Eastern Conference Championship

Projects pull out of mire with Horrors

The matchup of the winners of the last three Hyperbowls and rematch of a lopsided regular season affair didn't quite live up to either expectation. Although the Manhattan Projects didn't blow out their division and state rival Amityville Horrors, neither was it quite the thriller of the semis round or wanted for this conference title meeting. It was dramatic, for about three quarters, but that sinking feeling of the inevitability of the Manahattan win was there even from a safety in the first quarter.

The Horrors scored on the first drive, 12 plays that also accomplished taking time away from Mahattan, but they got only a field goal from it, a 38-yarder from K Edmund Hustler. Still, they scored first and moved against the Projects. Amityille then held Manhattan on two straight possessions, but when they took over on their own 13 after a punt, QB Houghton Holler was chased and finally sacked in the end zone. It was the specter of the horrible day he had in the season-ending loss to Washington, and it was the Projects creeping up to breath down the Horrors' necks at 3-2.

The Horrors kept the wraps on the explosive Manhattan offense, but they weren't breaking out their offense either. When the Projects scored on a 50-yard Cappy Collarneck field goal on the downhill side of the second quarter, the 5-3 lead accentuated that even in this odd struggle, Manhattan was still on top, and that was the halftime score.

The Projects then did Amityville a TD better in each quarter of the second half. In the third, East Conference MVP RB Anthony Kistmi capped an 11-play drive with a one-yard run. RB Avery Nastibooy fumbled twice on the drive but the Projects recovered both. Then in the fourth, as they did with Toronto, Manhattan put the game away with a TD, this one a 16-yard TD run by Nastibooy.

Both teams had great defensive performances, but Amityville could not muster the offense. Manhattan QB Oliver Klozov passed for 206 yards to just 133 for Amityville's Houghton Holler. Kistmi led all rushers, while the Horror RBs combined for 12 yards. Project WR Orlando Difri, who once played for Amityville, was the surprise leading receiver in the game with 7 catches for 92 yards, as the two aces, WR Jason Skurtz and Amityville WR Hugo Gurl, were relatively quiet with identical tallies of 4 receptions for 45 yards. Holler was shaken up and missed some time during the game, and Gurl was also injured and left the game late. The extent of the injury is not yet known.

Amityville misses at the chance for their back-to-back Hyperbowl, while Manhattan returns for the chance at a third league title in four years, and their fourth since 2015. A fourth title would tie them with Monterey for the most.

Eastern Conference Championship

Swamp Rats hold down Linemen

The Baton Rouge Swamp Rats did another great job against their opponents' big guns and reversed a 42-6 regular season blowout by the Wichita Linemen to punch their ticket to the Hyperbowl, their first since 2008. The hot new star of the playoffs, Wichita QB Cody Pendant, who had one of the best playoff debuts ever last week, will have to wait for his turn, while 21-year veteran, Baton Rouge QB Nolan Void, will get a second shot.

Just as they did to Tucson aces Dick Burns and Avery Cunningham, Baton Rouge put the clamps on Pendant for most of two quarters and built up a 13-0 lead, on two K Shelby Radimed field goals and a 4-yard TD run by Void. Void set that up with 14-yard run. But on the very next possession, Pendant ran for 43 yards (he had a 67-yard TD run in the upset over Idaho last week) and five plays later threw 18 yards to WR Dustin Klozoff for a TD.

Pendant would carry that into the second half, opening it with a 10-yard drive, including a 31-yard pass to TE Buddy Stankey, and scoring himself on an 11-yard run. Wichita took the lead 14-13 and had made a game of it. It was suddenly the kind of thriller of the semi round.

But Baton Rouge would turn it right back around. Void marched the Swamp Rats 86 yards in 13 plays and even matched Pendant with an 11-yard TD run. They then held Wichita three downs, got the ball back, and took eight plays to score again, on a Void pass of 16 yards to WR Noah Fence, which was the first play of the fourth quarter. The Linement drove to the Baton Rouge 38, but failed at a fourth-down conversion, and otherwise did not threaten the rest of the game.

Pendant rushed for 81 yards and a TD, but passed for only 146, while Void passed for 213 and ran for 2 TDs. Baton Rouge was without TE Gorilla Maidriemz in the regular season meeting, and on his return here he led all receivers with 7 catches for 89 yards, making up very meager production from the WRs, with ace Fence catching only 2 for 28 yards, though one was a TD. RB Mister Period ran for 55 yards and had 47 in receptions. Wichita ace RB Milo Rider was held to 44 yards rushing, and had 21 receiving, while their top receiver, WR Hertz Laika-Dickens had only 4 catches for 51 yards.