Eastern Conference Championship

New Jerseys overwhelm People

Once again the New Jerseys got the last laugh over a division foe in the playoffs. In their regular season meeting April 23, Peoria won 34-27. This time the New Jerseys led 27-7 at the half. The People were one of the surprises of 2016, with QB Colin Oskopy running away with the passing composite and the All-East QB and East MVP honors in the most proficient passing offense in the league, with his passing corps of TE Heartless Dykes, All-East WR Ray Pist and first-round draft pick WR Dustin DeWynn.

But in an Eastern Conference that saw defending league champion Manhattan quickly fall out of the playoffs along with former powers Boston and Mobile, the New Jerseys would not be denied their chance at the top and another Hyperbowl.

While Oskopy got his yards, 263 passing thanks mostly to DeWynn, O'Good got big help from the running game, particularly Juan Moorehead. When he or running mate Hyam D. Wahlroos gain a hundred yards, the New Jerseys are nearly unstoppable. They turned the ball over on their first drive of the game, leading to a quick score, and spotting the People a 7-0 lead. But after struggling to field goals on their next two drives, the New Jerseys scored TDs on their next three. They did it every which way, Moorehead and Wahlroos rushing, Moorehead catching a 29-yard pass from O'Good, O'Good rushing, or of course passing to All-East TE Bud Ugly, WRs Holden DeBagg and Shelby Cummin-Roundemounten, and even to backups like TE Nicolas Tudeth.

In the third quarter, after the teams traded drives, Peoria went 78 yards 6 plays, scoring on a 36-yard pass from Oskopy to DeWynn. The New Jerseys returned the favor, 76 yards in 7 plays, including a 24-yard run by O'Good and the 24-yard scoring pass to Ugly. Just as Peoria looked to make a game of it, the New Jerseys pulled away again.

The People drove to the New Jerseys five-yard line by the end of the third quarter, but decided on a field goal instead of going for it on fourth down. Peoria consumed most of the fourth quarter, and their own time, with a 13-play drive from their 16 to the New Jerseys 15. There, with a fourth and 15, they went for it and RB Bubba Popp lost two more yards on a draw play.

Moorehead put the cherry on top. After the New Jerseys moved back to midfield in five plays, he broke open on a 43-yard run to the Peoria five. O'Good threw to Ugly for the touchdown, and the New Jerseys are roaring into their fourth Hyperbowl appearance, with a chance for their third league title.

Western Conference Championship

Panhandlers roll over Devils

The first time they make the playoffs since 1997, the Oklahoma Panhandlers are going to the Hyperbowl, that for the first time since 1994. Oklahoma was the biggest surprise of 2016, swapping places, last and first, with the Monterey Jacks in the Central West Division, and piling up a 14-2 record, second best in the league behind perennial power Casper. When the Ghost were upset by the Los Angeles Devils, it gave the Panhandlers the Western championship game at home, and left them the best team in the league. All this thrust quite suddenly on fans who've been used to sound beatings fairly regularly for some time, despite having talent like league-class RB Eubie Dedd.

After struggling in the first quarter to match field goals with the same surprising Devils who came back to win the Southwest Division and then upset mighty Casper, Oklahoma got some spark in the second half from another surprising source. First-round draft pick RB Orville Kiliu had replaced RB Dwight Stuff, who'd been Dedd's running mate through the hard times. With a third down and ten at the L.A. 27, Stuff came on and got the call on a draw play. He went the distance and got Oklahoma in the end zone first.

The Devils responded with a field goal, but on the next drive, Stuff had a 19-yard run. WR Joshua Little, who along with the arrival of Kiliu was considered the catalyst for Oklahoma's success after being named a starter this season, completed a 32-yard pass play from QB Lyle DeTyme. And Dedd scored on a pass the next play. Stuff came on to score again on a two-yard run in the third quarter, capping a miserable drive for the Devils, since they gained most of the yardage for Oklahoma on penalties.

The Devils squandered a couple of drives to near the Oklahoma end zone, managing just another field goal in the second half, while the Panhandlers scored twice more, a pair of TD passes to TE Jim Shortz. DeTyme, who transformed along with the Panhandler offense, into a play-action nightmare for opponents, spread it around evenly.

Both quaterbacks, DeTyme and Los Angeles veteran Hugh Wish, were intercepted twice. Devils RB Lyle Lott even showed why he's the team's offensive spearhead and he and veteran WR Ty Dass, who had 7 catches for 103 yards, kept them in contention after the retirement of WR Kenny Lingis. L.A.'s stats looked much like the plan for a victory, with their dominant players doing even better than they did against Casper. But the could not overcome the consummate team effort of Oklahoma, greater than the sum of their parts.