 40-27 | 3-1    | 1st   |
|      | BREAK                  |      |               |         |        |       |
| 6    | South Newlandia        | UR   | Purple/Black  | W 25-3  | 4-1    | 1st   |
| 7    | BYE                    |      |               |         |        | 1st   |
| 8    | @The Desiccated States | UR   | White/White   | W 27-20 | 5-1    | 1st   |
| 9    | Ko-oren                | 4    | Purple/Purple | L 3-17  | 5-2    | 2nd   |
| 10   | @Kohnhead              | 30   | White/Purple  | W 23-10 | 6-2    | 2nd   |
|      | BREAK                  |      |               |         |        |       |
| RO16 | Newmanistan            | 9    | White/Purple  | W 17-16 | 1-0    | QF    |
| QF   | TJUN-ia                | 15   | Purple/Black  | W 41-7  | 2-0    | SF    |
| SF   | Ko-oren                | 4    | White/White   | L 3-10  | 2-1    | 3PPO  |
| 3PPO | Delaclava              | 16   | Purple/Purple |         |        |       |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Chromatika]

It is time to see who takes the bronze!

---

World Bowl XLI Playoffs: Third Place Playoff
3PPO: ₁₁Saint Kanye 31-31 (31-34 OT) ₁₂Delaclava
@ The Capitalizt Dome, Chromia, Capital District (Cap. 144,000) Kickoff: 5:30 PM Weather: 48F, Cloudy Referee: Kevin Durmond (Strictness: 8/10)

World Bowl XLI Playoffs: Championship
Final: ₈Ko-oren vs. ₁₀Drawkland
@ Henza Center, D'rea, Capital District (Cap. 66,530) Kickoff: 5:30 PM Forecasted Weather: 53F, Cloudy Referee: Calvin Jones (Strictness: 7.5/10)