“NCBB - Season 40
Week 6 - FBC vs Smack

A beautiful day greeted the Miami fans as they filtered into the stadium, ready to watch as the BallHawks hosted Oregon Waterfoul. Oregon won the coin toss, and for experience, elected to kick, setting up a tight defensive position. Miami, having come off a painful loss the previous week had been awarded the necessary funds to hire some temporary players for today's match, and both the fans and the Oregon players were surprise to see Zolcath the Zoat emerge onto the pitch, along with the rest of the BallHawks. This match was shaping up to be interesting!

The kick came down along the sideline and bounce to a rest deep in Miami territory. Miami covered then collected the ball, while doling out several blocking, including injuring a lineelf, before setting up a screen to prevent Oregon from entering into the Miami side of the pitch. after a turn or two of exchanging blocks the Waterfoul were able to punch a hole through and were now in position to threaten and harass the ball carrier. A single turn later and Oregon had appeared to have Miami boxed-in in their own backfield. The BallHawks executed on of their famed run-leap-pass plays to be the ball clear of the Oregon defenders and to midfield, but Oregon was able to masterfully push one of their catchers into position to wrestle the ball carrier down, leaving the ball on the pitch, after which the Waterfoul's sent their Thrower dodging in and collected the ball. Miami sacked the Thrower and regained possession of the ball, while attempting to advance the ball forward, but a fumbled hand off to secure the ball nearly threated the drive. Oregon made great efforts, even pinning the ball to the sideline, but they could not stop Miami from picking up the ball and running in the first score, 1-nil.

But Oregon still had some tricks up their sleeves, as they found a way to shred through a tight BallHawk defensive formation (including a 5+ Dodge) to push one of their catchers into scoring range before feeding them the ball. It was an impressive play which equalized the score to close out the first half, 1-all.

Second half, both teams at full strength, with Oregon receiving. The kick cam in shallow in the Wide Zone, but not before Miami had a chance to shift some of their player's positioning on the pitch. Oregon wasted no time securing the ball and getting a player into a position where they could be a scoring threat. Miami made a successful attempt on the ball, but the bounce was caught by an Oregon Blitzer, as the entire Oregon team swung towards the sideline further advancing the ball toward the goal line, now with multiple scoring threats. Miami was able to put pressure on the ball, but could not get the ball loose. Oregon then dashed forward and handed the ball off to their super star Catcher to walk in another touchdown, when said Catcher tripped while dodging away from a BallHawk defender, bouncing the ball out-of-bounds. It must have been caught by the Oregon fans before the ball was thrown back onto the pitch at midfield, directly into the hand of a Waterfoul lineelf. With the momentum shifting Miami went after the ball, taking down the lineelf and rushing to make their way towards the endzone and away from any Oregon defender, and though Oregon did make a hit on the ball carrier, Miami held on tight, and leapt past the goal line to take back the lead, 2-1.

With a few turns left in the second half Oregon went aggressive on the offense, but Miami answered with another miraculous play in which the ball was set loose on the pitch. Oregon recovered, getting their super star Catcher into the endzone, awaiting the pick up of the ball followed by the Long Bomb, and to the shock of everyone present, the Oregon Thrower ended up tossing the ball several yards behind him, causing a turnover. IT was now or never for the BallHawks, the ball was just lying there on the pitch, but if Oregon got to it first they could still tie this match. So with a few blocks, including a massive hit which killed a lineelf, Miami was able to cover the ball with some bodies, but not enough as Oregon scatter the ball and was able to pick up the ball under double coverage. But even elven agility and grace would no be able to overcome the pressure as another attempt to pass the ball clear would be thrown off course, landing North of the Thrower. With no one there to stop him a lone linefrog walked over and collected the ball and walked into the endzone to close the match 3-1.

What a wild end to a wild match.
Good game.”