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May 21, 2011
Playoffs
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Stones Snag New JerseysUpton O'Good say hello to Sly Drooler, and New Jerseys goodbye to the 2011 season. The rookie quarterback on whom Flint gambled the top draft pick and who led them back to the playoffs, for his post-season debut upstaged the quarterback considered the most talented of all, and with one of the main attributes: rushing ability as dangerous as passing. The New Jerseys bottled up Flint receivers, so Drooler took off, for 120 yards and a TD. He kept the game close, with the Stones doing a fair job of holding down O'Good and all-everything TE Bud Ugly. O'Good passed for 207 yards and 3 TDs, was intercepted once and rushed for only 25 yards, and while Ugly had two TD catches, he only had 68 yards. Flint's star wide receiver, veteran Roy El Pain, while held to just 48 yards on five catches, got the game-winner on a 35-yard punt return, set up when the Stones were forced to punt from their own end zone in the 4th quarter. New Jerseys kicker Franco File missed a bid to tie the game with a 46-yard field goal attempt with less than a minute remaining. The Stones have won three Hyperbowls to only one for the New Jerseys, but came into this game as the upstarts, rebuilding with young talent such as Drooler and RB Dick Payne, against a team that has been a perennial power since Flint's last playoff appearance. Flint advances to meet New Jerseys' division winner Columbus. |
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Linemen Take It Out on Swamp RatsPayne Indiass picked a fine time to rebound from the terrible three-game tailspin to finish the season, the drought of the passing offense and all the criticism, and the Swamp Rats were the unfortunate victims. Baton Rouge was looking to be resurgent, as well, with the return from injury of their star WR Stan Byer-Mann, restoring their lineup thought to be the most solid except for Casper's. They could not stop Indiass's explosion to his playoff form. Wichita WR Adolph DeFlore was back to his dominating form, also, with 8 catches for 102 yards and a TD, and TE Sum Yung-ful and RB Yoshi Itami, thought to be the wink leaks, each scored for the Linemen. The game was close until the 3rd quarter, when Indiass broke it open with two brilliant drives, including runs of 19 and 27 yards, and the latter four straight completions covering 57 yards to a score. The one bad note for Witchita: Itami was injured, and it's not yet known if it will keep him out of further playoff games. The Linemen now advance for another showdown with the Casper, the match of the last two Western Conference Championship Games, coming a round early because of Witchita's drop-off that yielded their division to Dodge. Casper won the regular season meeting 20-14. |
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