“Blue Isle Mariners vs. Slick Gutters
March 22 — Qhelk Field

The Mariners, leaving their inaugural Rumble 1-1, made their way inland Friday to a tucked away plain. Today was their first regular season game, as they took on the Skaven Slick Gutters. After a trying and treacherous first two games pitted against dirty players in arenas all brine and brack, today’s match in the sunny grasses of Qhelk Field was a pleasant change of pace. The Skaven, led by coach MatthewFyzy played a traditional game of Blood Bowl. And while they outpaced the elves in speed, a match desolate from wild crowds and secret weapons was the shift in atmosphere the boys from Blue Isle needed.

Wanting to set the tempo, coach Kochenberger ordered Sexton to choose to receive should they win the cointoss, which they did. An easy kick allowed the Thrower to pick up the ball and the rest of the elves to space themselves in a wide net as they’d try to grind away the first half against the rodent opposition. This left them with offensive options, as they steeled a prodding Skaven defense. The only player on the pitch that could outpower the Mariners 1-to-1 was the Mutant Rat Ogre Kurgos, who remaining Blitzers Trisdove and Maynear would tread warily away from.

The Ogre would lead a push into the backfield that almost proved to gum up the drive early for the Mariners, as Sexton doubled back and found eventual coverage on the opposite widezone of the field. After the successful reaction to the Gutters’ initial quickstrike, the stoic Mariners found themselves in a comfortable spot with little opposition in front of their ball carrier. This was complemented by an early 11-9 manpower advantage provided by a knockout and game-ending injury by Steele and Trisdove, respectively.

The once-threatening LOS break by Kurgos now resulted in his being stranded on the losing side of an elven-armor screen forming up in the closing minutes of the first half. Sexton wove a handoff to Orard, who’d trot rosily toward the endzone in the springlike breeze.

Without time to score before the end of the half, the Rats nearly pinned a brutal foul on line-of-scrimmage muscle maiden Kothe Lyne Daejor, that without the conjuration efforts of the Blue Isle apothecary would have sidelined her for the rest of the match. This successful remedy would prove vital for the Mariners, who entered the day’s match missing Prismyn and Alterian. In place of the missing Blitzers, they fielded seasoned seaman (but not elf) Osmond Whitelightning, and debuted the beautiful Tride Pearl who represented the team’s first roster expansion.

Starting the second half, Fyzy played his rats far up on the line and executed a successful rush TD. By positioning the vermin so aggressively, he allowed them to use their speed to catch the slow and spread opposition defense flat-footed. Thrower Mass Zelkin heaved a pass to Gutter Runner Skrit Kualassik, and the team formed a cage deep in the Blue Isle sideline. This position, however, forced the Gutters to score quickly, giving time even for the sometimes sluggish Mariners to strike a dagger and win 2-1.

Zelkin’s breakout performance continued with a brilliant kick to start the next drive, leaving Sexton to secure the ball in his team’s own endzone as the offense scrummed to contain the rats at the pitch’s center.
Perhaps afraid to compromise their positioning, the Skaven waited to pounce instead of trying to strand Sexton deep in the backfield. In response, Sexton and his supporting Catchers worked the ball upfield a quarter-length. A few longshot sack attempts from the Slick Gutters came up short, and Kochenberger shouted for his men to keep their forward march moving.

Not fast enough to screen off the Skaven defense in their own backfield, Wynin Sexton was forced to break free from a widezone bottleneck and toss to an open Narissa. She’d have block support from Trisdove to score the winning touchdown, delivering an enjoyably bloodless victory to the Blue Isle roster.

In the calm idyll that Qhelk’s facilities (an outhouse and steed tying post) offered, it was easy to finally get a hold of coach Kochenberger, who notched his second win as Mariners head. Kochenberger seemed to think the same of the Gutters’ home stadium:

“Yeah, who knew about this place, right? After the last couple games I was expecting some terrible underworld cavern when I heard a name like ‘Qhelk’. It’d be a babysitting job with these elves in a joint like that— sometimes I just don’t understand those guys.”

But, cultural differences aside, Kochenberger seemed thrilled with his men after the game at Qhelk.

“It was a good, clean, game— and missing two of our best prospects I think it was real gratifying to have great performances all around.” Coach continued, highlighting a few standouts of his personnel: “Wynin was strong, obviously we needed him to step up last week in an unfortunate circumstance- but it was nice letting him relax into his role as a player on the field this afternoon.” Kochenberger was, of course, speaking on his late arrival to the Mariners’ tournament match at Serpent’s Maw, an undeniable factor in the team’s knockout. “Narissa and Orard also played real consistently for us, and that’s the kind of skill that turns draws into wins. But it was everyone today, and I can’t complain much about that.”

I also asked Kochenberger what fivehead had to say, if anything, about the situation on last Tuesday’s match, but apparently the two hadn’t gotten the chance to talk. Fivehead is currently on the road with the Anchorage Eskimos, who started their season with a draw and now have put their name in for a shot at the Ulthuan Invitational.

Today’s win puts the Mariner’s at 2-1, although with the season schedule they’re playing their inaugural win wasn’t eligible for points in the Secret League Sprint run by Commissioner Koadah, among others. The team was upset about this news, naturally, but hope to continue winning enough in their regular season schedule that it won’t make any difference.”