Bullets Rip Through Natives

No Comeback or Thriller This Time

Despite an impressive backfield of their own, the Columbus Natives were no match for the league's leading rushers the past two years: Dodge's Evelyn Olivus and Hugo Faq-Yusef, respectively. After Olivus won the rushing title, as a rookie, last season, he helped Faq-Yusef to do so this year, with the highest rushing yard total in years, and become the Western Conference MVP. Olivus then was the MVP of both Dodge's playoff games preceding this one. Faq-Yusef finished off the one-two again, with the Hyperbowl MVP. Olivus rushed for 90 yards, himself, just shy of a third straight 100-yard playoff game.

But that's not all the Bullets had in their arsenal. While quarterback Tyrone Essores passed for only 141 yards, wide receiver Nestor Vipers had another spectacular performance getting most of it: 118 yards and both passing touchdowns, the first and last scores for his team. Essores, meanwhile, added 50 yards and a TD rushing.

Dodge was favored in this game because of how the West dominated interconference play this year. But Columbus upset the favored Boston in spectacular fashion in the Eastern Conference Championship, just as Dodge beat the Western favorite Casper to get here. The Natives twice looked like they might start a rally in this game, but each time Dodge took over again, and unlike either of the conference finals or several of the recent Hyperbowls, this would not be a close finish, or really even a game.

The Bullets hit the Natives fast and hard, scoring on their first three possessions and going up 17-0 in the first quarter. After Dodge forced Columbus to punt on their opening possession, Vipers returned the punt 29 yards to the Columbus 25-yard line, then caught a 5-yard TD pass to cap the drive. The big play was a 17-yard run by Fag-Yusef.

Dodge settled for a 40-yard Horatio Tujohns field goal on their second drive. Essores had the big play, a 19-yard run. Olivus came up just short of a first down with an 8-yard run on 3rd.

The Bullets forced a third straight three-and-out, then went 64 yards in nine plays, the big one a 27-yard pass from Essores to Vipers. Faq-Yusef capped the drive with a 12-yard TD run. Dodge had dominated the first quarter for the 17-0 lead.

But on the first play of the ensuing drive, the last of the quarter, Columbus's marquee running back Dave Rath busted a 31-yard run. This sparked a drive that covered the distance, though it took ten more plays. Columbus rookie quarterback Bug Zappa threw to wide receiver Skip Towne for a 2-yard TD.

The Natives began stopping the Bullets, but on their next two possessions, they were intercepted, and then Rath was stopped short of a first down on a risky 4th-down attempt in their own territory near the end of the half. But at halftime, it stood 17-7, with Dodge not looking quite as imposing.

After trading punts, Dodge took control of the third quarter and the game again with a time-consuming drive: 80 yards in 14 plays. Olivus had runs of 27 and 11 yards. Essores took it in himself from four yards out. Tujohns missed a 47-yard field goal attempt on Dodge's next possession.

In the fourth quarter, the Natives stopped Faq-Yusef on a fourth-down play, Dodge apparently trying to catch them off guard and hammer the last nail in their coffin. It was an even bigger turnabout when Columbus backup running back Rusty Nail broke open on the next play and was only stopped at the Dodge 4-yard line, a 32-yard run. Zappa carried the ball to the end zone on the next play, then threw to tight end Phil Awful for the two-point conversion, to make it 24-15.

But the rally was quickly squelched, as the Bullets again consumed the clock and the real estate, driving from their own 20 to the Columbus two-yard line in ten plays. Faq-Yusef had a 21-yard run and Vipers a 24-yard reception. After Olivus carried nine yards to the two on a third down, Dodge showed their confidence, if not brashness, by going for it on fourth, needing only a yard for a first, or two for another three-score lead. The Natives stopped them, forcing an Essores incompletion.

Another three-and-out for the Natives, however, gave Dodge the ball right back on the Columbus 42, and this time they would not fail to deliver the knockout blow. With the best backfield in the league having demonstrated its ability to dominate Columbus, the Bullets nonetheless turned to Essores, who ran seven yards, then a quick-out passing game, with short receptions to Vipers and fellow wide receiver Darren Feet. This beautifully set up Vipers to break open for the 18-yard scoring pass play, the icing on the cake, leaving Columbus time for a kickoff return and one play from scrimmage.