“A good, friendly game, and a close one, if with some extreme good and bad dice for Schmaurus (and on Turn 16 for Dead 101) to decide a winner.

On the good side for Schmaurus', they sent some key 101'ers off the field early - a TG MNG'd and another KO'd Turn 1, a skellie KO'd Turn 3 and the 101 Block/Leader Throw-Ra out MNG Turn 4.

But while all this was going on, the remaining Khemri were closing the circle on the ball - which the Skinks simply refused to pickup. 3 attempts failed in 2 Turns, followed by a failed Both-Down by the Krox Turn 3 that led to a crowd throw-in and a loose ball that bounced thru the hands of a Saurus (6+, admittedly) on the Khemri's Turn 3. A simple dodge failed by the would-be ballcarrier Turn 4 (so we'll never know). Turn 5 the 4th attempt failed but bounced into the hands of a skink who had already moved to end that turn - and who then was immediately knocked down to start it over again. Turn 6, the 5th attempt failed. And all of these had been arranged by creative chainpush to be in no TZ's, simple 3+ was all that was needed each time.*

1. (* The odds of missing five 3+ pickups is 1 in 243 (not including the random saurus' 6+ drop). Of that AND missing the 3+ w/ Dodge (to prevent the 6th attempt) is 1/2187. Weird stuff happens when you play enough games.)

Turn 7 Nuffle relented, and after yet another chainpush had successfully cleared the ball, a skink finally picked it up and scampered to the 8 yard line, just within scoring range - and indeed scored the following turn.

To rub it in, Nuffle chose to present Schmaurus with a pointless Turn 8 Blitz - they caught the ball, but had no Turns left to capitalize on it.


2nd half 101 saw some players wake up, but the 9 that took the field were still down a TG and their Leader Throw-Ra (and the RR that came with him!). Schmaurus got over-bold and pushed up hard, but 101 broke out one side and swung around up to the Schmaurus' 10 yard line by the end of Turn 3, BH'ing a side-stepping Skink and SI'ing a rookie one, plus KO'ing a Saurus on their way. A failed Skink dodge aborted the Krox's Blitz possibility on the ballcarrier, and 101 pushed to the 4 behind a screen, and what looked like beyond the reach of any blitz. Schmaurus proved them wrong with a risky Saurus dodge, but that failed, leaving the Saurus stunned and 101 looking good for a stall and the tie.

But Turn 5 Schmaurus pulled some Break Tackle magic out of their lizard hats, and double-marked the ball carrier on the 1 yard line. It was then 101's turn for some dodgey magic, and succeeded in the 4+ for the Turn 6 score, tie game, 1-1.

No additional Khemri had been injured and the Saurus woke up, so it was 9 on 9 for the last kick, 3 Turns for the win. A short kick and a Quick Snap (followed by a perfect turn) allowed Schmaurus' to push up one side with the ball at midfield, and with most of their nearby players down and/or marked 101 had limited response options.* Turn 7 Schmaurus used their last RR to move a TG, and half-screened near the sideline, ball on the 5 yard line. Turn 16 mental errours and a double-skull** all but ended resistance despite an amazing double-dodge to mark the ballcarrier, and a 3d pushed aside the lone marker allowing the T 16 walk-in score for the win.

(* To be fair, Schmaurus left a possible 2d blitz on the ball by accident which the coaching staff didn't see until it was too late, but fortunately 101 also missed it.)

(** Butter Fingers, the +St Thro-Ra, impaled himself on a skink as he tried to blitz up into a blocking position. Jaws dropped on both sidelines, altho' on Khemri and Lizards it's sometimes hard to tell.)”