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June 6, 2009
Playoffs
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Eastern Conference ChampionshipJersies Crash AttractionsThe defending league champs nearly frittered away the regular season, but once in the playoffs, they've crashed everyone else's party to return for their own in the Hyperbowl. Maine looked just the team to expose the weaknesses the New Jersies showed in the early season. But QB Upton O'Good and TE Bud Ugly made a mismatch by themselves. Ugly was the unstoppable version that has showed up for the playoffs, with 11 receptions for 147 yards and three of those five touchdowns thrown for by O'Good. It mattered little if there was no help from the runningbacks, including star Juan Moorehead. O'Good took care of the rushing game himself. Maine shut down the rest of the New Jersies for the most part, and generated offense of their own, but O'Good and Ugly made too many big plays, and the Attractions gave the New Jersies a short field too many times. Maine WR Cole Esterhal had 6 catches for 91 yards, but veteran stars WR Lou Screws and RB Xavier Breath were minimized, Screws having a TD, but only 3 catches for 42 yards, Breath rushing for only 12. The two miss another chance for a Hyperbowl in their long careers, and there is concern over whether either will retire anyway after this. The New Jersies are hosting the Hyperbowl by virtue of their win last year, despite getting there with one of the worst records. |
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Western Conference ChampionshipGhosts Possess LinemenCasper's playoff sluggishness seems to have turned into a boon, infecting their opponents even worse. After squeaking out of a game with Los Angeles (by the same score) the Ghosts played badly enough to lose, the rematch of a regular season game with Wichita proved much more defensive for both teams, and in this drag-down style, Casper prevailed surprisingly by yielding more rushing yards, but passing for more than the Linemen, Western MVP QB Payne Indiass and league-leading receiver WR Adolph DeFlore. Casper held Indiass to just 107 yards passing, while their own QB Peter Andy Woolf had 153 and a TD. While the league's most dominant RB Jock Kitsch had more total yards, adding 30 yards on 3 catches to his 37 yards rushing, it was Wichita's Milo Rider who led in rushing with 50 yards, but this didn't add up to the winning formula the Lineman would've hoped. DeFlore had only 3 catches for 22 yards, while Casper WR I.B. Long, who hasn't lived up to his earlier seasons as a league leader, was the main offensive force in this game. He didn't touch the ball much, but was most effective when doing so. When Wichita pulled within four points at the beginning of the 4th quarter, it was Long's 21-yard run on a reverse the second play from scrimmage later that started the long drive to the field goal that extended the lead to a touchdown again. Wichita drove into Casper territory to threaten late in the game, and though RB Milo Rider broke open, he was tackled for only a 16-yard gain to the Casper 25-yard line as time expired. It will be Casper's 4th Hyperbowl, two which they won as the Cheyenne Goats, the first since 2003. |
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