“The Malorin Marauder's Home Opener was a slightly subdued affair, with only 40000 people showing up to show their support for the fledgeling team out of the possible 100000 that the new Marauder Plaza could hold at capacity. This didn't stop the Marauders from putting on a show, however, and before the Sauces could even get ahold of the ball from the first kickoff #3 Miolad Nil-Gawyn dealt a devastating tackle upon #2 Neblina Siniestra, knocking the Blitzer out to th great appreciation of the crowd. With the Blitzer down, #13 Murion Norfindel crashed through the Sauces defense in an attempt to grab the ball, but it slipped from his hands into an open space between two Sauces, #5 Pino-caido and #6 Cortez-comida.
Unfazed by the sudden assault from the Marauders, the Sauces pushed back, with #3 Hierba-pisada sending #5 Uniomir Paralas sprawling. Pino-caido went for the ball, but just as Norfindel, he couldn't grab the ball in the scrum and knocked it in front of himself.
Spurred by the slip-up from Pino-caido, #15 Tinulith Caloldor slammed into #10 Hoja-seco, sending him to join the Sauces blitzer in the KO tent. #2 Earulas Thrariand made an attempt of his own to lessen the Sauces Numbers with a hard bodycheck on #7 Tallo-flojo, but he only knocked the linesman down. #8 Ren Galilmandir made up for that when he checked #12 Trepa-lianas. A loud CRACK was enough to tell the fans that Trepa was seriously injured, and while the Sauce fans booed the attack, the Marauders fans cheered as their team's Captain recorded his first casualty. The Marauders weren't done though, as Norfindel dove into #9 Raiz-podrida and knocked the Dark Elf out. Norfindels dive unfortunately caused him to do a faceplant as well, and he found himself eating dirt.
The Sauce tried to come back after this massive assault, but whether it was just frayed nerves or the spirit of the Marauders, they just couldn't push the Wood Elves back and even when they made an attempt for the ball, Comida just couldn't get a firm grip on it and it dropped to the ground.
Spying the ball still on the ground, the Marauders piled in, punching kicking and slamming into anything that got in their way. By some amazing happenstance, #16 Dlilmawyn Fil-Garil scooped up the ball and charged down the field, much to the excitement of the watching fans.
Comida redeemed himself from his two previous fumbles, however, as he was able to catch up to Fil-Garil and slam into him, sending the ball flying out of the lineman's hands, and disorienting the Wood Elf. The Sauce fans exploded as they saw that they were still alive.
Seeminly enraged by the last-minute defense of the Sauces, the Marauders proceeded to pound on the players that they could get their hands on, nearly knocking down the entire team as they vented their frustration. Unable to retaliate, most of the Sauces merely stumbled to their feet, but Flojo chose to try and help his teammates regain the ball. Thrariand and #7 Elandir Sarang weren't having any of that, however, and they were somehow able to get a hand on Flojo and sent him sprawling.
Continuing with their assault, the Marauders continued to pound on the Sauces, with Thrariand ringing #8 Flor-marchita's bell and sending the lineman sprawling. Fil-Garil tried once more to make the run for a score, but he could escape the defensive skills of Comida and found himself facedown in the dirt.
the Sauces suddenly seemed to get a second breath after that, and started returning the beatings to the Marauders, with Galilmandir falling to the fists of Pisada. As the captain was dragged towards the recovery tent, the once exuberant crowd was silent for a minute, worried for the wardancer's health. The atmosphere picked up, however, when the impressive Comida was tripped up by Thrariand, sending the ball flying into an uncontested area.
Scrambling to his feet, Fil-Garil snatched up the ball and dove into the endzone, scoring the Marauders' first ever Touchdown to the crowd's jubilation.
The crowd was overjoyed to see that during the celebrations Galilmandir had regained consciousness and a loud cheer erupted as he ran back onto the field to take center position for the kickoff. The Marauder's kickoff went quite well, with the ball ending up deep in the Sauces zone. The Sauces were fast enough to reorganize themselves, and they decided to take a page out of the Marauder's own playbook as they charged into the defenders screaming their warcries. Flojo took a swipe at Thrariand, but the tough Linesman shrugged off the blow and returned with a hard right that sent the Dark Elf to the ground.
The Marauders obviously hadn't changed their gameplan in the pre-kickoff huddle as they started pounding on the Sauces again, sending 3 players flying before the Sauces could respond. Comida, desperate to redeem himself to the fans, rushed back to grab the ball and succeeded finally. Unfortunately he tripped as he tried to run back, and the ball slipped out of his hands.
Amidst derisive laughter from the Marauders fans, the Wood Elves charged forward and continued their assault on the Sauces, which didn't go too far, as it seemed that the Sauces had had enough. Caloldor fell to Seco, and Comida grabbed the ball again. In an attempt to clear the ball away from his own end he made to throw a pass, but his curse of butterfingers betrayed him again, and he dropped the ball behind himself!
The Marauders capitalized, and Tarar quickly snatched up the ball and strolled across the line, increasing the Marauders' lead to 2!
The Second half started with a bang as the Marauders jumped the kickoff and surrounded the LoS players and continued their practice of beating upon their opponents. #11 Rama-rota fell unconscious at Paralas' bodycheck in the struggle, and the crowd went wild as yet another player on the Sauces was dragged off the field. The Sauces weren't scared by the assault this time, and the proceeded to rush the Marauders, with Marchita stunning Caloldor while Flojo rushed around the scrum towards Thrariand, who had the ball.
Whether it was cockiness or just selective blindness, Thrariand remained stationary while the Marauders continued their beating on the Sauces, but this time to much less effect; in a fit of bloodlust, #9 Isionduil Tiond charged into Pino-caido, and while he was able to knock down his opponent he twisted his ankle badly; so much that Marauders apothecaries wouldn't let him back on the field.
The Sauces took Tiond's fall as a sign and Flojo proceeded to slam into Thrariand, stunning him and sending the ball flying. Other Sauces players rushed for the ball, but #1 Earulas Tarar reached it first. It seemed however that Comida's curse had slipped to him, and the ball flew out of his hand. With that, it was merely the work of a few pushes and some fancy footwork from Marchita to run the ball into the Marauders for a TD to put the Sauces on the board.
The Marauders probably got a stern talking to from Elor Calilith, because they once again were able to rush the Sauces at the kickoff, surrounding the players in preparation for another pounding. The pounding was cut short however when Caloldor charged with a clothesline into #10 Hoja-seca's temple. With a sickening crack, Seca crumpled to the ground; his neck broken. As the Sauces fans stared in disbelief, the Marauders fans exploded as their team racked up another casualty. Caloldor, unprepared for this occurance, knelt down in disbelief and tried to revive his fallen opponent.
With the fall of their comrade, the wind seemed to go out of the sails of the Sauces for a while, although you couldn't see it as they screamed in rage and started to attack the Marauders viciously. Unfortunately the only damage that was really done was Caido jumping onto Thrariand in a rage, bringing both of them down as Caido beat down upon the Wood Elf in a blind fury.
The Marauders kept their composure, though, and continued their vicious attack upon the Sauces players. Siniestra became the new target it seemed, and eventually he went down to the combined efforts of Galilmandir and Paralas, succumbing to a gouged-eye. #4 Anaralad Tinylith didn't have so much luck with his target, though, and Pisada was able to block Tinylith's attack and return with a hard body slam, stunning the Wood Elf.
The Sauces took the assault then, and started the rush towards Tarar, who had been so caught up in the Marauders' assault that he hadn't even picked up the ball. None of the players could reach him, however, and Galilmandir charged back up the field to aid the helpless linesman. Tarar obtained the ball, and in desperation tried to make a pass towards the LoS, but the ball slipped out of his hands and to his right. What followed was a free-for-all as players scooped and dropped the ball, stumbling over themselves and each other as they tried to grab the precious bladder. Eventually, #4 Arbusto-quemado got the ball and dodged his way through the Marauders defenders, but tripped over his own feet when he tried to make a run for the goal line.
Clearing the Marauders zone became the new goal for the home team, and they started it off with Flojo being knocked out by Galilmandir to another explosion from the crowd. Unfortunately, when Paralas charged back to grab the ball he couldn't get his hands on it and knocked it behind himself, fortunately away from the goal line.
With time running out, the Sauces started a mad scramble for the ball, but once again they just couldn't grab it. It was in fact Galilmandir who finally got it in his clutches and he ran down the field through an opening created by the Marauders. He handed the ball off to Caloldor, who sprinted down the field towards the goal with the crowd screaming its approval.
With no time left on the clock, the Sauces simply started attacking the Marauders. In the final seconds of the game Marchita gouged Norfindel's eye, and as the end-of-game buzzer went, Norfindel was helped off the field by the Marauder apothecaries.
All in all, the Marauders opening game was a huge success, and hopefully the citizens of Malorin will start seeing games regularly as their popularity increases.”