Hopefully we can rebound next year while the window is still (hopefully) open. 

Ashonta Miners @ Hadley Gatekeepers
With Kierport out of the picture, Hadley sought to finally make the Cup by defeating the lowly Miners, who were carried (both figuratively and literally) by Rookie of the Year RB Leonard Arts. Both narratives were displayed early, as in only two plays after taking the kickoff, the ‘Keepers sailed one to the endzone to be caught by WR Andrew Padmore on a league-record 93 yard TD to take a swift 7-0 lead. The Miners went nowhere on their first drive, giving it right back to the red hot Gatekeepers. Taking great advantage of a quick three and out, Jack Reuter and his receivers put together another quick drive, with a 4 play drive capped off on a 30 yard TD pass from Reuter to WR Jimmy Hoek. These two quick scores immediately demoralized the young Miners squad, as they failed to score throughout the quarter. Hadley played as well as they did against the Knights team that they faced in previous years, as they closed out the quarter with another score, this time they faced a slow burning drive as RB Clint Atwood forced his way into the endzone on a 4 yard TD to take a three possession lead for the ‘Keepers.
END OF Q1: 21-0 HAD
The Miners finally got a grip on the game, as they managed to move the chains for the first time in the game. Arts carefully maneuvered past the Hadley defense that held them back and eventually landed himself in the endzone on a 11 rush. Hadley quickly struck back with another drive that ended with a classic Reuter to Padmore hookup to extend their lead back to 21. Ashonta then ran out the clock for the rest of the half, as they sulked back in the locker room being crushed by the obviously superior Gatekeepers teams
END OF Q2: 28-7 HAD
The Miners took the second hand kickoff, and like other drives went absolutely nowhere, punting it back to Hadley. Surprisingly, even though the Gatekeepers got past the 50, they had to punt it away for the first time in the game. Ashonta put the ball in the hands of Arts as they always had, as he put together another drive that made its way into the redzone, but the drive was stopped short of the endzone and the Miners settled for 3 before the end of the quarter
END OF Q3: 35-10 HAD
For the 4th, Hadley HC Marvin Saylor decided to sit his starters on offense, allowing them to rest for the Cup the following week. The backups on offense did their job, keeping the ball away from the Miners and shaving off as much time as possible even though they did not score a single point in the quarter. That didn’t matter, as the defensive starters once again held the Miners scoreless in the 4th, as the Gatekeepers stormed the field as time expired to celebrate their first birth to the Cup.
FINAL: 35-10 HAD

Norfolk Lumberjacks @ Duvall Dragons
The defending champions thought that they could prance through the Divisional Finals and make their way to their third Cup appearance. However, they had to visit the dragon’s den in Duvall and face a fiery and upstart team led by former Rookie of the Year Harold Bauer. The ‘Jacks started off strong, but ended off weak on their drive as they punted it away to the Dragons. Bauer and RB Carson Adams worked their way downfield like they did all season, but were unable to score 6 points as instead they took 3 to take the lead. Eddy Belmont and the rest of the Norfolk offense were held back like in their regular season games against Duvall and were kept scoreless by the Dragons defense on all drives this quarter. The Dragons on the other hand, moved down the field with ease on their second drive of the quarter, where Bauer hit WR Roderick Ware for the first TD of the game to take a two possession lead as the ball went back to the ‘Jacks for the start of the second quarter.
END OF Q1: 10-0 DUV
Norfolk found something out between the quarters, as now they found gaps within the Dragons defense, where Belmont charged his way to the endzone on a 30 yard dash to make the game within 3. The Dragons were quick to strike back and keep their 10 point lead, as Bauer struck his other receiver Abram Radcliff on a 10 yarder to cap off a nearly 6 minute drive. Belmont and gang decided to make it a game when he again nearly single-handedly carried his team to the endzone, where it was topped off on a 2 yard receiving touchdown from new starting QB Terry Rogers to WR Paul Leyton. The Dragons offense tried to get another score in before the half ended, but were unable to get into field goal range as they held a 3 point lead over Norfolk.
END OF Q2: 17-14 DUV
Norfolk came out of the locker rooms swinging, as Belmont once more charged to his endzone, this time by himself on a 69 (nice) yarder to take the lead for the ‘Jacks. Duvall and Norfolk went back to back on drives that resulted in punts to the other team, so it wasn’t until the Lumberjacks came back on their next drive did they put together a scoring drive, with Belmont taking the reigns once more as he increased the Norfolk lead to 11. The momentum of the game began to shift once the ‘Jacks kicked the ball off to the Dragons, as kick returner Jacinto Rosario broke through the defending unit and almost made it a kick return for a touchdown before NOR DB Moe Spencer dove for his feet and tripped up Rosario at the 38. Only two plays later, Bauer hit Radcliff once again to cut the lead to two as the 3rd came to a close.
END OF Q3: 28-24 NOR
Norfolk got running once more and eventually got into field goal range after another long drive. However, the snake seemed to bite the leg of the young kicker Josiah Leonard, as the snap was perfect but the kick went wide right, resulting in a turnover on downs. Duvall took great advantage of the situation, as they marched down the field in a two minute drill to retake the lead for the first time since the beginning of the third quarter, on a quick slant from Bauer to Ware with 2 minutes left on the clock, but the PAT missed to only take a 2 point lead. This was still enough time for the Lumberjacks to come back and retake the lead, as they quickly ran down the field to set up for a field goal. But, in true Norfolk fashion, on their own 40 yard line, the young QB Rogers went to throw to Leyton, but DUV DB Jacinto Rosario came back to intercept the ball and down himself to clinch the game for the Dragons.
FINAL: 30-28 DUV 

6th Escalian Cup Preview: Hadley Gatekeepers @ Duvall Dragons
This is the first time since the inaugural Cup where both teams are making their first appearance, meaning that this will be the fourth straight year with a unique winner and the third straight year a team has won the Cup for the first time. Hadley has had a potent offense all year, and Duvall’s offensive and defensive units have kept up the pace to steamroll through the league. Whatever the result of the game may be, this may be one of the best Cups since the 3rd Cup.
Escalian Sports Magazine Prediction: To be honest, this is anyone’s game. However, the Dragons’ superior defense will be the cutting edge that allows Duvall to hoist the Cup for the first time. 31-24 DUV

Exciting game between Duvall and Norfolk! Both the 'Keepers and Dragons look great, it'll be a great-looking matchup for sure. Unfortunate that both the Racers and Knights couldn't make it, but I think I'll root for the Dragons.

6th Escalian Cup: Hadley Gatekeepers @ Duvall Dragons
The stands of St George’s Field were packed with colors of red and gold and blue as a record 59000 fans filled in to see if their team would win the Cup for the first time. Hadley won the coin toss and elected to receive in the first half, and make quick work with their decision capping off a quick 5 minute drive on a 10 yard pass from QB Jack Reuter to his trusty receiver in Andrew Padmore. The Dragons also garnered a drive of their own, taking longer than the Gatekeepers did but still finding the endzone on their first try thanks to a 2 yard plunge by RB Carson Adams. Hadley once again stormed down the field with their passing offense, with Reuter connecting with his other receiver Jimmy Hoek on a 36 yard score to end the quarter up by one TD.
END OF Q1: 14-7 HAD

(Shown here: Hadley QB Jack Reuter (15) winding up for a pass to his favorite target, WR Andrew Padmore)

Duvall started on another drive early in the second, taking their time as they methodically broke down the Gatekeeper defense. On the drive that lasted nearly 8 minutes, Carson Adams broke the plane on a 3 yard rush to tie the game up at 14. The rest of the quarter was incredibly slow, as Hadley was forced to punt on their two drives this quarter while Duvall tried to kick a field goal before the end of the half, but K Dick Sterling sailed the kick just short of the uprights, resulting in both teams leaving the half still tied at 14.
END OF Q2: 14-14 TIE
The Dragons took the second half kickoff and continued on their slow and methodical approach to drives that worked well in the first half. Their persistence continued to pay off, as their 7 minute drive was swiftly ended on a 20 yard pass from Harold Bauer to Roderick Ware to take the lead for the first time in the game. The Gatekeepers got going again thanks to a 40 yard pass from Reuter to Padmore, but their steam quickly ran out and settled for a field goal to cut the lead to 4. The Dragons continued on their quest for the Cup, as they crossed the midfield as the quarter expired.
END OF Q3: 21-17 DUV
Right as the quarter started, Bauer sailed a pass to WR Abram Radcliff for 48 yards and a TD to extend their lead to 11. Not deterred by this play, Hadley put together another quick drive, but again were stopped short of the endzone and settled for a field goal once more. After a Duvall drive that went nowhere, the ‘Keepers got the ball rolling and this time they found the endzone on a 5 yard pass from Reuter to RB Clint Atwood, but after K Jake Delaney missing the PAT only put the Dragons up by 2. The Dragons tried to chew as much of the clock as possible to prevent the ‘Keepers from going on a two minute drill, but left only 2:13 left on the clock before the Hadley defense made a crucial stop to force a punt back to the Gatekeepers offense. Starting at their own 10 yard line, Reuter and his back made a crucial push to score, getting within striking range of a field goal to potentially win the game. The snap was near-perfect, as Delaney kicked from the 29, with the ball sailing through the uprights to win the game for the Gatekeepers. Dragons players sat stunned on the field, being denied a championship on a near-perfect year as Hadley moves on from being bridesmaids and finally become champions.
FINAL: 29-28 HAD 

Hadley QB Jack Reuter was named the Escalian Cup MVP, putting up a 299 yard, 3 TD performance to lead his team to victory. “It feels so good to be number one! We’ll be back to make sure it stays that way!”

UP NEXT: 1965-66 Offseason: A plenitude of uniform changes

1966 Offseason Part 1: North Division Uniform Changes

The new partnership with Zephyr Athletics lead to a new uniform being created. Compared to the first uniform template, this one has a two-bar face mask, slightly shorter sleeves, and a shrunken nameplate.

Out of the 6 teams in the North, only two teams made no significant changes: Ashonta and Saint Blaise

Starting out with the ever-struggling Mariners, they brightened their shades of blue and gold, changed their collar and cuff colors on their away set to gold changed their away numbers to blue outlined in gold, and added a blue/gold/blue stripe on their helmet. They are also one of the few teams that are using a non-grey face mask, electing to paint theirs gold. 1960-1965 set for comparison. 

To avoid comparisons to the darker blue Ellesby, the defending champions in the Gatekeepers flipped their blues on their home set, as well as adding the now-traditional champions patch onto their uniforms. 1960-1965 set for comparison.

The Knights surprisingly changed their pants from white at home and black when away to gold on both sets, and changing their socks color from gold to black to avoid blending in with their pants. 1962-1965 set for comparison.
And the last for the North, the Racers are one of two teams to add a third jersey, and make a minor change in brightening their shade of red. 1960-1965 set for comparison.


C&C Appreciated!

Last edited by DireBear (8/30/2020 8:42 pm)