The Philadelphia Row had dominated just about every game for the whole year, so it was a bit of a shock when Game 1 reached halftime and they were only ahead by 4. The Redbacks were playing a super-aggressive defense to try to bottle up Philadelphia’s stars, and it was working for the most part; W/ZB Zebedeo Perilla led all Row scorers with 13 at the half and F/K Ray Thomas was the only other player in double digits. Meanwhile, Texas was actually giving a decent showing against the Row D, always seeming to have one man open (typically W/C Elide Amigazzi) and always able to find him. Philly finally managed to create a little bit of space in the seventh inning thanks to a couple of big shots, but never really held a comfortable lead. In the end, they only won by 14 points, their closest margin all year, and nerves were beginning to show.
Unfortunately for Texas, they didn’t have much more left in the tank after that Game 1 and a grueling seven-game series with Chicago. Game 2 quickly turned into a nightmare, as Philly seemed to have a step on them at all times, no matter what they did. As a result, the Row defense, which had been great all year, seemed to be even better that night, as Perilla racked up 18 passes defended, Thomas saved 17 of 20 shots, and B/C John Evans accumulated 7 blocks and 4 steals on the defensive end. Things were so bad for the Redbacks that Philadelphia actually doubled them up, the first time in NDLCS history that a team had scored twice as many points as their opponents.
With the extra day for travel before Game 3, Texas rebounded a bit, getting back above the century mark, but only barely. They certainly weren’t competitive the way they were in Game 1, although, to be fair, it’s hard to keep up when Zebedeo Perilla is busy dropping 44 points on you. This left Texas on the verge of being swept, a feeling they hadn’t felt since a decade ago when they were down 0-3 to the Hogs in the 2020 Finals. They managed to avoid the sweep that time, but this time, they were just too gassed. No matter what schemes, matchups, and lineups they tried, they just couldn’t fix the fact that the Row was a more rested team and, at the end of the day, the better one. Philly coasted to a 38-point win to become just the third team in NDL history to win back-to-back championships.
Rugrat wrote:
