“Well played, molerats!

Riders faced a brood farm of female rats that posed quite a challenge from a scoring perspective.

Things began well on defense with a few KO's and the threat of more incenting the molerats to score a 2-turn TD. The Riders looked forward to a long painful equalizing drive.

But the Molerats blitzed, confounding the Riders plans. Chet Chasepebble recovered the ball and headed for what looked like the safety of a small cage. But the mysterious hooded figure in the Molerats dugout cast aside his cloak, revealing himself as a Wizard! Invoking Words of Power, he called down a fireball to blast the cage apart. "They didn't teach me about this at blodge sidestepper school," thought Chet as went down.

Speedo recovered the ball and sped away to the Riders end zone. "Get him!!" yelled the coach. "At least make him score quickly!" But the Riders, engaged at close quarters with storm vermin, reverted to type and bashed away happily while the Molerats shrewdly stalled and made it 2-0 on their final turn. However, the riders cleared the Molerats LOS from the pitch on the final play of the half, establishing a clear numerical superiority. Would it be enough?

Try and tie the game, or inflict punishment? The Riders decided to score despite the crowd calling for blood. They put together a brutally efficient 3 turn drive that knocked 3 rats off the patch and gave Chet his 23rd TD to make it 2-1.

But the Molerats coach rose to the challenge and sent all his KO's back on the pitch with blistering threats of mass firings if they didn't. The Riders grimly set themselves to the task of trying to take the ball away from a talented group of 8 rats.

The Molerats pushed a GR deep, drawing both Chet and Zak for a blitz/foul combo that left their target apparently dead (saved by apo), demonstrating how effective they could be when they chose to work as a team. But this turned out to be a decoy, as the Molerats pulled off their patented "Cincinnati Reverse" and sprinted to the other wing, eventually making it 3-1.

"Can we bash now please??" cried Phin Finishem, thinking the match beyond hope. Zak however wanted to match Chet's scoring output and took the ball to the front of the cage, trusting in his double guards to protect him. It didn't, as the Molerats matched the Riders guard-for-guard to put in a 1d blitz that caught Zak hard in the neck and killed him. Well he had a good run, no doubt many will be happy to see him go.

Revenge for their fallen teammate was now uppermost in the Riders minds and they struck with 2 CAS in the last two turns, including a crippling shot on Speedo, the agile leaper who had caused them so much trouble earlier. Their anger appeased, the Riders acknowledged the multiple permanent injuries the Molerats had suffered and the solid game they had played.

R.I.P.
Zak Zoomrock”