NationStates Jolt Archive

This company has nothing to do with World Bowl 6.

Welcome to Secristan for World Bowl 6, everyone! We have 21 nations that will be battling it out for gridiron glory. These nations are:

Group A:
Arroza (1) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14731623&postcount=35)
Cassadaigua (15) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14717189&postcount=6)
Cotenshire (11) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14724986&postcount=22)
Prux (21) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14720866&postcount=19)
Steroga (NR) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14742738&postcount=83)
Taeshan (6) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14717089&postcount=5)
Vephrall (9) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14720066&postcount=17)

Group B:
Candrian Empire (19)
Dancougar (2) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14728643&postcount=28)
Fujisawan Territories (18) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14719881&postcount=16)
Kura-Pelland (5) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14716574&postcount=4)
Lovisa (12)
Norwellia (NR) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14718516&postcount=10)
Secristan (7) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14718025&postcount=8)

Group C:
Colbourne (16) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14718417&postcount=9)
Lucino (NR)
Newmanistan (3) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14725229&postcount=24)
Qazox (4) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14717277&postcount=7)
Rennidan (8)
Sarzonia (10) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14719058&postcount=12)
Tocrowkia (33) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14716524&postcount=3)

Schedule:
MD1- April 23- 1 at 3, 2 at 4, 5 at 7 Bye: 6 (Results) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14731829&postcount=37)
MD2- April 24- 5 at 1, 2 at 3, 7 at 6 Bye: 4 (Results) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14734594&postcount=49)
MD3- April 25- 4 at 1, 6 at 2, 7 at 3 Bye: 5 (Results) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14737606&postcount=57)
MD4- April 26- 1 at 2, 3 at 4, 6 at 5 Bye: 7 (Results) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14740627&postcount=69)
MD5- April 27- 2 at 7, 4 at 6, 3 at 5 Bye: 1 (Results) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14744025&postcount=85)
MD6- April 28- 6 at 1, 5 at 2, 7 at 4 Bye: 3 (Results) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14747219&postcount=99)
MD7- April 29- 1 at 7, 4 at 5, 6 at 3 Bye: 2 (Results) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14750757&postcount=110)
April 30- Halftime Break
MD8- May 1- 3 at 1, 4 at 2, 7 at 5 Bye: 6 (Results) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14759026&postcount=122)
MD9- May 2- 1 at 5, 3 at 2, 6 at 7 Bye: 4 (Results) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14762519&postcount=132)
MD10- May 3- 1 at 4, 2 at 6, 3 at 7 Bye: 5 (Results) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14765156&postcount=137)
MD11- May 4- 2 at 1, 4 at 3, 5 at 6 Bye: 7 (Results) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14767952&postcount=144)
MD12- May 5- 7 at 2, 6 at 4, 5 at 3 Bye: 1 (Results) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14770584&postcount=152)
MD13- May 6- 1 at 6, 2 at 5, 4 at 7 Bye: 3 (Results) (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14773532&postcount=160)
MD14- May 7- 7 at 1, 5 at 4, 3 at 6 Bye: 2


With the 21 teams, we will have three groups of seven. This will mean that everyone plays 12 games; six home and six away.

The first three teams in each group will advance to Secristan for knockouts. The group winners will automatically be seeds 1-3. After that, the remaining six teams will be seeded 4-9. The 8 and 9 seeds will play each other with the winner of the game taking on the #1 seed.

I will provide stadium information prior to the start of knockouts.

The group draw will be tomorrow (Monday). However matchday one will not be until Thursday. Expect cutoffs to be in the early evening hours, such as 2200 GMT, or 5PM Eastern USA time. The official schedule will be presented with the group draw.

-A fancy CGI logo that reads "TSPN" flashes across the screen accompanied by some dramatic music. The screen then flashes to a fancy news studio, with chrome colored walls, floors and a desk in the middle. And at this desk sit three people. A middle-aged man with brown hair, a younger man with slick black hair and an even younger woman with light blond hair tied into a bun. All are dressed in formal attire. The middle aged man your conservative business suit, the younger man in a red blazer and the woman in a lacey red blouse covered with a suit jacket. The older man smiles at the screen and begins to speak-

Conrad Rehm: Good afternoon everyone, I'm Conrad Rehm with Tocrowkian Sports News Network. We'll be bringing you all of your World Bowl coverage for the Nordics.

-The camera zooms on the younger man-

Richard Wenz: And I'm Richard Wenz. Our new contract ensures that not only will the World Bowl be covered by us in this format from now on, but so will other events the Nordics partipate in. Such as the World Baseball Classic, the World Cup of Hockey, the International Basketball competition and so on.

-The Camera then flashes to the background. Large black and white murals of iconic images in the Nordics history. Among them is a picture of Johnny Stryker pumping his fist in the air after his fourth homerun against Taeshan in WBC 9, Mikel Westin celebrating his first touchdown pass in the last World Bowl, and others.

-Now the camera switches to the young woman.-

Viktoria Launer: Hello everyone, I'm Viktoria Launer. We do look forward to bringing you the highest quality sports coverage we can. We'll be your color commentators and do your pre-game and post-game analysis, interviews and such. We will maintain a paper-style presentation for boxscores and play-by-play however. And we'd like to introduce you to one more member of the TSPN crew! Anelie Johannes, who will be our field commentator.

-The screen separates to show a good looking petite red-head woman with blue eyes standing outside a massive stadium-

Anaelie: It's a pleasure to be a part of this team. I'm the one that will be doing most of the one-on-one interviews both before and after the game.

Conrad: Thanks, Anaelie. Now the big question is...can the Nordics play .500 football this time around? It seems to be a curse with the Nordics teams failing and failing hard their first time in international sports tourneys. It's been mentioned before, but I'll do it again. The Nordics went 1-and-4 in their first WBC, and 2-and-6 in their first World Bowl. They went without a win or even a single goal in the World Cup of Hockey!

Richard: Yeah, it's gonna be tough going. The Nordics are not a guarantee to play .500 and certainly nothing more than a longshot to deep-in the playoffs, if they even make it at all. But we'll reserve judgment on that until we saw the draw. In the meantime, here's the team we'll be sending. Same as last year....

OFFENSE:
QB: Markus Kash
[ The captain of the team, and a three-time Tocrowkian Conference MVP award winner. Kash is almost your prototypical star quarterback. He has a cannon of an arm and uncanny instincts, able to pick out open receivers at the worst of times and nail them. But clocking in at 5'9', he's obviously a little shorter than your average QB. But that is only another plus for this lithe superstar, as he has plenty of hustle of his own, able to run and spin and dodge with the best of them. ]
RB: Siegfried Vater
[ Like Kash, Siegfried is a little smaller than league average at 5'10' and 156 pounds. But he is a fast little bugger and an expert at finding holes in the defensive line and advancing the ball a long way down the field. ]
FB: Adrian Kanker
[ Big and tall and strong, Adrian Kanker is an effective blocker, able to hold back multiple linemen at once. However, he also a decent runner and can plow through the line to gain some yards if need be. ]
WR: Mikel Westin
[ Perhaps the most iconic player on the team, Westin is awesome at what he does. He can catch, he can catch with style (making mind boggling acrobat catches frequently) and can run really, really fast down the field. Only three years into his career, and he all ready has a multi-million dollar contract. And he needs it, too. To go along with his athletic ability Westin has a massive ego and is as cocky as they come. His post-touchdown celebrations are some of the oddest and most egotistical you can think of. He does the river dance. He tangos with the cheerleaders. He jumps into the crowd, he pelvic thrusts. And along with all of those come a fine, of course, but with his contract, he can afford it. ]
WR: Noah Peukert
[ Not quite as renowned as Westin, but mostly because he doesn't make such an ass of him self in front of billions of people on television. Peukert also has uncanny ability as a wide receiver, especially when it comes to catching long bombs and catching when covered. ]
TE: Lars Kreuter
[ Very good as a blocker, and pretty good as a receiver. Lars, due to his towering size is a great blocker but rather slow. However, he is a reliable safety valve as he usually finds someway or another to get open at the last second. ]
RT: Jason Weidlich
[ An excellent blocker, the defense will find that Weidlich is essential a human wall, able to hold back even the largest of defenders without letting them get a shot at the quarterback. ]
RG: Wilhelm Palme
[ Similar to Weildlich, Palme presents a nigh immovable force to the defensive line and is a dependable guard. ]
C: Rolf Hase
[A dependable center. His snap is lightning quick and he is a good all around blocker, able to hold back any rushing defensive linemen for a few seconds to give his man a shot at any open reciever.
LG: Ronald Lucas
[ Like all the other guards, he's good at what he does and is able to hold back the defensive line long enough to hopefully advance the ball in whatever fashion. ]
LT: Axel Rüffert
[ Again, good at what he does. Has good footwork and is very agile, able to protect Kash for extended periods of time while he looks for an open receiver.]

DEFENSE:
CB: Derk Rehm
[ Derk is a solid corner back. Lean and agile, he can keep up with even the fastest of receivers and make their lives a living hell. He can swat the ball out of the air and pick passes off with great regularity and he has the wheels and the moves to make the other side pay when ever he does pick one. ]
FS: Werner Bonte
[ A prototypical free safety. Measuring in at only 5'9', 195 pounds Werner is still an annoying little SOB for the offense. His size means he'll often look like he's coming out of nowhere to assist the corner back in swatting the ball out of the air of tackling a receiver to the ground. ]
ROLB: Artur Weniger
[ This guy is really, really strong and can pretty much mash his way through the line to his target. One hit from him is usually all it takes to send somebody down. ]
RE: Johann Grauert
[ A solid defensive end, Grauert is able to hold is own and put serious pressure on the offensive line. ]
ILB: Markus Sands
[ Perhaps the MVP on the defensive side of the ball, Sands not only has the power to plow through the line, but he's freakishly fast as well. If he hits you, and he often does, you'll be feeling it all week. He's also a huge trash talker, and has a record for unnecessary roughness in tense games. ]
RDT: Paul Scheller
[ Though not as effective as Sands when it comes to plowing through the line, he is extremely good at blocking running plays through the line. ]
LDT: Curt Krauss
[ Like Scheller, he's an effective tackle and good at stopping running plays, but mediocre when it comes to moving through the line. ]
LE: Albert Hirschmann
[ Like his counter-part on the right side, he's a solid end with good agility, able to zig-zag through linemen and put pressure on the offense. ]
SS: Jacob Schellong
[ A good short safety and, as is typical, larger than Bonte in order to handle the strong side of the offense. ]
LOLB: Rudolf Ebner
[ Strong, but not as much as Weniger. Fast, but not as fast as Sands. He falls in between them, still a good solid defensive player. ]
CB: Elmar Meister
[ Pretty much Rehm's twin, only a couple of years younger and a few inches taller. Able to make acrobatic blocks and snag the ball away from receivers with alarming regularity. ]

Special Teams:
K: Xaver Falkenhorst
[ 13 year veteran of the TGL, though he's getting on in year's his still a solid leg and can nail some pretty impressive field goals from what seems like a mile away. ]
P: Sigurt Wilms
[ An undrafted free-agent that has managed to impress through two solid seasons as a punter. Can kick it deep into enemy territory. ]
KR: Clemens Fuchs
[ Fast and agile, if you give him an inch he'll take a mile on ya. ]


The Other Stuff:
Home Stadium:
Wolfpack Field, McKinely
Capacity - 345,675
Turf - Grass

Style Modifer: +2
2 Point Conversion: Logical

Choose my scorers: Yes
Choose scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries: Yes/No
Godmod "other" events: Yes, but please make it as fun and as random as possible if you decide to take advantage of this.

Kura-Pelland Arrows will play home games in Shanvley Stadium, Trilan (capacity 96,536, natural grass). Their style modifier is +0.3 and 2-point conversions are treated logically.

All regular (non-godmod) RP permissions granted.

Gameplay style
Base offense is a straight I form, with many variations amongst the receivers - you can usually rely on a HB/FB combination directly behind the quarterback on most downs though. The team likes to go no-huddle as a change-up strategy regardless of the time left on the clock, and it has worked very well in the past in creating uneven matchups and wearing down the opposing D - but who's to say it will continue? The offense has historically relied on a horizontal passing attack, utilising the tailback as a receiver as much as a rusher. Obviously, defences will regularly key into this with short zone coverage, but this allows room for a long bomb if the quarterback spots it.

Speaking of defense, the base is a 3-4, but the OLBs often creep towards the line of scrimmage creating almost a 5-2. Blitzes are fairly common, especially zone blitzes - often you'll see a safety blitzing while a linebacker drops into a passing lane. The usual formation on short-yardage situations is a 5-2, while on passing downs you'll hardly ever see more than six DBs, and usually five.

QB:
#7 Freddie Mathers (26)
Wearing Michael Bernard's old number, and now established as the number one - great field awareness and a quick release means he fits the horizontal-passing offensive system better than...
#4 Dick Vernasse (31)
...whose main strengths are athletic, specifically fast feet and a rocket arm. Still a very useful option to have, but he was never really the best fit for the offense.
#8 Danny Hage-Rovers (23)
He's here for the ride and to make some Noorde nationalists happy. And as an entry for the best name in the tournament. He's more in the Mathers mould, but with more mobility and less everything else (for now).

HB:
#30 Keith Mackail-Smith (26)
Probably the single most important player on the team. Devastatingly quick, and used as a kick returner as well as receiver and rusher.
#32 Dominic Wooton (29)
Unsurprisingly that means backup is rather important. 'Pom-Pom Dom', as he's called for dating and then marrying a cheerleader, is a straightahead rusher with a fast first step, but hasn't got the soft hands to be used as a backfield receiver.
#35 Pascal Dubovnic (24)
Pascal, meanwhile, is basically here for the ride, but will return the odd kick.

FB:
#38 Horace Buntley (33)
A brutish power runner, who can block a bit as well. The man you want on third and short, or goal-line situations.

WR:
#82 Dennis van Horsten (27)
A speed receiver in a team historically noted for possession receivers such as Giovanni Cassano. His hands are better, but it's all about his feet.
#80 Brandon Walters (27)
Talked of as the successor to Cassano, although he's slightly quicker and not quite infallable in catching. Great field awareness makes him ideal for this offense, though.
#81 Curtis Chainey (24)
Saved for three-wide sets and kick returns, his one attribute is his blazing speed (10.35 for 100m, 4.3 for 40 yards). That's not a bad one to choose.
#89 Matt Paines (25)
An emerging possession receiver. Not great, but he's only going to get better.

TE:
#86 Tristan Del Horno (28)
Very useful in receiving, perhaps a tad undersized for a TE but a good finesse blocker.
#87 Colt Maginton (26)
Stupid name, stupid decisions on the field, but a great athlete, with speed and strength in abundance.

RT:
#63 Alexander Constable (35)
Quick guys slow up. Big guys don't shrink. Constable's a big guy, 6'10" and 359lbs (2.09m/163kg). Probably oversized really, but if you're a left defensive end, you already know you're going to have to go around him, rather than through him. And he's wise enough to know that.
#65 Freddie Kuscher (31)
Slightly more sensibly sized, rather more agile, nowhere near as strong or intimidating.

LT:
#66 Boris Bolinov (29)
The barely-less-oversized counterpart to Constable on the other side of the O-line. If nothing else, a quarterback having a giant like this protecting his blind side is going to be a bit more confident.
#61 Clive Hulton (32)
By contrast, this guy is only 271lbs/123kg, and may be better used at tight end. Excellent awareness and blocking skills, and he'll probably start a fair few downs in place of either Constable or Bolinov as they tire.

LG:
#77 Phil Cottee (31)
He's just brilliantly reliable, and that's what you want in an offensive lineman isn't it?
#74 Danny Maybour (24)
Not as reliable, but more powerful than Cottee. Will probably replace him in due course.

RG:
#73 Marshall Shore (31)
An excellent run blocker, a moderately good pass blocker.
#75 Charlie Cottee (28)
An excellent pass blocker, a moderately good run blocker. Unsurprisingly, both of these players get some field time dependent on the game situation.

C:
#50 Dominic Harvest (36)
Possibly the best snapper in the business, and a cool head in the clutch.
#52 Harold Whyte (32)
Bigger, stronger and more brutal than Harvest, but not the best snapper, which matters in this offense.

-------

DT:
#92 Biff Littlewood (27)
The starting nose tackle in the 3-4. Ruthless and brutal.
#90 TC Morrison (32)
He's agile and fast, and can capably play either DE or DT.

LE:
#96 Frankie Colgrove (32)
Has lost some of his lethal acceleration, but still loves nothing more than blitzing the quarterback and does it very well indeed.
#98 Ben Kurnetzen (23)
A disciplined, powerful player but lacks the awareness to adapt to situations. Yet. Enormously talented though and probably a future starter.

RE:
#95 Mack Grundig (35)
Will retire after this competition. Can play here or at DT but usually saved for the 5-2 these days where he and Morrison line up either side of Littlewood with a DE outside them. Has a knack for stuffing the outside run.
#91 Max Belgrave (32)
A late bloomer, with no real weakness.

ROLB:
#54 KC Borsten (32)
Blitz-happy athlete who keeps himself in great shape. His career could go on for years...
#55 Brian Couric (26)
...but for this guy, with the speed of a safety but capable of brutal hits. This is a key position battle, but Couric often plays as an ILB thus playing alongside Borsten.

LOLB:
#51 Timothy Caldwell (30)]
Is rumoured to be considering calling it a day after this. An injury-plagued but still uncompromisingly physical player.
#58 Elliot Zabaleta (23)
The future, probably. Has the strength of a DE and his hits are enormous, but he's got some decent speed. Quarterbacks hate to see him coming.

MLB:
#57 Iain Benson-Wright (31)
A medicine graduate from the country's top university, Minsten. It goes without saying he's smart on the field too - you just never see him blow an assignment. Not the quickest or strongest, though.
#56 Iain Hollett (28)
Faster and stronger but nowhere near as smart.

CB:
#28 Alex Nicholson (31)
NOt quite as fast as he used to be but still good deep speed, and he hits like a safety.
#29 Cliff Poulton (26)
The rising star of the defense, slightly faster than Nicholson these days.
#21 Alan Hemery (30)
His field awareness isn't great but is no longer desperately poor, and he'll do as a nickelback.
#26 Dennis Coetzen (24)
Speedy, athletic but too often caught out of position.
#20 Brian Hill (29)
Why is he even in the team?

SS:
#24 Paul Madeley (31)
Finally get shis chance after the retirement of the Arrows legend Kevin O'Toole. His strength is making interceptions.
#27 Jackie Townsend (26)
Androgynous name, androgynous hair, but he's a real man when it comes to big hits.

FS:

#22 Billy Spinks (32)
Emerged triumphant by default in a position battle with Freddie Cockell after the latter suffered a career-ending head injury in a car crash. What he lacks in speed these days he makes up for in awareness.
#23 Philip Brocklebank (30)
He's here because no younger talent is coming through. He's not great.

K:
#12 Tim Pogley (38)
Ice-cool and unflappable, short kicks go to him...
#11 Graham Brightman (32)
...while long kicks go to this ex-soccer player.

P:
Mo Doulton (27)
With Graham Joel injured, mad-mulleted Mo fills in. Not great, but you can afford an average punter... can't you?

Taeshan Fitin' Falcons Football Team
-3
We had jerseys from Neth. do not have link as that was osaved on my Aol Account.
# Name Position Age String
1 Martin Gramatica K 28 1
2 Sean Landetta P 30 1
4 Gabe Martin QB/DB 26 1/5
5 Alec Dega QB/K/P 34 2/2/2
7 Marhito Dega QB/DB 22 3/6
8 Jack Cito WR/DB 33 1/4
10 Max Hope RB 22 1
11 Ernie Smith TE/LB 24 1/5
14 Ricky Zellefrow WR/DB 20 2/3
17 Alais Patrick WR/DB 38 3/2
28 Rudi Williams RB/DB 32 2/1
31 Jeremy Johnson RB/LB 25 3/4
50 Odell Thurman LB 26 3
51 Jesse Lapp LB 25 2
52 Dianer Marte LB 27 1
54 Jack Riosa DE/LG 28 1/2
55 Minsi Zathura DE/RG 28 2/2
60 Alan Zito NT/C 35 1/1
62 Shawn Plank DT/LT 35 1/1
63 J.J. Meoda DT/RT 31 2/1
65 Clyde Diez LG 32 1
71 Will Anders RG 26 1
85 Ocho Cinco WR 24 4
99 Trevor Karker Te 24 2

Coaches
Head Coach Ken Wissenhaunt
Offensive Cordinator Michiel Ditka
Defensive Cordinator Oreilly Finnigan
Special Teams Devin Hester

Presenting the Cassadaigua roster for World Bowl 6!

Modifier: +2
2 Pts: Logical
Home games are played at the 70,000+ seat stadium in Concord Heights.


Starters in Blue
Backups in Red

Coach- Meghan Connolly

The Offense:
QB: # 11- Lauren Hamilton
QB: # 10- Stacie Powers
QB: #9- Heather Shapiro

HB: #31- Danielle Regan
HB: #30- Katie McLaren
HB: #32- Savannah Maroney

FB: #34- Matt Colby
FB: #35- Demetrius Razner

WR: #80- Katie Dupree
WR: #81- Kim Harden
WR: #83- Lindsay Privitt
WR: #89- Kourtney Dahlman
WR: #88- Megan Randell
WR: #86- Bethany Feingold *
WR: #84- Tamisha Morrell *

TE: #87- Nicole Donohue
TE: #82- Stephanie Bourne
TE: #85- Lisette Walters

LT: #60- Bernard Padaven
LG: #66- Tommy Jacobs
C: #63- Mark Irving
RG: #61- Tiberius Jackman
RT: #69- Cliff Stanford
T: #65- Cooper Whitlock
T: #67- Jacob Willingham
T: #68- Brian Kuehl
C: #64- Alejandro Cortez
G: #62- Joshua Hemphill *
G: #70- Zack Tomassen
G/C: #71- Brad Beers

The Defense:
DT: #98- Debbie Klingan
DT: #99- Christine Nielsen
LE: #92- Marcus Dubois *
RE: #96- Jim Longretta
DL: #93- Scott Ulysses
DL: #90- Brenda Farris
DL: #91- Nick Blair
DL: #94- Jason Finch *
DL: #73- Amanda Otwell

OLB: #55- Sarah Patten
MLB: #59- Jennifer Carlton
ILB: #56- Christina DeForest
LB: #58- Kellie Archer
LB: #54- Vicki Kaplan
LB: #55- Jessica Santorelli
LB: #76- Sabrina Tallon
LB: #72- Renee O'Keefe

LCB: #22- Kiersten Evans
RCB: #24 Kaitlyn Rinaldi
FS: #23- Meghan Caprotti
SS: #33- Shannon Rusinko
DB: #25- Maureen Rondeau
DB: # 37- Elizabeth Fox
DB: #38- Ashley Harbers (Punt/Kick Returner #1)
DB: #29- Erica Davidson (Punt/Kick Returner back up option)
DB: #36- Kristen Allen

Special Teams:
K: #7- Brittany Daniels * (Sister of World Cup player Erika Daniels)
P: #8- Emily Rutland

K: #5- Kayla Mannelly
P: #6- Anna Eustache

RP Permissions: Do whatever you want. Just don't kill or seriously injure someone. Or blow up our stadium.

The Qazox Pheonix return to the World Bowl, with a new coach and squad (TBA soon)
They will play all home games at the SaxerDome in SaxerVilla.
http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/w/images/d/d4/SaxerDome_view_%28outside%29.jpg
The Capacity is 85000 and the style modifier will be +2.8

Uniforms: (Provided by T4S Kit Storefront)
http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/w/images/a/ab/QazGridUni.png
HOME (black) /AWAY (white)

COACHING STAFF:
Head Coach: Paul Black
Offensive Co-ordinator: Jason Tynes
Defensive Co-ordinator: Mike Chaverious


ROSTER:
STARTERS
OFFENSE (Style: Spread Offense)
QB: Larry Hinierian
RB: Craig "The Hammer" Hamersien
WR: Ronaldo Mound
WR: Eric Shaman
WR: Mike Handey
TE: Jack Halstaff
LT: Greg Oldens
LG: Adam Fescule
C: Ryan Reynes
RG: Usa Akamori
RT: Sean Brestlin

DEFENSE (Style: 3-4)
RE: Pablo de Coste
DT: Oliver Tijuen
LE: Manny Duca
ROLB: Renny Gold
RILB: Paul Silver
LILB: Issac Haynes
LOLB: Harry Kallista
RCB: Greg Berns
LCB: Eric Javier
SS: Mark Glenn
FS: David Ramierez

SPECIAL TEAMS
K: Kyle Kobel
P: Lenny Davidson
KR/PR: Charles Whitmore

There was no bidding for the rights to play on the World Bowl 6 team. The coach of the last squad, Matthew Taylor, was retained and told to assemble the best players in the country and put them where they belong. This unconventional approach is because Secristan is hosting the tournament, and therefore wants their team to be the best they could possibly field. Since the last team went all the way to the 3rd place game before losing to that other team from South Terra in One Big Island, this roster looks much like that one. But it’s not the same.

Coach: Matthew Taylor

Offensive Starters: (standard formation)

QB: #5- Tom Mitchell- Pocket passer, very arrogant. Long-time starter for the team.
HB: #27- Chris Hausler- Showboats on every opportunity, and his coming off a monstrous World Bowl 5 performance. He was good in #4, too.
FB: #28- Kerry Kabatzky- Typical blocker.
WR: #81- Stacie Johnson- Everyone’s favorite football playing cheerleader.
WR: #80- Brian “The Blizzard” Brissard- Has pre-determined end zone celebrations whenever he scores.
TE: #88- Mark Reynolds - Good pass catcher.
LT: #62- Matt Cross- Looked good in his debut in World Bowl 5.
LG: #61- Kenneth Lamphere- 390 lbs, 1.7% body fat.
C: #66- Michael Paramalee – Reads the defense quite well.
RG: #65- Scott Conley- Made debut off the bench in WB5. This is his first time starting. At 6’10” 388, that’s bad news for the opponents.
RT: #60- David Crombeen (Debut)- Fantastic blocker, but never made enough money to win an auction. Excited about this chance.

Defensive Starters: (using a 4-3 base)

LE: #92- Julius Jackson- Great at anticipating the snap. Averaged two sacks a game in WB5.
RE: #90- Ahman Dillon- Very mean. So mean in fact that he challenged Jackson to a fight over wearing #92.
DT: #98- Mark Delmore- Can bench over 500 lbs
DT: #94- Ron Kerker- Backup in WB4, the 21 year old hopes to prove himself as a starter.
ILB: #51- Zachary Zelensko (Debut)- Double-Z gets great penetration. He has a shaved head except for a trimmed “Z” on each side.
MLB: #57- Ryan Blanchard- Young up-and-coming player, demonstrated greatness in his debut and will now look to build on it.
OLB: #53- Terry Maurice- Specialized in pass coverage
LCB: #36- Curtis Henry- Tall and speedy. Gets assigned to the opponents top WR.
RCB: #37- Jason Kirkland-A younger version of Henry.
FS: #21- Kellen Venter- Never gets caught out of position.
SS: #39- Kevin Tucker- Violent hitter. Enjoys injuring people. Had a couple victims in WB’s 4 and 5.

People who kick the ball:
K: #4- Ryan Norris
P: #2- Jordan Caruso

Offense- Backups:
QB: #11- Jerry Eiseman
QB: #7- Matt Travis
HB: #24- Casey Stewart
HB: #33- Steve Hubbard
HB: #34- Jacob Duran (Debut)
FB: #44- Jake Pemberton
WR: #84- Steve Browning
WR: #82- Nick Chaffin (Primary kick/punt returner)
WR: #83- Thomas Cousins
WR: #86- Paul Zambito
WR: #87- Johnnie Baker
TE: #85- Randy Downing
TE: #89- Martin Bratnick (Debut)
G: #68- Mitch Pasquale
G: #69- “Bubba” Jones
G: #71- John Browne
G: #72- Peter Pazlotti
C: #78- Scott Haines
C: #79- Julius Leary (Debut)
T: #75- Walter Carnes
T: #64- Tony Gerdone
T: #63- Vernon Mayfield
T: #77- Dwayne Jackson

Defense- Backups:
DE: #97- Fred Combes
DE: #70- Jeremy Gustafsson
DE: #91- Kent Daniels
DE: #95- Kendrick Vero (Debut)
DT: #99- John Burke
DT: #96- Jesse McCarroll
DT: #76- Timmy Kennedy
LB: #52- Harrison Watters
LB: #50- George Simplett
LB: #54- Craig Wharton
LB: #59- Tony Thompson
CB: #40- Chris Tulenko (seconday option for kick/punt returns)
CB: #29- Calvin Wheeler
CB: #41- Andrew McGowan
CB: #42- Kevin Sampina (Debut)
S: #23- Jim Sanderson
S: #25- Scott Pontrelli
S: #36- Nick Hempstead
S: #48- Chad Collins

Kicking Backups:
K: #10- Brad Hennessy
P: #12- Jim Passineau

Stadium (for home group stage contests): Monopoly Stadium in Amherst (Capacity: 73,226)
Modifier: -0.8
2-Points Conversions: Logical

If my opponent RP's our game first, they may:
Choose my scorers: Yes
Choose scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries: No
Godmod "other" events: Yes but nothing too crazy and don’t kill anyone or cause stadium damage. Also keep with the rich & arrogant theme of my team, please.

QB #7 Jeff Williams**,# 19
HB # 23 Javon Grenne**, #33 Shon Lewis
FB #34 Kendall Brown**
G's #71 Obiawme Smith**, # 72 George Krystak , # 78 Alan Trak** ,# 79 Miki Traylor
OT's #73 Ivan Stefanovic**, # 76 Walter Mendell # 77 Kris Hamot** , #75 Peter Bryanson
C's # 74 Derin King** # 68 Vincent Peters
WR's # 81 Arland Johnson** # 5 Calvin Bruce** #87 Bryan Francis
SB/TE # 9 Andre Talbot** #12 Jeff McNeal #10 Larry Johnson
Defense
DE's # 58 Roger Cole** # 97 Jonathon Brown** # 6 Micheal Brown
DT's # 92 Rial Johnson** # 98 Erik Laperriere** # 95 Horace Franks
LB's # 35 Henry Eiben** # 51 Terence Spikes** # 96 Alex MacDonald** #52 Greg Lewis
#54 Frank Harris
CB's # 22 Ty Samuel **# 24 Joffery Reynolds** # 26 Willie Middlebrooks pr/kr #27 Joe Remmington
FS # 20 Brian Taylor**
SS # 28 B.J. Parker**
style modifier +1.5
2 pt logical
** starters
Choose my scorers: Yes
Choose scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries: No
Godmod "other" events: yes but nothing that kills anyone or damages stadium
Bell Field in Toronto is where thee home games will be played capacity 95,000

OOC: I know I said I wouldn't RP, but hot damn do I love me some football. NFL fans will notice a heavy San Diego influence in my schemes and formations.


OOC INFORMATION BOX
-------------------

Style mod: +2.6
Logical conversions

RP permissions:
Choose my scorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes!
Injure my players: NO
Godmod "other" events: Yes, but please make it fun and jovial, not irritating and headachey.

http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/uu303/Norwellia/wintoncourier.png?t=1240219289
INTERNATIONAL EDITION - SPORT - PAGE B1

Rainbow Warriors announce national gridball team

http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/uu303/Norwellia/NorwelliaRainbowWarriors.png?t=1240229647

OCEANVIEW - National team head coach Didier Robillard, of the inaugural NGL champion Durdenheim Chessmasters, announced the Norwellian gridball selection to raucous applause at the Roger Norwell Sports Complex yesterday. Robillard first explained the complicated Waterfall Method for team selection: the league's best offense would be guaranteed four starters, the second-best would send at least three, the third-ranked offense would send two or more starters, and the fourth-best would be guaranteed at least one starting spot, with the starting offense rounded out by an "at-large pick". The same process would occur for the defensive starters, and all twelve NGL teams were assured of at least one representative player on the team. The NGL, which officially handles national team operations for the sport, has begun a custom of giving the league a 1-2 year break to focus exclusively on international preparations. This allows the team to hand-pick the league's best coaches and players for its team without adversely affecting the club sides. During the break, the players not selected for the national team will be led by rising stars in the world of gridball coaching in international friendlies against other teams from around the world, giving the players and coaches high-level experience while giving newfound exposure to the domestic league abroad and giving home fans a taste of the international game.

The tournament will consist of a twelve-game group stage, in which the Rainbow Warriors will host six games at UVEW Stadium in Oceanview, the recent 75,000-seating architectural wonder named for its benefactors, the United Video Equipment Workers Local 278, and play six games abroad; then a single-elimination stage for which the newcomers are not expected to qualify.

The final selection:

Quarterbacks Name Age Pos Club
8 Jose Alexander 30 QB Winston Capitals
12 Peter Lango 23 QB Forest Glen Bears
3 Andrea Frier 33 QB Durdenheim Chessmasters

Running Backs
28 Katja Lippert 24 HB Winston Capitals
2 Damien Mager 26 FB Forest Glen Bears
26 Lisa Rogers 35 HB Bookchin Hammers
5 Xavier Holmes 23 FB Cataluña Heroica

Wide Receivers
81 Salvadoro Logambino 28 WR Forest Glen Bears
88 Pochue Tolspong 28 WR Cataluña Heroica
82 Jordan Evans 24 WR Oceanview Raiders
9 Sean Patel 35 WR Red River Chiefs

Tight Ends
91 Aoki Sadatada 24 TE Winston Capitals
35 Ryan Goodwin 34 TE Durdenheim Chessmasters

Offensive Linepeople
65 Jaïma Basoka 32 LG Cataluña Heroica
62 Syku Sinik 30 RG Forest Glen Bears
72 Teresil Karela 27 LT Durdenheim Chessmasters
78 Alejandro Bolúfero 24 C Winston Capitals
60 Jory Trevithick 33 RT Forest Glen Bears
77 Leslie Watts 26 G Durdenheim Chessmasters
66 Vanessa Ochoa 26 T Oceanview Raiders
58 Asakura Hideie 38 T Oceanview Raiders

Defensive Linepeople
11 Morioka Sadaharu 29 DE Leninberg Reds
95 Hayden Wright 26 DT Durdenheim Chessmasters
97 Christian Bennett 28 DT/DE Leninberg Reds
40 Ludan Sandry 36 DE Winston Capitals
55 Nikaidô Tsunee 34 DT Bookchin Hammers
50 Gene Powell 26 DE Diogenes Scholars

Linebackers
43 Ray Danley 36 OLB Durdenheim Chessmasters
54 Troy Henderson 29 MLB Red River Chiefs
52 Zachary Garrett 25 MLB Leninberg Reds
37 Helge Holskamp 24 OLB Forest Glen Bears
21 Cory Reed 23 OLB Bookchin Hammers

Defensive Backs
20 Tim Cunningham 27 SS Forest Glen Bears
24 Kathleen Luiso 27 FS Bookchin Hammers
33 Hijil Simu 27 CB Leninberg Reds
32 Rebecca Sanders 32 CB Durdenheim Chessmasters
25 Émile Boivin 34 Nickelback Red River Chiefs
14 Antonia Eqpósita 39 FS Murray Grove Racers
30 Joachim Palminger 33 Dimeback Winston Capitals
6 Willie Drake 30 SS Bookchin Hammers

Special Teams
4 Kaneko Takae 25 K Stirner Rebels
3 Darren Vang 37 P Kropotkin Packers

Staff
x Didier Robillard Head Coach Durdenheim Chessmasters
x Linux Ately Quarterbacks Coach Forest Glen Bears
x Lucas Wilson Offensive Coordinator Winston Capitals
x Jejekana Inketil Defensive Coordinator Leninberg Reds
x Tatjana Horwitz Special Teams Coach Stirner Rebels
x Logan Ward Strength & Conditioning Coach Oceanview Raiders
x Dr. Victor Ward Team Physician Murray Grove Racers


Courier sport reporters have learned the various schemes and lineups of the team, which are as follows: (OOC note: I will provide NFL examples for each of the player archetypes I mention, making this analysis more concrete for American fans)

Base offense: Turner-style Air Coryell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Coryell)

This pro-set attack is designed to stretch the defense vertically, first establishing the passing game for massive gains through the air and then taking pressure away from the pocket to open up the medium-to-long-range running game. The Air Coryell offense, a San Diego product which originated in Sid Gillman's 1960s Chargers teams, was refined by its namesake, Chargers head coach Don Coryell, in the 1970s and 80s. Norv Turner, who would also coach the Chargers later in his career, would bring back the Air Coryell scheme in the 2000s, tweaking the system to take advantage of the modern blocking fullback role and bring more quarterback innovation to an attack characterized by the complete control of the offensive coordinator. While this attack is relatively conservative in formation, its effect is to create a boom-or-bust offense with a lot of long gains and open-field touchdowns and few short plays. It relies on:

* A pocket quarterback with a strong arm and real scrambling ability, plus a convincing play-action fake (NFL examples: Philip Rivers, Matt Hasselback)
* Tall, intelligent wide receivers who can run complicated routes quickly and win jump balls (NFL examples: Jerry Rice, David Boston, Vincent Jackson)
* A strong, tall tight end with sure hands who can outrun a linebacker or physically overpower a cornerback (NFL examples: Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez)
* A fast halfback who can run and catch, with killer moves, quick hands and a penchant for holding on to the ball in all situations (NFL example: LaDainian Tomlinson. There is no other name in NFL history worth mentioning next to his.)
* A huge, physical fullback who can open up a lane for the HB with a crushing block, and protect the quarterback on passing plays (NFL example: Lorenzo Neal)
* A variety of unconventional offensive schemes for short-yardage situations, where the traditional Coryell offense can become predictable and stagnant

The starting lineup, also considered the default personnel for the Norwellian base offense, is as follows:

LT Teresil Karela
LG Jaïma Basoka
C Alejandro Bolúfero
RG Syku Sinik
RT Jory Trevithick

QB Jose Alexander
HB Katja Lippert
FB Damien Mager

WR Salvadoro Logambino
WR Pochue Tolspong
TE Aoki Sadatada


Plan B: Revolver offense

This innovative scheme is a variation of the Nevada-style pistol offense (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pistol_offense), itself a variation of the popular shotgun formation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_formation) invented in San Francisco in 1960. The shotgun amends the pro set or I formation by removing the fullback, adding a wide receiver, moving the quarterback a full seven yards behind the center to give the play more time to develop before the pass rush could pressure the QB, and pulling the halfback in front of the QB and slightly to the right, giving him the ability to block or run an inside route or a draw. The pistol brings more versatility to the attack, moving the quarterback up to a shorter but still respectable three yards behind the center and pushing the halfback four yards directly behind the QB. This formation allows the play to develop more quickly, nullifying the time-consuming boom/bust nature of the shotgun, and gives the halfback a more viable running option. The pistol is well-suited to running and scrambling quarterbacks, who benefit from improved field vision by being four yards closer to the line of scrimmage while sacrificing some of the comforting pocket cushion of the shotgun attack.

The revolver offense was designed by Winston Capitals offensive coordinator Lucas Wilson (who will also supervise the attack for the national team) to capitalize on the diverse talents of superstar tight-end Aoki Sadatada. In the revolver attack, a versatile TE like Sadatada is joined on the line by a more conventional tight end, who generally plays a blocking role. This gives the quarterback at least six blockers, with the option of having Sadatada stay back to block for the QB, deliver a devastating block for the run, or run a receiving route for big yardage. The national team is expected to use the revolver in desperate situations and as a base for trick plays, or just as a way to spice up the attack when the Air Coryell style becomes too predictable.

The default lineup for the revolver offense is as follows:

LT Teresil Karela
LG Jaïma Basoka
C Alejandro Bolúfero
RG Syku Sinik
RT Jory Trevithick

QB Jose Alexander
HB Katja Lippert

WR Salvadoro Logambino
WR Pochue Tolspong
TE Aoki Sadatada
TE Ryan Goodwin


Rut-buster: Wildcat offense

An inspiring variation of the single-wing formation, the wildcat offense is characterized by its off-set offensive line configuration and a direct snap to the running back, with no named quarterback as such taking part in the play. The center lines up between a guard and a tackle to give a long snap to the halfback, who sits in a shotgun or pistol stance 3-7 yards behind the line of scrimmage. A fullback lines up just in front of the halfback and to the side, ready to block for the pass or run, or to recover a lost snap. Wilson used the wildcat with great success in the capital, where starting halfback Katja Lippert could run, catch and pass with the best. With Lippert starting for the national team as well, her triple-threat surprise factor will allow the Warriors to get out of offensive ruts with the wildcat attack.

The default lineup for the wildcat is as follows:

LT Teresil Karela
C Alejandro Bolúfero
LG Jaïma Basoka
RG Syku Sinik
RT Jory Trevithick

HB Katja Lippert
FB Damien Mager

WR Salvadoro Logambino
WR Pochue Tolspong
WR Jordan Evans
TE Aoki Sadatada


Base defense: 3-4

This defensive formation gives fast outside linebackers creative license to survey the offense from a few yards off of the line of scrimmage, allowing an extra LB to decide at the moment of the snap to support the defensive line on the rush, hang back to cover an RB, or pick up a receiver in motion. What the 3-4 gives up in run protection, it makes up for with greater versatility, speed, and unpredictability. This scheme relies on:

* Massive, physical nose tackle(s) who can take on double teams and open up a lane for blitzing linebackers (NFL example: Jamal Williams)
* Strong, quick, sure-tackling outside linebacker(s) with unpredictable blitzes, a menacing air and a cool celebration dance (NFL examples: Junior "Say Ow" Seau, Shawne "Lights Out" Merriman)
* Physical defensive end(s) who can put constant pressure on the quarterback, with speed less important than in the 4-3 (NFL example: Igor Olshansky)

The starting lineup, also considered the default personnel for the Norwellian base defense, is as follows:

DE Morioka Sadaharu
DT Hayden Wright
DT/DE Christian Bennett

OLB Ray Danley
MLB Troy Henderson
MLB Zachary Garrett
OLB Helge Holskamp

CB Hijil Simu
CB Rebecca Sanders
SS Tim Cunningham
FS Kathleen Luiso


Extra receiver situations: Nickel

The nickel package adds a defensive lineman, subtracts a linebacker, and substitutes a third cornerback (the nickelback) for another LB, essentially amounting to a 4-2-5 formation. This formation will be used when the opposing offense substitutes a slot receiver for the fullback. The nickel bolsters the normally short-staffed pass rush while offering slot receiver coverage in person defense and long-bomb defense in zone schemes (which will be more rare in the Norwellian system).

The default lineup for the nickel package is as follows:

DE Morioka Sadaharu
DT Hayden Wright
DT/DE Christian Bennett
DE Ludan Sandry

OLB Ray Danley
OLB Helge Holskamp

CB Hijil Simu
CB Rebecca Sanders
SS Tim Cunningham
FS Kathleen Luiso
DB Émile Boivin


Speed defense: Dime

The dime package modifies the nickel by yanking out yet another linebacker and adding a fourth cornerback (the dimeback) to cover the fourth WR or a fast receiving RB in passing situations, like third-and-long, the two-minute drill, the Hail Mary, etc. As Coach Robillard loathes the prevent scheme, the dime package is likely to be used in many situations in which the opposing passer is desperate and flustered, ideally allowing a riskier safety blitz to catch the quarterback flat-footed.

The default lineup for the dime package is as follows:

DE Morioka Sadaharu
DT Hayden Wright
DT/DE Christian Bennett
DE Ludan Sandry

OLB Ray Danley

CB Hijil Simu
CB Rebecca Sanders
SS Tim Cunningham
FS Kathleen Luiso
DB Émile Boivin
DB Joachim Palminger


Special Teams

Wide receivers Jordan Evans and Porchue Tolspong will return kickoffs.

Backup free safety Antonia Eqpósita will return punts.

Backup quarterback Peter Lango will act as the holder in kicking formations. (OOC: which means that Lango, not Alexander, will be the QB during fake kick plays, should anyone choose to RP that for me.)

Here is the group draw for World Bowl 6. Teams were assigned to seven pots based on their World Bowl Rankings to get these groups.

Pot 1: Arroza, Dancougar, Newmanistan
Pot 2: Qazox, Kura-Pelland, Taeshan
Pot 3: Secristan, Rennidan, Vephrall
Pot 4: Sarzonia, Cotenshire, Lovisa
Pot 5: Cassadaigua, Colbourne, Fujisawan Territories
Pot 6: Candrian Empire, Prux, Tocrowkia
Pot 7: Norwellia, Steroga, Lucino

Here were the groups then that were randomly drawn from those pots. Once the groups were drawn, I arranged them alphabetically so that when “1 played 2" for example it wouldn’t be necessarily teams of equivalent rank:

Group A:
Arroza (1)
Cassadaigua (15)
Cotenshire (11)
Prux (21)
Steroga (NR)
Taeshan (6)
Vephrall (9)

Group B:
Candrian Empire (19)
Dancougar (2)
Fujisawan Territories (18)
Kura-Pelland (5)
Lovisa (12)
Norwellia (NR)
Secristan (7)

Group C:
Colbourne (16)
Lucino (NR)
Newmanistan (3)
Qazox (4)
Rennidan (8)
Sarzonia (10)
Tocrowkia (33)

Schedule:
MD1- April 23- 1 at 3, 2 at 4, 5 at 7 Bye: 6
MD2- April 24- 5 at 1, 2 at 3, 7 at 6 Bye: 4
MD3- April 25- 4 at 1, 6 at 2, 7 at 3 Bye: 5
MD4- April 26- 1 at 2, 3 at 4, 6 at 5 Bye: 7
MD5- April 27- 2 at 7, 4 at 6, 3 at 5 Bye: 1
MD6- April 28- 6 at 1, 5 at 2, 7 at 4 Bye: 3
MD7- April 29- 1 at 7, 4 at 5, 6 at 3 Bye: 2
April 30- Halftime Break
MD8- May 1- 3 at 1, 4 at 2, 7 at 5 Bye: 6
MD9- May 2- 1 at 5, 3 at 2, 6 at 7 Bye: 4
MD10- May 3- 1 at 4, 2 at 6, 3 at 7 Bye: 5
MD11- May 4- 2 at 1, 4 at 3, 5 at 6 Bye: 7
MD12- May 5- 7 at 2, 6 at 4, 5 at 3 Bye: 1
MD13- May 6- 1 at 6, 2 at 5, 4 at 7 Bye: 3
MD14- May 7- 7 at 1, 5 at 4, 3 at 6 Bye: 2

May 8- 8 seed vs 9 seed

May 9- Quarterfinals

May 10- Semifinal

May 11- 3rd Place Game

May 12- World Bowl VI

Head Coach and offensive play caller: Joe Gibbs (68 years old)
Defensive coordinator: Gregg Williams
Offence: Strong running game (-3 modifier)
Defensive style: Aggressive 4-3 with frequent blitzes
Two-point conversion modifier: LOGICAL
Home surface: Grass (Hendrix Stadium, Woodstock)

If my opponent RP's our game first, they may:
Choose my scorers: Yes
Choose scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes (within reason; no catastrophic injuries)
Godmod injuries: No
Godmod "other" events: Nothing beyond stuff like heavy rains, strong winds and the like

QB Gavin Davis (Portland Pirates) 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, 26 years old
RB: LoQuan Willard (Woodstock Wings) 5-foot-11, 200 pounds, 28 years old
WR: Dave Coles (Truxtun Commodores) 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, 28 years old
WR: Willie Brooks (Portland) 5-foot-10, 175 pounds, 31 years old
H-Back: Clark Hennessy (Burlington Vipers) 5-foot-11, 220 pounds, 25 years old
TE: Pat Whalen (Wilmington Roughnecks) 6-foot-2, 240 pounds, 31 years old
LT: Tim Lacker (Woodstock) 6-foot-3, 305 pounds, 28 years old
LG: Tony Bingham (Nicksia Hawks) 6-foot-2, 295 pounds 31 years old
C: Kenny Bridger (Portland) 6-foot-3, 310 pounds, 35 years old
RG: Brad Hampton (Woodstock) 6-foot-2, 305 pounds, 29 years old
RT: Cody Cross (Woodstock) 6-foot-5, 320 pounds, 28 years old

DEFENSIVE STARTERS:
DE: Ryan Clack (Woodstock) 6-foot-1, 290 pounds, 24 years old
DT: Evan Smyth (Portland) 6-foot-4, 325 pounds, 28 years old
DT: Sam Vincent (Truxtun) 6-foot-3, 340 pounds, 26 years old
DE: Donnie Carter (Nicksia) 6-foot-2, 300 pounds, 28 years old
WLB: Charlie Winston (Saugerties Smashers) 6-foot-1, 250 pounds, 25 years old
MLB: Tim Bates (Saugerties) 6-foot-3, 255 pounds, 33 years old
SLB: Lou Wilson (Portland) 6-foot-1, 240 pounds, 32 years old
LCB: DeAndre Mihms (Caroline Tigers) 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, 30 years old
RCB: Brock Ainsworth (Woodstock) 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, 29 years old
SS: Travis Werner (New Jerusalem Monks) 6-foot-1, 233 pounds, 27 years old
FS: Chris Horton (Woodstock) 6-foot-1, 216 pounds, 23 years old

SPECIAL TEAMS:
K: Adam Novak (Woodstock) 6-foot, 205 pounds, 26 years old
P: Marco Oliver (Portland; holds on extra points and field goals for Novak) 6-foot-1, 205 pounds, 36 years old
KR: Cedric Wilcox (Portland) 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, 27 years old

BENCH:
QB: George Pendry (New Daurmont Drillers), 6-foot, 200 pounds, 37 years old
RB: Shaquice Allen (Portland), 5-foot-8, 195 pounds, 24 years old
TE/H-Back: Joe Cooley (Woodstock), 6-foot-1, 230 pounds, 30 years old
WR: Craig Langhorn (Wilmington) 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, 28 years old
TE: Pete West (Woodstock) 6-foot-4, 240 pounds, 31 years old
OL: LeAndre Samuels (Wilmington) 6-foot-2, 300 pounds, 29 years old
OL/DL: LaMar Harlen (Portland) 6-foot-1, 295 pounds, 28 years old
DL: Vernon Singletary (New Jerusalem) 6-foot-2, 310 pounds, 34 years old
DL: Marc Daniels (Joe Gibbs University), 6-foot-1, 280 pounds, 20 years old
OLB: Brad Andresen (New Daurmont), 6-foot, 230 pounds, 29 years old
ILB/DE: Stephan Christensen (Rypien Renegades), 6-foot-3, 265 pounds, 30 years old
LB: Erik Vasquez (Woodstock) 6-foot-2, 245 pounds, 30 years old
DB: Lee Torrance (Portland) 6-foot, 205 pounds, 28 years old
S: Shaun McFarlane (Wilmington), 5-foot-11, 190 years old
CB: Kerry Stockton (Truxtun) 6-foot, 190 pounds

Under normal circumstances, those familiar with the Sarzonian national gridball team would bemoan being in the same group with world No. 3 Newmanistan and No. 4 Qazox. They'd grumble about facing Rennidan twice after getting hammered in the previous World Bowl qualifying stage.

However, none of that mattered to this team. They'd lost their head coach Jim Zorn and defensive coordinator Greg Blache in a freak automobile accident on icy roads.

"I warned them not to drive in that weather," said Joy Zorn, Jim's wife. "They didn't listen."

The Stars coaxed veteran head coach Joe Gibbs out of retirement, and he brought along defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. Their tasks are less gridball-related and more trying to guide a team through its grief.

"These are especially tough circumstances," Gibbs said. "We're going to have to pull things together and just play to the best of our God-given abilities."

Gibbs will do that with a roster unchanged from the two previous World Bowl competitions. He has the golden arm of quarterback Gavin Davis and a strong running game anchored by running back LoQuan Willard. He said he would put stronger emphasis on the ground game in an effort to take pressure off Davis.

"We have a large offensive line," Gibbs said. "Our offence is, and should be, predicated on power football." However, he also said Davis was "a pro's pro" and would get "plenty of opportunities" to sling the ball around.

"We're striving for that balance," Gibbs said.

As for the defence, Williams said he would add wrinkles to the defensive scheme employed by Blache, but added that the team essentially played with the same defence in its previous World Bowls.

"Blache simplified my defence," Williams said. "There's no mystery behind how we're going to play."

Group Draw Announced For World Bowl 6

In the past 7 years the Taeshani Fitin' Falcons football team has meshed into a force known to many a team from around the world. For the seventh time this year the Fitin' Falcons will again take there country into the depths of a giant battle to return to the top of the World and win their second World Footballing Championship. Since the begining of the team the world has looked as the Falcons as the defensive power of perhaps the world as a whole in every sport played by man. Yet again the Falcons will look to break their offenders and break through with some wins o make it back to the top of the world, at least the top of their world.

This year the Falcons will be taking on 6 other teams in the Group Stage. Listed from highest ranked to lowest they are Arroza, Vephrall, Cotenshire, Cassadaigua, Prux and unranked Steroga. This group may proove to be an interesting one as Arroza is ranked number 1 in the world and in the position that the Falcons admire most. And Vephrall has prooved to be a thorn in the past couple of years by winning games they shouldn't have beaten you. Never the less i predict that we will easily and smoothly qualify at least in third place in the group. Hopefully we will nbot end up in the 8-9 battle so look for hard playing throughout the year as the Falcons take on the world.

Schedule
Matchday 1 Bye Strip Clubs Baby
Matchday 2 VS Vephrall @ Fadron Pizza Field at Wonder Park*
Matchday 3 @ Cassadaigua @ Concord Heights Stadium
Matchday 4 @ Steroga
Matchday 5 VS Prux @ Fadron Pizza Field at Wonder Park
Matchday 6 @ Arroza
Matchday 7 @ Cotenshire
Matchday 8 Bye Jeruselem Strip Clubs
Matchday 9 @ Vephrall
Matchday 10 VS Cassadaigua @ Fadron Pizza Field at Wonder Park
Matchday 11 VS Steroga @ Fadron Pizza Field at Wonder Park
Matchday 12 @ Prux
Matchday 13 VS Arroza @ Fadron Pizza field at Wonder Park
Matchday 14 VS Cotenshire @ Fadron Pizza field at Wonder Park

Fadron Pizza Field at Wonder Park is a 450,000 seater in Wiechester, Wolf Island of course the southernmost island in Taeshan. Still i would bring coats as summer condition range from the lowest teens to the negative thirties. We of courxse dont wear coats, but thats us. Also exopect snow and lots of ice.

Week 1: Bye
Week 2: vs. Secristan, UVEW Stadium
Week 3: @ Dancougar
Week 4: @ Lovisa
Week 5: vs. Kura-Pelland, UVEW Stadium
Week 6: @ Candrian Empire
Week 7: @ Fujisawan Territories
Week 8: Bye
Week 9: @ Secristan
Week 10: vs. Dancougar, UVEW Stadium
Week 11: vs. Lovisa, UVEW Stadium
Week 12: @ Kura-Pelland
Week 13: vs. Candrian Empire, UVEW Stadium
Week 14: vs. Fujisawan Territories, UVEW Stadium

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v416/ImmortalDragonProductions/Hurricanefootball.png
Hurricane Football

Head Coach: Rai Lo
Assistant Coach: Adam Howard
Offensive Coordinator: Dusty Miller
Defensive Coordinator: Vanessa Dunn-Woods
Special Teams Coordinator: Myron McCay
Modifier: +3
Two-point conversion modifier: Logical

Home stadium: Crosscom Global Arena (domed, retractable roof stadium in Hoji, Iwosaka)
Home surface: Artificial turf
Key offensive player: QB Daisetsu Kudo
Key defensive player: CB Akiro Sanawa
Mascot: Palmer the Palm Tree
Cheerleaders: Hoji Herricane

If my opponent RP's our game first, they may:
Choose my scorers: Yes
Choose scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries: No
Godmod "other" events: No

Starting Offense
13 QB Daisetsu Kudo
25 RB Osamu Koyami
44 FB Tsuraji Deguchi
83 TE Namboku Yoshimatsu
82 WR Toshizane Dazai
88 WR Oribaha “Baja” Hini
72 OLT Motakit Takunob
69 OLG Matsanjipp Naroshioshisa
78 C Izumo Chikamatsu
64 ORG Shigasaw Shuhirok
77 ORT Morozane Kakinomoto

Starting Defense
93 DLE Tanubo Shiragata
90 DLT Chi Jisats
98 DRT Awabeki Nagyosayu
99 DRE Fujira Bei
54 ILB Ibawata Koseiji
57 MLB Toyokusai Sakampo
59 OLB Fujimbaya Nampakum
27 CB Kimo Nakasanagi
29 CB Akiro Sanawa
23 FS Shayuajishi Jirobu
21 SS Shibawa Fujitsu

Starting Special Teams
8 K Shisakit Munie
5 P Ken Kihara
84 KR Hisayuki Sarumara
19 PR Gai Koriji

Depth Chart
QB D. Kudo K. Jit N. Yamanouchi
RB O. Koyami I. Sasari S. Kato N. Taro
FB T. Deguchi K. Jiro
TE N. Yoshimatsu H. Ken T. Sukira
WR T. Dazai A. Arunita H. Sarumara D. Hizoshi T. Maoneats
WR O. Hini T. Matokai D. Hirori G. Koriji
3WR A. Arunita
OLT M. Takunob N. Kikotoy
OLG M. Naroshioshisa U. Tsutaya
C I. Chikamatsu K. Sharitets
ORG S. Shuhirok R. Ina
ORT M. Kakinomoto K. Rushise
DLE T. Shiragata U. Sukichir
DLT C. Jisats B. Kazabur
DRT A. Nagyosayu A. Soho
DRE F. Bei M. Chiroit
ILB I. Koseiji O. Sabu
MLB T. Sakampo K. Fukuzawa
OLB F. Nampakum N. Miura
CB K. Nakasanagi I. Jisei K. Ieniroshi
CB A. Sanawa T. Kei I. Hiro
FS S. Jirobu T. Abe
SS S. Fujitsu I. Shiro
K S. Munie
P K. Kihara
KR O. Hini T. Motokai
PR G. Koriji S. Kato

Reserves
3 QB Kasmo Jit
17 QB Neeheeoeewooti Yamanouchi
20 RB Imatotta Sasari
22 RB Sadaie Kato
28 RB Ninei Taro
49 FB Koba Jiro
86 TE Hira Ken
85 TE Takawag Sukira
87 WR Tadataka Matokai
81 WR Akemino Arunita
89 WR Darida Hirori
84 WR Hisayuki Sarumara
19 WR Gai Koriji
80 WR/KR Dasana Hizoshi
18 WR Teiraitao Maoneats
68 OL Nishiri Kikotoy
60 OL Kama Rushise
74 OL Ren Ina
71 OL Ujiaki Tsutaya
62 C Kuba Sharitets
51 LB Ohdanama Sabu
52 LB Nakazo Miura
55 LB Kei Fukuzawa
91 DE Umitatsu Sukichir
92 DE Mizaking Chiroit
97 DT Akisada Soho
95 DT Byasayaka Kazabur
42 CB Iraki Jisei
43 CB Tan Kei
48 CB K.K. Ieniroshi
41 CB Iranji Hiro
26 FS Toju Abe
24 SS Ippimaka Shiro

http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gth681k/ns/vephrall/vph-wb6-logo.png

Coaching staff

Head coach: Sperobis Ceedast, 47. Former Bektys Technological Institute electrical engineering professor widely credited with reviving gridball in Vephrall during World Bowl 4. He was the natural choice to restart the program after his nationally-recognized success coaching intramural piivel, a sport very similar to gridball, and he has clearly adapted his talents well. Ceedast serves as his own offensive coordinator.
Defensive coordinator: Pagliloe Cothasat, 35. Previously Ceedast also coached the defense, but he has elected to hand that off to someone else this time around. Not too much is known about Cothasat.

Play style

Offensive scheme: Ceedast will continue working with his tried-and-true option-based attack that paid dividends the first two times around. For World Bowl 5, he decided to expand his options in the passing game a bit, but word is that he's returning to his roots for this campaign. Expect him to run the ball, run the ball again, and keep running it some more until the defense proves it can stop the attack.
Defensive scheme: Cothasat's defense really doesn't look that much different from what we've seen in the past. Pretty much your garden-variety 4-3, usually going to the nickel in 3rd and long situations or when facing four wideouts. Against five receivers he'll trade a lineman for another corner in a 3-2-6 setup. He also likes to blitz a lot, but tends to shy away from riskier options such as the safety blitz.
Other notes: Ceedast tends to play it by the book (i.e. logical) for two-point conversions. It is also extremely rare for his offense to punt on 4th and 2 or less, unless backed up inside their own 30-yard line.

(Style modifier: +1.3)

Home stadium

Ellime e Vephrall, located in the national capital of Meice, Bektys state. The stadium, also home to Vephrall's national association football team, features a natural grass field and a seating capacity of 80,426.

The team

STARTING OFFENSE
Pos # Name Age School
QB 1 Crublig CLASPUNG 32 Shentarong Tech
HB 29 Idaleis GOING 30 Bektys State
HB 24 Filler CLITULENG 26 BTI
FB 46 Angufams NETGORIN 28 Shentarong Southern
WR 82 Rilin FILLER 24 Siellal
WR 11 Sytrobes PEVONSONT 30 Shentarong Tech
LT 61 Hetag SEKETRE 31 Riestre
LG 63 Angufams SUTRED 31 Sirinis
C 57 Scathock RECASANG 33 Defae
RG 66 Boimoks SCATHOCK 25 Calamen
RT 76 Sadiques EDROKLIS 29 Bektys Coastal

STARTING DEFENSE
Pos # Name Age School
LE 96 Frireng SPEOCACKS 31 Twin Cities
DT 62 Echeng SORRAH 26 BTI
DT 75 Dustele FRIRENG 34 Taeschand
RE 95 Celtuars PERSAS 25 BTI
LOLB 54 Chezlot FRIRENG 27 Seibeng
MLB 99 Scathock PERSAS 30 Anhenir
ROLB 91 Satossy OSPRITE 26 Shentarong Southern
CB 22 Mocks PRAUMBETED 27 Sumbobor
CB 49 Dustele ECHENG 29 Northern Darnai
SS 37 Phanzus RUTAKO 25 South Bektys
FS 31 Pasarap MANTLOM 32 Riestre State

SPECIAL TEAMS
Pos # Name Age School
K 18 Sartiros SPELAAD 30 Bektys State
P 6 Slistols POCHUE 29 Calamen
KR 82 Rilin FILLER 24 Siellal

BENCH
Pos # Name Age School
QB 9 Hetag SADS 29 Chezlot
HB 47 Pembace ANGUFAMS 32 Bektys Coastal
HB 40 Hahnea WAIS 27 South Sirinis
FB 33 Hahnea SORN 31 Nenbondle
WR 88 Urkero MISINA 31 Anhenir
WR 12 Irupe WILOPTEERE 29 Rascenass
OL 74 Sads PHANZUS 33 Calamen-Custles
OL 60 Hottotelen IZORIGOR 28 Southwestern
OL 65 Rutako RIRVYMOLES 30 Sheoron
OL 73 Sytrobes CELTUARS 30 Fekliir State
OL 52 Nastadgus WESY 34 Middle Bektys
DL 85 Nastadgus GICKS 36 Taeschand
DL 64 Fyls MALENEDS 27 Western Darnai
DL 79 Rutako FRIRENG 28 South Sirinis
DL 97 Wesy HANDBOSM 36 Sumbobor State
OLB 98 Dreditars SORN 27 Twin Cities
OLB 58 Diors TACLIK 32 Riestre-Clyddly
ILB 59 Ocilla TURPRES 36 Taeschand
CB 23 Izorigor EDROKLIS 31 Scusenany
CB 32 Satossy WAIS 30 North Bektys
S 38 Parogam SADIQUES 34 Southeastern
S 27 Wilopteere SOSCREN 34 Western Shentarong
P/K 17 Rhoetang RAVCASSY 32 Northern Darnai

QSPN.com/WorldBowlVI Coverage

<Secristan>

The Group draw for the 6th World Bowl took place earlier today, and Qazox, ranked 4th in the world; was not given a very favorable draw.

A quick look at the Group the Pheonix will face:

Colbourne (16)
Lucino (NR)
Newmanistan (3)
Qazox (4)
Rennidan (8)
Sarzonia (10)
Tocrowkia (33)

We have 2 World Bowl Champions, (ourselves and Rennidan); a 3rd place team from WBV, (Newmanistan) and a good Sarzonia team.

The Complete Schedule: All games on QSPN/QSPN2
(Note: QST is -5:30 UTC or -0:30 EST/-1:30 EDT)

vs. Lucino (@ SaxerDome 1:00pm QST) QSPN
BYE
@ Colbourne QSPN2
Newmanistan (@ SaxerDome 8:00pm QST) QSPN
@ Sarzonia QSPN
Tocrowkia (@ SaxerDome 1:00pm QST) QSPN
@ Rennidan QSPN
@ Lucino QSPN2
BYE
Colbourne (@ SaxerDome 4:15pm QST) QSPN
@ Newmanistan QSPN/(Only in Newmanistan and Secristan, QSPN2 broadcast will be availible)
Sarzonia (@ SaxerDome 8:00pm QST) QSPN
@ Tocrowkia QSPN2
Rennidan (@ SaxerDome 1:00pm QST) QSPN

PRUX' World Bowl VI roster (aka the Statesmen)
(Style: -2 defensive, +1 for 2pt conversions)

STARTING OFFENSE
QB #13: Jason Ware
RB #31: Mike Penn
FB #35: Jesse Newton
TE #82: George Hall
WR #85: Mark Conn
WR #89: Paul Mass
LT #62: Brian Marlan
LG #68: Sean Caroll
C #70: Nate Hampton
RG #64: Virgil Ginham
RT #66: Nathan York

STARTING DEFENSE
RE #98: Na'ua Carroll
DT #95: Rodney Isley
LE #92: Vance Monte
ROLB #51: Kenneth Tuck
RILB #59: Jesse Tenneyson
LILB #53: Orie Hilo
LOLB #56: Louis Annsin
RCB #22: Henry Jones, Jr.
LCB #28: Mischa Pipps
FS #21: Issac Lainos
SS #26: Al Ba' shma

SPECIAL TEAMS
K #1: Mark Ainey
P #4: Orem Issle
KR #19: Art Konners
PR #17: Mike Higgans

RESERVES:
QB #11: Frankie Olds
QB #16: Thomas Exchange
RB #33: Ivan Oware
RB #30: Conner Wisson
FB #34: Calvin Force
WR #88: Sean Mine
WR #89: Oliver Gunn
TE #84: Ken Sawyer
OL #57: Wahin Virgil
OL #55: Ned Vasher
OL #51: Ned Brask
DL #90: Cory Doro
DL #99: Nate Daksi
DL #93: Sean Daksi
LB #50: Monte Aaron
ILB #57: Ashley Tingley
OLB #52: Issac Dejesus
DB #38: Wesley Young
DB #36: Ulysess Thanin
DB #33: Kyle Homer
ST #7: Al Burque

COACHING STAFF:
Head Coach: Dick Columbia
Offensive Coach: Ari Cozert
Defensive Coach: Albert Kassa
Team Trainer: Harold Awali

STADIUM INFO:
Statesmen Field, Pruxton, Prux. Capacity: 57,900. Astroturf field... Hah! (think Veteran's Stadium type-turf)

Yes choose my scorers
Yes to injuries
No to every thing else.

Our First Look At The Teams in Each Group And Predictions

Group B
Candrian Empire (19)-Not much that we know about them. Look for them to attack and try to burst someones bubble.
Dancougar (2)-Second team in the world. Seriously if they do not win out the world will be stunned. Look for endless victories and horroful games for defenders.
Fujisawan Territories (18)-Have played the Falcons many times before, but they are not looking good this year and may barely make an impact.
Kura-Pelland (5)-Should easily take second in the Group. They look very good.
Lovisa (12)-Unknown team members, seriously they need practice.
Norwellia (NR)-New team should be interesting to see how there highly announced offensive sets will take on the world.
Secristan (7)-Third highest team in group. Stunned the Falcons last season in the quaters. They will and should get third in the group.
Qualifiers-Dancougar, Kura-Pelland, Secristan


Group C
Colbourne (16)-Looking good after a few years of world mingling. They are a good enough team, but have not yet really made an impact.
Lucino (NR)-Not much info here.
Newmanistan (3)-Top team in group. Should fight for top seed out of group with Qazox.
Qazox (4)-Will give Newmanistan a run for there money. Should at least finish second.
Rennidan (8)-Third team in group. Highly defensive, very good.
Sarzonia (10)-On the outside looking in will try to advance past Sarzonia.
Tocrowkia (33)-No chance. Seriously with this group they might not even fisnish top five.
Qualifiers-Qazox, Newmanistan, Sarzonia


Group A
Arroza (1)-Seriously number one and should easily dominate.
Cassadaigua (15)-The girls have a slight chance, for fourth. No advancing for them.
Cotenshire (11)-In the same boat as Cassadaigua, not the right group for them to have a chance to mkae it through.
Prux (21)-Least highest ranking. Not looking good even with the new funds protectoration brings in to the club.
Steroga (NR)-Last team youll see making it. Would need everyone else to blow up.
Taeshan (6)-Will fight for second with Vephrall. They need a good Bowl or funding may be cut. They've had their chances and just never do anything.
Vephrall (9)-Will try to beat the Falcons, expect them to at least qualify.
Qualifiers-Arroza, Taeshan, Vephrall

(ooc: WB6 wiki page! (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_VI))

Despite several concerns over the safety of the city, the Doggles (as they are now called, since some players wanted to be referred to as the Eagles but others felt attached to the name “Dolphins”) will return to Taale-Voren for this latest World Bowl. Despite their troubles in the last competition, they still managed to make the knockout rounds where they were unfortunate enough to meet the Blackwings of Dancougar in the first game. The Doggles will attempt to succeed where they previously failed, but they almost did not even field a team this time due to several inconveniences.

For instance, star linebacker Valdemar Olavsson passed away shortly after the game against Dancougar from a mysterious case of rabies. As if this was not enough, coaches Jan Slues and Reinald Hoopfen were murdered by one Dominik Gribbel, who then assumed the position of Doggles head coach. Lastly, Lord Stijck, Burgrave of Taale-Voren, threatened to withdraw that Doggles from the competition if the murder rate at home games did not drop to a reasonable level.

The Doggles have one reason to be excited, however. In an effort to prevent mutiny, Coach Gribbel announced that, for the first time, each player will receive a guaranteed payment of a gallon of whiskey for participation in the World Bowl. This year, they are not just in it to win. They have booze on the brain.


The Current Doggles Roster (with starters in bold):

Head Coach: Dominik Gribbel

Offense:

#5 Antoon Kerkrade QB
The best way to describe Kerkrade is a running back that passes occasionally. He is a mediocre passer but is as formidable on the ground as any of the backs. He is truly the greatest athlete on the team and is renown throughout the entire dominion for his athletic achievements. He is also an indispensable leader and the team’s play is greatly influenced by his presence.

#29 Boudewijn Geul HB, KR, PR, Backup QB
Small and fast, Geul can make good sweeps and catches in the backfield, but is not able to run up the field as well as Kerkrade or Zeist.
#36 Lambert Zeist FB
Zeist’s role on this team is a runner first and a blocker second. He should be considered as an extra halfback in many of the Dolphin’s formations.
#35 Willem Urkster HB
Urkster does not stand out in any area of the game, but he is a credible enough threat that the defense must consider him when he is on the field.

#18 Robrecht Wageningen WR
Wageningen is shorter than the ideal receiver, but he is second only to Kerkrade in speed. His greatest attribute, however, is his quick mind that is always aware of the positions of players and of the ball. His ability to read defensive backs makes him able to make plays when they would otherwise not be there.
#82 Tileman Waalwijk WR
Waalwijk is not as mentally keen as Wageningen, but he possesses just as formidable speed and is excellent with his hands.
#80 Eduard Vorden WR
While slower than the two starting receivers, Vorden’s height and hands make him difficult to defend against in the slot position.
#19 Henrick Laren WR
#84 Magnus Rinchem WR

#86 Theodor Hoorn TE
Hoorn is most useful to the team as a blocker. He has good hands for when catches need to be made, but he is slow even for a tight end.
#81 Huughe Schede TE

#70 Arnulf Woerden LT
The entire Dolphin’s OL is quite fast and athletic (or at least as far as OL players go). Their speed and strength are good for quickly getting up blocks on outside runs. The relative lack of size is sometimes a problem on inside runs.
#64 Michael Zierikzee LG
#52 Wolf Zutfen C
#50 Raynaerd Harlingen RG
#67 Frans Zwolle RT
#61 Jan Bolsward G
#72 Dirk Groenlo T
#68 Jaecop Mueller C, LS

Defense:

#62 Daevit Carwer LDE
Like the OL, the DL is somewhat smaller and more athletic than average. This has advantages, such as a deadlier pass rush, but powerful runners and OL can be problematic.
#95 Karel Franeker LDT
#77 Godfried Stavoren RDT
#79 Maertyn Drachten RDE
#98 Pieter Wesp DT
#90 Dirk Muiden DE
#75 Filips Zaltbommel DT
#99 Robrecht Zilmijk DE

#97 Kristof Vlissingeln SLB
Vlissingeln’s main duty is stopping runners that get past the defensive line. He is also good against outside runs and is skillful at shedding blocks. The downside is that he is rather useless in pass coverage.
#54 Brunulf Delfzijl MLB
Delfzijl mainly covers the middle of the field against passes and often is paired with the tight end. He will also stop runs that come through the middle.
#91 Coenraad Buren WLB
Like most of the team, Buren is small but fast. He is good in both pass coverage and pass rushing, but is lacking in tackling ability.
#96 Gerrit Hoogeveen OLB
#58 Simon Leuven OLB
#92 Berthold Tienen ILB

#46 Ysbrecht Roeselare CB
Roeselare is infamous for his ability to bump receivers and disrupt their routes.
#39 Otto Kortrijk CB
Kortrijk is a very well rounded corner who is competent at a variety of coverage schemes.
#48 Detner Menken CB
Menken may not be as fast as Kortrijk or Roeselare, but his ability to quickly change directions makes him proficient in man coverage. He is known for his ability to deflect passes with his quick hands.
#25 Jan Morgener CB
#31 Jacob Godaat CB
#21 Floris Oosterhout SS
Oosterhout provides extra help in pass coverage and his speed enables him to keep up with receivers on downfield routes.
#30 Emich Genk SS
#45 Bruno Seraing FS
Seraing orginally tried out for the defensive end position, but Coach Slues felt he was better suited as a safety. His big hits jar the ball loose with alarming consistency, and he frequently prevents receptions just by slamming into receivers before they can secure the ball.
#37 Baldewin Diest FS

Special Teams:
#7 Godfried Dillijk K
#11 Guij Haageo P


Team Helmet: http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/2707/helmetle2.png
Team Uniform: http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/3734/uniform2lz9.png
Location of Taale-Voren: http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/1/taalevorenkr0.png
Team Logo: http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/323/dauphincd8.png

Offense/Defense Modifier: +1
2 Point Conversions: Logical

Choose my scorers: Yes
Choose scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries: Yes (although I need to approve if the injury would result in the player(s) dying/incapacitated for longer than World Bowl V lasts)
Godmod "other" events: Yes within reason

The Taale-Voren Hippodrome has been rebuilt since it was burned down in World Bowl IV. Unfortunately, a fierce storm demolished the cities levees in the weeks prior to the World Bowl. The resulting floods destroyed half of the stands, reducing the stadium’s capacity to 18,000. The field has also been covered with ankle-deep pools of water, and during high tide the field may become covered in water up to eight inches deep. Attempts have been made to repair the damages, but so far these efforts have been blocked by militant fans.

Ending before the beginning?

Well, you might as well forget about the words "Play" and "Offs" right now. The group the Nordics will play in features not one, not two, but three of the top-ten ranked teams in the world. As it stands, if the Nordics manage even one win in this group of titans it'll be a miracle on the level of parting the sea. The pre-World Bowl enthusiasm felt just days before? Gone. Poof, just like any hopes of a play-off berth.

Though the team was unavailable for comments, it is certain that they will play hard no matter what. It's just too bad it won't matter at all.

OFFICIAL NEWMANISTAN WORLD BOWL VI ROSTER

The coaching change, bringing in Jeremy Thompson has really paid off, as in two World Bowls he has led the team to a second and third place finish. Kenny O’Hara, at QB, deserves credit for that too, as does everyone else, of course, but the QB is always in the limelight.

Modifier: +3 (Doing this more because of the rather inexperienced defense, especially in stopping the run. The secondary remains strong).
Conversions: Logical
Stadium: Each game will be at a different stadium, which will be posted in my first official RP.

If my opponent RP's our game first, they may:
Choose my scorers: Yes, however at QB, only O’Hara plays without my permission.
Choose scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes, but only say they are hurt.
Godmod injuries: No
Godmod "other" events: TG your idea for approval first.

COACHING STAFF:

Head Coach: Jeremy Thompson, South Tier
Offensive Coordinator: Kevin Baldwin, Dover City
Defensive Coordinator: Jim Connelly, Putnam Lake
ST Coach: Larry Sylvis, Hampton

(starters bolded)

OFFENSE:

QB: #14 Kenny O’Hara (29, South Tier Seagulls): O’Hara’s career has taken off, and after first being named as Pivonka’s backup in World Bowl 3, the scrambler got the nod to start in World Bowl 4, and he has done nothing but confirm that the right move was made. So back he comes for World Bowl 6, to hopefully lead the team to a title. O’Hara isn’t only a scrambler, and throws the ball well.

QB: #4 Michael Chatman (28, Putnam Lake Eagles): A young QB who made his debut in World Bowl 4 as the third stringer. He still has seen only very limited action. He is a pocket passer with moderate mobility.

QB: #13 Matthew McKnight (23, Hampton Bulldogs)- McKnight had a stellar collegiate career before being drafted by the Bulldogs and he looked good as rookie. He was so impressive in his first year that Thompson wanted to give him a taste of the national team. Listed at the third stringer again, don’t be surprised to see him get a look if a situation presents itself.

HB: #29 Corey Parisi (32, Tundra Falls Mariners): Parisi is an outstanding back that can be used in all situations, as well as a receiver out of the backfield. He is able to take it outside or take it between the tackles, it really doesn’t matter. He has been the starter in every World Bowl and is arguably the most accomplished back in the competition. We didn’t forget you, Mr. Yeilds. This will probably be his last World Bowl as a starter, as running backs normally don’t have as long of a shelf life.

HB: #39 Darian Westcott (26, Fairfield City Admirals): Westcott debuted with the team as the third stringer in World Bowl IV, and remained there in World Bowl V. With the former second stringer retiring from international play, Westcott moves up. He is a power runner who likes to take it up the middle, making him a very nice change of pace from Parisi. Expect him to get a lot of carries as he may become our featured back in World Bowl 7.

HB: #35 Kevin Bowen (21, Dover City Mountaineers): Making his first appearance in the World Bowl, Bowen is coming off a successful collegiate career and has made positive impressions with Dover City. He may be the future at this position. He has a similar style to Parisi, but doesn’t quite do it as well. Yet.

FB: #45 Shayne Maddox (28, Pocono City Capitals): Maddox debuted in World Bowl 5 as the starter and did a good job. He understands his role as a blocker. With the power back Westcott an option, he probably won’t even get those 4th & inches carries anymore.

FB: #47 Mark Donalds (23, Southport Tigers): First time the Rockets will have a backup fullback, so this is his debut. Simply a younger version of Maddox.

TE: #87 Jim Crosby (31, South Tier Seagulls): The starter in World Bowl I & II was the second string TE in World Bowl III before returning back to starter duty in World Bowl IV. This move paid huge dividends as the player some call “Sidney” was one of the top producing tight ends. He is an outstanding receiver.

TE: #89 Shane Seymour (29, Centralia Cougars): A receiving TE, Shane got a chance to start in World Bowl III, but is back to the bench here. Not to worry, the Rockets use several two-TE sets.

WR: #86 Matt Bywater (26, South Tier Seagulls): Bywater made his debut as a 4th receiver in World Bowl IV, and moved up the charts rapidly for World Bowl V. He is listed as the #1 here, but that is probably more cosmetic then anything else. Receptions between him, Gagnon, and even Brooks, will be fairly even.

WR: #80 Christian Gagnon (32, Southport Tigers): Gagnon has been the #2 receiver to Alex Foster in every World Bowl, and he will probably miss him. Don’t be surprised if Christian ends up leading the team in receptions, but his specialty is more of the intermediate routes. He must be respected on deep passes, but they will mainly go to Bywater, or to Corey Brooks in a three receiver set.

WR: #81 Corey Brooks (31, Loudon Leopards): Brooks has been a kick return specialist for the team, and while he may still return a few kicks, he’s expected to be used much more in the passing game during this World Bowl. He is a shifty receiver with deceptive speed. He knows how to get open, and O’Hara should be able to find him.

WR: #82 Kevin Penforth (24, Centralia Cougars): Making his second World Bowl, Penforth is your typical possession receiver. Not flashy, but he doesn’t drop the ball.

WR: #84 Tony Dempster (27, Hampton Bulldogs): A pure speedster, he’s on the team to return kicks. From time to time, he’ll be in with the offense, but because his separation skills at the line of scrimmage needs work, he’s not ready for a bigger role.

WR: #85 Jason Albert (25, North Charlotte Wildcats): Solid receiver with the Wildcats, but here more for a depth role.


LT: #62 Matt Campbell (26, Pocono City Capitals): Had been a backup to the great Benny Halvorsen at this position in World Bowls 3 and 4, and filled his shoes admirably in World Bowl 5. Expect him to build on that here.

LG: #55 Sal Morris (29, Fairfield City Admirals): Sound in all aspects, best as a pass blocker. He starts for the first time as Nick Russo has retired.

C: #69 Scott Burnett (27, South Tier Seagulls): Debuted in World Bowl IV mainly because O’Hara is comfortable with him. It worked out has worked out very well, so no reason to change this up.

RG: #70 Brent Pemberton (34, Dover City Mountaineers): A 6'7" 360 pound mass of humanity that is just as intelligent as he is big. He wasn’t going to come back for World Bowl 6, but Thompson convinced him as he didn’t want to have to first time starters at the guard positions and at right tackle.

RT: #77 Darrell Barkley (23, Springfield Thoroughbreds): Barkley is a complete rookie to the World Bowl scene, but an impressive early career in Springfield has led Thompson to put him into the starting lineup immediately. It’s not by mistake that he is next to the veteran Pemberton, and he hopes Brent can be a good mentor for him at this level.

C: #64 John Guerin (27, Pocono City Capitals): John has been a steady player and has been a regular backup for the team. His 6'5" 333 frame is all muscle.

G: #66 Kyle Williams (22, Putnam Lake Eagles): Makes his World Bowl debut, he’s not the strongest guard in the world, but his technique is very impressive.

G: #63 Archie Hawkins (36, South Charlotte Condors): Another huge guard, very good at creating holes. Age not a concern given his place on the depth chart.

T: #67 Victor Sheehan (26, Daytopia Racers): Named to his first World Bowl team. Solid blocker.

T: #60 Steve Bennett (22, Olympia Gladiators): A very promising young tackle, and also got a look in World Bowl V. Being prone to false starts though is what put Barkley ahead of him.

Utility OL: #59 Jacob Beasley (35, North Charlotte Wildcats): Versatile, can play all offensive line positions, and is mainly on the squad in case of injuries, but he can hold his own when needed.


THE DEFENSE: (base 4-3)

DT: #97 Brodie Colliton (25, Centralia Cougars): Brodie is in his third World Bowl but will be starting, officially, for the second time. Average strength but impressive mobility for a big man.

DT: #73- Martin Calisdrum (25, Dover City Moutaineers): An above average run stopper. He starts for the first time after debuting as a backup in World Bowl 5.

LE: #92 Tyrone Booker (33, Southport Tigers): Quick off the snap of the ball, loves to blitz, and isn’t intimidated by any offensive lineman. Will likely lead the team in sacks. It’s his 5th World Bowl.

RE: #91 Spencer Harrison (22, Putnam Lake Eagles): Makes his World Bowl debut, and the team will be hoping that he can become a long time fixture here, and can learn more the veteran Booker.

ILB: # 90 Shane McMurtry (25, Daytopia Racers): McMurtry a former first overall draft pick has continued to show considerable improvement. Starts for the second time.

MLB #72 Kirk Comforth (33, North Charlotte Wildcats): Signed with North Charlotte as an undrafted free agent out of college, and through nothing more then hard work has made himself an outstanding, all-around linebacker. Some say he’s slowing down, but we dare you to say that to his face.

OLB: #53 Jesse Savage (28, Dover City Moutaineers): Savage knows he has a cool last name for a linebacker, and does his best to live up to it. Getting better with age, this shows as he started since World Bowl 3. Does a great job in run/pass recognition and is never out of position.

DL: #94 Brock Kahnberg (30, Fairfield City Admirals): Consistent run stopper. Generally gets good penetration off the ball. Not flashy.

DL: #96 Larry Washington (28, Hastings Crusaders): A big man with a nasty streak. If only he could be more agile, then he’d start.

DL: #98 Scott Winchell (21, Putnam Lake Eagles): A Defensive End by trade, he gets an outstanding pass rush. As he gets older and works on his inconsistency, he may start. Also sometimes gets too emotional, 15 yards at a time.

DL: #95 Dave Carlito (22, Centralia Cougar): Another player we’re grooming for future use, he debuts here just like Winchell.

LB: #52 Jaquan Hatcher (32, Tundra Falls Mariners): Will see time when the Rockets mix it up with 3-4 base as opposed to the 4-3. His best asset is his quickness. Prone to “illegal contact” penalties with receivers when in coverage.

LB: #74 Rodney Sillinger (24, South Tier Seagulls): Debuted in World Bowl 5 as a sub and is creeping up the depth chart.

LB: #76 Shawn Helton (21, Olympia Gladiators): Making his World Bowl Debut. The kid’s got quite a bit of promise, especially in pass coverage.

LB: #99 Robert Cooper (21, Brighton Bulls): Yet another kid we’re needing to groom on this side of the ball. He’s also best in pass coverage.

CB: #36 Dan Strasser (34, Portsmouth Whalers): Decent speed to stay with most receivers, but won’t blow you away. Good height but won’t outleap all receivers. He makes up for all this with his intelligence, and intimidating hitting. It’s his 6th time starting and possibly his last appearance.

CB: #46 Stanley Bressler (27, Dover City Mountaineers): The young kid has rapidly ascended in Newmanistanian football, and had a great World Bowl III & IV himself, complimenting Strasser very well. He should only be getting better.

FS: #26 Michael Ahearn (30, Pocono City Capitals) Very popular with female groupies, Ahearn’s physical nature makes him popular to true fans as well. And not as much to receivers.

SS: #38 Davisen Manzella (34, Dover City Mountaineers): Outstanding in coverage, is very wise to the tricks and moves that receivers will attempt to put on him. Should benefit from Mountaineer teammate Bressler now a starter as well.

DB: #43 Chris Johnson (28, Loudon Leopards): Has blazing speed, but sometimes that works against him as he can tend to overpursue, and get beat on cutback routes. Still learning. Will be alongside Brooks on kickoff returns.

DB: #22 Alex Sedlacek (26, Hampton Bulldogs): After a couple of injury shortened campaigns, the young DB has finally remained healthy and has thus been able to show what he is truly capable of. This is his second time on the national team.

DB: #44 Mark Asbury (25, South Tier Seagulls): Making his third appearance on the national team, Asbury is a hard-hitting safety. Might not be used too much, but when he is, receivers will need to know where he is.

DB: #41 Joshua Hedman (21, Putnam Lake Eagles): The only member of the secondary in his first World Bowl appearance. Hedman compares best to Michael Ahearn.

SPECIAL TEAMS:

K: #2- Patrick Marshall (28, Fairfield City Admirals)- Marshall makes his second World Bowl appearance. Highly accurate with a career long of 60 yards.

P: #1 Steve Meadows (45, Springfield Thoroughbreds): Gets solid hang time and distance on his punts, but his best attribute is pinning opponents inside the 10 without the ball going back for a touchback. Also is the holder on FG attempts. Like many punters, age is just a number with him, and he is still the best at his position in the country. But this will probably be it. Maybe.

K: #18- Dennis Gardner (28, Olympia Gladiators): A backup
kicker. What more must be said? Ok, well his career long is 58 yards. Happy now?

P: #16- Todd Lincoln (30, Dover City Mountaineers): Not much more needs to be said for a backup punter, either.

THE ROCKET REPORT

NOTHING WILL COME EASY

Pocono City- Very soon, World Bowl 6 will upon us, and the Rockets will look to continue their upward climb towards, hopefully, a championship. Newmanistan is coming off a 3rd place finish in the last World Bowl, and runner-up showing in the World Bowl prior to that. This year, the playoffs will remain in One Big Island, but be in Secristan, leading to some hope that the Rockets could still have sort of a home field advantage even though the locals there hate us.

There is much in common with the last World Bowl, but also many more differences then you may presumed we would have. It depends on which side of the ball you are looking at. On offense, the primary leaders return, including Kenny O’Hara under center. 32-year old Corey Parisi will be back for what many think will be his final World Bowl, although he will not comment on that. The receivers all return, as do the tight ends. So with this, many of the names you see on the boxscore are going to remain the same, however, there are changes afoot. The offensive line sees first time starters Sal Morris and Darrell Buckley at left guard and right tackle, respectively. At right guard, 34-year old Brian Pemberton was talked out of his retirement from international football by coach Jeremy Thompson so that the team would not have three inexperienced players on the line. Despite that, the changes on offense are modest. It is on defense, especially on the line, where we will be looking much different. Inexperience reigns at defensive tackle where Martin Calisdrum starts for the first time and Brodie Colliton for the second. Despite the high skill level of these young players, look for opponents to attempt to exploit this. Also a first starter is right defensive end Spencer Harrison. The emotional member of the Putnam Lake Eagles makes his first ever international appearance as well. Left end and sack specialist Tyrone Booker, is thankfully, still around, even though some feel this will be his last World Bowl. The linebacking corps should be fine, as leader Jesse Savage has become a feared player throughout the world. However, opponents could look to take advantage of Shane McMurtry, who is in just his second World Bowl, and Kirk Comforth, who returns but his coming off a career low in tackles. The bench is full of youth. The Rockets will make up for this in the secondary, where all starters return. It is likely that teams will look to win games against us by utilizing the ground game heavily.

The qualifying stage will see each team play 12 games. We have 21 teams going to battle, which is a pretty big drop from what we saw in World Bowl 5. With that number of teams, you have three groups of seven with the top three teams making the playoffs in Secristan. Given that all of the top 12 ranked teams in the world are coming back for this, plus some strong opponents just outside the top 12 such as Cassadaigua and the Fujisawan Territories, expect to see a highly competitive group stage, and the nine teams that emerge from the battle and go to Secristan will have certainly earned a ton of respect simply for getting there. In our group, we must contend with Qazox and Rennidan. Qazox was the winner of World Bowl 3, and was defeated in the final of World Bowl 5. They are ranked 4th in the World, and we are #3. Rennidan’s Brutes have slipped to 8th overall but the World Bowl 2 champions are very strong and capable of winning the group themselves. Then you have Sarzonia, a definite team on the rise. It will be a fierce battle amongst these four nations to get into those three spots. 16th-ranked Colbourne can’t be overlooked either. Things will be tough for Tocrowkia unless Johnny Stryker and Jill Haviland play football, and do it as well as they play baseball, and absolutely brutal for newcomer Lucino.

Here is the Rockets schedule, and the locations of the home games:

MD1: vs Colbourne @ South Tier Stadium
MD2: vs Lucino @ Olympia Field
MD3: vs Tocrowkia @ Loudon Stadium
MD4: at Qazox (SaxerDome, SaxerVilla, Qazox)
MD5: at Rennidan (Warehouse 17??)
MD6: Much needed rest after playing Rennidan
MD7: vs Sarzonia @ Tundra Falls Proving Grounds
MD8: at Colbourne (Bell Field, Toronto, Colbourne)
MD9: at Lucino (Somewhere in Lucino)
MD10: at Tocrowkia (Wolfpack Field, McKinely, Tocrowkia)
MD11: vs Qazox (@ Pocono City Stadium)
MD12: vs Rennidan (@ Putnam Lake Stadium)
MD13: More rest
MD14: at Sarzonia (Hendrix Stadium, Woodstock, Sarzonia)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v416/ImmortalDragonProductions/Hurricanefootball.png
Hurricane Football

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record Online

Evening Commentary: It’s Hurricane season once again

Hurricane season is upon us once again, and there are many changes- drastic changes- for the football team we all know and love. The Territories’ last World Bowl campaign ended on a bitter note with riots, Hoji burning, and over thirty deaths in the more impoverished Hoji suburbs during attempts to quell rioting. Chaos broke out throughout the island of Iwosaka after a devastating four point loss to Qazox, officially ending the Hurricane’s playoff contention.

Gone are head coach Ei’ichi Date, and quarterback Sibura Hiton. Date was fired after failing to bring the Hurricane back to the playoffs following their run in the World Bowl V campaign, after being absent from World Bowl participation from seasons two through four. Date was replaced with offensive coordinator Rai Lo. Lo cleaned house, and replaced his entire supporting coaching staff, notably with Beretanians.

Hiton, the Hurricane’s exceedingly immature starting quarterback at the opening of last season, was benched midway through the season for poor play, and was dropped from the team at the end of the season. After Hiton lead the Hurricane to a 3-2 record, his replacement, Daisetsu Kudo went 4-1, his only loss coming against Qazox. Hiton, plagued with inconsistency and constantly at war with Date, will not be missed.

Explosive rookie quarterback Kasmo Jit had a monster first season in domestic league play, most notably being interception free for the duration of the season, a first for any starting rookie quarterback. Jit gladly accepted the offer to join the Hurricane, and is widely considered by fans and players alike, to be the future of the team.

The team’s only female player, place kicker Okayaken Anenokoji is not returning, after retiring from her women’s domestic league team and withdrawing her place on the Hurricane roster. Shisakit Munie now will take all kicking duties.

Palmer the Palm Tree and the Hoji Herricane cheerleaders are back, on loan from the Hoji Hurricane of domestic league play, and ready to fire up Crosscom Global Arena for their home games. While on the subject of home games, it’s an interesting side note that the Hurricane went undefeated at home during their first World Bowl season, and lost only two home games last season for an overall home record of 8-2. Preserving such an impressive home record will be difficult, but mascot and cheerleaders are tasked with keeping the crowd in the game, doing their part to keep the Global Arena a hostile venue for opponents.

The Hurricane have their work cut out for them, and the competition looks tough. It’ll be a very long season, but with a veteran team, a coach with a new vision, and a promising fresh start, the Hurricane can make significant inroads toward being a playoff caliber team once again. Finding themselves in Group B, the Hurricane will have to face Dancougar, Secristan, and Kura-Pelland twice each, and they’ll be lucky to pick up any upsets. However, despite many disadvantages, the
Hurricane can overcome by focusing on one game at a time and fighting to the last second every time.

Current Schedule
vs. Candrian Empire
vs. Dancougar
vs. Secristan
@ Kura-Pelland
@ Lovisa
BYE
vs. Norwellia
@ Candrian Empire
@ Dancougar
@ Secristan
vs. Kura-Pelland
vs. Lovisa
BYE
@ Norwellia

Historical Archives
World Bowl I (7-3)
@ Pablicosta L 16-19
vs. Valanora W 41-3
vs. Unified Capitalizt States W 23-21
@ Yafor 2 W 33-14
@ Arroza L 27-30 (OT)
vs. Pablicosta W 33-31
@ Valanora L 23-27
@ Unified Capitalizt States W 30-17
vs. Yafor 2 W 19-10
vs. Arroza W 27-23

Playoffs
vs. Rennidan L 16-26

World Bowl V (6-4)
vs. Vephrall L 13-27
vs. Taeshan W 10-9
@ Questille W 31-17
@ Vephrall L 13-30
@ Taeshan L 6-20
vs. Questille W 24-3
@ Tocrowkia W 20-7
vs. West Newmanistan W 31-21
vs. Qazox L 27-31
@ Cotenshire W 20-3

All Time Records (by opponent)
Arroza (1-1)
Cotenshire (1-0)
Pablicosta (1-1)
Qazox (0-1)
Questille (2-0)
Rennidan (0-1)
Taeshan (1-1)
Tocrowkia (1-0)
Unified Capitalizt States (2-0)
Valanora (1-1)
Vephrall (0-2)
West Newmanistan (1-0)
Yafor 2 (2-0)

Biggest Win: vs. Valanora (41-3)
Closest Win: vs. Taeshan (10-9)
Closest Loss: @ Arroza (30-27 OT)
Biggest Loss: @ Vephrall (30-13)

QSPN.com/WorldBowlVI Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_VI)

WORLD BOWL VI Predictions
(Division winners in Blue, Wildcards in Red)

Group A:
Arroza 10-2
Taeshan 9-3
Vephrall 9-3
Cassadaigua 5-7
Cotenshire 5-7
Prux 3-9
Steroga 1-11

Group B:
Dancougar 9-3
Kura-Pelland 9-3
Secristan 8-4
Candrian Empire 6-6
Fujisawan Territories 6-6
Lovisa 2-10
Norwellia 2-10

Group C:
Newmanistan 9-3
Qazox 8-4
Rennidan 8-4
Sarzonia 7-5
Tocrowkia 5-7
Colbourne 4-8
Lucino 1-11

PLAYOFFS (Winners italics)
#8 Secristan vs. #9 Rennidan
QUARTERFINALS
#1 Arroza vs. #8 Secristan
#4 Kura-Pelland vs. #5 Taeshan
#3 Dancougar vs. #6 Vephrall
#2 Newmanistan vs. #7 Qazox
SEMIFINALS
#1 Arroza vs. #4 Kura-Pelland
#3 Dancougar vs. #2 Newmanistan
WORLD BOWL VI
#1 Arroza vs. #2 Newmanistan

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

For the first time, there was a World Bowl semifinal without Dancougar. They'd been upended in the quarters by hosts Newmanistan, the Rockets' first victory over the Wings in eight attempts, after cornerback Tony Rorick guaranteed the Wings would advance. But in a lot of ways, the defeat was as good to Dancougar as it was for the game. New powers emerged, old powers got their due, and this tournaments' Wings came into training camp with greater focus and determination.

"When you're not the top dog, it keeps you from getting complacent," said runningback Logan Dublin. "We'd gotten used to being the best, but when you go home early, it forces you to look at the things you've been doing and go, 'Well, okay, we could probably do this better.'"

Dublin was one of the players that analysts believed were most responsible for Dancougar's letdown once they rolled into the tournament with an unbeaten record in qualifying. Dublin's style of running, more finesse than power, was counter to the long-standing tradition of smashmouth Black Wing football. They equally bemoaned the widened use of the aerial game at the expense of the more familiar patient, slow-moving offense. But that offense produced an average of 26 points per game in qualifying while the defense, tough as ever, gave up about 10. So what happened?

Well, those statistics hide some telling truths. Newmanistan, which had come mind-numbingly close to defeating the Wings in most of their seven unsuccessful attempts, crushed the Dancougar offense when it mattered most and were, play for play, the stronger team at the end of the day. And the Wings could have easily lost twice in the qualifying stage of World Bowl V, as Arroza and Cassadaigua both took the Wings into overtime in the Jay Kay.

The truth is that the gaps between the teams at the top are continuing to shrink, and the Wings can except life to get more and more difficult as national programs continue to develop. This is one of the things that makes World Bowl VI so intriguing - with fewer entrants outside of the usual powers, the overall quality of teams attempting to qualify has probably never been higher. There are seven teams in each group and the top three will advance... and each group probably has four or five serious contenders.

"The field has gotten very tight, but we're still a strong team, and we're confident that we have what it takes to get back to that final four," said wide receiver Billy Leuthold. "I think we have better focus than we did four years ago. We were too concerned with being the best and making the dynasty real. Now, I think we're happy losing so long as we get to Secristan and win the last three."

Dancougar's stiffest challenge in the qualification stage will, if history has anything to say about it, come from Kura-Pelland and Secristan. Kura-Pellandis have been waiting for a chance to pay Dancougar back for dumping them out of the World Bowl III semifinals, and if these games live up to the epic trilogy from World Bowl I, fans are in for a treat. We'll know right away, as the Arrows will host the Wings on matchday one:

Dancougar Black Wings Qualifying Schedule
MD1: @ Kura-Pelland ............... All time: 3-1 (last: 19-10, WB3 semis)
MD2: @ Fujisawan Territories .. All time: 0-0
MD3: v Norwellia ...................... All time: 0-0
MD4: v Candrian Empire .......... All time: 3-0 (last: 23-19, WB4 quarters)
MD5: @ Secristan ..................... All time: 1-1 (last: 31-35, WB4 quals)
MD6: v Lovisa .......................... All time: 2-0 (last: 23-6, WB2 quals)
MD7: Bye
Break
MD8: v Kura-Pelland
MD9: v Fujisawan Territories
MD10: @ Norwellia
MD11: @ Candrian Empire
MD12: v Secristan
MD13: @ Lovisa
MD14: Bye

Dancougar, Secristan, and Kura-Pelland will stand out as the favorites to advance, although every team in this group has been to the knockout stage at least once, excluding newcomer Norwellia. The Candrian Empire was barely eliminated by the Wings in World Bowl IV before skipping the last tournament, and the Fujisawans were, at 6-4, the best team eliminated in the World Bowl V qualification stage. Lovisa squeaked into the World Bowl V finals at 5-5 but will be hard-pressed to make it back. Norwellia could spring a surprise, but it's hard to see them making the breakthrough in their first attempt. They should nevertheless produce some exciting football, if early scouting reports are to be believed.

Even after combing through all of the "althoughs" and "buts" when looking at the teams, one has to admit that everyone brings something to the table, and the three who eventually emerge from Group 2 will have earned the right to compete for a world title.

Will Moohim has maybe one or two more tournaments left in him, but he and his tactics have withstood the test of time. This time, however, he'll be toning it back to what he says is a "run-based, defensively tight -2 style of play", a number which means nothing to us but we think Margaret - should she be a fan of this code of football, too - may bestow her blessings accordingly. Most of the same personnel from World Bowl V will be back, and that should serve as an advantage once it gets back to crunch time, as they've had time to stew over that quarterfinal defeat.

A look at the depth chart, with probable starters bolded:

Quarterback
3 - Franklin Gelbach (28) (named starter week 6)
10 - Booker Tilghman (27) (starter weeks 1-5)
8 - Adrian Shirvanian (18)

At 35, Michael Hussey backed out of international play after guiding the Wings to two World Bowl playoffs and one title. He will be succeeded by Booker Tilghman, who has been molded into exactly the kind of quarterback Moohim likes. Tilghman's strengths are his footwork and quick release, which make it easy for him to run the short routes that Moohim likes, which are meant to move the ball as patiently as through the running game. He's got a strong arm, but if the play runs too long, he starts to make mistakes, especially when picking out receivers more than 30 yards downfield. 18-yard-old Adrian Shirvanian, a pure athlete, makes the roster as the likely quarterback of the future.

Runningback
26 - Logan Dublin (28)
36 - Casey Pendleton (25)
39 - Gary Hutchins (32)
24 - Donovon Southcott (20)
32 - Rolland Kiefel (22)

Gary Hutchins still has something left in his legs at 32, but he seems to have been replaced by Casey Pendleton as Dancougar's next big back. But the surprise here is Moohim naming Logan Dublin his number one. Dublin is not known for his north and south running, but since taking over as the feature back at his semipro team in Lunarossa, he's improved his endurance and versatility. His ability to come out of the backfield as a receiver makes him valuable in third down situations or when Moohim wants to throw a changeup at the defense.

Fullback
30 - Sidney Etheredge (33)
35 - Stanley Jarnutowski (20)
34 - Jeff Emery (32)

Etheredge and Emery return at the fullback position, and Etheredge is now going to be used almost exclusively as a blocking back. Joining them on the depth chart is young gun Stan Jarnutowski, who is already earning rave reviews at the college level for his ability to run effectively out of the I-formation.

Tight End
82 - Tristan Cray (26)
85 - George Wareham (30)
80 - Avery Leysath (23)

Ed Mendenhall will be missed, although Tristan Cray had supplanted the veteran tight end in World Bowl V with his unique combination of size and speed. Cray's ability to get downfield - he's not afraid to work the middle - makes him a valuable asset since he can catch, block, or just draw defenders away from the sidelines.

Wide Receiver
88 - Billy Leuthold (27)
87 - Kevin Queandlinn (25)
18 - Thomas Langley (24)
86 - Fred Uselton (31)
89 - Norman Callahan (26)
81 - Zach Washington (29)
84 - Wilson Verrue (22)

After heavy turnover in World Bowl V, the wide receiver position remained largely unchanged in terms of personnel. Wilson Verrue joins in place of Al Venturini, who never saw much action outside of special teams. Leuthold will start for the second straight tournament, but partner-in-crime Fred Uselton has been demoted in favor of some younger guns. Tom Langley remains the third option, with his height being his best asset, making him most useful in goal line situations. But the biggest change is moving Kevin Queandlinn all the way up to a starting spot. He's progressed well in the last four years and some analysts think he could match the team's best all-time receiver, Jermaine Divalerio for playmaking ability. He'll also return kicks.

Center
62 - Sam Kuhle (28)
64 - Ed Carnavon (26)
65 - Chris Odamchick (29)

Guard
67 - Bernard Bruce (24)
61 - Joseph Morisky (26)
63 - Rod Music (32)
69 - Michael Condrey (21)

Offensive Tackle
70 - Gilbert Resnick (32)
72 - Tom Anders (25)
68 - Jason Silvernale (33)
73 - Frankie Drouga (23)

The offensive line saw both starting guards retire from international play - Hershel Seyfried and Christopher Lacefield, solid if unspectacular performers, give way to the much younger Bernard Bruce and Joseph Morisky. Offensive tackle Brooks Wolpe also stepped aside at age 37, bringing in Tom Anders and making room for up-and-comer Frankie Drouga. All three will have to quickly adjust to the pace of the international game or the line could be the team's weakest link... not exactly the best situation to be in with a run-heavy offense.

Nose Tackle
76 - Christopher Gifford (28)
74 - Carl Gustava (30)
75 - Oscar Sanchez (24)

Defensive End
93 - Kendrick Lynch (32)
98 - Travis Whynne (23)
94 - Roger Westervoorde (28)
96 - Dale Heminger (29)
90 - William Doncaster (26)

After being remade for World Bowl V, the defensive front three are essentially unchanged. A backup in the previous tournament, Travis Whynne now gets this shot as a starter, swapping in for Roger Westervoorde, who isn't a bad option, either. Kendrick Lynch is the unit's most dangerous pass rusher, although at 32, he may no longer have the kind of breakout speed that helps him get around the edge to create havoc in the backfield. Chris Gifford may not be as good as Cesar Tramonti was at nose tackle, but he's grown into the role and will not disappoint.

Linebacker
52 - Kirk Manly (34)
50 - Billy Aveline (31)
55 - Brian Milcher (27)
59 - Roderick Danbury (24)
54 - Bob Nesbit (28)
92 - Kerry Tierno (32)
97 - Jack Mallory (25)
99 - Luke Rubenstein (21)

Neil Samples is out, and Kerry Tierno makes way for Roderick Danbury, a fiery 24-year-old linebacker two years removed from the University of Sullivan. Other than that, the core of this unit is the same, with Kirk Manly showing as much determination as he did when he broke into the lineup over ten years ago. As the Wings play a base 3-4 defense, they are able to bring a variety of different blitz packages, and one of things Moohim loves to stress is the versatility of this unit. They won't be able to keep up with speedy receivers, but put them on a tight end and they should be able to hold their own.

Cornerback
20 - Jeff Buckholt (28)
40 - Richard Galawitz (28)
25 - Scott Maxam (33)
23 - Johnny Sinatra (19)
29 - Devin Knill (31)

Tony Rorick's last game in a Black Wing shirt ended in disaster - he guaranteed a win over Newmanistan, and we all know how that ended. He hasn't been dropped because of that, no, but because of advancing age. Now at 35, Rorick has been bumped to make room for a promising youngster, 19-year-old Johnny Sinatra, whose hands are as smooth as his name implies. He earned first-team All-Dancougar honors for picking off seven passes in his freshman year at Sullivan State, although he'll likely share time with Scott Maxam as the nickel back. He may also return kicks alongside Queandlinn.

Safety
33 - Omar Garry (28)
38 - Sam Paige (25)
31 - Tyler Reinier (30)
22 - Terrance Munshower (20)
37 - Rod Morten (28)
21 - James Principato (23)

Another anchor in the secondary, Alex Isabella, retired from international play, and Reinier's demotion means a pair of first time starters up top. Omar Garry and Sam Paige were third and fifth, respectively, on the World Bowl V depth chart. Moohim anticipates no real problems with the two, although opposing quarterbacks may try to test them early in the tournament with a few deep routes. Reinier will be the dime back, although he may split time with Terrance Munshower, who's also showed promise straight out of school.

Punter
12 - Bruce Straczinski (28)

Kicker
6 - Seth Cavallo (31)

Seth Cavallo's importance cannot be understated. He's been rock solid on field goals, almost singlehandedly winning some games for the team when the offense repeatedly stalled. His range is about 55 yards and has remarkable accuracy from inside 35.

Lest we forget, those of you wanting to see the Wings in action should get down to Bradford, Sullivan, to check out the 55,000 seat Shin Jared Koeppel:
http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/africa/south_africa/cape_town_newlands1.jpg

With the Bradford United association football team starting play in the fall, field sharing is now three-way between them, the University of Sullivan, and the American football team. This means the grass field will get torn up and resodded often, which could produce problems if the weather doesn't cooperate. That should favor the ground game of Dancougar, but it'll be ugly.

The sextagenarian coach looked out at the assembled throng of media. He had aged considerably since his last go as a head gridball coach. His once revolutionary offence was now considered passé, conservative.

But Joe Gibbs would not compromise his philosophy to chase the impossible. Or would he? He'd agreed to come out of retirement again, in spite of the protestations of his wife, Pat. In spite of dealing with a side venture that turned into a major proposition in its own right. In spite of the uncertainty in his family.

Now he was going to try to unite a team that was dealing with grief. Gone was their effervescent head coach. Gone was a wily defensive coordinator. In their places were veterans who arguably forgot more about gridball than many of the younger players on this Stars roster had ever learned.

"It's going to be a tough road, definitely a tougher group than anything we've faced before," Gibbs said. "It starts right away with a tough Nordics squad. They're underrated. Then we face the great unknown in Lucino.

"Rennidan kicked our tushes at the last World Bowl. Qazox has won this thing before. They're one of those teams we haven't been able to get over the hump against. Then we've got the defending champs Newmanistan. They beat us twice last time."

"Coach! Are you going to drop the West Coast offence Coach Zorn said he was going to install?"

"He never really did, did he?"

"Ah, no."

"We've got a roster that's really built on a strong running game and some timely passing. We're going to look to establish LoQuan Willard and win the battles up front. That would open things up for [Gavin] Davis."

"Coach, Davis had an up and down World Bowl last time out. What do you think he needs to do?"

"He's got a lot of talent. He's got to trust the team around him and play within the system."

"Coach, it's been a long time since you've last coached. Any worries?"

"There's no net," he said. "I'm worried all the time." He cackled.

He was, and is, a notorious worrier. At least in public.

Sarzonia Stars

MD 1 BYE
MD 2 TOCROWKIA (at Hendrix Stadium, Woodstock)
MD 3 @ Lucino
MD 4 @ Rennidan
MD 5 QAZOX (at Hendrix Stadium, Woodstock)
MD 6 @ Colbourne
MD 7 @ Newmanistan
MD 8 BYE
MD 9 @ Tocrowkia
MD 10 LUCINO
MD 11 RENNIDAN
MD 12 @ Qazox
MD 13 COLBOURNE
MD 14 NEWMANISTAN

http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/uu303/Norwellia/update.png
INTERNATIONAL EDITION - SPORT - PAGE A1

World Bowl set to return

This Sunday will mark the opening kick-off of World Bowl VI, the premier international gridball competition, in Kura-Pelland as the Arrows face their nemesis Dancougar.

Full schedule for Sunday's games, staff picks in bold(all times OST):

7:15 AM

Group B: #2 Dancougar @ #5 Kura-Pelland on NBI
Game Notes: This rivalry, dating all the way back to World Bowl I, is made all the more bitter by its lopsidedness. Dancougar has dominated the Arrows throughout the competition's history, edging them out in the World Bowl playoffs twice. The heartbreak of the latest Kura-Pellandi loss to the Black Wings, the semifinal of World Bowl III, still burns in the Arrows' collective memory. Time will tell whether the two teams, who may find themselves jet-lagged from the opening ceremonies in Secristan on Friday night, will produce an entertaining game. However, we know for certain that this and their midseason bout will be crucially important in determining the outcome of the tournament's sixth edition--and, due to the importance of the rivalry in both countries, could make or break a handful of careers.

Dancougar, with perhaps the world's highest gridball standards, is coming off of its worst World Bowl performance ever. If the Black Wings have ever looked vulnerable, it would be right now, coming off of their quarterfinal loss to Newmanistan. The Arrows would love nothing more than to crush their dreams of a third title.

10:15 AM

Group A: #1 Arroza @ #11 Cotenshire on OSN
Game Notes: Arroza is the defending champion and the #1 team in the world. Their first game is sure to set the tempo of their title defense effort. The two teams have never played before, but the next best side in the world, Dancougar, have eliminated Cotenshire in both of its playoff appearances. A big Arroza win could set the stage for an eventual record-breaking second championship in a row.

Group A: Steroga @ #9 Vephrall on GPN

1:15 PM

Group C: #16 Colbourne @ #3 Newmanistan on OSN
Game Notes: This is a match between two Elo oddities: Colbourne is the highest-ranked team never to have made the playoffs, and Newmanistan is the highest-ranking team never to have won a championship. This could be the Rockets' year, after going 3-1 in the playoffs in the last two World Bowls; their first game will be crucial in establishing momentum if they hope to shake their reputation of always losing the big game.

These two teams were also in the same group in World Bowl IV, when Colbourne upset the Rockets at home in a 21-20 nail-biter, but Newmanistan took their revenge by the score of 24-17 at the seat of the empire.

Group C: #8 Rennidan @ #33 Tocrowkia on TWN

4:15 PM

Group A: #15 Cassadaigua @ #21 Prux on OSN
Game Notes: Both of these nations were knocked out in the Round of 16 in their first playoff bids last time around, Prux in its first campaign and Cassadaigua in its second. If history has anything to say about it, one of these teams could very well break through this year. And if that happens, you won't want to have missed this game!

Group C: Lucino @ #4 Qazox on TWN

7:15 PM

Group B: #19 Candrian Empire @ #18 Fujisawan Territories on GPN

10:15 PM

Group B: #12 Lovisa @ #7 Secristan on NBI
Game Notes: Other than the Wings-Arrows showdown that will kick off the tournament, this game will be attended with the most fanfare in Week 1. The World Bowl Game hosts are coming off oftheir best season yet, a fourth-place finish in which they beat their own perennial nemesis Taeshan in the playoffs, only to fall to the eventual champions. Lovisa come off of their second-best season, their second World Bowl playoffs appearance in a row. Both teams come into this tournament with plenty of momentum and the Week 1 Closing Ceremonies should be one hell of a party, to boot.

Lovisa and Secristan have never met in gridball.

Katie’s Space

Good morning everyone. I am returning for my third World Bowl of representing the team and letting you all know what is going on with the team. If you are a first time reader, I am Katie Dupree, a starting wide receiver for our football team. Preparations have been underway for World Bowl 6, and we are excited for our first match which is going to be in Prux. We played Prux last year, and defeated them, but they probably have more good memories of us then they do bad ones. Heading into the final matchday, Prux was a game behind Green Wombat, and in order to beat them they had to win out on point differential. At that time they had a differential of -16 and Green Wombat was +13. They had to win their game, which they did, but they needed Green Wombat to lose and lose heavily. Enter us. Our 34-7 thrashing of Green Wombat in the last matchday was just enough to get Prux the point differential tiebreaker by four points. For us, it was a formality, we had our exact spot in the playoffs already set, but we all remember that, and we are sure that the Statesman and many of their fans will remember that too. That said, we do not expect to be cheered when we arrive in Prux for this opening game of World Bowl 6. That’s all old news now, just one of those fun facts. For us, it completed our remarkable turnaround from having gone 1-9 in World Bowl IV, to 7-3 in World Bowl V and making the playoffs. We had no expectations on us last time, now coming off of what we did last time, we are expecting to build on that.

That will not be an easy task, as the group draw is difficult for everyone, and we are certainly no exception to that. After playing twelve games within the group stage, there will be nine teams that advance to Secristan. As you have probably heard by now, there are 21 teams competing, and it’s a very top-heavy number in terms of those that are participating. With that number, the make up ends up being three groups of seven, so you must finish in the top three of your group if you want to advance. We are not considered to be one of the teams predicted to advance due to the fact that our ranking is 5th in the group amongst the seven teams. Overall, we are said to be the 15th-ranked team in the world. Given that they told us that we were 32nd going into World Bowl 5, I suppose we did a good job in moving up. Those rankings are just numbers and will mean nothing when we take to the field. We’ve proven that we can play with anyone, and if we have to play Arroza, Taeshan, and Vephrall twice, then I say c’mon boys, bring it on! Cotenshire doesn’t scare us either. My friend Stacie Kerrigan, who plays soccer, reminds me that in World Cup 45 qualifying, we were the 5th ranked team within our group too, and in a format that the top three qualified. We did just that. We’re sure Taeshan remembers that. We’re going to figure out a way to get ourselves to Secristan. We’re on the upswing and we’re not about to falter.

This is our schedule:

MD1- at Prux
MD2- at Cotenshire
MD3- vs Taeshan
MD4- vs Arroza
MD5- at Vephrall
MD6- vs Steroga
MD7- Bye
MD8- vs Prux
MD9- vs Cotenshire
MD10- at Taeshan
MD11- at Arroza
MD12- vs Vephrall
MD13- at Steroga
MD14- Bye

Links to rosters have now been provided.

We kick this thing off today. Cutoff time will be around 9:30PM eastern (0230AM GMT) tonight or in about nine hours and on all Thursdays during the competition. All other days during the week it will be 5-5:30PM eastern.

Good luck to everyone!

From a newspaper in Caen:

BISHOP SEEKS TO MAINTAIN ORDER IN TAALE-VOREN, FUTURE OF PROMINENT LOCAL SPORTING EVENT IN QUESTION

Pieter van Kindeln’s analysis of the upcoming World Bowl could not be printed to-day due to the recent incidents in Taale-Voren. The city is known for its dominance in the sport of football, and its athletes have even competed with teams outside of His Majesty’s Dominion. Such events attracted considerable numbers of spectators not only from Taale-Voren, but from surrounding cities and even distant lands. The Taale-Voreners, naturally offended by these repeated invasions, have risen up in fits of patriotism to violently suppress the intruders. The city government’s attempts to control the violence have repeatedly been thwarted with ease by the town mobs. The chaos has caused considerable disruption to the affairs of the city’s neighbors, who have been forced to endure rampaging militias that burn crops and steal livestock.

Unable to tolerate the onslaught any longer, His Holiness, the Bishop of Duwen, has ordered two infantry divisions and one mechanized division into the city, while personally leading a helicopter brigade. These forces were originally intended to preserve stability during any potential riots, but some unexpected skirmishes occurred when some of the Bishop’s soldiers attempted to pillage a marketplace. There was a period of violence in the city between the two forces, but the dominant firepower of machine guns and nerve gas won over and the Bishop’s army now controls a large portion of the city.

In addition to much of the manufacturing districts, this section of the city also contains the St. Alfons Hippodrome in which these prestigious football games are played. The Bishop is not allowing any entry into the occupied areas, so there is little likelihood of the game being played there are unless His Holiness and Lord Stijck can reach a settlement before then. If the game occurs at all, it would have to be held on some other field.

As alluded to earlier, Mr Kindeln’s article is not available for publishing. During the fighting, some of the Bishops troops entered Mr Kindeln’s shop, beheaded him, and threw his presses into the river. Information has been leaked by his close associates, however, that he predicted the Doggles to emerge from the group stages with a record of 12-0 and then advance with impunity until they humiliate Tocrowkia in World Bowl VI. His analysis of the other teams in the competition has not been leaked and may never be known.

To: Cotenshire Gridball Association
From: Mark Landry
Chief Operating Officer, Iron Bowl Enterprises
Portland, Somerset, Sarzonia
Subject: Interim 'home' grounds

In light of the recent tensions in Taale-Voren, we at the Iron Bowl in Portland, Somerset would like to extend an offer to host Cotenshire's home fixtures at the Iron Bowl in the event you need an alternate home grounds.

We believe the athletes who strive to represent their countries on the fields of play internationally should be able to do so safely. I can assure you that the Portland Police Department stands ready to provide security for the Iron Bowl and nearby hotels.

Should the political situation resolve itself, I am confident the Sarzonian gridball team would be more than willing to play its away fixture in the St. Alfons Hippodrome. Otherwise, I am sure the gridball team would be amenable to discussing an alternate location for the match, so as not to negate home field advantage by having Portland host the away fixture while Hendrix Stadium in Woodstock hosts Sarzonia's home match.

Arroza Tar Hornets: Roster

Coach: Andreas Waulequah

Home Stadium: Fletcher Field a.k.a. The Hive Capacity 88,440, Atalanta, Capital District.

Play Style: +1
PAT: Logical.
Colors: Black, Tan, Crimson

Offense: Based on a strong line that pushes off the ball and looks to open up holes every play for the multitude of backs that come through Arroza. Arroza's still running the traditional triple option, even though in the last few World Bowls, it's shown that there's a problem both in coming back from late game deficits, and against certain teams.

First Team:
#5 QB: Selmon Baliss (27, Big Thicket Cavalry)
Selmon Baliss. Winning the World Bowl has placed Baliss on a level of celebrity few Arrozan athletes have ever known, and his play domestically has suffered as his ego expanded. It's time to see if he can put it all together again.
#21 HB: Abraham Chadwick (31, Pine Forest United)
A torn ACL last year means that Chadwick should have hung the cleats up a year ago, but he has rehabbed solely to play in this tournament as his swansong.
#23 HB: Donovan Hailey (27, Big Thicket Cavalry)
The other half of the reason why Big Thicket has such an unstoppable offense every year. He's been on ASN a lot in the last few months, guaranteeing that this is the year the Tar Hornets will beat [evil empire team name redacted.]. Now the time has come to see if he can match his swagger.
#45 FB: Elmore Coffin (26, Gold Spring Stallions)
Finishes blocks with a ruthless intensity not normally seen outside of a videogame. As far as he's concerned, the only good linebacker is a pancaked linebacker.
#88 TE: Salomon Arraza (28, Biloxoulaport Seabees)
Definitely more of a finesse player than the Hornets have previously had at this position.
#89 WR: Taesean Malone (26, Huracan Tropicals)
The league's leading receiver, Malone's developed experience to go along with the mountain of raw talent. If he can hook up with Baliss, he'll be a dangerous option when defenses start to focus too much on the run game.
#66 T: Philemon Placido (32, Black Tide F.C.)
#67 T: Hector Laredo (28, Aransas County Sea Stars)
#63 C: Harun Marasseh (28, Port Lange Archers)
#64 G: Garrett Phillips (30, Aransas County Sea Stars)
#60 G: Michael Forrest (23, Pine Forrest)

#11 QB: Afif Bassem (31, F.C. Atalanta)
#7 QB: Patrick Fawcett (22, Northland Cannons)
#31 RB: Lake Major (29, Black Tide F.C.)
#29 RB: Lazaro Connelly (24, Biloxoulaport Seabees)
#25 RB: Roger Seabrook (23, Atalanta Senators)
#44 FB: Stanley Graham (22, Big Thicket Cavalry)
#84 TE: Matt Herrera (23, Northland Cannons)

#81 WR: Luke Hollam (28, Huracan Tropicals)
#65 T: Donald Haskill (26, Big Thicket Cavalry)
#68 G: Andrew Florez (22, F.C. Atalanta)
#69 C: Robert Rook (28, Lincolnton Suns)

Defense: 4-4.
Not the biggest in the world, the Arrozan defenses pride themselves on their tactical knowledge and their speed. These two ideas, when combined in the Arrozan D, normally mean opponents get to see a varying array of zone, man, and option coverages, with blitzes coming in from all angles, and interceptions going the other way for 6 points.


#91 NT: Tony Jackson (32, Pine Forest United)
His playing style has earned him the nickname, “Big Nasty”. He wears than name like a badge of honor.
#94 NT: Roger Mayfield (21, L.S.A. Blues)
#99 DE: Joseph Reed (30, Biloxoulaport Seabees)
Commands a double team on almost every passing down. The bookend of him and Charles may become the best tandem in Arrozan history.
#98 DE: Raibonne Charles (30, Biloxoulaport Seabees)
Recorded 14 sacks last year, benefiting from the double teams Reed got on the other end.
#52 OLB: Fremont Cannon (27, Port Lange Archers)
#50 OLB: Antwan Lineville (27, Port Wentworth)
Lineville toils away in obscurity for his hometown Pilots, but is undoubtedly good enough to make this squad.
#56 MLB: Marcus Aurelin (29, Resurgens Flames)
Leads linebackers in sacks domestically with 13. Great on the blitz.
#58 MLB: Denzel Person (28, Evangeline Seraphs)
The “Angel of Death” is more well known for his off-field antics than his on-field play, especially after supposedly stabbing a man to death in a Resurgens bar and having the charges dropped. On the field, he's just as punishing though as a aggressive run-stopper and blitzer.
#24 CB: Jeremy Beaumont (25, Aransas County Sea Stars)
#33 CB: Calvin Brandon (29, F.C. Atalanta)
Good at anticipating plays, and leads the domestic league in interceptions.
#30 S: Caron Saint-Marais (28, Resurgens Flames)
He didn't just lead the league in interceptions for safeties...he doubled the second place finisher.

#92 DT: Richard Stacy (23, Atalanta Senators)
#95 DT: John Kirchner (24, Biloxoulaport Seabees)
#93 DE: David Edwards (22, Farragut Torpedoes)
#97 DE: Frank Paine (23, L.S.A. Blues)
#51 LB: Pollux Hall (26, Pine Forest United)
#54 LB: Victor Padilla (24, Evangeline Seraphs)
#57 LB: Zachary Gaston (23, Atalanta Senators)
#55 LB: Donovan Birmingham (21, Pine Forest United)
#20 CB: Reuben Channelview (19, S.F.A. Texans)
#2 CB: Rimer Vinings (25, Pine Forest United)
#24 S: Linus Lincecum (27, Farragut Torpedoes)
#8 S: Olorun Mayfield (25, Resurgens Flames)

Special Teams:

#4 K: Drew Albrect (39, F.C. Atalanta)
Can kick anywhere, in winds that would blow other kickers off the field.
#13 P: Tyler Edmiston (34, Way Path Pioneers)
#24 KR: Rimer Vinings (25, Pine Forest United)

Know Your Enemy!

Matchday One: Cotenshire Deegles

The Arrozan Department of Foreign Affairs has banned all Arrozan nationals from traveling to Taale-Voren for the Tar Hornets game against the Cotenshire Deegles [editor note: Deegles is ridiculous isn't it? Almost like a name for a oversized gun or something. From now on we will refer to them as the “Flying Fish”] The Hippodrome in Cotenshire has always been a haven for violence of the highest order, and this tournament has been no exception as partisan supporters of the Bishop of Duren have run wild in the city, destroying Voren's bazaar and taking large parts of the twin cities. Estimated strength of Bishopric forces in Taale-Voren are determined to be 40,000 ground troops and one helicopter brigade of 20 gunships.

A large part of the invaded areas include the industrial core of North Voren, and the Hippodrome itself. As such, fans are supposedly not going to be able to travel to the game. Another destroyed business was the editorial and sporting departments of the Taale-Voren newspaper. The sports lead writer, one Kindeln was reported to have been beheaded, but whether it was by reactionary forces or by invaders has yet to be determined.

An offer has been tendered by the Sarzonian authorities to play this game and Cotenshire's other home games in Portland at the Iron bowl has been soundly encouraged by Arrozan politicians. If the game does have to be played in Taale-Voren, the First Marine Expeditionary Group will be sent to Taale-Voren to defend Arrozan citizens. Units of the group that have been ordered to report to Sunflower Marine Base include:


Marine Division Northwest
Naval Rotary Air Wing 8
Logistics Group – Pine Forest
7th and 15th Marine Expeditionary Brigades.


History: Never Played.


Know Your Plays!

Option Power Sweep
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/5619/optionsweep.png


This play starts in the Hurricang Wing offensive Formation. Bassem goes behind center. At the snap Arraza seals off the Defensive end, ceeating a corner for the runners to go around. Coffin precedes the runners to take out the strong side linebacker and Chadwick blocks the cornerback. This should leave Bassem with an open lane to run, and the option to pitch the ball to the speedy Hailey who has come around the end, behind the formation.

The Matchday 1 cutoff is presented by Loophole Life Insurance.
Loophole Life Insurance, We'll be there for you if we have to be.

Matchday 1 Results:

Group A
Cotenshire 10-24 Arroza
Prux 3-13 Cassadaigua
Vephrall 27-3 Steroga

Group B
Fujisawan Territories 23-7 Candrian Empire
Kura-Pelland 13-10 Dancougar
Secristan 17-20 Lovisa

Group C
Newmanistan 24-10 Colbourne
Qazox 27-7 Lucino
Tocrowkia 16-20 Rennidan



Matchday 2 Games:

Group A
Steroga (0-1) at Arroza (1-0)
Cassadaigua (1-0) at Cotenshire (0-1)
Vephrall (1-0) at Taeshan (0-0)

Group B
Lovisa (1-0) at Candrian Empire (0-1)
Dancougar (0-1) at Fujisawan Territories (1-0)
Secristan (0-1) at Norwellia (0-0)

Group C
Rennidan (1-0) at Colbourne (0-1)
Lucino (0-1) at Newmanistan (1-0)
Tocrowkia (0-1) at Sarzonia (0-0)

QSPN.com/WorldBowlVI Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_VI)

QAZOX 27
Lucino 7
Game Summary, While most pele think Qazox is a contender, it is a rebuilding season for the Pheonix, but you couldn't tell that against a over challenged Lucino team as Qazox raced to a 27-0 lead before Lucino managed a late TD to avoid the shut out.
Up next after the bye date is a trip to Colbourne, 10-24 losers at Newmanistan earlier today.

BOX SCORE
1 2 3 4 Fin
Lucino 0 0 0 7 7
Qazox 10 7 7 3 27


Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
QZX: 74 yard TD pass Mike Handey from Larry Hinierian. PAT by Kyle Kobel good. 11:09 (1 play, 74 yards in 0:17) 7-0 Qazox.
QZX: 42 yd FG by Kyle Kobel 0:07 (8 plays 47 yards in 4:23) 10-0 Qazox.
2nd Quarter
QZX: 12 yard TD run by Craig Hamersien. PAT by Kyle Kobel good. 7:08 (9 plays, 80 yards in 3:29) 17-0 Qazox.
3rd Quarter
QZX: 4 yard TD run by Craig Hamersien. PAT by Kyle Kobel good. 7:42 (15 plays, 83 yards in 7:18) 24-0 Qazox.
4th Quarter
QZX: 39 yd FG by Kyle Kobel 10:13 (3 plays 7 yards in 2:27) 27-0 Qazox.
LUC: 82 yard punt return for TD. PAT good. 0:59 (1 play, 82 yards in 0:16) 27-7 Qazox.

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

No going undefeated this time. This time, we play from behind.

On paper, Kura-Pelland's hard-fought 13-10 victory over the Dancougar Black Wings was a mild upset and one of the few curveballs thrown at the bookmakers on the opening day of World Bowl qualifying. But in reality, fans were treated to a match between teams on roughly even strength with very similar playing styles. It was by no means a pretty game - it produced under 400 yards of total offense and five turnovers. It was a chess match between defensive coordinators, each doing their best to hit the other guy in the mouth a little bit harder than last time.

"I think we both wanted to come out and send the message that nothing comes easy," said linebacker Kirk Manly, who had six tackles and a sack in the loss. "I'm pretty sure come tomorrow, we're going to get it. We can already feel it. That was one of the toughest games I've ever played."

Playing in front of a sellout crowd in excess of 95,000, the Arrows wanted to get off to a fast start. Freddie Mathers went to the play action on the first play of the game, hoping to find Keith Mackail-Smith out of the backfield. It was a play that nobody on the Dancougar side of the ball saw coming, and the personnel were all wrong. Mackail-Smith was matched up against linebacker Brian Milcher and quickly got into the open. Mathers, perhaps overexcited by the prospect of a huge play, uncorked a deep shot that sailed ten yards past the halfback for a harmless incompletion. Still, the crowd applauded the effort, and the Wings were immediately thrown off balance.

"That was a huge break when he overthrew that ball," said safety Sam Paige. "I was still four or five yards off the ball, and if he takes it in stride, it's six."

If anything, the play was a huge psychological win for the Arrows, who nevertheless were forced to punt after picking up two first downs. The Wings were not about to try anything crazy. Instead, it was time to test Logan Dublin's ability to carry the team. His first run up the middle was good for four yards, not too shabby, but he was bottled up on the next play and the Wings had to punt after failing to convert on third down. Their next drive ended in a similar fashion, with Dublin failing to do any real damage against the onslaught of Kura-Pelland's 3-4.

Still, the Wing defense held firm, yielding only a field goal to Kura-Pelland before the second quarter began. With the roar of the crowd deafening, quarterback Booker Tilghman made the first big mistake of the game when he tried to find Billy Leuthold in double coverage. Cliff Poulton intercepted the pass and took it up to the Dancougar 40. Mathers began a patient drive that worked Mackail-Smith hard. Slowly but surely, they advanced into the red zone. Needing a big play, the Wings found one. Kendrick Lynch forced a fumble that ended the drive on the Dancougar 11.

Dancougar's only score of the first half was a 38-yard field goal by Seth Cavallo with 5:45 on the clock. That came after a defensive stand pinned Kura-Pelland deep in their own end, and the subsequent punt gave Dancougar the ball on their own 40, their best start of the afternoon. Dublin managed to find a few more holes in the line, but the big play was Tilghman's 18-yard pass to Kevin Queandlinn, whose stock has risen tremendously in the last four years. But the momentum failed to carry over when the Wings got the ball back plenty of time remaining. Their drive stalled, but the Arrows couldn't break the tie, being unable to duplicate the legendary success of Michael Bernard in the two-minute drill.

"I was hoping we'd be able to carry some of our momentum from the field goal drive into the second half and put some points on the board," said head coach Will Moohim, who is now 63-9 in international competition. "It was starting to look like the kind of game where the last possession was going to win it, unless somebody could get something going."

Six minutes into the third quarter, Dancougar broke the deadlock and grabbed the lead. Another fumble, this time forced by Bill Aveline, set the Wings up inside the Arrow 35. A few short passes gave Dublin some running room, and he took a sweep right 6 yards for to go-ahead score. Kura-Pelland failed to move the ball on their next drive, positioning the Wings to take a decisive lead. But after picking up two first downs, the Arrow defense stiffened. KC Borsten cut down Dublin in the backfield for a loss of four, and on the next play, Tilghman had a pass tipped at the line and it was intercepted by Elliot Zabaleta.

Now it was their turn with a short field, and this time the Arrows made good on the chance. Mackail-Smith pounded the ball into the red zone and, after he was stuffed on two runs, Mathers found tight end Tristan Del Horno right over the middle to keep the drive alive. Mackail-Smith ran it in from 3 yards away on the next play, tying it 10-10 with still most of the fourth quarter remaining.

And as Moohim predicted, it came down to the final drive.

The defensive stalemate continued. Kura-Pelland forced a third Dancougar turnover when Tilghman overthrew Queandlinn and safety Jackie Townsend had an easy catch playing over the top. But unlike previous scoring drives which had been preceded by a turnover, Mathers barely avoiding giving the ball back when Manly came crashing through the line and blasted Mathers from his blind side as he threw. The ball sailed out of bounds and into safety, but the resulting punt pinned Dancougar deep.

It was a battle for field position, and Kura-Pelland was winning. Even the toughest defensive stands by the Wings led to unfortunate starting field position. Inside the 20, inside the 15... not the best place in the world given the lack of fluidity on the offense. Eventually, the Arrows were able to work their way into field goal range, and with 0:52 on the clock, Tim Pogley was true from 35 yards away to put his team up 13-10.

Dancougar had one last chance, but on fourth down, Tilghman was incomplete, and that was that.

"The defense was tremendous, which is exactly what we'd expect," said Moohim. "Yes, the offense needs to step up for the next game, but we're hardly in a position to be worried yet. One loss at this stage doesn't mean too much. Two or three, then we'll be concerned."

Trippin' on Email

Logan Dublin at running back? Doesn't seem like the right fit to me. You cool with this?

Bradley F.
Coraopolis

Dublin's speed and shiftiness makes him a pretty deadly runner, although if he's expected to be the feature back in a system which likes to stress power, I can see why you'd be concerned. He looked a bit shaky in the opener against the Arrows and wasn't really able to establish a presence, so perhaps Casey Pendleton should get more looks if he can't pick it up against the Fujisawans.

----------

Good call on Lovisa being the outcast in the group. Now that they've polished off Secristan, what do you think of the Silent Assassins now?

Chris R
Ridley's Crossing

Secristan went with a rather uncharacteristic selection process for the tournament, choosing players based on merit as opposed to the best players with the thickest wallets. There are a lot of familiar faces on this team, sure, but I can already imagine the backlash if this continues. I think Lovisa did well to pick up the win, and they're hardly a write-off, but I don't see them in the top three. Let's not all go crazy after just one game.

----------

I've been to the other side of the fourth wall and back, my friend, and let me tell you, it's a whole 'nother world. What say you on this nonsense, these Joe Gibbses and Air Coryells?

Stanley P.
Placido

I'd say that you're on the wrong side of the wall, then. It's all in good fun! After all, do you really think it's all that original, and terribly convenient, that our coach has a name like 'Will Moohim'? Knowing what you know, I'm sure you can solve the mystery. Next you'll be expecting me to do some Don Julio Silver shots...

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS CRUISE TO WIN

South Tier- The Stadium at South Tier has generally been overlooked by the Empire when it comes time to selecting home stadiums for international competitions. When competing against other well known facilities in more populous cities, it’s not difficult to understand why this is the case. This time, because of South Tier’s prominence in the Empire Football League, and the fact that starting QB Kenny O’Hara and coach Jeremy Thompson are Seagulls, the EFA opted to play a game in South Tier, and for it to be the opener against Colbourne. In what will prove to be a tough group stage, you cannot afford to lose games that you should win, such as we see too often from another national “football” team.

It wasn’t too long ago that Newmanistan opened up a World Bowl with an undesirable loss. All you have to do is look back to World Bowl IV when the Rockets were stunned 21-20 by, you guessed it, Colbourne. That was Jeremy Thompson’s first game as head coach of the team, so certainly he remembers. The good thing about that is that it was the only game the Rockets would lose until the World Bowl IV championship to Dancougar. Colbourne is not seen as one of the top contenders in the group, but they are respectful, and will probably be a spoiler. Thompson and O’Hara also saw that familiar #20 on the other side of the field. In that World Bowl IV loss, Colbourne’s Brian Taylor returned not one, but two INT’s back for touchdowns that turned out 20-7 lead into a 21-20 loss. Taylor was certainly ready to get his team off to a good start, and O’Hara did seem to make an effort to avoid the safety on the first couple drives. Newmanistan moved the ball a bit, and got favorable field position, but could not put points on the board until a drive that began in the first and ended in the second quarter. A 30-yard boot by Patrick Marshall was a disappointing end to a drive, but a 3-0 lead was better then nothing. On the next possession, the Rockets moved down the field again, led by Corey Parisi and Darian Westcott, who combined for 61 of the 80 yards of the scoring drive. It was Westcott who punched it in from three yards out, and gave Newmanistan a 10-0 lead at halftime.

The second half started out well with Kenny O’Hara completing his first five passes and moving the team inside the Colbourne 30, until his next pass was also caught, but by Brian Taylor. Taylor did not take it to the house this time, as he was brought down by Corey Brooks at the Newmanistan 14 on what was a nice display of a player not packing it in to try and make the tackle. Colbourne did find the end zone, however, as a couple plays later, Javon Grenne scored from 12 yards out to make it 10-7. Fortunately, the Rockets responded immediately, helped by Corey Brooks again, who returned the ensuing kickoff all the way to the Rockets 46 yard line. Parisi picked up 25 more yards on the ground, but the scoring play was an 11-yard pass from O’Hara to Jim Crosby to make it 17-7. After forcing Colbourne to go three and out, Newmanistan responded immediately, on a 47-yard touchdown pass from O’Hara to Christian Gagnon to make it 24-7, and seemingly put the game away. Colbourne managed a field goal with six minutes left in the fourth quarter, but never got the ball back as the Rockets ran down the clock.

With the victory, Newmanistan starts off 1-0 with debutant Lucino the next to come to the Empire. Lucino did not look good against Qazox today, but opponents rarely do look good against them. The game will be held at Olympia Stadium.

Coach Gribbel received the offer from Mr Landry and considered it carefully before writing his response. He knew that holding home games in Sarzonia would considerably cut down on the distractions to the team. It was true that no player was actually from Taale-Voren, but many hailed from villages in the surrounding area and were therefore worried about the safety of their families. Defensive back Floris Oosterhout knew that his brothers were likely conscripted into Lord Duwen’s army, and tackle Frans Zwolle had received word that his home village had been burned down. On the other hand, accepting Mr Landry’s offer would be highly unpopular, and the players would not want to be away from home for so long.

Coach Gribbel eventually decided that he would assent to a foreign "home field", and wrote out a letter stating his acceptance. Unfortunately, this letter was intercepted en route by the Bishop’s Silverhelms, who burned it after reading.

Of course, Gribbel knew nothing of this, and went on preparing for the upcoming game. He doubted that he would hear back from Mr. Landry in time for the game against the Tar Hornets so he set about finding a suitable field. The team hiked through the wilderness outside Taale-Voren for a few hours before coming across a flat meadow whose grass had been cut short by the animals grazing there. The team slaughtered the animals for a pre-game meal and then set to work painting lines on the field. The owner of the cattle showed up and angrily yelled at his trespassers, but what could he do against a full roster of football players?

It took a while for the Arrozans to find this field, since no one knew where the team had went, but once both teams were ready the game soon commenced. It was a close affair at first, with the halftime score being 7-7. The Doggles found two nearby abandoned peasant hovels to serve as locker rooms during halftime. Only about 10 players could fit inside the buildings at a time, so Coach Gribbel called in groups of players separately to explain strategy.

Unfortunately for the Doggles, the second half was not so even. On the first play from scrimmage, Kerkrade believed the Tar Hornet defense to be blitzing so he called out a change in the play in which receiver Wageningen was supposed to slant quickly towards midfield. Apparently this audible was not properly heard. For whatever reason, be it Wageningen’s earmuffs or the cigar in Kerkrade’s mouth, the receiver just ran a streak straight downfield. Thinking he would know where his receiver would be, Kerkrade threw the ball, but it landed in the chest of CB Jeremy Beaumont, who took it down the field for six.

The wind thus sucked from the Doggle’s sails, they never recovered and only managed a field goal for the rest of the game. The Doggles were to “host” Cassadaigua next week.

This Monday morning on Pardon My Short Attention Span, the newest and hottest of all the sports talk shows featuring two middle-aged guys who seem to have no real skills other than interruption, irritability and spending way too much time in front of the TV themselves:

"No, Lanja earned his place on the bench, he can--"

"Time's up. Next topic: Mathers play-action."

"Well, look, I know what they say about Monday morning quarterbacking--"

"You could have fooled me, you useless reactionary sycophant--"

"Hey, all I'm saying is, why go to the play-action--"

"You're going to pin the failings of the Wings defense on the FIRST--"

"No, I never said that, all I'm saying is, why go to the play-action without having established--"

"He was TRYING to establish the running game, you tool, you fibrous membrane of--"

"The FIRST PLAY OF THE GAME? How could that POSSIBLY work on the--"

"Time's up. Next topic: Success of the 3-4 against the Wings."

"Says nothing. Nothing we didn't already--"

"For once, I agree with you, you can't say anything about--"

"Say what you will about Dancougar, they are not made by their--"

"Time's up. Next topic: Rugby players. Should they get paid?"

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record Online

Evening Commentary: Lo era begins in style

If you were one to think the Hurricane’s season opening win had a vintage feel to it, you weren’t alone. Head coach Rai Lo’s play calling seems reminiscent of the team’s World Bowl I campaign, and that is a welcome departure from the sporadic inconsistency that plagued the Hurricane at the start of last season. The anticipated communication problems between Lo and his all-Beretanian support staff never materialized, allowing a free flowing game on both sides of the ball.

Kasmo Jit even saw some front line action and while the decision to put Jit under center late in the game was admittedly quite a gamble, it paid off well. Leading 20-7 with a little over eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, Lo made the call in an effort to build the confidence of his young rising star, and test his latest offensive weapon. Jit has been battle tested and seems to be able to hold his own. Though Jit’s first and only drive stalled at the Candrian Empire twenty four, he showed promise, and his clock management skills in particular proved to be phenomenal.

Having gotten the running game off to a smooth start, the Hurricane drew first blood on a play action pass to Oribaha “Baja” Hini on their second drive of the first quarter to take the lead, 7-0. The Candrian Empire quickly fired back with a well executed six play, seventy six yard drive to tie the game 7-7. Shisakit Munie added thirty six and forty two yard field goals in the second quarter for a 13-7 halftime lead. Fullback Tsuraji Deguchi punched in a touchdown three minutes and forty two seconds into the third quarter, giving the Hurricane a 20-7 lead which they carried into the fourth quarter. Upon checking into the game with eight and a dozen left in the game, Jit whittled the clock down to 2:42 on the way to three more Hurricane points. The Hurricane defense didn’t back down on the Candrian Empire’s final possession to insure Candrian Empire would be held to a single touchdown.

Next up for the Hurricane is Dancougar. It’s the first time these two teams have met in a World Bowl season and quite frankly, I don’t know what to expect. Dancougar dropped their opening game against Kura-Pelland, but let’s not get our hopes up too high. Dancougar is clearly the better team, and although the Hurricane will be playing in the Global Arena, that’s about the only advantage the Hurcs have coming into this game. Poor Palmer. He’ll have his hands full trying to keep the crowd in the game if the home team gets off to a slow start.

There were no inspirational halftime speeches or pep talks after the game, and in fact, Lo didn’t address his players any more than he needed to, during the game and otherwise. Although not exactly being a man of few words, Lo’s silence seems appropriate. There really isn’t all that much that Lo can say. He’s simply letting the win speak for itself. This upcoming game against the Black Wings is a real test of the mettle of the Hurricane.

The crowd left the Global Arena all smiles, the Hurricane’s painful loss to Qazox last season largely having been forgotten. Security detail was minimal but will likely be considerably beefed up for the Dancougar game. Both are indications that the Hurricane is back on track, but questions still linger about the Hurricane’s chances against Dancougar.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v416/ImmortalDragonProductions/Hurricanefootball.png
Hurricane Football

Week 2 Prediction: Dancougar 28, Fujisawan Territories 17

If you can’t make it to Crosscom Global Arena, watch the game live on Channel 4 KHOG, or streaming online at cat5club.co.fjt. Kickoff is set for 1:45 p.m.

Katie’s Space

It was not a thing of beauty. In total, there were eight combined turnovers, four committed by each team. Our defense deserves all the credit in the world for their great performance, but this kind of sluggish football that we displayed will never be effective over the long haul. We were very fortunate to leave Prux with the 13-3 win, but we will not beat Arroza, Taeshan, or Vephrall playing like that. We won’t even beat Cotenshire or Steroga playing like that. Lauren (Hamilton) completed just eight of twenty-four passes for just 108 yards, and I was limited to just two receptions for fifteen yards. She had no touchdown passes and threw three picks, two of them into the arms of Mr. Illinois, Issac Lainos. Our defensive effort was stout as well, and forcing two fumbles and intercepting two of Mr. Delaware’s passes. One of them decided this game, because it led to six points. Meghan Caprotti’s interception and 44-yard scamper into the end zone broke a 3-3 tie in the third quarter, putting us ahead for good. Thankfully, the defense picked us up. Lauren Hamilton bought all of the defensive players dinner after the game. Maybe it is good to get our bad game out of the system early, and for it not to have come against one of the better teams in the group. Even though we won the game, we know we must play better on offense. If we do, and we get that kind of defensive showing again, then we can beat anyone in the World.

Our next match is against Cotenshire, which is going to be in Sarzonia. We couldn’t understand why we would be playing them in Sarzonia until Sarah Patten, who I guess is the only one of us keeping current with events throughout the world informed us of the recent atrocities that took place in Taale-Voren. Though I guess we don’t quite understand why the game couldn’t be played elsewhere in Cotenshire, we’re sure that they did this for the best intentions of their people. Hopefully they can get that situation resolved. So, it’s off to Portland, Sarzonia for us and then we play two games at home, which will be very important. They are against Taeshan and Arroza. That’s all for now!

Anyone who assumed the Arrows would now be marked out by a reversion to a relatively cautious offense now that Freddie Mathers has usurped Dick Vernasse at quarterback was proven massively wrong immediately after the kickoff, when full-back Horace Buntley didn't actually take the handoff on the first play of the game against Dancougar.

Instead, Mathers held on and saw the whole defence opening up in front of him, particularly his intended receiver, tailback Keith Mackail-Smith who had an immense speed advantage against a linebacker. Adrenaline thumping, he unleashed the deep pass... far too deep, soaring maybe ten yards past its intended target.

An ice-cool successor to Michael Bernard he is not, apparently, but the Shanvley crowd were ignited by the willingness to go after one of the best defenses in the world. The confidence derived from the element of surprise was evident in the remainder of the drive, with a third-and-2 converted on another play action producing a 10-yard pass to Tristan Del Horno over the middle and a third-and-9 converted on a draw play from which Mackail-Smith picked up 14. That's all the drive produced, but a good punt from Mo Doulton put the Black Wings where they didn't want to be, and their offense failed to click early on. Kura-Pelland's second drive ended in a 46-yard Graham Brightman FG, and that was to be the only scoring play of the quarter.

Early in the second, with a sold-out Shanvley now producing a terrifying wall of noise, an apparent miscall from Black Wings quarterback Booker Tilghman led to an interception from Cliff Poulton at midfield, returned to the 40. With the Black Wings - and the crowd - now expecting an attempt at a quick score, Mathers instead reverted to safety-first, with Mackail-Smith rushing four times for 12 yards either side of a 4-yard Buntley bash and catching a screen pass for a gain of six to take the Arrows into the red zone. However, as if to prove that any attempt to move the football carries a risk, Mackail-Smith fumbled on the next play courtesy of a huge hit from Kendrick Lynch, and the ball was recovered at the 11.

The Black Wings weren't able to score on the next drive, but two first downs and one huge punt meant the Arrows started the drive from their own 9 and gained just five yards thereafter. After a 46-yard Doulton punt meant the Black Wings took over on their own 40, they produced enough of a drive - speedy tailback Logan Dublin turning small gaps into significant gains - to get into field goal range, Seth Cavallo promptly levelling proceedings from 38 yards. With neither side able to get far on offense after that, the half-time score was 3-3. So much for more adventurous.

There was no choice in the matter when Bill Aveline's tackle forced a fumble that gave the Wings possession on the Arrows 33, and then out-Arrowed the Arrows with a short-pass-heavy drive, eventually setting up a six-yard TD run from Dublin on a sweep which caught Timothy Caldwell badly out of position - and out of the base defense, replaced by young talent Elliot Zabaleta. Suddenly the Wings looked dominant, Shanvley began to stir rather than rock, and two first downs put the visitors in great position. Then KC Borsten's huge hit made it second-and-14, from which Tilghman's pass was tipped by veteran defensive end Mack Grundig into the grateful hands of Zabaleta. The Arrows were now parked on the opposition 39 with seconds left in the third, and matched their opponents in exploiting the short field for a touchdown, Mackail-Smith with the three-yard run to finish off a drive in which he made every play but one - a 12-yard pass over the middle to Del Horno on third-and-8.

It now appeared to be a question of who would make the first mistake. As it turned out, the first was cancelled out by the second; Jackie Townsend, in at strong safety after Paul Madeley injured his ankle on an earlier play, channeled the power of Madeley to pick up an interception from a wildly overthrown pass, only for Mathers to take too long over a third down pass and barely avoid a sack or interception with a wild throw forced by a blitzing linebacker. From then on, it was a question of field position; the Arrows could not get into field goal range, but they forced the Wings into starting drives inside their own 20, and eventually were able to start from midfield after a useful 14-yard return from - yes - Mackail-Smith. He was rested for the following drive as Mathers started throwing more, Del Horno making two more key receptions and Brandon Walters making a superb catch on the sideline to convert on third-and-7 and move the Arrows into field goal range on the Wings 21. Fearing another turnover, Mathers turned to Buntley for a couple of inside power runs, which produced four yards, before Dominic Wooton added three more to leave a simple 35-yard kick for Tim Pogley, who doesn't miss from there. The Wings' final drive, with less than a minute on the clock, failed, and Shanvley erupted.

Any doubt that this team are not part of the elite? Gone, vanished, evaporated. The top team in the group on paper have been beaten, and now Kura-Pelland have an extra matchday of rest before travelling to the Candrian Empire for what should be a relatively easy match against a team projected to finish bottom of the group.

"Tonight's match is going to be brutal," the bespectacled Joe Gibbs said, trying hard to convince a skeptical media why their home fixture against a Tocrowkia team that some media forecasters said already conceded advancing to the knockout stages as impossible would be tougher than anyone expected.

"They have good experience, having played in previous World Bowls," Gibbs said. "We're doing things differently from how we've done them in the past. It's going to be a challenge installing the new offence and playing the defence the way we're going to with Gregg Williams."

As for the offer by Mark Landry, the CEO of Iron Bowl Enterprises, to allow the Iron Bowl in Portland to be an alternate home venue for Cotenshire's national gridball team, an intern was fired when Landry discovered that Colbourne, not Cotenshire, were on the Stars schedule.

Thus, the Stars would not play their 'away' fixture in Portland in what would have amounted to an extra home match.

"I got Colbourne and Cotenshire confused. They're similar sounding nations!" the intern was quoted as saying as he was being forcibly removed from the Iron Bowl offices by security.

The Stars play five of their next six matches away from the friendly confines of Hendrix Stadium in Woodstock. Their only home fixture in that stretch is against world No. 4 and defending World Bowl finalist Qazox.

The Stars have a combined record of 0-5 against the teams they face in Group C, losing both matches to Qazox in sudden-death overtime in World Bowl IV and World Bowl V playoff fixtures, losing twice to Newmanistan in group play and losing once to Rennidan in intergroup play prior to the knockout stages.

Vephrall VS Taeshan
Fadron Pizza Field At Wonder Park
Matchday 2

After demolishing onme of the newest teams in the World Bowl competition last week 27-3 over Steroga, tommorrow the Vephrall National Football Team will come to Wiechsester to open up the Fitin' Falcons season. The Vephreese team is ranked ninth in the world 3 spots behind the Falcons themselves. They should look to explode through the Falcon D and somehow come away with a big win for their season.
After months of preperation it is finally time for the Falcons to again suit up in hopes to match there power against some of the best in the world. the Falcons are hoping to take advantage of there somewhat mediocre group and slip into a top to qualifying spot. To do this they must of course overpower the very team that imedialy stands in front of them. The field has been unocupied for a few weeks so the ice and snow could turn into a frosty haven for the Falcons players and hopefully turn the tables even more towards the Falcons. We will all see soon what they are capable of doing this season. It is definetly time for some football.

Shino Kusatsu: Welcome back to the KHOG Pregame Show as we inch closer to this match between the Dancougar Black Wings and the Hurricane. This will be the first time these two teams have met and I have to say Kinyuki, I think the Hurricane have a fighting chance here.

Kinyuki Shiraishi: I agree, but it’s not going to be easy. There are three key things the Hurcs can do to give them a shot at coming out on top.

SK: Alright, what are the keys to the game?

KS: First, the Hurricanes have got to establish the running game early on as we saw against the Candrian Empire last week, and they can’t waste any time doing it. Secondly, the
Hurricane have to score first to get the crowd in the game, and play into the Hurricane’s main advantage, which is playing at home. Get this sold out crowd involved early on. We’re 9-2 now all time at home, and that’s including a four point loss to Qazox, so if we don’t win, we’ll at least keep it close, but the point is, it shows how hard it is to play in the Global Arena. Thirdly, the Hurcs must capitalize on every Dancougar turnover by putting points on the board. We have to punish them for their mistakes. We’ve been a poor team when it comes to points off of turnovers, but that’s not going to fly against a team of Dancougar’s caliber.

SK: Great, and I’d just like to add that I think while Dancougar is clearly the better team, the players and fans, but especially the players, have got to keep the hope. Thinking that you can’t win it before the game has even started is self defeating. A little confidence- confidence, not arrogance- will go a long way.

KS: Sure. I think playing in Group B is difficult, and it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence to look at the schedule, but looking at the other two groups, they’re pretty tough too. So basically, the only answer is to suck it up and fight every battle like it’s your last. Give it your all every time.

SK: Certainly. You know the one thing that I really though was profound was for the first time we didn’t have a coach screaming his head off on the sidelines. Coach Lo is a pretty mellow guy. The team knew what to do, and they went out and did it. They made a few mistakes, but not many. With things on the sidelines not so chaotic anymore, it tells me that Rai Lo has really taken command of this team and make the transition quite well.

KS: And I think there’s a certain level of respect that the players have for Rai Lo that they never had for Ei’ichi Date. Rai Lo represents a new beginning for this team, and I think the players are giving him a chance to prove himself as a head coach.

SK: His style seems to be more laid back, and he doesn’t like getting in his players faces. He has taken the time to build up a rapport with his coaching staff and players. I think this guy knows how to run a team. Well our gameday polls are in and 64% of Hurricane fans think the home team will pull of the upset win today.

KS: And in the second poll, the majority, 31% of you, think quarterback Daisetsu Kudo will have the biggest impact in the game.

SK: And we want to remind you that you can vote in our gameday polls before every home game online at khog4hoji.co.fjt/hometeam. Well, it’s not surprising that the fans are behind the Hurricane, but I’m not sure whether it’s a lot of optimism, or whether they truly believe the Hurricane will win today. Either way, they’re enthusiastic, primed and ready for a great football game, and we’re just moments away from kickoff here inside Crosscom Global Arena. We’ll be right back.....

This matchday 2 cutoff is brought to you by Megabyte Industries
Download Megabyte Office 2009 today. Guaranteed to need less security patches!

Group A:
Arroza 37-7 Steroga
Cotenshire 10-19 Cassadaigua
Taeshan 13-7 Vephrall


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Arroza 2 0 0 61 17 44
2 Cassadaigua 2 0 0 32 13 19
3 Taeshan 1 0 0 13 7 6
4 Vephrall 1 1 0 34 16 18
5 Prux 0 1 0 3 13 -10
6 Cotenshire 0 2 0 20 43 -23
7 Steroga 0 2 0 10 64 -54


Group B:
Candrian Empire 14-24 Lovisa
Fujisawan Territories 6-23 Dancougar
Norwellia 7-16 Secristan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Lovisa 2 0 0 44 31 13
2 Kura-Pelland 1 0 0 13 10 3
3 Dancougar 1 1 0 33 19 14
4 Secristan 1 1 0 33 27 6
5 Fujisawan Territories 1 1 0 29 30 -1
6 Norwellia 0 1 0 7 16 -9
7 Candrian Empire 0 2 0 21 47 -26


Group C:
Colbourne 17-30 Rennidan
Newmanistan 38-13 Lucino
Sarzonia 23-14 Tocrowkia


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Newmanistan 2 0 0 62 23 39
2 Rennidan 2 0 0 50 33 17
3 Qazox 1 0 0 27 7 20
4 Sarzonia 1 0 0 23 14 9
5 Tocrowkia 0 2 0 30 43 -13
6 Colbourne 0 2 0 27 54 -27
7 Lucino 0 2 0 20 65 -45


Matchday 3 Games:

Group A:
Prux (0-1) at Arroza (2-0)
Taeshan (1-0) at Cassadaigua (2-0)
Vephrall (1-1) at Cotenshire (0-2)

Group B:
Kura-Pelland (1-0) at Candrian Empire (0-2)
Norwellia (0-1) at Dancougar (1-1)
Secristan (1-1) at Fujisawan Territories (1-1)

Group C:
Qazox (1-0) at Colbourne (0-2)
Sarzonia (1-0) at Lucino (0-2)
Tocrowkia (0-2) at Newmanistan (2-0)

(Western-theme plays as tumbleweed graphics role by on the screen, which reads SHOWDOWN!)

VINCENNES: Welcome back to the program, and it's Showdown time. Two men enter, one man gets face time, and today we've got Papes and Adonis in here. From imminent baseball to fourteen-year-old man children, we head to the gridiron! We begin with tomorrow afternoon's matchup with the Fujisawan Territories, who whipped the Candrians in their opener. The Wings are coming off an opening day loss, second time that's happened, but have concerns about the running game, which wasn't as imposing against the Arrows as in previous years. Does the unthinkable happen; do the Wings start oh-and-two, Woody Papes?

PAPES: I think the Hurricane have got a really decent shot at this, Vincennes, when you look at the way the Wings failed to assert themselves on offense, if they find themselves in a catch-up situation, they're going to be in trouble. The Hurricane have confidence right now, and they have a pretty good offense. You see them move the ball against the Candrian Empire last night, they're going to take a page from the Kura-Pelland book and come out flying...

ADONIS: Naw, Papes, you're hitting the panic button too early. Yeah, the Hurricane ran all over the field against the Candrian defense, wait till they taste Kirk Manly and Ken Lynch blowing up the middle. Casey Pendleton, they have him primed and ready to go if Dublin can't get anything going. Big, physical back with young legs. And they still have big Gee, Gary Hutchins, on the bench. He's in his thirties, but you don't think he's good for at least five, ten touches? Moohim's going to explore his options, they're going to look much better in this game.

(Horn sounds.)

VINCENNES: You may have a point there with the comeback argument, Papes, but if the defense plays as well as they did against the Arrows, they won't pulling away. Point to Adonis! Next up... the Doggles, zey do nussing! No need to replay that old YouTube video (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14028811&postcount=179), as the situation remains more or less the same in Cotenshire, but there may be hope! Sarzonia has offered to provide digs for the team. Is this an okay move, Adonis?

ADONIS: You know, there's an old joke, how do you run the shotgun offense? You take a snap at the Hippodrome and get shot in the face. Look, this is a no brainer, any team would be ecstatic if they could play against this team somewhere civilized. Talk about leading sheep to the slaughter, they literally do that before games. Is this the kind of image we want to associate with a sport which is growing on popularity, getting more exposure? No, this is the kind of nonsense that...

PAPES: Now, Jay, I know that your delicate self can't handle the press box over on Cotenshire, but for the rest of us manly men, we go to watch football. And football's a violent game. You get hit, you get poked in a dog pile, all sorts of horrible things go on under there, and these fans, violent though they may be, they create an incredible atmosphere. It's the ultimate home field advantage, and to give that up by going to Sarzonia, I think would be a bad move.

(Horn sounds.)

VINCENNES: I'm not sure what manly men can claim to have appeared on this show, but if moving the team saves lives, I'm all for it. Point goes to Adonis, game goes to Adonis. Thirty seconds, Jay Adonis, go!

ADONIS: Here's a bizarre story out of Sarzonia that may or may not show that Dancougar is adversely affecting the world as we export our culture through sport. Apparrently, some poor kid had Cotenshire on the schedule instead of Colbourne, the team actually in the group, and that has led to - you guessed it - the first cold-blooded intern firing outside our shores! My heart goes out to the kid, because in most other places, this is a bad thing. You get dragged out of the office, it goes on your record, and that's a mark that hurts you for the rest of your employable life. So I say to this young man - come on over here, you'll have no problem getting work. Here, you're basically expected to get fired if you're an intern, so no harm, no foul. They'll put you somewhere in the sports ministry and you can work up to your next pink slip.

(Horn sounds.)

VINCENNES: Meet Jay Adonis, public speaker and grief counselor. We're on a twenty three and a half hour break, we'll see you next time!

Fitin' Falcons Open With Win

For the First time in almost a year the Fitin' Falcons took the field with their not to shabby Blue and Purple Jerseys on, the flag of their great nation on shoulder, and the hearts of their nation in imnd. As many times before they had done, the Falcons won a game. The fans cheered in the harsh summer conditions as at game time the recorded degree was -11 fahrenheit. A nice day for a game it was, the field may have been cold, but you could tell that there was a fire in the players hearts as they swarmed the ball and looked for a win for their greatest of great countries.

to open up the game the national anthem of both countries was played. The Falcons sung along as they heard the age old tune, and the deep rivets of the base of their countries national song of hope. Then the fans showed respect to the Vephreese players and fans and bowed their heads to the Vephralleese National Anthem. Thats when for the first time in so many a long month that team captains Gabe Martin, Martin Gramatica and Dianer Marte took the field and shook hands with the esteemed captains of the Vephreese team. The Vephrall team one the toss and as is tradition among many teams decided to take the ball.

Gramatica kicked the ball of at exactly half past 7 and the game began. The Vephrall team tried hard to break the Taeshani Defense, but throughout their first possesion the Taeshites kept them from gaining a single first down and only 3 yards. Then the ounting game ensued with 5 straight punts before the game was halted for 30 minutes just 3 minutes before the half to shovel the freshly made slice of ice on top of the Stadiums surface. Those last three minutes were just enough for the Falcons to drive 40 yards to make way for the Martin Gramatica 40 yard field goal that gave them the first points of the season, their first lead and their first scoreless against half.

Then to open the second half the Vephrall team went on their only scoring drive of the whole game. Star Quaterback Crubling Claspung led the team down the field. Claspung found Rilin Filler for the teams only points of the game on an 11 yard Touchdown Reception. Then the Falcons turned on the defensive shutdown to keep them scoreless from then on. Then on the Falcons next drive Gabe Martin would have found ricky Zellefrow for the 40 yard touchdown reception, but in the end Vephrall Cornerback Dustele Echung was called for pass interference giving the Falcons the ball at the one were young star Max Hoope was easily able to run it in making it 10-7. Gramatica would make it 13-7 with another Field Goal later in the last five minutes of the game from 37 yards.

Two and Uh-oh

Two games. Two losses. Well, at least they weren't 40-7 blow outs like we've been afraid of. Instead they've been close contests between a Nordics squad determined to make the best of a rough group draw, but against two of the best teams in the world on two different nights, it just wasn't enough.

"It's been rough. And it's going to get rougher." Markus Kash said in an interview after the game with the Stars. "But just because we got a tough break by being put in this group doesn't mean I'm just gonna roll over. No. I'm gonna do my best to even up our record. Who knows? Funnier things have happened."

Meet the new Stars. Same as the old Stars?

For one match, at least, the Sarzonian national gridball team played a match reminiscent of their better days in the two previous World Bowls. With a 68-year-old head coach calling a more conservative offensive game plan, LoQuan Willard rushed for 123 yards on 27 carries and a touchdown and Gavin Davis completed 18-of-25 passes for 217 yards and a six-yard scoring strike to Clark Hennessy to lead the Stars to a 23-14 win over Tocrowkia in Sarzonia's opener at Hendrix Stadium.

"We were able to win the battle up front," Willard said. "That's what made the difference out there."

That, and a coach determined to establish the ground game. Gibbs said his goal was to win the time of possession battle. Consider it accomplished: Sarzonia (1-0) kept the ball for 34 minutes to 26 minutes for the Nordics.

"It's been rough, and it's going to get rougher," said Markus Kash after his Nordics team dropped to 0-2.

The game started out looking rough for the Stars as Willard lost a fumble on the Stars 26-yard-line. However, the Nordics were unable to cash in as Chris Horton came in on a safety blitz on third and 9 to knock them out of field goal range. Davis then completed six-of-eight on the next drive to lead to a 36-yard Adam Novak field goal, the first of three for the Stars kicker.

"We're used to Coach Zorn going for it more often," Davis said. "Coach Gibbs is more conservative, at least so far."

The Stars play their first away fixture against newcomers Lucino, who are also 0-2. The match is the first in a stretch of five away fixtures in six matches. They also face Rennidan away before returning to Hendrix Stadium to host Qazox. They have a bye on Matchday 8 before finishing with four home fixtures in their final five matches.

"We're just thinking one match at a time," Gibbs said. "Right now, our focus is on Lucino."

Katie’s Space

Things went a lot better for us last night following the sloppy win over Prux. Playing in Sarzonia’s Iron Bowl we took on the team form Cotenshire and tried to quickly get the upper hand in the contest. None of us have any sympathies for their team that has to play their home games on a neutral field, though we do sympathize with the victims of the violence that has taken place there. When it comes time for our home game though, it will be in Concord Heights they way it was scheduled, there will be none of this “they lost their home game so we should too” nonsense. Tell that to the people who purchased tickets for that game. Those problems aren’t happening in Cassadaigua, and even when tension does build up, we get through it. Fortunately, Male Equality Now tends to keep quiet during the World Bowl because we always include men on our football team. So, on to the game. We wanted to air it out early so Lauren Hamilton could get some of her confidence back and it worked out pretty well, she completed more passes in the first quarter then she did in the entire game over Prux. I was able to catch two early passes, but the offense just seemed to stall once we got to the red zone. Twice in the first quarter we moved down the field well only to fizzle out at the end and settle for Brittany Daniels field goals of 28 and 32 yards. In the second quarter, we put another three on the board, but this time Brittany’s kick was much longer, sailing 58 yards through the uprights. Meghan wanted to punt to pin them deep in their own territory, but she said she went with a gut feeling. Brittany proved her right. Cotenshire got a field goal before halftime, and the kickers were the story at 9-3.

Everything still seemed to be going our way, and in the second half, we finally found the end zone. On a sweep left, Danielle Regan took the handoff and did not even get touched until we were giving her high-fives in the end zone 63 yards later. It was a fantastic run and gave us a nice lead midway in the third quarter at 16-3. Early in the fourth we added yet another field goal, as we stalled again, but were up 19-3. With ten seconds left, Cotenshire scored on a 25-yard pass play to make the final 19-10. The win gives a 2-0 record but admittedly now is when it will get tough. We play our first game at Concord Heights Stadium as we welcome Taeshan, and then it will be the defending champions from Arroza, before we go to Vephrall. I guess when the smoke clears from this upcoming three game stretch, we’ll really have a good picture of where we stand in comparison to the competition within the group.

Matchday One Report: Cotenshire 10 – Arroza 24

You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.
Pooh's Little Instruction Book, inspired by A. A. Milne

With the security situation in Taale-Voren chaotic as usual, and the First Marine Expeditionary Unit off the shore, the Tar Hornets went to Cotenshire to open up group play in World Bowl Six. Taale-Voren was decided not to be a suitable playing site, so after much wrangling and dead messengers, killed by the Bishopric Silverhelms, a message finally made it's way to the coast and the fleet, which said that the team had decided to play in a leafy copse of trees in the woods.

That turned out to be not such a big deal, as the Tar Hornets won 24-10 behind the secondary play the stopped the Flying Fish cold. The play of the game was Corner Jeremy Beaumont jumping the streak route and taking the play back to the endzone to break the game open at the start of the first half. Other touchdown scorers were Malone in the first half, and Chadwick in the second.


Match Day 2 Report: Arroza 37 – Steroga 7

The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart. - Robert Ingersoll

Let us all pray the Sterogans took this lesson to heart. The home opener was a blasting as The Tar Hornets were led by Donovan Hailey's three touchdown performance [2 run, 1 receiving], a pick-six from Caron Saint-Marais, and a Touchdown in garbage time for Lake Major. When asked about the performance after the game, Hailey said, “I didn't go out there to show out like that. It just happened that we worked together really well, and I'm just the luck one that got to put the ball across the goalline.”

Match Day 3 Preview: Arroza vs. Prux, The Hive, 19:39 Arroza Standard Time.

Statesmen. Lol.
Prediction: 40-17 Arroza

Will Moohim. I just got the joke, literally right now.

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

Logan Dublin knew that he had to make a play or else he was going to be buried under criticism. After a subpar performance against Kura-Pelland, he was lined up against a Fujisawan Territories defense that was offering him plenty of room to run... if only he could seize it. Dublin took the handoff, found a seam on the left side, and hit it at full speed. Then he found a higher gear. Before he knew it, he was in the open field on his way to a 42-yard touchdown run that broke the game open in the second quarter and helped Dancougar to a 23-6 win in Hoji.

One play at a time, perhaps, but in the high-stakes world of international football, sometimes one play can mean everything. For Dublin, it buys him a reprieve after being harped on for his inability to drive the Dancougar offense. That was to be expected after the opener. The plan originally was for Casey Pendleton to start in this tournament with Dublin serving alongside him as he had with Hutchins. But Dublin's emergence as the feature back for his club, semipro side Aiken City Stallions, convinced coach Will Moohim that perhaps Dublin could transpose his usual shifty running style to the more patient power style preferred by the national team.

It hasn't been easy, with three new starters on the offensive line and a new quarterback, but Dublin's second quarter scamper against the Fujisawan Territories breathed life into an offense that had been mostly anemic to that point. The score was tied 3-3 before his touchdown. The Wings followed that drive with another defensive stop and a second touchdown drive, with Booker Tilghman using the play action to great effect. Tristan Cray was the recipient of a 10-yard score to make it 17-3 at halftime.

"We felt a lot more relaxed after Dub made that run," said Tilghman. "We were feeding off his confidence in the huddle. We felt like hey, if he can make that play, then any of us can find the holes in that defense."

The Wings slowed down in the second half, though, only adding two more Seth Cavallo field goals. Tilghman threw another interception to run his total in qualifying to four in two games against a single touchdown - hardly the numbers for someone planning a run to the title. More criticism should be directed at him, perhaps, but Dublin also cooled down and only ran for 25 yards compared to 83 in the first half. Pendleton was given a chance to get his feet wet in the international arena and helped the Wings consume plenty of game clock.

It was almost endgame from the start of the second half with the combination of clock-bleeding running and powerful defense. For the second consecutive game, the defensive unit was superb, forcing a total three turnovers with interceptions by Jeff Buckholt and Sam Paige, while Kirk Manly forced a fumble that would have been a touchdown had Daisetsu Kudo not saved face by clipping Rod Danbury as he began to speed away. The Hurricane were held to only a pair of field goals, one in each half, and had a great deal of trouble moving the ball on the ground.

The Wings will now host Norwellia, who lost their debut game at home to Secristan. Again, the defense will be on alert, as the Norwellians come into the game with probably the most creative offense dreamed up by anyone in the tournament. Manly says they'll be ready.

"We're not worried if the offense has a few hiccups, because we have our own job to do, and doing it right puts us in a great chance to win any game regardless," he said. "We go out there and destroy people. It's the way we've always done things."

Trippin' on Email

I pimp our defense just as much as anyone, but we still have a long way to go to be the world's elite. Taeshan went out and suffocated Vephrall last night. What do we have to do to get our defense to that level?

Samuel L.
Hastings

Taeshan's defensive accomplishments are even more amazing when you consider how many of their players handle multiple positions during the game. Then again, that might also explain why they occasionally struggle to put points on the board. They've gone along with the old adage that the best offense is a strong defense, which is a philosophy that we in Dancougar don't entirely agree with.

----------

So... four interceptions in two games. When do we switch to Gelbach?

Roger N.
Bradford

Tilghman's performance has been unnerving and it wouldn't surprise me to see Moohim make the switch if he can't right the ship against Norwellia.

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Tocrowkia don't look poised to take the world by storm any time soon, but I think credit has to be given for the way they've hung in there against two very tough opponents to start this tournament. Where do you think they stand?

Andrew O.
Bradford

Unfortunately for the Nordics, finishing in the top three in Group C is going to be next to impossible at their current level. They definitely have some talent in place and were unlucky to get pinched in the opener. I think if they hang in there they'll stay competitive, although I can't see them getting higher than fourth.

This matchday 3 cutoff is brought to you by the Law Offices of Browne, Whyte, and Greene.
BWG only collects if we win but if we lose we may find something to sue you over.

Group A:
Arroza 24-10 Prux
Cassadaigua 10-13 Taeshan
Cotenshire 6-23 Vephrall


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Arroza 3 0 0 85 27 58
2 Taeshan 2 0 0 26 17 9
3 Vephrall 2 1 0 57 22 35
4 Cassadaigua 2 1 0 42 26 16
5 Prux 0 2 0 13 37 -24
6 Steroga 0 2 0 10 64 -54
7 Cotenshire 0 3 0 26 66 -40


Group B:
Candrian Empire 3-20 Kura-Pelland
Dancougar 24-0 Norwellia
Fujisawan Territories 17-10 Secristan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Kura-Pelland 2 0 0 33 13 20
2 Lovisa 2 0 0 44 31 13
3 Dancougar 2 1 0 57 19 38
4 Fujisawan Territories 2 1 0 46 40 6
5 Secristan 1 2 0 43 44 -1
6 Norwellia 0 2 0 7 40 -33
7 Candrian Empire 0 3 0 24 67 -43


Group C:
Colbourne 20-24 Qazox
Lucino 3-31 Sarzonia
Newmanistan 28-30 Tocrowkia


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Sarzonia 2 0 0 54 17 37
2 Qazox 2 0 0 51 27 24
3 Rennidan 2 0 0 50 33 17
4 Newmanistan 2 1 0 90 53 37
5 Tocrowkia 1 2 0 60 71 -11
6 Colbourne 0 3 0 47 78 -31
7 Lucino 0 3 0 23 96 -73

Lucino was determined to stuff LoQuan Willard. They stacked eight and nine men on the line of scrimmage whenever the Stars had the ball in a desperate effort to keep Willard from busting out on them.

To that extent, they succeeded. They held Willard to 47 yard on 16 carries through three quarters, but they forgot about Gavin Davis. The Stars signall caller completed 30 of 47 passes for 353 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Stars to a 31-3 rout of Lucino. Willard finished the game with 97 yards on 26 carries.

"We just needed to be a lot better on the line of scrimmage," Gibbs said. "We didn't start winning the battles up front until the fourth quarter."

The time of possession battle was again vital for Sarzonia (2-0). The Stars held the ball for 37 minutes, 11 seconds to 22 minutes, 49 seconds for Lucino (0-3). The time edge really became a factor in the fourth quarter as Willard runs that had been stopped for two-yard gains or less became four- and five-yard pick ups. However, Davis was the biggest star for Sarzonia.

"He was accurate with his passes," said H-back Clark Hennessy (six catches, 85 yards, one touchdown). "He'd throw a deep out and it'd be right on [the receiver's] hands."

The Stars face 2-0 Rennidan away. The Brutes had a bye on Matchday 2.

"That worries us," Gibbs said. "They've had an extra week of rest and time to prepare for us. We're going to be at a disadvantage."

If the Stars play as well against Rennidan as they did against Lucino, they may not be at much of a disadvantage.

(this was meant to occur before MD3...stupid draft making it take forever for me to write this...)

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mjONLINE - http://www.mj.vf

Kicking off the blog
by Voreght Umsaasad 7 August 1770, 4:44pm AOTC

Good afternoon, folks, and welcome to the Meice Journal's new gridball blog.

First off, a few things about me: I'm Voreght Umsaasad, just joined MJ a few weeks ago. I'm a graduate of the journalism school up at Bektys State, but I'm originally from Flaarickug. I've been following gridball since long before it become popular here. Remember the old World Championships, "World Bowl 0", the one that was held here in Vephrall? I covered that as the head sports guy at BSU. So I like to think I know a thing or two about what I'm writing about.

Anyway, we're two games into World Bowl qualifying, and the Auric Wolves are 1-1. A win over Steroga and a loss to Taeshan, and you have to figure both of those were pretty much expected. Steroga's never done this before, and I'm probably the only person here who can actually remember a Vephrall win over Taeshan. It was 52-20 back in the aforementioned GWC. Yes, 52 points against Taeshan. If that happened nowadays, they'd probably execute the entire team or something. Probably by forcing them to stand outside naked for an hour, though I'm not sure if that would be considered execution or cryogenics. It's certainly easy to blame the weather for any Vephrese inadequacies at Taeshan, as their "summer" temperatures are far, far colder than anything ever recorded in Vephrall, excepting possibly the very tops of some of the mountains in Panuul.

On the bright side, the Auric Wolves did at least manage to score a touchdown against Taeshan for the first time in the last three attempts. That certainly has to count as some sort of progress. It came on a relatively rare Crublig Claspung pass, Rilin Filler the man who caught the 11-yarder. Filler is new to the team this time around, and you have to wonder: is he the kind of receiver that can finally open up Vephrall's passing game? Let's hope so.

The next game is away at Cotenshire, but the precise location is yet to be determined. Security concerns in Taale-Voren have made it very unlikely that the game will be played there. What's your take? Does the uncertainty hurt the visiting Wolves? For that matter, does it hurt Cotenshire? Surely the goings-on in Taale-Voren have to be on their minds, after all.

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Fitin' Falcons Hold On Against Cassadaigua

First things first, the Fitin' Falcons took on the young ladies from the country known as Cassadaigua. As you aout their in the world may know the Daigans are a people of women who have technically been the opposite of many countries in the long history of the world. The Women supressed then men for most of its history and until recently many Men were of lower rank, now its more of an even setting. The boys of Taeshan of course are appalled by this because over are longstanding history men and women of all races, and religion and such have always been equals. This is appalling and even in a country were the opposite of what is notable is happening this is not right. In theory we are all equals and it is sick that people would do this.

Either way it doesn't matter to a Taeshani Sportsplayer if a man or a woman is coming to them they are going to be stopped in some way. The Falcons and their Taeshani mates in the other sports are knwon for being one of the greatest defensive countries in this world and that was proven yesterday as the Falcons held and held for most of the game. The defense as usual was firing on all cylinders and kkept the Cassadaiguans to only ten points. But it is never a question as wether or not the defense will be good, its a question as to wether or not the offensive side of the ball can be effective enough to score on the other teams defense. As in last weeks game this weeks offense was just enough for the Fitin' Falcons to win the game.

In the first half the Cassadaigan offense got the ball rolling with their only touchdown of the game on a 52 yard running play buy their striking running Back. then they gave the ball away on their next drive to a wide open Ricky Zellefrow, who of course is not a member of their team, and he ran the ball back for a 78 yard interception return for a Touchdown. then throughout the rest of the half the two teams played a great few minutes of great defense and mediocre offense. In the second halfthe Fitin' Falcons took their first lead with a Martin Gramatica 46 yard field goal. Later he would add a field goal again from 50 yards out with ten minutes left in the game. After that the Daigans got two great drives scoring a 30 yard Field Goal, but when they drove down with 4 second left and lined up from 4o yards out the Falcons shcoked the Girls by breaking through and blocking the kick.

QSPN.com/WorldBowlVI Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_VI)

QAZOX 24
Colbourne 20

A tougher than expected game at Colbourne, as Larry Hinierian threw 2 ints late in the 2nd quarter that allowed the home team to take a 17-3 lead into the half. But thanks to 3 TD's by Craig Hamersien in the 2nd half, including a 66 yarder to make it 24-20, Qazox rallied to win despite trailing 20-3 at one point. The game was decided when a 47 yd FG attempt by Colbourne was blocked by Paul Silver with 12 seconds left.

BOX SCORE
1 2 3 4 Fin
Qazox 0 3 14 7 24
Colbourne 3 14 3 0 20


Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
CLB: 39 yd FG 8:12 (7 plays, 37 yards in 3:13) 3-0 Colbourne.
2nd Quarter
QZX: 42 yd FG by Kyle Kobel 14:59 (8 plays 47 yards in 2:27) 3-3.
CLB: 4 yard TD run by Javon Grenne. PAT good. 2:42 (2 plays, 23 yards in 0:48) 10-3 Colbourne.
CLB: 14 yard TD run by Javon Grenne. PAT good. 0:18 (3 plays, 29 yards in 1:08) 17-3 Colbourne.
3rd Quarter
CLB: 48 yd FG 9:50 (9 plays, 46 yards in 5:10) 20-3 Colbourne.
QZX: 9 yard TD run by Craig Hamersien. PAT by Kyle Kobel good. 4:21 (9 plays, 72 yards in 5:29) 20-10 Colbourne.
QZX: 2 yard TD run by Craig Hamersien. PAT by Kyle Kobel good. 0:06 (4 plays, 29 yards in 1:20) 20-17 Colbourne.
4th Quarter
QZX: 66 yard TD run by Craig Hamersien. PAT by Kyle Kobel good. 6:15 (1 plays, 66 yards in 0:26) 24-20 Qazox..

Norwellia 7 - 16 Secristan

26:03 TD Secristan: Hausler, 6 yards. PAT by Norris good. 7-0 Secristan.
29:01 TD Norwellia: Alexander (1) to Sadatada (1), 23 yards. PAT by Takae good (1-1). 7-7
41:29 Safety, Secristan: Jackson on Alexander. 9-7 Secristan.
51:28 TD Secristan: Hausler, 3 yards. PAT by Norris good. 16-7 Secristan.

Norwellia 0-24 Dancougar

15:21 TD Dancougar: Tilghman to Leuthold, 12 yards. PAT by Cavallo good. 7-0 DAN.
26:03 FG Dancougar: Cavallo, 43 yards. 10-0 DAN.
33:46 TD Dancougar: Tilghman to Langley, 4 yards. 17-0 DAN.
53:36 TD Dancougar: Jarnutowski, 1 yard. PAT by Cavallo good. 24-0 DAN.

After two extremely disappointing performances for an offense expected to come out with guns blazing, starting quarterback Jose Alexander is on notice. Coach Robillard has publicly expressed his willingness to bench Alexander for acclaimed Forest Glen Bears pocket passer Peter Lango if the attack-minded Warriors team is shut out again.

Katie’s Space

Facing the smothering defense of Taeshan, we were unable to give you, our home fans, a victory. The Fitin’ Falcons come into every World Bowl trying to beat you with their dominating defense, and it has worked very well for them through the years. It may not have given them a championship yet, but they are always in the mix. We knew we have to work for every yard, and battle for every first down against them, and that was the case. This probably was not the ideal time for us to be playing Taeshan either, as our offense made the Prux defense look outstanding, being fortunate to win that game. While we played better against Cotenshire, playing them now, was quite a chore. The locker room talk though was about this being an opportunity, because if we could produce again them, we could put the bad feelings over the Prux win to bed, completely. On our first possession we were able to score a touchdown, and as great as it was maybe this led to overconfidence. We threw the ball on the first five plays, getting the ball down to our own 48 before we handed the ball off to Danielle Regan. It looked like they were going to get Danielle down after a two yard gain, but somehow she refused to go down and eventually broke clear. Into the end zone she went, and we were in the lead. On our next possession, we were moving down the field well again, getting it well into Taeshan territory. And this is where our overconfidence bit us. Lauren tried to throw it into double coverage, and Ricky Zellefrow was there with the pick. I nearly got him down, but his elusiveness prevented me from it. These Taeshani players play offense and defense, and he played it like a wide receiver after he caught the ball, and I am not a defensive back. He went the distance, and we were tied. We had awakened the sleeping giant.

It remained 7-7 for a while, just the way Taeshan wants it. That confidence we had was gone, and we were seeing what made the Fitin Falcons so good. We were unable to move the ball, but our defense held tough for a while, but two second half field goals put us down 13-7. We did have one breakthrough late in the fourth quarter as Lauren hit me on a quick slant, and I was able to take it all the way inside the Taeshan 20. We could not get the touchdown we needed here, but the three points was good. Just a few ticks after the two minute warning, we forced a fumble, thanks to Sarah Patton and recovered, and moved into position for a game tying field goal. But a high snap gave Taeshan an extra second to get penetration, and the kick was blocked, sending us to the loss. We played them well, and when we go play them in the cold temperatures on the road, we do feel we can get a victory. We don’t have any time to think about it though. Arroza is next.

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

Booker Tilghman needed that. After throwing four interceptions in his first two games of World Bowl VI, Tilghman got back on track against struggling Norwellia, tossing two scores en route to a 24-0 victory. Norwellia's offense, which prepared so thoroughly before the tournament with a variety of schemes and trickery, was unable to crack the Black Wing defense as it continued its streak of crushing play.

"It's the same kind of tough love that the new teams often go through," said Kendrick Lynch, who recorded two sacks of quarterback Jose Alexander and caused enough pressure to continually disrupt the Norwellian passing attack. "There's not too much that you can do to surprise us; I'd say ninety nine times out of a hundred, we see what you're doing. Then you have to outplay us to get something from it."

They're the words of a man who anchors a unit that's oozing with confidence right now, and there's no reason why they shouldn't be. The Black Wing defense forced four turnovers against Norwellia, running their total to nine through three games. It's the team's first shutout of qualifying and gives them a points-against that rivals that of teams who have a game in hand. It's a stat line that comes as a result of an overwhelming presence and creates a frustrated opposition. Whether they can keep it up will be a matter of debate until at least the first half break.

The first quarter was a slow one, with neither team managing to move the ball wall. The much-lauded Wildcat formation, which uses no quarterback, proved no menace to the Wings, who were prepared to face the multi-faceted attack of Katja Lippert. In practice, they were told to treat him as a quarterback who could run, and while the Wings did give up runs of seven and nine yards to him out of the formation, he was unable to provide Norwellia with a game-breaking play.

Instead, it was Dancougar scoring first just seconds in to the second quarter, with Tilghman capping a long drive with a 12-yard pass to Billy Leuthold to give the home fans a 7-0 lead. The drive was spearheaded by Logan Dublin, who ran for 45 total yards with a combination of sweeps and dives up the middle, and accurate, short passes by Tilghman, who needed to establish some kind of rhythm. He was hurried by the Norwellian 3-4, which did not seem to be at all afraid of the Dancougar attack, which had three sacks in the first half.

But turnovers killed any chance the visitors had to capitalize on their stops. Two first half fumbles, and an interception by Alexander, conspired to keep Norwellia off the board. Cavallo hit a field goal a few minutes before halftime to give his team a 10-0 lead.

"Their defense was coming up big, so we had to come up bigger," said Lynch. "Teams know that we don't have the biggest offense in the world, and that if they let us pound away, sometimes we'll just stop ourselves because we can't get yards. So that's why we pound on our side of the ball, to get those yards back."

The Wings put the game out of reach on the opening drive of the second half, with Tilghman once again working the short passing game to patiently move his team downfield. Inside the red zone, he fired a jump ball for Thomas Langley, who had a height advantage on Rebecca Sanders which he used to great effect. Langley hauled in a 4-yard score and Cavallo made it 17-0. From there, the Wings went into shutdown mode. The Norwellia offense was still unable to answer, and running of Dublin and Pendleton kept the clock moving. Each first down brought the victory closer because it meant that another two minutes was coming off the clock.

The Wings got a late score after another Alexander interception handed them a short field midway through the fourth quarter. After a few runs from Pendleton got them to the one, Moohim brought out the I-formation. He'd saved a wrinkle for the Norwellian defense - Tilghman handed off to the up man, fullback Stanley Jarnutowski, who powered his way through a mess of humanity to make it 24-0.

The home stand continues against the Candrian Empire, who have struggled to get out of the starting block. The Wings are 3-0 all-time against the Empire, with their last meeting being Dancougar's slender 23-19 win in the World Bowl IV quarterfinals.

Trippin' on Email

I was reading up on Norwellia before the game, and then I started thinking... if we're going to use Dublin all the time, why not run our own Wildcat? The man can run and surely his arm can't be that bad. You think Moohim has considered it?

John C.
Lakeport

I've never seen Dublin throw a pass, even in practice, so any ability he has is probably one of the team's better-kept secrets. He might be able to get something just running straight out of it, but that's not really Dancougar's style, so I doubt that Moohim's thought about it.

----------

Danielle Regan ripped off another huge run, against Taeshan no less. Are we ready to call her the female Jason Yeilds?

Sam Y.
Bradford

Regan has made some huge plays, although I'm not sure if she can match Yeilds for intimidation. It's not necessarily the fact that Yeilds can take it to the house which makes him scary, it's the fact that he'll hit you in the mouth while he does it. And while we shouldn't take anything away from Regan's accomplishments, I hope the hogs on the offensive line are getting some credit. Cassadaigua is notorious for not giving men their due, but hopefully they've recognized that the unit has been giving Regan some great support.

----------

Five unanswered goals to win the game! Wasn't that awesome?

Dan P.
North Oakland

I don't know what the Manchester United/Tottenham game has to do with anything, but it was impressive to see the Reds unleash in the second half. Although it's still debatable if the penalty that sparked the comeback was actually a penalty, and I'm not convinced that Rooney's second goal ever crossed the line. Even so, I... oh, wait... were you talking about the Bird on Skates?

Reasons Not To Watch Tonights Game
Not to say that we wouldn't like to see all of you fans watch and support the team, but tonight they play Steroga a new country in the world of Football, and i'm sorry but its going to be a bloodbath and really there is not a chance this game will ever be anywhere near what the fans want. So heres a list of reasons not to turn on TSPN at seven tonight.
#5-We will crush them.
#4-They are a new team, they have no chance.
#3-We are at the top of our game.
#2-Are defense is at a pulverizing form.
#1-Jeese, they're playing Steroga.

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record Online

Hurricane bounce back from painful loss with win over Secristan

The game against the Dancougar Black Wings was a test to see just how far the Hurricane have progressed since their inaugural World Bowl season. The less than stellar performance the Hurricane could muster against Dancougar confirms that the Hurricane is still very far from being a premier team and moving up in status from mediocrity. Kept out of the end zone, and held to two Munie field goals, any confidence that had been built following last season and the opening win over the Candrian Empire was shattered against one of the world’s best teams.

Yet, despite the demoralizing loss, the Hurricane were back in original form, defending their home front, with a win over Secristan. The win brought the Hurricane to a 2-1 record, and with a difficult schedule, the team will take any win they can get.

In the first game, Shisakit Munie hit a forty yard field goal in the second quarter, and a thirty six yarder at the top of the fourth for the only points of the game. The Black Wings held a commanding 17-3 lead at halftime. Logan Dublin and Tristan Cray scored second quarter touchdowns to break the game wide open for the Black Wings before the half.

Against Secristan, Daisetsu Kudo found Oribaha Hini for a twelve yard opening drive score, and Toshizane Dazai late in the third quarter for a seventeen yard touchdown. Munie added a thirty nine yard field goal midway through the fourth, and the Hurricane defense held to win 17-10.

The Hurricane must now face Kura-Pelland, another elite team, but this time they won’t have the advantage of playing in their home stadium. Finding a way to win on the road will be difficult, but can be done if the team stays focused, builds on the momentum of their win over Secristan, and makes the big plays they’re capable of.

Schedule
vs. Candrian Empire W 23-7
vs. Dancougar L 6-23
vs. Secristan W 17-10
@ Kura-Pelland
@ Lovisa
BYE
vs. Norwellia
@ Candrian Empire
@ Dancougar
@ Secristan
vs. Kura-Pelland
vs. Lovisa
BYE
@ Norwellia

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS STUNNED

Loudon- Maybe they were looking past Tocrowkia and towards their next two games, which are road matches against Qazox and Rennidan, who are also nations ranked within the top ten of the World Bowl rankings. Perhaps, the Nordics were overly inspired to win in Loudon due to the baseball history between the nations. Even though there is not a lot of head to head history between the countries on the diamond, the Rockets did eliminate them in the semifinals before defeating the Millionaires in the championship. Tocrowkia pulled off a 30-28 victory, which is their first win of the qualifying campaign.

Newmanistan was coming into this game just fine, as they were coming off an impressive 38-13 victory over Lucino, a debutant in World Bowl competition. In that contest, Newmanistan scored 24 first half points and led 38-3 before pulling much of the starters at the beginning of the fourth quarter. With that result, and the win over Colbourne it looked as though the inexperienced defense was taking care of business just fine. Against Lucino, Kenny O’Hara was 24-for-33 in the air for 377 yards and three touchdown passes. He had distributed the wealth just fine, with Matt Bywater, Corey Brooks, and Christian Gagnon catching touchdown passes of 14, 33, and 25 yards. Also scoring on the ground were Corey Parisi and Darian Westcott on runs of 26 and 2 yards. Parisi’s day was strong, with 23 carries and 112 yards as well as three receptions for 33 yards. Westcott, who so far has seen a lot of carries, approximately 40% of them, ran for 42 yards total. The defense was strong, and the team improved to 2-0 with no difficulty, and seemed destined to sweep the three home games in which the schedule started with.

That was not going to be the case. Tocrowkia was ready to send an early message. They received the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards down field for a touchdown, and did so mainly on the ground. No one had really exploited the Rockets questionable rushing defense until now, and Siegfried Vater was making it looking too easy. All it took was seven carries for him to gain 65 yards and get the go-ahead touchdown. After the Rockets were contained, the Nordics again moved down the field with Vater again being the featured player. The drive ended in a field goal, but the message was sent that this game was going to be a lot different then the prior ones. In their final drive of the first quarter, we did finally see Newmanistan put some effective offense together, moving the ball into the red zone. Kenny O’Hara was 4-for-5 on the drive for 40 yards, but it would come to a sudden end. Proving that even the best will put one on the ground every so often, Corey Parisi was stripped of the ball by Markus Sands, and recovered by Werner Bonte. This time, the Rockets were able to contain Vater, but a 48-yard pass completion from Markus Kash to the flamboyant Mikel Westin was enough to get the Nordics into the field goal range, which Xavier Falkenhorst connected on to put the visitors up 13-0 and completely silence the Loudon Stadium crowd. The second quarter was much more kind for the Rockets, and especially Parisi. Corey certainly wanted to atone for his error, and on his first two carries, we counted ten combined tacklers that he broke free from. He carried the ball five times on this drive, for 42 yards, but the touchdown would come via the air from O’Hara to Matt Bywater, and alas, the Rockets were on the board. The momentum too, seemed to be going in their favor after they forced a Nordics punt. Even though a great kick pinned Newmanistan back to start the drive at their own 3, Newmanistan drove the necessary 97 yards for the touchdown. O’Hara was impressive again, going 6-for-7 on the drive for 62 yards in the air, but the scoring yards were something he picked up with his feet. From the Tocrowkia 13, O’Hara evaded two potential sacks before finding room down the right sideline and into the end zone with just over two minutes remaining to give Newmanistan a 14-13 lead. But the Nordics responded with an impressive two minute drill, and used Westin well. They got inside the red zone, and with more time, may have found the end zone, but the Falkenhorst field goal was big, making it 16-14. A kick that would prove to be very meaningful.

Newmanistan received to begin the second half, and this would have been a great time to respond to the Tocrowkia score, however they were unable to do so, with a disappointing three and out. Hurting the possession was the attempted double reverse on 2nd and 2 in which Corey Brooks got stuffed for an eight yard loss. After a 56-yard punt by the ageless wonder Steve Meadows, Tocrowkia was back at business, and they were going to use Mr. Vater again. The defensive line had a really hard time getting a grip on the slippery back, and his line was doing a tremendous job as well. At last, he would break a big one, to the tune of 38 yards simply by taking it up the gut and scoring. They also seemed to greatly benefit from the lack of a holding penalty to Jason Weidlich on Jesse Savage. Even though Weidlich nearly took off his jersey, there was no call. Savage vehemently protested this after the score, and finally got the referee to throw a flag. Of course, this was the 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty call on Savage, which would be assessed on the kickoff. It may have energized the team as they seemed determine to come back from this 23-14 deficit. Parisi added another 25 yards on the ground, but the team would find the end zone on a 15-yard touchdown from O’Hara to Jim Crosby and the Rockets were back within two. With a minute left in the third quarter, the Rockets came up with a big interception, thanks to Michael Ahearn and were moving the ball again. Corey Parisi would score the touchdown, going 14 yards, and with 8:21 to go in the game, the Rockets were in front, 28-23. In the old days, they would have held on to the win, and they were not counting on what would happen next. An impressive ball-control drive took nearly the entire time off the clock. Vater was eating away at the defensive line and Adrian Kanker further frustrated them by picking up some hard nosed carries. Then, on third-and-goal from the one, Kanker scored a go-ahead touchdown with 29 seconds left to silence the crowd again. While we thought the Nordics might go for two here, the extra point put them ahead 30-28. The Rockets attempted to stage a comeback in the remaining time, but with only one timeout, they were not able to get into field goal range, only reaching their own 41 when the clock expired.

The end result is a 30-28 win for Tocrowkia as the team prepares for two difficult road contests against Qazox and Rennidan. We’re not sure if we can say they were looking ahead, but in this tight group, this could prove to be a very costly loss. A frustrated Jeremy Thompson after the game said that now his team has to win at minimum, one of the next two, in order to have a chance at atoning themselves for this loss. A lot of credit must go to Tocrowkia as well, they played a great game tonight.

It was, for lack of other words, Amazin'.

Going up against one of the top ranked teams in the world, the Nordics defied all the odds and not only prevented the anti-climatic blow out many predicted, but emerged victorious. That's right, the score on the front page of your news papers isn't a typo, it's the end result of the game between the Nordics and the Rockets. The Rockets will undoubtedly look for what went wrong, but the fact is the Nordics simply did everything right.

Just like Newmanistan, we'll go ahead and acknowledge the elephant in the room first. Were the Nordics determined to beat this one foe more than any other due to the two nations history on the diamond? Though both teams debuted in the 7th WBC, they have in a short time usurped old favorites such as Taeshan as perennial contenders. Last year, the Rockets took home the WBC title, and with the way Paul Rudolf manages his team, you can tell it is perhaps only a matter of time before the Nordics do the same.

Markus Kash downplayed the connection though. "They're a different group of players." He said of the Nordics baseball squad. "And what they do doesn't really effect our team, and vice versa." So with that out of the way, the man of the hour was certainly Siegfried Vater. His all out assault on the Rockets defense ended up gaining him some impressive stats, including a touch down. He was also a featured part of the dramatic late game drive, along with Adrian Kanker. Though the aerial acrobatics the Nordics usually focus on was not featured, the running game shined.

"People just need to have a little faith in us." Vater said after the game. "It was amazin' tonight. I'm sure we can carry it forward to the next game."

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Group A:
Cassadaigua 27-20 Arroza
Prux 7-16 Cotenshire
Steroga 0-17 Taeshan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Taeshan 3 0 0 43 17 26
2 Arroza 3 1 0 105 54 51
3 Cassadaigua 3 1 0 69 46 23
4 Vephrall 2 1 0 57 22 35
5 Cotenshire 1 3 0 42 73 -31
6 Prux 0 3 0 20 53 -33
7 Steroga 0 3 0 10 81 -71


Group B:
Dancougar 16-10 Candrian Empire
Kura-Pelland 30-24 (OT) Fujisawan Territories
Lovisa 13-24 Norwellia


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Kura-Pelland 3 0 0 63 37 26
2 Dancougar 3 1 0 73 29 44
3 Lovisa 2 1 0 57 55 2
4 Fujisawan Territories 2 2 0 70 70 0
5 Secristan 1 2 0 43 44 -1
6 Norwellia 1 2 0 31 53 -22
7 Candrian Empire 0 4 0 34 83 -49


Group C:
Lucino 0-13 Colbourne
Qazox 20-23 Newmanistan
Rennidan 20-7 Sarzonia


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Rennidan 3 0 0 70 40 30
2 Newmanistan 3 1 0 113 73 40
3 Sarzonia 2 1 0 61 37 24
4 Qazox 2 1 0 71 50 21
5 Tocrowkia 1 2 0 60 71 -11
6 Colbourne 1 3 0 60 78 -18
7 Lucino 0 4 0 23 109 -86

For one match, Joe Gibbs was probably relieved he wasn't standing on the sidelines at Hendrix Stadium.

If he had been, he likely would have faced vilification for his conservative game plan, one which resulted in running back LoQuan Willard rushing 36 times for 131 yards and Sarzonia's lone score, but quarterback Gavin Davis was unable to move the ball with much efficiency in Sarzonia's 20-7 defeat at the hands of Rennidan.

"We just weren't able to connect on some things," Gibbs said in the post-match press conference. "We tried a couple of deep balls and just missed on them."

Davis completed 17-of-33 passes for 196 yards and two interceptions, but some observers pointed out that Davis's second interception came on a Hail Mary pass with time expiring in the game. Stars receivers dropped six passes, including a four-yard strike from Davis to H-back Clark Hennessey that could have tied the score at 13 with four minutes, eight seconds remaining in the third quarter.

"I just didn't make the plays," Davis said. "If I did, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"That was my fault," Hennessey said of the drop in the end zone. Wide receiver Dave Coles blamed himself for the first interception, admitting "I ran the wrong route.

"He [Davis] called a 70-Go on 2. I thought he said 17-Go," Coles said. In a 70-Go, Coles is supposed to stutter step and sprint down the right sideline. In a 17-Go, Coles is supposed to run a crossing route and break for the end zone.

For his part, Gibbs blamed himself for the defeat.

"I just wasn't able to call the right plays. It's on me," he said.

The Stars (2-1) return to Hendrix Stadium to face world No. 4 Qazox. The Stars have lost both previous meetings with the Pheonix in playoff sudden death overtimes. The first meeting, in the second round of World Bowl IV, became the longest game in World Bowl history. The Pheonix won the match 26-23 with time winding down in the second overtime. The Pheonix defeated the Stars 26-20 in overtime in the quarterfinals of World Bowl V.

"We're definitely motivated," Davis said. "But having said that, we need to play our game and let the chips fall where they may."

Fitin' Falcons Post Shutout

Game 3, in the far off land of Steroga the fitin' Falcons landed in a big wasteland of nothing and there driver led them to a small pitch of grass in some god awful looking town what he said was thre Steroga Capital. The Falcons were set to take on the hometown heroes The Steroga National Football Team. Even if there heroes turned out to be nothing more then zeroes against are gal;ant Falcons the Sterogan fans seemed to love their fans, and the Falcoons gave them a show toying with the Sterogan team all day and ultimately ening the game with a 17-0 shutout.

In the history of the world Bowl there have not been as many shutouts as you would think with all these new teams coming into it every year. although this may be what you think there is great competition because even though they may not be as expirienced, but most teams are made of the elite from around the country. In the first half you could tell the Sterogans were not ready for this epic battle, there jerseys were still dirty from earlier games. The skies opened five minutes after kickoff and the Falcons took advantage of the mudbath scoring a touchdown with a 50 yard Max Hope burst through the dfenese who didnt even have cleats to keep themselves aloft. The half ended only 7-0, but you could tell it was pretty much over.

In the second half of the game the Fitin' Falcons continued to pressure the ball, and attack the younger team forcing 4 turnovers throughout the half. They would take a 10-0 lead in the 3rd on a Martin Gramatica 29yard field goal. Then the Falcons put it as far out of reach as possible when Jack Cito took aan interception on the Sterogans closest chance at a score one hundred yards back to make it 17-0. It was an exciting play, and will definetly be on the seasons highlight reels throughout the world.

Chirper chat scandal rocks team

Well the final result of the disciplinary action promised after game three has finally come for the Tar Hornets and it wasn't pretty. As you all know, star runningback Donovan Hailey was benched for the game at Concord Heights for using a contraband phone to “chirp” reports to his webpage during Arroza's win against the Statesmen. The “Chirper” chat network is a relay system on the internet where people are allowed to send short [normally under 20 words] reports to the internet, on the fly as it were. The message, posted to Hailey's page “Hailstorm_23” was the following; “On da bench, we're killing Prux, lol”, and a later one stating, “Saint-Marais runs like his knees are ties to his elbows, lol”

Arroza loses to Cassadaigua.

On the field, though the Tar Hornets had better things to worry about as they went to Concord Heights to play the Femme Fatales, who were desperately looking for a win on their schedule. With the top-heaviness of this World Bowl, there are four great teams in this group fighting for three slots. And while Cassadaigua isn't regarded by some pundits as the most skilled of teams, they have heart in spades.

So with that, the team went to Concord Heights looking to keep their win streak alive, and well...it just didn't work out that way. After 2 disappointing Lake Major runs for 4 yards, and a pass to nowhere by Bassem, Tyler Edmiston came out to punt the ball away. The high kick went to Ashley Harbers, who darted through the defenders until getting pushed out at the Arroza 15 by Edmiston. On third and one from the six, the play action to Colby drew in the already aggressive defense, and Hamilton threw a soft floater over Cal Brandon's head to Kim Harden in the corner of the endzone. The rest of the first showed a trade of field goals, and with 3 minutes in the First half, the score was 13-3 Cassadaigua.

Hailey's absence was apparent as Major rushed 12 times for 27 yards in the first half. And with 2:55 another Tar Hornet drive stalled, at the Cassadaigua 40. Edmiston, delivered a punt to the opposing sides's ten yard line, and things looked to be good. Unfortunately, the Femme Fatales seem to have stolen more than a page out of the old Kura-Pelland playbook, especially the parts about running the West Coast offense. Getting into the no-huddle, and with a slew of passes to the outside, they marched down the field in a 12 play, 2 minute, thirty-nine second drive, ending in a twelve yard pass from Hamilton to Dupree, after Dupree broke a...poor arm tackle from Jeremy Beaumont. And at the half, the score was 20-3, Cassadaigua.

In history, what has been Arroza's greatest weakness? Coming back from big debts, as the triple option is definitely a time-wasting strategy. This game wasn't any different. Coach Tahlequah obviously gave the team the hairdryer treatment at half-time, but the biggest difference was the replacement of Lake Major, and Abe Chadwick with #4 and 5 runningbacks, Lazaro Connelly and Roger Seabrook. It seemed to work, as the Tar Hornets gained 147 yards on the ground in the second half and each of the new backs scored their first international touchdown. But in the middle of the fourth, Bassem flubbed the pitch to Seabrook on the end-around and Christina Patten fell on it. Hamilton effectively ended the game, throwing her third touchdown of the game, this time on a screen to Danielle Regan.

Editorial: Is Lake Major's International Career Over? It Should Be.

12 Carries in the first half. Twenty-seven total yards. But more importantly, he missed holes. He missed blocks. He looked to have completely lost the plot out there. He has proven times before that he has skills, but he has always been the other guy in the World Bowl. And now we see why, he can't hack it on the big stage. He'll be great in the home Leagues, but obviously his chance at the International starlight should be over.

New Contest! Name the Arrozan Football Team

The Tar Hornet name has served this country well in it's years as the Arrozan Sporting Mascot. But the name was originally based on a local nickname for the residents of the Capital city of Atalanta, due to the town's distinct Hexagonal street grid. However, now that the country is unifying, the country seeks to find a more reasonable name for their sporting teams. So send your suggestions in, and your idea might be the new handle of Arrozan sports!

All Entries should be mailed to: Arroza Ministry of Sport, 3928, North Commonwealth Avenue, Atalanta, Capital District, Mail Zone 37-AGR.

From: Johnnie Gomez
2nd Grade Class
John Thorne Elementry School
Joehio, Qazox

To: Arroza Ministry of Sport, 3928, North Commonwealth Avenue, Atalanta, Capital District, Mail Zone 37-AGR.

RE: New Arroza Team name

I think you should be called the STEALERS, because that's the only way you beat Qazox at World Bowl Five, you stole it!

http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gth681k/ns/vephrall/meicejournal_head.png
mjONLINE - http://www.mj.vf

Sports - Cartoon of the day
by Dustele Filler 25 August 1770, 10:07pm AOTC

http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gth681k/ns/vephrall/wb6-md4-cartoon-small.png

(OOC: that didn't quite scan in as clearly as I'd hoped, but whatever. :p)

QSPN.com/WorldBowlVI Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_VI)

QAZOX 20
Newmanistan 23

A 45 yard FG the Rocket's Patrick Marshall as time expired gave Newmanistan a 23-20 win over the Pheonix. Despite throwing for 317 yards and 2 TD's, 2 interceptions by Larry Hinierian ended two long Qazox drives in the 3rd quarter, allowing Newmansitan to come back from a 17-6 deficit. Up next is a trip to Sarzonia.

BOX SCORE
1 2 3 4 Fin
Newmanistan 3 3 14 3 23
Qazox 7 3 7 3 20


Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
NEW: 34 yd FG by Patrick Marshall 9:28 (9 plays, 52 yards in 5:32) 3-0 Newmanistan.
QZX: 16 yard TD pass from Larry Hinierian to Eric Shaman. PAT by Kyle Kobel good. 3:09 (11 plays, 71 yards in 6:19) 7-3 Qazox.
2nd Quarter
QZX: 29 yd FG by Kyle Kobel 13:11 (9 plays, 58 yards in 3:11) 10-3 Qazox.
NEW: 34 yd FG by Patrick Marshall 9:08 (9 plays, 48 yards in 4:03) 10-6 Qazox.
3rd Quarter
QZX: 89 yard TD KO Return by Charles Whitmore. PAT by Kyle Kobel good. 14:46 (1 play, 89 yards in 0:14) 17-6 Qazox.
NEW: 76 yd Int return for TD by Michael Ahearn 5:09 PAT by Patrick Marshall good. 17-13 Qazox.
NEW: 6 yd TD run by Corey Parisi 1:23 PAT by Patrick Marshall good. (4 plays, 29 yards in 1:42) 20-17 Newmanistan.
4th Quarter
QZX: 40 yd FG by Kyle Kobel 6:25 (8 plays, 67 yards in 7:20) 20-20.
NEW: 45 yd FG by Patrick Marshall 0:00 (9 plays, 68 yards in 6:13) 23-20 Newmanistan.

http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/uu303/Norwellia/update.png
INTERNATIONAL EDITION - PAGE A1

RAINBOW WARRIORS SHOCK THE GRIDBALL WORLD IN LOVISA

LOVISA - All doubts about the viability of the ambitious Norwellian offense were silenced yesterday as the World Bowl newcomers upset Lovisa on the road by a score of 24-13.

Coach Didier Robillard looks like a genius for his clever manipulation of the press. Robillard, whose delightful shenanigans were one of the many facets of the aptly-named Chessmasters' championship season, told reporters (and, indirectly, the Lovisan defense) last Sunday that starting quarterback Jose Alexander was "on notice" after failing to score against the tenacious, ball-hungry Dancougar defense. Alexander, for whom trickery and subterfuge was just a part of leading his innovative Winston Capitals to become the highest-scoring team in NFL history, played his part beautifully in the media for the following seven days. He sweated bullets on camera as he told reporters that he feared for his starting job, that he had something to prove, and that he would be feeling more pressure than ever before in Lovisa. He sold the whole thing with a slight stutter on yesterday's pre-game interviews, a detail which the game's shining star, all-purpose running back Katja Lippert, called "a nice touch". After all the hand-wringing over Alexander, the Lovisan defense locked in to mastermind Warrior offensive coordinator Lucas Wilson's base pro-set formation, described as a Turner-style Air Coryell attack. The result was that the Lovisans were caught flat-footed on a series of masterfully-executed surprise switches to the wildcat offense at the line of scrimmage. The strategy which is rapidly being called the Bait and Switch on the world stage was already a familiar sight to Norwellian fans, who saw the Capitals use it brilliantly in their Game 2 win against the Chessmasters.

Going into the game, Lovisa was a perfect 3-0 and Norwellia a disastrous 0-2, already feeling their playoff dreams slipping away. Things looked bad for the Rainbow Warriors from the kickoff, where Lovisa slipped, shimmied and smashed through every person in kick coverage except special teams man Cory Reed, who finally took down the Lovisan returner at the Norwellian 28 yard line. A quick bomb put the Norwellian defense back on the bench after just one play, as the third Lovisan wideout burned nickelback Émile Boivin and pulled down the pigskin in the endzone with no white shirts to be seen. Lovisa shockingly missed the point-after attempt to make the score 6-0.

The Warriors, who failed to match Lovisa's kick return feat, were reluctant to show their hand early, staying in the pro set formation with a couple of third-down passes from the revolver on a drive which stalled in the Lovisan blue zone. (INTERNATIONAL EDITION NOTE: Norwellian gridball players, coaches and fans use the term "blue zone" for the final 20-yard stretch leading up to each endzone, instead of the more popular "red zone" nomenclature. This is because of Norwellian color symbolism, where the color blue represents both optimism and pessimism. Red stands for passion in the national color symbolism system, but Norwellian fans don't find it appropriate to label only forty yards of the field that way, when the game demands 120 yards' worth of passion on every play.) The red-faced rainbow coalition settled for a 38-yard field goal from steady Stirner kicker Kaneko Takae with 9:12 left in the opening quarter.

The Lovisan attack would disappoint as well on its next drive, where a less ambitious return prefaced a slow, deliberate march up the field, in contrast to their firecracker-like start to the game. The Norwellian defense finally got serious as Lovisa knocked on the door again, battening down the hatches with a Ray Danley sack on the blitz and a Christian Bennett near-sack which almost led to a Kathleen Luiso endzone interception, and heroically stuffing the Lovisan run attack on the goal line. Feeling confident, the Lovisans opted to go for a field goal, which was blocked by screaming defensive tackle Hayden Wright, who could barely contain his ecstasy after the unusual play. Down by only three points and taking the ball back after a brilliant series of defensive stops, Norwellia looked ready to turn its season around.

Things would turn dark again for the Rainbow Warriors, though, just as quickly as they had begun to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Jose Alexander stuttered again, this time with the football instead of his tongue, on a badly-timed handoff attempt to Lippert. The fumble was picked up by the Lovisan nose tackle, who steamrolled over star fullback Damien Mager and scored the second TD for the home side amidst the deafening roar of the fans and the ear-shattering boom of the Lovisan stadium's famous Touchdown Cannon. The Lovisan kicker's leg was true this time, giving the undefeated team a 13-3 lead, the biggest yet.

Later, with about six and a half minutes left in the first half, Lovisa was driving when their QB's play action fake utterly failed to convince free safety Kathleen Luiso, who reminded her fans of the interception she took to the house for the Bookchin Hammers in the Eastern Conference final. This time, she picked him off and returned it to about the 40, where Katja Lippert could soon be seen with a glint in his eye and a devious upturn in his smile. Lippert would catch a pass from the revolver formation, run for another first down from the pro set, and then wait for her chance to shine in the Bait and Switch. That chance came with 1:44 left in the first half, when suddenly, without warning, without even an audible, Jose Alexander went from a calm, collected play-caller under the huddle to a burst of lightning, speeding toward the sideline while third WR Jordan Evans sprinted to the line from the bench, Lippert jumped to four yards behind center and Mager took his place behind her. The ball hadn't even been snapped and already the Lovisan defense was in a state of utter chaos, linebackers stumbling over cornerbacks, a confused safety out of position, the coaches getting their signals crossed, and Lippert took the snap, first tucking the ball under his arm and then dropping back to find superstar tight end Aoki Sadatada wide open in the end zone to cut the lead down to three.

From there, it was rainbows all the way down as a Norwellian defense which had seemed to find its color for the first time this season just kept clicking, first Hijil Simu slapping a would-be first down out of the forbidding midfield air, then Danley slamming the quarterback into the ground again, then Boivin making up for his earlier mistake with a pick at exactly the right time. Lippert would be seen flashing his sinister smile throughout the second half, scoring twice on the ground, from six yards away and then putting the final nail in the coffin at the beginning of the fourth quarter with an epic 62-yard rushing touchdown. After wiping the mud and blood from her shoulders, she had a look in her eye that seemed to spell out "Week 5".

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

Against teams like Kura-Pelland and Norwellia, strong knowledge of personnel and tactics can help immensely in preparations. Sometimes it leads to a dominant win, and sometimes you still get outplayed and lose. And then there was last night's game against the Candrian Empire. Going in, Will Moohim knew the team was desperate to pick up its first win of qualifying to get back to playoff form, but nobody was quite sure who was going to show up at the Shin Jared Koeppel to try for it.

They came without names on their backs but with fire in their hearts. And despite sitting at an unflattering 0-3, the Candrian Empire gave the Black Wings a scare before succumbing to a 16-10 defeat.

"I'd say that we went out and played Dancougar football, and at times, we played it pretty well," said Moohim. "No need to be flashy, no need to blow someone out of the water. An ugly win is still a win."

Booker Tilghman managed to avoid running up his interception total, but he did fumble once and was a paltry 8 of 15 for 65 yards before getting pulled at halftime. Something seemed off for Tilghman, who couldn't even get the short routes to work well. He was missing reads and receivers left and right, which slowed down the Wing attack when Logan Dublin failed to pick up the desired yardage on the early downs. Franklin Gelbach's arrival didn't produce a massive points windfall but he did avoid turning the ball over, which helped the team survive a Candrian comeback bid in the fourth.

The Wings led 6-3 at halftime as neither team found the endzone. Likely, it was the second field-goal drive that spurred Moohim to make the switch. Tilghman had been gifted the ball around midfield after Kirk Manly earned himself a defender's hat trick - sack, forced fumble, fumble recovery. A few runs by Dublin and a pass to Kevin Queandlinn had the Wing offense purring, but a costly holding penalty inside the five set up a long goal-to-go situation. The first attempt was a jump-ball to Queandlinn which was badly overthrown, and on third down, Tilghman nearly threw an interception when his pass across the middle was behind Tristan Cray and through the hands of a Candrian cornerback.

"It was a huge stand for them to only give up three points at the end of the half," said Moohim. "I think the way that drive ended demonstrated how out of sync our offense was, so I decided that we needed to make a change. I told Franklin before we went into the locker room, 'Get ready, because you're going in.'"

"I made some poor decisions, yeah," admitted Tilghman after the game. "Maybe I was still feeling good from the last game, because I felt like I should be able to force it in there and make a play. But nothing was clicking and I wasn't able to adjust."

Gelbach didn't try anything fancy when he came on, but instead he continued to rely on the running game. Dublin would finish with 110 yards on the ground and the Wings' only touchdown, which came midway through the third quarter. On their second drive of the half, the Wings put together a solid drive that covered 73 yards in a little over five minutes... exactly the kind of drive that the Wings use to change the momentum in games. Gelbach was 4 of 5 on the drive and it ended with Dublin sweeping left for a 3-yard score. Cavallo made it 13-3, and when he added a field goal to begin the fourth quarter, it looked like the Wings were going to cruise to a third straight victory.

But the Candrians mounted a serious challenge on the ensuing drive, patiently assaulting the Black Wing defense, which until that point in the game had looked untouchable. Suddenly, the Empire was finding soft spots. They drove 78 yards in fourteen plays and Moohim could only watch, dumbfounded, as the Empire chose a critical time to put together their most complete offensive performance of the evening. It was capped with a touchdown pass to the front corner of the endzone, and Rich Galawitz was caught outside and behind his man. Too easy. Suddenly it was 16-10, and if the Empire could come up with a stop, they had a shot.

"We went to sleep on that drive," said Kendrick Lynch, who had six tackles and a sack in the game, but was quiet on the touchdown drive. "We were sitting back in too loose of a zone and they had some great reads. When we tried to tone it down, they adjusted. It was like they were a different team."

Gelbach ran Dublin on first and second down to set up third and short. He attempted to get the first down through the air, setting up play action and looking for Cray on a short curl. But a Candrian linebacker made a great play to bat the ball away at the last moment, and the Wings had to punt. The Empire had a little over a minute to drive for the winning score. The first pass was an incompletion, and on second down, Rod Danbury came up with a huge sack to force third and long. The Wings were able to seal the deal by forcing two more incompletions.

Moohim has yet to determine if Tilghman or Gelbach will start against Secristan, saying it will be a game-time decision.

Trippin' on Email

A road game in Secristan, after their bye? Sounds like a pretty good deal for them, and given how shaky the Wings looked tonight at the Candrian Empire, they should now have some hints on how to deal with us. Is that extra time off going to be the difference?

Sandy G.
Stoneridge

I think the bigger motivation is going to be getting into a position where they don't have to worry about not qualifying for the tournament they're hosting. It would be a huge embarrassment for the SDOS, especially since they went with a merit-based team in this tournament. This is going to be a statement game, but the extra preparation will also make a difference.

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Jack Cito putting Steroga to sleep - great play, or greatest play?

Richard F.
Kildare

While it was certainly an incredible play, it's hard to evaluate it in the same context of other huge defensive plays given that Cito is primarily a wide receiver for the Falcons. Given that, it's natural that his instincts would put him in a position to make that play. I'd have been much more impressed to see one of their linebackers or lineman pull that off.

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Hey, let's do some Don Julio silver shots for the Arrozan Ministry of Sport, who are letting the fans name the team! I was planning to get together a massive write-in campaign to support "Colberts" as the choice. Thank God for the Internet. Are you on board?

Stephen C.
Undisclosed

I was thinking more along the lines of something that evokes the kind of power game we're used to seeing from them, while simultaneously providing some mental padding against their long losing history against Kura-Pelland and Dancougar. I'd suggest "Braves" or "Chiefs." The use of the bow as a primary tool for survival implies mastery over Arrows, and the headdress is built out of the physical disassembly of anything that once had Black Wings.

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record

Arrows need overtime to defeat Hurricane

The Hurricane found themselves in the unlucky spot of having to play the Kura-Pelland Arrows, currently ranked fifth in the world, on the road. Yet, they found a way storm to a 21-7 halftime lead. However, the Arrows made critical adjustments at the half, and the Hurricane found themselves unable to hold onto the lead, eventually falling to Kura-Pelland 30-24 in overtime.

On only the second play of the Hurricane’s opening drive, a wide open Toshizane Dazai broke free from the defense, and turned a short yardage reception from Daisetsu Kudo into a seventy two yard touchdown haul. Already riding the high from their surprise win over Secristan, the early touchdown buzzed the offense even further.

Kura-Pelland answered with an impressive, well executed drive of their own. Unfortunately for the Arrows, that particular drive came to a disastrous conclusion when linebacker Toyokusai Sakampo got a hand on a Freddie Mathers pass, deflecting it into the arms of safety Shayuajishi Jirobu deep in Hurricane territory. Kudo and his offense their own twelve yard line, but much to the chagrin of head coach Rai Lo, couldn’t piece together much of a drive, going three and out, and failing yet again to capitalize on a turnover. Following the punt, the overwhelmed Hurricane defense managed to hold on Kura-Pelland’s next possession, a task that would prove too difficult in the second half.

The Hurricane’s third possession of the game put another touchdown on the board, after the Hurricane moved the chains the entire length of the field in a time consuming drive that ended in a score by Kudo on a quarterback sneak on 3rd and goal from the 1 yard line.

Midway in the second quarter, Kura-Pelland scored their first points of the game and cut the lead to a touchdown, off a fourteen yard Mathers pass to Keith Mackali-Smith.

Kudo gave one last answer before the half to restore the Hurcs two touchdown lead. Kudo dumped a twenty two yard touchdown strike on an open Namboku Yoshimatsu with thirty eight seconds left in the half.

The halftime smiles on the Hurricane sideline wouldn’t last long, because it was the Arrow’s turn wreak havoc upon the underperforming (as of late) Hurricane defense. Going no huddle left spelled confusion for the Hurricane defense, and created huge mismatches which led to Mathers finding his targets with ease.

Within a span of five minutes in the third quarter, Kura-Pelland scored two touchdowns and tied the game at 21 apiece. First, Akiro Sanawa got badly burned in coverage by Dennis van Horsten for a touchdown. If that wasn’t bad enough, on the Hurricane’s ensuing possession, Kudo threw a forty two yard pick six, with Paul Madeley sprinting to the end zone.

The PAT made it 21-21, and the game stayed well tied into the fourth quarter. Shisakit Munie and Tim Pogley traded field goals to keep the score tied, 24-24 at the end of regulation.

The Arrows won the coin toss in overtime, elected to receive, and the rest is history, capping an impressive drive with Mackali-Smith’s second touchdown of the day, though this time on the ground, to win 30-24.

Next up for the Hurricane is another tough road game, this time against Lovisa. The Hurricane have been able to keep things close in key games against great teams, but they’ll have to hold onto early leads if they want to win games.

Schedule (2-2)
vs. Candrian Empire W 23-7
vs. Dancougar L 6-23
vs. Secristan W 17-10
@ Kura-Pelland L 30-24 (OT)
@ Lovisa
BYE
vs. Norwellia
@ Candrian Empire
@ Dancougar
@ Secristan
vs. Kura-Pelland
vs. Lovisa
BYE
@ Norwellia

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v416/ImmortalDragonProductions/Hurricanefootball.png
Hurricane Football

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record Online

Evening Commentary: Dunn-Woods facing daunting challenge

To add injury to the insult of a stinging overtime loss to Kura-Pelland, it was a very long flight back to Hoji for Rai Lo, when he learned his twenty three year old daughter, Naomi Lo, had been critically injured in a car accident. She is currently hospitalized at University Medical Center in midtown Hoji, comatose and clinging to life. The accident could not have come at a worse time, and Lo has made the obvious decision to spend time with his family in the hospital, and is handing over his coaching duties indefinitely.

Under normal circumstances, assistant head coach Adam Howard would be picking up the slack. These are not normal circumstances. Immediately following the game, Howard had boarded a flight to Beretania, where he was to spend the next week re-negotiating the terms of his head coaching job with the Albavona Aces, a Beretanian pro team, and take a week off to spend time with family.

With Howard in Beretania, Lo has put Vanessa Dunn-Woods in his place during his absence from the team. Dusty Miller will stay put as offensive coordinator. While Lo’s focus is rightfully on his daughter, Dunn-Woods takes over the team presumably only as a temporary solution until Howard returns from vacation. The Hurricane have the benefit of a bye after the Lovisa game and that byes everybody some time.

I’m not sold that the Hurricane is in capable hands with Dunn-Woods. This game against Lovisa is critical, and the team needs every advantage they can get. You see, back in Beretania, Dunn-Woods is a head coach for a women’s pro league with a strongly defensive mindset, not exactly the best credentials for the job. Nevertheless, it’s probably only for one game. The accident has put a damper on the team as they prepare for Lovisa, and Dunn-Woods doesn’t have the resume to suggest she can handle this sort of pressure.

Hired to troubleshoot a lackluster defense, Dunn-Woods finds herself suddenly being thrust into a temporary head coaching position for a team that needs answers quickly. Staying close against Lovisa just won’t do it. The Canes need to take the lead and hold it. The Canes can ill afford to play catch up all game long or blow another two touchdown lead. The game probably won’t flow as smoothly for the Hurricane with Lo absent, but the team will have to pull through and make do.

But in the end, what really matters more than anything is Naomi, and that she makes a full recovery. Rai Lo might not return the remainder of the season, and when Howard re-joins the team, we’ll be in capable hands once again. In the meantime, all we can do is hope for the best.

THE ROCKET REPORT

CYCLISTS INSPIRE VICTORY

SaxerVilla, Qazox- Perhaps the biggest victory earned by our riders in the Tour de Qazox may not have been on a bike at all. Prior to the final stage of the event, the riders spoke with the football team following their final practice. It was arranged by head coach Jeremy Thompson, who had the presence of mind to take advantage of the fact that the riders were in Qazox, even if it meant a brief plane ride to and from Chervan to SaxerVilla. We’re sure that for the riders, a plane ride was super relaxing, anyway. After 57 hours of riding bikes in a span of three and a half weeks, and thousands of miles up and down mountains, there could be no way that the football players could think that anything they would do in one game that would make them as exhausted. Linebacker Jesse Savage summed up their appearance, “It was very motivating. What they did must be extremely exhausting. Here we are, playing football for an hour per week. They climbed mountains and raced on bikes for a couple thousand miles in a three week or so span of time. That’s pretty amazing. It really got us pumped up for the game, and especially in the second half. Maybe it did have a lot to do with our coming from behind and winning the game.” Cyclist Ryan Marshall said this experience was a thrill, “It was an honor to speak to them. At first we didn’t know how they would respond to us because they are much more well known then we are. None of them cared about our actual performances, it was just the fact that we were all set up to finish. (the talk took place before the final stage, they arrived in SaxerVilla following it). They really took to heart what we said, and it was great to see them here.” All three riders were invited to watch the game from the sideline.

Coming off the loss to Tocrowkia, this was an important game for the Rockets as a loss would drop them 2-2 with still two very difficult games remaining in the first leg of qualifying. The Rockets looked good on the first drive, with a nice balance of run and pass plays. O’Hara was efficient and they marched inside the Qazox ten yard line. A 37-yard pass completion from O’Hara to Christian Gagnon was the key play of the drive, which was derailed by a Pablo de Coste sack. The once promising drive still ended in three points when Patrick Marshall, no relation to Tour de Qazox rider Ryan Marshall, hit from 34 yards out to give us the early lead. The Pheonix responded on their first possession as well, but did so with a touchdown instead of a field goal. Seeing how Tocrowkia dominated our front four, Qazox immediately went to work, pounding the ball up the middle with The Hammer Craig Hamersien, while mixing in a couple passing plays to keep the defense honest. On 3rd and 2, the Rockets looked run all the way, only to be foiled when Larry Hinierian dropped back to throw. A pass up the middle was complete Eric Shaman who then broke a Stanley Bressler tackle to take it into the end zone. Following a Rockets punt, Qazox struck back with an efficient drive that ended in a 29-yard field goal by Kyle Kobel, which was answered by a second 34-yarded from Patrick Marshall about four minutes later. That was all the scoring in the first half, still up for grabs.

Jeremy Thompson stressed the importance of his team getting off to a strong start in the second half. The first score was going to be pretty big and he instructed his defense that they must contain Qazox since they were to receive to begin the half. The defense probably was pumped up by Thompson’s words, they just never got a chance to take the field. A disappointing short kick by Marshall was fielded by Charles Whitmore at the eleven, and thanks to some good blocks, and a blatant hold by Greg Berns on Alex Sedlacek, Whitmore brought in from 89. The hold was so obvious to the Rockets that many of them didn’t even seem to realize that a flag was never thrown. In fact, a few starters on defense took to the field anticipating the call to be a formality. Without the hold, Sedlacek easy brings down Whitmore, but likely forces him out of bounds at the Newmanistan 27. The lack of a flag infuriated the Rockets sideline that coach Jeremy Thompson threw his challenge flag onto the field. Of course he knew there was nothing to challenge, he just wanted to be sure the referee heard what he had to shout. The Rockets offense could not respond, and Qazox was marching down the field again and ready put the game away. That would not be the case. Michael Ahearn, who was flagged for very questionable pass interference just two plays prior read Hinierian’s pass attempt perfectly and jumped in front of the receiver to pick it off. With much of Qazox’s players on the left side of the field, Ahearn capitalized on open running room down the right side and scored rather easily. 17-13, and the Rockets were back in it. Three minutes later, the Rockets picked off Hinierian again, this time by Stanley Bressler. After a big first down run by Corey Parisi to get the ball to the Qazox 6, Parisi capitalized on 3rd & goal with the go-ahead touchdown to put the Rockets back in front, 20-17.

The SaxerVilla faithful started to show their annoyance with their team’s failure to execute as Hinierian tried to atone for his third quarter mistakes. Midway through the fourth quarter, he appeared to throw his third pick of the second half as Michael Ahearn again intercepted a pass, and brought it back for what would have been his second touchdown of the game. It was called back, however, for an illegal contact penalty away from the play on Davisen Manzella. Perhaps this time, the refs got it right. Manzella didn’t have much of an argument, but still this was quite frustrating for the sky blue and white given that it had no bearing on the play. The Rockets responded with three key third down conversions on their next possession, which in hindsight proved to effectively run time off the clock. The first, on 3rd & inches, Darian Westcott picked up three yards. Second, on 3rd & 7, Kenny O’Hara hit Corey Brooks up the middle for a 14-yard gain, but then the big one, and possibly one of the biggest plays of the entire World Bowl so far. After a holding penalty backed them up, on 3rd-and-20, O’Hara scrambled to his right to by himself time, avoiding the sack before heaving it up field in the direction of Christian Gagnon. Gagnon leapt up but could not come up with catch as it bounced off his fingertips. Corey Brooks however was close enough to read it and dove for the deflection, making an amazing catch before the ball could ever hit the ground. There was a booth review, but the play rightfully stood. This got the Rockets in position for a field goal as the clock wound down. They lined up the 45-yarder for Patrick Marshall and he hit it perfectly, right through the uprights to give Newmanistan the dramatic victory in what was truly a very entertaining game. Newmanistan has now won their last two games against the Pheonix in Qazox. Up next will be the Brutes in Warehouse 17. We assume that’s the location, anyway.

Clarification: Lippert scored one passing touchdown and two rushing touchdowns. The final paragraph unintentionally implied that she had scored one passing TD and three rushing TDs.

MILLIONAIRES MUST RECOVER

What would the World Bowl in Secristan be if the Millionaires were not one of the nine teams taking part? This has become a very real possibility after Secristan has come away with only one victory in their first three games, and none of those games have been against nations known as Dancougar and Kura-Pelland. This is not the World Lacrosse Championships, so we cannot expect to be on even terms, or better against them. Each are ranked higher and have accomplished more in football then we have. We may be able to boast a group stage win over Dancougar in World Bowl 4 qualifying and a win over Kura-Pelland in World Bowl 5, but now the situation is set up to where we might have to win both of these games. On their bye day, the Millionaires watched as the days events would unfold. The Candrian Empire played Dancougar tight before the Black Wings pulled out a victory. The Fujisawan Territories played Kura-Pelland hard, but fell in overtime. The team debated whether or not that is a good thing or a bad thing, we really do not know right now. The Hurricanes are ahead of us and do have a tiebreaker on us, after all. What was certainly good news was Norwellia defeating Lovisa, and doing so rather comfortably, it seemed. Maybe the Rainbow Warriors are coming around, but the Millionaires will hope that it was just a fluke. The mighty Black Wings will come to town and Monopoly Stadium is sold out for the contest, with an average bid price of 158 rusas per game which will keep the Secristan Department of Sports happy. Following that, we go to Kura-Pelland, and if we emerge from these two games with a 1-4 record, then we are in dire straits.

What is not making the SDOS happy is that Secristan may not be in the playoffs. While they are sure they can still make money from the fan bases of the other teams, they would really like to keep the locals interested. Sidney Goldman, a well-respected football expert from Dancougar has mentioned a couple times that the method of team selection may be causing the underachievement. This couldn’t be any more accurate. If you look at Secristan’s history of choosing teams on merit rather then awarding the spots to the highest bidders, the results have not always been great. The first such example was the second International Basketball Championships, where the SDOS allowed the team from the first IBC to return since they were the defending champion. That team failed to advance out of the group stage. In Di Bradini Cup 8, the SDOS allowed the entire roster to return since they were all eligible still. If they could win the Di Bradini Cup while they were all 17 or younger then they had to be better when they returned. That team also choked, and even though the 2-1-1 record was respectable, they did not advance from the group stage either. Up until this most recent World Lacrosse Championships, Secristan also awarded spots on merit and found great underachievement. This trend was reversed with the championship in WLC 4, and the SDOS hoped that it would be ended as well. Now the football team, which placed 4th overall in Newmanistan two years ago needs to improve or else it may be the last time you ever see a team selection that is not based on an auction. Katie Simpson, our SDOS rep says, “I think even though we returned many of the same players anyway, a false sense of security may have come into play here. They do not feel as though they have any money on the line. They don’t, but when they do, you see them play with a lot of heart. Right now, I just don’t see much spark for them. They are a good team but can play better. If they atone for their struggles with wins over Dancougar and Kura-Pelland, then all may be fine, but we have to see how this all goes first. It’s a strong group, but we are not in the business of making excuses. We have many corporate sponsors who will be disappointed if the playoffs do not include us.”

The SDOS mood, and the mood of all government agencies was relaxed significantly thanks to a new WA poll which ranked Secristan in the bottom 400 of our 49,000-plus nation world of having the smallest gaps between rich and poor. At least one of their plans is working as designed.

Katie’s Space

During World Bowl 5, it was a near win that made people take note of us. We had taken the defending champion Dancougar Black Wings to overtime on the road, though were not able to pull out the victory. Maybe now we just had our signature moment of World Bowl 6 by giving you, our great fans, a win that most will call an upset over defending champion Arroza. It’s not the first time we’ve played Arroza, as a matter of fact we have played them in the group stage of every World Bowl we have been in, we just have never gotten a victory against them. There was the infamous Rebecca Looper incident in World Bowl 4 to a respectable effort we put forth in intergroup play last time out. When we looked back at that game, we felt we had played them fairly evenly, with the main difference being they just made a few more key plays then we did. In football, that’s all it can come down too. Helping our confidence for this game was the team imposed suspension by Arroza on their featured back Donovan Hailey. This can go two ways of course, as you never know what the backup is going to do. Will he make the most of his opportunity, or will he choke under the pressure. By holding Luke Major in check, we knew we had to capitalize on this and get a victory. We got off to a great start too, thanks to outstanding field position given to us by Ashley Harbers on a punt return, taking it all the way to the Arroza 15. Using some play action on 3rd and 1, Lauren Hamilton then found Kim Harden for the touchdown to give us the lead. As our defense continued to stop the Arroza ground game, and frustrate the quarterback Selmon Baliss, and only allowed just one field goal. We picked up a pair of field goals of 39 and 44 yards to pull ahead 13-3, before we put together a fantastic two-minute drill to end the first half. Lauren was fantastic on the drive, in which I was able to catch three passes, including the touchdown. The pass was perfectly thrown, and after breaking a tackle easier then I had expected too, I was in the end zone. 20-3! Go us! In the second half, Arroza reminded us that they are the defending champions, and a couple of players that probably did not expect to see a lot of playing time were given an opportunity. We didn’t spend a lot of time scouting Lazaro Connelly and Roger Seabrook either, and that helped their causes. They brought Arroza back to within three, and they were coming back for more. We needed to make a play. In this case, the play presented itself on its own. A botched pitch out was immediately recovered by Christina Patten. She had been blitzing, and if they properly hand it off, we probably snuff the play out for a five or six yard loss anyway, and perhaps they rushed the pitch. Taking advantage of the big play, we played conservatively on offense to start. They were unable to recognize the screen completely from Hamilton to Danielle Regan, and she took it 22 yards for the score, to give us breathing room, up by ten. Arroza did manage a field goal, but it was not enough to keep us from getting a huge victory.

This win lets all in Group A realize that we are going to be a factor in this race. We are not conceding anything despite how the odds may be against us. I’ve said it before that we are not blinded by the fact that qualifying in this format will be difficult to accomplish, but that does not mean that we are just going to roll over. It’s a big win over Arroza and if you can beat the Tar Hornets, you can beat anyone. I guess they aren’t going to be calling themselves the Tar Hornets anymore, and if you want you can go here for the location to send any suggestions you might have for their name of their national team. We’re now 3-1 and have Vephrall next on the road before meeting Steroga, then we’ll get to have a bye. We will have to make sure we don't have a let down against Vephrall, or think that this game is any less important since we have a win over Arroza. Sometimes the next game after a big win is hard for sports teams, especially when it is another big contest. A win over Vephrall would be huge, especially on the road. A great race is brewing here, and we have every intention of keeping pace.

Here is our starting lineup at last.

QB: Naman Pattnaik (#5)
HB: Avanash Singh (#28)
FB: Anshuman Subudhi (#40)
WR1: Champak Naidu (#83)
WR2: Devdarsh Patel (#82)
TE: Rishit Kapadia (#87)
LT: Kapoor Panigrahi (#60)
LG: Randhir Motallebzadeh (#61)
C: Swami Kokradi (#62)
RG: Bhupadi Jitrenda (#63)
RT: Sandeep Surhato (#64)

LE: Jaival Kumar (#99)
RE: Pradeep Alizadeh (#94)
DT: Uddunath Dijay (#97)
DT: Champak Siddharth (#95)
ILB: Pritam Singh (#56)
MLB: Egarah Iravan (#57)
OLB: Soumil Nabhendu (#55)
LCB: Pradeep Gupta (#21)
RCB: Abhijay Parsi (#31)
FS: Utkarsh Singh (#24)
SS: Hemdev Shah (#25)

K: Jaisukh Karnataka (#3)
P: Dakshi Wamankar (#1)

Coach: Yamir Patel

Home Colors: Red with white lettering.
Away Colors: White with red lettering.
Style Modifier: -3
RP Permissions: Anything is fine

Home Stadium: Kumar Field. Capacity: 41,527

Ster-uggling

Steroga is not doing good in World Bowl 6 so far. After the country did not do good in the Baptism of Fire the country was hoping that we would do better here but that has not happened and we are actually doing worse. In our first game we could only get a field goal against Vephrall and allowed 27 points. Then we got destroyed by Arroza 37-7. They are the best team in the world and they really played like it against us. After that Taeshan shut us out 17-0. The worst part about that loss is that they called our country a big wasteland of nothing. His Majesty Lord Singh was not to happy about that but says that the country is not in position to do something about it. Coach Patel is not pleased with the defense and has had the team practice their defense almost all day every day. He hopes that the team will show more strength on defense. By practicing the defense against our offense maybe our offense will start scoring more points. We have only scored 10 points in three games and most teams are scoring that many or more in each game. Our next game is at home against Cotenshire and maybe we can beat them or play better anyway.

This matchday 5 cutoff is brought to you by Indirect Satellite.
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Group A:
Vephrall 23-13 Cassadaigua
Taeshan 16-3 Prux
Steroga 3-7 Cotenshire


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Taeshan 4 0 0 59 20 39
2 Arroza 3 1 0 105 54 51
3 Vephrall 3 1 0 80 35 45
4 Cassadaigua 3 2 0 82 69 13
5 Cotenshire 2 3 0 49 76 -27
6 Prux 0 4 0 23 69 -46
7 Steroga 0 4 0 13 88 -75


Group B:
Secristan 7-10 Dancougar
Norwellia 10-16 Kura-Pelland
Lovisa 20-30 Fujisawan Territories


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Kura-Pelland 4 0 0 79 47 32
2 Dancougar 4 1 0 83 36 47
3 Fujisawan Territories 3 2 0 100 90 10
4 Lovisa 2 2 0 77 85 -8
5 Secristan 1 3 0 50 54 -4
6 Norwellia 1 3 0 41 69 -28
7 Candrian Empire 0 4 0 34 83 -49


Group C:
Tocrowkia 26-12 Lucino
Sarzonia 7-20 Qazox
Rennidan 10-27 Newmanistan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Newmanistan 4 1 0 140 83 57
2 Qazox 3 1 0 91 57 34
3 Rennidan 3 1 0 80 67 13
4 Sarzonia 2 2 0 68 57 11
5 Tocrowkia 2 2 0 86 83 3
6 Colbourne 1 3 0 60 78 -18
7 Lucino 0 5 0 35 135 -100

This matchday 5 cutoff is brought to you by Indirect Satellite.
Now with new required contract lengths of under two years! Free installation if you order now but at the same time purchase "extras" that will cover that cost.

To whom is may concern at Indirect Satellite:
From: Q-DISH NETWORK

Re: Satellite coverage.

As you undoubtably know, Q-DISH Network is the only authorized Satellite Broadcast Network that can advertise during the World Bowl. Please cease and desist from further advertising, or else our law firm of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe will be forced to file an injunction to stop this breach of our contract.

Signed:
Jack Schitt, CEO of Q-DISH Network (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/Q-DISH_Network).

(ooc to Secristan: This is a semi-serious IC post, just giving you fodder if we meet in the playoffs...)

In a press release today, the NGL addressed the recent satellite television kerfuffle by rejecting the capitalizt pseudo-sovereignty claims of both Indirect Satellite and Q-DISH Network. The combination domestic-league/regulatory-body for the sport of gridball has expressed its concern about rumors that national team players and fans plan to burn down the corporate headquarters of both television service providers, but reassured Norwellians that it had no power to stop them. The masked, anonymous NGL commissioner then listed several places to buy cheap butane in both countries and avowed that this was for educational and academic purposes only.

QSPN.com/WorldBowlVI Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_VI)

QAZOX 20
Sarzonia 7

A renewal of one of the more recent and exciting rivalries, Qazox vs. Sarzonia; took place last night, with the Pheonix knocking off the Stars 20-7 to improve to 3-1 in the opening round. Up next for Qazox is a return home to face an improving Tocrowkia squad.

BOX SCORE
1 2 3 4 Fin
Qazox 0 6 7 7 20
Sarzonia 0 7 0 0 7


Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
NO SCORING
2nd Quarter
QZX: 27 yard TD pass from Larry Hinierian to Ronaldo Mound. PAT by Kyle Kobel Blocked. 7:17 (8 plays, 56 yards in 5:26) 6-0 Qazox.
SAR: 7 yd TD run by LoQuan Willard. PAT by Adam Novak Good. 0:37 (15 plays, 77 yards in 6:40) 7-6 Sarzonia.
3rd Quarter
QZX: 51 yd TD run by Craig "The Hammer" Hamersien. PAT by Kyle Kobel Good. 4:33 (2 plays, 65 yards in 0:48) 13-7 Qazox.
4th Quarter
QZX: 5 yd TD run by Craig "The Hammer" Hamersien. PAT by Kyle Kobel Good. 7:19 (12 plays, 65 yards in 5:48) 20-7 Qazox.

Fitin Falcons Tople Regionmates

For the first time in recent history in a non-friednly game the Falcons took on their Regionmates the Prux Statesman. For the first time in a long time the Pruxians are know back under the oppresive control of the Qazoxian leaders and its has shown in their recent lack of good competition as now many of their players just do not care enough to be competitive. It seems that even though the Statesmen are still a team, they do not look as good as they were once. As expected the team fell to the Falcons in a lowscoring blowout like many another Falcon game.

In the first half it looked as though the Statesmen might have a chance to run for the Falcons money when they started off the game with a 80 yard drive through the Taeshani defense, although they only scored 3 they looked better then many fans had predicted them on their opening drive to do. But from then on you could see that their offensive drive was really a fluke and that the Falcons would in the end come away with an easily awarded win over a team that had a chance but lost it when their nationality was lost. The Falcons made it 9-3 just before halftime when Gabe Martin found Ricky Zellefrow for a 77 yard touchdown scamper and then the ageless lineman Shawn Plank sacked the Pruxian QB in their endzone for a safety.

In the third and Fourth quaters the Falcons put the game away with some great defense. They also added to their slim lead, putting the game out of reach. Gabe Martin handed the ball off to Max Hope who for the first Falcons official trick play of the year found a Streaking ricky Zellefrow for another long Touchdown. The drive consisted of 89 yards after a good bouncy punt. 70 mof them went to Zellefrow. Overall on the day Ricky had 207 yards total, while Jack Cito had 70. Total on the day Martin through for 380 yards. Even though they score little offense overall, you can see that really the Falcons are an offensive force.

After their first two matches against Qazox turned into sudden death playoff dramatics, the Stars hoped getting the Pheonix at Hendrix Stadium would change their fortunes.

However, Qazox would have none of it. Craig "The Hammer" Hamersien rushed for two touchdowns to lead the Pheonix to a 20-7 victory over the Stars, dropping Sarzonia a game out of playoff position at 2-2.

Running back LoQuan Willard provided the lone scoring highlight for Sarzonia with a seven-yard touchdown run that gave the Stars a brief 7-6 lead. After defensive tackle Evan Smyth blocked an extra point, the Stars felt they had momentum.

"We thought we were on our way," said quarterback Gavin Davis. He completed just 14-for-26 passes for 178 yards. He didn't throw an interception.

"We just weren't able to maintain momentum," Willard said. "We got the lead after that block and we just didn't have any answers in the third quarter."

Sarzonia literally face a tough road as they play their next three matches away from Hendrix Stadium with away fixtures to No. 10 Colbourne, No. 3 Newmanistan and an improving Tocrowkia side whom the Stars narrowly defeated at Hendrix Stadium.

"We knew going in the schedule would be tough," said coach Joe Gibbs. "We knew 2-2 was a distinct possibility. It's going to get a lot more difficult."

This company did not pay the necessary fee to be included in a press release.

MORE EMBARRASSMENT

The Millionaires lost yet again as Tom Mitchell and company put together a terrible performance against Dancougar. Of course the defense of the Black Wings will make a lot of people look bad but last night it seemed as though the Millionaires made matters difficult for themselves more then the Black Wings. Chris Hausler put the ball on the ground twice in the first quarter with what appeared to be very lazy handling of the ball. This led to him being pulled and back Casey Stewart seeing the majority of carries thereafter. Stewart’s numbers were pedestrian, 62 yards on 15 carries, and that’s not about to win over a starting job. Steve Hubbard got three carries, and gained six yards, and Jacob Duran got his first touches of the World Bowl, managing four yards on three carries, including a fumble of his own. Mitchell was not much better, going just 9 for 22 for 108 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. He got all the snaps in the game even though we were wondering if Jerry Eiseman would get some snaps. Thanks to a defense that forced four turnovers of their own, Dancougar did not destroy us. In fact, we had a chance to win the game late in the fourth quarter. Down 10-0 with 0:41 seconds remaining, Mitchell did actually complete a pass, to Stacie Johnson from 31 yards for a touchdown. The Millionaires recovered the onside kick and got the ball to the Dancougar 43 with one second remaining. Though improbable, Taylor sent out Ryan Norris for the potential game tying 61-yard field goal. Ryan’s career long is 59 yards. Norris got all of it, and had the distance made, it just sailed wide left by about three inches.

Unfortunately, this was not the worst thing that happened. Following the game, quarterback Tom Mitchell and three other players were arrested at an Amherst nightclub for instigating a fight. According to the Police Report, Mitchell, who has nine children by eight women already, made a pass at a female only to be confronted by her boyfriend. Mitchell then attempted to use his celebrity status to convince the women to leave with him before the boyfriend shoved him out of the way, and provoked a fight. Mitchell’s blows led to a concussion to the boyfriend, who’s name is not yet released while he is in the hospital. More fights broke out in the club, including starting guard Scott Conley, starting defensive end Julius Jackson, and backup safety Chad Collins. Additionally, the police allege that Jackson kicked the concussed man in the head twice, according to witness reports.

The players were released without charges due to the law which allows Secristani citizens who have a net worth of over five million rusas to essentially do as ever they please to citizens who make less then 10,000 rusas a year if they have somewhat of a valid argument in defense of it. The fact that Mitchell was shoved before he threw a punch was enough for the police. Still, this may not go over very well with our fans, but Mitchell showed no remorse towards it. “The idiot should have been honored that he would lose his girl to me,” he said.

Norwellia 10-16 Kura-Pelland

1 2 3 4 OT Total
NOR 0 3 0 7 0 10
KP 10 0 0 0 6 16

First Quarter
3:06 KP FG: Pogley, 23 yards
14:42 KP TD: Buntley, rushing, <1 yard

Second Quarter
20:56 NOR FG: Takae, 42 yards

Third Quarter
No scoring

Fourth Quarter
57:10 NOR TD: Alexander to Logambino, 62 yards

Overtime
67:42 KP TD: Poulton (interception return), 48 yards

Norwellia 10-16 Kura-Pelland
Overtime
67:42 KP TD: Poulton (interception return), 48 yards

Games that went into overtime when scorinated are noted when the scores are posted. This game did not go to OT as scorinated, but if you both want to RP it like that, that is fine.

Thanks for clearing that up. Should I let it be until/unless Kura-Pelland gives the old 86 to it, or should I just retract it? I haven't talked to K-P about it or anything.

Welcome to the Oven, Taeshan.

It's going to be an interesting game this week at The Hive, when Taeshan brings the Fitin' Falcons to Arroza for the match between the #1 and #2 teams in Group A of qualifying. The Falcon defense is a brick wall, allowing an average of FIVE points a game. They are a physical-hard-hitting team well suited for the harsh arctic environment of their homeland. The Tar Hornets on the other hand have one of the most potent offenses in the World Bowl. They have scored an average of 26.25 points per game, a mark that is only eclipsed by Newmanistan's 28 PPG. It's a plodding, methodical offense that seems to perfectly match the malaise you feel after an afternoon of sitting outside in the heat and humidity on a warn summer day.

Luckily for us, the weather has decided to play to our favor. The forecast for Saturday's game at Fletcher Field? 92° and 55% humidity for a heat index of 106 degrees at kickoff time. We doubt Taeshan has ever had to play in the type of heat that's going to occur this weekend. They did play in World Bowl III in Arroza, but that tournament was in Fall and had much calmer weather.

Mailbag:

How could a Fitin' Falcon survive in weather, like what they have in Taeshan?
Anton Messerin, Calcasieu Bayou

Well, if I had to deal with -20 temperatures, ever I'd be mad all the time too.

When will we get the results for the new team name?
Keisha Redmond, Maxwell, P.F.

After Matchday Seven, the top four results will be chosen, revealed to the public and will be voted on. And Stealers and Colberts or Coal Bears will not be an option. We're not even sure what a Colber is or why Dancougarians seem to love them.

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

Will Moohim could only scratch his head after that one. "Today, and ugly win is still a win," he announced following his team's 10-7 slugfest with Secristan. "But if we get any uglier, we're going to have to start wearing bags over our heads."

The coach may have a point. How does a team have six takeaways and still almost lose the game? Four turnovers of our own, for a start. Despite intercepting quarterback Tom Mitchell three times and picking up three fumbles, Booker Tilghman was unable to capitalize on the myriad opportunities he was given. He essentially signed his own pink slip after throwing two interceptions and fumbling once, with Logan Dublin providing the other gaffe. Their anemic play kept the game close and provided a chance for some late heroics by the home team, which looked indestructible in the final minute by nearly turning around a ten-point deficit with a few big plays.

"If he gets this thing into overtime, then the bad stuff, that's all forgotten," said linebacker Kirk Manly, who was responsible for one of the three Secristan fumbles and also had two sacks. "They deserve a lot of credit for refusing to give up."

Fans duly recalled the matchup from World Bowl IV, when Dancougar and Secristan split the home-and-away during qualifying but were disappointed if they expected a repeat of the 35-31 shootout that happened the last time the two met. No, any hope was dispelled on the opening drive when Tom Mitchell uncorked a deep ball for Brian Brissard that wound up in the hands of safety Sam Paige. That drive stalled. On their next possession, the Millionaires turned it over again when Chris Hausler fumbled. That led to a field goal by Seth Cavallo. Hausler fumbled again to make it three first-quarter turnovers for Secristan, but rather than making them pay, Tilghman returned the favor by throwing an interception right into the hands of Curtis Henry.

Neither team looked capable of winning a playoff game, let alone a world title.

It would stay 3-0 thanks to sloppy play by both offenses, although Casey Stewart almost sparked a scoring drive for Secristan at the end of the half with some good running. He averaged a little over four yards per carry in limited action, although he wasn't given a proper opportunity to make a difference. Mitchell's bad decision-making continued as he ended the half by chucking one to cornerback Jeff Buckholt.

Fittingly, the Wings scored their only touchdown of the game on the defensive side of the ball, as Buckholt notched his second interception of the game midway through the third quarter and returned it 46 yards to make it 10-0.

"All of those little things you normally get away with, well, nobody got away with them today," said backup quarterback Franklin Gelbach, who finally got into the game in the fourth quarter. "Both teams are going to learn from this. We need to learn to be more effective." Having two highly motivated defenses playing nearly flawless football didn't help their predicament, but to the surprise of all, it would be the Wings who blinked when it mattered most.

With time winding down, Secristan finally got a drive going, and Stacie Johnson lined up against Buckholt in single coverage. Buckholt already had two picks on the day and was looking for a hat trick. His overzealous attempt to play the ball let him to jump a route that wasn't real. Johnson broke his angles with a wicked cut back and found herself open in the secondary. Only Paige was within ten yards of the play and Johnson walked into the endzone for a 31-yard score. The extra point made it 10-7 with 41 seconds on the clock, and the stadium was instantly revitalized.

And with no room for error, newcomer Jason Duran atoned for an earlier fumble by recovering an onside kick, putting Secristan in a position to tie the game. A few plays worked them into the range of kicker Ryan Norris. A sack by Kendrick Lynch put the team in panic mode, though, and Mitchell hurried his team to the line and ran a quick slant to the Dancougar 43. The team called its final timeout to set up Norris from what would be a career-long 61 yards. The kick brushed the outside of the upright.

"It's hard to say that either team really deserved to win that game," said Moohim, "but anyone who watched the Millionaires for the last two or three minutes of that game must feel like we stole this one."

Dancougar will host Lovisa next week to close out its first half of World Bowl qualifying. Moohim has named Franklin Gelbach as his starting quarterback.

Trippin' on Email

Ten points off six turnovers is pathetic. Have we gotten so sick of winning football games that we're trying to lose on purpose, or have our personnel been watching too many of those anime cartoons so they think they can score points if they scream loud enough? Lovisa's been exposed, so heads ought to roll if we can't steamroll them at the Kay. Am I going to have to choke a bitch?

Wayne B.
Bradford

They don't need your help; they did enough choking in the last game. Franklin Gelbach is going to start, so the change of pace should help, though don't be surprised if the unit remains somewhat sluggish. If you feel strongly enough, there are some Norwellians with fire who might appreciate some help, and targets.

----------

What exactly is a Fitin' Falcon?

Brad R.
Charlton

Pavel Fitin was a director of Soviet intelligence. You ever see that show, Beastmaster, where the guy can see what his bird sees? Same concept here: a Fitin' Falcon is one of Pavel's evil minions.

----------

Nation, I'm sure you were as shocked and appalled as I was when I learned that Arroza was not going to accept my honorable entry for their team name contest. I realize that a place like Arroza may be too culturally backward to accept my greatness - I'm looking at you, Hungary - but if you continue to rock the vote, the Arroza Colberts will take the field yet! If they're going to bring democracy into this, they must abide by its central tenet... all glory to the loudest candidate!

Stephen C.
Undisclosed

What nation are you referring to, exactly?

Battle Of The Bulge Set For Friday

The day has finally come. Five weeks into the Sixth World Bowl Season(Seventh for Taeshani Fans) it is time for the Fitin' Falcons to take on the top team in thwe world. Just Six years ago the Falcons captured the first ever World Championship in Football and now after a few long years of Mediocrety it is time fro the Falcons to proove why they were Number One in the world at one point. The very same players from that team, except for the starting Runningback, will look to regain their international right at being able to hold the term Number 1 in the Whole world.

Although we may talk about taking back the coveted position of Number One, rule rof the world, the only way this will happen is if the Falcons can pulverise the ballcarrier and keep the explosive Tar Hornets from scoring a load of Touchdowns and making it unavailable for the lowscoring plow 'em Falcons football. It seems that if you want something you have to work for it and this weekend the Falcons will fight for their rights. It has been quite a while since the team was revered as the best in the world, many people have known since the begining that it was not a fluke and one day the Falcons would win something big in football again. This could be our day, if they win it they will become heroes. It's time to become #1 again.

This Matchday 6 Cutoff is brought to you by Lakeland Hardware.
We have the tools you'll need. From there it's up to you.

Group A:
Arroza 10-3 Taeshan
Cassadaigua 14-7 Steroga
Prux 20-23 (OT) Vephrall


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Arroza 4 1 0 115 57 58
2 Vephrall 4 1 0 103 55 48
3 Taeshan 4 1 0 62 30 32
4 Cassadaigua 4 2 0 96 76 20
5 Cotenshire 2 3 0 49 76 -27
6 Prux 0 5 0 43 92 -49
7 Steroga 0 5 0 20 102 -82


Group B:
Candrian Empire 26-24 Norwellia
Dancougar 27-16 Lovisa
Kura-Pelland 10-17 Secristan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Dancougar 5 1 0 110 52 58
2 Kura-Pelland 4 1 0 89 64 25
3 Fujisawan Territories 3 2 0 100 90 10
4 Secristan 2 3 0 67 64 3
5 Lovisa 2 3 0 93 112 -19
6 Norwellia 1 4 0 65 95 -30
7 Candrian Empire 1 4 0 60 107 -47


Group C:
Colbourne 3-20 Sarzonia
Lucino 17-34 Rennidan
Qazox 27-19 Tocrowkia


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Newmanistan 4 1 0 140 83 57
2 Qazox 4 1 0 118 76 42
3 Rennidan 4 1 0 114 84 30
4 Sarzonia 3 2 0 88 60 28
5 Tocrowkia 2 3 0 105 110 -5
6 Colbourne 1 4 0 63 98 -35
7 Lucino 0 6 0 52 169 -117

I think that as it was scorinated as being done in 60, it should be treated that way. Although I can see why Norwellia did it the way he did. Here's an alternate take.

---------

Kura-Pelland won an attritional war with Norwellia 16-10 in an unexpectedly tight affair which was dominated by huge plays on special teams.

The first of these was a 47-yard punt from the experienced Darren Vang, which pinned the Arrows inside their own 5. Two plays later, on third-and-3, Keith Mackail-Smith fumbled, and Ray Danley recovered for a touchdown and a funky dance. And who could blame him? The unranked Rainbow Warriors led the fifth-ranked Arrows by a score inside eight minutes.

Mackail-Smith dusted himself down, prepared for the kickoff return, and promptly took it 89 yards for six. Well that's one way to atone for your sins.

If the fans thought the game was going to be blown open at this point, they were completely and utterly mistaken, as that was in fact the last touchdown of the entire game. Instead, both teams stepped it up on defence, the Rainbow Warriors' 3-4 well-suited to the Arrows' horizontal passing offense, the Arrows' disciplined D preventing the Rainbow Warriors from making the big plays they craved. The pass-rush proved particularly effective, and by the end of the second quarter the Rainbow Warriors opted for their wildcat formation with no named quarterback. Initially this worked in catching the Arrows by surprise, allowing Katya Lippert to make big gains both running and passing, but the Arrows made some adjustments and KC Borsten was able to blitz the tailback, if that doesn't sound so stupid - Lippert was dropping back to pass, fumbled, and while the ball was recovered, it took the Rainbow Warriors out of field goal range. Fortunately they made those yards back on third down, and Kaneko Takae gave the Rainbow Warriors the lead with a 48-yard FG.

That was about as good as it got for the plucky newcomers, though, as the Arrows utterly stifled them in the second half, only once allowing them past midfield. However, the Arrows were struggling to adapt to the defence, and while they started running the ball more, Mackail-Smith started to tire and become far less effective. Dominic Wooton replaced him and had somewhat more success, but the third quarter looked set to be scoreless - each team having had only two first downs all quarter - until Curtis Chainey took a punt return 25 yards to put the Arrows on the Warriors' 36. While they missed out on a first down, Graham Brightman converted a 50-yard FG to put the Arrows level.

The fourth quarter followed a similar script of special teams making the difference for the Arrows. This time it was much-maligned Mo Doulton pinning the Warriors inside the 5 that proved critical; the Warriors lost yardage over the three plays, barely avoiding a safety, and the punt was returned to the 29. A valiant goal-line stand kept the Arrows out after a 18-yard play-action pass to Tristan Del Horno took them to the 6, but Tim Pogley scored a trivially easy FG for the lead, and added another from 32 yards with 1:42 left. A pick from Iain Benson-Wright on the two-minute drill proved the final action of the game, and the Arrows escaped from a match they should have won more easily than this.

QSPN.com/WorldBowlVI Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_VI)

QAZOX 27
Tocrowkia 19

Qazox improved to 4-1 on the seaon with a showdown at Rennidan looming, beating Tocrowkia 27-19, thanks to a fumble recovery by Harry Kallista at the Qazox 7, with 48 seconds left. Siegfried Vater fumbled on a swing pass from Markus Kash, which fooled Eric Javier, and only Kallista was between Vater and the endzone.

As mentioned before, Qazox will travel to Rennidan, with the winner being 5-1, and if Newmanistan loses, thewinner will be in first place.

BOX SCORE
1 2 3 4 Fin
Tocrowkia 9 7 3 0 19
Qazox 3 10 7 7 27


Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
TCK: Safety. 13:06 Lenny Davidson's punt blocked through endzone by Curt Krauss. 2-0 Tocrowkia.
TCK: 23 yard TD pass by Markus Kash to Mikel Westin. 10:16. PAT by Xaver Falkenhorst Good. (5 plays, 49 yards in 2:50) 9-0 Tocrowkia.
QZX: 42 yd FG by Kyle Kobel. 5:09 (9 plays, 62 yards in 5:07) 9-3 Tocrowkia.
2nd Quarter
QZX: 41 yard TD pass from Larry Hinierian to Mike Handey. PAT by Kyle Kobel Good. 12:41 (3 plays, 60 yards in 1:09) 10-9 Qazox.
TCK: 77 yard TD pass by Markus Kash to Mikel Westin. 12:16. PAT by Xaver Falkenhorst Good. (2 plays, 75 yards in 0:25) 16-10 Tocrowkia.
QZX: 29 yd FG by Kyle Kobel. 4:13 (13 plays, 78 yards in 8:03) 16-13 Tocrowkia.
3rd Quarter
QZX: 5 yd TD run by Craig "The Hammer" Hamersien. PAT by Kyle Kobel Good. 8:45 (12 plays, 74 yards in 6:15) 20-16 Qazox.
TCK: 52 yd FG by Xaver Falkenhorst. 4:09 (7 plays, 39 yards in 4:36) 20-19 Qazox.
4th Quarter
QZX: 56 yd TD pass by Larry Hinierian to Eric Shaman. PAT by Kyle Kobel Good. 13:07 (6 plays, 71 yards in 2:57) 27-19 Qazox.

OOC: Wiki page updated!

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

Maybe that's what this team needs to get the ball moving: an early deficit. Lovisa ran out to a 10-0 advantage in the first quarter, but two touchdown passes from Franklin Gelbach and 140 yards from Logan Dublin contributed to Dancougar's 27-16 victory over the Silent Assassins, temporarily putting them atop Group B after Secristan's upset win over Kura-Pelland.

Dancougar's four turnovers against Secristan exhausted any patience that coach Will Moohim still had with Booker Tilghman, and as he watched from the bench, Gelbach coolly directed his team back into contention. He didn't slow down when the Black Wing defense stiffened, either, allowing the team to run away with the game in the second half. The Wings are now 3-0 all-time against Lovisa.

"I think we got a big lift from Frank," said Kirk Manly, who had six tackles, two of them for a loss. "We got out of the gate slow but we watched him just go out and play his game on his terms, and we rallied around that, because he was telling us that if we closed them down, he'd win the game."

The Wings looked rattled early, as the normally aggressive defense found itself surrendering yards in handfuls. They went down 7-0 and it would have been 14-0 had it not been for an instinctive play by Rod Danbury. The Wings were trying to hold at their own 5-yard line and Danbury was playing as a spy in the middle. A Lovisan receiver was running a crossing route and the pass went his way. Danbury managed to get a hand on it, which deflected it just wide of the receiver, who would have otherwise caught it in stride. Lovisa settled for a field goal.

The Wings ended the first quarter by getting on the board with a field goal of their own, but Lovisa answered in kind to make it 13-3. There, Gelbach finally settled into his new role. He led the team on a 77-yard drive midway through the quarter, capping it with a 12-yard pass to Kevin Queandlinn. Then, on the stroke of halftime, an efficient two-minute drill gave Seth Cavallo the range he needed to tie it up.

Part of Gelbach's success came from one of Dublin's better games. Dublin had 58 yards in the first half, and his ability to hit receivers kept the defense honest. Dublin picked up right where he left off in the second half by breaking a 28-yarder on the team's first play from scrimmage. That drive would end in a punt, but the defense had also improved over the break. Moohim must have said something that stuck, because the team did not allow Lovisa to get a first down until 1:23 left in the third quarter. In the meantime, Dublin had added 37 more rushing yards and a touchdown to make it 20-13.

"I was able to find the corner," said Dublin, "and I was getting some great downfield blocks in the second. That was huge, because that helped us really wear down their defense."

Lovisa brought it within four by hitting a field goal just into the fourth, but after Gelbach's follow-up drive stalled, the defense made a play. Kendrick Lynch got around the outside and hit the quarterback's blind side, causing a fumble that was scooped up by Chris Gifford. Handed the ball on the Lovisa side of the field, Gelbach needed just five plays to find the endzone. He hit Cray over the middle to make it 27-16 with a high pass that Cray managed to pull it down thanks to a strong vertical.

Dancougar will now enjoy two straight off weeks, as their bye occurs right before the mid-qualifying break.

Trippin' on Email

Gelbach looked good last night! No home runs, didn't blow anyone away, but he was efficient and put points on the board, which is all that counts. Is this job his to lose now?

Louis I.
Masurao

If Gelbach can beat Kura-Pelland after the break, definitely. Although a big part of his success was that the team managed to establish a running game. It isn't that he's incapable of starring in this kind of offense, but today it all came together. He was getting good blocks, both on the line and downfield, and that helped him rip some big runs and keep the Lovisa defense off-balance. We need to see if this team is capable of doing that against the top teams, though.

----------

The Wings are gonna have a lot of downtime between now and the KP game. The way I see it, that one's probably going to decide the group, unless the Territories go balls-out in the second half. What do the Wings do to stay fresh?

Keith R.
Bradford

It should be business as usual. The team needs to reforge its offensive identity around Gelbach and make sure that all cylinders are firing in time for them to welcome the Arrows. They might be wise to give Casey Pendleton some more reps with the first team offense and build a gameplan that swaps him and Dublin. That would be another good way to keep a defense on its toes.

----------

Hey, do you know what happened when Norwella played KP the other day? I've read a few different reports but they only kind of match up.

Yutaka K.
Yuki City

My understanding is that the Norwellian version is a director's cut with extended footage, while Kura-Pelland's adaptation was truer to the original.

Fitin' Falcons Can't Crack The Tar Hornets

Well every year someone has to beat you. Barely ever does a team make it through the regular season undefeated, and then win the championship. Yet again the Fitin' Falcons have been added to the group of almost had beens. This time though their loss comes expectedly. Even after days and weeks of preperation noone can ever be truly ready for a football game, and the Tar Hornets of Arroza prooved this as even though the Falcons were pretty much one hundred percent as reacy as possible for this game the Hronets would ultimately pull out the victory.


As expected the Fitin' Falcons defensive skills were better then the Tar Hornets could do offensiveily, but one thing marred throughout the game. The one an only badspot for the Taeshani team, closing the deal in the endzone. The only season were the team was good and even great offensively was Year one in the Griron World Chamopionship, were we eventually one the whole thing. But since then the Falcons have turned to defense and their scoring has faltered. As shown by the score they were only able to put 3 points on the board, oone lousy field goal, almost never is that enough for a team to pull out a victory. Even then it would have to be a defensive shutout.

Well as have many game before last night prooved that the team may need to try to focus a little more on scoring, instead of playing all out defense and hoping the other team will make all the mistakes. Sometimes you have to take on the front, and hopefully sometime the Falcons staff may realize that at some point they will have to rest a few starters to make the team more of a full squad. The Falcons only points came in the 2nd quater when Martin Gramatica slammed it into the net. The Tar Hornets had only a seven point lead throughout the second half. We could not cpaitalize. We lost.

Gavin Davis was feeling the pressure. He knew he'd had back to back subpar performances.

Even though he knew coach Joe Gibbs was loath to bench a starting quarterback unless it were really necessary, he had a sense that he needed to turn in a strong performance in what Gibbs considered a trap match. Colbourne came into the contest with a 1-3 record and an away fixture against world No. 3 Newmanistan awaited the Stars. In fact, the fixture against Colbourne was the first of three consecutive away matches.

Mission accomplished. Davis completed 20 of 27 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns and the Stars snapped a two-match losing streak 20-3 to improve their record to 3-2.

"We needed this win," Davis said. "We struggled against a couple of strong sides, so we were feeling this was a must-win."

It may be early to consider any match a must-win, but with six weeks of the 14-week schedule played, the Stars sit one match out of a tie for one of three Group C playoff berths. Running back LoQuan Willard rushed 20 times for 89 yards and caught five passes for 58 yards and a touchdown.

"Colbourne were playing eight-man fronts, but we managed to get good blocks on their guys," Willard said. "Credit the offensive line."

One guy who received credit was left tackle Tim Lacker. After late coach Jim Zorn benched him following technique problems in the fifth World Bowl, Gibbs returned him to the starting lineup. He has thus far allowed one sack, against Qazox.

"The guys are just helping me out a little more," Lacker said. "There's no magic formula."

"We've got a tough match against Newmanistan coming up," Gibbs said. "They're going to be excited playing this match in front of their home fans and they're coming off a bye, so they've got extra time to prepare for us. It's going to be a difficult game for us for sure."

The Stars don't return to Hendrix Stadium until Week 10 when they host 0-6 Lucino. That match will begin a stretch of four home fixtures in five matches.

"The schedule's not ideal," Davis said. "That said, it's the card we've been dealt. We're going to have to suck it up and play our best gridball and see where the chips fall."

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THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS STRONG AGAINST RENNIDAN

Rennidan- Since their World Bowl 2 effort, Rennidan has relied on intimidation and an overly physical lineup to win games. Led by ferocious defensive tackle Owen Powis, and playing in a Warehouse that symbolizes that strong, hard working character of the team, the “Brutes” emerged as one of the best teams in the World. They won World Bowl 2, in Tundra Falls, and have remained at the top. Two years ago in World Bowl 5, there was a sense of that intimidation factor fading away. The Brutes got off to a slow start but turned it on late. Then an unspeakable first round loss to Bushdome prematurely ended their run. Rennidan has returned to World Bowl 6, and has played great football, coming into their game against us with a perfect 3-0 record. But are they still the Brutes, or are they simply, Rennidan? We haven’t heard much from them, and any team with Owen Powis on it can’t be silent, can it?

The final score from Rennidan was 27-10, a scoreline that doesn’t seem like something the Brutes would allow at home. Maybe they are missing something, or maybe they are getting older and we have figured them out. The Rockets put 17 points on the board on their first three possessions. The first came on just the third play from scrimmage when Corey Parisi ran the counter play, not designed to really pick up more then the four yards needed for the first down, but some sloppy tackling by Rennidan, and still great elusiveness by Parisi allowed Corey to take it all 74 yards and into the end zone. After containing Rennidan to just one first down and twelve yards on their ensuing possession, Newmanistan’s offense took control again. It wasn’t a quick strike, but there’s nothing wrong with a 14-play, 88 yard drive that takes nine minutes off the clock either, especially when you are on the road and have the lead. The biggest conversion came early in the drive when a holding penalty and a sack led to a 3rd & 27. O’Hara dropped back to pass, but the secondary of the Brutes knew to cover the receivers downfield well, so Kenny took off. Rennidan was slow to react, and 32 yards later, O’Hara finally was brought down. The play silenced the crowd, and the drive continued, ending in a 7-yard touchdown reception by Kevin Penforth, his first touchdown of this World Bowl to make it 14-0. Following the score, Rennidan started their next drive well, making it to the Newmanistan 36 before an interception by Jesse Savage spoiled their work. The Rockets moved the ball inside the 15, but it did stall out there. Not to worry, Patrick Marshall connected on the 31-yard field goal to give Newmanistan a 17-0 lead with eight minutes to go in the second quarter. Rennidan did manage a field goal before halftime, but that didn’t change the fact that Newmanistan was in complete control of the game.

As the second half began, the Rockets were sure to do everything in their power to prevent a Rennidan comeback. They stifled the Brutes on two possessions, not allowing a single first down, and played conservatively when they had the ball on offense. As we saw, conservative offense doesn’t mean that you’re not going to score, as simple rushes with the combination of Corey Parisi and Darian Westcott moved the ball to the Rennidan 25, and set up a 43-yard field goal to give the sky blue and white back the 17-point cushion. Rennidan responded with a touchdown, but the drive took far too long, and the Rockets were content to let the final minutes of the third quarter tick away. A 5-yard run by a man resembling Jason Yields, if not Yields himself closed the lead to 20-10, but with just 11:41 left in the game, they needed to get the ball back quickly. A 12-play, 80-yard drive taking 8:22 off the clock and ending in a touchdown was not what they had in mind. The Rockets featured Darian Westcott in this attack, and the back had 9 carries on this drive alone for 71 yards. That total meant that both Parisi and Westcott were 100 yard rushers on the day, with Parisi getting 142 and Westcott getting 105. Numbers that would once be unthinkable to attain against Rennidan. Westcott scored with 3 yards out to make it 27-10. Two plays later, an interception by Michael Ahearn, his third in two games, would seal the deal and Newmanistan would run off the clock, improving Newmanistan’s record to 4-1. Following their matchday six bye, they will host Sarzonia, which is part of large stretch of road games for our opponent, and the final home game for us until we go on a three game road swing ourselves (though two are against Colbourne and Lucino).

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record

Dunn-Woods wins first World Bowl battle

It was a historic moment for the Hurricane when Vanessa Dunn-Woods took command of the team as it’s temporary head coach, taking the place of Rai Lo in the aftermath of a horrific car accident that left Lo’s daughter hospitalized. It marked the first time a Beretanian had ever led a Territorial team in any sport during international competition. Dunn-Woods’ sparse prior experience makes the feat of beating the twelfth best team in the world, under some of the most stressful of conditions, all the more intriguing.

Normally, assistant head coach Adam Howard would have taken over as head coach, but he was in Beretania for previously scheduled engagements, including a scheduled a week long vacation in the Fujisawan Territories’ protectorate. The last thing Lo did before catching the flight home to Hoji, was tap Dunn-Woods as temporary head coach until Howard’s return. It appears to have been yet another solid decision by Lo, with the Hurricane winning on the road against Lovisa, 30-20.

“I was absolutely terrified, to tell you the truth. Just absolutely terrified. I tried to give the team the impression that I was comfortable coming into this game, but I have to tell you, I felt like I was way out of my league,” Dunn-Woods told reporters in a post game press conference.

Dunn-Woods did have some help in the form of offensive coordinator Dusty Miller, a fellow Beretanian. As a result, the offense had a field day, scoring the most points in a game for the Hurricane all season. And Dunn-Woods’ focus on defense paid off when Chi Jisats scored on a safety, the first since the Hurricane’s inaugural World Bowl campaign.

Lo has given no indication on whether or not he will return this season, but is expected to hold a press conference by week’s end, though a return seems less likely day by day, as his daughter remains comatose at University Medical Center in midtown Hoji. In the meantime, Howard will take over as head coach starting with the Hurricane’s home match against Norwellia.


Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record

Hurricane emerges from Lovisa as road warriors

Facing the twelfth best team in the world, on the road, with an under experienced coach in her first World Bowl season, the Hurricane still found a way to win, outplaying Lovisa 30-20. Here’s a breakdown of how it happened:

First Quarter

Fujisawan Territories 7, Lovisa 0
Both Lovisa and the Hurricane bust on their first drives, trading punts to open the game. Oribaha “Baja” Hini raced a sideline reception thirty six yards for a touchdown, breaking tackles on the way, to score the first points of the game on the Hurricane’s second drive. It was the beginning of a big day for Kudo and Hini.

Fujisawan Territories 14, Lovisa 0
At the bottom of the first quarter, Daisetsu Kudo scored a touchdown of his own when he was forced to tuck it and run on 3rd and 7 from the Lovisa twelve yard line with none of his receivers open.

Second Quarter

Fujisawan Territories 14, Lovisa 14
On 2nd and 3 from the Hurricane forty five, a jarring hit knocked the ball loose from Osamu Koyami’s grip, and the fumble was recovered by Lovisa. The end result was a Lovisa drive capped with a seven yard touchdown reception on 2nd and goal.

Fujisawan Territories 14, Lovisa 14
The Hurricane went three and out and following the punt, Lovisa wasted little time in tying the game. They did it with an audible and the resulting twenty four yard touchdown reception on 3rd and 6 from the Hurricane twenty nine yard line. Lovisa’s defense held the Hurricane on their last possession of the first half to keep the score tied going into halftime.

Third Quarter

Fujisawan Territories 21, Lovisa 14
5:38 into the third quarter, Kudo connected with Hini for a touchdown once more, this one for forty two yards.

Fujisawan Territories 23, Lovisa 14
After a key Hurricane drive stalled just inside Lovisa territory, a Ken Kihara punt pinned Lovisa down at their two yard line. On 2nd and 11 on the Lovisa one yard line, Lovisa fumbled in their own end zone, but recovered the fumble. However, they were unable to advance the ball out of their own end zone before being tackled by Chi Jisats for a safety, extending the Hurricane lead.


Fourth Quarter

Fujisawan Territories 23, Lovisa 17
Lovisa hit a thirty four yard field goal at the top of the fourth.

Fujisawan Territories 23, Lovisa 20
Lovisa added a forty two yard field goal to pull within three with 3:38 remaining in the game.

Fujisawan Territories 30, Lovisa 20
With 1:01 on the clock, Kudo found “Baja” one last time for his third touchdown of the day, a seventeen yard score to seal the win.

Schedule (3-2)
vs. Candrian Empire W 23-7
vs. Dancougar L 6-23
vs. Secristan W 17-10
@ Kura-Pelland L 24-30 (OT)
@ Lovisa W 30-20
BYE
vs. Norwellia
@ Candrian Empire
@ Dancougar
@ Secristan
vs. Kura-Pelland
vs. Lovisa
BYE
@ Norwellia

Fitin' Falcons Last First Half Game

It is almost halfway through the Group Stage of the 6th World Bowl and the Fitin' Falcons are tied for first in a practically 3 way tie only decided by head to headf. And the teams that are tied with them play each other so with a win and a loss from the top team right now Arroza would put the Falcons on top of the group at the halfway point. The other team of course would be Vephrall and currently the Falcons hold head to head versus them and they will be the Falcons first match in the second round so most of the tiebreakers for the top 3 will be done with after the penultimate weeks game of Taeshan Vs Arroza, but then Arroza has to play Vephrall so it should be a fun second half.

But that does not bring up the fact that the Falcons still have to win one game to get that. They host the 4 seed overall in the group based on Rankings Cotenshire. The two have always played to a Falcons win and it looks like with little support from their fans that the Falcons should again easily beat them. It will though be a big game in the final reach for the Falcons. So go to wiechester and support your team.

This Matchday 7 Cutoff is brought to you by Key South Tourism.
Beach-usage tax high enough to assure only the best crowds.

Group A:
Vephrall 20-17 (OT) Arroza
Steroga 3-3 (OT) Prux
Cotenshire 6-24 Taeshan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Vephrall 5 1 0 123 72 51
2 Taeshan 5 1 0 86 36 50
3 Arroza 4 2 0 132 77 55
4 Cassadaigua 4 2 0 96 76 20
5 Cotenshire 2 4 0 55 100 -45
6 Prux 0 5 1 46 95 -49
7 Steroga 0 5 1 23 105 -82


Group B:
Secristan 23-7 Candrian Empire
Lovisa 10-21 Kura-Pelland
Fujisawan Territories 34-23 Norwellia


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Dancougar 5 1 0 110 52 58
2 Kura-Pelland 5 1 0 110 74 36
3 Fujisawan Territories 4 2 0 134 113 21
4 Secristan 3 3 0 90 71 19
5 Lovisa 2 4 0 103 133 -30
6 Norwellia 1 5 0 88 129 -41
7 Candrian Empire 1 5 0 67 130 -63


Group C:
Tocrowkia 13-9 Colbourne
Rennidan 13-20 Qazox
Newmanistan 10-24 Sarzonia


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Qazox 5 1 0 138 89 49
2 Newmanistan 4 2 0 150 107 43
3 Sarzonia 4 2 0 112 70 42
4 Rennidan 4 2 0 127 104 23
5 Tocrowkia 3 3 0 118 119 -1
6 Colbourne 1 5 0 72 111 -39
7 Lucino 0 6 0 52 169 -117


Tomorrow we take a halftime break. Starting with matchday 8, tables will be sorted with actual tiebreakers taken into consideration.

In two previous World Bowl appearances with the younger Jim Zorn as head coach, the Sarzonian national gridball team had built a solid 14-8-1 record, but had a poor record against teams ranked higher than it in the rankings.

The team was criticised in Sarzonian newspapers for not having a "signature" victory. Their 27-24 victory over Vephrall to catapult them into the World Bowl IV knockouts was a come-from-behind affair. Their victory over Kura-Pelland was an overtime thriller, but it came in the playoffs and needed drama.

This time, however, the Stars can pinpoint a victory as a signature win. They defeated Newmanistan 24-10 away, dominating the world's No. 3 team from start to finish behind a physical offensive line and quarterback Gavin Davis's accurate passing. Davis finished 11-for-18 for 168 yards, setting up two short LoQuan Willard touchdown runs to give Sarzonia a 17-3 halftime lead.

"I can't say enough about the lads," coach Joe Gibbs said. "They really put it all out there and came in with a chip on their shoulders."

Sarzonia (4-2) came in with that chip on their shoulders after losing back to back matches against Rennidan and Qazox by a 20-7 score. Even an away victory over Colbourne wasn't enough to change the team's cranky demeanor since Colbourne currently sits at 1-5.

However, the Stars went a long way toward proving themselves to their skeptics and to themselves. Gibbs went away from his conservative offensive playcalling in the first half, calling for Davis to complete passes downfield. Wide receiver Dave Coles caught six passes for 93 yards, including an acrobatic leap along the right sidelines with 2:22 remaining in the first half that gave the Stars a first down at the Rockets two-yard line.

"Gavin was on point," Willard said. "I kinda wanted Colesie to score there to give [Davis] a touchdown pass."

For his part, Davis said it didn't bother him that he didn't throw a touchdown pass.

"Hey, we got the 'W', that's all that counts," Davis said. "We're back in the mix for a spot in the playoffs. That's where we want to be at the end of the season."

Sarzonia still has a tough road ahead of it. The Stars face their final away match in a stretch of five away fixtures out of six matches when they travel to face Tocrowkia. The Nordics improved to 3-3 with a 13-9 victory over Colbourne. Gibbs said his team would be wary of the Nordics.

"They've played tough throughout this World Bowl," Gibbs said. "We're not going to take them for granted. We can't afford to."

With a scheduled off week for all teams and a Matchday 8 bye, the Stars will take an extra day to savor this victory.

"This is one of those results you feel especially good about," Willard said.

QSPN.com/WorldBowlVI Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_VI)

QAZOX 20
Rennidan 13

The Pheonix finished the first half of qualifying 5-1, and alone atop the difficult Group C following a 20-13 at Rennidan. Qazox blew a chance to blowout the Brutes early, but 2 first quarter Interceptions were turned into only 3 points. After a team-record tying 4 FG's by Kyle Kobel, in the first half; a 7 yard TD plunge and the subsequent 2-pt conversion run by Craig "The Hammer" Hamersien, let Qazox hold a 20-10 lead, one that wouldn't be seriously challenged.

After next week's mandatory off week, the 2nd half of qualifying begins with a trip to 0-6 Lucino.

BOX SCORE
1 2 3 4 Fin
Qazox 3 9 8 0 20
Rennidan 3 7 0 3 13


Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
QZX: 35 yd FG by Kyle Kobel. 11:13 (3 plays, 7 yards in 2:03) 3-0 Qazox.
REN: 42 yd FG. 5:18 (8 plays, 58 yards in 3:26) 3-3.
2nd Quarter
QZX: 41 yd FG by Kyle Kobel. 14:25 (11 plays, 57 yards in 5:53) 6-3 Qazox.
QZX: 36 yd FG by Kyle Kobel. 8:16 (4 plays, 21 yards in 2:09) 9-3 Qazox.
REN: 53 yd TD Pass. 4:47 PAT Good. (6 plays, 69 yards in 3:29) 10-9 Rennidan.
QZX: 48 yd FG by Kyle Kobel. 0:01 (10 plays, 57 yards in 4:48) 12-10 Qazox.
3rd Quarter
QZX: 7 yd TD run by Craig "The Hammer" Hamersien. 2-pt conversion run by Craig "The Hammer" Hamersien Good. 7:48 (16 plays, 75 yards in 7:12) 20-10 Qazox.
REN: 42 yd FG. 1:18 (9 plays, 48 yards in 3:26) 20-13 Qazox.
4th Quarter
NO SCORING

TOP FIVE SECOND HALF GAMES (Records are after Week 7..)

#5- Week 9: (5-1) Taeshan @ (5-1) Vephrall. Early Group A clash for first place.

#4- Week 12: (4-2) Sarzonia @ (5-1) Qazox. Could determine who makes the playoffs and who will go home.

#3- Week 11 (5-1) Qazox @ (4-2) Newmanistan. Top 4 clash and a possible Division Title tiebreaker.

#2- Week 14: (5-1) Vephrall @ (4-2) Arroza. Will this game see the defending champs knocked out of the playoff chase?

#1- Week 8: (5-1) Kura-Pelland @ (5-1) Dancougar. The winner (if one) will most likely win Group B and might finish with the overall #1 seed.


(ooc: Wiki Page is updated to include MD 7...)

Fitin' Falcons Crush Cotenshire

Halfway through the Sixth World Bowl season and the Fitin' Falcons are on top of their group. Technically you may call this a tie at the top, but everyone knows that after defeating the team they're tied with at the top the Falcons only out by one total point in differential are really the leaders. They might have defeated the only team that has defeated the Falcons, but we beat them and really we were better then them so we can at least say that we are the best in a group that contains the number one team in the World currently even if we have not beaten them personally. Then that point brings up the naysayers, you can't beat the best, you only win when someone else who you can beat beats the best. But i say if you win it all you dont have to beat everyone, everyone falls at some point you just have to be the group that takes advantage and wins it all.

Yesterdays game was another nailbitter for the Falcons, of course as always the team was out there biting themselves over missed oppurtunites to slam the ball into the endzone. Thats what many people think of a nailbitter as being when it involves the Taeshan National Football Teams Falcons. But if you had said that you would be wrong, the game was a nailbitter because after the first half the Falcons couldn't help but bite their nails from boredom over the horribly bad Cotenshire offense. In the first half the Falcons had 4 interceptions. 2 for Ricky Zellefrow, one for Jack Cito, and another for Taeshan Middle Linebacker Jesse Lapp. Lapp scored the halfs only toucndown or rather points when he took the ball on a horrible pass back 56 yards through a lackluster offensive tackling play and prooved that the big guys from Taeshan could beat some pretty fast players too.

The second half was a totally different story, at least for the Falcons after a bad kick that ended up with 6 Cotenshire points before their second blocked kick attempt of the season the Falcons offense started to gear up for the long stages ahead. Trevor Karker, longtime starting Tight End, got back into the action after a few bad season with his first touchdown in probally at leas the past two World Bowls on a 55 yard Touchdown throw from Gabe Martin making it 14-6. Then when they got the ball back Martin found a streaking Ohcho cinco at their own ten yard line but after some nice weaving, and blocking downfield Cinco got on the board with a recorded 91 yard touchdown pass catch. Finally with the time dwindling Martin Gramatica punched it into the nets from 47 yards.

Over the roll of thunder, the public-address guy was still heard clearly.

"FIRST AND TEN, VEPHRALL!"

It was reported that 82,296 gridball fans had made their way through the Ellime e Vephrall turnstiles this day. 102.3% capacity, a new stadium record. Looking around the stadium early in the overtime period, it was evident that damn near all of them were still here.

"FIRST AND TEN...FROM THE ARROZA FORTY-ONE."

Probably about sixty-five percent of the screaming fans wore the white and gold of the Auric Wolves, the rest the detested black and crimson (and the somewhat less detested, for some reason, tan) of Arroza's Tar Hornets.

Thirteen minutes and six seconds, read the scoreboard. Seventeen was the number of points the Auric Wolves had scored up to this point, and as you may recall I did say this was overtime, so Arroza also had seventeen.

"CRUBLIG CLASPUNG PASS INCOMPLETE. NUMBER ELEVEN, SYTROBES PEVONSONT, THE INTENDED RECEIVER." A few seconds' pause, then, "SECOND DOWN...AND TEN...FROM THE FORTY-ONE."

"Run the slani ball!" suggested some drunken fan in the ever-popular section 109. These seats, at the east end of midfield, were the most expensive in the house, and for this game the street price was a whopping seven hundred len. A few scalpers reportedly found buyers at up to 3900 len (not including the customary one-len tip).

"NUMBER ONE, CRUBLIG CLASPUNG, ON THE KEEPER. GAIN OF SEVEN." The standard pause. "THIRD DOWN...AND THREE...FROM THE THIRTY-FOUR."

This was Claspung's third World Bowl, or third qualifying attempt, anyway. He was certainly one of the more mobile quarterbacks in the game, a perfect fit for Sperobis Ceedast's "run first and ask questions later" offense. And today Claspung was benefiting from an above-average performance from the offensive line. Boimoks Scathock in particular looked to be having the game of his career. As he made another picture-perfect block, one of the other backs broke free for first-down yardage and then some before Beaumont finally caught up to him.

"NUMBER TWENTY-FOUR, FILLER CLITULENG ON THE CARRY! GAIN OF TWENTY-THREE. FLAG ON THE PLAY."

The home crowd didn't even wait for the ref to finish conferring before breaking out into the standard chant of "bull-shit, bull-shit, bull-shit." The ref miked himself properly and then spoke.

"HOLDING. NUMBER SIXTY-ONE ON THE OFFENSE. TEN YARDS FROM THE SPOT OF THE FOUL, REPEAT THIRD DOWN." And that, according to the PA guy, made it third and eleven from the 42.

The sun was beginning to set here in Meice on this early autumn evening, much to the relief of many of the fans. At 81 degrees and mostly sunny when the game began, it was a tad uncomfortable for a good while.

"NUMBER FORTY-SIX, ANGUFAMS NETGORIN, ON THE CARRY. GAIN OF TEN." And the crowd groaned, knowing it wasn't quite enough. So now what would happen? Ceedast practically always went for it on fourth-and-one, especially in enemy territory, but this was overtime. And indeed out came the kicker to try to put it away.

"FOURTH DOWN AND ONE...FROM THE THIRTY-TWO. IN TO KICK, NUMBER EIGHTEEN, SARTIROS SPELAAD."

And now the stadium got loud. The visiting fans were outnumbered, but really not by that much. Spelaad had already made a field goal earlier from 27 yards out; this would be a 49-yard attempt.

Toe met leather. The crowd went silent. The pigskin arced higher, but was drifting right. This was going to be close...

CLANK.

Off the right upright...but...

The crowd roared.

Off the right upright, and in! Game over, 20-17 Vephrall.

And that's when it happened.

A drunken Auric Wolves supporter lost his balance and tumbled down the stairs separating sections 116 and 117. Normally this wouldn't have hurt anyone except for him. Unfortunately the section of wall separating the seats from the field at that location was particularly weak, and as a result the man was able to gather enough momentum to break through it fairly easily and fall about six feet to the ground below.

As luck would have it, a BCN cameraman happened to be standing at that very spot. The unfortunate fan bowled him over, toppling the camera and yanking the cord to which it was attached. Somehow this eventually led to a chain reaction of events that resulted in the live BCN feed at the stadium being lost entirely. The fans watching the game at home were angered. BCN quickly received millions of phone calls, far more than their infrastructure could handle. In a matter of a few minutes, the entire network had been completely taken offline.

Massive hardware failure, or so said the BCN bigwigs. Nobody knew how long it would be before the continent's sports news leader would be up and running again. A few days, they hoped. Maybe a few weeks. Hopefully no longer than that.

Until then, though, Vephrallers would have to get their sports news some other way.

Following an incident in the celebrations at Ellime e Vephrall after the side's famous 20-17 defeat of Arroza, rumours are spreading of the need for a new stadium.

The national venue in Meice, along with other major venues, are seen to be in need of updating or replacing, and are seen as a relic of the era when the country were some way behind neighbours Kura-Pelland technologically, and outdated arrangements allowed the venue to fill around 2,000 beyond capacity for the eagerly anticipated Auric Wolves-Tar Hornets clash that took the home side to 5-1, leaving them level on wins with Taeshan's Falcons. Upon the overtime game-winning field-goal, which clattered off the inside of the right upright, a fan - believed to be drunk - broke through a wall separating two sections of the stadium. The fall was broken by a television cameraman, but a cord was broken and television coverage was lost, and a massive deluge of telephone complaints caused further problems.

The Kura-Pellandi architectural giants ShinyPlaces are seen as most likely to build the new stadium, given their proximity; Septentrionian architects may also be interested.

Meanwhile, Kura-Pelland's Arrows are also 5-1, following a defeat to Secristan - who are hosting the playoffs and have picked a team ostensibly on merit, albeit with many veterans of past teams filled with high bidders - and a very pleasing 21-10 win in Lovisa, Keith Mackail-Smith scoring a rushing and receiving touchdown.

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

The Black Wing defense has been superb through the first half of World Bowl qualifying. Their aggressive play has kept opponents off the scoreboard, as only Taeshan can claim fewer points ceded through the first six games. Beyond that, though, the defense is controlling games by keep opposing offenses off the field altogether - the Wings are averaging three takeaways a game and maxed out at six at Secristan.

This biggest takeaway from the first half, though, may be what opponents have taught them about their offense.

"We'd definitely like to be farther along than where we are," said coach Will Moohim, whose team has not put any fear into opposing defenses by conspiring to match their defense's zeal in the turnover department. "We need to get more out of our running game, because everything's set up by that. If we can't run, we won't go far."

Barring a collapse in the second half, the team should be on course for the postseason. Dancougar's toughest opposition - Kura-Pelland, the Fujisawan Territories, and Secristan - will have to travel to Shin Jared Koeppel during the second half, which gives the Wings an immediate edge. However, complacency will be the death of them... Arroza and Cassadaigua nearly pulled off away upsets against the Wings in World Bowl V qualifying, with each game requiring overtime to settle.

"Two or three more wins ought to see us through, all things considered," said quarterback Franklin Gelbach, who assumed the starting job from Booker Tilghman after the latter nearly threw away the game against Secristan. "But we know a lot can happen in a minute of football. We have to come out guns blazing every week."

Gelbach may want to take those words to heart. The Dancougar offense has averaged a partisan 18 points per game and has repeatedly failed to put teams away. Part of the problem has been Logan Dublin's streaky performance. Although he has a few hundred-yard games during qualifying, in some games he's been almost absent, making it difficult for any Black Wing quarterback. No secondary is scared of our passing game.

Moohim hinted that the team may change things up as they hit the stretch. "We need to make more creative use of our base personnel, but we should also make use of our depth," he said. Casey Pendleton, for one, is the kind of physical back the Wings normally go with as their number one, yet he's see little significant action. And Gary Hutchins remains on the team if needed.

Sidney Goldman's Power Rankings

They're back, just in time for halftime festivities. In what's shaping up to be a tight race across the board, we've already ensured that nobody can finish undefeated, and it looks increasingly likely that one or two very good teams are going to be disappointed by the way tiebreakers pan out. At least we can say with confidence that every game matters.

Although they don't have the most imposing attack in the game right now, defensive leaders Taeshan and Dancougar both find themselves in the top five, although Newmanistan is rocking the world's best offense but need to regroup after a tough home loss to Sarzonia. Life is rough at the bottom, where I had no choice but to stick Prux below the Candrians after a sterile draw against Steroga.

1 Taeshan (5-1, 86/36)
2 Qazox (5-1, 138/89)
3 Vephrall (5-1, 123/72)
4 Dancougar (5-1, 110/52)
5 Newmanistan (4-2, 150/107)
6 Kura-Pelland (5-1, 110/74)
7 Arroza (4-2, 132/77)
8 Sarzonia (4-2, 112/70)
9 Fujisawan Territories (4-2, 134/113)
10 Rennidan (4-2, 127/104)
11 Cassadaigua (4-2, 96/76)
12 Secristan (3-3, 90/71)
13 Tocrowkia (3-3, 118/119)
14 Lovisa (2-4, 103/133)
15 Norwellia (1-5, 88/129)
16 Cotenshire (2-4, 55/100)
17 Colbourne (1-5, 72/111)
18 Candrian Empire (1-5, 67/130)
19 Prux (0-5-1, 46/95)
20 Steroga (0-5-1, 23/105)
21 Lucino (0-6, 52/169)

Trippin' on Email

I don't know if I buy this 'massive hardware failure' nonsense. A huge television network like BCN ought to be able to survive one cameraman getting taken out. It's unfortunate for the fans, because Vephrall are hot right now, and the game with Taeshan is going to be awesome.

Mike J.
Coraopolis

At least BCN has an excuse. Sometimes DSPN or the Dancougar News!! will disappear for a few days because their heralded CEO has to go on a vacation or something. Such a trip will be affecting me in the near future, resulting in potentially light coverage at the start of the World Bowl playoffs, should we qualify, as well as the beginning of World Cup 46 qualifiers.

----------

Two straight off days. Not good, since the group may be on the line against KP. They're fresh and we're not. How do we win?

Brad S.
Daulton

It's not like the team has been lounging around not writing the basketball scheduler for the past two weeks. Moohim's been running his team through the usual practices and says he's been more aggressively scrimmaging the offense against the defense. Although, to be honest, given the disparity in talent between the offense and defense, I can't see it being that productive for either unit.

Still even.

All right, all right. Let's stop all of the talk of our World Bowl being over before it even began. Despite a loss to Qazox, the Nordics are still playing relatively good football. Last nights win over Colbourne has the Nordics once again breaking even, and another win could well propel them into contention for a wild card spot.

"Like I said." Began Markus Kash "We just have to believe in our selves. I mean, we have all the pieces of a contending team right here. Look at what Vater has done the past few days, along with the rest of the offense. I think we have a good chance of jumping forward in our next game."

Www.asn.aza! Arroza SportsNet > Football > National Team > New News!

Special Editorial
Has the Team lost It's Fire?

With the Tar Hornets going a disapointing 4-2 in the forst six games of the World Bowl, it has to be asked if the team has the same intensity after finally getting over the hump. This lack of intensity is especially surprising at running back, normally Arroza's strongest position. But this go-round the position has been racked with issues, from Chadwick's inability to play a complete game, to Hailey's off-field activities, through Lake Major's incompetence. We just haven't been the same, knock-em-down, drag-em-out team that we expect to be when we start every tournament.

Ans the other teams can smell the blood in the water. The Tar Hornets have lost twice in six games, but more inportantly, we aren't looked as the almost Invincible force that we once were. When teams like Cassadaigua think that they have a fair chance to beat Arroza anywhere on Earth, and then can actually do so, then there's something that needs to be done at the corner of North Commonweatlth, and Chavez Avenue, and quickly. Unlike other countries we don't have the desire to focus on a successful World Cup team. For better or worse, we have tied our banner to International Gridiron, and to not finish well is going to be unacceptable.

Names Picked for Finale.

Four names have been picked at finalists for the new nickname of the Arrozan National Teams. Some are fanciful suggestions, some are links to the countries spirit, or geography, and even to our history. The four finalists are:

Admirals – A call to Arroza's ocean-faring history, and to Arroza's shining new Open Sea Fleet, rapidly nearing completion nearby in Portland's Iron Works.

Canaries – A tribute to the founding of Arroza by prison labor and rejects of other countries, the Canary was the chosen bird of the “Worst Fleet” and the national bird of Arroza.

Chieftains – This name speaks the the history of Arroza's pre-immigration inhabitants who made the best out of the hard, previously un-inhabitable inlands of the country.

Moccasins – This water snake is on the Arrozan flag and has stood as a symbol of the islands' resistance to being controlled by outside forces.

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record

Back to back Hurricane wins

Three different head coaches have now coached the Hurricane to a win, and the team has won consecutive games for the first time this season, following a 34-23 win over Norwellia. Even with a 4-2 record, this is no time to relax, with games against Dancougar and Kura-Pelland looming on the horizon. Adam Howard’s head coaching debut was peppered with mistakes, and Norwellia had many chances to win the game outright.

Norwellia scored first on a seven yard touchdown reception by Aoki Sadatada on their opening drive. Daisetsu Kudo and the Hurricane offense got off to a slow start, going three and out on their first two possessions. At the bottom of the first quarter, Kudo threw an interception that was returned forty three yards for a score by Kathleen Luiso.

Kudo came to life midway into the second quarter, hitting Oribaha Hini and Akemino Arunita for touchdowns on back to back drives to tie the game at 14 apiece. Norwellia drove to the Hurricane eighteen to add a field goal to their tally with eleven seconds left in the half, and take a 17-14 halftime lead.

Norwellia extended it’s lead to six with another Kaneko Takae field goal after a stalled drive at the Hurricane thirteen, four minutes into the third quarter. The Hurricane answered with a thirteen play, seventy six yard drive, culminating in a four yard touchdown run by Osamu Koyami for a 21-20 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Takae hit a thirty four yarder on another stalled drive for the Rainbow Warriors with just over eight minutes remaining for a 23-21 lead. The lead changed for the fourth time when Shisakit Munie hit a field goal of his own, from the Norwellia sixteen. Norwellia went three and out on their next drive, then Kudo drove the Hurricane to their last touchdown of the day, a seven yard pass to Tadataka Matokai on 3rd and goal. A Jose Alexander fumble recovered by Ibawata Koseiji with thirty seven seconds left in the game sealed the Rainbow Warriors fate. Rather than taking a knee, the Hurricane added the final three points on a Munie field goal from the Norwellia thirty nine yard line with three seconds left in regulation to win 34-23.

The Hurricane are ready to embark on a three game road tip, starting with a second game against the 1-5 Candrian Empire. The Hurricane destroyed the Candrian Empire 23-7 in their first meeting, and have a good shot at winning again. A win would act as a motivational boost coming into what is shaping up to be a suicidal kamikaze effort against Dancougar.

Rai Lo held a press conference yesterday, making a short statement in essence saying he would coach the Hurricane’s remaining home games in Hoji, but will not travel outside of the country for the team’s road games, leaving that job to assistant head coach Adam Howard. He also noted that his daughter had emerged from a lengthy coma and is expected to survive, though doctors have said her current prognosis indicates she is now paraplegic.

Schedule (3-2)
vs. Candrian Empire W 23-7
vs. Dancougar L 6-23
vs. Secristan W 17-10
@ Kura-Pelland L 24-30 (OT)
@ Lovisa W 30-20
BYE
vs. Norwellia W 34-23
@ Candrian Empire
@ Dancougar
@ Secristan
vs. Kura-Pelland
vs. Lovisa
BYE
@ Norwellia

Woodstock Daily Mail

Stars finding tough road in World Bowl

By Ryan Calvin
Daily Mail Staff Writer

It's rough enough for the Sarzonian national gridball team to deal with the deaths of head coach Jim Zorn and defensive coordinator Greg Blache before World Bowl VI began. It's even tougher for the team to adjust to a new-old coach and defensive coordinator on the eve of the world's premier gridball tournament.

For that team to face a veritable Group of Death and run through a mostly away gauntlet of a first half with a 4-2 record says much about the team and its Hall of Fame head coach.

Joe Gibbs agreed to return from retirement when Vice President for Health and Athletics Carter Marshall told him the team needed a leader. He knew going in the task would be made doubly difficult by having to quickly put aside grief and play ball.

"There's no net," Gibbs said. "It's a scary situation, but like I said to [his wife] Pat, 'they need me right now.'"

Gibbs's first act upon returning to coach the team was to bring back defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who was familiar with the defensive players on the roster. He said they agreed to maintain most of Blache's schemes.

"Mostly what I would have done is introduce more wrinkles, more formations," Williams said. "Right now, I feel as though we can work toward that. Until then, we're going to stick with what we did last time."

Thus far, it's working. The Stars currently sit in a tie for second place in Group C with world No. 3 Newmanistan (whom the Stars defeated away 24-10) and No. 10 Rennidan (who defeated the Stars 20-7 away). All three teams trail world No. 4 Qazox (5-1). The Phenoix defeated Sarzonia 20-7 at Hendrix Stadium.

As for Gibbs, he has brought his ball control offence to the team, expecting to rely more heavily on running back LoQuan Willard. However, Gibbs said the play of quarterback Gavin Davis has led him to consider throwing the ball more often.

"Gavin's a key element to what we do," Gibbs said. "He's been solid so far. He was solid in the first World Bowl [World Bowl IV]." Gibbs said he used a pass-first offence some years ago and was willing to consider a pass-oriented scheme with the Stars.

"You do with what you have," Gibbs said. "It's just common sense."

Sarzonia's second half begins with a difficult match away to Tocrowkia, who sit a game behind second place. Gibbs said the team was using the extra time given them by the Matchday 8 bye to prepare for the Nordics.

"We're going to need that, for sure," he said. "They've played tough against a lot of the teams in this group. We expect them to give us a stern test."

Gibbs said he knew coming in that the nine-team knockout format made it "distinctly possible" the Stars could miss out on the knockouts for the first time, but said the team would "work its buns off.

"We have no choice but to work hard," he said. "If we don't, we're definitely going to be on the outside looking in."

Time To Relax

Halfway through the season and it is an off week for every team in the torunament. Everyone is off and the Flaocns and two other teams have a longer vacation due to the great thing known as the bye week. Yes, it aways great to have a few weeks off between football games especially after going through the tough group that the Falcons are in. Like all other Taeshani National Sports teams do during a bye week the Falcons have taken a small vacation to Jeruselem for some good times. Hopefully none of them will get arrested, oh come on its Jeruselem they won't. Anyways they should be well rested for the game versus Vephrall.

This matchday eight cutoff is presented by Triumphant Retirement Funds. (TRF)
Invest in TRF for a fruitful second half of life.

Group A:
Arroza 29-17 Cotenshire
Cassadaigua 20-7 Prux
Steroga 3-13 Vephrall


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Vephrall 6 1 0 136 75 61
2 Taeshan 5 1 0 86 36 50
3 Cassadaigua 5 2 0 116 83 33
4 Arroza 5 2 0 161 94 67
5 Cotenshire 2 5 0 72 129 -57
6 Prux 0 6 1 53 115 -62
7 Steroga 0 6 1 26 118 -92


Cassadaigua over Arroza due to H2H result.

Group B:
Candrian Empire 22-24 Fujisawan Territories
Dancougar 20-13 Kura-Pelland
Lovisa 16-19 (OT) Secristan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Dancougar 6 1 0 130 65 65
2 Kura-Pelland 5 2 0 123 94 29
3 Fujisawan Territories 5 2 0 158 135 23
4 Secristan 4 3 0 109 87 22
5 Lovisa 2 5 0 119 152 -33
6 Norwellia 1 5 0 88 129 -41
7 Candrian Empire 1 6 0 89 154 -65


Kura-Pelland over Fujisawan Territories due to H2H result.

Group C:
Colbourne 20-26 (OT) Newmanistan
Lucino 10-41 Qazox
Rennidan 13-27 Tocrowkia


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Qazox 6 1 0 179 99 80
2 Newmanistan 5 2 0 176 127 49
3 Sarzonia 4 2 0 112 70 42
4 Tocrowkia 4 3 0 145 132 13
5 Rennidan 4 3 0 140 131 9
6 Colbourne 1 6 0 92 137 -45
7 Lucino 0 7 0 62 210 -148


Tocrowkia over Rennidan due to overall PD (H2H is tied)

Note: Expect the Matchday 9 Cutoff to be a few hours later then normal.

QSPN.com/WorldBowlVI Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_VI)

QAZOX 41
Lucino 10

The Pheonix continue to roll after the loss to Newmanistan, squashing Lucino 41-10. With Tocrowkia coming to visit next week, the playoff push begins now and with three of the next five at home, Qazox has a good chance to qualify.

BOX SCORE
1 2 3 4 Fin
Qazox 7 21 10 3 41
Lucino 7 3 0 0 10


Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
LUC: 1 yd TD run. PAT Good. 9:52 (11 plays, 78 yards in 5:08) 7-0 Lucino.
QZX: 21 yd Int return for TD by Mark Glenn. PAT by Kyle Kobel Good. 2:09 (1 play, 21 yards in 0:09) TIED 7-7.
2nd Quarter
LUC: 41 yd FG. 12:03 (9 plays, 52 yards in 5:06) 10-7 Lucino.
QZX: 86 yard TD run by Craig Hamersien. PAT by Kyle Kobel good. 11:48 (1 play, 86 yds in 0:15) 14-10 Qazox.
QZX: 34 yard TD pass to Mike Handey from Larry Hinierian. PAT by Kyle Kobel good. 6:49 (5 plays, 54 yards in 1:59) 21-10 Qazox.
QZX: 6 yard TD run by Craig Hamersien. PAT by Kyle Kobel good. 0:13 (9 plays, 52 yds in 4:15) 28-10 Qazox.
3rd Quarter
QZX: 42 yd FG by Kyle Kobel 9:17 (8 plays 59 yards in 5:43) 31-10 Qazox.
QZX: 56 yard TD pass to Jack Halstaff from Larry Hinierian. PAT by Kyle Kobel good. 4:18 (6 plays, 66 yards in 2:12) 38-10 Qazox.
4th Quarter
QZX: 26 yd FG by Kyle Kobel 1:17 (18 plays 84 yards in 9:07) 41-10 Qazox.

Even having a bye doesn't seem to calm Joe Gibbs's worries.

"Tocrowkia looked mighty impressive in that away match," he said. And the Nordics did just that, battering the Brutes 27-13 in a result that showed dramatic improvement over their previous outing against Rennidan.

Of course, that match served notice that the Nordics weren't going to be a pushover. The Brutes won a close battle with the Reich before the Stars won a nine-point affair with Tocrowkia.

"Tocrowkia are definitely going to be a tough team for us," Gibbs said. "They're making themselves known as a team that's going to be in the mix for one of the three playoff spots."

Gibbs said the Stars would likely show a different look when they travel to Tocrowkia. He said the team would have to "win the battles up front if we're even going to have a chance.

"Every game in this group is brutal," Gibbs said. "We don't get a break when Lucino come to Hendrix [Stadium]. They're hungry for their first win, but we've got to focus on Tocrowkia or we're going to be in big trouble against them."

Tocrowkia's success in this World Bowl edition didn't go unnoticed by Stars players.

"When the schedule came out, I'm sure a lot of teams penciled them in as an automatic 'W'," said quarterback Gavin Davis. "But now, we've seen them beat Newmanistan and Rennidan and give Qazox all they could handle. We're not going to take them lightly."

"We've got to get some explosion up front," said running back LoQuan Willard. "If we don't do that, it'll be a long day for us."

Katie’s Space

When we played Prux to open up the World Bowl, we picked up a victory. That was really the only good news to come from a game in which we played very sloppy. We turned the ball over way too much, and if not for our defense doing the same to their offense, we don’t get that 13-3 victory. Now, fast forward to last night in Concord Heights against a Statesman team that is really struggling. They have yet to win in the World Bowl, which is surely a major disappointment after their solid performance last time out. They were unable to beat Steroga, and could only get a 3-3 tie with them. We knew then, that this is a game that we should win, even if Prux came out played well. And in a way, the way the game started was good. Of course, I am referring to the interception returned for a touchdown by Henry Jones, Jr on our second play from scrimmage. The crowd booed and we got our reality check. The game was starting just the way it did when we played them on the road. At the time, we didn’t think it was a good thing, but it woke us up, and we would not turn the ball over for the rest of the game. It was helpful to score on our next possession, a 15-yard pass from Lauren (Hamilton) to Nicole Donohue, and getting a field goal late in the first quarter, to put us in front allowed us to get a little more comfortable. The Statesman were never abler to move the ball against our defense, and even though we would have liked to have ended our lead going into halftime, we felt pretty good with the 10-7 lead. Midway through the third, we picked up another field goal, before an early touchdown reception by yours truly put us ahead 20-7. It went for 41 yards and I was never going to be Lauren’s first or second option on the play. From 2nd and 8, the hot receiver was supposed to be Nicole Donohue up the middle, but she had a hard time getting away from the linebacker on her. Kim Harden was also well covered, and while Lauren could have dumped it off to Danielle Regan, she heaved it up for me. I was already about 20-25 yards down field, and Mischa Pipps beaten. That would be it, a solid 20-7 victory for us at home.

I’ve been told that technical problems have prevented a couple blogs from loading to the website, but I think that has been resolved for now. We have a lot more work to do, but after seven games, we remain alive as Group A is becoming a four team battle. This is how it had to happen in order for us to qualify and make it to Secristan, and things are playing out the way it needed too. We must continue to keep pace, and that means no floundering in our next game against Cotenshire. We’re tried with Arroza for third, and Vephrall and Taeshan are within a game. We still play each of these teams one more time, so we will still control our own destiny. It is something that we cannot think about, however. Our focus must be on Cotenshire, and it is. It better be.

STILL NO WINS

Steroga still had not won during the World Bowl. The results have been better though especially on the defensive side of the ball. We almost had a win against Prux but had to settle for a 3-3 draw with them. It was close as we had the lead up until the fourth quarter and then their kicker hit a long field goal from about 55 yards. Neither of our teams did much in the overtime. We are not doing as bad as Lucino though they are 0-7 and keep getting destroyed everytime they take to the field. They lost to Qazox 41-10 at home and have already given up 210 points. We have given up about 100 less. Now the Sterogans just need to score some points and maybe we can pull of an upset in this group. We will probably not win our next game because it is against Arroza but at least it is at home. Then comes our bye then a road game against Taeshan. Taeshan was the one that called our great country a giant wasteland of nothing. A group of protestors were arrested last week for burning a flag of Taeshan in front of the Palace. His Majesty Lord Singh called their actions unacceptable and insists that there are no hard feelings between the country’s just because of what one of their writers said about us.

Big Game Looms Ahead

Just a few weeks ago if you had told me that Arroza would barely be hanging on in Group A to a second round qualification after the first half I would hae laughed at you and probaly called a shrink, but as it stands now in Group A Vephrall is 1/2 a game inhead of us, and Arroza sits in a tie for third with the suprising squad from Cassadaigua. The Daigans ranked 5th highest in the group last time I checked are turning many a head as they power past a lot of the teams they have played so far. They are upsetting the Group and as many people may have predicted are making a run for the third qualification spot. But thats not what is suprising, its who they're running after.

Many people may have predicted that Cassadaigua had a chance at being one of the top three to move on, but no one ,I bet, predicted them to possibly be taking out Arrroza. As it stands the Falcons are quitely steaming their way through the tournament so far only losing in a nailbitter to Arroza, but Vephrall is in stunning form only failing to beat the Falcons themselves and are currently in the groups lead after the Falcons bye week. Then you find the mess that is Arroza fighting with Cassadaigua for the third spot catupulting you to the second round. The Tar Hornets right now may be looking for a new name, but if I was their front office I would be more worried about what is wrong with their offense and why are they faltering so. Know it may not concern me, but the Tar Hornets are faltering and may not make it through for perhaps the first time in their history.

Well whatever their crisis is they will need to get over it as they are on the outside looking in at this point and it would be a shame not to see them advance. Speaking of advancing the Falcons will play the Vephrall team for the second time in the earliest of what many predict to be title matches. The Falcons won the first game, but to stay ahead of the Vephreese and get just enough out of reach to be able to turn on the afterburners and wipe away the group they will need to win. They may have won over two months ago, but today is a different day and perhaps the Vephrall team has some magik as they were able to beat the Arrozan team the Falcons fell to. Either way the Falcons will need to win this one game, and if they do they will be the best contender in the race for the Group Title and top seed out of the group.

THREE IN A ROW

Ever since Tom Mitchell’s nightclub incident, the Millionaires have not lost, winning their third consecutive game to improve to 4-3. The win was over Lovisa in overtime, and it atoned for their opening day loss against them. Lovisa, after starting the World Bowl with two victories, has not seen victory since, including receiving a loss to Norwellia. Did the incident after the game in Dancougar provide the spark that the team had been needing. Brian Lincoln, a sports columnist from Ocala wrote, “A nightclub incident like this can be like shooting yourself in the leg. Not only will hurt you, but it will ruin the chances for your team. It’s not normal for a team to rally around this, but Secristani teams have never been normal, so I guess it would all make perfect sense. The winning streak began with a 17-10 victory over Kura-Pelland on the road, a win that is simply huge for our chances at advancement. The game was 10-10 midway through the fourth quarter when Mitchell led the team on a 12-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in a 8-yard touchdown pass to the Blizzard, Brian Brissard. Following the win over the Arrows, the Millionaires made quick and easy work of the Candrian Empire, with Mitchell having a spectacular afternoon, going 20-for-26 for 332 yards and three touchdown passes in the 23-7 victory. There was a botched extra point in that game, but don’t worry too much about that. After that, we met up with Lovisa once again. The Millionaires fell behind 13-0 at halftime, but gradually crawled back into the game with Ryan Norris hitting two third quarter field goals, and then a touchdown drive early in the fourth that tied it up at 13. Chris Hausler, who hadn’t found the end zone in his previous four games, finally did so here, with a 26-yard touchdown. Lovisa responded with a field goal to reclaim the lead, only to have our Millionaires show some heart with a 2-minute drive that got all the way down to the Lovisa 13. There were some people who think that Secristan should have gone for the win here, but not when you are the road team and a team that can’t afford to loss. It was a no-brainer for coach Taylor, and Norris hit the 31-yard field goal. After holding Lovisa on the first possession of overtime, the Millionaires marched into field goal range, and converted a 46-yard chance for Norris.

The Secristan Department of Sports is hoping that this streak is the beginning of great things, and realizes that the next games will be critical. The Millionaires cannot afford to slip up at home against Norwellia, a team that is much better then their record suggests, before they play the Fujisawan Territories. The contest against the Canes will go a long way in determining the third place team in the group. The SDOS realizes this, and so far is happy with the amount of pay-per-view purchases for these two games, but according to Katie Simpson, the concern comes after that, “Our fans are excited about the next two games, but following the game against the Hurricanes, we are not seeing a lot of individual game purchases. It appears as though our fans are taking a wait and see approach, and if we lose that game, then they might not be as excited for those last three. They come after a bye week too, so there is still plenty of time. We are not worried about it yet.” Simpson is also not concerned about any World Cup conflicts for the later stages, “The games will be at different times, so we are hoping we will have strong sales for both. Football fans and soccer fans tend to be different groups of people, so they’ll each watch what they would have anyway. Cross-purchases will happen, too.” While a conflict between the World Cup and World Baseball Classic appears to be on the horizon, the Baseball is not expected to conflict with the World Bowl, and if so, only very slightly.

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

With the game tied 13-13 in the fourth quarter, Franklin Gelbach rallied the offense on the sideline before taking over with possession on his own 26. He knew that he'd been promoted to starting quarterback for one reason - to win games like this. In just his second start with the national team, Gelbach shook off some first-half jitters and let his team on a backbreaking drive to bury Kura-Pelland 20-13 and take sole possession of first place in Group B.

Will Moohim showed patience with halfback Logan Dublin and was rewarded with a solid performance, 23 carries for 87 yards and a touchdown, to which Casey Pendleton added nine carries for 37 yards in the second half. But Gelbach was the hero of the day, offsetting an earlier interception with the game-winning touchdown pass with less than two minutes remaining. It wasn't exactly a complete performance, but it was an effective one. The offense shook off a slow start and had few serious mistakes. The defense's play continued to be top class.

"Nobody's jaw is going to drop from looking at those highlights, but I think that's one of the better games we've played in this tournament," said Moohim. "Sometimes the pressure brings that out. Kura-Pelland and the Fujisawans are a rough two-game stretch for any team in the world, but we showed tonight that we're still improving. We have some positive momentum now."

The Wings will definitely have to be careful, because a slip-up could be the difference between winning the group and not qualifying at all. Hard-charging Secristan now sit two games behind the Wings and the Arrows and Hurricane both sit a game back. This adds a lot of importance to the upcoming game with the Fujisawan Territories, as alluded to by coach Moohim, since a loss could great an even tighter jumble at the top.

But first, the Arrows.

There's never been much between these two, and this game was no different. Both defenses asserted control early on, with each team forced to punt on their first two possessions. It wasn't so much that the ballcarriers were showing some of the sloppiness from the early games as it was the sharpness and tenacity of defensive units which have stiffened as the result of challenges from the Fujisawan Territories and Norwellia, the two teams in the group with the most freewheeling attack. Jeff Buckholt added to his interception total but saw Gelbach squander the opportunity by going three-and-out.

The Arrows would strike first, after a scoreless first quarter, on a field goal by Tim Pogley early in the second quarter. They'd add a second before halftime, but not before the Wings took their first lead. Gelbach's offense plodded along and had a hard time converting on third down throughout the half. But they put together a single scoring drive that gave the Arrows a taste of what was to come. Gelbach showed a willingness to sit in the pocket and check down to his fourth and fifth options, a rarity among past Dancougar quarterbacks, and his short passing attack set up Dublin to run. The team drove 73 yards in 14 plays and finished with Dublin sweeping into the endzone behind tight end Tristan Cray.

Freddie Mathers was using a similar strategy, but unlike the Wings, passing to his backs was a part of the plan. Keith Mackail-Smith only ran for 74 yards in the game but had 48 in the air, including receptions on crucial third downs leading up to Pogley's second field goal. That made it 7-6 at halftime.

"Mack is one of those backs that you can't really shut down, because he's so dangerous all over the field," said Kendrick Lynch, who had eight tackles in the win. "If you stop him on the ground, he runs out as a receiver, and that's tough because he has that speed. So the hope is that you just keep him from making a big play."

They did. Midway through the third quarter, Mackail-Smith bounced off a few blockers when an inside draw failed and quickly tried to turn the corner. Tracking him down was linebacker Roderick Danbury, who forced and recovered a fumble on the Dancougar 48. That led to another careful drive by the offense which led to a Seth Cavallo field goal, extending the lead to 10-6.

Kura-Pelland would answer in kind. After Mathers was held to a three-and-out, the defense came up huge. Cliff Poulton, who'd been playing tight on Kevin Queandlinn all afternoon, saw his hard work rewarded when Gelbach made a throw behind his receiver. Poulton caught it in stride and returned it to the Dancougar 33 to set up the go-ahead drive. Mackail-Smith set up the play-action for Mathers, and he found Dennis van Horsten with a 17-yard strike to make it 13-10.

"I didn't set myself properly," admitted Gelbach after the game. "That's the way football works. You can do everything right but you still pay a hundred times for your mistakes."

Gelbach shook it off and kept confident in the huddle, which helped his offense maintain its cool in a comeback situation. Pendleton came into the game to provide more backfield options, and it made a difference as the game entered the fourth quarter. He was an effective changeup against the Kura-Pelland defense, which often packed seven in the box. His physical style helped wear them down enough for Dublin to rattle off some big runs, with an 18-yarder his longest of the afternoon. Cavallo tied the game with just under ten minutes left in the fourth.

Mathers took possession and led his team patiently downfield, and after driving inside the Dancougar 40, it looked like he could deliver the lead. With the crowd holding its breath, Mathers looked downfield for van Horsten but instead found safety Sam Paige, who came across the field for the team's third takeaway of the game, setting up Gelbach at the Dancougar 26. From there, Gelbach carefully worked the middle of the field with short passes to Queandlinn and Cray, while Pendleton and Dublin continued to pound away at the Arrow defense. With 1:28 on the clock, he found paydirt, connecting with Cray for a 5-yard score.

"They were giving us the middle of the field and Frankie knew if he put it up, I'd get it," said Cray, who had his best game as a receiver with eight catches for 73 yards and a score.

The defense forced a turnover on downs to ice the game.

Trippin' on Email

Pendleton and Dublin looked good together in the second half. Why doesn't Moohim just go back to that thunder and lightning? Dublin by himself isn't going to consistently challenge anybody's defense.

Andrew C.
Aiken City

Now that Gelbach has shown that he has the ability to run an effective west coast attack, it should keep defenses from keying on the run so much and free up some room for Dublin. But Pendleton should definitely be utilized more because his size and strength makes him good for wearing teams down, and then Dublin can burn them with his speed.

----------

Group C is absolutely insane. The Nordics are coming on strong! Do they have what it takes to motor into third?

Chris W.
Caerlis

Rennidan haven't been their usual selves and I think they're going to fade out of the picture. I think that Tocrowkia have done very well to play themselves into consideration, but at the end of the day, I still like Sarzonia to finish just ahead of them.

----------

I'm not sure which Secristan team we're going to see when we play them... one that's floundering or one that's dominating. Right now they're on a hot streak. Will this continue?

Harry J.
Kildare

I've been saying all along that the Millionaires have, well, a million reasons to turn up the heat down the stretch. Now that Tom Mitchell's hitting passes instead of boyfriends, we're seeing the real potential of this team. They've got a real shot of the Fujisawans slip up, but the Hurricane attack has been superb and I don't think they'll finish worse than 8-4.

Results from the Last Game: Arroza Tar Hornets 29 – Cotenshire Flying Fish 17

After the break, and problems with the team's motivation and the offensive ground game, embattled National Team Coach, Andreas Tahlequah made dramatic changes to the roster of Runningbacks. First , retiring back Abraham Chadwick will not be starting anymore. The aging back had talked with Tahlequah's decision to go younger in the line-up and understands the need to do whatever is necessary in order to get into the playoffs. Lake Major has been demoted from #3 on the depth chart to #5, meaning he shouldn't see the field anymore in international play. So the Arrozan depth chart at running back is currently:

#1 [A-Back] – Donovan Hailey
#2 [W-Back] – Roger Seabrook
#3 - Lazaro Connelly
#4 – Abraham Chadwick
#5 – Lake Major

The changes seemed to work in the game against the Flying Fish of Cotenshire. The combination of Hailey and Seabrook led the ground game to 276 yards on the ground and a touchdown for each. Bassem was able to not worry about passing as much, and contributed by settling down and going 15 for 23, with a touchdown pass to Malone, and one Interception late in the third quarter.

1 2 3 4
Arroza 10 3 9 7
Cotenshire 7 0 7 3


Who's Next?
Arroza Tar Hornets @ Steroga

The Arrozan schedule is front-loaded with the easier matched, and back loaded with murderers row. So this week we'll look to demolish Steroga on the road while people knock themselves out of the running in front of us. Not much is known about the football team of Steroga, and the team was crushed 37-7 at the Hive on Match Day 2.

Official Prediction: Arroza Tar Hornets 30-17

10 Second Editorial, with noted Nova Lyon rap artist Small William.

The team need to get they swagger back. And [expletives deleted] Lake Major. They gotta be more aggressive, get after it in defense for once. Where's my cup of “syrup”?

Group A: Giant Match of the Day [sponsored by Giant Ferries, running twelve routes across the straits, every day!]

Taeshan Fitin' Falcons [5-1] @ Vephrall Auric Wolves [6-1]

In the battle for leadership at the top of Group A, there's no room for errors. A loss by either team in this game could see them slip into third place, or out of the playoff picture entirely in Taeshan's case. So the game tonight at the venerable Elime e Vephrall [venerable is newspaper code for super-old] is the first of basically six straight weeks of playoff-level games. Vephrall runs the offense closest to Arroza's which was so far the only team to beat Taeshan. And the noise of the 80,000 Wolves fans, combined with the warmth of Atlantian Oceania should be enough to lead Vephrall over Taeshan in a slow, grinding game.

Official Prediction:
10-7 Vephrall.

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record

Howard wins number two in wild game

Acting head coach Adam Howard has won his second game in narrowly defeating the Candrian Empire, 24-22. The two point victory exposed a few weak spots for the Hurricane as they had to come from behind to beat the team the Hurricane blew out in their season opener. Nevertheless, a win is a win, and the Hurricane moved up to 5-2 in the standings, behind Dancougar and Kura-Pelland. Kura-Pelland is also 5-2 on the season, but due to head to head results, the Hurricane find themselves in third place in Group B. Dancougar has only a single loss on the season.

“Listen, call me crazy, but I think Norwellia is a stronger team than Candrian [Empire], and we beat the Rainbow Warriors by eleven. But then we almost lose against the Candrian Empire? So obviously, I’m a little irritable, because we have no sense of consistency,” Howard commented during a post game interview.

Howard’s irritability is quite understandable considering how Kudo and the Hurricane offense got off to another slow start. In fact, the defense scored the first Hurricane points of the day. The Candrian Empire opened the game with a precision drive, but the it all amounted to nothing when Shibawa Fujitsu got his hands on an interception five yards in his own end zone and rocketed 105 yards for a touchdown on the return, setting a new Hurricane record.

The Candrian Empire was in a state of shock following that monumental feat, but the Hurricane defense was electrified. After a quick three and out, Kudo and the offense stepped out on the field for the first time, but their opening drive stalled at the Candrian forty eight. It was a defensive battle for the rest of the first quarter, and half of the second, until the Candrian Empire tied the game on a three yard touchdown run on 1st and goal with 7:12 left before halftime.
Kudo still couldn’t get into a rhythm, and struggled for the remainder of the half. Meanwhile, the Candrian Empire with renewed momentum, drove for their second touchdown of the quarter to take a 14-7 lead at the half.

Hisayuki Sarumara took the opening kickoff of the second half to the Candrian forty nine, and Kudo was finally able to capitalize on the good field position. Kudo hit tight end Namboku Yoshimatsu for a seven yard touchdown in a nice ten play drive to tie the game 14-14.

Late in the third, the Candrian Empire once again charged the length of the field deep into the Hurricane red zone, but once again, their drive ended in a turnover. Kimo Nakasanagi got his first interception of the day at the Hurricane three yard line and was tackled immediately. Kudo was subsequently sacked in his own end zone on 3rd and 11 for a Candrian Empire safety.

With 8:42 left in the game, the Candrian Empire extended their lead on a sixty seven yard touchdown pass that scorched the Hurricane secondary, but once again, the Hurricane was there to rain on their parade. Despite taking a 22-14 lead, the Chi Jisats blocked the Candrian Empire’s PAT. It was just another oddity in a wild game.


Shisakit Munie hit a thirty seven field goal with 4:03 left in the game. The Hurricane defense turned up the heat, stopping the Candrian Empire one last time, and with 1:14 remaining on the clock, Kudo marched down the field for a six yard touchdown pass to Oribaha “Baja” Hini on a nine play, fifty two yard drive to win 24-22.

Next, the Hurricane travel to Dancougar, where they expect to be slaughtered. Every game is critical for the Hurricane, and they must fight to the very end for the win. Howard in his new head coaching role is going up against an opponent unlike any he has ever faced before. While unlikely to win, the Hurricane still should put in a maximum effort against the Black Wings.

Schedule (5-2)
vs. Candrian Empire W 23-7
vs. Dancougar L 6-23
vs. Secristan W 17-10
@ Kura-Pelland L 24-30 (OT)
@ Lovisa W 30-20
BYE
vs. Norwellia W 34-23
@ Candrian Empire W 24-22
@ Dancougar
@ Secristan
vs. Kura-Pelland
vs. Lovisa
BYE
@ Norwellia

This matchday 9 cutoff is brought to you by Shooters' Restaurant.
Come for our famous wait staff. Stay for the great food.

Group A:
Steroga 0-20 Arroza
Cassadaigua 34-17 Cotenshire
Vephrall 10-13 Taeshan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Taeshan 6 1 0 99 46 53
2 Vephrall 6 2 0 146 88 58
3 Cassadaigua 6 2 0 150 100 40
4 Arroza 6 2 0 181 94 87
5 Cotenshire 2 6 0 89 163 -74
6 Prux 0 6 1 53 115 -62 E
7 Steroga 0 7 1 26 138 -112 E


Three way tie is sorted presently according to the team’s H2H records against others in the tie. At the moment this is: Vephrall 2-0, Cassadaigua 1-1, Arroza 0-2.

Group B:
Lovisa 24-20 Candrian Empire
Dancougar 30-16 Fujisawan Territories
Secristan 20-7 Norwellia


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Dancougar 7 1 0 160 81 79
2 Kura-Pelland 5 2 0 123 94 29
3 Fujisawan Territories 5 3 0 174 165 9
4 Secristan 5 3 0 129 94 35
5 Lovisa 3 5 0 143 172 -29
6 Norwellia 1 6 0 95 149 -54
7 Candrian Empire 1 7 0 109 178 -69


Fujisawan Territories over Secristan due to H2H result.

Group C:
Rennidan 23-13 Colbourne
Lucino 3-28 Newmanistan
Tocrowkia 16-27 Sarzonia


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Qazox 6 1 0 179 99 80
2 Newmanistan 6 2 0 204 130 74
3 Sarzonia 5 2 0 139 86 53
4 Rennidan 5 3 0 163 144 19
5 Tocrowkia 4 4 0 161 159 2
6 Colbourne 1 7 0 105 160 -55
7 Lucino 0 8 0 65 238 -173 E

Joe Gibbs's concern about facing Tocrowkia was genuine. After all, the Nordics built a 4-3 record coming into their home fixture against Sarzonia after dominating the world's eighth ranked gridball side Rennidan.

However, the Stars also seem to be rounding into their best form of the tournament. Sarzonia got a 100-yard rushing game from LoQuan Willard and a 300-yard passing game from Gavin Davis en route to a 27-16 victory over Tocrowkia that kept the Stars a half game ahead of Rennidan for the third playoff spot in Group C.

"We were able to play our brand of gridball," said Gibbs, clearly relieved after the Stars improved to 5-2 overall. The Stars also kept the ball for nearly 36 minutes, as Willard ran 27 times for 118 yards and a touchdown. Unlike other games where Willard or Davis were an either-or proposition, Davis completed 22 of 28 passes for 317 yards and two touchdowns.

"The fact that we were able to establish the ground game was critical," Davis said. "Once that got going, it made things a lot easier for me."

Defensively, the Stars also showed they grasped the nuances of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams's scheme, holding the Nordics to one touchdown on a punt return and three field goals. The Stars forced four fumbles and recovered two and picked off three passes, directly leading to 24 of Sarzonia's 27 points.

The Stars return to Hendrix Stadium for the first time since Week 5 with a match against Lucino. The gridball newcomers were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention with their 28-3 loss to Newmanistan. The Rockets improved to 6-2 while Lucino dropped to 0-8.

"That puts more pressure on us," Willard said. "We don't want to be the team that loses to them first."

"That match has the potential of being a real trap game for us," Gibbs said. "We've got Rennidan coming to Hendrix after that. We don't want to lose our focus."

Sarzonia's stretch of five road matches out of six total fixtures ended with the Tocrowkia match. Now they only have one more away match, against Qazox on Week 12.

"We've earned the opportunity to play in front of our home supporters," Davis said. "We hope we can give them the kind of show they want to see."

Fitin' Falcons Win Big

It was questioned by many if the Falcons could do it, but now they have prooved by beating the Auric Wolves of Vephrall that they are possibly the best team in their Group with just 5 games to go the Falcons now hold a bouble tiebreaker over the Wolves, a single tiebreaker over the Cassadaiguans, and only have to hope that the Tar Hornets will not be able to beat them in their next game that the Tar Hornets will not win enough that they can take the group lead from the Falcons. The Falcons prooved that they were good enough, but now they just have to finish the group of by winning throughout the rest of the year.

In the first half the game was close. The Auric Wolves ran in the games first touchdown after a ba snap led to a Falcon Fumble at their own 25 yardline. After that the Falcons through a double pass 12 yard interception which led to a Wolf Field Goal. Then it turned ugly as the Falcons smashed up the Vephrall offense and ran and passed the ball right at the Wolves defense, but as unexpectedly as possible the Falcons were able to in the last three quaters gain over 350 yards. It was unsuprsing though that they only scored 13 points as most of them were long drives that led to punts. The first Falcon toucndown cam of a Dianer Marte 77 yard fumble recovery after he knocked it lose from the Wolf quaterback, which incedentily led to a concussion for the player, Marte sprinted down the field as fast as possible on his beefy legs. The Falcons would again score later when Gabe Martin found Max Hope who gave it to Trevor Karker on the Hook and Latteral for a 80 yard touchdown grab late in the game. Then Gramatica was unable to kick the extra point as the Wolves broke through and tackled the holder Alec Dega.

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record

Expanded Millionaires vs. Hurricane coverage

No break for the weary in rematch against resurgent Millionaires

In their first clash with Dancougar, the Hurricane could only produce two field goals, but in their second meeting, they had better luck moving the chains despite losing 30-16. Though the Hurricane offense was largely silenced throughout most of the game, Daisetsu Kudo posted decent numbers. In the hours leading up to the start of the game, acting head coach Adam Howard anticipated a blowout loss, and had been entertaining the idea of starting backup quarterback Kasmo Jit in place of Kudo to give Jit experience against one of the world’s best teams. Ultimately, Howard made the last minute decision to start Kudo, knowing that the season, and the Canes playoff hopes are on the line in cutthroat group play. The loss snapped the team’s three game winning streak.

“Suicidal kamikaze” was a buzz phrase fans were floating before the game regarding their anticipation of the Hurricane’s strategy against Dancougar. While the Hurricane did throw everything they had at the Black Wings, their effort was hardly suicidal. Keep in mind Dancougar has lost only a single game, and as an elite team, their chances of beating the Hurricane were never in question. The Hurricane knew they were beat from the opening kickoff, but they took it in stride and gave it their best shot.

Two big games loom ahead on the schedule, the first a second battle with renascent Secristan. The game is a must win for both teams, and is vital to the Hurricane’s playoff hopes when considering the pressure the loss to Dancougar puts on the team. Then, Crosscom Global Arena will host Kura-Pelland for a late night game scheduled to kick off at 9:30pm local time. It’s also Military Appreciation Night, and Crosscom will be packed with active and retired Fujisawan military, who’ll be granted free admission to the game. Taking Kura-Pelland to overtime in their last meeting, the Hurricane will have the benefit of a full house this time round, and Fujisawan military men and women have a reputation for being exuberant and rabid Hurricane fans, a plus for the home team.

It’s also worth noting that original head coach Rai Lo will be coaching the game against Kura-Pelland, after having been absent from the team since the overtime loss to the same team. Lo took a leave of absence when his twenty three year old daughter, Naomi Lo, was badly injured in a car accident that ultimately left her paraplegic. Naomi Lo remains hospitalized, but her father maintains that football is his only release in the midst of the family tragedy, and has insisted on coaching the team’s remaining home games.

It’s hard to follow up on a two point come from behind win featuring a safety, blocked PAT, and a 105 yard interception returned for a touchdown with any success when your next opponent is Dancougar. As expected, the Hurricane struggled, but to the surprise of some, showed marked improvement since their last meeting, even scoring a touchdown. Here’s a breakdown.

First Quarter
Black Wings 7, Hurricane 0
Franklin Gelbach found a wide open Billy Leuthold for a twenty three yard touchdown pass on 3rd and 6 on the Black Wing’s opening drive.

Black Wings 14, Hurricane 0
Dancougar wouldn’t have to wait long to get the ball back, as it only took Daisetsu Kudo three plays on his first possession to throw an interception. Dancougar marched the forty three yards to the Hurricane end zone for a two yard Logan Dublin touchdown run.

Second Quarter
Black Wings 14, Hurricane 3
Shisakit Munie scored on a thirty four yard field goal 3:31 into the second quarter.

Black Wings 17, Hurricane 3
Seth Cavallo kicked a forty six yarder to take a commanding lead near the six minute mark.

Black Wings 17, Hurricane 6
Munie hit a twenty five yard field goal to narrow the lead to eleven before halftime.

Third Quarter
Black Wings 20, Hurricane 6
Cavallo kicked his second field goal of the day, a twenty nine yard kick on the Black Wing’s opening drive of the second half.

Black Wings 20, Hurricane 13
Kudo brought it down to a one possession lead for Dancougar when he connected with tight end Namboku Yohsimatsu in the end zone on a fourteen yard pass with 3:19 left in the third. It would be the closest the Hurricane would get to winning the game.

Black Wings 27, Hurricane 13
Dancougar answered with a quick score of their own, Kevin Queandlinn hauling in a thirty eight yard touchdown pass from Gelbach near the close of the third quarter.

Fourth Quarter
Black Wings 27, Hurricane 16
A Munie forty yard kick cut the lead back to eleven early in the fourth quarter.

Black Wings 30, Hurricane 16
Cavallo closed out scoring with a twenty one yard kick with 3:41 left in the game.

Schedule (5-3)
vs. Candrian Empire W 23-7
vs. Dancougar L 6-23
vs. Secristan W 17-10
@ Kura-Pelland L 24-30 (OT)
@ Lovisa W 30-20
BYE
vs. Norwellia W 34-23
@ Candrian Empire W 24-22
@ Dancougar L 30-16
@ Secristan
vs. Kura-Pelland
vs. Lovisa
BYE
@ Norwellia

Letters to the editor

Due to the overwhelming amount of fan op/ed pieces we’ve been receiving, we decided to run a few with today’s coverage to give the fans a voice.

Dunn-Woods overrated

After watching the game against the Candrian Empire, where we almost came up short, and five consecutive games with the defense giving up twenty points or more, I’m really questioning what Vanessa Dunn-Woods is doing on the coaching staff. It seems her only claim to fame is coaching a Beretanian women’s team to a championship and losing seven years ago. Not to mention the fact that her team finished with a 4-8 record last season. Look, our defense is never going to be as good as Taeshan’s, so let’s pull the plug on Dunn-Woods and her unrealistic dreams of defensive domination. The Hurricane has always been an offensive team. That’s how we roll.

Juro Sen
Hoji

Match against Candrian Empire an instant classic

The game against the Candrian Empire had all the makings of an instant classic. When was the last time you saw a safety, blocked extra point and a 105 yard interception returned for a touchdown in a single game? And to top it off, the Hurricane come from behind to win by two points? I have to tell you, it was the best football game I have ever watched. It’s a shame us fans had to watch it on television and not live at Crosscom.

Kuemon Nagasawa
Hoji

A heartfelt thanks to fans

Crosscom Global Arena is a special place. The best of the best domestic teams call it home, but it’s also the home of the Hurricane. We’ve only lost one game in our home stadium this season, and that was to Dancougar of course. We’re a combined 11-3 at home in our World Bowl seasons, and that’s in part to you, the fans. You fill the stadium to capacity every time and you rally the team with your unabashed support whenever they fall behind. The world’s most dedicated fans make Crosscom Global Arena such a treasure. So I want to take the opportunity to thank our fans, from casual to Cat 5 Club season ticket holders. You’ve helped make this one of the best Hurricane seasons ever, and for that, I’m forever grateful.

Tatsui Tochikura
owner, Fujisawan Territories Hurricane

A time to remember

We’re coming upon the anniversary of the riots that ravaged the City of Hearts after the Hurricane lost to Qazox by four points late last season. It was a dark and embarrassing moment in our city’s history, but we honor those who lost their lives by not forgetting what happened that night. The most economically depressed areas like Magiku, and here in West Atlantis, were disproportionately the hardest hit and had the most loss of life. The senseless violence I witnessed that night still haunts me today. I ask all fellow fans to keep things civil regardless of how the season plays out, and now more than ever is a time to reflect on what went so devastatingly wrong that night.

Maya Karamorita-Kawasaki
West Atlantis, Iwosaka

This company did not make full payment to the SDOS to be included on a matchday report.

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Group A:
Prux 3-23 Arroza
Taeshan 13-7 (OT) Cassadaigua
Vephrall 17-7 Cotenshire


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Taeshan 7 1 0 112 53 59
2 Vephrall 7 2 0 163 95 68
3 Arroza 7 2 0 204 97 107
4 Cassadaigua 6 3 0 157 113 44
5 Cotenshire 2 7 0 96 180 -84
6 Prux 0 7 1 56 138 -82 E
7 Steroga 0 7 1 26 138 -112 E


Vephrall over Arroza on H2H result

Group B:
Kura-Pelland 20-3 Candrian Empire
Norwellia 7-24 Dancougar
Secristan 16-20 Fujisawan Territories


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Dancougar 8 1 0 184 88 96
2 Kura-Pelland 6 2 0 143 97 46
3 Fujisawan Territories 6 3 0 194 181 13
4 Secristan 5 4 0 145 114 31
5 Lovisa 3 5 0 143 172 -29
6 Norwellia 1 7 0 102 173 -71 E
7 Candrian Empire 1 8 0 112 198 -86 E


Group C:
Qazox 26-6 Colbourne
Sarzonia 34-10 Lucino
Tocrowkia 24-27 (OT) Newmanistan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Qazox 7 1 0 205 105 100
2 Newmanistan 7 2 0 231 154 77
3 Sarzonia 6 2 0 173 96 77
4 Rennidan 5 3 0 163 144 19
5 Tocrowkia 4 5 0 185 186 -1
6 Colbourne 1 8 0 111 186 -75 E
7 Lucino 0 9 0 75 272 -197 E

The lengthy travel was wearing on the Sarzonian national gridball side. They'd just endured a stretch of five away matches out of six matches played. They hadn't seen their Hendrix Stadium home grounds since their Matchday 5 loss to Qazox.

It was understandable if the Stars looked a bit sluggish coming out of the gate against winless Lucino. Their opponents had yet to taste victory in eight tries coming into a match against a team fighting for a playoff spot. The Stars shook off the early doldrums that gave the visitors a 10-3 first quarter lead, finishing with a 34-10 victory in front of 58,129.

"We weren't sharp enough in the early going," said coach Joe Gibbs. "After the first quarter, we finally seemed to wake up."

The Stars (6-2, third place, Group C) went on two long touchdown marches in the second quarter, keeping the ball for all but 1:18 of the period. LoQuan Willard ran for one touchdown and threw a six-yard scoring pass to quarterback Gavin Davis on a trick play. Davis finished the day with two touchdown passes and 306 yards through the air. He completed 21-of-28 passes.

"We saw an opportunity to surprise them a little," Willard said of the trick play. "It worked the way we practiced it." Willard ended up rushing 20 times for 132 yards and caught five passes for 68 yards.

The Stars took command in the third quarter, scoring 17 points in the frame to close out the scoring. In the fourth quarter, Gibbs sent out backup quarterback George Pendry for his first snaps of World Bowl VI in a mop up role.

"We didn't need to risk Gavin getting hurt," Gibbs said.

The Stars face Rennidan in the home leg of their two-match derby. The Stars are 0-2 against the Brutes after losing 20-7 away in World Bowl VI. They lost 20-10 away in their first meeting during World Bowl V's "intra-conference" matchups. Now the Stars will finally face the Brutes at Hendrix Stadium.

"It's going to be tough, man," Willard said. "That said, we're hoping things will be better for us at home in front of our supporters."

Fitin' Falcons Win In Overtime

Nine weeks into the group stage and it looks like the Fitin' Falcons have found their pristine form after winning last night against the Cassadaiguan squad at home in Overtime. Though the fact that they needed overtime to win may take their at their top form away from many fans the fact is that they have know won 7 out of 8 games this year. Thats better then perhaps every year in the teams history. This may be the best form that the Falcons have ever been at. They are reeling in the stops on defense, and are still keeping a somewhat good offensive attack on offense. This year is looking to be a good one.

The total scoring before overtime was 7 points apeice. In fact that means that both teams only had a singular touchdown. What is more suprsing about that is the fact that they were both first half scores. The Daigans scored in the 7th minute of the game on a short screen pass turned bad for the Falcons. The Daigans ran it in from over 60 yards out on a play that took the whole stadium by suprise, but it was not as suprising as what the Falcons did next. Bringing in Alec Dega at quaterback and switching Gabe Martin out to Reciever and Max Hope was taken out for a five wideout set. Dega threw the ball to Martin who tossed it back to Jack Cito who ran around the backfield, and handed off to Trevor Karker who ended up throwing to the only player not to touch the ball that wasn't blocking a stunned silence filled the crowd when Falcon Lineman who was switched out to Reciever for the play, Shawn Plank hauled the ball in for the 80 yard touchdown.

Of course everyone in the stadium was stunned by this. Plank hadn't ever caught a pass before even in midgets. Even Falcon Coach Ken Wissenhaunt who called the play said before the half that he was pleasantly supplied that Plank had in fact caught the ball. This will definetly be a highlight reel play. Then throughout the rest of the regular game both teams were unable to makew any rel headway on offense and both defensives played some great ball unlike their respective offenses. Throughout Overtime it looked like this would end up as the Second Tie in Group A for the year. Both teams were trying their hardest on the offensive side, but the defenses parlayed any advances. Finally in the second biggest play of the game with just 2 second winding down the Falcons snapped the ball to Gabe Martin. It looked like throughout the play that it would end knotted up, Martin chucked the ball up towards the endzone and the fans watched the ball float into the hands of the players. The ball was counted to have tipped 8 times before a grab was made by Ricky Zellefrow near the sidelines witch was ruled a touchdown and there was not enough evidence for it to be overturned. For the next five minutes the fans stood in a shocked silence, unbelieving, and totally being thrilled at the same time. This was also a reel like play.

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

After a couple of big wins, Franklin Gelbach has put the world on notice: the Dancougar offense is starting to make some noise. Two straight double digit wins, 30-16 over the Fujisawan Territories and 24-7 at Norwellia, have put the Wings on the verge of qualifying for the final tournament with a few games in hand. If they win their next game, or if Secristan loses, they'll clinch a top-three spot.

"We need to be a more complete team," said Gelbach, who had two long touchdown passes against the Hurricane and another against the Rainbow Warriors. "If we can help take some of the pressure off the defense, they'll just play better in the long run."

Gelbach helped put together six scoring drives against the Territories, their best performance of qualifying, with a focus on the running game. That set him up for touchdown passes of 23 and 38 yards. It was the kind of freewheeling attack that one expected to see from the Territories, which didn't to do poorly themselves, coming up with four scoring drives. The only problem was that the Black Wings were able to hold them to field goals.

"They were able to move the ball against us, there's no denying it," said Kirk Manly. "They bring a lot of energy into the game and keeping up for sixty minutes can be a real challenge." The Territories were probably the best team left out of the World Bowl V knockout stage and are on track to keep Secristan out of their own tournament after last night's 20-16 road win, further proof of the advancement of Hurricane football.

Dancougar ran their winning streak to eight against Norwellia, who have been given a harsh introduction to international gridiron. Dancougar ran out to a 14-0 first quarter lead on touchdown runs of 7 and 15 yards by Logan Dublin, who has maintained his starting job despite an increased backfield presence by big Casey Pendleton, who was once again an effective backup with 46 yards on 11 carries. The lead allowed them to slow down the pace, but the Warriors stormed back before halftime by putting together an impressive 77-yard touchdown drive that ended with Katja Lippert turning a swing pass into an 11-yard touchdown.

Lippert reached the endzone after leaping over a diving Roderick Danbury and stretching out to reach the pylon. "Lippert's Leap" brought the fans back into the game and cut the gap to a single possession, which energized the Warriors as they marched into the locker room to renewed cheers.

The cheers would be short-lived, as the Black Wing defense stiffened in the second half, forcing two turnovers and setting up Gelbach to extend the lead to 21-7. Gelbach followed a Kendrick Lynch fumble recovery by driving 32 yards and connecting on his only touchdown pass of the game, a 12-yard reception by Billy Leuthold. Norwellia abandoned the run in an attempt to quickly catch up, but this led to another pair of turnovers. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the game looked out of reach.

"The point gap wasn't tremendous at all, but when we're on, we make it seem that way," said Lynch. "When we start rolling downhill, it gets ugly when you're on the other side of the ball. That Coryell got easy to read."

Cavallo added a late field goal to cap the scoring. The victory puts the Wings at 8-1, putting them half a game ahead of Qazox and Taeshan for the number one overall seed. The other two have a game in hand, though, as Dancougar's second bye doesn't come until the final matchday. Their next match is away to the Candrian Empire.

Trippin' on Email

Are we going to see Tilghman again, or should Moohim concentrate on bringing along Shirvanian? Kid is mad strong, but I'm not sure the technique is completely there yet.

Louis P.
Coraopolis

If Dancougar beats the Candrian Empire, they'll clinch a World Bowl berth with two games left to experiment. But recall that Gelbach has only been starting for four games now, so he shouldn't be suddenly benched lest that rhythm get interrupted. He should at least be getting a whole half of work if Moohim finds himself in that envious situation.

----------

Man, away loss in overtime to us last tournament, and now it's Taeshan. Just what does a girl have to do to make a breakthrough around here?

Cassidy R.
Yuki City

Don't despair just yet. They did have a huge win over Arroza earlier in the tournament. If they can come up with another result, this time on the road, they'll pull Arroza down to three losses as well, but they'll have the tiebreaker. Taeshan's defensive will is incredible, but Arroza will give the Dagans more openings that I think they'll be able to exploit.

----------

Gavin Davis has had a couple really good games! Where does Sarzonia fit into the Group C puzzle?

Shinji K.
Lakeport

Rennidan are hanging in there, but I still think Sarzonia are playing better right now. Two straight losses by the Nordics have killed them, so if Sarzonia can win against the Brutes next week, I think that'll be enough to get them into the final tournament.

MITCHELL-HAUSLER SIDESHOW OVERTAKES GAME

Since QB Tom Mitchell and three teammates were arrested but released without being charged following a nightclub incident, the team had rolled off three wins in a row. The streak set up this crucial encounter at home against the Fujisawan Territories. Both the Millionaires and the Hurricane came into the game with records of 5-3, and with the Hurricane having won the previous meeting, it was imperative that Secristan win the contest. This did not happen, as the Hurricane stormed into Secristan and took away a 20-16 with timely defensive stands. The score does not reflect the strong performance that Mitchell put together, especially in the first half, where he went 15-for-21 for 184 yards and a touchdown pass and no interceptions. However, a miserable showing by Chris Hausler negated much of that. Secristan picked up field goals on their first two possessions, both being chip shots of 20 and 23 yards. On the first drive, Hausler was unable to punch it in three times following first and goal from the one, and on the second drive, Hausler was stuffed two out of three times following a first and goal from the five. On the next possession, Mitchell marched them down again, all the way to the Hurricane 11 before Hausler fumbled and it was recovered by Kimo Nakasanagi who returned it 89 yards for a Fujisawan score. Following the touchdown, Mitchell and Hausler seemed to have a fiery verbal exchange, but it didn’t figure to amount to much. Again, the Millionaires drove downfield mainly through the air. Secristan got to a first and goal from the four, and after Hausler was stuffed, Mitchell appeared to call of a running play on second down. He attempted a pass to the Blizzard which was batted away by Nakasanagi. Hausler was upset by the audible, and on third down it occurred again. This time, Mitchell kept it himself and nearly punched it in, before being brought down at the one. Norris kicked his third field goal to make it 9-7. After forcing the Hurricane to punt, Secristan finally found the end zone, on a 45-yard touchdown reception by everyone’s favorite cheerleader, Stacie Johnson. After the Territories got a field goal with 1:26 remaining in the first half, Hausler fumbled the first play from scrimmage, recovered by the Hurricane, and they would end up getting another field goal, making it 16-13.

As the teams headed into the locker rooms for halftime, Mitchell and Hausler began shouting on the sideline. Mitchell shoved Hausler to the ground and kicked him twice before being restrained by teammates. When Hausler got back up, he ran at Mitchell and jumped him from behind and returned the favor, before other players again broke it up. We don’t know what exactly occurred in the locker room once they got there, but when the players returned for the second half there was no Mitchell or Hausler in sight. Jerry Eiseman, who hasn’t taken a snap in the World Bowl was forced into duty and Casey Stewart started at halfback. Eiseman seemed unprepared, and relied heavily on handing the ball off to Stewart. Casey did decent, but not awe-inspiring. Midway through the third quarter, the Millionaires drove well only to have an Eisemen pass intercepted Kimo Nakasanagi, a player who had an outstanding game for his team. The defense held up, and looked like they might hold on, until a late fourth quarter drive by the Hurricane, ended in a 23-yard touchdown pass from Kudo to Hini. Secristan could not respond to the score, and suffers a 20-16 loss.

Following the game, we were able to catch up with Mitchell who said that, “Hausler singlehandedly lost this game for us. He played like shit against Dancougar too. It’s time to start Casey for the rest of the World Bowl.” Hausler replied, “I’m so sick of his attitude. He didn’t know what he was calling in the huddle.” The Millionaires will have a much needed bye following this, and coach Taylor will hope that time can heal these wounds. He is not ready to make a decision for the next game, which will be in Dancougar but says, “It’s a big game and we have to have our best players in it. But if these two haven’t patched things up, then we will make adjustments. Jerry will see a lot more snaps in practice and Matt Travis will as well.”

QSPN.com/WorldBowlVI Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_VI)

QAZOX 26
Colbourne 6

The Pheonix are now 7-1 after a 26-6 win over Colbourne at home. A sloppy game by Qazox as Larry Hinierian threw 3 INT's, but the defense only allowed Colbourne 3 points off of those interceptions. A 56 yard blocked FG return by Issac Haynes set up a 2 yard TD dive by Eric Shaman on an end-around to break the game open early in the 4th quarter just 5 plays later. Larry Hinierian will be glad not to play against Colbourne again, as he had thrown 7 INTS and only 3 TD's in the two meetings.

Next Qazox seeks to avenge their only loss in the qualifiers, so far, which was at home to Newmanistan. A trip to Pocono City Stadium will most likely determine the division winner, though a home game against Sarzonia and a trip to Rennidan also loom for the Pheonix.

BOX SCORE
1 2 3 4 Fin
Colbourne 3 3 0 0 6
Qazox 3 7 6 10 26


Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
QZX: 40 yd FG by Kyle Kobel 9:17 (8 plays 59 yards in 5:43) 3-0 Qazox.
CLB: 46 yd FG 3:52 (10 plays 52 yards in 5:25) 3-3.
2nd Quarter
CLB: 24 yd FG 13:52 (5 plays 16 yards in 2:19) 6-3 Colbourne.
QZX: 6 yard TD pass to Jack Halstaff from Larry Hinierian. PAT by Kyle Kobel good. 2:52 (11 plays, 77 yards in 5:52) 10-6 Qazox.
3rd Quarter
QZX: 35 yd FG by Kyle Kobel 12:17 (5 plays 62 yards in 2:43) 13-6 Qazox.
QZX: 39 yd FG by Kyle Kobel 3:52 (8 plays 51 yards in 3:07) 16-6 Qazox.
4th Quarter
QZX: 2 yard TD run by Eric Shaman 13:06 PAT by Kyle Kobel good. 2:52 (2 plays, 4 yards in 0:52) 23-6 Qazox.
QZX: 40 yd FG by Kyle Kobel 7:17 (8 plays 44 yards in 3:07) 26-6 Qazox.

(I'll update the WIKI by the end of the week/before the playoffs begin...)

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record

Hurricane post win against Secristan, now face Kura-Pelland

The Hurricane left Secristan having completed a sweep of the Millionaires, and their 20-16 win brings the Territories that much closer to making their goal of a playoff run. Kimo Nakasanagi had the best game of his career, emerging as a hero in his anchoring of the defense. Nakasanagi took a fumble eighty nine yards for a touchdown, and had a third quarter interception, among his highlights. Though leading the defense, Nakasanagi wasn’t the only one who contributed on defense. The unit as a whole held the Millionaires to field goals on key drives, perfectly illustrated on Secristan’s first two drives. One the first, the Millionaires were denied a touchdown in three tries on first and goal from the one. On their second drive, the Millionaires were in perfect position to score a touchdown on first and goal from the five, but the Hurricane defense held strong and again the Millionaire would have to settle for a field goal. On their next drive, the Millionaires marched down the field yet again, but Secristan’s Chris Hausler fumbled at the Hurricane eleven yard line and Nakasanagi scooped it up and sprinted down the field for the touchdown. On a key second down play near the Hurricane goal line during Secristan’s next drive, Tom Mitchell audibled at the line, calling off a running play in favor of a quick pass. Nakasanagi got a hand on the ball and batted it away, bringing up third down. The defense made another critical stop on third down and held the Millionaires to yet another field goal. Secristan was able to get a touchdown before the end of the first half, a forty five yard reception by Stacie Johnson. The Hurricane kicked two field goals within the last minute and a half of the first half. The second field goal was set up courtesy of another Hausler fumble. The Hurricane found themselves down three at the half. The Millionaires took Tom Mitchell out of the game for the second half, and his replacement, Jerry Eiseman threw an interception to Naksanagi, but the Hurricane couldn’t capitalize. Kudo hit Baja for a twenty three yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter and the Millionaires had no answer, sealing the win for the Hurricane.

Many of the Hurricane players found the squabbles on the Millionaires sideline amusing, having experienced the same during last World Bowl season. Sibura Hiton, the Hurricane’s starting quarterback at the beginning of last season, was benched midway through the season for throwing on field tantrums and taunting then head coach Ei’ichi Date. Hiton was replaced by Daisetsu Kudo, who has remained the starter ever since.

Kura-Pelland comes to Crosscom Global Arena for a late night game, scheduled to kick off at 9:30pm local time, due to conflicts in prime time television scheduling and events held in the stadium earlier in the day. It’s also Military Appreciation Night, and veterans and active duty alike will be privileged with free admission. Crosscom Global Arena will be packed and the hope is that the raucous crowd will unnerve Kura-Pelland. Fans have been championing their all time World Bowl home game record of 11-3, suggesting that the Global Arena is a tough venue to compete in. Traditionally, most of the Hurricane’s losses have come on the road, and only one of their last three games will be played outside of the confines of Crosscom Global Arena.

Schedule (6-3)
vs. Candrian Empire W 23-7
vs. Dancougar L 6-23
vs. Secristan W 17-10
@ Kura-Pelland L 24-30 (OT)
@ Lovisa W 30-20
BYE
vs. Norwellia W 34-23
@ Candrian Empire W 24-22
@ Dancougar L 30-16
@ Secristan W 20-16
vs. Kura-Pelland
vs. Lovisa
BYE
@ Norwellia

This matchday 11 cutoff is brought to you by Terra National Bank.
Minimum 1000 Rusa balance required, exciting 0.09% savings rate!

Group A:
Arroza 24-10 Cassadaigua
Cotenshire 10-20 Prux
Taeshan 13-10 Steroga


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Taeshan 8 1 0 125 63 62 Q
2 Arroza 8 2 0 228 107 121
3 Vephrall 7 2 0 163 95 68
4 Cassadaigua 6 4 0 167 137 30
5 Cotenshire 2 8 0 106 200 -94 E
6 Prux 1 7 1 76 148 -72 E
7 Steroga 0 8 1 36 151 -115 E


Taeshan has qualified as they cannot lose tiebreaker to Cassadaigua.

Group B:
Candrian Empire 3-31 Dancougar
Fujisawan Territories 13-17 Kura-Pelland
Norwellia 20-13 Lovisa



Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Dancougar 9 1 0 215 91 124 Q
2 Kura-Pelland 7 2 0 160 110 50
3 Fujisawan Territories 6 4 0 207 198 9
4 Secristan 5 4 0 145 114 31
5 Lovisa 3 6 0 156 192 -36
6 Norwellia 2 7 0 122 186 -64 E
7 Candrian Empire 1 9 0 115 229 -114 E


Group C:
Colbourne 20-7 Lucino
Newmanistan 34-30 Qazox
Sarzonia 23-10 Rennidan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Newmanistan 8 2 0 265 184 81
2 Qazox 7 2 0 235 139 96
3 Sarzonia 7 2 0 196 106 90
4 Rennidan 5 4 0 173 167 9
5 Tocrowkia 4 5 0 185 186 -1
6 Colbourne 2 8 0 131 193 -62 E
7 Lucino 0 10 0 82 292 -210 E


Qazox over Sarzonia on H2H result

With the game's final seconds ticking, a couple of players gathered with a Gatorade bucket behind coach Joe Gibbs. In their third attempt, the Sarzonian national gridball team earned their first-ever win over Rennidan, a 23-10 victory that put Sarzonia in the driver's seat for one of three Group C playoff berths.

They could give plenty of credit to Gavin Davis. When Rennidan's defence held running back LoQuan Willard to 47 yards on 12 carries before he left the game with what was later termed a "twisted right knee," Davis took over. He completed 30-of-47 passes for 416 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Stars.

Defensively, the Stars proved every bit as ferocious as the Brutes, sacking Rennidan's quarterback five times, recovering two fumbles and intercepting two passes. They punctuated the victory with a safety as safety Chris Horton barreled into Rennidan's running back before he could squeeze the ball out of the end line.

Gibbs was displeased when the sticky liquid poured down his back and over his ever-present Stars baseball cap. However, he didn't have much else to be disappointed by. Even though the Stars lost the time-of-possession battle, they won their fifth consecutive match, drawing them level with Qazox for second place in the group, just a half game behind group leader Newmanistan.

"I'd have liked to have done better with the ground game," Gibbs said. "Still, we were pleased that we were able to match [Rennidan's] intensity. We're going to need all the help we can get against Qazox."

To wit: the Stars have never defeated the Pheonix in three tries, including a 20-7 loss at Hendrix Stadium on Matchday 5. The Stars lost in double-overtime when they were known as the Stingers, 26-23 in a second round fixture in Qazox during the fourth World Bowl. They lost 26-20 in overtime in Newmanistan during World Bowl V quarterfinal action.

"We're not worried about revenge," Willard said, eyeing an ice pack that wrapped around his knee. "We just want to win the match." If the Stars win, they would likely need Newmanistan to defeat Rennidan to ensure the Stars advance to the knockout rounds. However, Davis said he wanted his team to take care of business itself.

"We can't rely on other teams," Davis said. "This group is too tough."

Fitin Falcons Hold On, Assure Second Round Berth

The name Steroga does not really strike fear in the hearts of fans around the world. The rogans lost in their first game against the Falcons 17-0 in an easy shutout, but in game two of the group stage the Rogans gave tha Falcons a run for their money. In the end the Falcons might have won the game, but based on the storyline throughout they have some work to do if they are to go deep into the playoffs. Speaking of the playoffs the Falcons assured their spot with this win as they are assured at least third in the group do to their doubling up over the Cassadaigans. The Falcons still have 3 games to go in the season, but it looks as though they will not need to go all out now that they are in it. Though they will at least try to win all the games, and try to beat the Arroza Hornets and not lose to the bottom feeders.

The game was an eventful one. As stated earlier the Falcons were fored to go all out against the upstart Sterogans. They were down through most of the game and just were barely able to pull it out with a last quater surge. The Sterogans were infact up 10-6 untill the last half of the fourth quarter. In the first half the Rogans capitalised on a bad Falcon punt and scored an early touchdown to put them up 7-0, and would later kick a field goal. Falcon Kicker Martin Gramatica scored 2 Field Goals in the second half from 45, and 47 yards. In the second half the Falcons were unable to score until the last minutes. Max Hope was able to break through the suprisingly good Sterogan defense for a 77 yard field goal. Then Gabe Martin found Ohcho cinco for th efive yard TD that won the game.

Coming off of dropping two straight games, one to the Stars and the other to the Rockets, the Nordics aren't quite out of the play-off picture yet, but still are doubtful to reach the second stage. However, Nordics players still have their heads held high. They managed not to get absolutely pummeled like many expected and in fact, even contended for awhile.

"I'm proud of the way played. I'm proud of the way we will continue to play." Said Markus Kash. "I mean those games we lost, the last two weren't routs by any means. We were in them the whole time, I thought. Especially against the Rockets. Now after this bye, maybe we can finish our World Bowl with a couple of more wins. Give our fans something to smile about before the WBC starts."

Katie’s Space

Fading away. In order to qualify for World Bowl 6, we needed to have one of these top three teams slip up just enough for us to be able to slide in there. But so far there have been no upsets from the bottom three teams in the group to help us out, and our head to head record against the top is starting to do us in. Losing to Taeshan twice during the group stage hurts us a lot, and Arroza bounced back well at home to beat us by a couple touchdowns. That wasn’t the killer, it was the game against Taeshan that was. We fall victim to their doing some crazy whacked out play that ends up in a touchdown while our defense had stymied their offense. We absolutely did not see that coming. Why would we? Their offense sucks. Steroga almost helped us, but almost isn’t going to cut it. I guess when you have experience, and you have confidence like Taeshan does, you’re free to go to the back pages of the playbook a little more. Yeah, whatever. We lost the damn game and it stings. We’re so stunned by that, that Arroza goes off and takes a 17-0 lead against us before there’s even five minutes gone in the second quarter.

It’s fading away, but can it be resurrected? Certainly. With two games to go, we must win them both. Our final two games are home against Vephrall and at Steroga. The key team here is Vephrall. If we’re going to knock someone out, it’s going to have to be them. After playing us, they host Prux and travel to Arroza. If we win and also beat Steroga, and if Arroza then beats Vephrall, and a probable Vephrese win over Prux, we will both be 8-4. From there, I believe it comes down to point differential. It would be great if Prux helped us against Vephrall. Hey, Prux, you remember how greatly we helped you out in World Bowl 5 with the big win over Green Wombat and you said you owed us one? Well, we’ll collect that payment by you defeating Vephrall. Funny how things can work out sometimes.

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record

Hurricane keep it close but lose by four against Arrows

The Hurricane followed up an important four point win over Secristan with another close game, though this time they were on the losing end. The team blew a 13-10 lead with seconds left in the game to lose a heartbreaker in their home stadium. Crosscom Global Arena was packed, and for nearly the whole game, the fans had much to cheer about. The Hurricane took an early lead on their first possession with an Osamu Koyami six yard touchdown run on third and goal. It would be the only score until Shisakit Munie kicked a thirty two yard field goal with 1:29 left in the first half to head to the locker rooms with a 10-0 lead at halftime. Curtis Chainey took the opening kickoff of the second half eighty two yards for a Kura-Pelland touchdown, cutting the Hurricane lead to three. With 3:48 left in the third quarter, Kura-Pelland tied the game at ten apiece on a twenty three yard Tim Pogley field goal. The Hurricane took back the lead on a forty six yard kick from Shisakit Munie at the top of the fourth quarter, and they would hold that 13-10 lead until Kura-Pelland scored a touchdown on their final drive. With :13 left in the game, Tristan Del Horno caught a fourteen yard touchdown reception to win the game for the Kura-Pelland Arrows. Following the kickoff return, Kudo’s desperation hail Mary fell incomplete.

Lovisa is next up for the Hurricane, and the early evening game will be played at Crosscom Global Arena. It will be Fan Appreciation Night, and the fans will be able to meet the team on the field before the game, chatting up and getting autographs from the Hurricane’s star players. Lovisa, with only three wins on the season should be an easy target for the Hurricane, and Kudo and Baja should have a big game. This may very well be the last game to be coached by Rai Lo, as he is actively contemplating retiring from the Hurricane’s coaching staff. Lo is expected to make a final decision by the start of the playoffs. Lo was promoted to head coach after the Hurricane failed to qualify for the playoffs in the World Bowl V season, replacing Ei’ichi Date. Lo took a leave of absence during week 4, only committing to coaching home game, when his daughter was critically injured in a serious car accident. Lo’s daughter remains hospitalized but is expected to be released within the week, and will spend a few months in a care home before ultimately moving in with her parents. Lo has told reporters that taking care of his paraplegic daughter takes priority over coaching the Hurricane, and has suggested that Adam Howard would be a fine replacement.

Schedule (6-4)
vs. Candrian Empire W 23-7
vs. Dancougar L 6-23
vs. Secristan W 17-10
@ Kura-Pelland L 24-30 (OT)
@ Lovisa W 30-20
BYE
vs. Norwellia W 34-23
@ Candrian Empire W 24-22
@ Dancougar L 30-16
@ Secristan W 20-16vs. Kura-Pelland L 13-17
vs. Lovisa
BYE
@ Norwellia

http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/6681/admiralslogo.png

New Name Decided: Admirals Wins with 64% of the vote. Also Matchday 11 Report!

Well, some of you have noticed the new look at the top of the page today. That's right, the Ministry of Sport and Tourism has finally tabulated the votes and the Admirals have been chosen as the new nickname for the Arrozan National Teams. Sources inside the Ministry say that the vote was completed on schedule after Match Day 10, but the name was delayed over three weeks in order to coincide with the arrival of the new Open Seas Fleet from Sarzonia's, Portland Iron Works. In a mastery of synergy, the announcement was held atop the new flagship of the Navy, the Pocket Super Dreadnaught, the NB Juneteenth. And with the teams change in title, the Arroza Sports Journal has changed too. We are now going to be a separate pull-out section in your local newspaper, easily identifiably by the shiny, colorful logo that you see on the top of the page.

Well with so much domestic news going on, you could almost be forgiven for forgetting about last night's game at Fletcher Field. The Cassadaiguans are going to need to take a minute to get this one out of their mind, as they were completely outclassed in the return match at Arroza, losing by the final score of 24-10. but the score wasn't really a close as it looked, as the home team ground out over one hundred and twenty yards on the ground in the first half in route to a 17-3 halftime lead. Arif Bassem started the scoring, with a sparking ground run from 12 yards out where he froze the safety with a brilliant false pitch before taking it to the house. Hailey scored the second touchdown en route to a 107 yard rushing day that saw him go off to blistering applause in the third quarter. At 17-3 at the half, it was nothing for the defense to buckle down and finish off the game in classy fashion. Unfortunately for the Femme Fatales, this loss has got to knock them out of competition for the last spot of qualifying unless some very unexpected events come across the scoreline in the next month.

That's not our concern however. What's next for the Admirals is a trip to the frozen pit of WonderPark in Fadron, Taeshan to play the Fitin Falcons in a battle for Group A supremacy. With a win against the Falcons, the Admirals will secure the tie-breaker, automatically gain admission to Secristan's knockout rounds, and basically secure either the 1 or 2 spot in the playoffs. Temperatures in Fadron are scheduled to be in the low teens, a seeming rebuttal by mother nature for the heat wave that sent temperatures into the mid-90's for Taeshan's trip to Atalanta. Luckily, neither of these teams play a finesse based game. Raw power is going to be the calling card of the day in these inhuman conditions. We at the ASR, think that the newly christened Admirals are going to have enough mativation and skill to win this game in a low scoring punch-fest 10-7.

Fitin' Falcons Ready For Battle Royale

It is time again for one of the biggest matches of the second half, it is right up their with the games earlier against Cassadaigua, and Vephrall. This game though may take a new light because it is the third challenge of the second half for the Falcons, and if they don't win it they may not get the coveted top team, and top 3 spot in the playoffs. They will need to win this game, and hopefully turn this win into some momentum to finish out this season with a great surge.

In the first game ever that the two teams met earlier this season the Arrozans then known as the Tar hornets won, probally due to their better scoring ability. More recently both teams have gone on a long winning streak Taeshan since that games loss, and the Arrozans since falling to Vephrall in the final week before half. Game one had been in Atlantea, Arroza a really hot city and the Falcons were not ready for the heat and it seemed to affect them and might have caused them to lose. This time though the game is in the harshly cold conditions of Taeshan and the Falcons will look to give the newly rechristenedd Admirals their first loss in a road game after practically freezing to death. The Falcons of course may lose, but it is fact that they will be good enough on this day.

This matchday 12 cutoff is brought to you by Rick's Sporting Goods.
Football, soccer, baseball, or anything else, we got what you need. Probably.

Group A:
Cassadaigua 23-13 Vephrall
Prux 7-6 Taeshan
Cotenshire 0-10 Steroga


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Arroza 8 2 0 228 107 121
2 Taeshan 8 2 0 131 70 61 Q
3 Vephrall 7 3 0 176 118 58
4 Cassadaigua 7 4 0 190 150 40
5 Prux 2 7 1 83 154 -71 E
6 Cotenshire 2 9 0 106 210 -104 E
7 Steroga 1 8 1 46 151 -105 E

Arroza ahead of Taeshan on H2H (1-0)
Taeshan has qualified as they cannot lose tiebreaker to Cassadaigua, Arroza could. All potential tie scenarios that would see Taeshan and Cassadaigua in would put Taeshan over Cassadaigua. A possible 3-way tie scenario that would involve Arroza, Vephrall, and Cassadaigua would see Vephrall through, and Arroza and Cassadaigua then determined by PD. That gap may be large, but we can't call it official!

Group B:
Dancougar 20-23 Secristan
Kura-Pelland 24-7 Norwellia
Fujisawan Territories 27-6 Lovisa



Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Dancougar 9 2 0 235 114 121 Q
2 Kura-Pelland 8 2 0 184 117 67
3 Fujisawan Territories 7 4 0 234 204 30
4 Secristan 6 4 0 168 134 34
5 Lovisa 3 7 0 162 219 -57 E
6 Norwellia 2 8 0 129 210 -81 E
7 Candrian Empire 1 9 0 115 229 -114 E


Group C:
Lucino 3-30 Tocrowkia
Qazox 27-24 Sarzonia
Newmanistan 17-13 Rennidan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Newmanistan 9 2 0 282 197 85 Q
2 Qazox 8 2 0 262 163 99 Q
3 Sarzonia 7 3 0 220 133 83
4 Tocrowkia 5 5 0 215 189 26 E
5 Rennidan 5 5 0 186 184 2
6 Colbourne 2 8 0 131 193 -62 E
7 Lucino 0 11 0 85 322 -237 E


Tocrowkia ahead of Rennidan on PD. Tocrowkia is eliminated due to 0-2 H2H record against Sarzonia. Sarzonia and Rennidan are 1-1 in H2H and it will come down to point differential. Though the gap is large, we can't call it official!

It didn't look good at first. The Fujisawan Territories - a team beaten at Shanvley only in OT - were 10-0 up, and their defense was dominating. The home fans were loving it. "De-fense! De-fense!" was about all one could hear throughout the first half.

But this game's not just about offense and defense. Special teams can turn games around. One weak kickoff, two huge blocks and 82 yards later, Curtis Chainey was in the endzone. 10-7 the score, and suddenly the momentum shifted.

The home side were forced to punt from just past midfield on their first possession of the half, and the Arrows put together the kind of drive for which they are famous worldwide, solid and patient. The 15-play, 82-yard drive took almost nine minutes off the clock, and although a huge goal-line stand kept the team out of the endzone, Tim Pogley had the kind of field goal he'd make with his eyes shut. 10-10. The hosts regained the lead with three on their next possession, but there was a sense that the old Arrows were back.

And back they were. After some great defensive interventions - and a missed 54-yard FG try from Graham Brightman with six minutes on the clock - the Arrows had the ball on their own 6 at the two-minute warning with the score still 13-10 to the home side. This is the sort of situation Michael Bernard was made for.

Apparently, Freddie Mathers was made for it too. On his first play, he picked out Brandon Walters with a pass released so quickly you'd never know it was snapped in the first place. Walters took it out of bounds at the 14, and the Arrows went four-wide, with just Mackail-Smith in the backfield. They promptly ran a draw play to Mackail-Smith, who took it for five and a first down an inch short of the 20. Going no-huddle, there was 1:40 on the clock when Mathers threw wide to Matt Paines, who took an excellent catch on the sideline at the 27 before being written out.

On the drive went. Slowly. Too slowly, it seemed; there were less than twenty seconds left and only one timeout when Curtis Chainey took a short pass and stormed forward 17 yards before he went out of bounds at the 14. At least now it was clear that Pogley would get a field goal, and Mathers had a choice as to whether or not to play for just that and yet another spot of overtime against this side. He hinted at an answer in the affirmative with a two-TE, two-RB set, then called play action. The defence bit, and Tristan Del Horno was all alone in the endzone for the game-winning TD with thirteen seconds on the clock.

"This is what the Arrows are all about," Mathers said after the game. "Gutsy performances and winning in the clutch. I'm proud of this win more than any other because we worked so hard for it, all of us, and I proved that I can follow in the footsteps of the great Michael Bernard, who has been my inspiration as a player for many years."

Few could argue with that.

Kura-Pelland are now 7-2, and all but assured of a playoff berth - probably in second place in Group B behind Dancougar. They have three games left, of which by far the greatest test will be against Secristan, who will most likely need to win to have a chance at partaking in the playoffs they will play host to.

All good things come to an end.

For the Sarzonian national gridball team, that saying held true when Qazox rallied from a 14-3 deficit to defeat the Stars 27-24 in Sarzonia's final qualifying stage match away from Hendrix Stadium.

The victory clinched a playoff berth for the Pheonix (8-2), who remained a half-game behind Newmanistan for the Group C lead when the Rockets defeated Rennidan 17-13. For the Stars (7-3), they are now two games ahead of both Rennidan and Tocrowkia with two matches remaining.

"We haven't clinched anything yet," said coach Joe Gibbs. "We had an opportunity to, but we couldn't make the plays we needed to."

Sarzonia began the match looking like a team that would punch its ticket into the knockout rounds early. Even though running back LoQuan Willard was slow to get going, he finished the game with 93 yards rushing on 22 carries. The Stars rode the right arm of quarterback Gavin Davis, who completed 18-of-31 passes for 277 yards and three touchdowns.

"You can't blame Gavin for tonight's loss," said left tackle Tim Lacker. "Coach Gibbs has been working with him on his footwork in the pocket and he's doing better at avoiding sacks. Still, the Phenoix defence sacked Davis twice for a total of 21 yards of losses.

"I held the ball too long," Davis said. "I was looking downfield and waiting for [wide receivers Willie Brooks and Dave Coles] to get open. I knew [H-back Clark] Hennessy was open. I should have hit him." A completion to Hennessy on third and 10 at the Qazox 49 yard line likely would have allowed the Stars a field goal attempt that would have made the score 27-20 with two minutes remaining in regulation. Instead, the Pheonix got the ball back on their own 31 with 2:51 to go and all three timeouts remaining.

"They just did a better job in the two-minute than we did. Plain and simple," said defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. "We should have stopped them."

"Give Qazox credit," Gibbs said. "They made the plays at home when they absolutely had to."

Sarzonia play their final two matches at home, starting with a fixture against 2-8 Colbourne, who had a bye. The Stars finish the qualifying stage with a match against world No. 3 Newmanistan at Hendrix Stadium. Tickets for that match are already sold out. However, Gibbs said the team would not look past Colbourne.

"There's a reason they're No. 16 in the world," Gibbs said. "We can't afford to take them or anyone lightly."

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

Clinging to life and without the starting backfield, the Secristan Millionaires kept pace for a World Bowl VI spot by doing what no team has ever done: beat Dancougar in Bradford.

After dominating the Candrian Empire 31-3, a game which saw the touchdown runs by Casey Pendleton and Logan Dublin, the Wings saw their nine-game winning streak grind to a halt against a gritty Secristan team that has been fighting off-the-field issues from star players Tom Mitchell and Chris Hausler. Unheralded backups Jerry Eiseman and Casey Stewart started instead and helped get the road upset, probably lodging the strongest argument yet that merit may have a place in the Millionaire locker room after all.

"Secristan played with a lot more heart than we did today and they deserved the win," said Will Moohim. "Their playoffs have already started. What we need to learn from this game is the kind of focus is takes to play calmly when you're in survival mode. We need to show that same heart because there are going to be eight very good teams between us and the title."

Fans at the Jared Koeppel were treated to a back and forth game which the Millionaires doggedly refused to cede to the hosts, who had in their history survived three overtime scares were still 25-0 all-time coming in. They tried to put the full weight of that history behind them by taking a 10-0 lead after a quarter of play behind a touchdown run by Dublin and a Seth Cavallo field goal. Eiseman also had a choppy start by throwing an interception on his team's second drive, which led to the touchdown.

But he took command in the second quarter and tied the game. A defensive stop set him up on his own 45, excellent field position, and he quickly established a rhythm with short completions to Stewart and Brian Brissard. The drive culminating in a 10-yard pass to Brissard that was followed by another of his unorthodox celebrations. Brissard took a Sharpie out of his sock and autographed the ball. Fans were fully prepared to toss it back if he threw it into the stands, but instead, Brissard then took out a cameraphone, snapped a picture of the ball, set up an eBay auction, and danced into the locker room to stash it for safe-keeping.

A field goal by Ryan Norris made it 10-10 but gave Franklin Gelbach plenty of time to retake the lead. But Gelbach, who had two touchdown passes against the Candrians, turned the ball over inside the red zone and Secristan ended the half drawn level.

"I came out a little flat, but I didn't feel like at any time that they had control," said Gelbach. "I made some bad throws and that's all there is to it."

He made some better throws to start the second, guiding his team to a 17-10 lead after connecting with Billy Leuthold for an 18-yard score on the team's second drive of the half. Gelbach has reinvigorated the Dancougar passing game, as the team has more than doubled its first half point total in one fewer game. But the defense has also been yielding more points as they struggle to keep up the manic pace with which they started. By the fourth quarter, Secristan had gained the lead after a 35-yard run by Stewart set up a three-yard score that saw him push linebacker Roderick Danbury back on the way into the endzone. Norris added a field goal on their next drive to make it 20-17.

The Wings responded with a two-pronged running attack. Dublin and Pendleton both saw action on the game-tying drive, although Mark Delmore's huge stop on 3rd and 2 kept the Wings out of the endzone. Cavallo connected to make it 20-20 with about five minutes remaining.

"We just needed to get a stop and that would be it," said Kendrick Lynch. "We had confidence in our offense, that if we gave them a few minutes, they could get the winning score."

But Secristan, playing for their playoff lives, put together the kind of drive that makes Dancougar fans salivate. They ate up nearly all the remaining game clock and forced the Wings to burn all their timeouts in an attempt to preserve some time. But Stewart was a man possessed. His runs kept the offense churning and set up Eiseman for play-action, and the Millionaires slowly drove into field goal range. The Wing blitz could not turn the tide. Ryan Norris hit from 28 yards with just 39 seconds left to give his team the lead.

They would keep it. Four straight incompletions by Gelbach capped a win that keeps the Millionaires even with the Fujisawan Territories with four losses and a game in hand.

Moohim didn't seem too worried, even going so far to announce that Franklin Gelbach and most other starters will only play the first half against Lovisa despite the increased likelihood that point differential will decide if Dancougar has a number one seed or not... that is, if they win. "If you look at the teams at the top, there's not much between them, so I'm not putting much on the one seed," said Moohim. "I'm not convinced that the one vee eight will be significantly easier than a four vee five or anything else."

Trippin' on Email

Three cheers for Jerry Eiseman. Guy obviously has some clout to get on the team, but who knew who he was until tonight? Now that the Wings have suffered their first-ever home loss, they might be a little more motivated to play hard every down.

William C.
Bradford

To say that Dancougar wasn't putting forth maximum effort is a bit of an insult to the team, but they were indeed outplayed. The Millionaires had to adjust their offense to accommodate Eiseman and Stewart, and as a result, our defense did look a little confused on some plays. That win keeps the heat on the Fujisawan Territories and is going to make these last two games exciting to watch.

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Prux?! Did anyone see that coming?

Yuji K.
Hakodate

Taeshan have a crushing defensive team, but the offense has at times lacked stability. I don't know if I've seen a team that relies on so many big plays, but Prux did an excellent job against their regional rivals and may have provided other teams with a blueprint of how to deal with the Falcons in the postseason.

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Out of the three groups, which has the most compelling qualifying race?

Howard G.
Aiken City

I think Group A looks most intriguing. Cassadaigua downed Vephrall earlier today, a huge result for them, which makes for some nightmarish tiebreaking scenarios depending on how these last few games play out. I think the best team left behind will come from this group. Although Secristan are going to cause problems in Group B and shouldn't be overlooked, either.

Ignore that. Woody Paige just told me to look at the schedule.

[SIZE="5"]Option Power Sweep
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/5619/optionsweep.png


This play starts in the Hurricang Wing offensive Formation. Bassem goes behind center. At the snap Arraza seals off the Defensive end, ceeating a corner for the runners to go around. Coffin precedes the runners to take out the strong side linebacker and Chadwick blocks the cornerback. This should leave Bassem with an open lane to run, and the option to pitch the ball to the speedy Hailey who has come around the end, behind the formation.


The formation reminds me a lot of the Wildcat, but you realize this play wouldn't really work if it's an option, right? In the option the DE on the run side is not blocked because that's the read for the option (ball goes where the DE isn't playing). TE would pull right and seal off the corner, fullback would take the safety, and the RT would shoot up to take the runside OLB.

Decent attempt, though, and I applaud you for the effort.

Well, it's official. The Nordics have been eliminated from play-off contention due to a H2H sweep by the Stars of Sarzonia. But hot of the heels of a 30-3 blowout of Lucino, you could hardly tell this wasn't a play-off caliber team. "We just got the short end of the stick. They [Sarzonia] played better than us in those matches and that's the reason they're moving on and we're not." Running back Vater said after the game.

Even though the Nordics have been eliminated from the play-off race, they still have games left to play and vow to continue their work, if only for the reason that more wins would make them a higher seed for the next World Bowl.

Falcons to Heed Warning

The fitin' Falcons lost a big game last week. If you don't know what im talking about, then you are definetly not a human living in Taeshan which means you probally stole this from someone. But anywas the Falcons lost in horrible fashion last week to region rivals Prux. The Pruxians who have recently again fallen under the status of Qazian protectorate barely beat the Falcons, but still it should hav never happened. Many players and coaches have said they will look to see this game as a warning that if they don't practice they will end up losing, and thats not something they want to happen.

The Falcons returned home after the game bewildered and unbelieving. The fact that they even lost or in fact let them score really ticked them off. It has been stated by many players that they want revenge for this injustice. Many infact have plans to take it out on the visiting newly christened Admirals of Arroza next. The Admirals are the only other to besides the horrendous Pruxian Statesmen that have beaten the Falcons and this game will add even more into the fire that wants to win.

No one sponsored this MD13 cutoff for fear it would bring them bad luck.

Group A:
Taeshan 17-10 Arroza
Steroga 0-16 Cassadaigua
Vephrall 20-10 Prux


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Taeshan 9 2 0 148 80 68 Q
2 Arroza 8 3 0 238 124 114
3 Vephrall 8 3 0 196 128 68
4 Cassadaigua 8 4 0 206 150 56
5 Prux 2 8 1 93 174 -81 E
6 Cotenshire 2 9 0 106 210 -104 E
7 Steroga 1 9 1 46 167 -121 E

Qualifying scenario: Winner of Arroza vs Vephrall in MD14 qualifies. The loser will then need to out-do Cassadaigua in PD as Cassadaigua is 1-1 in H2H against both.

Group B:
Norwellia 20-7 Candrian Empire
Lovisa 7-10 Dancougar
Secristan 20-27 Kura-Pelland


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Dancougar 10 2 0 245 121 124 Q
2 Kura-Pelland 9 2 0 211 137 74 Q
3 Fujisawan Territories 7 4 0 234 204 30 Q
4 Secristan 6 5 0 188 161 27 E
5 Norwellia 3 8 0 149 217 -68 E
6 Lovisa 3 8 0 169 229 -60 E
7 Candrian Empire 1 10 0 122 249 -127 E


Fujisawan Territories has qualified as they would win the tiebreaker over Secristan. (2-0 H2H). Norwellia is ahead of Lovisa due to their 2-0 H2H advantage.

Group C:
Sarzonia 31-24 Colbourne
Rennidan 13-3 Lucino
Tocrowkia 17-24 Qazox


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Newmanistan 9 2 0 282 197 85 Q
2 Qazox 9 2 0 286 180 106 Q
3 Sarzonia 8 3 0 251 157 94 Q
4 Rennidan 6 5 0 199 187 12 E
5 Tocrowkia 5 6 0 232 213 19 E
6 Colbourne 2 9 0 155 224 -69 E
7 Lucino 0 12 0 88 335 -247 E


Newmanistan over Qazox due to 2-0 H2H.

At the start of qualifying for World Bowl VI, some prognosticators predicted the Sarzonian national gridball team would miss out on the playoffs because they were drawn into a brutal Group C. World No. 3 Newmanistan, No. 4 Qazox and No. 8 Rennidan were all ranked higher than Sarzonia's No. 10.

Coach Joe Gibbs said from the beginning that "an outstanding team" would miss the postseason. After Sarzonia's 31-24 victory over Colbourne in front of 58,836 at Hendrix Stadium in Woodstock, the Stars ensured that they wouldn't be that team. Their victory also eliminated Rennidan, who defeated Lucino 13-3.

"We certainly know how to create drama for ourselves," Gibbs said with his trademark cackle. "It was a tough game against a prideful Colbourne side, but we pulled it out."

For that, Gibbs has quarterback Gavin Davis to thank. Davis completed 20 of 31 passes for 288 yards and three touchdown passes, setting the stage for running back LoQuan Willard to run wild. Willard ran 27 times for 188 yards and a touchdown, allowing the Stars to build a 31-10 third quarter lead.

Colbourne (2-9) rallied in the fourth quarter, getting two touchdowns in a span of 2:18 with an onside kick thrown in, cutting the Stars lead to seven with 1:45 remaining. However, safety Chris Horton recovered Colbourne's second onside kick attempt, allowing Davis to kneel down three times with Colbourne out of time outs.

"We're going to have to do a better job defensively," said defensive tackle Ryan Clack. "We had [Colbourne] down and should have driven the nail in the coffin. The fact we didn't isn't going to bode well for us against the Rockets."

Sarzonia (8-3) faces its final qualifying stage matchup against Newmanistan, which comes into the contest off its bye week. The Rockets are 9-2, and would clinch the Group C title with a victory. However, if the Stars win and Qazox (9-2) loses to Rennidan at home, it would create a messy scenario atop Group C. Newmanistan has defeated the Pheonix twice, but Qazox have defeated the Stars twice. If Sarzonia win, they would have defeated Newmanistan twice, giving all three Group C teams identical 2-2 records against their fellow tri-leaders.

"I'm not even going to try to figure that scenario out," Davis said. "No matter what happens, if Qazox defeats Rennidan, it becomes moot. We just want to take care of business ourselves."

If Sarzonia defeat Newmanistan, they will finish ahead of the Rockets for second place in Group C and would likely avoid the play-in match for the eighth and ninth seeds. Willard said the team would prefer not playing that match, but said the team would play hard if they ended up playing in it.

"We'd rather get a bye into the quarterfinals, but if we have to play it, we won't care," he said. "We'd rather play in the play-in match than go back home to Sarzonia."

For the Stars, advancing to the knockouts for the third consecutive World Bowl provides the team with a sense of healing after the tragic deaths of coach Jim Zorn and defensive coordinator Greg Blache before the World Bowl, Davis said.

"Absolutely. There's nothing like success to provide some salve for this team," he said. "We thank coach Zorn and coach Blache for what they did for us and we wish their families well. We hope they're enjoying watching us do well."

Fitin' Falcons Win Big

In perhaps one of their biggest wins ever, besides the win that showed that they were the best team to enter the original Gridiron World Football Championships, before many of the teams, the Falcons defeated the newly rechristened Arroza Admirals 17-10. In the first game earlier this year the then named Tar Hornets defeated the Falcons on their warm home turf in Atlantea, but this time the Falcons hosted it on their frigidly cold field with a frozen field and an average temperature of 14 degrees. The Falcons prooved to be better on this day, and have assured a top two finish with the two and three teams playing each other.

The Falcons won the game by doing what they have been unable to do many times before. In most of their loses in the history of the team they fall due to great defense, but not enough offense to put the defense to good use. This time though the Falcons were able to have good defense, and still score two touchdowns, and a Field Goal against one of the best teams in the world. In the first half the Admirals and the Falcons were at each others throats trying to score. The Arrozans started the game with its first points on a 33 yard Field Goal, which was fastly followed by Martin Gramaticas 40 yarder to tie it up. Then both teams scored touchdowns in the second with the Falcons being a seventy yard Max Hope carry. Which was followed in the third by another 70 yarder by Hope in what ended up being the winning touchdown. Hope had over 250 yards in the game and is our player of the week. He was the biggest reason besides our defense as to why we won.

http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/6681/admiralslogo.png

Special Note: I haven't decided whether I want this to count for RP or not, [see related post in World Bowl Discussion Thread]

Andreas Tahlequah sat behind the big desk that was rightly afforded to him as the manager of the Arrozan National Football team. He had pushed his way up the pyramid of club games and crap teams in order to be at the right place exactly at the right time to take over as the international coach, a job that he had wanted since he was 18, and watched the Gridiron World Championships, even before Arroza was a recognized country, just a couple of nothing islands that were nominally thought to be part of Commerce Heights. He was one of the lucky ones from the slums of South-West Resurgens. One of those who had managed to make his way out of the hood through playing Gridiron, at Division II Granite Harbour Seaside, then into coaching the game for colleges across the country, to supporting the Independants in the Founding Elections, to taking the Admiral head job and building the team into what was once a juggernaut, truly one of the top teams in the world. Truly Tahlequah's slow death style was one that suited some of the country, and the teams greatness in gridiron was what put them on the map, even before entering into Atlantian Oceania's sphere of greater sporting influence. Basically said, he was a man who has made thousands of hard decisions, and who had mostly come our right on his thoughts.

So why was this decision so hard?

Does he go with loyalty, but with the assumption that it might never be paid back, or should he just seek to crush everything in his way? Should he try to let Vephrall into the World Bowl, and by doing so, try to engineer a matchup with his own private nemesis, the Dancougar Black Wings, or should he try to do as much as possible, even though the possibilities of coming in first in his group and getting the overall #1 seed are dashed in the wind?

THE ROCKET REPORT

FINALLY THE STRIKE ENDS

Pocono City- For those of you who rely on The Rocket Report for information concerning our sports, and in particular, this brand of football, we understand that things have been tough lately given the writer’s strike. Hopefully, with many important competitions coming up, such as the World Cup and the World Baseball Classic, all of us can get back to work under the terms of this new agreement. While it is disappointing that we could not get the kind of benefits that we were looking for, I think a lot of us have come to realize that being able to cover sports is a pretty special thing to do for a living.

We’re not going to go through and recap every game that has been played since the strike began, which was on the same week as our bye week during the first half. We’re sure there are other good sources out there to where this information can be retrieved, such as from the newswires of our opponents. Instead of backtracking, we’ll take you to the matter at hand, which is the Rockets having one more game of qualifying before they head to the playoffs. They have qualified thanks to a strong 9-2 record, which includes two wins over Qazox. If you’re keeping score, we have now beaten Qazox three of the last four times that we have played them, which is big because they used to always beat us. Of course, that one loss was a big one in the semifinal of World Bowl 5. Newmanistan is faced now with a game against Sarzonia, the nation that handed the Rockets their second loss of qualifying. At 8-3, the Stars have also qualified. With Qazox also 9-2 (and playing a disappointing Rennidan), Newmanistan can finish anywhere between first and third depending on the result of the game in Sarzonia. Furthermore, a loss could even send Newmanistan into the 8-9 playoff game. This is unlikely, but possible. The Rockets could also be the #1 overall seed. Also unlikely, put possible. Should Newmanistan win, then they are likely looking at the #2 seed, and playing the best third place team that makes it. This would probably be Sarzonia, unless Vephrall defeats Arroza, and then would give us Arroza. If we were too lose, then the #7 is likely ours, which would make us play the #2 seed. That would probably be Qazox again if they were to beat Rennidan, but Taeshan would also be possible. If we lost, and Vephrall defeated Arroza, then we are in that 8-9 game against the Fujisawan Territories. The Hurricane have qualified, but won’t be able to escape that game. Should Newmanistan blow out Sarzonia by forty or more points, then we will be the #1 seed. Yes, very unlikely, but we are obligated to inform of you of the possibility.

We’re sure that most of our loyal readers have been watching the games on TV, as after all, we don’t make you pay to watch them. Therefore, we’re sure you were able to get by during the writer’s strike. But now we are back, and ready to cover the conclusion of this, and the upcoming baseball and World Football competitions.

Special Note: I want this to count as an Arroza RP. J/k

Katie’s Space

So now we watch. It’s hard when your fate is going to be decided over something that you have no control over, but then you realize that you did have control over it. We had twelve games, and won eight of them, and played well in most of them. Our performance in Steroga was good when you keep in mind that after their first few games, they showed some amazing improvement on defense. An 8-4 record in this group is pretty strong when you consider that the chances of us qualifying did not look good at the start. At least now, we have a chance and it is not a far fetched one. Remember World Bowl 5 when Prux needed to make up 29 points of a point differential on the last day to qualify and benefitted greatly from our 27-point demolishing of Green Wombat. We won’t catch Arroza on point differential, obviously, so we need to pass Vephrall. Arroza has plenty to play for even though they have only realistically and not mathematically qualified since they would probably like to avoid the 8-9 game. Right now for us, we’d love that game. The Admirals, that’s Arroza’s new nickname by the way, must win by 13 or more points, and they will be at home. It can happen. If it doesn’t, I’d like to thank all of our fans for their support. But here’s to hoping the Admirals come through for us.

Here we go, Arroza, here we go!!

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record

PLAYOFF BOUND

Win or lose against Norwellia, the Hurricane are in the playoffs for the first time sine their inaugural season. That’s courtesy of a 27-20 Millionaires loss Kura-Pelland, securing a berth for the Hurricane due to head to head results with the Millionaires. But before it became official, the Hurricane demolished Lovisa 27-6 in Crosscom Global Arena. After the Hurricane were forced to punt on their first drive, a Lovisa field goal opened scoring with 8:11 left in the first quarter, but two Hurricane touchdowns would put Lovisa in a hole by quarter’s end. First, Oribaha “Baja” Hini caught a seven yard touchdown pass from Daisetsu Kudo on 3rd and goal. On Lovisa’s next drive, Akiro Sanawa returned an interception sixty three yards for a touchdown, to go up 14-3 at the end of the first quarter. Lovisa would find themselves in deeper trouble when Tanubo Shiragata scooped up a Lovisa fumble and took it thirty nine yards for the second defensive touchdown of the day, and a 21-3 score, 3:26 remaining in the second quarter. The second half opened with an explosive Lovisa drive that fizzled out on the Hurricane thirty six and ended with a Lovisa field goal. At the bottom of the third, Shisakit Munie kicked a forty eight yard field goal to extend the lead to 24-6, and midway through the fourth quarter, Munie would put the final points for the Hurricane on the board, for a 27-6 win.

The Hurricane close out their season with a road game against Norwellia, a team in the midst of their first World Bowl season, but the Hurricane are looking ahead to the playoffs, where they will face tough competition and won’t be favored to win. The last time the Hurricane were in the playoffs, they lost in the first round to Rennidan, and they will have to work hard to avoid the same fate this time round. Perhaps this season can be used as a building block for future World Bowl campaigns, but there is much doubt that the Hurricane can advance beyond their first playoff game. The Hurricane can relax this week, but will have to turn up the heat to play at the next level.

Schedule (7-4)
vs. Candrian Empire W 23-7
vs. Dancougar L 6-23
vs. Secristan W 17-10
@ Kura-Pelland L 24-30 (OT)
@ Lovisa W 30-20
BYE
vs. Norwellia W 34-23
@ Candrian Empire W 24-22
@ Dancougar L 30-16
@ Secristan W 20-16
vs. Kura-Pelland L 13-17
vs. Lovisa W 27-6
BYE
@ Norwellia

"Damned radio."

If there was one thing Sanani hated about long-distance drives, it was the unpredictability of the radio. One station fades in, another fades out, and the driver spends half his time looking for a new station to listen to.

124 kilometers left to Moje, the sign said of his final destination. Sanani had already been driving for several hours, having come from the western city of Netlas.

Aha! Success! 99.3 FM seemed to be some sort of sports radio station.

"-out some kind of match fixing maybe happening-"

"Oh come off it! You really think the Tar Hor--er, the Admirals are going to intentionally lose the match? You're off your rocker! Especially after what for them had to be a heartbreaker in Meice, the overtime field goal. Besides, what would they have against the Dagans?"

"Hey, I'm not saying I believe it, it's just a rumor I heard. I can't back that up at all."

"You and your ru-"

Oh slani hell, now the signal's gone out again. Sanani sighed and went back to pressing buttons on the control panel.

[OOC: Hooray for free hotel wifi!]

Find out soon who's going where. This is your matchday 14 cutoff.

Group A:
Arroza 24-23 Vephrall
Prux 10-7 Steroga
Taeshan 20-3 Cotenshire


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Taeshan 10 2 0 168 83 85 Q
2 Arroza 9 3 0 262 147 115 Q
3 Vephrall 8 4 0 219 152 67 Q
4 Cassadaigua 8 4 0 206 150 56 E
5 Prux 3 8 1 103 181 -78 E
6 Cotenshire 2 10 0 109 230 -121 E
7 Steroga 1 10 1 53 177 -124 E


Vephrall over Cassadaigua on PD. (H2H was 1-1)

Group B:
Candrian Empire 0-27 Secristan
Kura-Pelland 23-6 Lovisa
Norwellia 17-24 Fujisawan Territories


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Dancougar 10 2 0 245 121 124 Q
2 Kura-Pelland 10 2 0 224 143 81 Q
3 Fujisawan Territories 8 4 0 258 221 37 Q
4 Secristan 7 5 0 215 161 54 E
5 Norwellia 3 9 0 166 241 -75 E
6 Lovisa 3 9 0 175 242 -67 E
7 Candrian Empire 1 11 0 122 276 -154 E


Dancougar over Kura-Pelland on PD (H2H was 1-1)

Group C:
Colbourne 6-20 Tocrowkia
Qazox 26-14 Rennidan
Sarzonia 23-17 Newmanistan


Pos Team W L T PF PA PD
1 Qazox 10 2 0 312 194 118 Q
2 Sarzonia 9 3 0 274 174 100 Q
3 Newmanistan 9 3 0 299 220 79 Q
4 Tocrowkia 6 6 0 252 219 33 E
5 Rennidan 6 6 0 213 213 0 E
6 Colbourne 2 10 0 161 244 -83 E
7 Lucino 0 12 0 88 335 -247 E


Sarzonia over Newmanistan due to H2H sweep.
Tocrowkia over Rennidan on PD. (H2H was 1-1)

Playoffs:
Friday will be an off day.

Saturday: #8 Vephrall vs #9 Fujisawan Territories @ Monopoly Stadium, Amherst

Sunday:
#1 Dancougar vs Play-in winner @ Monopoly Stadium, Amherst
#2 Qazox vs #7 Newmanistan @ Loophole Life Insurance Stadium, Lakeland
#3 Taeshan vs #6 Sarzonia @ Megabyte Industries Stadium, East Penthoria
#4 Kura-Pelland vs #5 Arroza @ McDaniel’s Stadium, Key South

Monday:
#1/#8/#9 vs #4/#5 @ Loophole Life Insurance Stadium, Lakeland
#3/#6 vs #2/#7 @ Monopoly Stadium, Amherst

Tuesday:
3rd Place Game @ Megabyte Industries Stadium, East Penthoria
World Bowl 6 @ Monopoly Stadium, Amherst

About the Stadiums:
Monopoly Stadium- The largest and most modern stadium in the country, with capacity over 80,000. It is in Amherst, which is in Southwest Secristan and is the capital of the country. Other then all kinds of governmental buildings, there are also many prestigious universities. Urban Amherst is like any other city, but only millionaires and multi-millionaires can afford to live in the suburbs.

Loophole Life Stadium- In Lakeland, which is in the northeast part of the nation. The stadium has a capacity of about 65,000, but the stadium owners do the absolute minimum work in regards to stadium maintenance. If there were not a bidding process to select our home stadiums, it would never have been chosen.

Megabyte Industries Stadium- Located on the shores of the Penthoria River in Western Secristan, the 63,000-seat stadium has the best backdrop of all of our stadiums. East Penthoria is known for some nice beachfront property, and only the upper class can afford to live here. You can see the skyline of Newmanistan’s Dover City in the background.

Key South- Might sound like some kind of resort area, but it really isn’t. It’s in South Central Secristan, and is one of the more affordable places to live in the country. The Stadium is large, seating 74,000, but the sightlines aren’t necessarily the greatest.

Please advise your fans that bidding for tickets for the first round and the 8/9 game will begin at midnight.

With 14 seconds left in the game, Gavin Davis and the Sarzonian national gridball team faced fourth and 10 at the Rockets 40 and a six-point deficit.

Coach Joe Gibbs sent the play in. It was going to be a crossing route to H-back Clark Hennessey, but when Davis stepped to the line, he saw Newmanistan shift their nickel back to cover wide receiver Dave Coles. The same nickel back gave up a 40-yard reception to Willie Brooks that set up one of Sarzonia's three field goals.

Davis began to audible, then called for the ball. He took the snap, then saw the right defensive end get around left tackle Tim Lacker. He quickly changed to a bootleg, then heaved the ball toward Coles. The Sarzonian receiver sprinted, then dove. Fortunately for him and Davis, the ball floated into his hands as he landed in the end zone seconds before the nickel back could down him. Touchdown. Adam Novak put the exclamation point on the touchdown. 23-17 Sarzonia. He then squibbed the ball and made the saving tackle that ended things.

The final whistle gave Sarzonia a sweep of the series against the Rockets and a 9-3 record. It gave Gavin Davis a 24 for 37 passing day and 362 yards, not to mention two touchdowns. The Rockets held LoQuan Willard to 22 yards rushing on 11 carries, but Davis made up for it.

The Stars were in the playoffs. Everyone knew that. Now they knew they'd have to face the best defence in the entire competition, Taeshan's Fitin' Falcons. Sarzonia had the third best offence and the tournament's seventh best scoring defence, but they knew Taeshan would bring a defensive intensity they hadn't seen before.

"We're going to have to use every bit of time to prepare for this match," Gibbs said after drying himself off following another Gatorade bucket dousing. "Hey, it's going to be tough."

Perhaps. But for Sarzonia, the road to the playoffs was already tough. They weathered a stretch of five away matches in six fixtures and a two-match losing streak to teams ranked ahead of it in the world rankings, including a sweep by world No. 4 Qazox. They rolled to five consecutive victories and defeated the world's No. 3 team Newmanistan twice.

"We haven't finished," Davis said. "If we don't defeat Taeshan, all of the talk about how much progress we've made will have been a waste."

As for Gibbs, he validated Sarzonian gridball officials who coaxed him out of retirement following the tragic deaths of coach Jim Zorn and defensive coordinator Greg Blache.

"He has done a phenomenal job of preparing this team in light of the tragedy," one official said. "This may be his best coaching job of his career."

QSPN.com/WorldBowlVI Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_VI)

QAZOX 30
Newmanistan 34

QAZOX 27
Sarzonia 24

QAZOX 24
Tocrowkia 17

QAZOX 26
Rennidan 14


These are all the results, as fast as we could post them due to the 5 day electrical strom that has plagued Qazox. A 3-1 finish sees the Pheonix take the group title after a Sarzonia victory over Newmanistan, who handed Qazox their only 2 losses of the preliminary round.

And guess who we have to face to open up the playoffs? The Rockets.

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS SHOT DOWN BY STARS AGAIN

Sarzonia- Newmanistan was unable to avenge their earlier loss to the Stars of Sarzonia on the road, falling to Gavin Davis and company by the score of 23-17. Both nations conclude group play with a record of 9-3, each a game behind Qazox, who was 0-2 against us and 10-0 against everyone else. Perhaps then, we are the one team that Qazox did not want to play in the quarterfinal round. It brings back memories of World Bowl I, when the two nations were in the same group, and the Pheonix handed the Rockets their only two losses of the group stage, before meeting in the playoffs, also in the quarterfinal. Qazox completed the hat trick in that contest. Now, Newmanistan could return the favor.

But the match comes with disappointment, as the team wanted to avenge their loss to the Stars. Sarzonia plays very inspired football right now, as perhaps a little guidance from above shows them away. The tragic deaths of Jim Zorn and Greg Blache are something that are on the minds of all of their players, and while Joe Gibbs has done a great job in his coming out of retirement and putting his racing team on the back burner, it hasn’t been easy. My intern told me he has a racing team anyway, hopefully she didn’t confuse him with someone else. It’s hard to fathom how the Rockets could lose a game in which they kept the opponent’s star running back to 22 yards on 11 carries, but that was the case. The rushing defense, which has been extremely inconsistent really stepped up, but it would be at the expense of the secondary, which has been the strong part of our defense so far. Gavin Davis had a huge game, throwing for 362 yards and two touchdowns, completing 24 of 37 passes. Defensive coordinator Jim Connelly refuses to say that the team spent too much time focusing on Willard in practice that they were unprepared for Davis, but many who watched the game will probably think otherwise.

There were some bright spots for Newmanistan. Kenny O’Hara had a respectable game, going 18-for-28 for 206 yards, with one touchdown. Corey Parisi scored both touchdowns, one on a 38 yard run and the other on a 22 yard touchdown reception. Also, we should take some comfort in the effective of our front four in stopping the run. The team is not in bad shape as the playoffs are set to begin, and should have a lot of confidence in playing Qazox since they have handled them twice already. Not to mention, with our proximity to Secristan, we'll have more people able to bid more money for seats since their travel expenses will be lighter.

Wiki page is UPDATED!

http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/6681/admiralslogo.png

[Directly after the 24-23 win against Vephrall, home locker room]

“Coach, what the fuck were you thinking with some of the line-up changes you were making? I mean playing Major for 3 quarters after he proved that he did nothing? Playing Chadwick all game even though he's older then dirt, and about as fast? You better have some answers, because the more I look at it that looks like a game we should have won by 20 points, and we ended up winning by one. I certainly hope you have an explanation, because you might have just pissed off an entire nation, and one of the few places we actually have decent sports links with.”

“I don't have to explain anything to you, kid. You're a player, I'm the coach. Remember that, or you can ride the bench like everyone else.”

“Fine, you don't have to explain everything to me. But what about the press conference? Or the government? You better figure out what to say when they start coming after you. Because none of us here are going to defend you if you were intentionally trying to make us lose.”

With that said, Andreas went into the home coaches office. In the small mini-fridge next to his desk was his salvation, contained in the small bottle of peach Moonshine. He unscrewed the cap, and took a deep swig. It seemed like more and more everyday he needed the 100-proof liquor to hold himself together. Today he couldn't even take the press conference without the fire in his belly. He wondered for a second when his natural fire went out, and he had to start trying to re-create it chemically. More importantly, how was he going to get around the traps ahead of him? If people on his team noticed, certainly a couple of smart people in the press had to be close to putting 2 and 2 together to make 5.

[Foreign Media Press Conference:]

Coral Claspinnung, BCN Sports: “Is there any reason why you played a decrepit Abraham Chadwick for four quarters today when he's normally been playing 13 minutes per game?”

“This is going to be the last game that Abe ever gets to play in The National Stadium. He's been with us since the Thunder and Lightning attack of World Bowl I. So when it's time for his testimonial, I'm not going to take him out in front of this crowd. Next, you.”

Sam Arceneaux, A/O Expatriate Weekly: “So it's correct to say that you were not concerned with winning this game?”

“Not as much as I was concerned about beating Taeshan two weeks ago. I'm not trying to necessarily win Group 1. I'm trying to go back to back in the World Bowl. It's something no one's ever done before, not even Dancougar. So yeah, I played sub-standard backs to get our aces some rest. If you've noticed we have Kura-Pelland and Dancougar back to back on our playoff schedule.”

Coral Claspinnung, BCN Sports: “There have been reports that you would have wanted Vephrall to qualify ahead of Cassadaigua. Is there any truth to that?

“None at all. Vephrall got the good luck to be drawn in Matches 7 and 14, and generally we have a habit of not caring about and playing poorly in Match 14.”

Sarah Baldwin, Concord Heights Post: “So you didn't want Cassadiagua to not qualify as revenge for any of their past actions like Looper's attack on Chadwick during World Bowl IV? Or for their feminist policies, as you have a un-progressive all-male team?”

“I'm not going to get into my political views here, but you treat your men horribly. Maybe you should be more inclusive if you want your team to get farther.”

Coral Claspinnung, BCN Sports: “And what of the news that a distant cousin of yours from Southwest Resurgens, a Castor Smith was seen placing a 500,000 baht bet last night on the Auric Wolves to cover the spread? This is a man who makes supposedly 35 to 40,000 baht a year as a truck driver.”

“This interview is over.”

[A couple miles down the street, at the Ministry of Justice]

“You think we have enough to catch him for point-shaving?”

“Of course we do. There weren't just big bets made in Huracan, there was big money bets made in Qazox's New Bruxen Casinos, and in Secristan's casinos, both by guys that have connections to Tahlequah way back either from Resurgens or from his first football jobs.”

“So should we arrest him?”

“Let's see how he does in Secristan first. He brings back another trophy, we can just nudge him put of the limelight, and into a cozy retirement as the best gridiron coach ever. He loses...well if he loses he'll be coaching the club team at Angola State this time next year.”

In Other News:

Foreign Travel, LTD. Is reporting that they will bid for the entirety of Sections 112 through 116 in Secristan's McDaniels Stadium in order to secure seats for Admiral fans to travel to Key South. The economy of scale should mean that it will be easier to get entire sections. Prices for tickets and tour packages will be determined after they know how much the tickets cost.

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

"It's a trap, is what it is," said a grinning Logan Dublin after it was confirmed earlier today that the Wings would enter the World Bowl as top seed. "I mean, we're certainly capable of beating anyone whose left, but they're also capable of beating us. Arrows did that on day one. There's a lot of ten and two, nine and three up in there, and that tells you how good everybody is. So we can't let that number one go to our heads."

The confidence is nice, but more important is the recognition that not only is the world coming for Dancougar, they have all the necessary tools to make the kill. When all was said and done, the bigger, badder group stage produced nine worthy finalists, and Dancougar was one of four teams with a 10-2 record. But the tournament's second-best defense helped the team gain the number one overall seed on point differential, meaning the Wings will tackle either Vephrall or the Fujisawan Territories in their first knockout game.

But despite their placement, they no longer carry the air of invincibility that came from placing in each of the first four tournaments, including victories in the first and fourth edition. They suffered their first-ever loss to the Newmanistan Rockets in the quarterfinals in World Bowl V, and of the two teams to beat them in this qualifying stage, one of them - Secristan - ruined Dancougar's 25-game home winning streak despite not making the final tournament. So there's no reason to suspect that another unwanted first is, shall we say, waiting in the wings.

Arroza, perhaps? Should the Wings best their opening round opponent, the Arrows or Admirals would await in the next round, and the Arrozans' futility in the "Backyard Brawl" is well-noted. Or Kura-Pelland could get their first victory over Dancougar outside of their home turf. Or maybe we're looking too far ahead and the Wings are destined to go out in the quarterfinals once again.

One thing's for sure - the final field has probably never been tougher than it is this year. Sides like Vephrall and Sarzonia have now brushed aside any doubt that their programs are among the elite, the Fujisawan Territories held off a late-charging Secristan to get their high-flying offense into the final nine, and the rest of the traditional powers - Rennidan excluded, which tells you how difficult qualifying was - affirmed their quality.

If the Wings want to return to the Final Four of world gridiron, they're definitely going to have to play better than they did down the stretch. It seemed like the offense was finally starting to click under Franklin Gelbach and the team rolled up some impressive wins. But that ended at home to the Millionaires, who outlasted them 23-20. That was followed by a 10-7 victory over Lovisa that saw Gelbach and Co. open up a 10-0 first half lead before the backups let Lovisa back into it during their designated half of playing time. The bye week was hopefully a productive one, but Will Moohim remains ever positive.

"The margin of victory doesn't matter now, all that matters is the victory itself," he said. "I told the guys, every team left in this field can win three or four games at any time. We have to be the one to actually go out and do it. That means playing hard every down and showing the world some good Dancougar football."

Playing hard also means playing smart. That means we'll have no repeats of Tony Rorick, thank you. The man could play corner, but after guaranteeing a win over Newmanistan, he was conspicuously quiet during, and after, the game. We can do without turnovers. The four giveaways in the first Secristan game were atrocious and almost cost the team a victory. The Wings shouldn't out-think themselves on the field. Stick to the basics - jam the ball into their defensive front and keep doing that until they're worn down. Don't be afraid to use Pendleton and Hutchins alongside Logan Dublin. Short passes are good, too; just keep the ball moving.

The most important thing, though, is to not let their guard down. While we in the media tend to play up trends and streaks in the lead-in to a game, the team must put that aside and treat it like any other. After all, there's a first time for everything.

Take it to the ATM

Vephrall will topple the Fujisawans in the play-in game but will be unable to get past the Wings..... the Rockets, armed with the next best thing to home field advantage, will win in a shootout over the Phoenix..... Sarzonia's playoff run will come to an abrupt halt against the immovable force that is the Taeshan defense..... the Admirals will make it a tournament to remember by shaking off longtime thorn-in-the-side Kura-Pelland.

Lies, Lies, Lies...

1. Newmanistan fans will take a papier mache penguin named Sidney into a stadium parking lot and set it on fire for kicks while, inexplicably, their hotel several miles away simultaneously burns down.

2. Owen Powis will vent his frustration from Rennidan's 6-6 qualifying record with a new YouTube video, a music video tentatively titled "Get In Mah Belly (Dusty PAINsworth Remix)".

3. Not to be outdone, Tom Mitchell will be arrested for misconduct and indecent exposure after offering to "fire his Wave Motion Gun" into a Dancougaran female fan. His only defense will be, "Screw the rules, I have money," which becomes a national catchphrase.

Trippin' on Email

Shirvanian didn't look to impressive in the second half against Lovisa, but then again, no quarterback does without an O-line. What on Earth are we going to do if one of the starters gets hurt?

Chase P.
Kildare

Although the backups did conspire to let the Lovisa game almost get away from them, it didn't look to me like they were giving their full effort, which is something Moohim commented on after the game. It's one of the things he latched on when discussing the playoffs because he knows that this team, at a hundred and ten percent, can beat anyone. Hopefully we'll see some more urgency from the players now that a single play could determine everything.

----------

Getting tickets is bad enough with this crazy bid system, but now the travel expenses are killing us, too. The airlines are jacking rates into Secristan, which has to be some kind of antitrust thing, right?

Louis H.
Eastport

One of the hidden costs of flying into Secristan is that the airlines have to bid for gates at the airport itself, and when certain destinations become popular - take, for instance, World Bowl host cities - these bids can rise and gates start changing hands. This is reflected on our end as a price hike.

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Hey man, just following up on something I read from an earlier mailbag of yours... you're going to be gone for the opening round of the World Bowl? How am I going to get my fix?

Travis L.
Bradford

Rest easy, amigo. A planned trip affecting all Dancougar sportswriters, including those assigned to the World Cup and World Baseball Classic, was pushed back one week. So I'll be able to see the World Bowl through to the end, while other tournaments may suffer an interruption in their coverage, or at least a noticeable drop in quality.

Fitin Falcons Win Again

For the second time this season the Falcons took on the Cotenshire National team, and as in the earlier game the Falcons oppressed the Cotenshire Offense, and had their 1st, and now their second highest scoring games of the season. This time it was 20-3 and with the win the Falcons assured the top seed out of their group. They are the #3 #1 seed so they face off against #3 #2 Sarzonia.. The Stars will look to score many on the Falcons defense as it will be a powerfull Star offense versus a derailing Falcon defense. It may be one of the best first round games.

In their second most explosive game of the season the Falcons had two touchdowns. Gabe Martin found Trevor Karker for the games first touchdown on a 40 yard TD. Then Martin would later find Jack Cito from 30 out after a Cotenshire Field Goal making it 14-3 at the half. In the second Half the Falcons began to run away with the game as Martin Gramatica added two field goals from 40, and 37 yards out. Then the scoring stopped and after a few long minutes the Falcons were finally able to leave with their last win of the regular season. Next up, THE PLAYOFFS.

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record

The Hurricane season in review: the good, the bad, and the ugly

The Fujisawan Territories Hurricane have once again gotten themselves to the playoffs. While it was a difficult task considering they were drawn into Group B, which featured top tier teams like Dancougar and Kura-Pelland, the team fought hard every game and made their goals for the season. Following their 26-3 loss to Dancougar in Week 2, the Hurricane were 1-1 and their season seemed to be heading in a downward spiral, doomed from the start. The team only lost three additional games from that point on, finishing 8-4, third in their group. As an added bonus, the Hurricane swept their series with Secristan, a team many in the Territories had viewed as a contender before the start of the season. Off the field challenges had just as big an impact on the team as the opponents they faced week in a week out. We’ll take a look at what went right, what went wrong, and what should happen in the upcoming playoffs and beyond.

What went right

1. Sweeping the Millionaires
At the beginning of the season, qualifying seemed out of reach, with Dancougar, Kura-Pelland, and Secristan all in the same group. In order to even entertain the idea of reaching the playoffs, the Hurricane would have to pull off at least two upsets. Head coach Rai Lo was anticipating two losses to Dancougar, so the Hurricane would have to win against Kura-Pelland or Secristan. Week 3 provided the Hurricane their most significant game of the season because their 17-10 win put them one up over the Millionaires on head to head results and gave the Hurricane a 2-1 record to keep pace with the Dancougar Black Wings early on in the season. The second most important game was also against Secristan, as completing the sweep of the Millionaires with three games remaining all but assured a playoff berth for the Hurricane, as the Millionaires still had challenging upcoming games against Dancougar and Kura-Pelland at that point. A small amount of panic arose when Secristan upset Dancougar 23-20 in Week 12, but the Millionaires lost to Kura-Pelland 27-20 in the following week, and the Hurricane qualified for the playoffs.

2. Defense as offense
Throughout the season when offense drives stalled, the defense stepped up their game to not only harass opposing offenses, but also score points of their own. The impact of the Hurricane’s defensive scores cannot be overstated, as most games in which the Hurricane scored defensive points were close and decided only by a handful of points. The veteran talent on defense is quite energetic, and whenever their numbers are called, they go above and beyond the call of duty to put points on the board when the offense for whatever reason cannot produce.


Chi Jisats scored a safety against Lovisa in Week 5
Shibawa Fujitsu returned an interception 105 yards for a touchdown in the second game against the Candrian Empire, a game the Hurricane only won by two points. Chi Jisats also made a solid defensive stand in preventing points when he blocked a Candrian extra point attempt in the same game.
Kimo Nagasanaki took a Millionaires fumble eighty nine yards for a touchdown during the Hurricane's second game against Secristan, a game won by four points
Nakasanagi had two interceptions against Norwellia in the Hurricane's final game of qualifying, returning one sixty eight yards for a touchdown
Chi Jisats also rumbled in for a six yard touchdown on a Rainbow Warriors fumble in Week 14


3. Baptizing the rookie
During Week 1, with a 20-7 lead and 8:32 left in the game, then head coach Rai Lo made the decision to put rookie quarterback Kasmo Jit into the game to give him quality experience and a motivational boost. Jit is the future of the team, and if the scoring drive he put together against the Candrian Empire is any indication of things to come, then the Hurricane have a real keeper. Though the Hurricane were held to a field goal on that drive, it was well executed, and Jit showcased his smarts and ingenuity as the Hurricane drove deep into Candrian Empire territory. Lo made the right choice, a brilliant one, in testing one of his future stars. When he finally takes over as starting quarterback, the Hurricane will know how they stand with Jit. After taking over as head coach for Lo, who took a leave of absence due to a family emergency, Adam Howard had even mulled over the idea of starting Jit in Week 9 against Dancougar. He anticipated a heavy loss to the Black Wings, and figured he had nothing to lose by starting Jit. Ultimately though, Howard kept Kudo in the starting lineup.

4. The O-line
Kudo and Baja get all the glory, but you have to give credit to the unsung heroes of the offensive line. Establishing the running game early on was essential to the Hurricane, and they wouldn’t be able to do this without help from the offensive line. Their blocking is superb, and they consistently opened up huge holes for Osamy Koyami. They also protected Kudo quite well on pass plays, and it shows as the Hurricane gave up one of the fewest total of sacks of any team during qualifying. Motakit Takunob anchors the offensive line, and he’s more of a motivational leader than you’d think. During instances when Kudo found his team down by a touchdown or more and facing third and long, it was Takunob who gave Kudo quick pep talks in the huddle to keep him focused. Kudo and Baja deserve all the credit they get, but let’s not forget the offensive line.

What went wrong

1. Dunn-Woods’ defense
Vanessa Dunn-Woods filled in as head coach for one game during Week 5 against Lovisa. The Hurricane won 30-20, and although Chi Jisats scored a safety during that game, the Hurricane began a four game defensive slide. On the season, Hurricane opponents have scored an average of 18+ points per game, and that puts immense pressure on the offense to put up points, often facing higher ranked teams week in, week out. What’s worse, in the five Hurricane losses of the season, the team’s opponents scored an average of twenty five. Yes the four losses came from Dancougar and Kura-Pelland, two of the world’s most elite teams, and certainly the Hurricane forced the Arrows into overtime in their first meeting, and lost only by four in their second, but both Dancougar and Kura-Pelland exploited weaknesses in the Hurricane defense, allowing them to put points on the board. The truth is, that Dunn-Woods had no real game plan on either occasion against Dancougar, and that’s unacceptable. Prior to joining the Hurricane coaching staff, Dunn-Woods coached a Beretanian women’s team to a championship game, only to lose that game, and in recent seasons, her team has finished with dismal records, not even qualifying for the playoffs. With that kind of record, it’s a wonder Dunn-Woods is still even got the job, because there are a plethora of highly qualified personnel who could have taken her spot Beretanian and Fujisawan. It’s not likely that Dunn-Woods will be back next season, and most fans have the opinion that the defense was better last year. It is true that Hurricane opponents scored around an average of seventeen points a game during World Bowl V qualifying, so perhaps there is something to all the fan’s gripes.

2. Sluggish starts
A big problem not to be overlooked is the offense’s propensity to get off to slow starts, especially on the road. Not to mention, Daisetsu Kudo has had difficulty in getting into an early rhythm, particularly against Dancougar, but also in general. At times, the Hurricane have found themselves down by two touchdowns before the end of the first half, and those kinds of starts hurt Kudo and the offense. Having to play catchup in any game is bad enough, but having to do it on a consistent basis is even worse. It’s not that Kudo is a bad quarterback, because he’s not, but when he struggles in the opening minutes of a game, the whole team does as well. It looks like this will be Daisetsu Kudo’s last season with the Hurricane, and Kasmo Jit in his rookie season of domestic play, didn’t show the kind of slow starts that Kudo is occasionally prone to.

3. Blowing leads
Slow starts aren’t the only self-imposed problem the Hurricane confront on a frequent basis. The Hurricane have found themselves their own worst enemy when they have a slim lead late in the fourth quarter. The Hurricane’s loss to Kura-Pelland with thirteen seconds left in the game, blowing a 13-10 lead, is a prime example of this. If you’ve taken a world class team to overtime on your first skirmish, and then have a three point lead with less than a minute on the clock, you’ve got to hold! But alas, you can chalk it up to another Dunn-Woods failure. If the Hurricane had held that lead, they’d be 9-3. You can obviously see how important holding just that lead alone helped defined the Hurricane’s season, and just how critical this issue is. We’d be in a hell of a lot better spot if the defense had made a stand.

4. Penalties shoot the Canes in the foot
It’s rarely mentioned, but penalties really hurt the Hurricane throughout their season. How many Hurricane drives stalled because of a penalty or two? Quite a few. The Hurricane have gone three and out many a time thanks to offensive penalties. The main downside to the explosive offensive line is that they tend to get a little too enthusiastic and draw inexcusable penalties. It’s not just the offense that has penalty troubles. The defense has it’s share, and many defensive penalties have aided and comforted the Hurricane’s opponents. There are many instances of this, such as a flag for defensive pass interference on 3rd and 16 from the Hurricane forty eight in a game against the Candrian Empire, that kept a Candrian drive alive and allowed them to score. No matter how far the Fujisawan Territories get in the upcoming playoffs, they have got to cut the penalties out of the picture.

5. Three coaches in three weeks
Head coach Rai Lo’s twenty three year old daughter Naomi was critically injured in a car accident which left her comatose, clinging to life in a Hoji hospital. After spending weeks in the ICU, Naomi emerged from her coma, only to learn that she is paraplegic. She is still recovering from some of her more serious injuries, having broken both legs and her back, and now finds herself in a care home until she has recovered enough to move back in with her parents. During all of this, Rai Lo said his only release was football. It was the only thing that could temporarily take his mind off of his daughter’s accident. It is in this vein that Rai Lo has announced that he will be back as full time head coach next season. He told reporters that his daughter will make a great bit of recovery between now and the start of next season, and at that point, he can devote himself once again to football.

After the 30-24 overtime loss to the Kura-Pelland Arrows, Lo took a frantic cell phone call in the locker room from his wife. It was a long flight back to the Territories, but before leaving Kura-Pelland, Lo tapped Dunn-Woods as temporary head coach until Adam Howard returned to the team. Howard had left late in the fourth quarter to catch a flight to Beretania to start a previously planned week long vacation and re-negotiate his head coaching contract with the Albavona Aces, a top Beretanian domestic team. Dunn-Woods was able to pull off the win, but as was previously stated, the defense had a bit of a poor showing. Adam Howard made his return to the team in the first game against Norwellia. His win marked the first time the Hurricane had back to back wins on the season, but the Hurricane players and fans were left bewildered with the revolving door of head coaches. The Hurricane had been through three head coaches in three weeks. Lo eventually decided to coach the Hurricane’s remaining home games, and would ultimately leave Howard responsible for the Hurricane’s road games. Many people thought that Howard was selfish not to scratch his contract re-negotiating and vacation, even if it was already on the books weeks in advance, but Lo had pity on Howard and knew made a split second decision to give Vanessa his blessings. If anything, it was Lo that kept Howard in Beretania, not wanting him to miss out on spending quality time with his family and securing his future in Beretanian football. All things considered, Vanessa Dunn-Woods got the win against Lovisa, and that’s all that was asked of her. But three coaches in three weeks is a bit much for any team’s players to deal with.

What the future holds

1. Overstaying her welcome
Vanessa Dunn-Woods’ charm has worn off, and a lot of people want to see her go. Nobody’s being sexist, as some fans may have you believe. It’s just that Dunn-Woods was hired to provide results that we have yet to see. Sure we won eight games out of twelve, and swept four out of the six other teams in our group, but our games were won with offense. The defense could be better and we all know that. Granted, our defense will never be as good as Taeshan’s, but if we replace Vanessa Dunn-Woods with a better qualified candidate, we’ll be well on the road to making the defense an even more dominating force. It’s time to start looking for a replacement for next season. Lo should take his time in making a selection, but there’s no shortage of talent to fill that void.

2. Finding a way to win against Vephrall
The Hurricane are 0-2 against Vephrall. They have got to find a way to win in this upcoming play in match. It’s a little discouraging that the Hurricane will have to face Dancougar for the third time this season if they do end up winning, but getting over this particular bump would indicate growth for the team. Adam Howard and Rai Lo drew up a strategy for the game in a teleconference yesterday, and Lo has first hand experience against Vephrall as the Hurricane’s assistant head coach last season. Vephrall dominated both of their clashes last season, winning with modest leads. If the Hurricane can pull of this win, the Hurricane just might have enough momentum to tackle Dancougar.

3. All in the family
As a show of support for their coach, most of the players skipped a Friday afternoon practice on the spur of the moment prior to the Hurricane’s second game with Kura-Pelland, and showed up at the hospital to visit Rai Lo’s daughter. One of the season’s most inspirational moments came off the field, when the players lined up outside of Naomi Lo’s hospital room to give her their well wishes. They treated Naomi as if she was their sister, as they signed her many casts and gave her words of encouragement. Rai Lo, and even more so Naomi, were touched by the unexpected gesture, but it’s the sort of family atmosphere that Lo tries to foster on his team. Naomi was moved to tears, and being hopped up on painkillers and in a fog coming out of a serious head injury, I’d imagine it would be overwhelming for anyone. Adam Howard has picked up on this sort of thing when he gathered his players round a TV and his team watched the movie “Belief”, a big studio Fujisawan film based on the Fujisawan Territories’ improbable run to the 4th Di Bradini Cup final, where they ultimately lost to Newmanistan 1-0. The move was designed to strike some inspiration into the team, but also, to bring the team together as a family. The team must continue their bonding throughout subsequent seasons so that they work together as a solid unit on the field.

Game by game review

Week 1: Fujisawan Territories 23, Candrian Empire 7
The Hurricane opened up their season with a dominating win, and backup quarterback Kasmo Jit saw his first minutes of World Bowl play.

Week 2: Dancougar 23, Fujisawan Territories 6
The Hurricane were held two field goals, and success for the season looked doubtful

Week 3: Fujisawan Territories 17, Secristan 10
The team notched their first upset of the season over the Millionaires and the win would prove critical to settling the final outcome of the playoff picture.

Week 4: Kura-Pelland 30, Fujisawan Territories 24 (OT)
The Hurricane stormed to a 21-7 halftime lead only to slip up to the Arrows in overtime. Keith Mackali-Smith had two touchdowns for Kura-Pelland.

Week 5: Fujisawan Territories 30, Lovisa 20
Vanessa Dunn-Woods coached the Territories to a win, but questions surfaced about the defense. Oribaha “Baja” Hini had a two touchdown day, and Chi Jisats recorded a safety for the Territories.

Week 6: BYE

Week 7: Fujisawan Territories 34, Norwellia 23
Daisetsu Kudo got off to a slow start and threw a pick six, but the Hurricane and Adam Howard, in his first game as Hurricane head coach, escaped with the win.

Week 8: Fujisawan Territories 24, Candrian Empire 22
The Hurricane struggled, and fought for every inch and yard, but the defense came up big with a 105 yard interception return for a touchdown, and a blocked extra point attempt. The Candrian Empire got a safety of their own in a truly odd game, but their effort wasn’t enough, as the Hurricane came from behind to win by two points.

Week 9: Dancougar 30, Fujisawan Territories 16
The Hurricane were once again miserable against Dancougar, but once they got settled in, they cut the Black Wings’ lead to only a single touchdown before Dancougar re-energized. It was hoowever, largely viewed as a marked improvement over Week 2, where the Hurricane were denied the end zone.

Week 10: Fujisawan Territories 20, Secristan 16
The Hurricane swept the Millionaires with their four point win and CB Kimo Nakasanagi put on a one man show on defense, taking a fumble eighty nine yards for a touchdown and grabbing interception among his many other highlights of the game.

Week 11: Kura-Pelland 17, Fujisawan Territories 13
The Hurricane blew a 13-10 lead with :13 remaining in the game to lose a painful home game 17-13.

Week 12: Fujisawan Territories 27, Lovisa 6
The Hurricane returned to top form, taking a 21-3 lead at halftime. Though the offense struggled in the second half, the defense more than made up for it, holding Lovisa to just two field goals in the game.

Week 13: BYE

Week 14: Fujisawan Territories 24, Norwellia 17
Two defensive scores on an interception return and a fumble return helped the Hurricane win as the defense led the way. Oribaha “Baja” Hini scored the Hurricane’s remaining touchdown on a seven yard reception.

Who's playing Dancougar? Find out soon. Cutoff for the 8-9 game.

Saturday: Vephrall 17-27 Fujisawan Territories

Sunday:
#1 Dancougar vs #9 Fujisawan Territories @ Monopoly Stadium, Amherst
#2 Qazox vs #7 Newmanistan @ Loophole Life Insurance Stadium, Lakeland
#3 Taeshan vs #6 Sarzonia @ Megabyte Industries Stadium, East Penthoria
#4 Kura-Pelland vs #5 Arroza @ McDaniel’s Stadium, Key South

Playoff Preview

Stars will have 'fight' in them

By Ryan Calvin
Daily Mail Staff Writer

PREVIEW:

How they got here:

TAESHAN 10-2; Group A champions, No. 3 seed
SARZONIA 9-3; Group C second place, No. 6 seed
ALL-TIME SERIES: First meeting
Sarzonia can win if: They find a way to crack Taeshan's defence. They're also going to have to keep Taeshan from forcing turnovers.
Taeshan can win if: They force the Stars to become one-dimensional. Sarzonia will likely have to have both running back LoQuan Willard and quarterback Gavin Davis on point to have a chance here.
PREDICTION: Taeshan 7-3
OTHER FIRST ROUND PREDICTIONS: (1) Dancougar 27, (9) Fujisawan Territories 23 Dancougar have the No. 1 seed for a reason, but the third meeting between these clubs will be much tougher than the Black Wings expected; (2) Qazox 20, (7) Newmanistan 13 The third time will be the charm for the Pheonix, who will have revenge on their minds; (4) Arroza 24, (5) Kura-Pelland 17 The Arrows have played remarkably well this tournament, but the defending champion Admirals have some of the toughest gridball pedigree around.

EAST PENTHORIA, Secristan -- When the Sarzonian national gridball team convened prior to their opening match against Tocrowkia at Hendrix Stadium, they did so as a team in flux.

Their head coach and defensive coordinator from the two previous World Bowl campaigns died in a tragic automobile accident. The gridball governing body coaxed a nearly 70-year-old head coach out of retirement to take over and the team employed a conservative, ball control offence.

Fast forward to today. The Stars rallied to win seven of their final eight matches, including a season sweep of world No. 3 Newmanistan and advanced to the knockout stages of World Bowl VI. Their ball control offence became the Gavin Davis show when the Sarzonian signal caller started getting hot. Now the Stars face the No. 3 seed of the World Bowl, defensive monsters Taeshan.

The Fitin' Falcons conceded just 83 points in 12 matches, just a shade under seven points per match. Meanwhile, Sarzonia conceded more than twice that number, 174 points. The Stars have made offence their calling card behind Davis, averaging nearly 23 points per match.

"We just tried to go with what worked for us," said Joe Gibbs, 68, who adopted a more pass-oriented offence to take advantage of Davis's strengths. "Gavin has been playing real well for us."

However, a source familiar with Gibbs's thinking said the coach would likely try to keep running back LoQuan Willard involved in the offence. Newmanistan held Willard to 22 yards on 11 carries in the final match of the World Bowl qualifying stage, but Davis passed the team to victory. Davis said doing the same against Taeshan would be difficult.

"Look at their numbers," Davis said. "They've averaged about seven points per match against. The most points they conceded was 10, and they did that five times. We're going to have to take advantage of chances when and if we get them."

And they're going to have to prevent Taeshan from capitalising on mistakes. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said the team would spend "extra time" focusing on fundamentals, and Gibbs spent extra time with the offence working on protecting the ball.

"What we can't afford to do is turn the ball over deep in their end. And we have to force them to turn the ball over deep in their territory," Williams said. Added Gibbs, "if we get a chance to take advantage of them, we have to do it.

"This is not going to be an easy match by any stretch. It's going to be extremely difficult. Taeshan has the best defence I've ever seen, and defence usually wins championships."

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record

Hurricane upset Vephrall

Everybody in Dancougar is probably thinking “The Hurricane again?! Didn’t we beat these guys twice already?!” The Black Wings will have to beat the Hurricane once more to advance to the next round of the playoffs. The third time just might be the charm for the Hurricane, and in the end, it all comes down to whether the Canes were convincing enough in their upset over Vephrall to indicate they’d be able to give the Black Wings a real challenge. Coach Howard has said his team’s training and practices leading up to the final showdown with the Black Wings will be “the most straight up hardcore experience of their careers.” He’s imposed an iron willed sunrise to sunset work ethic and a strict evening curfew to curb distracting behavior as the team prepares for Dancougar.

To get this third chance, the Hurricane had to defeat Vephrall, a team they had failed to beat in two previous tries. It wasn’t easy, but they came out on top. Daisetsu Kudo got off to another slow start, with the Hurricane punting on their first two drives. In contrast, Sartiros Spelaad put the first points on the board for Vephrall on their first drive, with a forty two yard field goal. On the third Hurricane drive, Kudo finally kicked into gear and Akemio Arunita was wide open for a thirty two yard touchdown reception on 2nd and 7, to take a 7-3 lead. Neither team was able to score for the remainder of the first quarter and most of the second. With 1:27 left in the first half, Idaleis Going rumbled eleven yards for a Vephrall touchdown to take a 10-7 halftime lead. The Hurricane began to panic when Vephrall marched eighty two yards for on a fifteen play drive that was capped with Going’s second touchdown of the day, a four yard run on 1st and goal, on their first possession of the second half. Now down 17-7, Oribaha “Baja” Hini broke free on the ensuing kickoff return, racing ninety one yards for a touchdown cutting the lead right back down to three. Shisakit Munie kicked a thirty nine yard field goal with 3:37 remaining in the third quarter to tie the game at seventeen apiece. In the forth quarter, the Hurricane defense stopped a charging Vephrall drive at the Hurricane seventeen yard line, when Chi Jisats forced a Going fumble, recovered it, and ran it to the Hurricane thirty. Kudo and the Hurricane offense put together a solid drive, and Osamu Koyami scored on a three yard run on 3rd and Goal with 7:47 left in the game for a 24-17 lead. The Hurricane defense clamped down on Vephrall, forcing a three and out, and Kudo & Co. drove to a forty four yard field goal with 3:21 remaining to take a 27-17 lead they would hold through the remainder of the game.

Quarterback Daisetsu Kudo has decided to retire following the World Bowl VI season, effectively passing the torch onto Kasmo Jit. Jit is expected to make an immediate impact, and has actually drawn comparisons to Kudo in domestic league play. Kudo said he came to his decision because he was finally beginning to feel his age after years of football. The thirty seven year old has been playing professional football for fifteen years and is widely expected to be inducted into the Territorial Football Hall of Fame. The self described journeyman mentioned his family as his ultimate motivation, noting his eighteen year old daughter has recently become engaged to be married, and his son will be graduating high school in a couple of years, two events he doesn’t want to miss. The aging star will surely be missed by fans, but now, even Kudo himself admits it’s Jit’s turn.

THE ROCKET REPORT

LOOKING FOR THE HAT TRICK

Lakeland, Secristan- World Bowl I may seem like a long time ago, but it is still being talked about more often then any other previous World Bowl in the Newmanistanian locker room. The reason for this is simple. Back then, Newmanistan lost twice in the group stage and then lost in the quarterfinal. They were the only games that the team lost that year, and they all came at the hands of one team. Qazox. Now here we are over a decade later depending on your calendar, and things have come full circle. The Rockets can return the favor on the Pheonix. Everything is scripted that way. This is just the start of what has become a pretty good gridiron rivalry between Qazox and Newmanistan, one in which started off one-sided, and has since become one-sided in the other direction. World Bowl 5 was hosted by us here in the Empire, and it was Qazox that eliminated us in the semifinal. World Bowl 4 was hosted by Qazox, and it was Newmanistan that eliminated a Pheonix team that was looking to defend their championship. From World Bowl 4 forward, or since the beginning of the Jeremy Thompson regime, Newmanistan has won three of four meetings with Qazox. It will not be easy to beat a team of this caliber three times, but it can be done. At the very least, it was done in World Bowl I. I, Jason Richards, sat down with the head coach of the team to discuss this upcoming big matchup.

JR: Good evening, I am joined by Jeremy Thompson, who coaches our football, or gridiron if you will, team. Coach, thank you for your time.

JT: It’s my pleasure.

JR: So it is time now for the playoffs to begin. The Hurricane advanced in the play-in, and now the quarterfinal field is set. What are the chances of the sky blues in your mind?

JT: We have a great chance. All of the teams that are remaining have been through, and survived, the most intense World Bowl qualifying period ever. Not only did we not see any teams go undefeated, everyone lost at least twice. All eight teams are battle-hardened from the experience, even if they had a smoother ride here then others. We are no different, we are right there with the rest of them, and this is all going to come down to execution.

JR: Beating a team as talented as Qazox three times seems very difficult. It was done by them on us in World Bowl I, but it seems like an awfully difficult task.

JT: The statisticians will tell you that the odds of going three-for-three against a strong team like them are not in our favor, but as we said before, these games are not played on someone’s computer program, but out there on the field, where the will to succeed and the heart of each team takes over.

JR: It’s all about execution, then? I doubt there’s much more you two could find out about each other?

JT: It will be. They know us, we know them. We’ve played twice here, and we’ve also played in the last two semifinals, and right now we have the edge. No one will be outsmarting anyone, and it will come down to execution you say. It’s a cliche when a football coach says this, but the key to this game will not be committing any turnovers. Especially when you are so evenly matched like this.

JR: Despite struggling for much of qualifying, your front four did a great job holding Sarzonia’s LoQuan Willard to just 22 yards rushing. Will they be able to go that against the Pheonix? Both of the wins have been shootouts.

JT: Hamersien has had some good games against us, and his running style sees him as a back that likes to take it up the middle more then taking it outside. Unfortunately for us, this plays right into our weakest area on defense, so it will be imperative that our front four has another big game. They have looked good in practice, and I do believe they will come together and find a way. Craig will make some plays, he’s that good, but as long as we contain him in the manner we were able to in our first two games to the point where our offense could get the win, then we’ll be ok. They’ve shown some difficulty in containing Kenny O’Hara when he scrambles out of the pocket.

JR: That was going to be my next question. The offense has been scoring, led by O’Hara, and Corey Parisi has done very well too. Do you think that has to do with their 3-4 base defense?

JT: I don’t think the defense has anything to do with it, as far as the formation is concerned. If anything, the 3-4 should help you contain a scrambling quarterback better, but perhaps it is the combination of O’Hara and the elusiveness of Parisi that gives them problems. We have a lot of weapons on offense, and in the end, that is the reason why we have been successful against them.

JR: Though the quarterfinal match is in Lakeland, the furthest of the four venues from our national border, I’d expect a large pro-Rockets crowd. Don’t you?

JT: I think so. Our fans don’t have the same kind of travel expenses to get to Secristan, so that should enable them to bid higher on the auctions. Plus, our fans are used to regional events in Secristan that we have taken part in, so they know the secrets of winning the auction. My cousin told me there were two sets of six seats in the same section that would have cost the same thing in an auction, and the screennames he had to outbid for one was something that had Rockets in it, and the other was QZXrules with some numbers. Guess who he chose to outbid? I have to say while Secristan’s bidding process is highly annoying and aggravating, sometimes it can be fun.

JR: I know what you mean. I had one person tell me he deliberately outbid Qazian screennames in upper sections just because he wanted to keep them from being behind him. He’s going to try to sell them now to fans at home, here.

JT: Yeah, we talk about how experience helps. It helps on the football field, but here in the bidding wars, the experience our fans have with their auctions over their fans, should also pay off.

JR: Well that’s going to wrap this up, I think. Good luck, Jeremy!

JT: Thank you, Jason.

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

So it comes down to this: a third game against the Fujisawan Territories for the right to return to the World Bowl semifinals. The team was able to swing back from ten-point deficit, scoring twenty unanswered points to defeat Vephrall in the play-in game. The team lagged behind Vephrall from the start and looked out of the running before a timely kickoff return galvanized the team into action. That all but negated a back-breaking drive by the Vephrese, and quarterback Daisetsu Kudo's late heroics finished the job.

As the saying goes, it's incredibly difficult to beat a team three times in a single tournament, as the Wings will aim to do. But if Will Moohim has anything to say about it, that kind of thinking is as pointless as it is baseless. "It never matters how many times you play a team, because at this stage, the better teams are going to be the ones who win," he said. "So the question that should be asked is more like, which team is playing the better football right now. And by that measure, you have to think that the Fujisawan Territories are looking dangerous."

The Fujisawan Territories are on a three-game winning streak, having closed out the group stage with big-margin wins against Lovisa and the Candrian Empire. Although neither team turned out to be a threat for qualification, they at least put points on the board. Dancougar didn't look particularly dangerous in its last group stage match against Lovisa, a 10-7 win. The Territories are also fresher than the Wings are. They play-in game will have their blood flowing and their rhythm should be established; meanwhile, the Wings haven't played since matchday thirteen because of their bye week.

And by coming from behind against Vephrall, a team they'd not beaten in two previous attempts, the Territories showed remarkable spirit. At the decisive moment of the game, Kudo took control and infused the rest of his team with the same will. That proved crucial and helped the team make several defensive stops in the fourth quarter to preserve the advantage.

Kudo himself is also going to be a major factor in the game, and not just because he and the team are starting to click at the right time. He's already announced that he plans to retire following this tournament, which will serve as additional motivation. "The younger guys will obviously want to send him out on top, so they're going to be able to draw a lot of inspiration from him," said Moohim. "Teams like that are dangerous because each player is going above and beyond, because nobody wants to be the guy who makes the crucial mistake."

The Territories, though, have shown themselves to be slow starters. Although they were able to fight back against Vephrall, they struggled with it in the group stage, with all four losses coming against fellow playoff teams Dancougar and Kura-Pelland. They never got going in the first Dancougar game, and the Wings broke it open through Logan Dublin. His 42-yard touchdown run opened the floodgates in the second quarter and the Wings built a 20-point lead before the Hurricane got anything done on offense, one of two field goals they scored in the 23-6 loss.

Then, in the second game, the Wings led by eleven at the half after holding the Territories to only a pair of field goals. Turnovers played a key role, with Kudo throwing an early pick that contributed to the early deficit. The team played much better in the second half and cut the gap to seven, but by then, the Wings were in their groove. The defense conspired to let Franklin Gelbach connect on a 38-yard touchdown pass, and being passed on by the Wings is sufficient to break any team's spirit.

Although, one of the problems the Territories suffered in the second game was a defeatist mentality. The talk before the game was of "suicidal kamikaze," as the team apparently didn't believe it had a chance. But now, after rattling off a big playoff win and achieving some order at the coaching position, that mindset has changed. The team has taken a serious approach to the Wings and considers the challenge to be "straight-up hardcore," meaning that the Wings can't expect to intimidate the Territories after their previous meetings.

"We've done some things well against them in the tournament already, and I suspect we'll try to exploit similar weaknesses in the next game," says Moohim, who has done well so far to keep his team under wraps as to avoid another Tony Rorick-style guarantee. "Of course, they'll have learned some things from those games too and will adjust, so we won't be able to just copy our gameplan." The team will also hope that they're not too rusty by the time they finally take the field.

Dancougar should have what it takes to get past the Fujisawan Territories, but they will face an opponent different from the one they've already beaten twice. They're now battle-tested and mentally prepared, potentially making them a perfect storm.

Playoff Time

After a long and grueling Group Stage it is time for what was 9 teams, and now 8, to take on what is known in many sports as the playoffs. Usually the top 8 to sixteen teams make it to this coveted event at the end of the regular season as they may be called and find themselves given the task after winning beofre to win just a few more to gain the crown of greatest team in the world for a few years. This year nine teams were given that chance and now only 8 remain as yesterday the Vephrall team was knocked out by the Fujisiwan Territories in a opening round battle royal. It is up to the teams to fight it our in an elimanatory way to see who is crowned champion.

Those eight teams are some of the best teams in the world. They are Dancougar who will take on the winners of that early game in the 1 versus eight match. Game two pits number 4 Kura Pelland against number five Arroza, and those two winners will meet. On the other siede of the sphere you have number 2 Qazox taking on number 7 Newmanistan, while are gallant Falcons take on the Sarzonian Stars in the 3 versus 6 battle. After this stage is the semifinals. Though it may be the top teams this year a few have been left out due to loses and be this said we must go on, and here are our predictions.

Dancougar Over the Territories
Arroza Over Kura Pelland
Qazox Over Newmanistan
Taeshan Over Sarzonia
Then
Dancougar over Arroza
Qazox Over Taeshan
Fianlly
Dancougar will beat the Phoenix for the Championship

Cutoff for the quarterfinal matchups!

Sunday:
Dancougar 23-17 Fujisawan Territories
Qazox 27-33 Newmanistan
Taeshan 16-10 Sarzonia
Kura-Pelland 10-21 Arroza

Semifinals:
Dancougar vs Arroza @ Loophole Life Insurance Stadium, Lakeland
Taeshan vs Newmanistan @ Monopoly Stadium, Amherst

Fitin' Falcons Advance To Semis

For the first time in many a year the Falcons have done it. They have made it it to the penultimate game of the season. This game is for the chance to find themselves in the finals, but to do so they had to win yesterday. They were up against a big challenge in the form, but as you know now that i have broken the news to you the Falcons have found themselves nicely onto the path to the finals with their big win over Sarzonia. Now is the bigger obstacle, the semis pit the Falcons, not against expected Qazox, but the team who beat them the bitter Taeshani rivals of the Newmanistan Rockets. If you know the backstory of theese teams this may bring you sadness, but as we will show you later it may be time to start a new trend in Taeshani Sports.

This new trend may be begining before are very eyes. Fans have seen the National Soccer team pull to a comanding lead in World Cup Qualifying and now they have seen their Fitin' Falcons advance to the semifinals of the 6th World Bowl. The Falcons of course beat the Stars of Sarzonia in a close 16-10 game. It did not come easily. The Stars took the first half with the score at halftime 10-2 after some great Sarzonian Offense with an error on a defensive interception giving the Falcons their only points when Gabe Martin threw a pass that was brought out of the endzone and intentional kneed after coming out and going back in by the Sarzonian defnder near the end of the half after the two Sarzonian scoring drives.

Luck apparently was on the Falcons side though. After the Sarzonian miscue the Falcopns were able to drive down the field and eventually score their first Touchdown when Martin jumped over the enzone line after a 2 yard carry. Later with just minutes left the Falcons started the drive that prooved to be fatal to the Sarzonians season. With 4 minutes left on the clock Martin found Trevor Karker for a ten yard completion. With 3.30 left Martin handed of to Max Hope who ran for 33 yards to the Star 39. With 2 and a half left Martin found a streaking Ricky Zellefrow who stayed in bounds until he was tackled at the fifteen. With 1 and a hlaf left Martin ran for 5 twice and the Falcons called a timeout at the 7 with just a minute left on 3rd down. Martin hiked the ball and began to scramble around for a few seconds and rifled the ame winning touchdown to Jack Cito making it 16-10 after the extra point. Fianlly the Falcons put the nail in the coffin when on the final play the Sarzonian quaterbaclk threw a wobbly pass right into Ocho Cinco's hands for a 40 yard return before he knee it.

QSPN.com/WorldBowlVI Coverage (http://wikistates.outwardhosting.com/wiki/World_Bowl_VI)

QAZOX 27
Newmanistan 33

Going 10-3 in the World Bowl isn't a bad trip, unless all three losses come to the same team, and finally Newmanistan has its revenge, as they sweep Qazox 3 games to 0 in this World Bowl. Qazox did that to the Rockets way back in World Bowl I, and now they get to experience what they felt 10 years ago.

So once again Qazox fails to win a World Bowl title, and it's a longer 2 year layoff until the next World Bowl.

(ooc: WIKI page is updated)

The dream ended when Ocho Cinco's knee hit the turf.

Sarzonia's national gridball team fought gamely against the stingiest defence in World Bowl VI, taking a 10-2 halftime lead on the strength of an all-but-forgotten LoQuan Willard. Even though Gavin Davis threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Clark Hennessey to put the Stars ahead 7-0, it was Willard gashing the Fitin' Falcons defence with 10 runs for 61 carries on the drive.

"We wanted to make a statement that we weren't afraid to run the ball against those guys," said left tackle Tim Lacker. "We wanted to prove to everyone that we could challenge Taeshan."

The Stars (9-4) did, holding the ball for nearly eight minutes on the drive. Their second drive featured Davis completing seven of eight passes, but that drive stalled at the 26-yard line. Kicker Adam Novak hit a 44-yard field goal to give the Stars a 10-0 lead, a score that likely would have caused most fans to sit up and take notice.

However, coach Joe Gibbs shook his head when Chris Horton inexplicably took a knee in the end zone after picking off a Gabe Martin pass and bringing the ball out of the end zone.

"Why did you do that?" Gibbs asked. "If you'd taken the knee before bringing the ball out, it's a touchback and a first down for us at the 20."

That mistake would soon start the ball rolling for Taeshan, as the Fitin' Falcons scored the next two touchdowns to seal the game. It may be a rare playoff victory for Taeshan, but for the Stars, they were left to rue missed opportunities.

"We had a chance to make a statement," Gibbs said. "We just didn't play well enough. We wish Taeshan well."

The Stars may not have won the game. They might not have poured on the offence against a legendarily tough Fitin' Falcons defence. But mixed with the devastation and disappointment of defeat when victory was within their grasp was a slight touch of defiance. Sure, they lost. And sure, Taeshan's defence was the toughest they'd seen. But they could move the ball against the Fitin' Falcons. And they took a 10-0 lead against them.

"LoQuan had been the forgotten man," said left tackle Tim Lacker. "In this game, I think [Gibbs] was so determined to feature him that he forgot how good Gavin is."

"We saw some things in the ground game we wanted to take advantage of," Davis said. "We felt if we could keep the ball, we could wear out that Taeshan defence. We'll be back," Davis said.

The Stars may not have won this playoff match, but they sent a message to the rest of the World Bowl. A team that had only rare victories against better teams now had a season sweep of Newmanistan, just one World Bowl after the Rockets swept the Stars. The Stars avenged two losses to Rennidan with a victory that essentially knocked the Brutes out of contention. They won nine games with a new old head coach and defensive coordinator. They weathered a stretch of five away fixtures in six matches.

"Tomorrow isn't promised," Gibbs said. "We did some good things. But we just didn't get it done when it counted."

Following the first round matches, the Daily Mail announced some award winners.

The Overachievers Award goes to: Fujisawan Territories, who finished 8-4 and advanced to the knockout stages as the ninth seed after starting World Bowl VI as the world's 18th ranked gridball side. They defeated eighth seeded Vephrall before a hard-fought defeat to top seed Dancougar. Also receiving consideration: Tocrowkia, which finished 6-6 and scored more points than they conceded, allowing them to finish ahead of Rennidan. Honourable mention goes to sixth ranked Taeshan, which won a group including defending World Bowl champions Arroza with a 10-2 record. Honourable mention also goes to Sarzonia, who were 10th ranked but had three teams ahead of them in the rankings. They defeated Newmanistan twice and Rennidan once, ending up the Group C runners up.

The Underachievers Award goes to 6-6 Rennidan, which came in ranked eighth in the world, but finished behind Sarzonia and Tocrowkia after conceding the same 213 points they scored. Dishonourable mention goes to host nation Secristan, which came into World Bowl VI ranked seventh, but missed the playoffs with a 7-5 record. Another dishonourable mention goes to 11th ranked Cotenshire, which not only came in sixth in Group A, but did so with a dismal 2-10 record. Colbourne finished with an identical 2-10 mark, but were ranked 16th coming in.

THE ROCKET REPORT

CAN THEY BEAT US?

Lakeland, Secristan- The history that exists between Newmanistan and Taeshan has been very one-sided. You name the sport, you will normally find examples of Newmanistanian dominance of their teams. Except maybe in this brand of football, but that is really more a result of a real lack of history between Newmanistan and Taeshan on the gridiron. Group draws and playoff seedings have prevented the two from having any real major games against one another, so when the Rockets and Fitin’ Falcons meet at Monopoly Stadium in Amherst, it may create a whole new chapter. Will our fans, known for their “You can’t beat us!” taunt of Taeshan especially in baseball be able to continue that in football, or will Taeshan make the gridiron the place where they get their revenge. Well, at least a little bit of revenge, anyway. Perhaps the Rockets have found a dominance on Qazox as well, as completing the three-peat over the Pheonix is what will vault them into the semifinal.

The 33-27 victory over Qazox was the third win over the Pheonix since qualifying began, giving them a frustrating 0-3 record against us and 10-0 against everyone else. It was a lot like World Bowl I, where it was them that won three against us. From World Bowls 1-3, Qazox had dominated us. Since then the scales have tipped in our favor, going 4-1. It proves that anyone can beat anyone, even Arroza actually beating a Kura-Pelland or a Dancougar. The teams got off to a quick start, each getting ten first quarter points. Matt Bywater opened the scoring with 28-yard touchdown reception only to have Qazox respond with a 32-yard pass from Larry Hinierian to Eric Shaman to tie it up. Field goals of 42 yards for us and 47 yards for them showed that both Patrick Marshall and Kyle Kobel were ready to hit the necessary kicks. The teams exchanged field goals to begin the second quarter as well; 37 from Marshall and 40 for Kobel to keep it tied at 13. One more for good measure by Marshall, from 53 yards out as time expired in the first half gave the Rockets a 16-13 halftime lead. “It was a huge kick for us.” Coach Thompson correctly stated after the game.

After holding the Pheonix to a three and out, the Rockets marched down field, but had to settle for another Marshall field goal, this from 36 yards out, but a 19-13 lead seemed pretty nice at the time. Qazox, however managed to get some momentum going in their favor and looked as though they may take over the game. Craig Hamersien had been controlled for much of the game, but would bust off a big run of 62-yards thanks to horrific displays of tackling by our defense, and then the big running back got some big blocks down field, especially one on Michael Ahearn from Ronaldo Mound that is a textbook example of what to show to young wide receivers on how they are supposed to block upfield. This made it 20-19 Qazox. The Phoenix contained us, and Mound was rewarded for his nice block, by catching a 44-yard touchdown pass to make it 27-19 late in the third quarter. Qazox held the lead, and was doing everything that was necessary as the game move into the halfway stages of the fourth quarter. At last, Newmanistan responded. A huge 72-yard touchdown reception by Christain Gagnon got the Rockets back in it. With everyone expecting the Rockets to go for two, they took the conservative route and kicked the extra point. With 8:44 still remaining, there wasn’t a need, Thompson felt. The Rockets got the ball back with 3:26 remaining and moved down the field efficiently, and got conservative once they were in field goal range. On 3rd & 8 from the 12 and 1:13 remaining, Darian Westcott was given a handoff for a routine draw play. Just get a couple yards. He got 10. First goal from the two and the Rockets could run more time off the clock and force Qazox to use their remaining two timeouts. On third and goal and just 47 seconds remaining, Westcott punched it in for the score, which would prove to be the game winner. On Qazox’s first play with the ball, Hinierian through a pick to Stanley Bressler that sealed the game. The interception was the only turnover for either team in a very well played game.

So now, we get Taeshan, and maybe we should be glad it is not Sarzonia, because it could have been. They would have been looking to do the same thing to us and go three-for-three. The game is in Amherst, and another pro-Rockets crowd should be expected.

http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/6681/admiralslogo.png

Teeth? Really, you're fighting over Teeth?

That had to be the view of many in Arroza, as the Admirals entered their first rotating cup contest. This trophy, known as “Andrew Claxton's Teeth” will be presented to the winner of the “Backyard Brawl” between Atlantian Oceania football rivals Arroza and Dancougar. As some of you know, the rivalry, and the short-lived history of Mr. Claxton began in World Bowl I when Claxton started what became a large group brawl in Pocono City between fans of the Black Wings, and the then Tar Hornets before their meeting in the Championship game of World Bowl I at Tundra Falls Proving Ground in Newmanistan. Luckily, the relationship between fans has been patched up enough for both countries to be able to laugh at it, and offer what may be the oddest rotating trophy I've seen in awhile.

This is a picture of the trophy, a gold and diamond re-creation of the knocked out and replaced upper teeth of Mr. Claxton. At the time of photographing, the teeth hadn't yet been attached to a quality base, as designs were still being considered.

http://www.myhiphopbling.com/media/gold-grill-full.jpg

It's all in a name.

Not to backtrack over ancient history today, but there is one new stat that needs to be introduced to Admiral fans.

Arroza Tar Hornets record against Kura-Pelland: 0 - 5
Arroza Admirals record against Kura-Pelland: 1 – 0

I guess you could say that all the team needed was a break with history.

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

Down 17-14 midway through the third quarter, Will Moohim called his defense together ahead of a pivotal series. Punter Bruce Straczinski had just pinned Daisetsu Kudo and the Fujisawan Territories on their own two. With a second-straight quarterfinal defeat a real possibility, Moohim called on his defense to seize the momentum and show the upstart Fujisawans how champions played football.

"He's so reserved when he talks to the press, that it's kind of surprising sometimes that it's the same guy," said defensive captain Kirk Manly. "But during the game, he can get real intense. We could just feel the raw emotion coming out of him when he called us over. He's a guy who just wants to win all the time."

On the next play from scrimmage, Kendrick Lynch burst through the offensive line and wrapped up runningback Osamu Koyami in the endzone. Replay upheld that the ball never made it across the plane, and Dancougar made it a one-point game with their first safety of the tournament. Then, on the ensuing possession, Gelbach rode the tidal wave of energy generated by the play to the go-ahead touchdown, and the Wings held on for a 23-17 win after Moohim decided not to go for two, opting to make the lead six instead of trying for seven.

"That's the trust he put in us," said Sam Paige, who atoned for a first-quarter Kudo-to-Dazai touchdown pass with a late interception. "We made some bonehead plays earlier but we got our second wind, and coach recognized that. When he went for one, he was telling us that he thought we were good enough, and that sunk in fast."

He was telling them to go win the game with defense, the true Dancougar way.

It was a strong vote of confidence despite the dogfight that had made up the first half, with both teams showing poise in playing to a 14-14 draw. Each unit was making solid plays, but it was outgoing quarterback Kudo who made the biggest impact. He had touchdown passes of 12 and 20 yards to Namboku Yoshimatsu and Toshizane Dazai, respectively, and had another long drive end with an interception. Nevertheless, he was able to exploit Dancougar's average secondary thanks to strong play by the offensive line, which stymied the normally deadly pass rush. Kudo was sacked only once in the first half.

On the other side of the field, Franklin Gelbach continued his ascent after winning the starting job just before the mid-qualifying break. He played efficient football and had no turnovers, but the running game was facing pressure from the Fujisawan front four. Logan Dublin was held to 85 yards in the game and no touchdowns, but Gelbach was able to step up and cover the shortfall. He connecting twice with Kevin Queandlinn on touchdown passes of 26 and 18 yards.

"Our ability to pass against them made a big difference in the victories during the group stage and we knew we'd have it today as well," said Moohim.

The Territories took the lead on their opening drive of the second half and then a battle for field position ensued after Gelbach stalled near midfield. On came Straczinski, who boomed a punt that fell inside the ten and took a Dancougar bounce inside the five, where Johnny Sinatra downed the ball on the two-yard line, setting the stage for Lynch's heroics. Following the safety, Gelbach directed a 61-yard touchdown drive that ended with a jump ball to Queandlinn for his third touchdown of the day. Cornerback Akiro Sanawa never came close to making a play on the ball, and he was victimized by Queandlinn all night, giving up eight catches for 105 yards.

Kudo had almost a whole quarter to work with, but the Black Wing defense would not be beaten again. He threw his second interception of the game, to Paige, to kill one drive. Dublin teamed with Casey Pendleton to try and bleed clock on the groundp, and while the Wings only picked up four first downs in the final frame, each one took away another two minutes. That meant that when Kudo was down to his last shot at the win, the Territories were out of timeouts... and momentum.

The Wings will now tackle the Arroza Admirals, who conquered Kura-Pelland convincingly 21-10 in their quarterfinal. It's a victory that tastes even sweeter than usual for the Admirals, as they'd never beaten the Arrows in five previous attempts. Now with that monkey off their back, they take on a Dancougar team they've only defeated once, and never in the postseason. Plus, the Admirals are one game away from earning the right to defend their World Bowl V title, so the conditions indeed seem ripe for an Admiral victory.

Although Abraham Chadwick appears to be on his last legs, the Arrozan offense has been a dynamic force, the likes of which the Black Wing defense has yet to face. No disrespect to the Territories, who also have an attack-minded approach, but when the defending champs bring the house, you take note.

"We absolutely have to get our running game going," said Moohim when asked to look ahead. "They're the champions. They're going to take everything we've got and then some."

Take it to the ATM

The Admirals will kill two monkeys with one back-scratcher, downing the Dancougar Black Wings by forcing them to throw... Newmanistan always beats Taeshan. ALWAYS.

Lies, lies, lies

1. Shigeru Takeuchi, coach of the national football team, will not allow his players to watch Dancougar's bid to return to the gridiron title game. His team has been kicking more balls over the goal than into it, and he fears that Seth Cavallo is being a bad influence.

2. Taeshan players will be caught sticking needles into the Rockets during their semifinal game, and the Falcons will say that it's more effective to do it directly than to go through a voodoo doll middleman.

3. There will be a new Pretty Sportsman Erika movie in which a 40-year-old Erika retires tearfully, then unretires, retires again, flirts with unretirement, all while doing commercials for overpriced jeans with her dog. If there is any justice in the world, it will kill the franchise.

Trippin' on Email

Word is that the Tar H-- err, Admirals-- have come up with some kind of challenge cup for the Brawl, and it's apparently this dude's teeth, except made all shiny and crystally. I think it's crazy and really lacks the charm of the Bird on Skates. What do you think?

Pat W.
Hunningdon

At least it's prettier than an old, oaken bucket.

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Three of the four finalists already have a world title, with the Rockets being the odd man out. Is this the year that they finally break through, or are they doomed to lose another title game?

Anton C.
Coraopolis

You're assuming that they'll get past the Falcons... which they will. I'm sure that the Taeshan players are sick of hearing about the streak and will feel disrespected for being written off so easily, but after seeing the Rockets outshoot Qazox the other night, I'm not convinced that even the Falcons will be able to suppress them. I think they have as good a chance as any at beating either Dancougar or Arroza, but I think when you put the last two champions in one game as ask for the better one, that winner automatically becomes the favorite.

Rocket Time, We Are SCREWED

It is definetly an understatement to say that the Newmanistan Rockets have had a good history again the Fitin' Falcons of are great land of Taeshan. Only in one World Lacrosse championship series game, and a few Oxen Cup games have the Fitin' Falcons been able to beat them. Throughout history, since Newmanistan began competing in sports, the Rockets have been able to pretty much walk into any sport and defeat the Falcons, or the Knights. Even sports that were originally invented in Taeshan have become Newmanistani stables. Like for instance Catch and Kick a favorite of many youngsters is now played in great degrees by the Rocketkids, and also horribly they have taken on the Taeshani sport of Kickball as their own. It is just wrong.

Even though in most sports the Falcons/Knights have usually been overall higher ranked then the younger Rockets they always seem to be able to pull the games out the count. Even though they have not played as many times in football as the Rockets may like the Falcons have historically been just a little better known as a team(go with it people) altough know in a day were newer team start to beat them maybe we can take back our glory. With us being only 1 of 2 top seeds left it is looking like we will need to fight for our honor on this day, and anyways id rather lose a championship to Dancougar then lose third place to Arroza after beating them earlier.

This is your semifinal cutoff!

Semifinals:
Dancougar 23-20 (OT) Arroza
Taeshan 13-17 Newmanistan


Both tomorrow:
3rd Place Game- Arroza vs Taeshan @ Megabyte Industries Stadium, East Penthoria
World Bowl 6- Dancougar vs Newmanistan @ Monopoly Stadium, Amherst

*head explodes*

Sidney Goldman's Gold Rush
Woohoo! Sports Exclusive

To say that the Backyard Brawl is always a tight game is an understatement. Only two games have been decided by more than a touchdown, and none of those have been since World Bowl III. Fans who made the trip to Secristan to see Arroza tackle Dancougar knew the history. The last three meetings went into overtime, and all were decided in Dancougar's favor.

Make it four.

It was another case of "so close, yet so far" for the Admirals, who will duel Taeshan for third after going down 23-20 in another nail-biter. Kicker Seth Cavallo connected on a 30-yard field goal that delivered the win, and it was fitting that he received Andrew Claxton's Teeth, a traveling trophy designed exclusively for the brawl that hearkens back to their World Bowl I championship clash. But Cavallo's mind was on other things.

"You beat a rival, you go to the final, and you get a chance for revenge, all in one night," said Cavallo. "How awesome is that?"

Cavallo's referring to the upcoming final against Newmanistan, conquerors of Taeshan in the other semifinal. The Rockets were 0-7 against the Wings before defeating them in the World Bowl V quarterfinals, and now they'll meet again in what is a rematch of the World Bowl IV final won 38-26 by the Wings, then led by Michael Hussey and Gary Hutchins. But there will be time to reflect on all that in the coming days, because for now, there are lessons to be learned from the close shave with Arroza.

As expected, the Arrozan 4-4 defense focused on eliminating Dancougar's running attack early, and the offensive line was unable to cope. Logan Dublin was bottled up and only had 25 first half yards, forcing Moohim to bring out Pendleton. He was able to smash through the middle for about as many, giving the Wings as balanced attack, but not one that was moving the football anywhere anytime soon. Once again, Gelbach was pressed into action. And Kevin Queandlinn was ready to follow up on his three-touchdown performance.

Down 10-0 early in the second quarter, Gelbach started throwing short passes over the aggressive run blitz of Arroza, finding plenty of open space six and seven yards down the field. He closed off the drive by finding Queandlinn for a 15-yard score to pull within a field goal. On the next drive, Gelbach's attack continued, and he got Billy Leuthold and Tristan Cray involved in order to spread the defense. It was a rare case of Dancougar setting up the run with the pass, but there it was. Pendleton punched it in from 5 to make it 14-10 by halftime.

"Frank was huge out there to keep that defense honest," said Dublin. "There we an awful lot of bodies in there, but he did a great job getting the ball out after two, three steps. They had to adjust and that opened things up for the rest of us."

But the Admirals were not about to be outgunned by the Wings, of all teams. After the teams traded field goals to start the second half, Abraham Chadwick made his mark on the game. The Wings hadn't allowed a run over 10 yards in the playoffs, but Chadwick picked up a huge downfield block from Taesean Malone that sprung a 33-yard carry into the red zone. To add insult to injury, safety Omar Garry bumped him after he'd gone out of bounds, drawing a personal foul penalty. Not that Arroza needed the extra yardage. One play later they were in, with Malone this time getting the goal instead of the assist, courtesy of a Selmon Baliss touchdown pass.

It was Dancougar's turn to come back, but the next drive ended in a Gelbach interception, one of the few mistakes he made in the game. The Black Wing defense stepped up to do damage prevention, and the drive ended five yards behind the line of scrimmage underneath Kirk Manly, who had two sacks in the game. That gave Gelbach another chance to either tie the game or take the lead, and he led the team down to the Arroza 24 before the drive stalled with fifty seconds on the clock. Cavallo was good from 41 yards to make it 20-20, and after a few incompletions by Baliss, the game went into overtime.

Arrozan fans were already nervous, because they knew how his story always ended. But since changing their name to the Admirals, things were looking up. They'd beaten Kura-Pelland for the first time ever, and now a chance to defend the title was just a drive away. But Manly called and won the toss, handed Gelbach the ball, and the Wings produced a drive to mirror the one that tied the game.

"Once we were able to run again, we had a much easier time moving the ball, and it showed in the fourth quarter, when we got the tying drive," said Dublin. "Kevin was big, catching passes for us, and Trist. No one of us really stands out, but we found that zone, you know?"

It was heartbreak for Arroza, who still only boast one all-time win against the Wings, that coming in the qualification stage of World Bowl III. It's now onto Newmanistan, and the significance of the game should be obvious, unless you've been living under a rock...

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS TO WORLD BOWL 6

Amherst, Secristan- We do well in one brand of football, and today the Rockets earned themselves a second trip to the World Bowl, where they will get a chance to play the team that spoiled their previous appearance. Just like World Bowl 4, it will be Dancougar vs Newmanistan for the championship. The Black Wings have avenged their stunning quarterfinal loss to us two years ago and will be looking for their third World Bowl title. We will be looking for our first. Unlike World Bowl 4, we don’t feel like the new kid on the stage. We remember the scene in Qazox as we marched through the playoffs, putting an end to our label as being a good team, but not a great team. Perhaps now, we are a great team. We have reversed our early trend of losing to Qazox all the time by now winning four of our last five from them, including three times this year. Now, we would like to carry that into our meetings with Dancougar and their Steel Curtain defense. After losing our previous seven meetings against them, many of them down to the wire, we finally beat them in the quarterfinal of World Bowl 5. Now we look to continue that streak against one of the Empire’s biggest rivals. There are no Birds on Skates up for grabs, but we will be looking to knock them off in the “Capital” of Secristan. Two great teams with more then just one stud superstar, and now one game will determine their destiny. Tony Rorick has been quiet this time.

To get to this point, Newmanistan needed to be the Fitin’ Falcons of Taeshan. We know we are their nemesis, and when you are in someone’s head like this, you have to be relentless in pounding that fact into their heads. Our fans realized this, and the “You Can’t Beat Us!” chants began even before the opening kickoff. Though on a neutral field, the crowd was largely pro-Newmanistanian as Amherst is a relatively simple drive across the border as opposed to Taeshani fans, who needed to fly to One Big Island. Therefore, like the Qazox fans, their increased travel costs meant that our fans would be more likely to be able to bid higher for tickets. Taeshan received to begin the first half, and with the Rockets holding them to a three and out, the chants began. The first quarter was scoreless football, with the Taeshan defense proving to be as good as advertised. The Fitin’ Falcons scored first, with Martin Gramatica hitting a 37-yard field goal. A 33-yard pass from Jack Cito to Ricky Zellefrow was the key play of the drive. However, the Rockets responded, and did so with a touchdown. Faced with 3rd and 15 from our own 35, Kenny O’Hara was forced to scramble out of the pocket, and did. And he kept going. And going. Until 65-yards later he was in the end zone. The play really energize our Rockets. On the ensuing Taeshan possession, Jesse Savage forced a fumble which was recovered by Spencer Harrison at the Taeshan 23. The Rockets were unable to move the ball, but were able to get a 41-yard field goal out of it to go up 10-3, a lead in which Taeshan cut back to four late in the first half to make it 10-6.

Both teams tried to play conservatively at the beginning of the third quarter, with the exception of Taeshan trying that trick play that they used in their win over Cassadaigua. The play this time was read by the Rockets defense and only gained six yards. With their offense not contributing much, it became clear that if Taeshan were to come back and win this game, it was going to have to be on a huge play by their defense. With 1:13 left in the third quarter, they got it. Alais Patrick picked off a Kenny O’Hara pass and took it 47 yards for a score. Now, Taeshan was up, and could play with the lead. Even better for them, they could shut the Rockets fans up for a while. Six minutes into the fourth quarter, the Rockets finally began a drive, one that would go 80 yards in 14 plays, and run the clock all the way down to just 1:09 remaining. The thunder and lightning backfield of Corey Parisi and Darian Westcott were featured as the Rockets showed great composure in moving downfield. They sensed that Taeshan was tiring significantly, in large part we feel due to the fact their players play both offense and defense. Now, in the late stages, it was taking its toll. The drive ended with a 4-yard run on a sweep right by Corey Parisi. After converting the extra point, Newmanistan was up 17-13, and the “You can’t beat us!” chants resumed. Taeshan’s offense was in no condition to make the final drive. They were off balance, and the Rockets forced three incompletions rather easily. On fourth down, they forced another, allowing them to put the ball on a knee and seal the victory.

Taeshan will be sent to the 3rd place game where they will meet Arroza. The game will take place just prior to the World Bowl, enough to get the fans prepared for the game that will matter and not have to listen to reporters say the same thing for eight hours. Or more, depending on where you live. Newmanistan looks for glory, enough to ease the disappointments of another brand of football. A great game is expected. Rockets-Black Wings always is.

The final cutoff is brought to you by the Secristan Department of Sports. The SDOS hopes that you all have had a positive experience in Secristan and thanks everyone for their participating, and congratulates the final four teams for their performances. In a few minutes, we'll see who's won these games.....

For 3rd Place...
Arroza 17-7 Taeshan

World Bowl 6...
Dancougar 20-17 Newmanistan

Congratulations, Dancougar on your third World Bowl title.

Cannot celebrate with ads in the way.

HOW THREE-T IT IS
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh106/newtypezaku/win.jpg
Seth Cavallo and Bruce Straczinski celebrate Cavallo's 34-yard game-winning field
goal as Dancougar won its third World Bowl title 20-17 over Newmanistan last night.

Congrats to Dancougar.

At least we still have the Bird on Skates.

Congrats to the machine that is the Dancougar Black Wings.

Mumbled under teeth congratulations to the eventual winners, and a well done to Secristan for hosting.

Secristan, VGJ hosting this tourney. It was a very well run tourney with no problems i know of, other than Qazox not winning.. LOL!

Thirded, Secristan. And congrats, Dancougar!

Congrats to the winners and great job by the hosts!

Good job hosting Secristan, and congrats to Dancougar on another World Bowl championship.

Thank you guys, this was a fun tournament to host.

Thanks for hostinating, Sec, good stuff.

I suppose I ought to eventually host one of these, and after writing the NSFS extension, seems like my excuse of being lazy is gone, too ^_^

Thanks for hostinating, Sec, good stuff.

I suppose I ought to eventually host one of these, and after writing the NSFS extension, seems like my excuse of being lazy is gone, too ^_^

Yep.