[Autumn]

Championship Game

Phillip Bennett, the Boston starting QB is a bit of mystery. A fourth year player, he languished on the bench only picking up three starts in his first three years. Boston has had the same head coach and offensive coordinator since 1920 when the team started up, Boston losing in the championship game that year. But for whatever reason, this year was the year they gave the nod to Bennett. The man must have seasoned well on that bench for he has come off to a 15-3 record, with an amazing 7 fourth quarter comebacks in that time. The former second round pick has improvement to be made in accuracy, but he's got a dangerous arm, matching Nichols at top of the league for average per attempt this year.

There's no doubt that Ray Gist will be getting his share of attention leading up to the big game. The second year back was Offensive Rookie of the Year last season and led the league in yards this year. One might not be blamed for considering him overrated though, giving his 3.82 rushing average. Gist has proven himself in these playoffs though, rushing for an amazing 284 yards in two games, for a scintillating 7.28 yards per carry and 4 TDs. Omaha can no longer afford to write him off as a workhorse, he's a weapon that has to be guarded against.

On defense Johnny Shapiro has already racked up 4 sacks and 11 QB knockdowns in just two games. A key for Boston will be getting Shapiro in Nichols face. He has the assistance of Travis Jones and Curtis Reidl, with another 3.5 sacks among them in the post season. This will be a test for the Omaha offensive line.

The key for Omaha will be coming and playing their game. Last season Omaha raced off to a 17-1 start in the season, came to the Super Bowl already crowned champions, and lost their focus. Getting behind early, Nichols got rattled and made poor choices. This is the way to beat the Tornadoes and now the league knows it. Nichols may be the winningest QB in league history with a 41-12 record but he has not once logged a fourth quarter comeback. Likewise the Omaha defense works best when they are capitalizing on a lead.

Omaha has to be pleased with the success of their running game in the postseason. When Hiscock is able to run, and Nichols adds some scrambles, this offense is very hard to stop. Against Boston's strong pass defense, it's going to be crucial. If Hiscock doesn't have a big day it will be up to Bratton or Youssef to make something happen.

This is it, game day. Nichols and company have been working all season only for this moment. After last year a 17-1 record means nothing but a shot again at the championship they let slip away. There's no chance these guys will come out soft today.

From the very first play we're firing, Sampson knocking the ball loose on the initial kickoff return and Fenderson recovering it. Nichols to Bratton isn't complete, so the next play Nichols dumps it off to Hiscock who breaks loose for 21 yards to the 4 yard line. Haber allows a sack and though Nichols scrambles it back to the 1, the Tornadoes settle for the easy field goal. 3-0. Boston settles for the same on their next drive, taking advantage of one key 29 yard pass.

The pass rush has indeed been getting to Nichols who starts off 2 of 6. He hits Bratton for a big 29 yard play though. That gives him the confidence to try for something big, and he goes for 5th receiver Alonzo Sampson who makes the long catch and takes it all the way, 52 yards for a TD! 10-3.

Next possession we show confidence, moving down the field with a combination of runs and passes, catching them in the wrong defenses. We play it safe on the goal line and settle for a short field goal and a 13-3 lead. Unfortunately, Boston does the same, moving down the field on us easily. We almost manage a stop but Bennett catches us on a safety blitz and throws the 21 yard TD. 13-10.

That's the score as we go into the locker room. Gist has already run for 100 yards against us, and I'm wondering if I called the wrong defense against these guys. Our running game has done nothing and it's big plays that have us this far.

Bratton makes a big first down catch on our first drive, and I'm glad to see him really involved in this game. However, the drive fizzles and worse when they block our punt and recover at midfield. Standafer though makes a clutch play, stuffing Gist on 3rd and 1. Hiscock in turn earns us a first down. We have five penalties so far to Boston's one. Hiscock gets another first, but another penalty sets us back. Nichols is only 14 of 25 so far, they're playing him and our receivers tight.

Three big runs in a row loosen up Boston's defense next drive, and Nichols hits Bratton for 21 yards. Youssef follows up with his first catch to get us in the red zone at the start of the fourth quarter. Bratton's sixth catch of the day is a touchdown and we have a 20-10 lead.

Our next big play comes midway through the fourth. We punt and Halley makes a huge tackle on the returner. He coughs up the ball and backup center Cornelius Clinton recovers. A holding call starts us off poorly but Hiscock makes up for it with a 18 yard pass play. Nichols hits Machen for a first down on 3d and 1, and now we're in the red zone. They stop us at the 12 but we make the kick to go up 23-10.

AT four minutes the ball goes over on downs at midfield. The Minutemen have almost given this game away with their poor defensive calls in the second half, expecting pass almost constantly, even now down by 13 at the end of the game. It proves too easy to drain the clock out on them with our running game. They only start expecting the run once they burn their timeouts.

And that means the clock stops on a championship for Omaha.

I have to give Boston their due, they played us tight and if it were not for turnovers they might have taken us today. Ray Gist ran 23 times for 123 yards and had another 45 in the air. Had the game stayed closer and he kept running like that we might have been done for.

On the opposite side Hiscock and Vanaqs, who had a miserable first half, ended quite well. 18 rushes for 74 yards for Hiscock, 10 for 46 for Vanaqs. Nichols threw in 32 yards of his own on 5 rushes. He was named game MVP for his passing, 20 of 31 for 264 yards and 2 TDs. Sampson had the biggest play with this 52 yard catch, but Bratton caught 6 balls for 93 yards and a TD, showing up big time for the big game. Hiscock did what he could to alleviate the Boston pass rush, catching 9 balls for 86 yards. No one else on the team had more than one catch, a very odd game for Nichols.

Ingram was the surprise defensive player of the game, coming out of nowhere to have 4 tackles, 3 assists and 2.5 sacks. The WLB only had 1.5 sacks in the regular season but brought his game today. Roderick Bliss, nickel back, would get another nod for big play, with three defensed passes. Paschal played his normal great came, knocking two balls away himself. Perhaps it should be Mack Halley and Alonzo Sampson though, with a forced fumble each that their teammates recovered, who should be noted most.

The curtain closes on a 18-1 season, our only loss coming in overtime. Your world champions, the Omaha Tornadoes.

Omaha Tornadoes 23, Boston Minutemen 10