Stones Solid as Ghosts Vanish

The Casper Ghosts finally did the disappearing act many expected throughout the playoffs, as the Flint Stones reaped the reward of a 3rd Hyperbowl victory, to join Flagstaff, Chattanooga and Monterey with the most championships. Flint RB Eddie Pus won his second Hyperbowl MVP award, with 155 total yards from scrimmage, 97 of it receiving.

The game should've been closer. At the outset, Casper controlled Flint in much they way they did Las Vegas for the significant stretch of the Western Conference final. They moved the ball well, while shutting down the Stones. The Ghosts' first possession was impressive, including a 23-yard pass from QB Sal Manella to WR I.B. Long, but for their efforts they netted only a field goal, a 28-yarder by K Lee Kittysplit. Their second possession, however, lasted only a few seconds. After holding Flint to 1 yard (a Pus run) in 3 downs, Long fumbled after going 6 yards on the punt return, and the Stones recovered at the Casper 44. It was a foreshadow.

Pus got Flint going on the next play, a 41-yard gain off a short pass over the middle from QB Osborne Lucky, to the Casper 3-yard line. Casper was still holding tough and the Stones got back the field goal, with a 20-yarder from K Oodleson Oodles. Even after a quick strike by Flint in the 2nd quarter, 38 yards in 4 plays after a 15-yard punt return to a 12-yard TD pass to rookie RB Drew Blanc, the balance in statistics did not favor the Stones.

The first possession of the 2nd half showed just how Casper's magic would go. After the kickoff, the Ghosts started at their own 24 and drove to the Flint 33, surprising the Stones and everyone else by using the rush. They started the drive with 3 passes, then ran 8 straight running plays, the biggest a 13-yard gain by RB Orson Buggy. The intent may have been to take control of the clock the way Flint was supposed to do with Pus. Regardless of the plan, the rush was working, another surprising turn of the Casper offense that had stunned Baton Rouge and the mighty Sinners in the Western half of the playoffs.

Then came the turn in their luck. On that 8th running play, RB Will Travel ran into a crowd in the middle and the ball went in the opposite direction. Flint recovered the fumble 3 yards back upfield. The Stones then went the distance in 5 plays. The first 3 were Lucky passes, 17 yards to Pus, and 16 and 21 yards TE Ty Twad. Pus scored on a 10-yard run to make it 17-3 Flint.

Manella threw an interception on Casper's next play from scrimmage, and Flint took the chance on a 4th down play but turned it over. Then on a Casper possession that began with the 4th quarter, following a Flint punt, it happened to Travel again: a fumble after 1 yard recovered 3 yards back, but this time at the Casper 22-yard line. Pus covered 17 yards on a pass play, and then Lucky hit Twad for the TD from 5 yards out. Casper would manage only another Kittysplit field goal from there.

The Ghosts' bubble had popped. Long, who won the Demetrius Award and the SCAB championship with Bleeding Heart before being the number one draft pick, will have to wait longer than his second year for a Hyperbowl. After their contentious regular season, in which they weathered injury to this year's top draft pick, TE Phil Ashio, and went 8-7, the Ghosts were a surprise contender for a 3rd Hyperbowl victory, after wins in 1977 and 1989 as the Cheyenne Goats.

But now it's Flint vying for the most trophies in the league. The Stones take this one also as the 10th anniversary of their first, the 1993 Hyperbowl considered one of the most exciting, when QB Osborne Lucky led a comeback to tie the game and then win in overtime, 34-31 over the Spokane Spelunkers (now the Connecticut Yankees). Flint returned to the Hyperbowl in 1999, only to lose to Las Vegas, but got revenge the next year, the first time the Hyperbowl had a rematch in consecutive years. After their 2000 triumph, Flint didn't make the playoffs until this year.