On a gleaming 60 degree November afternoon, the ragged band of team What?! formed a pocket of burgundy on the stomping ground on Flatbush and Claremont, warming up for the biggest week of the season. With players each VOLUNTARILY and WILLINGLY arriving at the field for up to a hour before the game to stretch, warm-up, and game-plan (save Ronny and Chris who had to be rescued from the dungeons, otherwise known as their beds by Felix), the team knew that their whole season would be defined by the outcome of the day’s games, which was clear since ALMOST the entire team showed up.
1st Round
First up on the slate on the day, as the 2nd seed in the division, What?! faced the 3rd seeded Untouchables, whom they had beaten earlier in the year and in previous season as well. Starting on offense, What?! drove down the field and promptly scored a touchdown via Matt to Lance even though the team played out of sync during the drive and escaped disaster narrowly several times. However, What?!’s luck would run out on the extra point attempt as the Untouchables would intercept the 2 point attempt and run it back for 2 points, cutting the lead to 4.
Several drives proceeded to go back and forth as What?!’s defense stymied their opponent, buying time for offense to get in rhythm. Following an interception to give the team good field position, What?! suffered a big blow, literally, as they lost Eric A for the playoffs due to a head to head collision that caused a cut requiring 9 stitches in the ER. Stunned by this, What?! proceeded to turn the ball over and allowed their opponents to score to take a 2 point lead. Fortunately, with Alison carrying the offense on her back, What?! was able to regain a bit of their composure, allowing Lance to score his 2nd TD of the game before half-time, putting the team up by 4 again.
The start of the 2nd half didn't go well for team What?! as they continued to struggle on offense while allowing their opponents to score on two different drives, resulting in a 12 to 20 deficit with 10 minutes left in the game. In fact, 90% of the Untouchables offense came through ONE player, whom What?!'s defense had failed to adjust to at this point. In addition, Chris, being the gentleman that he is, failed to swat the bejesus out of a pass that allowed a girl on the other team to score. The only positive was that What?! was able to stop the extra point conversions to keep the game within one score.
With the ball in their hands at this crucial juncture of the game, What?! knew that they had to capitalize in order to give themselves a shot at winning the game. The offense, inspired by this momentous challenge, proceeded to come alive. With everyone chipping in catches, What?! was able to drive and score after Felix, who had earlier caught a big pass in the middle of the field, corralled a ricochet pass for a touchdown. After failing to convert the extra point yet AGAIN, What?! was down 20 to 18 with a little over 7 minutes left.
Who's fired up? Woooo!
Equally motivated at this point, the defense stepped up, made adjustments, and proceeded to make a goal-line stand that gave the team the ball back with 4 minutes left in the game. Sensing the momentum swing, Matt moved the ball down the field methodically, hitting receivers, mostly Alison, all over. Chris chipped in with a big conversion catch as well, atoning for sins from earlier in the game. On a 2nd down pass towards the front left corner in the red zone, Alison, again, was able to reel in a pass with the defender draped all over her and the ball, holding on to give What?! the 4 point lead, culminating in what many would consider the drive of the year, eliciting comparisons to those of John Elway and Tom Brady.
Now, with just over 1 minute left in the game, the Untouchables had one last shot at taking the ball down the field to score. However, that pipe dream was short-lived as the first pass from scrimmage was intercepted by Felix, which all but sealed the outcome of the game. What?! knew they had locked up the game and all they had to do was run out the clock. However, even this proved troublesome, as Matt proceeded to lose a contact on a scramble and had to be taken out of the game, but not before trying to put the dirty disgusting contact back in his eye without washing it with solution, prompting players from both teams to call him filthy disgusting names. At this point, Coen stepped up and successfully ran down the game clock by utilizing the his unique stop the clock by throwing deep and incomplete playbook.
Championship
I'm gonna score!
After surviving the near upset in the previous round, What?! breathed a sigh of relief and the whole team was able to relax for a bit as they waited for the other playoff game to finish. Perhaps, more importantly, with the way the team came back from the deficit late in the game, the whole team was more relaxed and felt that whatever would come their way in the Championship game could be no more difficult than what they had just gone through.
Advised that they would be facing the VaGiants, the only team they lost to in the regular season, What?! was ready to avenge the past and dish out a beating of their own. Having already found a groove from the previous game, the team was firing on all cylinders the entire game. On the VaGiants's first drive, Ronny made a big interception, which allowed for a TD pass to Lance (AGAIN) to let What?! take the lead. Couple of drives later, Matt hit Coen, his favorite target of the game, to put What?! up by 2 scores at the half.
2nd half, we saw more of the same, as the defense continued to make stops and goal-line stands while generating turnovers via interceptions. Alex and Alison each had one, which led to touchdowns by Lance (just going to Ctrl-V his name and add his picture next to the word touchdown) and Alex himself. Lance also chipped in on defense, who along with Chris, generated monstrous pass swats, and head butted girls on the other team. Additionally, Chris almost caught a pass that he had deflected for a touchdown, if only he knew how to catch a ball dropping softly in between one's arms and legs. The only blemish of the game came when Eric S dropped a wide open catch in the end-zone that was at his chest, and had only hit all ten of his greasy McDonalds fries coated fingers.
When the final whistle blew, What?! laid claim to the division championship crown with a dominating 25-0 effort.
Final Thoughts On The Day
Great contributions by everyone on the team not only on the day, but also on the season. It was truly a team effort as individuals stepped up when the team needed them and chipped in in whichever way they could. Hope everyone had as much fun as I did throughout the season. Looking forward to next season, as well as the spring for those sitting out the winter.
You're not going anywhere!
PLAY OF THE PLAYOFFS: Alison's tough touchdown catch to put the team ahead in round 1 tied with Felix's interception to seal the deal in round 1 and Eric's stone hands
PLAYER OF THE PLAYOFFS: Alison, for her monstrous day compiling 15 targets, 10 catches, a touchdown and interception on defense, but also honorable mention to Lance aka "Red Zone Machine" who made the most of his 5 catches on the day with 4 touchdowns and a 1 point conversion
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