SCAB Report

Galactic Soup Bowl

Ragin' Roosters more than a match, but Mess wins

The Birddrops Aeronautics School Ragin' Roosters proved not only capable of playing with Puke, they were emphatically better in stats. They held QB Vince Spleen, who set the new SCAB pass yardage record with 4,021, and who won his second Demetrius Award, to under 200 yards, just 183, the only time for that all season and one of the lowest totals of his four-year starter career; league reception leader WR Colin Sick to 5 catches for 53 yards; and power RB Yuri Pulsiv to 55 yards rushing. Meanwhile, Ragin' Roosters QB Amos True passed for 275 yards and 2 TDs; TE Felipe Lidd was the surprise leader of all receivers in the game with 7 catches for 114 yards, also showing how much sharper True was at picking up other targets; and RB Lon Dartz, who'd been the biggest improvement for the team this season, had really the best game of all, scoring 3 TDs. And, yet, the Mess pulled out the win, as they were heavily favored to do, for their league-leading 8th championship.

The game began with defensive blows in a mad scramble to gain traction, slowly progressed to Puke domination through the middle of the third quarter, then the Birddrops offensive machine took over as it had with every other opponent this season. The Roosters scored on 3 straight possessions from the middle of the 3rd into the 4th quarter, using the same spread option combination of rush and pass that had baffled everyone else, to post a 21-13 lead. They looked in complete control, but then a botched punt gave the Mess the ball at the Birddrops 21-yard line. Puke scored in 4 plays, then missed a 2-point conversion attempt. They then recovered an onsides kick at the Birddrops 43. After a 6-yard run and incomplete pass, Spleen connected with WR Gert Fakt for the 37 yards to the end zone, catching the Roosters tilting coverage to Sick and Hole, and just like that, Puke snatched the victory. Birddrops ran 4 plays after that, but only got to their own 40.

The game was nonetheless a thriller, close, exciting, dramatic, and Amos True and Birddrops demonsrated they could play their game against, and even outplay, Puke. Unfortunately, the rich get richer, and another crown goes to the Mess, while the Ragin' Roosters will go back to searching for their first.

The first play from scrimmage was an interception, not boding well for True and the Roosters. It set Puke up at the Birddrops 26. But with the help of a holding penalty, the Roosters held and even backed up the Mess some more, forcing a punt. Birddrops had a 28-yard pass play to Dartz on the next drive, but stalled and punted back. Then Puke drove to the Rooster 48, where the typically reliable Pulsiv fumbled. Birddrops recovered, got a 19-yard pass to WR Luca Bird, stalled again, set up for a 47-yard field goal attempt, got a penalty that moved that back 10 yards, and decided to try from 57. The Mess blocked the punt. Each team was chopping down the other after every offensive surge.

The blocked punt set Puke up at the Birddrops 49. With the help of a personal foul against the Roosters, the Mess took 5 plays to go the distance. Spleen connected with Hole for 16 yards for the first score. From there, the Puke defense took control, not allowing a first down on the next 4 Birddrops possessions, through the 2nd quarter. The Mess missed a 25-yard field goal, turned it over on downs, but then finally made a 35-yard Pauli McCaw field goal to take a 10-0 halftime lead. Of note, the Roosters moved from their own 23 to the Puke 19 on 3 pass plays, of 14 to Lidd, 30 to RB Clay Feete and 14 again to Lidd just before half, and had the clock kill that chance.

After exchanging punts in the 3rd quarter, Puke drove to a 24-yard field goal to stretch the lead, 13-0. Then came the offense Birddrops had shown all season. After a 10-yard pass for one first down, on 3rd and 11, Dartz ripped a 45-yard run, an even more amazing shift than they'd shown in cases such as the State Pen game in the regular season. Dartz ran it in from 10 the next play. They forced 3 and out, then drove 66 yards in 7 plays, with passes of 13, 22 and 13, and the 20-yard score to to Dartz again. Again they held Puke to just -3 yards, and had only 55 yards to go after the punt. True hit Wendo for 19 yards to start it, and got a 25-yard pass to Lidd to the 15. Two plays later, Dartz again caught the 7-yarder to the end zone.

After forced to punt again without a first down, Puke finally returned the favor and held the Roosters, whose punter was then standing at his own goal line. The punt may have been tipped but appeared to go off the side of K Visal Durispekt's foot, and was recovered and marked down at the Birddrops 21. It took 4 plays, including a 13-yard pass from Spleen to Sick, and then Spleen himself carrying from the 7 for the TD. RB Heinke Chiff was dropped for a yard loss on the conversion attempt, to preserve a lead for Birddrops, 21-19.

But then came the onsides kick. The scoring play was perfectly designed, with the over-and-under threat of Sick and Hole going to the left side of the field, the more natural direction for right-handed Spleen. Sure enough, Fakt got single coverage on the right, and Spleen threw the perfect pass for Fakt to run under in the end zone.