FOF: League of Ordinary Gentlemen

[Autumn]

I think you're exactly right. Our defense didn't perform great, exactly, but most of my talent is on that side of the ball. I'll do a team wrap up next, but basically offensive skill positions is where we're really weak. Although, I think that's true around the league - offense is a lot harder than defense with the level of talent in the game right now.

[Autumn]

Omaha Tornadoes Wrap Up

Quarterback

The quarterback controversy continues unabated. I went into the season thinking I would put the ship in Atkins hands, and did. He didn't tear hte league apart, but performed as I expected, making more long passes and big plays than Jochen tends to. However, he had an amazing ability to fumble the ball. Looking back now he fumbled 12 times in the 8 games he started, including a 4 fumble game and a 3 fumble game.

I decided to try my chances with Jochen's game manager style, after all he got us to win the division last year. He just seems to lack a spark, however, and relies too heavily on dumping it off in the backfield. Atkins came back towards the end and didn't fumble in his last game at all.

Regardless, it's clear we don't have "the answer" here. Eventually we're going to have to draft a top prospect quarterback. I was thinking it wasn't worth it at this stage, wtih no mentors in the league. But I think our lack of leadership at the top is hurting us.

Running Back

None of my running back crew make me dance a jig, but I can't complain much about them. Vanaqs and Rosario are both bust and boom runners, they'll have a lot of no-gainers and then a bunch of 15 yarders. When that works, it's great, but they kill me when we're trying to keep a lead. Hiscock, the rookie, got some action and performed reasonably well. He's more of a steady runner, and can catch as well. But no permanent solution here. Vanaqs and Hiscock both have some potential to grow into still, so we'll see.

Fullback, I feel comfortable with. Both Chism and Shepherd get into the game and make plays, as well as have some potential to grow into.

Receiver

Schaefer comes in with the second best average per catch in the league, suggesting maybe he's ready for the prime time, rather than getting shuffled around. Sampson, my surprise from the seventh round, earned himself a starting job this year. Still, he needs to improve a lot, he had just under a 50% catch rate and a lot of balls thrown his way. His ratings continue to go up though, so we'll keep him and watch his boom. The rest of the crew didn't distinguish themselves at all this year. Walsh, my previous underrated draft pick doesn't seem to be going anywhere special.

I'm happy with my tight end crew. They all have some potential to grow into, and all make good plays in the passing game when we get aroudn to them. I like having the depth, and we've got them all signed for next year.

Offensive Line

Our line isn't bad, it's certainly our best unit on offense. Center Scotty Dawkins is at 48/48, and gets a lot of KRB opportunities, though he's got a low success rate. First round pick Kim Covington is up to 54/77, and performed well, but not spectacular. The other guard, Broderick Morris, at 40/53, had a decent year I think. Tackle is where we're weak, but even there Marc Cassani caught my eye a number of times wiht good play, but gives up a lot of sacks. McGregor, my fourth round pick, got injured in week 10 and figures to be injured into 1923, so that's bad news. Tubbs played at the right tackle spot and did hardly anything. A couple of tackles would be good to pick up for next season.

Kickers

I can't complain about Nolan Bercich, my kicker, who still has room to grow into his potential, and yet was the second most accurate kicker in the league this year. He only missed four, and they were all more than 40 yarders. That's all I ask (and he didn't miss any PATs).

Ricky Havens, the punter, is a differnet story. His ratings have slipped downward, and his performance was mediocre by league statistics. He's definitely not the solution here.

Defensive Line

I'm rather happy with my entire defensive line, though none of them are league leaders. Jennings and Paz have manned the ends, and this year I added Fleming, who performed well enough to bump Paz into a backup role. Jennings is only rated 34/34 but I think is a creeper, while Felming looks decent at 38/51. Paz doesn't like his lack of playing time, but for now makes a nice security blanket. In the middle, Greer adn Huie man down the fort at 46/55 and 47/54 respectively. Caillouet has made a good backup there.

We got 17.5 sacks out of the ends, and 14.5 out of the middle. Certainly there's a lot of room for improvement on this unit, but I'm not afraid to go forward with these guys.

Linebackers

This is another unit I'm happy with. Minter and Martinez are the soul of this defense, and almost all their tackles are good plays, stopping big plays or makign big plays. Minter didn't have the fantastic pass defense year he had last season, but he's hit 57/57 and keeps going up, so I think he's a find.

At the weak side, rookie Ingram came in to pressure Torres for the spot, and did so. He made it into a starting position after a few weeks, and seems to be a playmaker like the others. Looking at his stats, he doesn't add anything to hte pass rush, but seems to make good tackles, and big plays. Torres isn't complaining about being bumped, so it's a perfect set up. I just need to look for some backups for this crew.

Secondary

This looked to be a tough year, wtih former first round pick Harvey Shepherd dropping rating points like crazy. He's now down to 29/29 and basically doesn't play anymore. Luckily I got some great play out of free agent pick up Roderick Bliss, who took over that LCB spot. He kept up a 82.0 pass defense rating. On the other side, former draft pick Steve Wicks did decent with a 80.1 rating. Farr stunk it up as nickel back, but late season pick up Luke Welch didn't do bad, posting an 80.5 rating in three games.

Jared Perrin was our best player back here, leading hte team in pass defense and throwing in 67 tackles and 35 assists from the SS spot. Stanton at FS was not so imporessive, picking up a decent amount of tackles, but giving up a lot of passes. He's got some potential to grow into, so we'll see about maybe bringing him back. None of our backups here were anything to write home about.

Oh except Darrin Burton who has no skills as a safety, but did a great job at punt returning and probably will come back for that express purpose.

Looking into the next season I'm looking for:

Depth at cornerback and safety to tighten up our defense. Offensive tackles to shore up our line. And any of hte offensive skill positions. I don't think anyone is safe there. Oh and we should pick up an improvement at punter also.

[Autumn]

The first round of the playoffs is the Faceoff of the Mediocre. We've got five 9-7 teams, two 10-6 and and 8-8. It's so mediocre Vegas can't even pick a winner between Indianapolis and Cincinnati.

In the end, homefield advantage does it, with all four home teams winning. New York wins in a shootout with Richmond, with QB Moe Hamm wining player of the week with his 260 yard outing. But it's Richard Flowers, the Cavaliers quarterback who broke the league's passing yardage record this year, who breaks another record with his 353 yard losing performance. Despite the yardage, New York picked him off four times, and won by three points.

Atlanta wins in a different style against Buffalo, with QB Ryan Frederick breaking the playoff completiion percentage record, going 18-22 for 151 yards and a TD, to win 13-6.

Meanwhile in the NFC, our conference, Indianapolis wins at home versus Cincinnati, where former Tornado Artie Blackburn had led the Eagles into the playoffs. He put up 228 yards in his losing effort, but Racers QB Harris Stanberry came away with a win, mostly due to running back Ernest Maxwell's 105 yards, and their D-line's pass rush.

Last year's Superbowl winners, the Pittsburgh Steelers, were forced to head to Portland, to duke it out with the Eruption. Pittsburgh handled the league sack leader, Briceland, holding him to no sacks and three hurries and two knockdowns. But the player of the game was Portland linebacker Mack Halley who put in 11 tackles, two assists, a sack and a forced fumble. Middle linebacker Copeland added 12 more tackles in the middle in a hard fought 10-3 contest.

[Autumn]

Divisional Round

In the AFC, we have wild card winners Atlanta heading to Detroit to face the 12-4 Wheels, where it's raining pretty bad. No dome in 1922, folks. Meanwhile, the Yankees will be heading to Washington to face the 11-5 Generals.

In our conference, the Portland Eruption has drawn the league's best, the San Antonio Defenders, 14-2 and the best ranked team in the league. These guys are ranked #1 in points scored and points allowed, and a whole lot of other things. The other game has Indianapolis heading to Kansas City to face our division winners, the Cowboys.

The home teams are all favored, but this is the round for upsets. Atlanta beats the Wheels 14-10, with CB Kurt Hines winning player of the games with his two interceptions, one coming to seal the win in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for Atlanta, it looks like Ryan Frederick got hurt, and while his replacement played well, they've got to be hoping it's not serious.

Meanwhile, the New York Yankees eke out a win in Washington, 21-20. The Yankees scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to pull out the win, with the Generals missing a long field goal in the last seconds that would have won it for them.

Our division leaders, Kansas City, are the only home team to win, beating the Racers 19-3 in a pretty clear thumping. The double headed rushing monster of Vernon Mersky and Mickey McElrath put 156 yards on the ground, while QB Jerald England was 21 of 26 passing. Playing from behind the whole game, the Racers had to air it out, and ended up with Stanberry throwing four interceptions.

The biggest upset was the Portland Eruption taking out the San Antonio Defenders in a 23-6 victory on the road. They poured on the winning 17 points all in the fourth quarter with two long scoring drives and a field goal to top it off. Running back Toby Matthew put up 98 yards on 15 carries, while the Portland defense held league's best QB Bryant Bentsen to a 49.4 QB rating. It seems that while San Antonio was keyed on holding down sack leader Briceland (and they did, to two hurries) they forgot to cover the opposing defensive end, Colin Evans, who had a 5 tackle, 4 sack, 3 hurries and one block game. That four sacks is a league playoff record.

Conference Finals

In the AFC, Vegas is at a deadlock again, unable to pick a winner between the 10-8 Atlanta Bootleggers, and the 11-7 New York Yankees. Atlanta QB Frederick is out, giving the Yankees an advantage at the helm with Moe Hamm.

Vegas was right to be unsure, as Atlanta's win only comes in a 9-7 victory, with two field goals in the fourth to put them ahead. The game winner came on a 7 minute, 88 yard drive starting at their own 10, leaving the Yankees with less than a minute to try to win the game. It was a gutsy performance, with backup QB Byron Hicks going 30-44 for 262 yards and one pick, while throwing largely to Joseph Flowers, who had 11 catches for 89 yards. Last week's player of the game, Kurt Hines, had another interception, this one to end the last ditch effort by the Yankees.

In the NFC, our division leader, the KC Cowboys are the home team, and the favorites, expected to beat the Portland Eruption. However, we've already seen the Eruption take out the league's best, so all bets are off, I think.

Well, sometimes Vegas knows what it's doing, and the Cowboys win an easy 34-3 game, with the Eruption getting intercepted twice in the fourth quarter to seal it, one of those getting returned for the icing on the cake. The Cowboys picked up another 143 on the ground from their running back committee, and a careful short passing game did the rest. Looking through the stats, I notice Daryl Briceland strangely missing. It turns out he missed the conference championship with a hyperextended knee, and it obviously hurt the Eruption. In their defense though, the Eruption defense has some rather cool named players, including Xavier Craighead, and Nick Leatherman, who combined for 19 tackles and 6 assists in the game.


Super Bowl Mania!

This is quite an odd matchup. The Kansas City Cowboys, 11-5 winners of the Midwestern Division, were second in our conference, and so it's not surprising they're here after the Defenders's loss. However, the Atlanta Bootleggers were winners of their division, but with an 8-8 record, beating out two other 7-9 teams narrowly. Benefiting from a conference bereft of great teams, they not only fought their way to the championship game, they did it while losing their starting QB.

Kansas City are the favorites, but we'll see what the rain and 12 mile per hour winds do to the teams.

What happens is that Kansas City ends Atlanta's Cinderella story, spanking the Bootleggers in a 31-3 win, and cementing the seeming superiority of the NFC. In a repeat of history from last week, the Cowboys seal the game with an interception returned for a touchdown at the end of the fourth quarter. These guys are opportunists if nothing else. They crushed the Bootleggers with a dominant running game, grinding for 164 rushing yards, 113 of it from Vernon Mersky, who scored two touchdowns in the first half. Meanwhile, the Cowboys QB England was an efficient 11 of 15 for only 96 yards.

Atlanta's fill-in QB, Byron Hicks was 15-25 with an interception, before being replaced himself. Dwight Waldron managed to score a 0.0 QB rating in his 3 drives, throwing two more interceptions. Player of the game was Cowboy safety Bucky Ribich, who was responsible for two of those interceptions, and two pass defenses. A strange choice over the dominant Mersky, but hey, let's give defenses some loving. Still, maybe they could have gone with LT Tommie Boyer who had 6 key run blocks to spring that running.

The Kansas City Cowboys are Superbowl Champions, continuing the NFC's three year dominance of the award, following in the footsteps of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Francisco Quake.

[Autumn]

Season Awards

The League MVP came out not as strange as last season, but still a bit odd. Congratulations go to Ronnie Newhart, defensive end for the Philadelphia Privateers. Newhart is a rookie, the #4 pick in the 1922 draft, and was only barely beat by Darryl Briceland for the lead in sacks this year, with Newhart putting up 17.5. It was a great year, yet eclipsed in every number by Briceland himself, including wins. Newhart played for the 4-12 Privateers, while Briceland brought the Eruption to the Conference Finals before getting injured. However, Newhart is idolized (literally, 100 popularity) in passionate Philadelphia, so that must have swayed the vote.

Newhart wrapped up defensive rookie of the year as well, and deservedly so. Briceland contents himself with Defensive Player of the Year for his outing, and he certainly deserves it. The second year player upped his numbers considerably this year to lead the league with 19.5 sacks.

Offensive Player of the Year went to division-mate Martin Guzowski of the Denver Mountaineers. Guzowski is a second time winner of this honor, winning both offensive player of the year and offensive rookie of the year in his first season. This year, he put up 1240 yards rushing on an improved 4.41 average, while adding 531 yards through the air. Certainly a deserving winner here.

Offensive Rookie of the Year this year goes to Sherman Sprout, the rookie running back for the Cincinnati Eagles. He's not well known even in Cincinnati, but his 930 yards rushing and 407 catching as a rookie drew the league's attention.

Coach of the Year goes to the head coach of the Detroit Wheels, Brian Bullock. He brought his team to a 12-4 season, but a loss in the divisional round.

Most amusing award? It's always Legend of the Game, where the game attempts to figure out which player in a brand new league deserves this honor after retiring three years into their career. This year the winner was Ken Walden! Why is this amusing? Well, because I'm Ken Walden. And becaue Ken Walden was the running back I created as the lone player in the player file, when I started this league. The rest were generated randomly, using his birth year, and Walden has soldiered on as a decent running back for the San Antonio Defenders ever since. Ending his career with 2,346 rushing yards, he'll always be remembered. His name at least.

The All-League teams go as expected. The only Tornado to get attention is rookie offensive guard Kim Covington who gets picked for the second team. It's a nice recognition for the man who is clearly our most talented player.

Team Performance

I don't need a scoresheet to tell me this year didn't go well. After last year's division win, and reaching the conference finals, our coach winning coach of the year ... well, I expected even more improvement this year. What we got was a lot worse than that.



Down from an overall 76 last season, at least our franchise value creeped up. However, everything else is in the tubes, even profit which I thought would be good this year. Looking over the stats, we did make more revenue this year, but spent a lot more on salaries and particularly bonuses. Now, keep in mind, we never even came close to the salary cap. But last year, every player in the league was asking for peanuts, so naturally it's going up.

Good news, though, is that we led the league in attendance this year, with 62,300 per game. Hopefully they won't all desert us after that season.

[Autumn]

Staff Hiring

My scout is still under contract, and I don't see anyone available that I think is better - he's got a Very Good in Youth Talent, and I think that's essential.

I had forgotten that my coaches' contracts were running out though, and it seems head coach J. R. Jenkins and offensive coordinator Alfred Lavan are out of contract. Grady Chapman, our defensive man has one more year on contract.

Jenkins was coach of the year in 1921, but certainly has now hit hard times. I'm glad to shop around, and see a prospect in William Procop, a new 60 year old available, who would be an improvement in most every way. I'll gun for him and see what we get.

In offensive coordinator land I see a real golden boy, the New York Yankees coordinator, Terrell Donovan, who is only 46 but has great marks all around. I'm going to really gun for him, he'd be a great improvement.

Unfortunately, Donovan goes right away back to New York, despite my offering him as much as I could. I see they went with a 5 year offer, while I offered 4. The bastard could have stuck around, I would have thrown more at him.

Procop is considering another offer, so I'll see if I can up his. Meanwhile, the next best prospect at offensive coordinator isn't really an improvement. He'd be better at kickers and youth, but not everything else. The next best is similar. I think I'm going to rehire Lavan. I could use some improvement but don't want to lose his expertise in quarterbacks and offensive line. He signs right back with me.

Meanwhile, Procop is attracting attention, and my owner is lowballing me. He's now limiting me to 1.2 million a year, which isn't enough even to rehire Jenkins. I'm now forced to scramble to see who I could get. I find Rickey Watach, a 57 year old with no experience, but who is only slightly a downgrade from Jenkins. What's better, we can afford him.

Jenkins goes to Richmond, while my boy Procop goes with Dallas.

As we wind up to free agency, I look over the roster and send Alonzo Sampson to the summer league. I think he has some chance of booming, so I want to give him every chance I can.

I decide to take a glance at the draft preview before bed. Who can resist? Looking it over, there is a clear favorite and number one pick. Edwin Nichols, a QB out of Washington has an 8.9 adjusted grade, with bars all the way to the right in everything. This is clearly the guy to get after only one glance. It makes me ponder ... what would it take to get that #1 pick away from Philadelphia? I interview the guy ... he's underrated. His bars no longer look absolutely perfect. But it's close enough.

I decide to wheel and deal. It takes half the farm, but I get the Privateers to send me the #1 pick in this draft. The cost?

My first round pick this year (#12)
My first round pick next year
J.J. Torres, former starting WLB, had been bumped to backup
Kim Covington, guard, former first round pick and the best player on my team.

Will it be worth it? For Edwin Nichols? This could be the bust of the century, or the start of the first dynasty. Covington was my one definitely great player. But he's a guard. If I can swap him out for the best QB in the league? It's a no-brainer. If it doesn't work out, my hole just got a lot deeper.

[Izulde]

If Nichols is even half of what he's projected to be, you've got your league's top QB for at least the next few seasons.

[Autumn]

Yeah, I'm trying not to get too ahead of myself, especially considering there aren't even mentors in the game yet. But I think we may have landed the best talent in the game, and I intend to try to milk it as much as I can. But if it doesn't work out, we'll have lost a step for sure.

[Autumn]

Players we need to resign

Ricky Havens, P. He was underwhelming, but I sign him for a one year deal with no bonus in case we don't find better.

Henry Fleming, DE. This guy was our starter all year, and I thought did well. Surprisingly he was hardly asking for above the minimum. I sign him to a low three year deal.

Billy Joe Stanton, S. This guy was our starter, but did not perform well. He's looking for a large four year contract that I'm loathe to give him. I'm going to wait and see what happens.

Roderick Bliss, LCB. This guy was our starter all year, and our best corner. He's hardly asking for anything so I'll lock him in a for a few years at a low contract.

Harvey Northcott, LDT. Our backup tackle, he's got some potential still so I sign him back for a year at a low salary.

Monty Peyrouse, C. Our backup center, he comes back for a low minimum one year contract.

Leslie Gist, G. A backup, but one we need with Covington gone. We sign him

Dale Farr, CB. I'm not really willing to pay this guy anything above minimum, he was that underwhelming as nickel back. I'll leave him hanging and see who else I can get.

Gilbert Caillouet, LDT. Antoher backup DT, I sign him to a low one year contract.

Luke Welch, CB. This guy is purely dime material, having no run or even man to man skills, but he played well in three games for us, and is a pick-hound. Minimum contract.

Ben Jochen, QB. Obivoiusly we're looking elsewhere at QB, but he'd make a reliable backup. We sign him to a one year deal.

Tyrone Banks, FL He plays decently as a 4th or 5th receiver for us. I sign him back to the minimum and we'll see if we can do better.

Andrew Herdeg, MLB. A backup with some good potential so we bring him back with the minimum.

Ike Tharp, SLB. A backup with some potential and good affinity. We need depth here with Torres gone so we sign him to the minimum.

Darrin Burton, S. We sign him to the minimum just for his punt return skills.

Clyde Sheldon, S. Backup material with good potential. We sign him to the minimum.

Things to be looking for: another CB, either a starter or a good nickel back. A starting guard to replace Covington. A starting caliber tackle. A starting safety: I don't want to pay Stanton the bucks he wants for his performance, although his ratings are good.

I have probably too many people signed, but I like to have a security blanket since in this new league the free agent market is hard to predict. No one's an unrestricted free agent yet in the league.

Free Agent Signings

Chris Sutton, G. A better backup than Gist, so I take him. That's about all I'm going to bother with in early free agency. Everyone seems to come up in late.

The Draft

It's time to start the draft, and obviously the first choice has been decided for weeks since the Tornadoes made the trade to the top. We take Edwin Nichols, and I am as sure as I can be he's going to be the real deal.



The Stars go for a wide receiver next, and the big surprise comes when San Francisco picks a QB next, who wasn't expected to go for a while. Two picks later though the Whalers reach even further for a QB. This is good news for me since it's dropping everyone else down a bit to me in the second round.

With what would have been our pick, the Privateers take Marcus Linquist, a running back from Notre Dame who looks pretty good. Up to this point things have gone fairly much as expected. But next Dallas takes Allen Carpenter, a safety, who wasn't expected to go until the second round.

Cincinnati trades their pick to WAshington, who grabs OJ Upshaw, a running back. By the end of the first round things have mostly fallen as expected, with the top 21 rated picks having gone, with 5 picks going ahead of schedule.

We've got pick #11 in the second. There's been quite a run on safeties ahead of schedule, which is bad news for my safety pick, but means there may be other folks left stranded. Top on my board is a tackle who scouted as very underrated, with decent combine scores. His bars look decent, but not great. I end up going with him. Although I've got some other prospects further down the line, I don't have anyone else on my board worth going after in the second round, and I need tackles.

2-11 Antonio McKnight, T, Washington State

Everyone surprises me when I see a kicker going early in the third round. Before my wheels can spin, a punter goes next. The punter was on my board. Yes, a punter, but he had absolutely perfect bars in every category, and was listed as underrated. The Edwin Nichols of punters. I was expecting to grab him in the fourth mabye. Oh well.

We're 10th in the third. A glance shows the same cornerback hanging around I looked at in the second. Hard to read, but good bars and combine. There's a couple of good looking safeties left I didn't interview. Then I've got my top prospect at guard, he's very underrated and had good combines. In wide receivers I've got a couple of dicey prospects hanging around underrated.

I decide to go with the guard. He's the prospect I know the most about, and we certainly could use a good one. We've left defense hanging so far with our picks, but hopefully we can remedy that now or in free agency.

3-10 Carl Haber, G, Houston

Amusingly, the next three picks in a row in the draft are the three guys I was considering - the CB and two safeties. Guess we were all considering them.

In round 4, we're up #9. We've got a hard choice to make here, as the few prospects we still have on the board are at the top of their positions and not likely to be there next round. On top of that, our prospects in CB and S, two key needs, are all gone and I'm shooting in the dark now. I've got another prospect at guard, two at wide receiver, a tight end and a full back. Then there's a cornerback I'm considering despite not having been interviewed.

I decide to go with what I kow, the wide receiver has the best combines and ratings of my very underrated guys left. The cornerback would be my other alternative, and I just don't know anything about him.

4-9 Dustin Fenderson, WR, Oregon State

In the fifth round the cornerback I was considering is gone. I've got a underrated tackle at the top of his board, and decide to go with him. It makes it all offense so far, and three linemen, but if I'm drafting the best quarterback in the business, I might as well support him. I'll have to try to gun for a safety and cornerback in free agency though.

5-14 Reuben Webb, T, Florida

In the sixth, I finally get around to defense. The CB I scoped out last round is still there, with good looking bars in man to man and a couple other things, average combines. I scoop him up.

6-13 Sam Barge, CB, Texas Tech

In the seventh I take a flyer on a safety, just based on a hunch from his info. Seems better than picking a punter.

7-12 Wesley Randle, S, Northwestern

And our first blush, post-draft look at the crop?

1-1 Edwin Nichols 44/92
2-11 Antonio McKnight, T 22/45
3-10 Carl Haber, G 19/40
4-9 Dustin Fenderson, WR 20/37
5-14 Reuben Webb, T 13/38
6-13 Sam Barge, CB 21/50
7-12 Wesley Randle, S 16/44

Not great looking so far, but I tend to draft underrated, so maybe they'll jump up.

In late free agency I find a corner back and a safety to shore things up, a backup linebacker, a rookie punter and that's about it. My roster is too full as it is, soon it will be time for cutting. Nichols finally signs for a 5 year, 8.4 million deal, he gave me a scare there for a while.

We run training camp, and then let's see how people look.

First, the rookies.

1-1 Edwin Nichols 44/92 --> 54/92 +10/+0
2-11 Antonio McKnight, T 22/45 --> 22/39 +0/-6
3-10 Carl Haber, G 19/40 --> 24/45 +5/+5
4-9 Dustin Fenderson, WR 20/37 --> 24/40 +4/+3
5-14 Reuben Webb, T 13/38 --> 18/39 +5/+1
6-13 Sam Barge, CB 21/50 --> 25/46 +4/-4
7-12 Wesley Randle, S 16/44 --> 19/45 +3/+1

So, not too bad, only too seeming busts out of the crowd. Luckily I drafted two tackles. And Nichols? He looks like the real deal for sure.



There's only two players in the league with a higher potential, the kicker and punter that went one after another this draft.

We get a B+ in the draft review, but as far as I'm concerned it's an A++

[Autumn]

The Omaha Reporter

The Spotlight Is On Nichols
Rookie QB the Talk of the Town as Another Pro Football Season Begins

Anticipation was high in Omaha for the start of a new professional football season, all because of a young man from Texas. Edwin Nichols has been on the tongues of every local football fan ever since the Tornadoes front office made the deal to acquire the top pick in this year's college draft. Banking on the potential of this college star, the Tornadoes gave away two first round picks and two players in order to land what they hope will be the preeminent quarterback in the league for years to come.

Seeing limited action in the preseason, Nichols excited fans with near perfect passing and his ability to run with the ball. His lack of experience was shown though with some topsy-turvy play including a dismal two pick outing. Still, it was the regular season fans were waiting for.

They would have to wait a little longer as the Tornadoes opened their season in Denver facing their division rivals, the Mountaineers. Though few fans were able to make the trek to watch their team play, those who did were witness to a thrilling outing. Nichols lit up the field with an electrifying 340 yard outing, throwing three touchdowns on 31 of 45 passing. With the running game backing him up, Nichols led the team to 21 points, but was not able to make a play at the end of regulation, sending the two teams to overtime with the Mountaineers matching Omaha point for point.

In overtime, the Tornadoes went three and out, but held the Mountaineers in order to get the ball back. Able to move to midfield they stalled again, yet pinned Denver to the three yard line with their punt. They soon had the ball back in excellent position, nearly in field goal range already. It was then though that Nichols made his worst mistake of the game, fluttering a sideline pass that was intercepted. Denver cornerback Ben Maltman not only snagged the pass, he returned it a heartbreaking 72 yards for a touchdown, winning the game for the Mountaineers.

Though no one could fault the quarterback for what was nearly a record shattering passing performance, Nichols left the field in obvious dismay, refusing to comment to the press.

The next week brought the Tornadoes home to Omaha to open in front of the fans. The Washington Generals were coming to town, and it looked to be a rowdy home opener, as the Generals possess one of the poorest rated teams in the league. Gamblers make Omaha 20 point favorites, and the fans are on their feet ready to watch their rookie QB take this team apart.

But as every coach says, the game happens on the field, not in the betting room. The Generals put every forecaster to shame, coming out aggressively. Blocking a punt on the first drive of the game, they score a quick and easy touchdown. But they don't have to depend on luck this Sunday, as their offense continues to walk all over the Tornadoes, quickly going up 17-0 behind the powerful running of their running back Bryant. Luck plays its part though too as the Tornadoes knock the ball loose for a big turnover, yet the Generals pick it up themselves and advance it 88 yards for the touchdown.

In the end, the Generals walk all over the Tornadoes 30-6, and the presumed star of the league is left looking at an 0-2 record. Nichols and the whole offense are never able to get things going, and Nichols ends up with 168 yards, while Bryant runs for 155 on Omaha.

Nichols continued to avoid comment after the game, but new coach Rickey Watach had this to say. "Edwin's a young player, he's going to have his up and down games like everyone does. But this one can't be laid in his lap. We failed to execute as a team in every single aspect, from offense to defense to special teams. You can rest assured we're going to have some brutal practices this week and get this team into gear. We're not playing to our potential, and that's what I need to see."

The season is still young, but Omaha fans are coming down from the lofty expectations they started with. "Edwin's a very talented player, he's got perfect touch all over the field, and he can make big plays with his feet. But he's going to have to learn the game and learn the system, and that will take time," says Watach, himself still busy instituting his new system in his first year. Omaha fans will be watching.

[Autumn]

1923 Recap

Week 1

Denver Mountaineers 27, Omaha Tornadoes 21

Game Notes:

Nichols wins PoG in his first professional outing, although he obviously didn't deserve it, losing the game in overtime. Still, it's hard not to recognize what would have been a record setting performance if it hadn't been for the Racers QB, Stanberry, breaking the yardage record in the same week.

Nichols: 31 of 45, 340 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, 103.9 rating

Week 2

Washington Generals 30, Omaha Tornadoes 6

Game Notes: A humiliating loss at home, where the Generals, 20 point underdogs, ran all over us in every way.

Week 3

In week three the Tornadoes travel out to Seattle to face the Destroyers, who seem to have put a good team together. Still having Junior Shepherd at running back, they've got some talent also at TE and flanker, though a mediocre offensive line. On defense they've got a very talented left side of the line as well as a great middle linebacker and two decent corner backs. Luckily for us perhaps their starting quarterback is out.

It turns into a bit of a slugfest. We score on our first drive, and Nichols is 11 of 12 to start off, but mostly for dump passes. Our defense can't contain Shepherd, but makes the stands when necessary. Including a goal line stand where they go four and out at the end of the fourth.

Omaha Tornadoes 14, Seattle Destroyers 7

Game Notes: Fleming made player of the game with 2 sacks and 2 hurries. They picked apart my linebackers in the passing game though, I don't know how to remedy that.

On offense we had a fairly ugly looking three yards per rush, but it kept us in the game. Nichols was a very utilitarian 15 of 17 for 92 yards and a TD. Not exactly the gameplan I was looking for, but it got us the win.

Week 4

The St. Louis Trailblazers come to town. We start out making big plays on defense, intercepting their first two drives. We aren't able to capitalize on it much though, getting a field goal, and a nice drive that ends wiht a fumble at the six. Finally a pass interference call gets us out of our slump and we drive it into the endzone for a 10-0 lead.

The second half continues the same, we fumble away a drive, save it with an interception, make big plays including a 33 yard screen pas on third down, but can't get to the endzone. A field goal makes it 13-0. But we immediately give up a long drive that ends in a touchdown, 13-7. Our next drive gets to the four yard line, but again we're short, and it's 16-7. But we put enough pressure on and pick off another pass to hold on.

Omaha Tornadoes 19, St. Louis Trailblazers 7

Game Notes:
Nichols wins Game MVP going 29 of 38 for 208 yards and a TD. Vanaqs helped out with 56 yards on 10 carries, while Rosario didn't do much.

The St. Louis QB, Rufus Chandler outran Nichols, being the Trailblazers leading rusher with 9 carries for 70 yards. Nichols ran 3 times for 18 yards himself.

Four picks by the defense was the story of this game, Perrin coming up with two of them. Perrin unfortunately is out for four weeks with a knee problem. Minter and Martinez again got picked on each giving up 5 catches. Minter at least had an interception.

Around the league, Earl Bratton is tearing teams apart, already having 521 yards receiving in four games.

Week 5

In Week 5 we draw the Cincinnati Eagles, who are 1-3 at the bottom of their division, yet can't be looked past. They have Earl Bratton, the wide receiver who's tearing the league apart averaging 128 yards per game so far, in a league where 100 yard receiving games are very rare. Worst of all, passing to him is former Tornado, Artie Blackburn, our first season quarterback who moved on to throw interceptions for the Eagles instead. Now he's got the league's most dangerous player to throw to. Worstest of all, Perrin, our safety and best player in the secondary is out for this game.

I go with a all-Bratton all the time defense, since he's basically their only offensive threat. They may tear us apart anyway, but we'll see. Nichols has some motivation to show Artie up at home in Omaha.

We draw first blood, but only a field goal. Bratton drops his first pass, double covered of course, but catches his next one, double covered on third down. It goes for 49 yards and a touchdown, and I can see we might be in trouble.

We trade punts before putting together a nice drive of our own, to make it 10-7. Another drive stalls before the half and we miss the long kick. They tie it up in the third. Later Bratton manages to pull in a 24 yarder against our run D, but our double teaming finally pays off with Wicks intercepting a pass to Bratton.

We're forced to punt though and it goes like that for a while, both teams struggling to break the tie. Bratton's able to make catches even double teamed, but our defense holds fairly well. Nichols isn't able to make any magic happen though. We get it at the two minute warning with the score tied, but it goes sack, incomplete, dropped pass, punt. We hold them to a three and out also though, and get one more chance. We are able to move the ball this time, but for some reason the coaches don't bother using their timeouts, so the clock runs out with us still holding onto two. Overtime, for the second time this season.

We get the ball first and move the chains, getting past midfield. I'm ready for us to inch it into field goal range, but Nichols tries to pass instead. Teh result? Sack. Bad. Interception, horrible. Our defense shows they're the stars by holding the Eagles to a punt, but Nichols shows he isn't by getting sacked twice more before we punt, and punt again. Our defense on Bratton pays off again as Martinez picks off a throw to him. Time is almost out in overtime and this is our last chance.

We only need about ten yards to get into field goal range but instead Nichols is throwing it down the field. Three incompletes and then we attempt a 54 yard field goal and miss. Between Nichols and the coaches I don't know who to strangle.

It's not my defense as they cause and recover a fumble on the Eagles next drive. We're on their 38. Could we please just go for the kick? No. Sack, fumble that we recover, long pass for an interception.

The Eagles can't miss this many opportunities and they finally hit a 32 yard pass to their tight end. They end up trying for a 53 yard field goal and hitting it to end the game.

Cincinnati Eagles 13, Omaha Tornadoes 10

Game Notes:
game disappointing mostly for the play calling, as I think we could have easily won it in the end with the right calls. But also, the offense was not as productive as I had hoped, hitting mostly short passes with Nichols having trouble downfield. He ended up 0 for 8 on long passes, 7 of 19 on medium, and with two picks. Not a good day.

Vanaqs had a nice day running though, with 87 yards on 17 carries, and Hiscock filling in with 43 on 9. Even Nichols added 30 yards. We let Cincy's Sprout get 97 yards on us, but it's understandable given we were targeting Bratton.

Now Bratton, even double covered almost every play of the game, still had a six catch, 137 yard performance. He only caught 6 out of 14, and we got two picks out of those other eight, but this guy is otherworldly. He's the sort of superstar I expected to emerge in this league. He's now got 658 yards in 5 games, on target for 2100 yards in a league where the record is 1,054.

We did get a great pass rush today, with Huie and Greer combining for three sacks and a block in the middle, along with two forced fumbles. Fleming and a great day with 1.5 sacks, 1 block and 2 hurries.

And lastly Martinez did well in the middle on pass defense, getting 2 defensed passes and an interception with only two caught passes.

Game 6

Now, we're on the road to 4-1 Indianapolis, where the Racers have Harris Stanberry, the current passing yardage leader and one of the best in the league. Perrin is still out at safety, so I have to hope that my gameplan tweaking will help.

The defense seems to be in good form today. The clicks on one drive that stalls at the 3, putting us up 3-0. But the Racers are moving the ball well and go up 14-3.

Our offense works better in the third quarter, with Vanaqs and Hiscock running well and closing the lead to 14-10. Fleming gets a key sack to make it three and out for them, and we put together a clutch drive. Nichols is only looking so-so, but Hiscock makes three key plays and dashes in from 12 yards out to make it 17-14.

Wicks gets an interception off of Stanberry, and Hiscock gets a key first down to get us in field goal range, and up 20-14. Nichols tries to give them their chances, as we punt to them several times plus Nichols throws a pick. But our defense holds tight, with Kooiker eventually intercepting them in the endzone to end their chances.

Omaha Tornadoes 20, Indianapolis Racers 14

Game Notes:

Vanaqs is player of the game with 105 yards and a TD. Hiscock picked up another 47 yards and a TD. Nichols was again not great today, going 16 of 30 for 154 yards and one pick.

We gave up two hundred yard receivers on defense, with Brennan and Stortz having 101 and 111 respectively on five catches each. Still, we intercepted Stanberry three times, and that was the key to victory. Why can't Nichols get the ball down the field like these scrubs I play do?

Fleming had another big day with 1 sack and 4 hurries. Wicks looked good with 2 defensed passes and one interception. Our O-line looked great too, with 18 KRB and only one sack allowed.

At 3-3 we're still in the thick of it in our division. If we win the next game against Minneapolis we could be in first or second place.

Week 7

Home again to hopefully not disappoint the fans. The Lakers start off with the ball. Perrin is questionable but I've put him back in the lineup, I really need him on defense.

We cause two turnovers on tehir first two drives but only manage to go up 3-0. They end up going 10-3 despite our good D. Our offense just keeps giving them chances, Nichols throwing a pick in the endzone on one good drive.

The running game and some key third down catches finally get us moving in the third quarter, and we tie it up 10-10 on a 2 yard pass. They manage to make a 50 yard field goal to make it 13-10.

Vanaqs busts out a 25 yard run to get us across midfield ourselves. Hiscock makes a key first down through the air. Sampson follows with a key third down catch. Conway converts on second down and we have it in the red zone. Nichols scrambles for four, Shepherd catches a six yarder and we have first down at the 11. Two short plays later it's 3rd and 9. Hiscock runs it 6 yards and then we kick, tying it at 13-13.

We hold them three and out and then make another good drive but our field goal gets partially blocked and misses. Our defense seems deflated and lets them easily run the field and punch it in to go up 20-13. With less than two minutes left Nichols makes a couple completions but then gets intercepted to end our chances.

Minneapolis Lakers 20, Omaha Tornadoes 13

Game Notes:

Our running game was good again, Vanaqs getting 75, Hiscock 42. The Lakers QB runs a lot, 14 times this game for 53 yards.

Nichols had another bad game 22 of 38 for 176 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT. His rating is going in the cellar. Unfortunately I don't think our running game is good enough to drive the team if he's not passing, so I'm not sure what to do. Sampson caught some this week, 6 of 13 for 63 yards and a TD.

Perrin came back in a big way with 13 tackles and a defensed pass. Not much of a pass rush today though at all.

Week 8 is our bye, so at the end of 8 weeks we are 3-4, third in our division. Surprisingly Vanaqs is the star of our offense, rushing for 459 yards so far on nice 4.5 ypc running. Nichols has a rating of 72.5, but he's been in the 50s the last few weeks. Our defense is toward the bottom of the league in just about everything but pass rush and pass defense.

Bratton is still tearing up the league. After eight games he has 986 yards on 57 catches. The next best guy is 360 yards behind him. He had a monster game against San Francisco in which he set the records for catches, receiving yards, kickoff return yards, yards from scrimmage AND all purpose yards. the man had 13 catches for 220 yards PLUS 217 kickoff return yards (including a TD). Harris Stanberry is leading the QB race, with the best rating, 2267 yards and 22 TDs, while the next best guy has 12. He's clearly going to break the season records in those which are 3,384 and 25 respectively.

[Autumn]

Week 9

We travel to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers. They start off moving easily on us and take a quick lead, 7-0. But Mack Halley, recently moved up to starter position on the run defense, intercepts a short pass and runs it back 39 yards for the TD and the tie. Halley tries to keep playing superhero, making two consecutive tackles on the 1 yard line on their next drive, but htey eventually get in the endzone.

Things go downhill from there and we ned up down 24-10 in the fourth quarter. We hae a shot at catching up when Sampson and Hiscock combine to get us intot he endzone. But it gets called back on holding and we don't end up scoring. Two blocked kicks by the defense, but the offense just can't get anything going.

Pittsburgh Steelers 24, Omaha Tornadoes 10

Game Notes:
We sucked.

Week 10

Denver comes to town and we're eager to avenge our Week 1 loss. We come out strong on defense, and our offense is nimbling combining run and pass. We go up 10-0 after Wicks and Greer recover a fumble at their 20.

However, Nichols can't keep hot, throwing a pick that our defense holds to only a field goal. In the third quarter Fenderson fumbles and they score in return, easily making it 10-10. Then in the fourth Nichols throws another pick, this time in the redzone. Denvery easily marches down the field nad makes it 17-10. A final interception by Nichols and the game's basically over.

Denver Mountaineers 17, Omaha Tornadoes 10

Game Notes:
A very nice running game by Vanaqs and HIscock, with 114 yards between them. But Nichols threw three picks, plus Fenderson's fumble, and that was that. Our defense played fairly well early in the game though.

Week 11

We decide to take our frustration out on the Kansas City Cowboys. Coming out firing in KC, we get a good kick return, run and pass effectively and soon we're up 17-0.

Penalties nad turnovers hurt us in the second half, killing two drives and forcing Nichols into a long pass that gets picked. But Bliss saves the bacon by coming right back with an interception of his own, and we at least get the field goal out of it.

An unnecessary roughness penalty gives them their only scoring chance of hte day and we still hold them from a TD. Big runs from Nichols and hte backs in the fourth quarter tick the clock down and end up giving us another score.

Omaha Tornadoes 27, Kansas City Cowboys 3

Game Notes:

e kept to the same offensive game plan and it worked well, Vanaqs and Hiscock combining for 148 yards this time. Nichols has a decent game with 16 of 23 for 176 yards, and most importantly only one pick. Schaefer ended up with 4 catches for 90 yards. Great play from the O line with 5 of 8 blocking from Dawkins, 4 of 7 from Morris.

Around the league Stanberry and Bratton respectively continue dominating the league. Stanberry's already broken the passing TD record in only 10 games. Bratton likewise has broken the receiving yardage record in 10 games.

Week 12

Home against the Admirals, I'd really like to see a win streak. In the meantime I make sure to renegotiate a few players for next year. I'm unsure if this is going to be the first big free agent year as we finally have 5th year players? So far this league has only had restricted free agents, and it's going to be pandemonium when free agency really starts.

Our D gives us a lot of opportunities in this game, but our offense struggles to punch it in. We're down 7-6 before the half when some two minute offense makes somethign happen, Fenderson pulling in a 24 yard TD to make it 13-7. at hte half.

All these field goals are nice, but come back to haunt us as the Admirals are scoring TDs instead. It's 19-14 in the fourth when they make a gutsy call to keep a drive alive on 4th down, and it pays off. We're only able to punt next drive, but Perrin makes the play of hte game picking off a pass at their 23. Another kick and w'ere up by eight now with under a minute, and that ends up to be good enough.

Omaha Tornadoes 22, Baltimore Admirals 14

Game Notes:

A two win streak feels good now, and actually puts us in second place in teh division at 5-6. Nichols is the player of the game, with finally a breakout game. He was 23 of 28 for 279 yards and 1 TD, for a rating of 120.1 Despite keeping the same run heavy game plan, he wisely took advantage of them through the air, while they held Vanaqs and Hiscock to 103 yards on 3.1 yards per carry.

Schaefer, Sampson and Fenderson were the top targets, which I like to see. Some downfield passing finally, each of them averaging over 10 yards per catch. Our defense contributed with three picks, and finally some pass rush from the front four.

Week 13

Tough defense by the Houston Oilers keys them to a 13-0 lead early in the game, with an interception by Nichols giving them an easy score one of thoese times. We make one good drive to get a score, but a blocked punt makes it easy for them again and we find ourselves down 20-7 athome.

We score again, but only after giving up a long pass play to them, and an eventual score. At 27-14 we're tryign to play catch up, and Nichols isn't upto it. He gest intercepted and our chances are over.

Houston Oilers 27, Omaha Tornadoes 14

Game Notes:

Not a horrible outing, but our offense never quite got in gear. Vanaqs was under 4 yards a carry, and Nichols threw two interceptions. Meanwhile we let Salpala pass right over us. Our pass D is probably the biggest flaw on this team I need to address. Jennings had a great game with 1.5 sacks and two hurries.

Around the league Jared Eden tied Jochen's old league record, throwing 5 TDs in a game while also hitting 324 yards. He was eclipsed by Mr. Who's That?, Darnell Huffman who threw 344 yards for Dallas. Looking at it, it turns out that Huffman has also thrown 5 TDs already this season in a game. He's right behind Stanberry in passing TDs, looking to break the record in the same year Harris does. Meanwhile Earl Bratton had a very quiet 40 yard day against that same Dallas team, getting beat 43-20.

We're falling out of any playoff race, but Nichols seems to be improving and our team getting better, so I'm eager to see how we can do these last four games.

Week 14

It's a shootout in Richmond with the Cavaliers. We go up early, scoring on our first possession and second possessions, Vanaqs rumbling 63 yards to make it 14-0. They turn right around and score on us, but next possession Sampson hauls in a long pass and takes it 50 yards for the score.

Both our offenses continue to work fine, but the defenses make just enough plays to keep either team from scoring 'til the end of hte half. We give up a field goal, but in return Hiscock and Schaefer combine for a two minute drive that gets us a 23 yard touchdown pass and a 28-10 lead at half time.

Richmond comes out determined to catch up in the second half, scoring on two consecutive drives to close to a 28-25 score. But my two running backs won't have that, Hiscock busting out a 27 yard run, and Vanaqs following it with a 28 yard TD run.

Hiscock has an unforunte fumble, and we follow up wiht a pass intereference that combine to give them an easy score. It's 35-32 in this unbearably tight shootout. Hiscock is determine dto redeem himself though, and makes a handful of clutch plays on the next drive to get us in field goal range, and up 38-32 at the two minute warning.

Our defense does their part, with a four and out, but Nichols can't leave well enough alone. He fumbles once again, giving them the one chance they need. Our defense saves our bacon, Jennings and INgram getting a sack, Barge defending a pass and Kooiker intercepting the fourth down heave. Whew.

Omaha Tornadoes 38, Richmond Cavaliers 32

Game Notes:

Now that was a wild game. obviously our defense did not do a great job, letting Flowers walk all over us, and even win player of the game as well as player of the week. But who can complain about that when we've got this sort of offense:

Vanaqs has 17 rushes for 166 yards, and two TDs
Hiscock chimes in with 21 rushes for 110 yards of his own and a TD.

Nichols completes 15 of 19 for 181 yards and 2 TDs, 1 INT.

It's not often you have two 100 yard runners, and Hiscock's biggest gain was 27 yards, so his was really legit. Jennings threw in another 1.5 sacks and two hurries, great blocking from Tubbs and Kitts. Minter, Perrin and Ingram though got picked apart by Flowers.

Week 15

We draw Kansas City again, this time at home, which could be a useful boost to our standings. they sit at 3-10 at hte bottom of the conference, and I'm eager to continue our resurgence against them.

Our defense comes out all over them, holding them to negative yardage on their first two drives. Our offense is looking a bit clunky though until Vanaqs reminds them how it's done, busting out for a 49 yard touchdown. This man is on fire.

KC shows us they have some surprises too though when they bring the kickoff back 95 yards for their own TD, 7-7. and it continues liek that, back and forth, with Nichols running in a touchdown himself, and their running back Mersky busting a big 40 yard run to get htem a score, and a one point lead. He ends up wearing us down, making run after run in crunch time to run out the clock, and our chances. Nichols has a chance wtih the ball and 1:53 left, but he ends up throwing an interception.

Kansas City Cowboys 21, Omaha Tornadoes 20

Game Notes:

his one hurt, we could have had it easily. Nichols had a rather poor 2 INT performance, Vanaqs getting 105 yards but only on that 49 yard TD. Our defense played well though I thought, and the offensive line.

Looking around the league I've noticed that Earl Bratton, our wunderkind, has slowed down, only getting 17 yards this last game. And then I noticed that his draft-mate, Van Rankinen, is having an amazing year too. A couple hundred yards behind Bratton, but still well over a thousand, and amazingly the man has 16 touchdowns in 14 games. Keep in mind the previous record was 9, and Bratton only has 4. Quite a performance.

Week 16

We look a bit sloppy playing Louisville, Hiscock coughing up the ball again and giving htem three points (this boy has slippery hands). But Vanaqs is running well, and the defense is playing well, getting turnovers nad holding them to field goals, and that puts us up 17-6.

Louisville gets their offense working though, scoring an easy seven. But Fleming recovers a fumble giving us an easy three, and Bliss makes a big interception on what could have been a game-tying play. Fleming makes the last play of the game, tipping a fourth down pass with less than a minute left to preserve the win.

Omaha Tornadoes 20, Louisville Chargers 13

Game Notes:

Vanaqs stars again with 127 yards on 25 carries, and two more TDs. Nichols had a game management game with 12 of 17 for 112 yards. No interceptions was the key. Some good pass defense and some great blocking and we're there.

Harris Stanberry was player of the week with a 338 yard, 4 TD performance that is helping him shatter the recordbooks. I can only hope Nichols will be shattering those some day. Not this year. Vanaqs meanwhile has crept up into 5th in the league in rushing yardage, and second in TDs, on some strong end of the year play.

Week 17

We've got one chance to at least hit 500 and salvage this season. Our opponents are the cellar dweller Minneapolis Lakers who beat us at home earlier this season.

Our defense comes out hot again. I've been balking at resigning my DTs for what they're asking, but I may have to. They are pretty damn good on a team that's not that great. Our offense hits a lot of penalties though, and we end up punting from against our endzone. They promptly throw a 38 yard touchdown to go up 7-0.

We promptly drive right down the field on a strong running attack,a nd Vanaqs scores again, putting us at 7-7. Unfortunately Hiscock fumbles on the next possession. I couldn't make him my feature back with that fumbleitis, it's too bad. We stuff them from the 5 though, and they settle for 3. 10-7.

Hiscock has a 30 yard run on the next drive, to try to make up for it. But Nichols ruins it all by throwing a pick next play. If it's not one of them, it's the other. Or a penalty. Our defense is having a great day though, giving our offense opportunity after opportunity to mess up.

Nichols gets us just enough to get in field goal range, and we make it, tying up 10-10. Time is running out in the 4th and neither team seems able to break the tie. A short punt and a good return sets the Lakers up on our 44. They drive to the 24, but two sacks in a row put them at the 34. They still boom the field goal though and go up 13-10 with 1:30 left.

This is when I want to see Nichols pull a game out, last game of hte season, for the win. But Schaefer drops one, a bad pass, a 5 yarder, and a bad pass and he's done. He's still got a lot to learn if he's going to be as good as I'm hoping.

Minneapolis Lakers 13, Omaha Tornadoes 10

Game Notes:
Vanaqs closes with a nice 91 yard effort, and Hiscock chimes in with 68 on 12 carries. Nichols however closes the year with 12 for 26 for 101 yards and a pick. Ugh.

Greer played lights out with a 4 tackle, 2 assist, 2 sack, 1 hurry and 1 knockdown game. Ingram had a nice game too with 2 tackles, 1 interception, 1 hurry and 2 knockdowns.

Ironically player of the week was Artie Blackburn, trying to make me regret letting him go and pinning my hopes on Nichols, I guess.

[Autumn]

Wildcard Round

The Racers have the best record in the league at 12-4, behind Stanberry's amazing season. The Trailblazers are one game behind them and so nab one wild card, with the San Antonio Defenders taking the other. That leaves Houston, Denver and Portland as the other division winners in our conference.

The Detroit Wheels are the class of the American Conference at 11-5. The Generals win their division at 10-6, and the rest is a mess of 9-7 teams. Providence and Birmingham win their divisions with tie breakers over their 9-7 division mates. Baltimore and Memphis squeak in at 9-7 themselves.

St. Louis has the only blowout in the first round, beating Houston 31-14 behind Rufus Chandler at QB, and Jermaine Elliott picking up three sacks and two hurries.

My division leader, Denver Mountaineers, wint heir game against San Antonio by a point, after a 80 yard TD drive. Rob Forbes picks up 108 receiving yards in that game, and Martin Guzowski has 82 yards rushing.

The Whalers beat the Showboats despite an impressive rushing day by Lee Lu and O.J. Goodwin. The Whalers countered with great passing by J. T. Perkins

Baltimore was the other away winner, beating The Birmingham Rebels with a 295 yard passing day from Jamie Edmond. Grady Starks pulled in 110 of those yards, while star defensive end Corey Brush had 9 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 4 hurries, a block and a knockdown. Yikes.

Divisional Round

Now the Trailblazers and Racers, division rivals, face off in Indianapolis. It's a game, but Indy wins it with a 300 yard passing game from Stanberry. The Racers put up no rushing game, while Trailblazer Corey Frye rushes for 11 yards. But Stanberry is too good for these guys.

Denver hits the road to Portland, where the 11-5 Eruption are heavy favorites. It's not to be though as our division mates beat the Eruption 27-21 with a touchdown in overtime. Martin Guzowski is player of the game with a 121 yard performance on the ground, and 83 receiving yards, including the 22 yard winning touchdown. Jared Eden lights it up for 351 yards, perhaps a record, and Moe Bates catches 171 of them, definitely a record, but all in vain.

In the AFC, Baltimore is traveling to Detroit to face the best team in their conference. But the Admirals pile it on and Detroit never has a chance, losing 17-7. The Admirals have 176 yards rushing between their two backs, while Wheels QB Dusty Harvey only manages 78 yards in the air. Corey Brush goes home player of the game again, with a 2 sack, 3 hurry, 3 knockdown, 4 tackle game.

Providence goes to Washington where the Generals are 8 point favorites. They only manage to win 10-6 though, in an ugly offensive game. Whaler running back Raymond Mitting was the only highlight with 135 yards rushing on 15 carries. But this was a defensive battle, and player of the game Dixon Pelliteir's 7 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 hurries and 3 knockdowns were the game winner.

Conference Finals.

The NFC championship pits Denver against Indianapolis, with Indy the slight favorites. The wind is gusting and it's rainy though, and so Stanberry may not be such an advantage. And indeed, Denver surprises again, winning against the favored Racers, recovering a fumble and driving in for the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter. Guzowski only has 62 yards in this game, and a receiving touchdown, but still manages player of the game. Coles passes for 221 yards, 116 of it to Rob Forbes. Meanwhile Stanberry's 277 yards don't get the job done, nor their 100 yards rushing, as the Mountaineers win the turnover battle.

The Admirals and the Generals face off in Washington for the AFC Championship. The Generals don't disappoint, beating Baltimore handily with a crushing defense. They grind out 124 yards on the ground, and Alonzo Crocton gets 199 yard passing. But it's DT Dixon Pelletier, and his 3 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 block, 2 hurries and 3 knockdowns that dominates the game. On the other side, DE Corey Brush manages 1 sack, 2 hurries, but it's not enough. The Admirals have an excellent defensive squad though and I expect to see them again.

Super Bowl

Washington and Denver in the big game, neither of them the cream of their conference during the regular season. But Guzowski has turned it on in the postseason for the Mountaineers, and Pelletier for the Generals. Washington are two point favorites.

It's a tied game to the end of the third quarter, when the Generals go ahead on a touchdown run and add a field goal late in the 4th to cement their win. Guzowski runs well, with 90 yards on 17 carries. But the Generals keep possession of the ball with a pounding running game and 21 of 26 passing from Alonzo Crocton, our Superbowl MVP. Pelletier doesn't have a knockout game, but the Generals do just enough to win, holding Coles to 18 of 35 passing in the end.

The Washington Generals are the fourth Superbowl Champions, and our very first AFC team to win the big trophy.

[Autumn]

MVP
The voters continue to confound us with their selections, electing Ronnie Newhart, DE for the Philadelphia Privateers, as this year's MVP. This is despite record shattering seasons by Harris Stanberry and Earl Bratton. Newhart, who won the MVP award last year as well, had an excellent year with 17.5 sacks and 59 tackles. He was not even the sack leader this year, but is idolized in Philly where it seems the voters must all live.

Offensive Player of the Year
Stanberry runs away with this award, clearly appropriate for the man who ended with 4337 passing yards, 36 touchdowns and a 97.3 rating, all new league records, as well as leading his team to the conference finals.

Defensive Player of the Year
Brant West of the Detroit Wheels takes this award in a season in which he broke the league record for sacks, with 21, adding 31 hurries and 19 knockdowns. A very reasonable choice.

Offensive Rookie of the Year
Before this season started i would have had Nichols penciled in here for sure. He disappointed, but Lee Lu, the running back picked 9th by the Memphis Showboats, came on strong this season. He racked up 1300 yards in his first year, good for second in the league (though on a low average), as well as 8 touchdowns. A threat out of the backfield as well he got 696 yards in the air, leader among running backs.

Defensive Rookie of the Year
D.J. Lengel, the 10th pick in last year's draft, a defensive tackle for the New Orleans Jazz, took this award with an amazing 73 tackle, 15.5 sack performance.

All Stars
There are some surprises in the All Star picks, including Lee Lu beating out such contenders as Martin Guzowski and Rufus McArthur for first string running back, despite their far superior averages. Most interesting to me though are some Tornado additions. Shannon Shepherd made first team at fullback, confirming my feeling that this guy was a huge playmaker this year. Despite only being rated 40/40, this guy picked up 14 KRB for us this year, and two pancakes. His 25 catches out of the backfield were key plays for us as well.

Also first team is Scottie Dawkins, our center who had 35 KRB this year and 7 pancakes, while only allowing two sacks (for a 0.5 sack percentage). And this is a guy with

O.J. Greer makes 2nd team at DT, with a 52 tackle, 9.5 sack season.

I'm at least glad to not see Kim Covington, my former 1st round pick I gave up to get Nichols, in the 1st or 2nd team this year. He can get back in after Nichols does.

Coach of the Year
Quentin Merrifield for the Indianapolis Racers gets the nod here. They had the best record in the league, so I guess that makes sense, though they had the best QB too.

Legend of the Game
Okay, every year this is a joke, because of course there are no legends retiring yet. Last year was legend Ken Walden, who was the one player I created for the original player file. This year the legned is .... Ken Walden. Yes, somehow he retired twice. He didn't actually come back this year, so this is just more weirdness.

[Autumn]

I'll be doing the league leaders next, but I'm struggling over format. I like doing the images but it's a bit tedious. I tried printing to file but don't like the format it comes out in. I'll try to get to it soon.

1924 .... the year of the unrestricted free agent!

[Autumn]

1924

Staff Hiring

1924 does not open auspiciously for the Omaha Tornadoes. Both our defensive coordinator and head scout are due for a new contract, and they're both two of the best at their positions in the league. I'm eager to snatch them back up but it seems my owner doesn't feel the same way. Given the dismal profit returns thsi past year he's decided to hamstring me financially. I have to go look through the cheapest prospects out there. I find a D coordinator with decent ratings who at least is young, so has some upside. He's an upgrade on the secondary, which is where we need the most help so I can overlook his downsides. I'm eager to get a young great looking scout but he goes elsewhere for big money. It takes a lot of effort to grab someone I want. I eventually get a guy who's okay, though has a low Youth rating.

Free Agency

I'm stoked and ready for this, the first year in the league with real unrestricted free agents. We're five years in now and the first crop of fellows are on the market.

We're targeting three spots: WR, DE and CB. I especially would like to get an all-league type WR to match up with my stud QB. The other two are the weak spots on our defense and the best place to land a star, I think.

Free agency doesn't go our way though. We chase after the couple stud WR prospects out there. But the guy we really want, who we offer millions of dollars and a multi-year deal, Russel Rayburn, ends up resigning with the Richmond Cavaliers for $270,000, basically a min-sal deal for him. That's insane.

Similarly, the DE we target, Jerald Bernard, ends up resigning with division rival Denver, though at least he gets 4 years and $9 million out of it. There's not really any great CBs in the market either.

We end up doing two things in free agency: adding some decent but not star material players and helping with chemistry. We add a couple wide receivers who look to be better than what we have, though not by much. Same at cornerback and defensive end.

To go along with our coaching change though we do what we can to tweak chemistry, letting go some locker room malcreants and trying to sign guys with good affinity with our stars. In addition to that this turns out to be the first year any Mentors are on the rosters, and I hustle out there and sign one for every position I can get. It means we've got some weak veterans on the roster but I hope it will help my guys develop. In particular I'm glad to get Tripplet, a veteran QB from the first days of the league who will help mentor Nichols to greatness (is the idea).

Chemistry works out perfectly for me. I have one DL who's good, really the best free agent on the market, but who I decide not to resign since he's got a conflict with my franchise star MLB. However, things work out perfectly as I pick up a veteran LB who becomes our new defensive leader, and my old DL loves the guy. I sign the tackle back, now a happy man, and there's nary a conflict to be found in the locker room.

We have a few guys leave, of course. John Rosario, once part of our two-headed running attack and the rushing leader in 1920, signs with Detroit. Timothy Atkins, the hotheaded QB we drafted but never quite trusted with the ball signs with division rival Minneapolis.

I find some interesting things looking to see who has the best contracts in the league. Most are quarterbacks of course, though notably Nichols is not one of them. Only one defensive player in the top and it's Dave Henderson, a CB for the Philadelphia Privateers. The guy is rated 34/34 and had one good year in 1920. The Privateers gave him a gigantic bonus the next year and he's not done anything since, getting four picks in three years. Notably, Philly is the team I traded with to get my Nichols first round pick. Bad management I guess.

Draft

I somehow can't find my notes on the draft, but it wasn't signficiant. With Philly having our first round pick we're mostly just looking to fill holes here. I grab a couple wide receivers with my first picks, hoping to get lucky. Neither one turns out to be fantastic, and one gets cut before the season starts. One good pick seems to be a backup center.

Training Camp

Training camp is decent, seeing some increases in even some veterans I thought were all done. A lot of guys with big camps and I can't really complain about those who don't.

The biggest drop, and hit in my plans, is Juan Vanaq, my leading rusher, who has a huge drop and doesn't seem likely to see much playing time based on his ratings. He was #5 in the league last year. I luckily had picked up a guy named Jeff Schroeder in free agency who interested me with a league-leading YPC as a 2nd fiddle. He will now pair with Artie Hiscock, a much weaker tandem than I thought I was going to get.

However, I also get a surprise boom out of WR Marshall Schaefer who goes up something like 12 points in training camp. He suddenly looks like a legitimate starter and maybe has more room to boom.

I use preseason to sort out which of my many cornerbacks and wide receivers to keep. The rest of the team is fairly well settled, and fairly similar to last year. Offensive tackle Norm McGregor comes back from his injury and disgruntled status and now looks ready to start. Free agent pickup Kelly Dilon look sto move into a starting spot at defensive end. Cornerback will be a juggle as I have a few new guys with decent ratings, and some guys of my own who I suspect are better than they look.

[Autumn]

1924

We hope this season will be a coming out party for Edwin Nichols. While clearly the most talented quarterback in the league, Nichols had an underwhelming rookie season. While he didn't play horribly it was the team's running game that got them any success and he was outperformed by many other league quarterbacks. With some better locker room chemistry, new coaching, and some new additions in the receiving corps we hope for better this year. Nichols looks to have improved greatly already in training camp.

Week 1: at Kansas City

We start the season on the road, and gut out a dirty but convincing 19-0 win. It's a real boost of confidence, but there was clearly a lot still to work on despite the score.

Nichols played very accurately, going 21 of 23, but only for 179 yards. Winds were 17 mph and he threw a lot of screen passes, and not terribly effectively. Still, our offense chalked up 200 yards rushing in the wind. And the bulk of that, or the effective bulk of that, was actually Nichols himself. He scrambled 12 times for 94 yards, almost singlehandedly winning us the first half with his legs, picking up 38 yards on a designed run and also running in a touchdown.

The star on defense was our newly acquired DE Dilon, who had 4 tackles, 2 assists, 1.5 sacks and 4 hurries. Still, he was outshined by the Defensive Player of the Week on the other side, Cowboys OLB Andy Joseph who terrorized us for 12 tackles and 3.5 sacks.

Omaha Tornadoes 19, Kansas City Cowboys 0

Week 2: at Philadelphia

Philadelphia is notable for two things: having traded us the #1 pick we used to get Nichols, and for being home of Ronnie Newhart, two time MVP and one of the most popular players in the league. This monster DE will be a big matchup problem for us, especially considering how McGregor got eaten up last week.

We manage to move the ball well, but have trouble getting in the endzone and so are up only 9-7 at the half. Their only score comes on a big play, a 66 yard screen pass. It seems we've gotten lucky when Newhart gets injured in the first half as well.

A big interception return by Sheldon gets us up 16-7. They intercept Nichols in turn, but Kooiker stops them from scoring with an interception of his own. It seems Newhart's absence isn't hurting them as now their DT Givgore is in seemingly every play, wrecking it. He ends the night with 2 blocks and 5 hurries.

We manage to go up 19-14 with six minutes left in the game. Though they're clamping down on our offense and moving the chains themselves they can't score, Ingram making a big defensive stop at the three minute mark. Schroeder makes an all important 17 yard run that causes them to use the last of their timeouts and Hiscock follows up with a 10 yarder that breaks their back.

Another tough road win, an ugly one. Still no real run game on our part, and while Nichols made the plays to keep us alive he was only passing 50%, and with too many RB targets. Defense kept us in this one, Kooiker ending with that interception and three defensed passes.

Omaha Tornadoes 19, Philadelphia Privateers 14

Week Three: St. Louis at home

We're stoked for our first home game, coming in at 2-0 to meet the Trailblazers. I've tweaked our gameplan and depth charts now that I see what we're about. We're hoping for a big win.

Two big grinding drives get us 14 early points in the game, a defensive stand and a big Hiscock run getting us in position for another three. However, an interception by Nichols and a bad defensive holding call give them an easy 14 of their own. A last minute drive puts us up 20-14 at the half but it should be better than that.

The scoring continues in the second half. We miss out on a big Schaefer TD catch with a penalty, but get the kick. A pick by Martinez puts us in position and a couple nice passes by Nichols gets us the TD. But we give up a drive and an unnecessary roughness call to give them 10poinds of their own. With 8 minutes left we're up 30-24 and go three and out.

It's up to the defense to come through. Martinez gets a sack, Minter tips a pass and then Perrin intercepts a third down heave and runs it back for a score. It should be enough but we let them score too easily and can't run the clock out. They get one last chance and Dilon gets the key pass rush here, ending their chances and giving us a close shave but a win.

Hiscock hits 100 yards on fairly good running today, while Nichols only gets sacked once. McGregor comes out well, with 3 of 4 blocking, a pancake and no sacks allowed. Nichols goes 19 of 28 for 208 yards and 3 TDs. Greer has a nice defensive game at tackle, with 2 sacks, a hurry and a knockdown.

Omaha Tornadoes 36, St. Louis Trailblazers 31

Week 4: Bye

Week 5: at Seattle

We are one of only two undefeated teams left in the league. And for the third time in four games we're on the road, this time to face the Destroyers. They have one of the league's best running backs in Junior Shepherd and some good D players, including DT James Dehaven, an almost perfect specimen of football player.

For the first time it seems we'll be playing from behind as they go up 13-7 on us, attacking us with their passing game. Only one nice drive by us in the first half, while we gave them three first downs by penalties. Sloppy.

They go up 16-7 in the third quarter before we finally get into gear. Hiscock busts out a 46 yard run and Nichols follows right up with a 32 yard bomb to Crawford for the TD. Next series Kooiker gets a pick and runs it back all the way and suddenly we're up 21-16.

Things look like they'll be put away as we play good D, Dilon getting a monster sack, and good O. But Nichols throws a pick at the two yard line. We don't despair though, Paschal getting a pick of our own and now we're back at the 24. We get a TD run by Vanaqs called back and end up kicking it, 24-16.

The Destroyers wouldn't even be in this game except for our 17 penalties for 120 yards! But in it they are, driving on us with two minutes left. Dilon gets another key sack, and we then promptly intercept their desperation heave. We can't grind it out with that Dehaven in the middle, but they can only desperately heave it down the field with 43 seconds left and we hold onto our fourth win.

Hiscock has his second big game, with 15 rushes for 117 yards. I'm starting to relax about him leading the attack. Meanwhile, Nichols had a good game, 23 of 32 for 220 yards and 2 TDs. None of the receivers are really standing out, and Hiscock is still getting too many targets, but at least Nichols is getting it downfield more.

Our defense got three interceptions, Kooiker the star here with 1 INT run back for a TD and two defensed passes, plus giving up no catches. Dilon gets another two sacks.

Omaha Tornadoes 24, Seattle Destroyers 16

Around the League

We are now the only undefeated team, with Detroit falling to 4-1. Minneapolis is right behind us in the division though at 4-1, and helmed by former Tornado Timothy Atkins.

The surprise of the century is that last year's Offensive Player of the Year, and record-smashing QB, Harris Stanberry is currently dead last with a 49.5 QB rating and 8 interceptions in 5 games. I wonder what's going on there. Meanwhile, the Stars QB is leading the league with 11 TDs already.

A lot of record setting performances already this year. Juan Salpala lived up to his high accuracy rating, going 19 of 20 in a game to set the completion percentage record. Huffman of the Dallas Rangers broke the yardage record with 383 passing yards against the Gale. Even Jack Nelson of the Bootleggers set one with 35 completions against the Yankees in a loss, while his receiver set a record with 14 receptions.

[Autumn]

Week 6: home against Los Angeles

The Stars come to Omaha for our second home game of the season. Willie Tisdall, their QB, doesn't seem like much but he's thrown 11 touchdowns already and is averaging 250 yards a game. They have no running game at all to speak of, but don't need it with a receiver like Gene Pritchett who's averaging 19 yards per catch. Their defense is not well ranked, but has some talented players.

The game starts out great as we swarm them on defense, Fleming getting a sack and Dilon picking up the resulting fumble and running it in for a TD and first blood. They come right back to drive on us though and even up the score. Even worse they cause a fumble on our first drive and get another chance. They score and it's 14-7.

A good return and some plays by Hiscock get us in the redzone. Schroeder then earns his check with two big plays to get us in the endzone and tie it up. We trade punts and then Nichols picks our way down the field with a very methodical drive, getting a 5 yard TD pass to Sampson in the end.

We go into the locker room up 21-14. A pick by Wicks gets us a chance and we drive into the redzone. Schroeder has another big run to get us to the 1 yard line, and Mohammed ends up with the TD catch to make it 28-14. Paschal follows up with another pick as LA just doesn't have diverse enough a gameplan to keep our pass D off of them. We get three points off of that turnover. Our problem however is a pass offense that is relying on dumpoffs to Hiscock, and that's starting to get familiar to the Stars.

The Stars finally get some big catches in the fourth quarter, and a TD by Pritchett puts them down 31-21. However, Nichols can do that too and hits Sampson for 20 yards on the next series to help us grind out some more clock. A 14 yard run by Hiscock does the same, as well as a 8 yard run on 3rd and 5. It's not pretty, but we grind out the clock and hit a field goal at the two minute warning. They can't score and we run out the clock on a fifth win.

Nichols had another fine looking day, going 24 of 32 for 221 yards and 2 TDs. Hiscock was his main target, catching 8 passes for 86 yards. Not exactly what I'm looking for but I guess he took what was there. Meanwhile we shut down the LA pass attack for the most part, Tisdall going 14 of 35 for 204 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT. He was sacked 5 times, four of them by player of the game DE Harry Fleming. Besides the sacks he also had 4 tackles, 2 hurries and four knockdowns.

Omaha Tornadoes 34, Los Angeles Stars 21

Week 7: Home against Minneapolis

This is the most exciting matchup so far. Division rival Minneapolis has fallen to 4-2 while we're at 5-0, but this is their chance to play catchup. Not only that but they've gotten those four wins with Timothy Atkins at the helm, the confident QB we drafted and later rejected for Nichols. He's got a bone to pick with us and is coming to do it.

We come out with the ball, and strong. A big catch by Schaefer puts us on the 8, and then Schroeder runs it in the rest of the way and we're up 7-0. Now it's Atkins's turn, and he proves he can do the same, moving it into the redzone. Luckily though his receiver fumbles it and Briles recovers for us.

We trade punts for a while. Hiscock busts open a screen for 22 yards to get us to midfield and then makes a big run. Fenderson makes a couple of catches to get us to the redzone. Nichols scrambles but loses the ball and Minneapolis recovers. Our defense is all over them but a desperation heave on third down keeps the Lakers alive.

Atkins proves why we let him go through when he coughs up the ball himself on a sack, giving it to us at the 24. A penalty backs us up but Nichols brings us right back and on 2nd and goal Hiscock punches it in for a 14-0 lead. Atkins takes them on a two minute drive though with some great play by his receivers. They try to drive it in from the two yard line but we hold them and they have to kick it, making it 14-3 at the half.

Their hot play continues in the second though, Atkins already at 250 yards passing by thefr first drive, FB Howard especially busting the moves on us. A pass interference call on us gets them to the 7, and they score, bringing it to a 14-10 lead by our Tornadoes.

The momentum affects them swarming defense and we are three and out. We need a big play and our defense hasn't brought it yet this game. We get a stop at least, and a good punt return, and a 10 yard catch by Schaefer to give us some rhythm. Fulton makes a big third down catch and now Nichols is feeling his oats again. Hiscock makes two great catches to get us to the 6 as the third quarter winds down. Sampson hauls in a touchdown catch and it's 21-10.

We hold Atkins just shy of 300 yards passing on the next possession as we force a three and out. And then Burton turns in a huge punt return getting us to the Minneapolis 25 yard line. A dropped pass, big pressure, it looks bad, but Nichols pulls it out hitting Fulton for a 25 yard touchdown toss right down the seam to end the third.

Fleming picks up two sacks on the next possession to make it three and out again. They expect us to start grinding it out but instead Nichols takes to the air, finding Sampson for a 34 yard gain. Schroeder soon punches in another TD and we're up 35-10. What once looked like a tight game is turning into a rout as they can't handle our pass rush when it's coming full tilt. Now we start grinding the clock down and they can't make the stops they need. We get another FG and at that point they basically give up, just making big gains by running the ball and wasting their time. In the end we've got our sixth win and a big lead in the division.

Nichols showed he could get it done here, going 19 of 26 for 274 yards and 2 TDs, distributing the ball to just about everyone. He picks up a Player of the Week award for his effort, and maintains his status as best rated QB in the league. Atkins outgunned him, ending up with 301 yards, but couldn't get the ball in the endzone.

Omaha Tornadoes 38, Minneapolis Lakers 10

[Autumn]

Week 8 at Denver

We come out looking good, stopping them on D and then moving the ball ourselves, scoring on our first drive with a 16 yard pass to Schaefer. We get a break picking up a fumble on their next possession, but we miss the ensuing field goal. Our next drive though Nichols connects on four long pass plays to get another 16 yard TD, and us a 14-0 lead.

A penalty and some bad play backs us up to the six, where we punt, giving Denver good field position. They immediately come out passing and get into the redzone. They drive it in to make it 14-7 at the half.

Nichols picks up more big passes in the second half, a 30 yard pass to Sampson getting us to the three where we punch it in to go up 21-7. Next series, Minter comes up with a loose fumble but we fail to score. Dilon comes up with key pressure when it counts though and we keep them from scoring.

Next series Fenderson takes a medium pass to the races, 68 yards for a touchdown and we have a 28-7 lead going into the fourth. Denver's QB, Coles, decides to show us the same, scrambling for over 50 yards himself on the next series. That gets them close enough and they score to make it 28-14. Key possession for us and Nichols comes through with two big completions to move us downfield. We're then able to run out some of the clock, especially as backup FB Machen busts out a 10 yard run. Hiscock follows suit to get us to the redzone with five minutes left. We end up kicking the field goal with under three minutes left to all but sew up the game. Perrin gets the final interception that seals things and we get our seventh win.

Nichols is the game MVP as well as Player of the Week, going 21 of 29 for 315 yards and 4 touchdowns, no picks, in probably his best pro game so far. I made a few tweaks to the game plan and they seem to have paid off, with wide receivers being the top three targets instead of Hiscock. Meanwhile, Hiscock picked up 75 yards on 15 carries. We won the turnover battle by forcing two fumbles and getting a pick, and we're now #1 in the league in turnover margin as well as points scored.

Omaha Tornadoes 31, Denver Mountaineers 14

Before our next game we do a little renegotiating, signing some guys who are about to expire this season. We're able to wrap up several of our promising players this way before they get to free agency. Marshal Schaefer is the only one who we really can't deal with, he's asking for so much. We'll let hte cold dose of reality deal with him.

Week 9: at Portland

I would really like to get to 8-0, and to do so we'll have to win our 5th road game of the season. Portland is on a three game winning streak. However they don't look formidable. They're first in the league in pass attempts but almost last in all other passing categories, giving you a good idea of how feeble their attack is. Their defense looks decently average. I'm not going to tweak much of anything in our plan given how it's worked so far. I do tweak the defensive rosters a bit though.

A penalty, and then a bad hold by Jochen on a kick keep us from scoring on what was a good opening drive. An interception on our next drive as Nichols is getting a bit cocky with the deep passes. We get the ball right back on a monster sack by Huie though causing a fumble. Nichols has scrambled for three first downs already this game, but also got caught for a 15 yard sack. We manage a field goal on the drive, coming up short at the four.

We score on a nice drive with a screen pass, putting ourselves up 10-0 before the half. They follow up with a drive right before the half themselves, getting to first and goal at the two but running out of time and kicking the field goal.

We play the field position war, giving ground to them and they are driving into our side of the field as the fourth quarter starts. They get to the 6 yard line with a long pass, and then throw a TD to tie things up.

We get a good return though to start at our 43. Nichols immediately throws a pick though on a broken play, and the other show drops when they hit a 24 yard pass. We desperately need a big play on defense but they're not showing up in the second half. We give them the 8 yard line with penalties, and then let them rush it when while we expect pass. We're now down 17-10.

Nichols gets sacked, but Fulton makes up for it next play with a 17 yard catch. Fenderson follows up on the next play by busting a huge one for a 51 yard touchdown and all of a sudden it's tied again. They're running on us and for some reason we're expecting nothing but passes. A touchdown run is called back on a penalty luckily for us, but we still need to find a way to stop them. We give them another long pass to get them in the redzone. They milk the clock, hoping to kick and go up by 3 with two minutes left. But Minter shows why he's the heart of this team by breaking through and blocking the kick, giving it to us with a tied score and 2 minutes left.

Somebody picks up an unsportsmanlike conduct call, calling back a nice pass. Another one gets called back on holding. I'm not liking how our team is acting when they have to work for it for the first time this year. We end up having to punt and now have to depend on our defense.

Minter plays solid D on a pass, then Huie knocks one down. They hit a screen pass and then kick a 45 yarder. It was partially blocked though and doesn't have a chance. It looks like we're going to over time.

We win the coin toss. Starting at our 35, we need Nichols to take control. Instead he ends up getting intercepted on a third down pass, giving it to them at our 32, and with momentum. A defensive holding call breaks up a great play by Ingram. Instead they drive to the 7 yard line and play it safe, going for another game winning kick. They don't even need it as we give up the touchdown and our first heartbreaking loss of the season.

Nichols looked rattled out there, as our whole team did. I take the blame for some of my adjustments, I think Nichols was trying to throw long too much and the three interceptions resulted. Otherwise he had a decent game. Hiscock was running well but didn't get run enough.

Meanwhile our defense was porous. Clarence Browning got schooled at cornerback, giving up 7 catches today, and Paschal didn't do much better, with 6 caught against him and only one defended. Someone's going to catch hell for this game.

Portland Eruption 23, Omaha Tornadoes 17

[Autumn]

Week 10: San Francisco

The second half of the season begins and now the league is gunning for us. At 7-1 we have the best record and have a slight edge, having five home games coming up in the last half.

We start it with the San Francisco Quake coming to town. The Quake, one time champions, are 2-6 this season, at seeming disarray at the QB spot. They've had three differnet QBs play so far this season. They do seem to have a decent running attack though.

We spend the early game trading punts. I know we need better cornerbacks, but our run defense is pretty poor as well. I'm not sure why, I like our front seven, but they just give up yardage. They come up with a big play though, recovering a fumble And Hergett follows up with an 18 yard catch. The offense doesn't make anything of it though and we end up punting away. Perrin almost comes up with anohter turnover but misses out. The offense is just sputtiner today, we only have two first downs so far.

Hiscock busts a big play, getting loose for a 26 yard pass to give us some momentum. However, McGregor lets up a sack on third down which means we have to settle for a field goal on the drive. We're up 3-0. They start moving down the field toward the end of the half, slinging the ball. Minter gets a monster sack to set them back some but they come right back with a 22 yard pass. Somehow we give up a 13 yard run while in run defense to get them to first and goal. Stuff them on first, stuff them on second, but a TD on third down and they will go in the locker room up 7-3.

McGregor gives up another sack to ruin our first drive of the second half. I dont know what his problem is today. They come right back out passing, hitting a 18 yard play to start their drive. Dillon picks up a sack of his own, and then a blocked pass to give the crowd something to cheer about. Hiscock breaks a run for 16 yards and the noise is getting louder. Now they're on their heels as we cross midifeld with another good run. Crawford drops a pass though, making me wonder how he can be complaing about playing time. The coaches make a great call, going for it on fourth and one. Nichols scrambles on a quick count, catching the defense unawares, going for 15 yards. Hergett makes a great play to get a first and get us in the redzone. There though we shoot ourselves in the foot with a holding call and then a sack given up by Sutton. We have to settle for the field goal attempt and even miss that. Where's the fight in this team?

Apparently it's in the defense who stuff the Quake for no gain on two consecutive plays and then cause a fumble, Paschal picking it up and getting to the 29. The offense takes advantage, Fulton pulls in a 13 yarder, Hergett grabs a 17 yarder and we're on the one yard line. Hiscock's run gets stuffed, so he takes it thorugh the air instead, pulling in a 2 yard pass for a TD and a 10-7 lead.

Our run defense is suddenly a steel curtain it seems, fired up. Kooiker makes a good tackle to force them to punt and Nichols has it in his hands in the fourth quarter. Hergett continues to make plays with his fourth catch, and Fulton follows up with a 31 yard catch on 2nd and 3. Sampson pulls in a 15 yarder and we're at the red zone again. Hergett catches a 7 yarder, and then defensive holding gives us first and goal on the 8. We make some plays but a penalty pulls us back and we have to kick it. We're up 13-7 with 8 minutes left. If it wasn't for penalties this would be a blow out.

We force them to punt and now is a key drive. Third and five we need this first down but instead Nichols gets intercepted, the LB running it back 24 yards to give them prime field position. We really need the defense to come up big now. Minter makes a good tackle on first. Fleming has a huge sack on second down. They dump off the pass on third and long, and simply go for the field goal, which they make. It's 13-10 with three minutes left.

Hiscock comes up with a key first down run to help us milk down the clock. We don't quite make another first down and punt it to them at the 18 with less than two minutes. We give up two catches but our pass rush finally comes through. We squeak by with a three point win to go 8-1.

Nichols wins game MVP but I'd give it to Hergett, maybe. He had a great game with 5 catches for 57 yards. Nichols has been forgetting him lately, but he's a good target. Nichols went 25 of 35 for 228 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. He got sacked 3 times, which was a big factor in the close score. Not a good running day for anyone, though I loved Nichols big 4th down surprise scramble. I can't decide of CB Paschal had a good day or not, he allowed 6 catches, but defended three passes.

Around the league, Harris Stanberry is seemingly back in form, having a monster 327 yard, 3 TD passing day. Last year's Rookie of the Year Lee Lu has a monster day as well, running for 171 yards for the Showboats. He's tremendously popular in Memphis and around the league, a team leader and I wouldn't be surprised to see him getting MVP votes. Meanwhile, rookie running back Ray Gist scores 4 touchdowns for the Boston Minutemen setting a new league record. It seems I missed that WR Earl Bratton did the same a few weeks ago, hauling in 4 TDs for a record. Mario Skiffington, WR for the Cleveland Hammers, is looking to be having an MVP like performance himself, on pace to have a 2000 yard season.

Omaha Tornadoes 13, San Francisco Quake 10

Week 11: Kansas City

I really need the team to get it back together after two so-so games. I make a few tweaks to try to get us back to the way we were performing in the beginning of the season. This is the game to do it, as we're playing Kansas City, who we crushed 19-0 in the first game of the season, in their stadium.

KC draws first blood, holding us to three and out and then managing enough to kick a field goal. We march right down the field though, looking good mixing up big runs and big catches. However, we go a bit conservative in the redzone, settling for a field goal which then gets blocked. We play good D, but they show some balls going for it on 4th and 1 and making it. We hold them though and they end up kicking to make it 6-0 Cowboys.

Schroeder is finally earning his pay with his second big run of the day. That motivates Hiscock and he has a big first down run to put us at midfield. Sampson and Schaefer take turns moving the ball down the field to get us in first and goal. Schroeder takes a screen pass to the 1 yard line and Fulton ends up catching the TD pass to make it 7-6.

We give up a huge run, but make up for it by knocking the ball loose, Fleming coming up with it. Fulton makes a big catch on a broken play to get in the redzone, and Hiscock follows up with two good runs to make it first and goal. It gets called back on holding though, and then holding again and suddenly we're way backed up. Shepherd makes a big 19 yard catch but that gets called back too on a penalty. We end up punting instead of scoring, nailing them at the 1 yard line. Another touchdown denied with penalties.

We hold them and get the ball back, but two dropped passes on our next series does that in. We get it back with less than a minute left in the half and make a go for it after a couple quick big runs. But we run out of time as rookie WR Youssef gets caught inbounds.

They come out running in the second half, driving down the field on us. Runs and screens get them to first and goal. The heart of our team, Buddy Martinez makes a huge third down stuff and they somehow miss the field goal.

For some reason, backup RB Schroeder is getting a lot of targets, and that's not a good thing. We go three and out with some of those short dumpoff passes. He can just go back to being disgruntled if that's what having him in the game is going to mean. Kooiker makes a great play, getting an interception as they were starting to move and running it to about midfield. Unfortunately it's more passes to Schroeder for us. A penalty gives us another chance and this time Scroeder runs it picking up 7. Nichols follows with a first down scramble, and then another for 7 yards. The fourth quarter starts with us up by 1 and picking up a first down at their 25 yard line. Mohammed hauls in an 11 yard catch and Fulton follows that right up with a 14 yard TD! It's 14-6.

KC is starting to act a bit desperate on offense, and it pays off for us with a big sack and some blocked passes. We get the ball back with a chance to start putting this game away. A holding call isn't a good way to start though. Dawkins gives up a sack and we end up punting. We give up another big play but hold them to another missed field goal. This would be the time to shove it odwn their throat but instead it's more dinky screens and dumps. Nichols is 23 of 27 right now, which would be great if half of them weren't passes for 0 yards.

KC gets it back wtih five minutes left. They make a couple big plays but we make enough of our own to keep them from scoring. With two minutes left we finally start running it, Schroeder picking up a key 9 yards. They get it back with 50 seconds left, down by 8 and can't do anything. Squeaked by again. Going 9-1 is a nice feeling, but I'm still not comfortable with how the team played. They definitely looked better here, and part of the problem was just some gameplanning roster issues. But I still want to see a lights out performance.

Nichols certainly doesn't hurt his league leading completion percentage, going 23 of 27 for 162 yards and 2 TDs. Unfortuantely Scroeder was the leading receiver with 6 catches for 6 yards. He did some nice running with 7 carries for 43 yards, but still. Hiscock also ran well, 14 attempts for 74 yards. Huie had a nice day on defense, with 1.5 sacks and 2 blocked passes. Haber bloked well, 3 of 4 KRB and no sacks allowed.

Around the league Lee Lu continued his fine play, getting player of the week nod with 125 yards and 2 TDs. Skiffington continued destroying the league with 10 catches for 179 yards. He's 400 yards ahead of the next highest receiver in the league. Lu is likewise running away with the rushing title by almost 300 yards.

I suppose Nichols is also making a play at MVP. His rating so far is 103.8, he's leading the league with 19 touchdowns, 71% completions and 7.53 yards per attempt. He's third in the league in yardage. His player rating has been soaring up all year around, I think starting the season at something like 62. It's now at 86 and seems to have peaked as his potential has dropped from 92 to 86.

Omaha Tornadoes 14, Kansas City Cowboys 6

Week 12: Providence

Providence makes the trip from the other conference out to Tornado Alley. They're 4-6, but have what seems to be a very decent pass defense, so this will still be a challenge for us. I'd like to see, obviously, a resounding win here at home.

Somehow the game starts with us still throwing at Schroeder. Really annoying, but it goes for 10 yards this time. Nichols scrambles twice on the first drive for 19 yards, Hiscock has one for 14 yards and Shepherd converts on third down. Mohammed is in the action, always a good sign I think, catching a pass to get us in the red zone. Nichols scrambles for another first down and then we try a reverse, our first of the season I think. Next play Fenderson catches a 2 yard TD. Now this is the kind of production I want to see.

We get called for unnecessary roughness, on top of poor defensive play. That seems to fire us up though and make them go 3 and out after that. Their long FG attempt gets blocked and it's back to us. Nichols is scrambling again, and then Machen turns a short 3rd down screen into a 27 yard gain. Fulton pulls in a 16 yarder to get first and goal. Fenderson drops a TD catch, and then a holding call really dampens the spirits. Two more passes though and Nichols gets it in the endzone anyway and we're up 14-0 in the first quarter.

We trade punts. Now it's Fulton's turn to drop an easy catch and two more incopmletes follow. Kooiker almost comes up with a fumble on their next drive but they keep possession. Their QB, Allen, scrambles himself for a huge 32 yards and follows up with an easy TD toss to make it 14-7.

Burton gives us a spark with a 33 yard kick off return and Fenderson and Schaefer follow suit with 20+ yard catches. On 2nd and goal Nichols scrambles in for a TD and it's 21-7.

Again we almost come up with a fumble. Our D is playing hard out there. Lowe catches Allen with a 13 yard sack, but the Whalers come back with a 44 yard pass. Our D stays tight though and they're forced to kick, and miss. McGregor gives up a sack on the next play, but Hiscock makes up for it with a 26 yard run. Fenderson makes a 10 yard catch in double coverage to get us across midfield, and then hauls in anohter for a 37 yard TD. It's 28-7 before the two minute warning.

Time to tighten the vice, and our D does just that, stuffing runs and knocking down passes. Fleming sacks Allen and makes him cough it up and this time Greer comes up with the ball. With two minutes left we get it at their 15 yard line. Two runs and then Mohammed hauls in a 7 yard pass to amek it 35-7 before the half. So far this is the resounding win I was looking for.

They start with the ball in the third quarter and wisely don't abandon the run. Unsportsmanlike Conduct on us gets them to our redzone, but a Minter third down stuff means they settle for the kick and it's 35-10. Despite the score I'm worried about the amount of penalties we've been getting lately.

We're not exacxtly playing good defense, but we haven't let our foot off the gas as Huie tears through their line for a sack and a recovered fumble at their 13. Nichols ends up scrambling for another TD, his second of the game, to make it 42-10.

The Whalers have sent in a new QB as we start the fourth quarter. He's not able to do anything either and we continue trying to run out the clock. Schroeder really needs to stay on the bench more, he hasn't turned out to be the backup RB I was hoping for. I'm not sure why he's playing as much as he is, I thought I had cranked up Hiscock's playing time. You can trust it won't happen next week.

We were running out the clock pretty well but a penalty backed us up and resulted in Machen fumbling the ball at midfield. I note that we have six penalites so far and Providence none. I notice that Machen filling in as backup RB is working well, despite the fumble. Better than Schroeder at least. I'm not sure Nichols should still be in the game at this point. If he gets injured I'll be pissed as all get out. Finally Providence gets one penalty, I'll take it. It means with a good punt return we get the ball back on their side of the field. That's it for them and we rush into the locker room, a jubilant 10-1.

Nichols picks up yet another game MVP, deserving it for sure for going 17 of 23 for 205 yards, 4 TD passes, as well as rushing 7 times for 44 yards and 2 TDs. Hiscock played awell, with 16 rushes for 84 yards. Fenderson was the man catching the ball, pulling in 5 for 80 yards and 3 TDs. Our defense was swarming and hard hitting as our 4 forced fumbles attest to. A decent pass rush, with Dillon contributing 3 hurries.

Omaha Tornadoes 42, Providence Whalers 10

Week 13: at San Antonio

So ends our three game home stand. Now we go on the road for three games . First up is the San Antonio Defenders, who at 5-6 are in the midst of a wild card hunt.

Minter makes an interception on the first series of the game, giving us great field position. Vanaqs has a 4 yard run called back, so Nichols simply throws a 19 yard touchdown to Schaefer instead. So there! Shit, that gest called back on on a holding penalty. We end up kicking, 3-0. We just manage a field goal on the next drive as well to make it 6-0.

Pinned at our three, Nichols calmly marches us out of there, Hiscock making a 15 yard catch to get us across midfield. Sampson picks up 16 on a short hitch on the next play. A 22 yard run surprises them on 2nd and 10 and we get first and goal. Mohammed hauls in the next pass for a 4 yard TD and a 13-0 lead on a 97 yard scoring drive.

We trade punts and penalties for the rest of the half. We start off with the ball in the second half, and Vanaqs opens things up with a 19 yard screen pass. Sampson picks up a couple receptions, and Hiscock's first down run gets us to the red zone. On 3rd and 3 Shepherd picks up 7 on a pass and we have first and goal. Fenderson catches one short of the goal line, but Hiscock runs it in for only his second rushing TD of the year. It's 20-3.

The Defenders have a successful drive next, getting it into our redzone before a penalty backs them up. Sinclair hauls in a 19 yard pass for a TD and it's a 20-10 game. We return the favor, Fulton hauling in an 18 yard pass on 3rd and 4 as we close out the third quarter. A penalty gets us another first down and Schaefer busts a catch open for 33 yards to make it first and goal. He then hauls in the next pass too for a TD and a 27-10 lead.

Some good hard running, and an interception by Paschal are keeping our lead safe. Backup safety Sheldon is making some nice plays, I'll have to look at him closer after the game. We run out most of the fourth quarter on the next series, dirivng to the two yard line and then Vanaqs takes it in on third down to score and make it 34-10 at the two minute warning. They try throwing in their second string QB, but that's all she wrote for them.

Great day all around. Nichols goes 25 of 31 for 251 yards and 2 TDs. Hiscock rushes 25 times for 121 yards and a TD. The running backs are far down on the list of targets, so that's good. Scottie Dawkins rocks at center with 5 KRB. Minter has a great day on defense, picking up 6 tackles, 4 assists, an interception and a sack. Nichols picks up PLayer of the Week honors for his performance.

More good news is that Nichols is still creeping. He's up to 87/87 now. We are far ahead of the league in scoring, scoring 50 points more than the #2 team, the Detroit Wheels. The next best team in our conference record wise is 8-4 Houston, followed by bunches of 7 and 6 win teams.

Omaha Tornadoes 34, San Antonio Defenders 10

[Autumn]

Week 14: at New York

The last quarter of the regular season begins with the Tornadoes sitting at 11-1, the best record in the league. Our one loss came in overtime against the Portland Eruption. If there is a knock against the Tornadoes it is that it's hard to say if they've played any good teams. The rest of the conference is mired in mediocrity with records ranging from 4 wins to 8 wins. The other conference is not much better, ranging from 3 wins to 9 themselves.

The Tornadoes look to pull away in the last four wins and establish themselves as the clear Super Bowl contenders. First off they will face the New York Yankees, at Yankee Stadium itself. The two teams have never met. Moe Hamm leads the Yankees at QB, as he has since 1921. A mediocre passer, it's hard to say why they stick with him. Hardy Hastings at SLB is clearly their best player, An All-Pro player last year who can do it all.

New York comes out playing the field position game, and playing it well, pinning us on the two yard line in two of our first three possessions. Conversely, Nichols looks unsure out there, getting rattled by a surprisingly effective New York pass rush. After those first three possessions NIchols is 7 of 14, and ends it by throwing a pick.

We come up with a big fumble recovery on the next possession to give us the ball at the 15. Sampson hauls in a 9 yard TD while double covered to put us up 7-3 and give us some confidence. We stop them and then march right down the field on our next possession but Nichols gets too cocky, trying to zip a long bomb through double coverage, and gets intercepted in the endzone. No more scoring in the first half.

Fenderson gets hurt catching a 15 yarder in the third quarter. On our next drive, though, we get it at midfield and promptly get to the redzone, with Nichols busting out a 12 yard run. Rookie Youssef, filling in for Fenderson, makes two catches including the touchdown catch and we're up 14-3. They miss a field goal on their next possession to keep it that way.

Nichols decides to give them another chance though, throwing a pick on the first play of the drive, his third on the day. The defense comes thorugh for us though, forcing a three and out. The Yankees manage to hit the 52 yard field goal though to make it 14-6. The pass rush is still rattling Nichols and we go three and out, but the defense decides to give him anohter chance, Kooiker and Sheldon combining to cause and recover a fumble, giving it to us at midfield.

Youseff pulls in two catches on the drive, and Vanaqs shines wiht a 17 yard run. Hergett gets us to the six yard line with a surprise catch out of the 2 TE set and three plays to Hiscock get us in the endzone and up 21-6 in the fourth quarter. We play well with a lead, our pass rush rattles Hamm and he throws a pick to Browning. Thus the game goes, Nichols not playing great but the defense giving us great opportunities. We pack on three more field goals to make it 30-6. The ball goes over on downs on them and we have our 12th win.

The injury report after the game is bad news, as Fenderson is out for probably the rest of the season. Luckily Youseff performed relatively well filling in for him, catching 4 of 6 passes.

Nichols was off today, ending up 23 of 40 for 245 yards, 3 TDs but 3 interceptions. They only sacked him once but he was hurried six times, had three passes droped and 4 defensed. Luckily we showed we could survive even a bad outing by him and it was clear if the coaches hadn't pressed the pass so much we could have done even better. Clarence Browning wins player of the game from the corner, picking up an interception and a sack and only allowing two catches.

Hiscock breaks 1000 yards in this game, he's currently 5th in the league in yardage with a nice 4.45 average. We have clinched our division, Denver falling to 6-7 as the next best contender. Sadly they still have a chance at a wild card spot despite it. Detroit reached 10-3 in the other conference to remain the best contender as second best in the league. While we are #1 in points scored and #2 in points allowed, they are #1 in points allowed and #3 in points scored.

Omaha Tornadoes 30, New York Yankees 6

Week 15: at Minneapolis

Minneapolis is at the bottom of our division at 5-8. Timothy Atkins, who played a hell of a game against his old team earlier in the season has played decently but is not lighting it up. While he posted 300 yards against us, his last 5 games he's failed to break 200.

The Lakers come out charging, marching right into our redzone to the screams of their fans. We simply have to wait for Atkins to get up to his old tricks though as he lofts one into the endzone that flutters into Perrin's waiting hands. We take over at our own 1. Hiscock immediately makes a nice move to get us a first down and out of trouble but things go south from there and we punt. Punts are traded into the second quarter when the Lakers finally hit a field goal to draw first blood.

Nichols shows why he's the team leader on our first scoring drive. Sampson drops a nice pass, but Nichols goes right back to him the following play. He then follows up with a long pass to Crawford, the fifth receiver who just came onto the active roster. Crawford makes the catch for 18 yards. Despite being backed up with a sack, he finds Fulton on third down and 12 for a 15 yard play. On third and 10 he scrmables for 8 yards, getting us in field goal range at the two minute warning. Thanks to Nichols we're tied up at half time.

Burton tries to start us off right with a big return to start the second half but he coughs up the ball, giving Minneapolis good field position amidst the screaming fans. We show why we lead the league in points allowed though as the defense tightens up. Even a holding call doesn't daunt us, though it gives them first and goal. We keep them out of the endzone and they go up to a 6-3 lead.

We start the next possession slowly, pounding the line with three consecutive runs. That sets up the bomb, as Nichols goes to Youssef for the 4th time, finding him for 23 yards. He's got the Lakers on their heels, and though they're expecting it they can't stop his next bomb, this time to Fulton for 28. Two plays later Fulton makes a short TD catch in the back of the endzone and it's 10-6.

The fans are quiet now in the Twin Cities and our defense is stoked, combining for a stuffed run on first down and then picking Atkins off on 2nd down. The heart of our defense, Buddy Martinez snags the pass and returns it 21 yards. Nichols tries to drive the stake in with a long bomb to Fulton but can't connect. So he wisely slows things down with a run to Hiscock. He makes the play himself on 3rd and 5, scrambling for 7 yards. Now the defense doesn't know what to expect and Nichols takes advantage, throwing the TD pass to go up 17-6 at the start of the 4th.

They expect us to milk the clock with a rushing attack, and we do, fairly effectively. Hiscock busts out for 11 yards on 3rd and 3. Youssef picks up three more catches on the drive to get us to the 3 yard line, as well as a big Nichols scramble. Vanaqs is the go to man on the goal line, rushing three times and getting the touchdown. That makes it 24-6 with 7 minutes left. The football traditionalists love the run-run-run call.

The Lakers abandon Atkins for thier old mainstay, Glen Miller, and that gets them some movement on offense. Not enough though, and Martinez's hurry on fourth down does them in. Vanaqs makes a btg play running for 9 on 3rd and 4 to basically do in the Laker's chances of scoring.

It's a 13-1 team that heads back to Omaha for a two game home stand to close out the season. It's something no one could have dreamed for. Nichols is back in form, and player of the game, with a 23 of 28, 239 yard performance with 2 TDs and no picks. Amazingly, it was unsung rookie Benjamin Youssef who was his chief target, hauling in 6 catches for 84 yards. Nichols makes a living tearing zones apart by targeting his 3rd and 4th receivers, who have 11 catches between them in this game, while the two starters combine for 4 targets. That's what an all-star QB will do for you I guess.

Hiscock was hardly used until the last drive, strangely, only getting 11 carries on the day. Vanaqs had 10, mostly in short yardage situations. Alfred Tubbs had a great day at tackle, wiht 4 KRB and a pancake. With our trampling of the Lakers we now are #1 in both points scored and points allowed, not having given up more than 10 points in 6 straight games.

It's a big day for Houston, whose QB Juan Salpala wins Offensive Player of the Week while throwing 4 touchdowns, and whose DE Clifton Wynn wins Defensive PLayer of the Week while setting a league record with 5 sacks against Oklahoma City. It's a needed win for them to pull away in their division race. Of note in my record watch is that Mario Skiffington, the Hammers WR has already broken the season records in receiving set by Earl Bratton last season. With two games still he has 101 catches for 1,659 yards.

Omaha Tornadoes 24, Minneapolis Lakers 6

[Izulde]

Sophomore slump? What sophomore slump?

[Autumn]

Week 16: Boston

The first game of our home stay looks like a real challenge. The Boston Minutemen are the last team in the league that we have never played. They are only 8-6 but seem the real deal with a highly ranked defense and sporting a hot rookie running back. Ray Gist is averaging under four yards a carry, but has scored 9 touchdowns and is getting better as the year goes on. Most of note about the Minutemen though is their monster D-line, featuring two of the best in the league. Johnny Shapiro has picked up 16.5 sacks in his second year at left end and Lincoln Prior has 8 himself at nose tackle, while also racking up 60 tackles. Their defense leads the league in pass rush percent.

Boston has a one game lead in their division and needs this win to keep on top. We, meanwhile, have already sewn up the #1 seed in the conference. I don't believe in taking the foot off the pedal though.

We start with the ball and look crisp, using screen passes to take advantage of this monster pass rush. Hiscock picks up 15 on one, Vanaqs breaks a big one for 44 yards getting us to the 13. Hiscock ends up with the rushing touchdown, his third on the year, to go up 7-0.

Boston comes out sharp looking too, driving from deep in their own territory to our 11 yard line before our defense slows them down. They kick to go 7-3.

We trade punts, unable to convert on third. But the 20 yard passes are there as Nichols has 153 yards already midway through the 2nd quarter. This time we keep trucking, Vanaqs helping out with a huge 21 yard run where he gets tackled on their 1 yard line. It takes two tries but Hiscock gets it in the endzone and we're up 14-3.

They only manage a field goal in the rest of the half with a crisp two minute offense that our defense clamps down on in the redzone. Nichols only throws one incomplete pass in the half, but we're not able to add any points. We go in up 14-6 at the half.

We trade punts in the third. Jared Perrin gets injured, which has me worried but I can't tell if it's serious. We take turns pinning each other in our own redzone, their pass rush showing up to give Nichols some trouble.

They manage a field goal in the fourth to make it 14-9. We come out moving the ball, eager to put the game away. Two big plays on 3rd and longs get us to the 12 yard line with just over two minutes left and a five point lead.

We make them burn two of their timeouts as we advance to the 3. We then kick the field goal to make it 17-9. They have one chance but aren't able to move the ball and we go on to a 14-1 record.

Nichols wins player of the game for his 21 of 27, 291 yard performance. But it was Hiscock who soaked up the scoring, getting 2 touchdowns on his 13 runs. Youssef continued to impress picking up 6 catches, though Nichols used him for short gains. Schaefer only caught 4 of 6 passes, not great for a starter who thinks we should sign him to a multimillion dollar contract.

Minter racked up 12 tackles going up against Gist in the middle. Norm McGregor was a blocking beast with 4 of 7 KRBs and a pancake. Fullback Machen logged two pancakes himself as well as a 12 yard catch and a 10 yard run.

Rookie phenom Ray Gist was held to 65 yards on 23 carries, but he still did his damage, actually. No turnovers on either side from this game, which is probably why it ended so close, we usually pick up a couple.

A return to the locker room shows that the flu has swept the team. Much more worrisome in 1924 than it is nowadays, it has 15 players in questionable status. Shannon Shepherd has severe headaches, perhaps from listening to everyone bitching and moaning.

Much, much more serious is Jaerd Perrin's dislocated shoulder which has him out for four weeks. He's one of our best defenders, and that could hurt.

Omaha Tornadoes 17, Boston Minutemen 9

Week 17: Denver

I mull over the question of whether to rest some starters, but decide not to. We have the bye week coming up. And I need to figure out what kind of defensive backfield to send out with Perrin on the bench in street clothes.

Denver is coming to town at 8-7, fighting for a wild card spot. There are five teams in the conference with 8 or 9 wins at the moment looking for a wild card spot. In the other conference, Boston's loss to us means they have to beat Philadelphia or else risk losing their division and a playoff spot. Quite a few teams there are hoping for a spot as well while Detroit, Richmond and Memphis rest comfortable at the tops of their divisions.

Denver rests, as always, on their strong rushing attack with Martin Guzowski. He's the 2nd leading rusher in the league (though amazingly league leader Lee Lu has only played 12 games). Sherman Coles does a good job managing the team, with Rob Forbes leading their receivers. Their defense is fairly good with a strong defensive line. We are 4-6 against these division rivals lifetime.

It's cold and calm in Omaha on game day, the crowd going wild for their Tornadoes. Burton starts us off with a big return and in two plays we're across the midfield line. Hiscock has a hard time getting past that D line, but he does fine catching out of the backfield. Nichols finally misses on a 3rd down pass though and we have to settle for a field goal.

Guzowski tries to quiet the fans with a 10 yard run on first down. These fans aren't slowed though, and neither is Minter who knocks Guzowski for a 1 yard loss. Next play Kooiker, filling in at Perrin's spot, picks Coles off at midfield. We run all over them and even throw a TD, but a series of penalties cancels that and pushes us back, and eventually our field goal attempt is blocked.

But when we get the ball back the rushing attack continues. Hiscock for 14. Vanaqs for 42. The very next play Nichols reads their tight rush D and audibles a long bomb instead, 35 yard touchdown to Fulton and it's 10-0.

We play the field position game for a while. Then Fulton breaks the game open for us, picking up an 18 yarder and then breaking loose for a 59 yard TD, no one able to catch him. That makes it 17-0 with three minutes in the first half.

Guzowski tries his own magic, breaking loose for 45 yards. That gets them to the redzone with two minutes left. Coles scrambles through a big hole for 17 yards but the man's not use to running. He coughs up the ball and DE Kelly Dillon scoops it up and RUNS IT BACK ALL THE WAY FOR A 96 YARD TOUCHDOWN! That's 24-0 before the half. We get the ball back and don't let up, Nichols firing downfield with a minute left in the half. We pay for that hubris by throwing an interception, but don't give up any points.

Denver comes out in the second half in a hurry up offense. We know they're passing but they move the ball well. They drive the length of the field and run it in to make it 24-8.

We manage another field goal after Sampson breaks free on a 33 yard catch. An interception by Sheldon gives us another shot, and Vanaqs breaks loose, this time for 38 yards. Youssef gets us the first down in the red zone and Sampson hauls in the pass to the 5 yard line. Then it's Vanaqs and Haber again four a touchdown and it's 34-8.

Denver keeps running Guzowski, which is great for his stats since we're in nickel D, but not helpful for them actually wining the game. They're running out most of the fourth quarter on a grinding drive. Unfortunately for us Kooiker gets injured on that drive, which could be really trouble for us if it's as serious as Perrin's injury. We need to get this game over with before we have more trouble. They eventually score a TD, making it 34-15 with under two minutes left. That's the score as we run the clock out.

The first place i go after the game is the locker room. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see that Kooiker only has a bruised heel. He'll be fine in time for the playoffs, along with most of the rest of the team.

There were a lot of stars of this game. Nichols went 18 of 25 for 258 yards and 2 TDs, no picks, no sacks. Juan Vanaqs probably should have been player of the game, his huge runs getting him 10 carries for 131 yards and a touchdown. It could have gone to Michael Fulton who caught 4 passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Sheldon and Kooiker, our two safeties, each had an interception to help shut down the Mountaineers. But it was Kelly Dillon who had 2 sacks and a 96 yard fumble return who received the honors. Huie also had a great game with 7 tackles, 2 sacks and 2 hurries. Martinez plugged up the middle with 12 tackles of his own.

Now time to relish our season. 15-1, the best regular season record in league history, besting San Antonio who went 14-2 in 1922 then bowed out in the first round of the playoffs. It's a story to keep in mind as we spend the bye week readying ourselves for the rest of the challenge.

Omaha Tornadoes 34, Denver Mountaineers 15

[Autumn]

Izulde: No kidding. He took his lumps in the first season and turned it right around. And all this without an All-Pro receiver to throw at! Hmmm.

[Autumn]

Regular Season Wrap Up

Nichols ends up the best QB of the season, setting a league record with his 107.5 QB rating, as well as his 71.7% completion rating.

Other records are set, most notably Mario Skiffington's 118 catches for 1,852 yards, both records. Willie Reid's 91.5% pass defense rating, only allowing 18 catches this season with 7 interceptions and 13 defensed passes, was also a record. Last year's Defensive Player of the Year ups the ante by setting a new record of 22.5 sacks in a season. Earl Bratton, while not the receiving force he was last year sets records in return yardage and all-purpose yards. On a team level, the Louisville Chargers set a record by only allowing 82.1 yards rushing per game this season. Our team ties the league record by scoring 26.6 points per game, sharing that honor with last year's Racers.

Lee Lu ended up capturing the rushing title in only 13 games, just barely edging out Martin Guzowski. Rookie Ray Gist led the league with 11 rushing touchdowns. Lu is a leading MVP candidate but his three games missed may hurt him.

Skiffington obviously is another MVP candidate, shattering receiving records, though Cleveland's 7-9 record and lack of a playoff berth will count against him.

Defensive players have been the MVPs so far in this league. Looking there we see Brant West with 22.5 sacks and 31 hurries for a league leading pass rush percentage. He is on one of the league's best teams, the Detroit Wheels. But his lack of fan popularity may limit him.

Dan McMullen, DT for the Chicago Gale could be another candidate, racking up 15.5 sacks to go along with 72 tackles. Willie Reid's work at safety is also worth a look.

A lot of our success came through being able to balance our offensive attack, leading the league in yard per rushing attempt as well as passing attempt. And our defense, while giving up yardage didn't give up points. Here's a look at our team summary and the league standings.

[Autumn]

1924 Wild Card Round

To look around the league the playoff picture coalesced more or less as expected. Pittsburgh pulled out to win the division over St. Louis, both teams having been tied 'til the end. St. Louis however nabbed the wild card spot. They join Omaha, Portland, Houston and Dallas in the National Conference.

The Detroit Wheels have been the class of the American Conference all year, racking up a 12-4 record. The Richmond Cavaliers are clearly the second best there, the rest a collection of 9 and 8 win teams. Boston managed to eke out the division, sending the Providence Whalers home. Baltimore just squeaked in the wild cards as an 8-8 team, while the Buffalo Blizzard claimed the other spot. The Memphis Showboats won their division on the strength of Lee Lu's running.

In the wildcard round the Baltimore Admirals head to Memphis to face the Showboats. The Admirals don't have much of anything to write about, riding some horrible QB performance to the big show on the strength of ... I don't know. The Showboats, meanwhile, feature Lee Lu at QB, shoring up an adequate quarterback. Their defense consists of a lot of playmakers, as shown by their 41 takeways this year and some great pass defense stats. However, they lost to the Admirals earlier in the year, so who knows.

In the end, they romp over the Admirals, nobody having an amazing day but just seemingly playing good field position football, hitting four field goals and making some big plays.

Memphis Showboats 26, Baltimore Admirals 6

The Buffalo Blizzard are heading to Boston in their wild card match up. The Blizzard have a pretty sad offense and it's unclear how they got this far. Boston we just played, and we know they win on the strength of their powerful defense and some adequate offensive play.

Boston wins by almost the same score as Memphis, Ray Gist running all over the Blizzard for 123 yards, plus 98 through the air (80 of that on a long touchdown pass). Roy Witte, LB, wins player of the game by getting 4 tackles, 4 assists, 2.5 sacks, 1 interception and one forced fumble.

Boston Minutemen 26, Buffalo Blizzard 7

In our conference, the Dallas Rangers are heading to Pittsburgh. Dallas has a high flying passing attack keyed by Van Rankinen, one of the best receivers in the league who pulled in 1300 yards this year. Their defense meanwhile is a bit of a sieve. Pittsburgh meanwhile is trying to ride a pounding running game into the playoffs. It's not terribly good, and they're on their fourth quarterback of the year, but they should be able to beat Dallas.

They don't though, losing by a point to the Rangers. Van Rankinen pulls in a TD pass late in teh 4th quarter to put them ahead. That's nearly the only play of the game for the Rangers, while the Steelers had both a 100 yard rusher and 100 yard receiver. Yet they only got 13 points out of it, and it wasn't enough.

Dallas Rangers 14, Pittsburgh Steelers 13

The last game of the weekend is St. Louis heading to Portland. The Trailblazers have a multiheaded and effective running attack and a high yardage passing attack. Their defense isn't great but good enough to keep their offense ahead. The Eruption meanwhile just aren't particularly good at anything. I'm sad to say they beat our team because the only thing to write about these guys is that their MLB got 134 tackles and is named Subramanian.

St. Louis is indeed the better team, as they come in and put three touchdowns on the Eruption, Portland unable to get a touchdown until the final two minutes of the game. Artie Delgado had the game of his life at running back for the Trailblazers, 16 carries for 124 yards and 2 TDs. That was the game there, though Subramanian did get 10 tackles and 6 assists.

St. Louis Trailblazers 21, Portland Eruption 13

[Autumn]

Conference Semifinals

Most of the Tornadoes are well rested after the bye, but we have three out. WR Fenderson, S Perrin and FB Machen. Machen should be back next week, and is a backup anyway. The other two are not likely to be back this year.

We draw Dallas in the conference semifinals, which is to my liking. They seem the weakest of the conference teams. Shut down Van Rankinen, or at least outscore him, is the plan. They seem to have a lot of injuries, which will also help us. Dallas is helmed by Darnell Huffman, a 5th year player who has run the Dallas offense the past three years. He only has one playoff game experience from back when he was a Bootlegger. He has the ability to really rack up the yardage at times, but is not consistent.

Three and out isn't a great way to start. Luckily they do the same. The first big play of the game comes when Vanaqs loses the ball on third down, giving Dallas possession at our 27. 64,000 fans are booing the Rangers and then erupt into cheers when Minter and Sheldon combine for a sack, forcing a fumble that Greer runs back 15 yards. The Tornado offense comes through with a big play on 3rd and 10 to get us to midfield. Nichols gets into a rhythm, defying their pass defense with completion after cmopleition into the redzone. Shcaefer hauls in a pass at the 6 yard line and the crowd roars as Nichols stands in the teeth of the pass rush and throws a score to unheralded rookie, Youssef.

The Rangers are rattled and go three and out wtih a poor punt. Nichols comes right back firing, His 19 yard pass to Youssef on 3rd and 4 getting us into first and goal. It's an easy touchdown toss to Schaefer and the score is 14-0. The Rangers go three and out again and the fans can't believe what they're watching as Nichols strolls out, throwing into the teeth of the defense. Nichols finds Schaefer open on a long pass, Schaefer breaks free of a Ranger defender and races the length of the field for a 75 yard touchdown. It's now 21-0 with 10 minutes left in the first half. The crowd is pounding the bleachers.

The Rangers try to quiet things down with a methodical drive but are clearly rattled catching a false start penalty, a sack and then they are forced to punt. The crowd is quiet for Nichols as the offense takes the field again but the noise is deafening when Vanaqs takes the handoff and bursts through a hole for a giant 64 yard gain. The Rangers look stunned as Hiscock takes it 14 yards to the 1 yard line on the next play. Two more plays and it's a touchdown and a 28-0 game.

The very next play, Rangers QB Huffman is sacked and loses the ball, Omaha coming up with it at the Dallas 15. Dallas finally firms up, stuffing two runs and defending the third down pass, forcing the kick. 31-0. The Rangers go three and out and Nichols takes the ball back on their 44 yard line. He's getting too cocky now though as he tries to force a long pass into dobule coverage to Schaefer and gets picked off. Vanaqs manages to make the tackle and avoid a runback for a score. The pick doesn't matter with our defense forcing three and out. Omaha is heading in with a 31-0 lead.

Van Rankinen makes his presence known to start off the second half with a large kick return. Huffman can't complete a pass but a penalty gives them a first down anyway. That seems to calm the Rangers down and they march into our redzone on a big third down pass to Blackwell. That worked so well, Huffman goes to Blackwell again despite the double coverage and the receiver pulls in a touchdown.

Vanaqs shows why he's no longer the feature back when he coughs up the ball on the ensuing kick return. Rankinen gets his first catch of the day on a key third down conversion to get them into the redzone. Huffman follows up with his second TD throw and it's a 31-13 game (after the missed conversion).

The stadium is silent, except for boos, when Vanaqs fumbles a second kickoff return in a row. THe gleeful Rangers take over at the 19, eager to make this a game. They drive to the three yard line before our defense stops them, but the field goal makes it 31-16.

The mood has certainly changed, Burton taking the return for a short 17 yard gain, and a false start backing us up to the 12. Vanaqs tries to make up for things with an 8 yard run. Hiscock pulls out a 9 yarder to follow it. Fulton's 11 yard catch gets us to our 40 yard line. Penalties back us up from there, but Hiscock comes through with a 19 yard scramble after a catch to get to midfield. Youssef gets the crowd chanting with an 18 yard catch himself. Nichols takes off to run for 14 yards to get us in the redzone and Shepherd pulls in a 10 yard pass. Finally, Alex Crawford catches the 4 yard touchdown to show that Nichols can go to anyone. It's 38-16 going into the fourth quarter.

They go three and out but we don't, Mohammed making a nice third down catch, Hiscock following up wiht a 15 yard run. A 14 yard run gets us to their 26, but Schaefer receives an injury in the course of the play. Injuries are my fear here. An 8 yard run by Hiscock on third and 6 drains the clock and keeps us alive, our drive finally stalling on the 4 yard line where we kick a field goal to go up 41-16 with two minutes left. Dallas is hardly even trying, actually running the ball several times on their last possession. They naturally run out of time and go home thoroughly beaten by the Tornadoes.

The media must be sick of Nichols because they give the PLayer of the Game award to Harry Fleming, who did have a nice game with 3 tackles, 4 assists, 3.5 sacks and a hurry. Still, Nichols went 22 of 29 for 276 yards and 4 TDs, throwing one interception and not being sacked even once. Hiscock had 92 yards on 20 carries, Vanaqs contributed 80 on 11 carries of his own. He also fumbled three times, which is unbelievably horrible. Schaefer only caught 4 out of 7 passes, but it was for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Youssef continued his short range success with 6 catches for 54 yards and a score.

Our defense was all over the Rangers QB, picking up 9 sacks overall, and knocking down 6 passes.

Omaha Tornadoes 41, Dallas Rangers 16

Meanwhile St. Louis traveled to Houston for the other semifinal game. Houston was 10-6 this year, and I think is a good team. Juan Salpala helms them, throwing for 3600 yards this year. They have a decent running game and a good pass defense. It's a close matchup between these teams.

Houston wins it though, scoring 27 points in the first half and coasting the rest of the way. Oliver Stephens rushed for 139 yards and backup RB Napiecek added 85 and that was the story there.

Houston Oilers 27, St. Louis Trailblazers 14

In the other conference, Memphis has to take their show to Richmond to face the well-rested Cavaliers. The Cavaliers have a dangerous passing attack, Richard Flowers finally giving away to Corey Money a third year man who threw for over 3,600 yards this year. They've got a great cornerback in Wally Middleton, and they're led by former Tornado coach, J.R. Jenkins.

The Cavaliers prevail despite Lee Lu picking up 119 yards on 15 rushes. The Showboat QB couldn't connect, ending up with a 38.0 rating, while Corey Money was on the money, throwing for 261 yards.

Richmond Cavaliers 23, Memphis Showboats 7

Lastly the Detroit Wheels are waiting to receive the Boston Minutemen. This should be a slaughter, as the Wheels have the most dangerous defense in the league and a balanced offense that doesn't make mistakes. The Wheels are the only team to have been in the playoffs 5 seasons in a row, and QB Dusty Harvey won't get rattled.

The surprise of the weekend is not that the Wheels lose, but that they squeak by. They require a last minute, literally, TD pass from Dusty Harvey and the two point conversion to come up with a three point win. Boston itself took the lead on a 80 yard pass at the two minute warning, as well as 4 field goals. So, the good news is that The Wheels look fallible, despite Harvey's 301 yards. Ray Gist had a nice day in a losing effort, picking up 75 yards on 16 carries.

Detroit Wheels 22, Boston Minutemen 19

No real surprises this weekend as all the best teams win, setting up the matchup we've bee waiting for in the American Conference, Richmond versus Detroit. Meanwhile Houston will find themselves huge underdogs heading to Tornado Alley.

The Tornadoes set a league record with their 41 playoff points, as well as their 473 total yards. Houston however set one themselves with 242 rushing yards.

Nichols broke a league record posting a 130.2 QB rating in the playoffs and throwing for 4 touchdowns. Oliver Stephens set a record for the Oilers with his 139 yards rushing, stopping him will be a key to this next matchup. Nichols and Fleming both came away with Player of the Week awards for their performances in the big win.

[Autumn]

Conference Finals

The injury report is growing. Schaefer is doubtful with a pulled groin, but at least he can play so I'll just move him down the lineup. CB Briles has shin splints which somehow are going to last until next year if you can believe that.

The Houston Oilers defense is notable for Clifton Wynn, a monster DE who had a five sack game earlier this season. At middle linebacker though is Andrew Herdeg, a Omaha reject who I can't believe is starting, they must have some serious injuries. Willie Reid is one of the best safeties in the league.

One offense, RB Oliver Stephens had a big game last week and will have to be watched, he's a decent runner in the vein of Hiscock. Juan Salpala is a rarety, a quarterback who was one of the original members of his team. Running the show in Houston since 1920, he had his best year this season and has all that experience under his belt. He is all-time first in passing yards, due to that longevity.

Houston tries to quiet the crowd in Omaha with their first possession, Stephens running well and Salpala dancing around Fleming to hit Swift for 15 yards. That ferocious Omaha D won't have any of it though, Martinez driving into Salpala and knocking the ball loose, Huie coming up with it. The crowd is ecstatic but only for a moment. My words must have made bulletin board material because Nichols first pass is intercepted by who else but Andrew Herdeg, former Tornado and mediocre LB. He not only picks off Nichols he takes it to the races rushing it back 62 yards for the touchdown and first blood. The stadium is shocked as the Oilers announce they're here to play.

The Tornadoes are not ones to get flustered, they simply come back and run their offense, driving past midfield on a mix of runs and passes. Reid defends a long pass but Sampson comes up with another for 14 yards. They manage to stop Nichols on third down, but a defensive holding call gives us first and goal. Fulton takes it right in for a score and a tied game.

Kooiker gets a pick on their next drive, giving us the ball at the Houston 31. Three runs gives us a first down in the red zone and sets them up for the play fake. Nichols hits Shepherd on the 11 and he scurries into the endzone for a 19 yard TD. 14-7.

It's three and out for them. Fulton and Youssef catch long passes on our next drive to get us to the 32. A scramble by Nichols gets us a first down on the 18. It's a simple task for Crawford to haul in the TD pass from there, but the extra point is missed. It's 20-7.

Pierce comes up with a 23 yard catch on their next drive to get them some movement. Pierce grabs a 31 yarder on the same drive and now they're at the three. We stop them there, though, and they settle for a kick and a 20-10 score.

Youssef has a 21 yard catch on our next possession to get us across midfield. And he's somehow the man, pulling in another 20 yarder in double coverage to put us at the 11. Schaefer gets us a first down on the 1 yard line and Vanaqs runs it in from there. 27-10.

With two and a half minutes left in the half, Nichols goes to work. He makes it to midfield but Crawford drops a third down pass and we punt it to the two. End of half.

The second half starts off with us trading punts. Their pass rush is getting to us more, stalling our drives. I think injuries on our offensive line are hurting us. Big play though as they're driving. Fleming and Huie combine for a sack and fumble at their 35. We get held up but kick the field goal to make it 30-10 as the fourth quarter starts.

Punts are traded before Fulton pulls in a 26 yard pass, Machen gets a first down run on 3rd and 10 and Vanaqs rush for 9 yards on 3rd and 3. That puts us at their 40 with 4 minutes left. We stall but Bercich hits a 52 yarder to make it 33-10 at the two minute warning. They make a drive, getting to our 20 before time runs out on their season.

In the end, the Tornadoes didn't take kindly to Herdeg's first quarter interception return. It was the only touchdown we allowed, and Omaha immediately answered it with FOUR STRAIGHT TOUCHDOWNS in the first half.

Nichols is Player of the Game and of the Week as he goes 25 of 36 for 303 yards, 3 TDs and the 1 INT. He spreads it around, Youssef especially making a name for himself by getting 5 catches for 85 yards. This is a fellow that wasn't even on the active roster most of the year.

Fleming pulls out another 1.5 sacks and a hurry. 5 blocked passes from the rest of my D-line as we harried Salpala all day. Bliss got schooled, giving up 6 catches, but the rest of the crew did well, including the whole offensive line.

Omaha Tornadoes 33, Houston Oilers 10

In Detroit, the Cavaliers are actually one point favorites over the Wheels. I don't see it, the Wheels are the complete package. Dusty Harvey is a top-shelf quarterback in this league, and their defense is a monster. It will take a big day by Corey Money to pull out a win here.

But that's exactly what the shocked Detroit fans get. Corey Money explodes for 322 yards and 3 TDs against the Wheels, on 17 of 25 passing. That quickly, Nichols playoff QB rating record is gone. J. J. Collier pulls in a 76 yard pass and the Cavaliers add on 10 points in the fourth quarter to win their berth in the Superbowl. Kemp and Cunningham combine for 95 yards of good running.

On the Wheels, they keep up with the scoring for the first half, Deon Crowder posting 113 yards rushing and 2 TDs. But Dusty Harvey can't do any magic as the Cavaliers pull away, going 19 of 34 for 212 yards. It's a surprise to me, but not Vegas it seems.

We'll find out in two weeks whether Russel Rayburn, the Cavaliers WR who spurned my multimillion dollar deal to resign with Richmond for minimum salary comes to regret it or not.

Richmond Cavaliers 33, Detroit Wheels 21

[Autumn]

Super Bowl Preview

The Super Bowl pits two similar teams together in Richmond and Omaha. Like Omaha's Rickey Wattach, J. R. Jenkins is in his second year with Richmond and bringing them to the playoffs for the frst time, after a 7-9 season last year. Jenkins, the former Omaha coach, knows the team and players well and that may give him an edge. He coached much of this Tornadoes squad on their first trip to the playoffs, in 1921, when they lost in the conference finals.

Vegas gives the Tornadoes a three point edge. It's not much given the Tornadoes 15-1 season and statistical dominance, but it could be said they have yet to play a team of the Cavaliers ability.

Indeed, that could be an edge for Richmond. The Tornadoes have obviously played well all season, but they have almost always played with a lead. While Edwin Nichols now has the best winning percentage of all active quarterbacks (with Richmond's Corey Money right behind him), he has never pulled out a win in the fourth quarter. The Omaha defense has excelled at shutting down opposing teams, especially in the redzone. But they often have the advantage of playing teams who have fallen behind and had to switch to an unbalanced offense.

Richmond's Keys to The Game:

1. Stake a lead early. Richmond needs to get Omaha out of their game, and forcing them to play catchup for once could do that.

2. Get inside Nichols's head. The only times this season Nichols has looked vulnerable were when he got cocky, trying to force big plays that weren't there. If the Cavaliers can rattle Nichols and get him to try to win the game himself, he'll make mistakes.

3. Make the big plays. Omaha has been vulnerable all season, and indeed for years, to the big play. They play tight D but often give up the big run or big pass. Richmond will need to make those plays and take advantage of each if they want to win.

Omaha, in turn, simply needs to come out and play their game. It's gotten them to 17-1 and there's no reason to mess with things now. Their enemy will be mental, staying focused, not letting the Super Bowl hype get to them and not letting themselves get rattled if Richmond proves tougher than their previous opponents. Nichols in particular has to avoid the hype and allure of going big on every play.

In the locker room before the game, the Omaha players confer. The locker room was a key focus for Omaha management in the offseason as they brought in key veterans, leaders and mentors. That has perhaps proven key as the Tornadoes franchise turned from a 7 win season to a 15 win season.

Edwin Nichols, a quiet leader on the team, usually lets others do the talking. But before the game we caught him speaking to his teammates.

"Guys, this is the moment each one of us has been dreaming about ever since we heard news of a professional football league starting up. Everybody wants to get that trophy and that ring and now the chance is ours. I gotta tell you, I like our chances. Not because of any stats, though. No, let me tell you, I was looking around this locker room and it struck me. The reason we're here, the reason we're going home wiht that trophy is becaue there's not a single guy in this room I don't trust to win this game for us. Right? Really, every single guy here I think could be the one, if we need it, they'll bring it home for us. That's amazing, isn't it? That's like no team I've ever played on. There's always the stars, the go-to guys. It was me in college, some other guys. In high school it was Rico, our running back, and our cornerback. He could run a pick back all the way nearly every time and when we needed that game, that's who we looked at.

"Not here, though. This is a special crowd. And our coaches, they get that. And the management. Think about it, we went from seven wins last year, to 15 this year. But this is pretty much the same team that stood here last year. Yeah, yeah, Kelly, I know there's a few new faces, I'm not forgetting you. But that starting squad is pretty much the same out there. The difference, the guys that the coaches brought in are guys like Gabe, Dixon, Fernando. Every single guy here, even if they don't get in the game, is helping us win. Harris, the coaches brought in Harris, and I'm here to tell you I wouldn't have won 17 games without Harris Tripplet behind me. I'm the same guy that was lost out there last year, and with Harris I'm ready to go win this game. And if something happens to me, I know, I know Ben or Harris will go in there and get us the win instead. That's Tornado football, boys. Let's go get it."

[Autumn]

There's nothing left but to play the game. Stockton, CA is the site of the game. It's 41 degrees and sunny as the teams reach the field. Richmond wins the toss and will start at the 20.

Money comes out looking like Nichols, scrambling on the first two plays. He misses the pass on third down but we get called for holding. We're covering the receivers well, as he scrambles for a third time. On third down he tries passing to former Tornado Willie Whipple, but to no avail. We cut him for a reason.

Their star cornerback, Wally Middleton makes a good play on a pass and we go three and out. They are almost exclusively passing, and while we get a sack and a rush, they eventually make a couple big throws to get into our redzone. Tackled at the six, it's time for some stiffening up on the defense. A big sack by Dillon helps and a dropped pass by their star receiver. We do it again, forcing the field goal. They go up 3-0.

Schaefer makes a 20 yard catch while double covered, but doesn't hold onto the ball, and Richmond recovers it on our 36. This is one of those big plays, we need to keep them from converting. Instead we give up a big pass to the 3 yard line. There's only so many times we can expect that magic. This time they get in the endzone and it's 10-0 at the end of hte first quarter.

Nichols lives up to the hype of getting rattled by trying two long bombs in a row. He settles down a bit and hits Crawford for 12 yards instead. Youssef pulls in a 7 yarder to get Nichols a little rhythm. A big run on 3rd and 1 gets us the first, and a face mask pentaly on top of it gets us to the 24. Holding backs us right back up though. A nice run by Vanaqs and a nice catch by Hergett get us to the 12. Youssef ends up catching the 5 yard TD pass to make it 10-7 and hopefully settle the team down.

And indeed the defense is energized, holding the Cavaliers to a three and out. Hiscock resopnds by turning an 8 yard pass into 18. A Hiscock runs gets us across midfield. Another run, this one by Vanaqs, only sets Nichols up for a nice 21 yard strike. Adn then it's topsy-turvy again, catching them in pass D and setting Vanaqs up for an 18 yard touchdown run. That gets called back on holding though, backing us up to the 28. A false starts backs us up further. A scramble by Nichols gets us in field goal position and we settle for the 10-10 tie. That's the score at the half.

We get it to the start the third quarter, Burton running it back to our 36. Hiscock makes a big 20 yard catch and a few plays later turns a 1 yard catch into a 25 yard gain. We're threatening, but Nichols tries to get too much in one go, getting intercepted at the Richmond 9. It takes two forced fumbles, but we finally get it away from them. Fleming sacks Money and knocks the ball loose and Huie recovers it. NIchols has his second chance but continues trying to force long passes. Penalties pile up and back us up to midfield and Nichols scramble isn't enough as Berchich misses a 50 yarder.

That's disappoinging and puts the pressure on the defense again. Instead they give up a 32 yard pass, giving Richmond first and goal. They score to make it 17-10.

Burton has another nice return. Nichols tries to calm things down by giving it to Hiscock, who has a 6 yard run. On second he runs for three, and on 3rd and 1 Vanaqs picks up the first down. Richmond is now gearing to stop the run, stuffing Hiscocks' next run, but Nichols tosses a 7 yarder to mix things up. Vanaqs has 8 yards on third down to get us to the 23 adn this time we need to score. Nichols has a 8 yard scramble on first, Hiscock follows with three. Nichols then catches them looking for the run and instead tosses a 12 yard TD to Schaefer and we're tied back up 17-17 with 11 minutes left in eth game.

We hold them to three and out, though two penalties make us start at our 12. Hiscock makes some magic out of another screen, picking up 11 yards. Nichols then scrambles for a first down himself. Sampson drops a long pass and when we get stopped on 3rd and 2 we have to punt.

They make a big play with a 23 yard catch on third down. We give up another 26 yarder to put them on our 16 with 4 minutes left. They score a touchdown, thankfully leaving 3 and a half minutes on the clock as they go up 24-17.

Nichols tries to do it all, lobbing a deep pass that is defended. Sampson instead pulls in 10 yards, Hiscock hauls in a 14 yarder, Mohammed gets 14 on a screen and we have it at their 40 with just over two minutes. Nichols is sacked at the two minute warning. He comes back out and misses on third down, forcing us to go for it on 4th and 20. Middleton defends the ball though and it goes over on downs. We have our time outs but have to stop them here. We don't, letting them back up the first down and it would seem the game will go to them. Corey Money takes a knee as his fans cheer wildly. The Tornadoes trudge off the field, 17-2.

Jeremy Kemp, their running back, is made player of the game based on his three touchdowns (and obviously not his 15 for 53 running). Money was probably a better choice, going 20 of 32 for 242 yards against us.

Our offense just never really got going. No big runs. Youssef only caught 3 of 8 passes to him, while Sampson was only 1 of 4. That led to Nichols having an unchraacteristic 18 of 31 game, for 211 yards, 2 TDs and 1 interception. Hiscock did great coming out of the backfield, the lone highlight really of the offense. Martinez played his heart out with 11 tackles, 2 assists, 1 forced fumble. Dillon had 1 sack and three hurries, but we were not able to get to Money often enough. Meanwhile they picked on Martinez in themiddle, goign to the tight end quite a few times. THe offensive line had a lot of nice blocks, 2 pancakes from Dawkins and one from Machen, but we just didn't run often enough I think.

Nichols had 5 passes defended, 3 hurried, 3 knocked down and one drop. He went 1 of 8 on long passes, which tells it all as none of those were really needed. Just as the keys of the game explained (damn me) they managed to make Nichols feel like he needed to win it himself, and he made mistakes.

At the same time they capitalized on our mistakes while we didn't on theirs. The fumble by Schaefer that led to 7 points for them. The series of penalties that brought back a touchdown and resulted in us going for a tie at 10 points. The series of penalties that prevented us from scoring after their fumble. Sampson's dropped pass that led to their consequent go-ahead touchdown. The 10 yard sack on our last drive. The first down we gave up on their last drive.

I feel better about Nichols at least, after looking that over. Those penalties on two scoring drives robbed us of 11 points by themselves. We had 9 penalties for 75 yards and clearly that made a huge difference.

This is really, really pissy. Now instead of enjoying the long ride back to Omaha, I am going to be steaming and plotting for next year.

Richmond Cavaliers 24, Omaha Tornadoes 17

[Autumn]

Postseason Wrap-up

Given our loss, the season awards seem a bit anticlimactic. Still, I remember being eager to see them before the game.

Edwin Nichols, no real surprise, sweeps Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and of course All-Pro, First Team QB. Given the odd choices in the past I wasn't quite sure, but he was the clear favorite. Perhaps the league has finally gotten to a talent level that it can make these picks wisely.

Defensive Player of the Year was Detroit's Brant West, who broke the sack record with 22.5 and was a true force on the line. Offensive Rookie of the Year goes to Boston's Ray Gist who certainly deserved it. Defensive Rookie goes to Roman Ramsey from Pittsburgh, a first round pick who had 11 sacks at left end for the Steelers.

Brian Bullock, the Detroit coach wins coach of the year, reasonable enough though I might have picked Jenkins from Richmond. Bullock retires after this season though, so maybe was a sentimental pick. He is a two-time winner of the award, and led the Detroit Wheels to the best overall record in the league for the first five years.

This year's Legend of the Game is Irv Dilger, a 5th round pick in 1921, a center who in fact only started 6 games in 4 years. Nice choice folks! The league still has a way to go before these Legends start making any sense.

I'm a bit disappointed to see no other Tornadoes get All-Pro status though I didn't have anyone in mind for the honor. The choices look to be reasonable all around. We really have a crop of good players now in this league.

As for my GM rating:

[Izulde]

Rough Super Bowl loss, but hopefully Nichols will grow and learn from the experience.

[Autumn]

1926 Preseason



Our staff is all under contract still and I don't see any reason to mess with a good thing. Looking at our franchise value though, our stadium is listed as 0 even though it's in good condition. It seems prudent to see what I can do about that. Our turf and parking lot are very good, excitement for a new stadium is not high. So, I put in a bid for renovations. A few more seats and improvements and maybe these jackasses will sell the joint out to see the best team in football (arguably).

WR Brendan Youssef gets sent to Summer League. I only have two players who could go and he showed a lot of promise. I franchise tag WR Marshall Schaefer, who wanted a lot of money for a guy who's not really producing. Still, I wanted him here, so this works. I'll give him the year to show some results.

I'm at the bottom of the draft. I was considering trying to trade up but it looks like maybe a deep draft. With a number of QB prospects hopefully going high someone might fall to me.

Instead though, after looking at free agency I end up pulling the trigger on a big trade. I've seen that no big wide receiver talent is going to hit the free agent market for quite a while. And unless our team tanks it will be a while before we get a shot at one in the draft. So, after a lot of heartending decision making I make a deal

Cincinnati Eagles get:
our 1st roud pick this year, #31
Our 1st rounder next year, 1926
Dustin Fenderson, WR

Omaha Tornadoes get:
Earl Bratton, WR
Cincinnati's 2nd round pick this year, #14

So, we drop 15 spots this year and give up a pick next year. I really wanted to deal Marshall Schaefer but Cincinatti wouldn't take his salary. I hated to do it because I really like Fenderson, but there's no doubt this hugely increases our reciver talent. Bratton broke all the receiving records in 1923 and is a real talent. He did that with Artie Blackburn, Tornadoes reject, passing to him. Imagine what he can do here! In addition he's probably the best return man in the league, and has shown he can win games that way too.

I mostly sign my guys back in free agency. I pick up a new cornerback, take a shot at a decent looking running back mentor. Try a couple defense ends on for size. I mostly like who I've got and there's not much out there in free agency. If some of my guys tank in training camp I may have to go looking but otherwise I like our team chemistry and performance.

The draft starts, New Orleans picking up the consensus #1, a great looking QB. We have to wait til the middle of the 2nd where we pick up a decent looking DE who we think is underrated. Could be a good pick. We get another pick at the end of the round. I'm tempted by a great looking WR, but we're so stacked there it would mean having to cut someone i like if I got him, so I look to defense, where we need youth. I make a try at a CB who our scouts like.

In the third round that WR is still there, and the best prospect I have scouted, so I go with him. WE can always cut him if we're too crowded. The RB I had my eyes on goes to Providence. In the fourth only guy on my board is an underrated MLB who looks to have great RUN D but not much else. He has an affinity, so I figure he might make a decent backup. I need youth on D more than anywhere else, so I try him out.

I take a leap at a K in the fifth. There's nobody I really need, and I'm afraid I'm just going to be cutting these guys anyway and he looks decent. A safety in the third and a TE in the 7th, almost Mr. Irrelevant.

We get a B+. Our division rivals, Minneapolis, rate an A+

First blush
DE McCracken 30/55
CB Jamison 23/51
WR Austin 24/52
MLB Andrus 13/37
K Fletcher 44/69
S Coborn 15/41
TE Wilcox 22/39

Our stadium vote fails. We get a couple crappy trade offers. Really, does anyone bite on these things? My best DT for a 4th rounder?

No huge gains in training camp. Benjamin Youssef, the promising receiver I sent to summer league goes up +6, which is great. My kicker, though he's in his sixth year, goes up 4 points. Obviously the rookie I drafted put the pressure on him. McGregor continues to climb, important. My center Dawkins goes up, again a little competition in camp helps as I just signed a center to compete with him. Martinez and Minter after all these year still creep up. Wicks, Hiscock, Haber and Flming, great news. I think I've really lucked out as my biggest fear was that my core players would start dropping.

Paz and Jennings, two backup DEs both drop big, so I'm glad I brought in new blood there. Shepherd, my FB does as well. Again, glad I've got a backup. Otherwise it's mostly backups that drop. I make a few cuts to get down to 60 on contract, Paz, the rookie kicker, my backup center. I'm going to have hard decisions to make next roster trim as I once again have a glut of cornerbacks who I can't decide between and the same at DE. Hopefully the preseason will give me some answers.

DE McCracken 30/55 --> 34/54
CB Jamison 23/51 --> 23/43
WR Austin 24/52 --> 26/47
MLB Andrus 13/37 --> 16/37
K Fletcher 44/69 --> Gone
S Coborn 15/41 --> 18/41
TE Wilcox 22/39 --> 25/36

[Autumn]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Rough Super Bowl loss, but hopefully Nichols will grow and learn from the experience.

Well, check out my offseason move. I'm hopeful he may explode ;-)

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Autumn

Well, check out my offseason move. I'm hopeful he may explode ;-)

Wow, ballsy move! But it's probably worth it to get the best WR in the league.

[Autumn]

Yeah, between Nichols and Bratton I've spent a lot of first round picks. This one and I hope next year's are low picks though. I wouldn't have had a shot at a player like him down there anyway.

I may regret spending it all on the passing game if our defense stinks, but so far I've been pretty successful with the guys I get there.

[Autumn]

Five Year Retrospective

Five seasons have passed in this, the first professional football league. I plan on going back and looking at draft classes five years out, but of course there was none in 1920. We all got who we got, and it was pretty slender pickings. Looking on my roster I see that I don't retain a single player from that original squad as I mostly exploded it during the post season. I also didn't retain any stats from then. But I know quite a few of the original players are still hanging around the league and some still playing. Artie Blackburn, the Tornadoes QB in 1920 was dropped by us the very next year. But he's had a productive career in Cincinnati where he still starts and averages around a 73 QB rating. Of course he's been throwing to Earl Bratton these last few years, we'll see how he does this time around.

John Rosario was the leading rusher in 1920 and I snapped him up in the postseason. He was a decent player but never repeated that level of success for us. Last year he had a number of carries at backup for the Detroit Wheels. It seems he's been picked up by Denver this year to backup Guzowski so we'll be seeing him again.

Vernon Mersky is the only other running back from the top of the charts that is still around, being a main producer. Basically none of the wide receivers are anywhere to be seen. The leading QB in 1920 was Ike Hamilton and he retired a couple seasons later. But quite a few of the other QBs are still bouncing around, most of them, but not all, playing backup. I don't recognize any of the defensive players, certainly not Kyle Hicks who picked up 12! interceptions that season and never played again.

As for teams, for the most part the parity of the league has meant nothing in the way of dynasties or lasting success. Five years, five different Superbowl winners. In fact, 10 different teams in the Superbowl.

Detroit however has the distinction of having made the playoffs all five years, the only team to have done that. Despite not winning a bowl, they have amassed a 54-26 record, best in the league by five wins. They made it to the Superbowl once. Three other teams have made the playoffs four times, Portland, Richmond and Memphis, Richmond being the only champs among them. We hold the third best record in the league, but mostly based on two good seasons. St. Louis is at #2 with three playoff appearances but no bowls.

The worst team in the league over these five years? The Los Angeles Stars with a 29-51 record. There are six teams who have never made the playoffs, the Stars among them. The Stars in particular have 7 great looking first round picks on their team, including the best rated WR in the league. But they haven't picked that franchise QB and that seems to be their undoing. Still, they should be able to do better than that.

[Autumn]

Team Preview

Given Omaha's success in 1925 it's perhaps not surprising that they chose not to make many major changes in the offseason. Coming back with the same coaching staff and same core of players they hope to repeat their success and come away with a ring this time. The prognosis looks good for them, the early championship favorites.

OFFENSE

The Tornadoes led the league in scoring in 1925 with a balanced offense that obviously keyed off of the success of league MVP Edwin Nichols. With the addition of superstar WR Earl Bratton in the offseason we expect another high scoring year and a likely switch to a pass heavy attack.

QB
Edwin Nichols 87/87
Ben Jochen 29/29
Harris Tripplett 23/28

The Tornadoes obviously stayed pat with Nichols and he is still the best in the business. The only thing to worry about here is injury, though Nichols hasn't missed a play in his first two seasons.

Which brings us to the backup situation. Ben Jochen was decent when he played, but that was years ago and the league has passed him by. Harris Tripplet comes back as a mentor for Nichols despite complaints during the '25 season about playing time. You've got to admire the guy's gumption but he will never be seeing the field again. The Tornadoes had better hope neither of these guys do or their season could be in trouble.

RB

Artie Hiscock 43/43
Artie Delgado 39/39
Juan Vanaqs 30/30

Artie Hiscock was a sixth round pick back in 1922 who has matured into the starting back for the Tornadoes. He appears to continue to improve in training camp, though Artie would never be able to make it as the feature back in a run-centered offense. He does well in the Tornadoes offense though, posting 1,100 yards last season with another 450 out of the backfield. He's a dangerous receiver, logging 28 first down catches last season. Nichols showed a tendency to use the running back as a crutch though and so expect to see Hiscock kept in to block more often to avoid an over-reliance on the dump off pass.

Juan Vanaqs looked destined for the cut last season after his skills declined visibly in training camp. He held on though and surprised the league by getting more and more attention from the coaches as the season moved on. He posted 247 yards in the last four games with a healthy 5.74 average, and added another 166 in the playoffs. He once again looks to have slowed over the offseason but we won't be foolish enough to count him out a second time.

The Tornadoes let disgruntled Jeff Schroeder go and instead brought in Artie Delgado to spell Hiscock. Delgado won't do anything in the passing game but has the talents to be a solid runner. He posted 1,000 yards in St. Louis last year and could get a good share of carries this year.

FULLBACK

Shannon Shepherd 30/30
Dexter Machen 38/38

Shepherd, a two-time All-Pro and once a featured part of this offense was overshadowed by his understudy last season. This year he looks to have taken a step backwards and is likely to backup Machen.

Machen doesn't have the all-around talents that Shepherd once did. He's a devastating run blocker though and has decent receiving skills. He never missed a pass last season while registering three pancakes. More importantly, Machen is a vocal leader in the locker room and well respected. He's unlikely to take Shepherd's place, but in this new offense he won't be required to.

TIGHT ENDS

Brady Mohammed 43/43
J.J. Hergett 40/40
Darnell Wilcox 25/36

Despite being the starter last year, Hergett was rarely seen, Mohammed taking his place as a favorite target of Nichols. This year it seems likely Mohammed will take the starting spot. Hergett remains a very strong blocker and will see plenty of action in the two tight end sets. Wilcox is a rookie with some strong blocking skills. Whether he'll survive the cuts is yet to be seen.

WIDE RECEIVER

Benjamin Youssef 46/52
Alonzo Sampson 44/44
Carl Austin 26/47
Earl Bratton 74/47
Marshall Schaefer 43/43
Norm Simone 37/37
Michael Fulton 37/37

The Tornadoes posted one of the deepest receiver depth charts in the league last year, Nichols spreading the wealth with three top targets, Fulton, Fenderson and Sampson each having 44 catches. While Schaefer was underwhelming in the #1 receiver slot, Youssef was a pleasant surprise, coming off the inactive roster to post 17 catches in the last four games, and add another 14 in the playoffs. Nichols quickly zeroed in on him as a favorite receiver and Youssef only looks better after a summer in Europe.

The addition of veteran WR Norm Simone may have helped as well. Not expected to see much action, Simone is a needed mentor for young receivers such as Youssef and rookie Carl Austin. Whether the Tornadoes can manage to keep seven receivers on the roster is yet to be seen. The management pines the loss of Dustin Fenderson, lost in the trade for Bratton, but they certainly have no holes on this roster.

With the addition of Earl Bratton, the wide receiver who changed the game with his breakout performance in 1924, the Tornadoes are poised to change it again. With teams forced to double team the explosive Bratton, Nichols should only find it easier to find open receivers among the squad he so successfully passed to last year. They have the depth to survive injuries and opposing teams will be forced to try to cover receivers such as Sampson and Youssef with nickel backs and linebackers. Nichols, the league's best at checking down and finding third and fourth options, should have a field day.

OFFENSIVE LINE

C Scottie Dawkins 47/47
C Darrin Warhurst 46/46
G Jessie Bell 38/38
G Broderick Morris 44/44
G Chris Sutton 39/39
G Carl Haber 48/54
T Marc Cassani 37/37
T Norm McGregor 56/56
T Alfred Tubbs 43/43
T Dixon Bridges 8/13

The Tornadoes management believes in consistency at offensive line and has worked at maintaining one effective squad, slowly moving young players into a starting position as they mature. This year they are likely to start at least four out of five positions the same as last season. Relative youngsters McGregor and Haber continue to improve and so the Tornadoes may look even better on the line than last year.

The one spot of change comes surprisingly at center. Scottie Dawkins has been an Omaha fixture, manning the center position since 1921 and owning every team record when it comes to blocking. Darrin Warhurst was brought in at the last moment to provide some depth but the coaching staff has reportedly been very impressed with the six year player. While Dawkins is indisputably the superior at run blocking, a crushing blocker, he is not a skilled pass blocker. What Warhurst lacks in the one he makes up in the other. A better rounded player, he may see more action than Dawkins in the coming season, particularly if the Tornadoes shift to a less balanced passing offense. Still, both players looked strong in training camp and both may see playing time.

SPECIAL TEAMS

KICKING

K Nolan Bercich 67/67
K Kenyon Fletcher 43/60
P Ricky Havens 56/56

Bercich, spurred on by the presence of rookie Fletcher in training camp, showed even better accuracy than last year. A Tornado since 1921, Bercich is 4th in All-Time Points Scored and has been reliable for the Tornadoes. Fletcher remains on the roster for his superior kickoff skills, though it is unlikely the Tornadoes will feel they have the room for that once the season starts.

Havens continues to be a reasonable option at punter. By no means the league's best, he performs well enough that the staff doesn't seem compelled to replace him.

RETURNERS

Earl Bratton 74/74
Darrin Burton 16/24

Burton continues to reserve his spot on the Tornado roster purely for his return abilities. Omaha's leading return man all-time, Burton posted his best averages ever last season. That makes the addition of Bratton all the more worrisome for opponents. Bratton is 1st all-time in kickoff return yards and TDs, and 3rd in punt return yards. He brings explosiveness to the return spot, having returned 3 kicks for touchdowns last season alone. With Burton next to him, teams will no good choices in where to kick.

DEFENSE

Omaha's defense is designed to give ulcers to its coaches. They have a schizophrenic approach to football, having a nagging tendency to give up the big play while also making them when it counts. With a lead they are lights out, the defensive line's pass rush coming alive. Near the goal line they frustrate opponents with their tight D. But they often lack the ability to put an opponent away when they should. With Omaha's offense only getting better it may not matter, and either way the defense was league leader in points allowed last season.

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

Orlando Riley 32/32
Gilbert Caillouet 40/44
O.J. Greer 49/49
Ricardo Huie 50/50

Things look the same on defensive interior in Omaha. Greer and Huie continue to play side by side, where they make one of most underrated tackle tandems in the game. Neither are superstars, having signed on to the league at its inception. But neither has lost a step, Greer looking sharper than ever. Riley and Caillouet continue to back them up, both capable and performing well in limited duty.

DEFENSIVE END

Harry Fleming 49/49
Paul McCracken 34/54
Kelly Dillon 41/41
Floyd Myers 34/34
Sam Jennings 28/28

Omaha continues to believe in Dillon despite his underwhelming talent. Dillon posted 10.5 sacks and 21 hurries last year and the Tornadoes talk highly of his intangibles, the fellow having recovered 5 fumbles last season, scoring two touchdowns. He will likely start again this year at right end, though he faces competition from two new faces.

Floyd Myers is a free agent pickup with 45 career sacks in four seasons. McCracken was the Tornadoes 2nd round pick this year and shows promise as a run stuffer and overall players. Omaha resigned Sam Jennings despite his decline, hoping the former 2nd round pick can show the new 2nd rounder a few tricks. Fleming is likely to continue manning the left end, looking as good as ever. While none of this line is likely to win an All-Pro award, all together they make a very effective unit.

LINEBACKER

MLB Corwin Standafer 42/42
MLB Buddy Martinez 49/49
MLB Gary Andrus 16/37

SLB Joseph Minter 54/54
SLB Mack Halley 37/37
SLB Ike Tharp 26/35

WLB Fernando Lowe 42/42
WLB Tyrell Ingram 54/54

The lineup of Minter, Martinez, Ingram stays the same in Omaha. It hasn't changed in four years and Omaha is lucky that these three continue to show development. Their decline will be a blow to this defense but it hasn't happened yet. Meanwhile, Omaha resigns Lowe, who rarely gets in the lineup but is a valuable voice in the locker room and allows the intense Martinez to focus on his play on the field. Halley and Standafer have looked good in limited duty and improve incrementally. Andrus is a rookie chosen for his run D but who may not survive the cuts long enough to develop it.

CORNERBACK

Dave Burnett 43/43
Freddie Paschal 45/45
Roderick Bliss 34/34
R.J. Jamison 23/43
Clarence Browning 41/41
Steve Wicks 36/36
Sam Barge 34/41

The Tornadoes again have a glut at cornerback, even after making several cuts. Unable to get their hands on that shutdown corner they continue to collect and test out corners. Muddying the waters is the sometimes stirring performance of homegrown talents Wicks and Barge who continue to get playing time. Burnett is a new acquisition and looks to slot in as a starter right away. Jamison is a rookie with good potential but will be a likely target when cuts come.

Rotating corners has been a problem in Omaha, muddying team cohesion as the coaches try to settle on a set of starters. Underwhelming performances by the whole lot last season has not made the decision any easier for the staff. The Omaha's offense put additional pressure on the secondary last season by putting the team in a lead, facing a constant passing attack.

Expect all of these to get a shot at the field during preseason, and should one falter during the regular season the coaches will likely pull a switch.

SAFETY

Darrin Burton 16/24
Jared Perrin 47/47
Clyde Sheldon 32/50
Geoff Kooiker 37/37
Zach Coborn 18/41

Kooiker and Perrin have manned the middle of the Omaha field for two seasons now, Perrin for two seasons before that. This year Kooiker will face some pressure finally by Clyde Sheldon who has haunted the Omaha bench since 1921 with his promising potential but slow growth. Seeing limited action in all 16 games last season, Sheldon impressed the coaches, picking up 2 interceptions and 7 defensed passes in limited time. Although his performance in the playoffs was less impressive he will likely continue to see more and more time this season and word is the coaching staff is even entertaining the idea of starting Sheldon. Kooiker however is a strong leader on the Omaha team who gets along exceptionally well with most of the secondary.

Coborn is a rookie with the makings of a nice dime back, but it is unlikely he will get the chance to develop. Burton continues to keep a spot on the active roster due to his return skills, although with Bratton now onboard Burton could be bumped in a pinch.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

Omaha continues to flirt with disaster by not adding any first round level talent to their defensive squad. Their approach of fielding a strong overall unit instead has paid good dividends but could very well bite them back as the talent level in the league continues to increase. The lack of a monster pass rusher and a shut down corner continue to be their largest weaknesses and as other teams field more effective passing games the Tornadoes could be in for a problem.

However, team chemistry and cohesion have served Omaha well. Maintaining a solid core of starters they know each other well and as their head coach moves into his third season they should have the system down very well. The defensive front seven and the offensive line have been amazingly consistent over the years.

And of course Omaha's success is likely to be based on offensive production. Last year's MVP now has his familiar stable of receivers PLUS All-Pro Earl Bratton. Never before has this league seen an MVP level quarterback throwing to an all-pro level receiver and there is no telling what sort of production this team could have this year. If the defense can continue a steady level of performance, the running game continue to complement Nichols well, this team could see it's already astronomical 1925 performance improved greatly. The X factor is how much the rest of the team has improved in the offseason to keep up with players like Nichols and Bratton.

[Autumn]

All right, I had a bad case of buyer's remorse. I really wanted Dustin Fenderson back on the team. So, I finally worked out a trade with the Eagles to get him back. In addition it means I"ll get a first round pick next year, and possibly a good one.

Cincinnati Eagles get:
Omaha's 1st round pick 1927

Omaha Tornadoes get:
New Orleans 1st round pick 1926
WR Dustin Fenderson

I noticed that Cincinnati had 3 first round picks next year, so I thought they'd be willing to deal one. I get to forestall that day of no pick, and since New Orleans had the worst record in the league this year, there's a decent chance it will be good.

Mostly, I convince them to ship Dustin Fenderson to me. Which means they dealt me Earl Bratton and a 2nd round pick for a 1st round pick in two years. Suckas.

Of course now I have 8 wide receivers and will have to cut some. But Fenderson is a great talent, I think, having caught over 70% of his passes last season for us while averaging 14 yards per catch. A lineup of Bratton, Youssef, Fenderson, Fulton excites me. Having Schaefer and Sampson there to clean up is awesome.

[Izulde]

Super-elite QB. Studly group of WRs.

Re-acquisition of a sentimental favorite and ripping off opposing GMs.

Where have we seen these things before?

[Autumn]

Regular Season 1925

Preseason cuts were difficult, we had a lot of guys who were on the margin. But I generally went in favor of letting promising rookies hang around, as well as mentors, and a few sentimental favorites. Though Juan Vanaqs and Steve Wicks, for example, are not looking so hot ratings-wise, I still like to have them on the team.

While the roster was settled in preseason I didn't play with the gameplan much. I think it will take a few weeks of tinkering to decide what we're doing there. RB pickup Artie Delgado did great in preseason and we'll see how best to use him. Bratton didn't get a lot of targets, so we still have yet to see how things will work with him. He did great on returns, yardage wise, but coughed the ball up several times. That's a worry.

Week 1 at Minneapolis

Division rivals, the Lakers, are up first. It seems they franchise-tagged former Tornado Timothy Atkins in the offseason, signing him to a fat near-$2 million contract. Pretty good for a so-so quarterback. However, they also drafted unfortunately named QB Jumbo Donaldson and it seems up in the air who's going to get the helm on Sunday. The Lakers drafted running back Leland Springfield in the first round and he looks good, a real weapon to worry about along with receiver Craig Ludwig.

The new season starts with Earl Bratton catching a 19 yard pass while double covered. Auspicious. Youssef outdoes him by breaking loose for 29 yards to get us into the redzone. Mohammed, on his second catch of the drive, catches a 13 yard touchdown and we score on our first drive.

It's Timothy Atkins at the helm as the Lakers come out. We trade punts before Atkins and Springfield drive into our endzone, looking sharper after a rusty start. However, Bratton has a nice 25 yard punt return to give us a spark and Hiscock gets us to the one yard line with a big third down ramble. On second down Bratton pulls in the 1 yarder for his first touchdown as a Tornado.

Bratton makes two catches while double covered on the next drive, showing how hard he is going to be to cover this year. He can't connect on an end zone pass though and we settle for the field goal to go up 17-7 and that's the score at the half.

After trading some punts in the second half it's our defense who comes up big, Paschal picking Atkins off and returning it 53 yards for a touchdown and a 24-7 lead. All's not perfect though. The team's not quite used to our new punt returner I think, as Bratton has two good returns called back for penalties. Even Nichols can be rattled, as he tries to force a long bomb to Schaefer and is intercepted. The Lakers take advantage, driving in for a touchdown and cutting the lead to 24-14.

This time Bratton's nice kick return stands. Nichols doesn't show any hesitation about going back to the air, hitting tight end Mohammed for his 4th catch, and then Bratton for his sixth. Two bad throws in a row put him at third and ten but Bratton pulls it out of the fire, catching a 22 yarder while double covered. Look out league. Hiscock breaks into the endzone on an 11 yard run to make it 31-14 at the start of the fourth.

They have us pinned at our 8, but Bratton gets us out of there with his 8th reception. Unfortunately, Delgado ruins the drive by coughing up the ball and giving the Lakers possession at our own 20. Springfield turns a screen pass into a touchdown to make it 31-21. They've scored twice off our turnovers, it's the only reason they're in the game.

It's not enough though as we both trade punts the rest of the fourth, Nichols and company managing to keep the ball alive long enough to run down the clock and preserve the win.

A decent running day by Hiscock, for 86 yards, against what I think was a tough run D. Nichols wins player of the game with his 220 yard, 2 TD performance. Bratton, in his first Tornado appearance, pulled in 8 out of 9 targets for 88 yards and a TD. Not great yardage but he showed he was a very reliable #1 receiver indeed. Norm McGregor was a beast at LT with 4 of 7 KRB and no sacks allowed. Scottie Dawkins let by the one sack today, making me think we should maybe go with Warhurst who's a better pass blocker.

On defense Fleming managed to hurry the opposing QB 5 times, though he never did get his hands on him. Free agent CB Burnett had a rough outing, allowing 5 catches with one defended pass, but Browning at LCB had two defended passes and only two catches allowed.

Omaha Tornadoes 31, Minneapolis Lakers 21

Week 2 at Chicago

Still on the road we go to Chicago to face second year QB Xavier Kirkaldie. He's Nichols's closest rival in terms of talent but had an ugly first year, throwing 29 interceptions. 1925 hasn't started off better for him, with a 2 INT performance in week one. Rufus McArthur is their main weapon, a fourth year running back who is putting up 1200 yards a year. Former Tornado Alex Crawford is catching balls for the Gale.

The Tornadoes start their second game the same way, with a Nichols to Bratton pass. He wants to set the tone, and does with a 25 yard strike. On third and one Youssef takes a 1 yard pass and breaks it for 12 to get us in the red zone. Fenderson then completes the drive with a 9 yard TD catch.

Chicago's been watching our games, and is making pretty good defensive calls. It comes down to execution though and while they're stopping the run game fairly well they can't stop Nichols. He's 7 for 7 before he throws his first incomplete, but it's not enough to stop the drive as Bratton catches an 18 yarder next play. A sack knocks us out of contention for the endzone and we settle for the field goal and a 10-0 lead.

It's three and out for the Gale and Bratton makes them pay for it, returning their punt 49 yards to their 7 yard line. The man's paying the expected dividends wearing Omaha's colors. Nichols scrambles for 6 and then Hiscock pushes his way through for a TD and a 17-0 lead at the end of the first.

Ingram forces a fumble out of MacArthur and Dillon scoops it up and runs it back to midfield. We move the ball but their pass rush keeps us out of the endzone. Nichols gets us to the 11 but no further and we kick it, 20-0. Xavier isn't bad but he doesn't have the cast to support him, his receivers dropping balls left and right. We get the ball right back before the half and Bratton brings in two catches to get us to the 25. Schaefer catches one for 18 and we have first and goal, and Delgado punches it in from the one. We go up 27-0 before the half, Nichols has 200 yards already in the game.

Our defense is fierce when it has a lead, and the second half starts with a three and out followed by a great punt return by Bratton. On third and 9 Bratton catches a 20 yarder and we're in the redzone again. They're playing our run tight but Youssef hauls in a TD to make it 34-0.

It's three and out for the hapless Gale and I'm kind of hoping we pull Nichols soon, it's getting embarrassing. Bratton has three catches on the drive, including the touchdown, to make it 41-0 and to give him 9 receptions for 140 yards. It looks like it's the Nichols-Bratton coming out party today. Two possessions later, Nichols is risking the anger of the football gods by throwing a long bomb while up 41 points in the fourth quarter. Those gods force a three and out but Chicago though is more cursed, getting pinned on their 8 where we force a fumble and recover at their 3. Hiscock punches it on on the first try and we're up 48-0.

I'm truly, truly embarrassed for the Gale. We intercept them, yes, but just run and punt. But even that can't help as Bratton fields their next punt and returns it 66 yards for a touchdown. The score is now 55-0 and this must be the biggest blowout in football history. I suspect our defensive coaches tried to give them a chance, as they drove onto our side of the field as the clock was winding down. But they don't even manage a field goal before it runs out.

We scored 55 with effectively no rushing game at all, though Hiscock got 2 TDs on his 37 yards and Delgado had one score with his 19. The game was all Nichols, posting a 27 of 34, 324 yard performance, for 3 TDs and no interceptions. Bratton set Omaha team records both for his 11 receptions and 147 yards. Bratton also set team records for punt return yards and all purpose yards.

Scottie Dawkins at center has me wondering. He allowed another sack, but he went 5 of 9 for KRB with 2 pancakes, and was likely responsible for our effective short yardage running at the goal line. Warhurst is disgruntled behind him though, and better rounded, and I'll give him a shot next week.

Paschal had a great game with 1 defensed pass and one interception. Burnett gave up 4 catches but defended one. I think I'm going to switch their spots and see whether Paschal does as well as the number one man.

Nichols picked up Player of the Week honors though his performance was somewhat eclipsed by Lonnie Harden breaking the league record with 398 yards in a game, going up against the Lakers in a passing duel with Timothy Atkins, who posted 340 yards himself.

Omaha Tornadoes 55, Chicago Gale 0

Week 3 Portland

We finally show up in Omaha in front of our jubilant fans, primed to see this team at work and their new star The Earl. Revenge is also on our minds, as Portland was the one team to beat us in the regular season last year. They're helmed by Jared Eden as is usual, coming off a subpar year but looking crisp so far. They have first round draft choice Reuben Parton at running back who has yet to show his stuff. One time Defensive Player of the Year Briceland and MLB Curtis Subramanian helm the defense.

Portland is ready for the pass attack but we surprise them coming out running, and with Nichols scrambling when a pass play is called. It's the kind of balance I'm working on for a team that could easily lapse into being pass-first. It's 9 plays into our drive before Nichols attempts his first pass and the stratagem has worked for they somehow don't manage to cover Earl Bratton and the Earl turns a five yard dump pass into a 57 yard touchdown. He can go cash his check.

We trade punts and miss a field goal. Tight end Mohammed has shown a nice ability to get yards after catch this season, picking up a 25 yard gain here. Nichols gets denied on two attempts to Bratton but he finds other receivers, and we end up with the touchdown. 14-0.

Our pass rush has been all over Portland and they're not able to generate anything. Our offense however isn't slowed, Nichols has a 15 yard scramble that gets us to the goal line and Delgado punches in his second TD of the day to make it 21-0. That seems to spur something in Eden and the Eruption and they drive down the field on us as the second quarter winds down. They drive in the touchdown with three minutes left to make it 21-7.

Nichols has rushed 10 times in the game so far, I love this facet of his game that keeps our drives moving even when their pass D is tight. He's not able to get anything in the two minute drill though and neither does Portland.

A huge kickoff return starts our second half, but so does Bratton's second drop of the day. Nichols makes up for it with his 11th scramble, this time for 11 yards, and Hiscock following up with 14. Bratton saves the drive by recovering Hiscock's fumble on the next play but Portland seems to have the number for our passing game and Nichols just isn't able to complete anything. We do manage a field goal out of it though to go up 24-7.

Eden shows he's got some moves too, driving the team past midfield and then busting loose for a 21 yard scramble that silences the crowd. He seems to have stolen Nichols's mojo. One touchdown pass later it's 24-14 and the momentum seems to have shifted. This is where things get dangerous, as Nichols has a tendency to try to force things. He does just that, dancing around and then throwing a pick to Portland's safety. They've now got the chance to make this a real game, and Eden does just that, scrambling for 8 yards for a TD that makes it 24-21.

Bratton has a great return and the coaches try to slow things down with a rush. Nichols goes right back to Youssef on the next play though for a 13 yard gain. Delgado is stuffed on the next play and you can see the frustration on Nichols's face. He feels he's the one who has to win it and on the next play he calls a designed run. It works, catching them unaware, and he picks up 23 yards. Nichols now has 12 rushes for 101 yards on the day. More importantly we're in the red zone.

Bratton has his third drop on the day. I think he may have been injured and he obviously should be pulled out. A very irate and flustered Nichols is forced to go to Youssef on 3rd and 8 and he forces it, getting intercepted on the Portland two yard line. The crowd watches as he heads to the bench, throwing his helmet.

It's on the defense now to keep this game in hand. Portland wisely takes it easy, rushing and throwing short passes. Huie and Greer come up with a sack and that's good enough to force a punt. Nichols comes back on the field at the 37 yard line and goes straight for Bratton, who picks up a first down. As the fourth quarter starts they go to Hiscock for two no-gainers and Nichols is again forced to throw on 3rd and 12. This time it works out, Sampson pulling in a 19 yard catch. On the next play Nichols catches them unawares and hits Fenderson for 24 yards and it's first and goal. On 3rd and goal though Youssef drops the ball in the endzone and even the fans at the top of the bleachers can hear Nichols cursing. Bercich hits the field goal to make it 27-21.

Eden moves them to midfield but no further and they punt. Nichols goes right to his security blanket, and the Earl picks up 20 yards on a long crossing route. Another Omaha drop is nullified by defensive holding but that doesn't excuse him in the huddle. The grass seems to be getting slippery out there and it's messing up the offense's rhythm. An incomplete pass on 3rd and 12 means another punt and another chance for Portland. The defense comes up with key stops though and we get it back with four minutes left.

This time Hiscock breaks out a good run, and Delgado follows up with an even better one for 26 yards. Nichols is still out of sync and throws another incomplete, and then another one on 3rd down to Youssef. He seems to feel he has to go to Benjamin on 3rd and it's not working out for him. The receiver's only 3 of 9 today. Luckily Bercich's got the leg of a giant and he boots a 55 yarder to give us a crucial 30-21 lead. The ball goes over on downs for Portland and when Delgado runs for a first down the game's over for them. We kick a field goal on fourth down and hold on for a not very pretty win.

Post game reports show that The Earl broke his toe during the game, explaining his spotty performance. The rains in Omaha didn't help either. Nichols had one of his poorer games passing, going 15 of 31 for 254 yards, 1 TD and 2 interceptions. However, he made up for it on the ground, with 13 rushes for 104 yards. Bratton meanwhile broke 100 yards again, 4 catches for 101, but on 10 targets, not good. He did what he could, throwing in a 37 yard kick return and a fumble recovery too. I was surprised to see that it was Burton, not Bratton, who had the two other long kick returns. They make a nice tandem.

O.J. Greer gets player of the game with 2 sacks and a hurry. I'm not sure about the center position. Warhurst and Dawkins ended up splitting time and Dawkins went 2 of 3 while Warhurst went 1 of 6, neither allowing a sack.

Omaha Tornadoes 33, Portland Eruption 21

[Autumn]

Week 4 San Antonio

It's a sunny day in Omaha today for the middle of our three game home stretch. Hopefully that will bode better for us. Dave Burnett decides to reward me for putting him back in the starting lineup by defending passes on the first two plays of the game. The Defenders follow up with two long catches anyway but the defense holds them to a field goal at least.

Burton starts us off with a nice long kick off return. Nothing stellar happens but a few short gains leave us close enough to try a 50 yarder and we do, Bercich nailing it to make it 3-3. In turn we get burned by a 30 yard pass and subsequently let them sneak into the redzone. They get it in the endzone and go up 10-3 and I think we're behind for the first time all year. It takes a couple of drives but we finally get in sync and drive down the field, Youssef catching a 20 yard touchdown pass to make it 10-10.

Browning makes a pick on their next drive to give us a short field. Youssef continues where he left off, picking up 20 yards. It's Fenderson who makes the tough touchdown grab though in double coverage, and puts us ahead 17-10 midway through the 2nd.

Nichols throws a rather unfortunate interception and they run it back into our redzone. We play pretty knockdown goal line D, but a facemask gives them first and goal on the 1. They eventually drill it in from there and tie the game up with under two minutes left in the first half. Nichols hits four straight completions to get us to their 13 yard line with a half a minute left. From there we surprise the Defenders with a run play and Hiscock scampers the 13 yards for a go-ahead score as the first half runs out.

Nichols gets picked off right away to start the second half, on a tipped pass. They get a field goal out of it. Our fourth sack forces another punt from them as the third quarter runs out. Somebody needs to make a play. An 11 yard scramble on 3rd and 4 counts, and seems to spark us a bit. Nichols runs for another first down to get us first and goal. Bratton picks up his second catch but it's Delgado who gets into the endzone on a screen pass to go up 31-20.

The Defenders take advantage of a couple long passes to move into scoring range. We hold them to a field goal however to make it 31-23 with six minutes left. Youssef makes a clutch 33 yard catch as suddenly Nichols is looking unstoppable. After a 50% first half he's now 22 of 30 as Youssef picks up another 21 to give us first and goal. Hiscock's touchdown run puts us up 38-23 and seals the game. However, just like last week, our opponent seems cursed as Perrin intercepts one of their last minute heaves and runs it back 71 yards for a touchdown and a crushing 45-23 lead. This team, if anything has a killer instinct as they come up with one more interception before we run out the clock.

There was no running game to speak of, despite Hiscock's 2 rushing TDs. That's something we're going to need to tweak going forward. This one fell on Nichols going 22 of 30 for 259 yards, 3 TDs but with 2 interceptions. With Bratton's injury, Youssef was the main man with 7 catches for 127 yards and a TD. Nobody stood out on defense, but it was a good team effort locking down after a topsy-turvy first half.

Around the league, Corey Money, QB for those Richmond Cavaliers who ruined our Superbowl run last year, was player of the week with a 398 yard, 5 TD performance. Both of those tied league records, TDs by our own Ben Jochen.

Omaha Tornadoes 45, San Antonio Defenders 23

Week 5 Houston

The Oilers come to town helmed by a new face. Ryan Frederick, the Bootleggers QB from '20 to '23 comes to town as a free agent and is running the 2-2 Oilers. They've got the best pass defense in the league so far this season, helmed by monster safety Willie Reid. It will be quite a test.

Things start out rocky. Scottie Dawkins makes me love and hate the fact that I put him back in as starter at center as he makes a crushing run block to start the drive, and then gives up a sack to end it. To top it off, Oilers star Willie Reid blocks our field goal. They return it 36 yards to get great field position. One play later it's a touchdown to their star receiver.

A hurry, a drop, but a scramble by Nichols gets the first down. Nichols runs again for another 14. Bratton shows up for a 21 yard pass to get us to the 11 yard line. Their star defensive end is everywhere so far, but we run the other way and Delgado makes it into the endzone for the tying score.

Three sacks in a row end their next drive, and the one after that ends with a missed field goal However, we cough up the ball and give them another chance. Martinez however shows where our team's heart is, stuffing two short yardage runs to force a long field goal which they miss. They give Nichols and company another chance, and Michael Fulton pulls out a 53 yard bomb to make them glad they did. First and goal we get a holding call, but unnecessary roughness on the Oilers offsets that. Then we get another holding call. Fulton gets us back to the 4yard line and Bratton catches the touchdown and we have a 14-7 lead.

Problems in this game are too many screen passes, and bad cohesion. I need to stop shuffling the lineup. Bratton is not the problem though, pulling in a 18 yarder to get us across midfield. Hiscock turns a screen pass into 16 yards, but misses the next screen. Fulton gets us to the 13 yard line but Youssef drops the pass on 3rd down and we have to kick for a 17-7 lead.

We get the ball right back on a Kooiker interception, but Hiscock fumbles it in turn. The first half is winding down as we get the ball back. We get stymied but Nichols scrambles for just enough to allow Bercich to boom a 53 yarder to make it 20-7 at the half. That kicker of ours is doing something special this year.

Bratton's 20 yard catch is key play in our first drive of the second half. His 10 yard touch down catch follows and it's a 27-7 game. Burnett causes a fumble and Perrin picks it up, giving us another shot at a score. They're playing tight D now though, especially as our running game is doing nothing, and we miss the field goal.

We pick up our sixth sack of the game on the next drive, but they pick up a 30 yard pass to get on our side of the field. A 17 yard gain by their tight end gives them first and goal. We stop them on the one yard line though and they settle for the field goal and 27-10 game.

We drive to their 13 yard line but Delgado fumbles the ball away. On the subsequent drive the Oilers hit Pierce for a 43 yard gain and suddenly they're in our redzone to start the fourth quarter. Two plays later they have a touchdown and it's 27-17.

Dawkins makes a key block on our next drive to set up a first down. Three incompletes in a row though force us to punt, all the way to their 3 yard line. We can't seem to stop their passing though, they must have had a great halftime speech. Frederick is now well over 300 yards as they drive to midfield. We get the ball back though and proceed to try to run the clock down. Hiscock has a big run on 3rd and 4 to keep the drive alive. Delgado picks up another and now it's near the two minute warning. For some reason they're expecting us to pass and so we just keep running over them. We get close enough to hit a field goal and make it 30-17 before they have their last minute heaves.

Still no real running game, though Delgado and Hiscock posted decent numbers. Nichols was a a nice looking 23 of 38 for 253 yards, 2 TDs. Bratton hauled in 7 passes but only for 78 yards, and on 11 attempts.

CB Burnett had 7 passes caught on him. Browning didn't do much better with 5. I don't know what is up with those guys. I hate to keep juggling because I think my cohesion is part of the problem, but that's ugly. Browning did have a sack and a half though. Fleming had a great game with 1.5 sacks, 4 hurries and 2 knockdowns.

Omaha Tornadoes 30, Houston Oilers 20

Week 6 at Dallas

Boston and Omaha are the only undefeated teams left. Dallas is 2-3, but they have Van Rankinen, one of the rivals to Bratton's crown as the best wide receiver in the game. And given how our pass defense has been playing, a real danger.

The Rangers start by making us look like fools, rushing against our pass defense over and over. However, when Huffman finally drops back to pass Kelly Dillon is all over him, sacking him, forcing a fumble and recovering it. The Rangers aren't about to go down that easy though, they intercept a Nichols to Bratton pass.

We stop them, but amazingly Nichols follows up with another interception. So far he is 0 for 2 with two picks. These guys have obviously been studying Nichols well. They toy with us and then Van Rankinen catches the 14 yarder to go up 7-0 in front of those rabid Rangers fans.

Nichols is rattled, and seems intent on winning the game on one throw, throwing long pass after long pass. On the other side, Huffman is making great throws, though his line keeps getting called for holding. We seem unable to stop him as he already has 100 yards in the first quarter when they break open a screen pass. First and 10 from the 11 Minter stuffs a run, Martinez stops a scramble and we hold them at the two yard line. Their kick makes it 10-0.

Another long bomb and I'm beginning to wonder if I entered a number wrong in the game plan. I think I must have, as it's long pass after long pass. Kooiker gets an interception on their next possession, and we have it at the 26. Hiscock's 16 yard run gives us first and goal and Youssef catches the TD pass. 10-7, Rangers.

We give up several large plays and they drive into our redzone. We stop them on the 5 and they kick, 13-7. The long passes are back, but Fenderson catches one of them for 22 yards. That gets us close enough for a field goal to make it 13-10 at the two minute warning. We get it back to make a try but Nichols is intercepted and they get a field goal out of it, heading into the locker room up 13-10.

Youssef catches one of these bombs for 45 yards, giving us a good chance. Hiscock follows up with a 11 yard run and it's first and goal. Hiscock punches it in from there and we're up 17-13. We trade punts for a while until Fenderson catches a 37 yarder to spark anohter drive. Bratton hauls in the next long pass for 26 yards and a touchdown. Luckily with this talent even a screwed up game plan like this can work. We're up 24-13 in the fourth.

Mohammed pulls in a 20 yarder on the next drive and we move into their redzone. We're not able to convert though and settle for the field goal. The Rangers aren't able to do anything and it goes over on downs on their own 10. We rush in for the touchdown and a reassuring 34-13 lead. Things have not looked this good most of the game, but these Tornadoes know how to make the kill in the end. We tack on a field goal before time runs out on them.

Unfortunately before time can run out Buddy Martinez hurts his knee, seriously. I hurry down to see the prognosis, ignoring the rest of the game. And indeed, it's as bad as I feared. ACL Knee surgery, out for this year and part of next is the prediction. The heart of our defense has fallen.

I go next to the game plan section but I don't see any typo. I can't quite explain why Nichols was chucking it long. 12 long pass attempts, 6 medium, 12 short. I don't know why this happened. But it made for an awful game, 15 of 30 for 219 yards, 2 TDs and 3 INT. Youssef only caught 3 of 12, target for most of those bombs. Bratton was 2 of 6.

Kelly Dillon was player of the game with 3 sacks, 1 block, 4 hurries, 4 tackles and 3 assists. Martinez put in 8 tackles and 2 assists in what may end up being his last game as a Tornado. I don't know if he'll come back from this one. Paschal had a lights out game, with no catches in 47 pass plays, and 3 defensed plays.

Omaha Tornadoes 37, Dallas Rangers 13


Week 7 at Oklahoma City

Corwin Standafer has been unhappy about playing backup to Buddy Martinez, and so now he gets his wish. Martinez is on the bench in street clothes and we're depending on Corwin to fill his big, big shoes. The Outlaws are 4-2 and our first real opponent.

Bratton and Hiscock make big plays on our first drive, but we come up short and settle for 3. Next drive, Hiscock makes up for it, busting loose on a short dump pass for a 29 yard touchdown. Delgado however basically plays himself out of a position. He's gotten quite a few handoffs early and done nothing.

Opposing running back Julio Willimason takes over the next drive to get them into the redzone, pounding us. They get an extra bonus on a play where their tackle, Maurice MacCracken pancakes my defensive linemen, Paul McCracken. There's some family rivalry here as Paul goes a little after the whistle and gets an unsportsmanlike conduct call. They get the ball on the 14. We almost stop them, Minter knocking the ball loose at the five, but they recover and run it in for the touchdown and a 10-7 score.

It's Oklahoma that gets the unsportsmanlike next drive. That gets us to the 25, and maybe it was former Tornado CB Reggie Norton who got flagged, for Nichols is picking on him. Next play is a 24 yard strike to Fenderson covered by Norton. First and goal on the one and it's Hiscock who gets it in the endzone. 17-7.

The Outlaws are now taking advantage of our base defense, which I bumped up for this game versus the nickel. A series of long strikes is ended though on a bad pass which Perrin intercepts and brings back 35 yards. We're winning the field position war this game, especially due to Bratton's returns. He picks up a 27 yard catch next play just to cement his star status. However, Nichols falls short on 3rd and long and Bercich misses a 51 yard boot. The Outlaws however hit their own 51 yarder at the two minute warning to make it 17-10.

We're not going down quietly. Bratton opens up the two minute drive with a 30 yard catch, followed with a 21 yarder. Youssef disappoints with a drop that takes the steam out of our surge and we end up setting for another field goal after Youssef can't get his hands on anohter pass. The boy is good, but only in streaks.

Second half begins with a nice Bratton return, followed by Bratton's 6th catch of the day. Youssef tries to make up for the first half with his first catch, a 10 yarder. Delgado however is officially heading for the inactive roster after muffing a 3rd and 1 run, after missing two other plays on the drive. We manage a field goal though to go up 23-10. An interception on the next play gives us another great chance. This time Delgado, hearing the bells tolling, breaks open a run for a 16 yard touchdown.

Three and out for the Outlaws and another nice return gives us a short field, and Nichols, Hiscock and Delgado combine to get us to the 15. Youssef's touchdown gets called back and we settle for a field goal. A methodical drive puts the Outlaws in the position to score but their third interception goes into Sheldon's hands on the 7 yard line. We pick up an easy score later in the quarter when the Outlaws go four and out from their own 12. Delgado continues his bid for playing time by rushing it in from 12 yards out. Good try, but he shows his true colors with four minute left. Pinned on our own two, Delgado gets the ball, manages to lose a yard and then fumble it. The Outlaws recover at the 1. They get the score to make it 40-17. That will be the end score.

Nichols had his typical game, while Hiscock and Delgado both racked up 60 yard games. Delgado had the better runs but also 2 fumbles, and some maddening stuffs. Bratton was the man with 7 catches for 188 yards.

The three safeties each had a pick in the game. Standafer picked up five tackles in his first starting nod.

Omaha Tornadoes 40, Oklahoma City Outlaws 17

Week 8 Denver

Division rivals Denver stand in the way of our best start ever. Last year it was 7-1, this year we're hungry for 8-0. Denver comes in helmed by rookie QB Irv Pritchett who is playing well so far. Guzowski still mans the RB spot and Rob Forbes at WR. They're 4-2 and they need to keep winning if they're going to stand a chance in our division.

Passions are high for this intense rivalry, and it shows on the field with three Omaha penalties by our second drive. Nichols too seems rattled, making a couple poor throws and ignoring Bratton for Youssef. He sparks the crowd though with a 19 yard scramble that puts us across midfield. Hiscock adds to the cheers with a 14 yard romp. And then crowd favorite and seemingly ageless veteran Juan Vanaqs comes in to replace Fumbling Delgado. He picks up nine and a lot of cheers. The touchdown is almost anticlimactic as Youssef hauls in his third catch of the day for a score and a 7-0 lead. On our next drive Nichols threads the needle to hit Youssef, double covered, for 19 yards to spark anohter drive. Hiscock fans the flames with a 32 yard run into the redzone. Two plays later it's Fenderson with a 17 yard catch and a 14-0 lead.

There's no team we've played more than the Mountaineers. These teams know each other well. The Mountaineers manage a field goal. But as the half winds down we are driving, Bratton picking up his first catch of the day on a drive that takes us into the redzone. Unnecessary roughness gives us great position and Hiscock and Vanaqs get it to the endzone, but get pulled back on a holding call. Nichol's dump pass gets stopped at the two yard line. We have to settle for a field goal and a 17-3 lead at half time.

The second half starts off well for us as Browning makes a nice pick off of the rookie and with no one in front of him returns it for a 42 yard touchdown. After that Denver abandons the rookie for Byron Doyle, whoever that is. He can't do much, but does manage to get them a field goal. As much as we're dominating, there's still a lot of mistakes on the field, including the seven penalties we've gotten so far. I'm not pleased with that, but I'll chalk it up to interdivisional rivalry passion.

We are basically in prevent offense at this point but Nichols scrambles and throws just enough to keep things moving. Youssef makes the third down catch that gets us in the red zone, and Hiscock follows up with a TD catch to make it 31-6. Denver manages a field goal and tries the onside kick but we recover. We paste on another field goal as time runs out to make it a bit closer to our scoring average.

Hiscock responded to my game plan well, posting 92 yards. Nichols did his typical, 23 of 30 for 238 yards and 3 TDs. This time it was Youssef posting 7 catches for 85 yards. Bratton was only targeted twice, which was odd. Paschal had a great day with 2 passes defended and only 2 catches. Scottie Dawkins allowed a sack, and was 2 of 6 on run blocking. I'm really conflicted whether to go with this more rounded backup or not.

Omaha Tornadoes 34, Denver Mountaineers 9

Midseason Report

It's safe to say we are dominating to an even further extent than the 1924 season. We are now 8-0, and averaging 38.1 points a game. However, it's also safe to say that the only acceptable result from this season, after last year, is a Superbowl win. Going 15-1 and losing the big game left a sour taste.

Nichols is playing great, but has competition at the top of the heap, with last year's champions Richmond's Corey Money throwing 18 touchdowns and Birmingham and Boston both showing great passing offenses. Bratton was an early receiving leader but has fallen off a bit.

[Autumn]

[Autumn]

Week 9 Minneapolis

Our second home game in a row is Minneapolis, another division rival. The Lakers sit at the bottom of the division but they've always played us hard. Timothy Atkins, the former Tornado, is still at the helm and he'd love to show us up. It's very gusty and cold with a dash of rain in Omaha today though. That could dampen our passing game. In the past Nichols has scrambled us to a win in conditions like this. We'll see what he does today.

Minter starts our day off with a quick pick. Nichols hits a short pass and then takes the ball himself for a first down on a designed run. Three plays later Hiscock bangs it in and we're up 7-0 quickly. Lakers RB Springfield makes a big play all the way to the one and they quickly tie things up, 7-7.

The Lakers are getting a lot of pressure on Nichols but Fulton picks up 29 yards to give us a spark after a few punts were traded. Bratton gets us to the 7 yard line and Fulton then picks up the TD for a 14-7 lead. our next drive Bratton picks up 33 yards on 3rd and 8 to give us another scoring chance, however all we manage is a field goal after a dropped pass backs us up.

Nichols gets hurried three plays in a row to make a short possession for us. I'm not sure why this defense is all over us. They've got our running game bottled up too. That makes it three and out for us again, with Bratton dropping a pass this time. Sure, it's raining, but come on guys.

On defense Corwin Standafer is going full tilt filling in for Martinez. He's got a whole bunch of stuffs already in the game. That gives Nichols a chance for some two minute magic. He gets us to midfield before the pass rush closes in on us. He surprises with a third down scramble though, quickly gets the timeout and we boom the field goal to go up 20-7.

Mohammed has his second drop in the third quarter and I've got my evil eye on him. Next drive Bratton and Fulton and Hiscock get the team moving and all of a sudden we're knocking on the redzone. Hiscock picks up another touchdown, this one through the air. It's now 27-7. Minneapolis is doing good covering Bratton, holding him to five catches out of 14 targets so far. It hasn't been enough though.

Their second string QB comes in and does a mite better than Atkins. They score on a busted screen pass after we give them a couple penalties. They come back only to have a penalty of their own that costs them a score. But in a two minute drive kept alive with their QB's big scramble they end up scoring with 34 seconds left to make it 27-21. Minneapolis recovers the onside kick and all of a sudden we're in danger of losing this one.

McElroy wastes time on the clock by scrambling and we knock the ball loose but don't recover. With 18 seconds left they connect on a pass to get them across midfield. They only get one more chance, and the throw is bad, but this is the closest we've come to a loss this season. Hopefully it's a wakeup call for the Tornadoes.

It was an ugly game, as the weather would dictate. Nichols still tried to win it through the air but went 18 of 37 for 213 yards and 2 TDs. Bratton was the lead catcher with 5 for 84 yards but it took 14 targets to get there. Hiscock increased his scoring lead in the league with a TD on the ground and one through the air. We didn't allow any sacks but Nichols got hurried 11 times today, just not good.

Standafer was my defensive player today with 7 tackles, 2 assists, 1 sack and a forced fumble. He did have 5 balls caught against him with Atkins working the short passing game though. Paschal only allowed one catch in 50 pass plays.

Boston, the only other unbeaten team left, loses to the Detroit Wheels to leave us alone on top of the league.

Omaha Tornadoes 27, Minneapolis Lakers 21

Week 10 at Kansas City

The game starts slow but Vanaqs sparks things for us with two big runs on a drive. Youssef pulls in a tough catch in double coverage for a first as well, but we end up settling for a field goal on the drive. A big Bratton catch and unnecessary roughness on the next drive get us knocking on the door. They're playing us pretty tight though and we settle for a kick again, which we miss.

Meanwhile they're running really easily against us. They must have some great blockers. We manage to keep them down to one field goal. A good looking scoring drive is preempted though when Nichols tries to hit Bratton on third down and is intercepted in the endzone. They walk all over us on their next drive toward the end of the half scoring a TD and making it 10-3. Nichols and Youssef come back though, picking up two big completions as time runs out, Nichols adding a long scramble to get us to the 29 with 13 seconds left. For some reason they don't try the field goal though and that's the half.

We come out just as lackluster in the second. They score on us promptly making it 17-3. This is the only time we've really been behind and it's about time for Nichols to show he knows how to catch up in a game. He does just that, taking us on a scoring drive to make it 17-10 as the fourth quarter starts.

The Cowboys lose some steam and give us another chance. Hiscock starts us off again with a big run but we can't do more after that. Our next drive is do or die. We make it to midfield and punt them to the 1, but that's not going to be enough unless we get a quick stop. We do just that though and get the ball back at their 40 with two minutes. Bratton gets us a first down and then follows up with a 19 yarder to the 3 yard line with one minute left. Nichols Scrambles next play to tie it up 17-17.

The Cowboys have 45 seconds but can't do anything. We go to overtime where we start with the ball. Two short runs and then Fenderson picks up a first. A sack costs us big time but Youssef saves us with a 20 yard catch that puts us near field goal position. Mohammed moves us closer with a catch and then Nichols scrambles on third down to keep our drive alive in the redzone. Holding backs us up and then two false starts. The refs obviously don't want us to win this one, backing us up to the 34 yard line. A series of huge plays get called back on penalties until finally we miss a third down. By this time we're forced to punt. Obviously we should have just kicked when we had the chance.

The Cowboys drive across midfield, though they pick up a couple penalties themselves. The teams are passionate and playing sloppy. Unfortunately they surprise us on 3rd and 2 with a long pass and get in field goal range. They can't do anything more, but they do hit the kick and win.

Nichols got us back in this game, but our offensive line knocked us out of it. 10 penalties, mostly holding and false start in overtime, took us from an easy score to nothing. And our first loss.

The biggest thing of note is the lack of turnovers by our defense. One big play could have made the difference. The fact of the matter is everybody played lackluster. Kicker missed a field goal, lineman gave up a sack on the critical drive, penalties, giving up plays on D.

Also, their star CB had quite a game with 3 passes defended and an interception. The fact of the matter is, I think KC is good and they played us tough.

Kansas City Cowboys 20, Omaha Tornadoes 17

Week 12 at Detroit

We face the Detroit Wheels, one of the best teams last year, and currently riding a 6-4 record. They have clearly the best pass defense in the league right now, #1 across the board and lead the league in takeaways. They're led by Patrick Kaplan, their star safety, who has 7 picks already this year and a 94.3% pass defense. On the D-line they have Brant West, a pass rushing monster who is 2nd all time in sacks. Their offense is just mediocre, still helmed by 6 year man Dusty Harvey.

Two three and outs to start our game show that their defense is indeed tough. We play tight D, but it's all for naught as we give up a giant play, a 81 yard run to give the first score of the game. That puts some fire into our offense and they tear off a series of first downs, Nichols finding the backs in the short passing game. It only gets us close enough to try a 53 yarder, but we nail it to make it 7-3 at the end of the first quarter.

Bratton gives up a big play instead of making one, fumbling on a punt return. Our defense stiffens up though and they miss the field goal. Bratton makes it up with two 19 yard catches on a later drive, getting us into the red zone with Fenderson pulling in the subsequent touchdown to go up 10-7. Our pass defense is ultratight and they can't do anything before the two minute, but they do manage to pin us at the one, and that spells the end of the half.

Sampson picks up 22 yards after the catch to open our first drive of the second. Bratton follows up with a 20 yard catch. Two penalties on the Wheels gets us to the 10 yard line but a sack causes us to stick with a field goal. Jessie Bell, what the hell was he doing in there.

In turn their running game comes out thundering on us, giving up all pretense of winning through the air. That doesn't work well for them, but they intercept Nichols on the next drive, giving them excellent field position. Luckily a penalty backs them up but their running back breaks loose again, getting them to the two. We hold them there and they make it 13-10 with a field goal at the end of the third.

We start a slow plodding drive across midfield, where we get helped out with an unnecessary roughness call on the Wheels. Bratton picks up his sixth catch to get us inside the ten and Nichols eventually throws the TD pass to make it 20-10 with seven minutes left. The Wheels respond with a confident drive downfield, where they eventually punch it in to make it 20-17 with three minutes left.

A penalty weakens our chances of running the clock out. Their run defense plays it too tight and we have to punt with two minutes left. Chaos breaks out as they fumble their punt return. Although they recover it our center, Dawkins, looks seriously hurt in the ruckus. With two minutes left they attempt to score once more. We give up one 16 yard pass, but then we're all over them from that point out and the ball goes over on downs on a last sack. Nichols takes a knee and preserves an ugly win.

We had no running game to speak of, with the Wheels looking like a premier run D instead. Nichols has his typical game, his yardage a bit low as he went for a lot of running back dump off passes. Their stellar pass D didn't let us get much from those. Bratton had six catches for 92 yards, but it was Fenderson who pulled in the two touchdown passes.

Bercich really should be player of the game for knocking out that 53 yard field goal that proved the difference. Bratton averaged 20 yards on punt returns in another stellar special teams outing. Meanwhile the D line racked up 4 sacks and 3 hurries between them. The injury report confirms that Dawkins is out until next year. I'm glad we've got a very sturdy replacement. I go out and sign a fellow to fill in the long snapping duties, he turns out to be a mentor as well.

Omaha Tornadoes 20, Detroit Wheels 17

Week 13 at Pittsburgh

This is a stretch of good teams, the Steelers are always a contender in the Rust Belt division, and this year they are 8-3. Richie Brady continues to man the helm after oddly sitting out much of last season. He's not looking as sharp this year. Their defense is tight, DE Freddie Godfrey leading the league in sacks at the moment, from the right end of the line surprisingly. He'll be going up against Tubbs,who hasn't given up a sack all year.

Our offense has lost some steam and I'm looking at the gameplan, hoping to get them back into it. It starts us off well, running hard and then hitting Bratton for 31 yards. They stop us on third down though and we settle for a field goal. They hit us with two big running plays and do the same, making it 3-3.

They sack us on third down this time, but we manage to pin them at the 3. Once again though it's like our run defense has holes in it and they bust loose for 17 yards. Again on third own they make a big play and follow it up with a big run. They make it look easy, moving right down the field and scoring, going up 10-3.

Nichols tries too hard, going for a bomb on his first play. Once he settles it down though he marches us right down the field and throws a TD to Bratton. However, Brady comes right back and shows he's got the right stuff too despite his mediocre ratings. His arm gets them to the redzone and more, punching it in to go up 17-10 with three minutes in the first half.

With 36 seconds left Nichols has maneuvered us to the 31 yard line. He gets us closer but can't get in the endzone, and we settle for the last second field goal and a 17-13 score at the end of the half.

We recover a fumble on their first drive, the first big play our D has made in some time. Bratton makes them pay for it with a 18 yard catch but we can't move further than that and settle for another field goal, 17-16.

They come right back at us charging down the field but Standafer shows he can fill Buddy's shoes by forcing a fumble that Sheldon recovers. We can't do anything with it though and end up punting. Sampson has two drops in the second half and is quickly earning a spot back on the bench. His second forces us to punt again.

But the defense shows they know how to keep games alive, Fleming with a crushing sack that knocks the ball loose. Huie scoops it up and runs it back 32 yards to put us in the lead, 23-17. After getting pinned on our goal line a couple times we stage a nice clock draining drive across midfield. Hiscock breaks loose for 18 yards on third and two to really make things bad for the Steelers. Our subsequent field goal makes it 26-17 with two and a half minutes left.

Pittsburgh's not going down easily though, immediately picking up a 36 yard pass play. A couple more passes and defensive holding get them to the 14 yard line and Brady throws a score from there. That makes it 26-24 and suddenly we're in danger with a minute and a half left. They don't try the onside kick, instead giving it to us at our 19. Vanaqs for four. Vanaqs for zero. Vanaqs for zero and we have to punt.

They get it at their own 37 with 50 seconds left, only needing a field goal to win. They get called for holding and with no timeouts left that does them in. They're not able to do anything else and we hold onto the win.

Some really tough wins on the road. They show we've got some grit, but a lot to improve also. Nichols is player of the game but it should be Huie, whose 32 yard fumble return gave us the game. Nichols was an unseemly 25 of 40 today for 236 yards. Hiscock had a 91 yard day on the ground, but wasn't as dominant as that seems. He did pick up 53 yards in the air though, and that helped.

Bratton only caught 6 of 12 today, for only 60 yards. The Steelers were a tough D. It was our tough D that won it, recovering three fumbles. Bercich was 4 of 4 today and we needed it. Ingram again led the team with 7 tackles from the WLB, since I've tweaked our defense he's seen the field a lot more. I'm not sure it's helping as our pass D has suffered. Even Paschal, our best CB though was awful today, giving up 5 catches. Brady had a ungodly 117 QB rating against us.

Omaha Tornadoes 26, Pittsburgh Steelers 24


Week 14 Cleveland

The Cleveland Hammers come to town with a sad 2-10 record. Still, they're the #1 passing attack in the league, undoubtedly playing catchup but also possessing a dangerous weapon in Mario Skiffington. The WR has over a thousand yards already. On defense they've got a star in DT Walt Phillip with 11.5 sacks.

A big return by Burton to start the game. Having him opposite Bratton helps a lot. It's three and out after that with pass pressure on third down, but we pin them to the 2. That gives us great field position when Bratton brings it to their 38 on their punt. Their pass rush is all over Nichols though, who is 1 of 4 at this point. Our running game is working, luckily, and we get to first and goal at the one. Hiscock catches the pass in the endzone and we go up 7-0.

Hammers QB Lonnie Harden is making good so far targeting everybody but Skiffington. That's not good enough to really move the chains much though, and Bratton gets us back to our 45 at the next punt. Finally Nichols connects with Youssef for 31 yards and we're in the red zone. Their pass D is playing tough though and we settle for the field goal and a 10-0 lead.

They hit a 49 yard bomb on the next drive to get in our red zone. Skiffington catches his first pass of the day to give them a first down, but he coughs up the ball and we return it for a 93 yard touchdown!!!

It's starting to look like a rout as we quickly get the ball back and Nichols drives us down the field, picking up a first down with a 13 yard run on 3rd and 9. He quickly follows with a 29 yard touchdown strike to Fenderson and a 24-0 lead in the second quarter.

Skiffington makes his second catch of the game, this time a good 25 yarder. They catch us again for 20 yarder later in the drive to get first and goal. A seven yard TD run makes it 24-7.

The running and scrambling game gets us inside the 10 on our next possession. At the two minute warning we're at the two yard line but they hold us there to a field goal, 27-7. The Hammers get no luck as they cough up a fumble on their 20 yard line and we return it to the 7. With 43 seconds left in the half Hiscock charges into the endzone to make it 34-7.

Cleveland turns to the running game in the third quarter, but eventually they have to pass and Harden throws an interception to Clarence Browning. It's three and out though for our stuff, stuff, incomplete offense. Cleveland turns to their backup quarterback but he doesn't get anything done on his first drive. Nichols gets us moving with a short pass to Bratton followed by a scramble. Fulton comes through with a 22 yard pass play in double overage. Fenderson gets the first down in the red zone and then a defensive holding call gets us first and goal. Bratton hauls in a 5 yard TD pass to make it 41-7.

It's going to get embarrassing as the first play of their drive is a sack and a fumble by the backup QB. We recover at their 16 yard line. Nichols angers the football gods by trying three passes in a row, and they're all incomplete. The field goal makes it 44-7. The Hammers are expecting us to go to the run but Nichols is out for blood. He comes back firing next drive, hitting Bratton twice in a row, including a 26 yarder. Another catch by Bratton gets us to the 6 yard line. They hold us again to a field goal though, and a 47-7 lead.

Their backup QB is 2 of 6 for 6 yards, so there's not a comeback in the making. Skiffington however does his best catching two big passes on the drive to get them across the field. It's his counterpart, Asher, who catches a 27 yard TD bomb though to make it 47-14 with 8 minutes in the 4th. They get another good drive off on our tired D, lucky enough to recover two of their own fumbles on the drive. However they end up settling for the field goal to make it 47-17. That ends up being the end score as we run out the clock on them.

Our rushing numbers don't look good in the end due to the long lead, but Hiscock kept us in it early, as well as Nichols's 38 yards. He threw for only 196 yards, but for 3 TDs today. Six forced fumbles by our D today and seven sacks.

Around the league Corey Money picks up another player of the week award heading the Richmond Cavaliers. He remains the best rated QB in the league, besting Nichols in every category almost. Corey is also staying neck to neck with Nichols in all time QB winning percentage, both at .750 at the moment. The Cavaliers are 11-2 and look like favorites as AFC champions. Meanwhile Kansas City remains behind us in the division at 10-3, close enough to worry about, and the only other good team in the league. Third place Denver actually has the next best record in the conference.

Omaha Tornadoes 47, Cleveland Hammers 17

[Autumn]

Week 15 at Denver

And Denver is next up, the 8-5 Mountaineers hoping to vie for a wild card spot. They're working with backup QB Irv Pritchett after Coles went down early in the year. He's doing reasonably well, but they're counting on a two pronged running attack with two time Offensive Player of the Year Martin Guzowski and third year Roman Reeves. Their defense is decent, but weak against the rush. We are 6-6 all-time versus our chief division rivals.

Denver comes out with a surprise long pass to open things up. They catch us off guard but we find our feet and stop them. A face mask penalty on Denver knocks them out of field goal range. It will be another heated battle I think.

Nichols starts with a 10 yard scramble, himself. Sampson then turns a 2 yard dump into a 16 yard gain, showing why he thinks he should be starting. Things turn sour though on a sack that Nichols fumbles. Denver gets the ball at our 35. They use their tight ends to exploit our middle, ending up with an easy looking touchdown and a 7-0 lead in front of their home fans.

The Mountaineers are expecting the pass from us and so Nichols is forced to work the short game. Our guys make it work, turning tiny passes into big gains though. Youssef catches one for 16 yards against their run D to get us good position, and Fulton gets us a first down inside the redzone. Nichols then finds Hiscock out of the backfield for a 16 yard seam pass for a TD to tie it up.

We're calling a bad game on defense and they're able to move on us again. We hold them to a field goal as the first quarter winds down. Three and out and we give them another chance at it. They're moving right down the field until we finally make a big play. Standafer knocks the ball loose and Browning recovers it. I need Nichols to get a score here, and he starts it off with a 13 yard scramble. A couple of runs don't do much but Bratton earns his paycheck pulling in a first down catch in double coverage. Hiscock follows with two receptions and Vanaqs takes a big run to get us first and goal at the one. Vanaqs punches it in to make it 14-10.

Denver comes right back at us, Forbes hauling in a 22 yarder for his 5th catch. He fumbles it though and Sheldon comes up with it. With the short field we have the chance to stake a considerable lead before the half. Hiscock reels off 11 yards around the end. Fenderson catches one for 13 yards. A sack though, the second allowed by Morris, backs us up. Bratton isn't able to haul in a pass and now it's third and very long. Nichols lofts up a ball that is intercepted, negating the turnover.

The second half starts with Nichols having the ball. Tight end Griffith picks up a key first down catch, impressive for a guy who was only signed this week to fill in for an injury. Griffith picks up a second first down in the same drive, and it's Hiscock who has a big run to get us in the red zone. Youssef hauls in an 11 yard TD to make it 21-10.

Kooiker makes a big interception on their next drive. The Mountaineers are all over Nichols though and he's not able to pick up a first. Our defense is fired up now, and gets some real pressure on Pritchett. Not only that but they knock the ball loose again on a short third down pass, Perrin recovering at the 21. Vanaqs ends up with the 1 yard TD to make it 28-10 with 13 minutes left in the game. Now my defense has their pressure on. Not only does Denver quickly punt it back but several penalties help us out as they're getting frazzled.

They're not able to get a score, and end up going over on downs with five minutes left. Harris Tripplet makes his first appearance of the season I think to replace Nichols as the Tornadoes rush their way to another touchdown, Hiscock getting it on a 13 yard run. That ices the game and our next possession we clear out the clock on a 12 yard run by Hiscock.

That last run gave Hiscock 93 yards on the day, though I'd say his running was only so-so. That and his 49 yards receiving, plus two touchdowns, earns him player of the game. Bratton only caught one pass today for probably his least productive game of the year.

Meanwhile on D we gave up a lot of passing to Irv Pritchett, but did pick him off twice. In addition we forced another four fumbles, recovering three. Our defense has been dangerous like that these last few games.

We've cemented our division title and #1 seed, Kansas City the next team behind us at 10-4. In the AFC Richmond (12-2) and Boston (11-3) remiain the chief combatants, the same two teams that faced off in the AFC Championship last year. Disappointedly, the New Orleans Jazz are 7-7. I hold their first round pick and was hoping they would tank.

Omaha Tornadoes 35, Denver Mountaineers 10

Week 16 Buffalo

We finish off the season with a two game home stand. Buffalo is 5-9, possessors of a pretty dismal passing attack led by Sean McGregor, and a very mediocre running game. Their defense is also near last in every category. Still, it's a classic trap game and we need to bring our game.

Things start off just as the home crowd likes, three and out by the Blizzard and an easy drive for a touchdown by the Tornadoes. Things look to continue the same until Nichols throws an untimely interception during a grinding drive. Buffalo tries to take advantage but look out of it on 3rd and 17. Rooking running back LaBrosse breaks out a 24 yard run to surprise us. That gives them a spark and they drive into our red zone. A 17 yard touchdown pass ties them up at 7-7.

Nichols keeps cool, letting Hiscock pick up 16 yards on his next carry. A pass to Bratton gets batted down, but Nichols catches them on the next play sleeping as he scrambles for 15 yards. That makes them cautious and he hits Bratton for 12 yards next. Hiscock has a 12 yard run himself, then 6 through the air. A 17 yard pass play on third down gets Hiscock to the 2, and Machen catches the short TD pass.

Buffalo drives into scoring range under the two minute warning. They score with a minute and 45 in the half, to make it 14-14. Nichols doesn't want to leave it at that, hitting Fenderson for 29 yards. Bratton picks up 15 himself. Now it's Youssef for 14 and we're on the 8 with 20 seconds left. We hit the field goal before the half to give us a 17-14 advantage.

The second half starts the same, with the Tornadoes driving effectively, quickly getting within scoring range. We settle for the field goal, and a 20-14 lead. We trade punts for most of the third. Buffalo mounts a long drive that creeps into the fourth quarter. They manage a field goal out of it to make it 20-17. Fenderson picks up a key first down next drive, picking up 25 yards. Bratton has another to get us to midfield. We call the plays well, catching them in the wrong D. Hiscock gets us in the red zone with a 14 yard run. Fulton gets us to the 4 yard line. Nichols is the one to score, scrambling it in to go up 27-17.

Buffalo comes right back driving on us. We need the D to make a big play instead of just giving up yard after yard. It doesn't happen though, we give up the TD and it's a three point game with three minutes left.

Bratton gets us to the 47 to start. We don't get much further though, punting it to the 5 yard line with less than two minutes left. The D makes four nice plays, finally, and we get the ball on downs. We top off the scoring with a last field goal to end the game.

That game was closer than it should have been. Our pass defense really is rather porous. As can be seen my Buffalo QB McGregor winning player of the game with his 26 of 38 for 265 yards and 3 TDs performance. Nichols was a more pedestrian 19 of 27 for 257 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. Nichols posts nearly the same numbers game in, game out. it's remarkable.

Hiscock had 88 yards and Vanaqs chimed in with 47 against a poor run D. The defense didn't provide any turnovers, the difference between this game and the last few. Carl Haber keyed the running game with 4 KRB.

Boston and Richmond are tied up at 12-3, meaning this last game could decide the #1 seed in their conference. Here in the NFC, Pittsburgh is only one game ahead of Indianapolis and Cincinnati in their division, making this week key. The same with Portland and Seattle in the West Coast division. Kansas City has a Wild card slot locked up behind us, but Denver has to duke it out at 9-6.

Omaha Tornadoes 30, Buffalo Blizzard 24

Week 17 Kansas City

It's division rival Kansas City that closes off our regular season. Neither of us have anything to play for anymore, but 63,000 show up to watch us play. Chances are good we could meet in the conference championship. Kansas City delivered us our one defeat this season, and I'm not sure we can let them sweep us. I don't like to take the foot off the gas pedal, but injuries are a worry here. Nearly all of our cornerbacks are limping in one way or another. The Cowboys have had a key injury to Mersky, their star running back. They've filled in well with 2nd round rookie Darryl Wheeler.

We start off with a great kickoff return to our 50. Nichols to Bratton is the first call of the day, for 15 yards. That's how our good games usually start. Youssef contributes with a big catch on third and 10. Two sacks though end our drive, and we settle for the three pointer.

KC in turn starts on their 5. They go three and out and we start at midfield again. We're still not able to do more than a field goal, and Bercich finally misses one. A big 20 yard pass sparks KC and they're able to drive into our red zone. They score and are up 7-3. Things turn immediately sour as we fumble the ensuing kickoff and they return the fumble for another TD and a 14-3 lead.

We trade punts and then Hiscock sparks us with a 14 yard run, followed by a 7 yarder. That opens things up for Nichols who hits Youssef for 19 yards. Hiscock has another 7and then Youssef another 18. We're playing their defense just right. Hiscock picks up 5 on a run and then Fenderson picks up a 15 yard catch to get us first and goal. Fulton is the one to catch the TD pass and make it 14-10, KC. That's the score at the half.

Kooiker finally makes a big defensively play, picking off Lonnie Bush and returning it 48 yards for a TD in the third quarter. That makes it 17-14, but we follow it immediately with another huge defensive play, Dillon sacking Bush and knocking the ball loose. Paschal picks it up and runs it back 19 yards for a score and a 24-14 lead. This is where our defense likes to be, and they easily force a three and out next possession.

Nichols would like to put the game away, and goes long to Bratton but doesn't connect. Next play he tries the same thing to Youssef but he gets picked off by KC corner Sam Barge, an Omaha draft pick playing nickel for KC. That gives KC the chance to make something happen. Bush is trying to make too much happen as well, and they have to settle for the field goal.

In turn Nichols and company lead us on a long drive for a touchdown, making it 31-17. There's still a quarter to play, but we've clearly cemented our record breaking scoring season. Bratton picks up a nice pass on the next drive, but Sam Barge stops us on 3rd and long to show us he had the right stuff.

We're playing prevent defense now and that works about as well as you'd expect. They end up scoring on a 20 yard pass to make it a 7 yard game.

Nichols hits second week Tornado Griffiths for 11 yards, and then TE Hergett for 15. He's determined to put the game away, scrambling for a first down himself as the fourth quarter winds down. Hiscock picks up a 13 yard TD run before the two minute warning to make it 38-24. We sack KC on the next possession and knock the ball loose. Vanaqs picks us up a first down to end the game, and the regular season.

It's a convincing win against the one team that beat us in a 15-1 season, our second in two years. A nice running day by Hiscock and Vanaqs, 81 and 49 yards respectively. Youssef was the main receiver with 6 catches for 75. Bratton was a quiet 4 for 54 yards. Three turnovers forced by the defense gave us 14 points directly, making up for Bercich's poor 1/3 kicking. DE Kelly Dillon was player of the game with 6 tackles, 2 sacks, a block and a hurry.

Boston and Richmond both won and so I'm not sure who grabbed top seed. Birmingham at 11-4 and Detroit at 9-7 round out the top teams in the AFC. Pittsburgh meanwhile won and claimed their division, which was bad news for 9-7 Cincinnati who have to stay home. My division posted three playoff teams, with the 11-5 Cowboys and the 10-6 Mountaineers claiming both wild card spots this year. The playoffs will include some very familiar foes.

Omaha Tornadoes 38, Kansas City 24

Regular Season Wrapup

Two 15-1 seasons in a row, obviously the best play this young league has seen. However, this team knows nothing will mean a thing until they have that championship trophy they let slip away last year. Still, let's look at some accomplishments.

No team has ever scored more than the 1925 Omaha Tornadoes. Last season we led the league and tied the all-time record with 26.6 points per game. This year we obliterated the record, scoring an average of 34 points per game. Nolan Bercich, on the way to that team scoring record, set the league record with 37 field goals in one season, as well as with his 173 points scored. Earl Bratton set a record himself with 587 punt return yards in a year, breaking a record held since 1920.

Other teams passed more than us, notably the Cleveland Hammers who broke a record for pass attempts. Other teams ran for more, including the Birmingham Rebels who notched over 2,000 yards running between their backs. The Tornadoes though led in yardage gained, third down conversions and came close to the top in yards per attempt, completion percentage, passing yards and rushing yards.

Nichols had a similar season to last year's MVP performance, notching 31 TDs and only 13 interceptions, throwing for 3,866 yards. However his completion percentage was down and he was eclipsed by both Birmingham QB Albert Humphrey, with a 99.6 QB rating, and Richmond's Corey Money who led the league with 32 TD passes.

Hiscock barely hit 1,000 yards in a fairly disappointing rushing season. However he dominated scoring, notching 13 rushing TDs and 5 receiving ones. Nichols added another 500 crucial rushing yards for our team.

Earl Bratton did not have the dominating season I thought he might. 82 catches for 1,106 yards and 8 TDs is nothing to sneeze at, and it's certainly the best receiving season in Omaha history. Nichols however spread the ball out, hitting four receivers for more than 40 catches. Bratton had one totally dominating performance, three 100 yard games total and quite a few very quiet games. Meanwhile The Earl totally dominated the return field, averaging 15.1 yards per punt return, leading the league, and coming in 4th with 27.8 yards per kick return. In contrast our special teams only allowed 18.8 yards per kick return, lowest in the league, and 4.1 yards per punt return, second lowest in the league. The difference was a HUGE factor in putting up 34 points per game.

Kelly Dillon notched a respectable 13 sack season, Greer behind him with 10. Freddie Paschal was probably our star defensive layer posting a 83.3 pass defense percentage. Meanwhile Dave Burnett earned the dunce cap for nearly leading the league in catches allowed with 55. This for a guy who only started 6 games. Way to earn a pink slip.

Benjamin Youssef performed well at SE, catching 63 balls for 832 yards and 7 TDs. The second year player continues to surprise, coming on late in his rookie year off the inactive list to grab the starting spot in his second year. The WR who was 35/46 precamp is now rated 55/55 at the end of the season and gives us receiving tandem that's hard to beat (though league scouts consider Richmond to have the better one.)

Contenders for league MVP have to include Albert Humphrey. The Birmingham QB put up 3,573 yards on extremely accurate passing, 68% completion percentage and only throwing 2 interceptions all year in 523 attempts. That was the perfect complement to Birmingham's running game. Boston running back Ray Gist was run hard this year, with 416 rushes for 1,588 yards. That led the league but several backs had better years, I think, including Lee Lu of the Showboats with 1,444 yards plus anohter 478 receiving, or Portland rookie Reuben Parton who got his team to the playoffs with 1,313 yards on a 4.53 average and 11 TDs.
Receivers had a big year also, though. Clock Brancy of the Atlanta Bootleggers led the league with 1,557 yards on 115 catches, far more than anyone else. Mario Skiffington posted 1,400 yards himself on 97 receptions. Gene Pritchett of the Stars led the league in YPC though with 1,343 yards on only 79 catches.

Not a big year for sacks, Brant West leading the league with 16.5 and another 31 hurries. Antonio Sigrest led the league in picks, with 9 for Birmingham, and another 21 passes defended.

[Autumn]

[Autumn]

Wild Card Round

In the National conference, our division mates Kansas City and Denver are the two wild card teams, despite having better records than the rest of the conference.

In Dallas, the 9-7 Rangers are hosting the 11-5 Kansas City Cowboys. The Rangers have a mediocre running game behind 2nd year back Lenny Griffith. Their passing game is led by 6 year veteran Darnell Huffman. Their only statistical highlight is some good yards per attempt and catch and that is mostly due to star wide receiver Van Rankinen, 4th all time in receiving yards. He averaged almost 17 yards a catch, but had an abysmal 43.7 catch rate this year. Really, the Rangers are only because they won a weak division, barely beating out two .500 division rivals. Kansas City meanwhile has a productive rushing attack behind Wheeler and Billie Joe Gadget, a sixth year QB having his best season in Lonnie Bush and a dangerous receiver in 4th year man Ricky Hanks. The defense is keyed by a host of fairly good rushers, and Herb McGinty at cornerback, a very talented 2nd year player who had 22 passes defended this year.

Despite the difference in records, Dallas plays like the home team, dominating the game with a devastating rushing game. Lenny Griffith gets 119 yards and his backup is right behind him piling on anohter 92. Van Rankinen is a non-factor as the Rangers rushing attack puts them up 14-0 going into the fourth quarter. The Cowboys meanwhile did nothing on the ground and Lonnie Bush had an abysmal day trying to win it through the air. I'm glad to see a tough division rival go down.

Dallas Rangers 14, Kansas City Cowboys 7

In Portland the 10-6 Eruption will be hosting the 10-6 Denver Mountaineers. Portland is a genuinely dangerous offense, with RB Reuben Parton putting up 1,313 yards on a 4.53 average, and scoring 11 TDs. Meanwhile long-time Portland QB Jared Eden had his best year throwing for 3,665 yards and 24 TDs. The Portland defense is not good as a unit, despite having a good pass rusher in Darryl Briceland (13.5 sacks, 24 hurries) and a beast in the middle with Curtis Subramarnian (123 tackles). Their secondary is very weak. Denver will try to take advantage of that, though Irv Pritchett's passing game is rather one dimensional, targeting star receiver Rob Forbes and then featuring a lot of dump-offs to the running back tandem of Reeves and Guzkowski. Denver's advantage comes in their defense, which is weak against the run but very stiff against the pass and produces a lot of turnovers.

It is not a pretty game in Portland as neither offense is able to produce anything at all all game, Denver setting a playoff record by holding the Eruption to only 32 yards on the ground. The Mountaineers don't do any better though and are shut out in the end. Jared Eden's lone first quarter touchdown pass ends up the difference in a game where he went on to throw three picks.

Portland Eruption 7, Denver Mountaineers 0

In the American conference, I'm disturbed to see the 8-8 New Orleans Jazz picked up a wild card spot (since I hold their draft pick). They'll however be facing the 11-4 Birmingham Rebels in a very tough contest. The Jazz are leaning on rookie #1 pick Frank Todd at QB who leads the league in nothing but pass attempts, but still got the Jazz to those 8 surprising wins after a dismal season last year. Their pass defense has kept them in games, only allowing a 55.8 completion percentage. There aren't a lot of stars here, and we'll have to commend new head coach Dominic Tucker for getting them this far. in the Rebels they face one of the best teams this season, featuring the strongest running game in the league. Oliver Stephens scored 11 TDs on the ground while racking up 1,254 yards. That would be tough enough for an opponent but QB Albert Humphrey also racked up the highest QB rating in the league with a careful pass attack that led the league in completion percentage, gave up the lowest turnovers in the league and allowed the lowest pass defense to opponents.

The Jazz's surprise season ends here as Birmingham holds on against a second half surge to secure the win. There was little rushing game sighted in this game, and Birmingham held the edge going 20 of 29 through the air versus Todd's 22 of 47 and a pick. The Jazz held Oliver Stephens to an abysmal 21 yards on 20 rushes, but Humphrey racked up two TDs and a 115.9 QB rating. They're the dangerous ones in these playoffs so far.

Birmingham Rebels 20, New Orleans Jazz 13

New York picked up the other wild card slot for only their second playoff visit ever. They have a decent defense paired with a dink and dunk offense. They're in turn paired against playoff royalty, the 9-7 Detroit Wheels who have never missed the playoffs in the six years of this league. The Wheels have a potent rushing attack with Deon Crowder, who also is a good target in the air. But more importantly they have the league's best pass defense and are second in takeaways. Brant West led the league in sacks at defensive end, and Patrick Kaplan led the league in pass defense percentage at safety. Two clear Pro Bowlers that lead a tough unit.

New York dominates the second half to come up with a wild card win against the Wheels. A four minute, 93 yard drive that put them ahead by 7 with 19 seconds left won the game. Sutter passed efficiently against the normally tough Wheels defense including going 6 of 6 for 87 yards on the final drive.

New York Yankees 17, Detroit Wheels 10

Divisional Round

Birmingham showed they're one of the more dangerous teams in the playoffs, but now they must go on the road and see if they can beat the 13-3 Boston Minutemen. The Minutemen rush more than any team in the league, pounding second year man Ray Gist to the tune of 416 carries this year. Their run game isn't particularly effective but it seems to allow them a very effective play action passing game, first in yards per attempt and catch. On defense they feature the best pass rush in the game, with defensive end Shapiro picking up 13 sacks and tackle Lincoln Prior tallying 15.5. Meanwhile they accumulated 83 hurries between their four rushers.

Boston proves their regular season record was not fluke, putting up a 17-0 lead in the first and punching in a fourth quarter TD to secure the win. QB Phillip Bennett hardly had to work, only posting 112 yards. Ray Gist was the man of the hour, accumulating 192 yards on 26 runs, including a 41 yard TD in the fourth quarter. You can't ask more than that. The Boston defense rose to the occasion also, putting together 6 sacks, 3 blocked passes, 10 hurries and 7 knockdowns. Albert Humphrey, the coolest QB in the league just couldn't do much in the face of that pressure.

Boston Minutemen 24, Birmingham Rebels 13

The New York Yankees pulled off a win but now are heading to Richmond to face the reigning champion Cavaliers. Richmond is just all around good, coming in second in points per game and second in points allowed. They lead the league in takeaways and were third in pass defense. Corey Money racked up 32 touchdowns through the air. If they have a weakness it's a poor running game but it hasn't slowed them down, former Tornadoes coach of the year taking the Cavaliers to a 13-3 record.

New York held in it for a half but couldn't contain the Cavaliers in the second. Corey Money continued his remarkable season, throwing 26 of 34 for 289 yards and 3 TDs. The Yankees just couldn't get it done against the superior team.

Richmond Cavaliers 34, New York Yankees 21

Portland won a slugfest and now they're ready for anohter one in Pittsburgh. The Steelers pulled off a 10-6 season behind a good defense, number one in points allowed this season. Don't make mistakes on offense, stifle them on defense, that's their plan.

Portland puts the lie to that vaunted Steel Curtain. Reuben Parton gained game MVP honors by rushing for 157 yards on 25 carries, singlehandedly dismantling the Steelers defense. 24 second half points including a crucial 10 in the fourth quarter were too much for the Steelers and their relatively anemic offense, though Richie Brady did post 239 yards.

Portland Eruption 27, Pittsburgh Steelers 12

We draw the Dallas Rangers after our bye week. The Rangers showed a very dangerous rushing attack in their wild card game. But we get a real break when I check out their scouting report and see that Van Rankinen, their best player and star receiver is out with a broken wrist. That's going to severely limit what they can do and help my game plan.

The game starts with a three and out on their side, and a six and out on ours. We get stuffed on third down but manage to pin them at the one yard line with the punt. And what a pin it is, as the next play Halley and Greer tackle Idonije in the endzone for a safety and the first score. 2-0.

Roughing the kicker after a good stop give the Rangers new life and they move to the red zone as the second quarter starts. Holding takes away a touchdown pass from them and they end up settling for the field goal to make it 3-2. Dallas is playing us pretty tough on defense but finally in the second quarter we put together a long drive, picking up first and goal at the 8. Youssef drops a touchdown pass but Bratton catches the next and we're up 9-3.

Mack Halley makes the stuff to hold them to three and out and get us the ball again in the half. Youssef and Fenderson advance us to midfield at the two minute warning, and then Youssef breaks free for 21 yards on the next catch. Fenderson catches one for 14, and then Fulton for 17 and the score before the one minute mark, 16-3.

The second half starts with a 60+ kickoff return from Bratton, starting us off at their 33 yard line. Vanaqs follows that with a 14 yard fun, knowing that they're expecting Nichols to chuck it. On third and five it's third week man TE Griffith who makes the 8 yard catch to get us to the 6. Two plays later Nichols scrambles for a touchdown and we're up 23-3.

It's starting to smell like a blowout as we quickly get the ball back and drive the length of the field. Youssef breaks free again, picking up 15 yards after the catch to get us to the four yard line where Vanaqs punches it in. 30-3. Youssef's 23 yarder on the next drive ruins their chances at a quick turnaround and allows us to continue to run out the clock. We add a field goal to make it 33-3 before they get it back. The Rangers pick up some first downs by running instead of passing, but they're wasting precious minutes on the clock. They manage a field goal out of it, but have less than five minutes left as they make it 33-6. They try the same on the next possession, seemingly giving up on making a play at this game. They catch a break when their wide receiver breaks a tackle and runs in a short pass for a long touchdown, making it 33-13 with 30 seconds left.

This is a game where the stats miss a lot. Hiscock picked up 62 yards and Vanaqs 53, and though their averages look bad that is due to nursing a lead for the whole second half. They really did a great job in this game. Meanwhile the Dallas runners picked up nasty looking yardage, but most of it was junk runs in the fourth quarter.

Nichols was his typical 20 of 29 for 237 yards and 2 TDs. I realized his yardage numbers are never flashy partly because he usually has the game sewed up two or three quarters in. Youssef was the star of the show, having a coming out party of sorts with 7 catches for 104 yards, only the second 100 yard game of his career. Bratton was a quiet 2 for 14 yards and one TD. His long kick return helped a lot though.

Omaha Tornadoes 33, Dallas Rangers 13

[Autumn]

Conference Championships

Portland has made it this far on a balanced game on offense, featuring 1300 yard rusher Reuben Parton and 3,600 yard passer Jared Eden. Their defense has not done well statistically but they shut out Denver in the playoffs and held Pittsburgh to 12 points. The game looks to be rainy and that may favor the Eruption who can rely on their ground game when need be. Defensive ends Briceland and Henson will be trying to get in Nichols face all day while Curtis Subramanian mans the middle of the field.

The crowd is crazy in Omaha as the game starts out, despite the rain. That sparks the team and we start off with a crushing tackle on the kickoff return, followed by Fleming batting a pass away. Portland quiets things down with some running plays however and the game starts in earnest. Our pass rush is on top of Eden in a big way, I don't ever remember them starting a game off so hot. They get us the ball back and Nichols quickly sparks the crowd with a 21 yarder to Fulton. His 11 yard scramble on 3rd and 9 gets us to the redzone, and he runs for another first down to the three. From there he simply runs it in for the score making it 7-0.

We get the ball right back, our defense keeping Eden to 2 of 10 passing so far. Hiscock pounds it at them, Nichols scrambling for another crucial first down. The running game gets us there, but it's Bratton who hauls in the score, double covered in the endzone for a 12 yard TD and a 14-0 lead.

Eden finally connects on a long pass on third down to get the Eruption some momentum. From there they effectively drive into the endzone and suddenly Eden has some confidence and a 14-7 game. Hiscock's not prepare to go down quietly though, and neither is Fenderson who catches a 19 yarder to get us to midfield. Hiscock springs free for a 17 yard pass and now the Portland players on on their heels. We get to the 1, and while a penalty backs us up Nichols connects anyway with Fulton for the TD pass and a 21-7 lead that we bring into the locker room.

Portland plays us well enough to force us to punt twice in the third. We get our break though when Machen forces a fumble on the punt return and Haber recovers. With a short field at their 33, we drive to the 11 but they stop us there, and we settle for the 24-7 lead. Portland appears to find their rhythm now as the fourth quarter begins, and they make it to our redzone where a big play gets them to the four. Two big stuffs and then a sack keep them from scoring though and they settle for three points, and a 24-10 game.

Hiscock comes right back at them, Fulton following up with a 25 yard gain on a short pass. That gets us close enough for another field goal. Portland is now playing desperate and they give us the ball over on downs at midfield. They're lining up to stuff our running game though, so they will get some more chances. They're backed up by penalties to their own five, and they regrettably decide to go for it on fourth down. Paschal makes the play and now we take over. Their goal line D is tough when they know we're running but we get the field goal and make it 30-10 with three minutes left. We get the ball back after anohter set of downs and soon we're dropping to a knee

Edwin Nichols may have picked up the game MVP, and he did throw for 2 touchdowns and rush for 33 yards, a TD and several first downs. But it was Artie Hiscock who really deserved the award, doing all the work on this rainy day, picking up 107 yards on the ground. With only a long gain of 9 he was doing it all in 4-8 yard bunches, and Nichols was only required to keep drives alive with a scramble or a timely throw. Nichols went 18 of 23 for 151 yards, Fulton picking up 61 yards on 5 catches.

The vaunted Portland rushing attack couldn't do anything against our front seven today, Parton going for 16 yards on 10 rushes after his 100 yard outing last week. Eden finally found some success at the end of the game but still ended up 22 of 51. We only sacked him once, but blocked 5 passes and hurried him 13 times. Meanwhile the secondary defended 10 passes. The only success he had was against our SLB, our nickel back gave up no catches, with three defended passes.

Our O line were perhaps the real players of the game. They gave up no sacks and only two hurries, and meanwhile put together 14 KRB in the game.

Omaha Tornadoes 30, Portland Eruption 10

It comes down to this, the two best teams in the American Conference meeting up. Both 13-3 in the regular season, Boston and Richmond missed each other last season after the Detroit Wheels knocked off the Minutemen. This time the Minutemen believe in the leadership of their once backup QB, Philip Bennett. The Cavaliers meanwhile believe in Corey Money, and who wouldn't, the guy has only been matched by Edwin Nichols himself in these last two seasons, putting together a 27-9 record. This may be the year he gets the MVP over Nichols, and he already has the one thing Nichols wants, a Championship ring.

I have to admit I was eyeing the scoreboard during the game, watching this game, especially as it became clear we were heading for the championship. The league wanted the storybook rematch, Richmond vs. Omaha, out for revenge. And it seemed clear that was what we were getting, seeing Richmond leading 17-0 in the third quarter and Boston barely having a yard, let alone a point. Boston was not about to let things go that easy though, as it turned out, and they poured on 24 fourth quarter points of their own, including a field goal that tied up the game and sent it to over time. Richmond might have been reeling from 17 unanswered points on their home turf but they kept it close, both teams punting in overtime until Boston kicked the winning field goal on the fourth possession of OT after a 8 play, 58 play drive.

Corey Money was the story for Richmond, setting a league record with 410 yards, three Richmond wide receivers accumulating 140, 99 and 85 yards respectively. His was not only the first 400 yard passing performance in playoff history, it was the only 400 yard passing game in league history. Money threw for three TDs, but two interceptions also, both in the second half and leading to 10 Boston points.

Bennett for Boston threw two picks also, managing 259 yards on 22 of 45 passing. His main receiver was Gene Tuman who picked up 121 yards and a TD. It was Ray Gist again who gave them the spark with 92 yards on 13 runs, and 2 TDs. Boston's D also accumulated 4 sacks and 3 hurries against Money, as well as 7 passes defensed. I'm a little sorry not to see Richmond again, as I'd love to settle that score. But Boston made clear that they've got the fight to be champions. And frankly, I like seeing Money get one more loss on his record, cementing Nichols on the top of the all-time winning percentage column. So far.

Boston Minutemen 27, Richmond Cavaliers 24 (OT)

[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

[Izulde]

Congrats!