SCAB Report

Championship

Galactic Soup Bowl

Convicts Put Leathermen Back in Line

State Pen beat DeSade S&M for the third time in four championship meetings, avenging the one loss last year, and taking their fourth league title overall, the second in three years. The suspense created from DeSade's stunning upset in last year's final, of whether State Pen's domination of the SCAB would extend to this contest, was dampened on the Convicts' first possession. DeSade, which went 8-4 in the regular season and squeaked into the tournament, got to the final with two big upsets, in each of which they jumped out early with 21 first-half points. But in this game, State Pen forced DeSade to punt after three plays, then drove 65 yards in 7 plays to a 7-yard TD run by RB Moe Lester.

The Convicts scored again just before the end of the first quarter, on a 26-yard run by QB Lou Skannon, and although they led only 13-0 at half, DeSade showed only one flash of the dangerous offense of 2003 or this year's tournament campaign: a 43-yard pass from QB Nash Teeth to WR Bernie Payne. That was on the possession right before Skannon's TD, and after the big pass play set the Leathermen up at the State Pen 37, the Convicts held, forcing a turnover on downs when DeSade tried to convert on 4th.

In the second half, the suspense diminished with each possession, State Pen shutting down the Leathermen offense, and their own offense churning inexorably towards the end zone. A field goal, of 54 yards by K Felonius A. Salt, on their second possession of the second half, after an interception of Teeth, quickly took DeSade out of two-score range. Another TD came by the end of the third quarter, again on a 7-play drive, this time including 6 straight completions by Skannon, one of them a 41-yard play to TE Boyd Diddy-Ever, and the 6-yard TD to RB Eubie Dedd. After the Convicts intercepted Nash again in the fourth quarter, another march, this one led by Lester, ended only with Lester's fumble recovered in the end zone by DeSade. And after DeSade's last attempt was spoiled, ending at the State Pen 36, again turning over on downs, the Convicts took it the other way in 5 plays, Lester scoring on the game's last play from scrimmage, to add an extra turn of the screw for the payback.

Perhaps an even bigger payback, however, was for Skannon. Not as illustrious as former Convict QBs, such as Upton O'Good who led the 1997 and 1998 championship teams, or his own teammates Lester or the phenomenal recruiting class of Dedd and Assaway, the latter this year's Demetrius Award winner, Skannon was the butt of criticism when the Convicts didn't blow teams away, or indeed for the failure to turn this three-year run into a double prize: matching Whooperville A&M's three consecutive championships and Puke's five overall. It was Assaway, as a freshman, who got the honors for his stellar performance when State Pen clobbered DeSade in the 2002 final, even though Skannon threw him the passes. It was DeSade QB Payne Indiass who topped off his more illustrious career, including two Demetrius Awards, by engineering the upset of State Pen last year. So for Skannon to not only play his role in reclaiming the title from none other than DeSade, but to be in top passing form, bust a big rushing TD, and be named the game's most valuable player, it was a personal reclamation, a vindication, a sweet reward, and a bonus mark for him in the State Pen legacy.

And this while his teammates were no less their illustrious selves. Assaway had 8 catches for 108 yards, to lead the game in receiving. Lester rushed for 95 yards and 2 TDs. Freshman Diddy-Ever had 5 catches for 90 yards.

On the Leathermen's side, Teeth now finds himself in the sort of spot of Skannon, especially as he's in the footsteps of Indiass. Teeth threw 4 interceptions in DeSade's Fish Bowl game against Lady Warship, and DeSade's defense was credited with preserving the victory in spite of Teeth. He bounced back for a great performance in the upset of Northwestsoutheastern, much like Skannon's here, upstaging Demetrius runner-up Sebastian Ophuls. But against the league's best defense in this game, Teeth was 10 of 22 for 132 yards with 2 interceptions and officially carried 8 times for a net -11 yards, as sacks are counted.

The Convicts didn't let Payne get out of hand, the way he did last year in the upset, in a tit for tat of Assaway's big freshman game the year before. And the Convicts held DeSade RBs Lou Netique and Ruud van Nastibooij to 68 yards rushing between them, after these two had struck big in the previous tournament victories.

10 Clan:
Ca 7 2 0 8 4 0
HP 6 3 0 8 4 0
Bf 6 3 0 8 4 0
Fl 6 3 0 7 5 0
Bu 5 4 0 7 5 0
MV 5 4 0 5 7 0
IO 4 5 0 6 6 0
LB 3 6 0 5 7 0
UF 2 7 0 3 9 0
Gr 1 8 0 2 10 0

Little 10:
SP 9 0 0 12 0 0
KT 6 3 0 8 4 0
Br 6 3 0 7 5 0
SS 5 4 0 7 5 0
Bd 4 5 0 7 5 0
GJ 4 5 0 6 6 0
MS 3 5 1 4 7 1
Wh 3 6 0 6 6 0
CU 2 6 1 4 7 1
PU 2 7 0 4 8 0

10 Pack:
Nw 9 0 0 12 0 0
DS 6 3 0 8 4 0
Cr 6 3 0 6 6 0
Pb 5 4 0 7 5 0
MO 5 4 0 7 5 0
DG 4 4 1 5 6 1
AT 4 5 0 6 6 0
HG 3 6 0 3 9 0
Fm 1 7 1 3 8 1
Sb 1 8 0 1 11 0

Non-Conference:
LW 8 1 0 11 1 0
UP 8 1 0 10 2 0
OL 7 2 0 7 5 0
Pk 6 3 0 7 5 0
BH 5 4 0 8 4 0
So 4 5 0 5 7 0
Ox 4 5 0 5 7 0
St 1 8 0 1 11 0
Pe 1 8 0 1 11 0
OD 1 8 0 1 11 0