The Blazin' Bees | A Front Office Football MP Dynasty

[arton86]

2028 Preseason updates
present day

Prescott out for oreseason
Starting cornerback Mitchell Prescott underwent an emergency appendectomy on the eve of the 2028 exhibition season, forcing the Bees to shuffle their game-1 lineups.

It's possible Prescott will be able to return in one of the later games, but unless coaches judge him to need some rust-cleaning, he might just be kept under wraps until the opener.

SMD 21, UTA 6
Randy Boone completed 8-of-10 passes in his first two drives, but the Utah run game struggled mightily in a preseason loss to the South Maryland Jaguars.

2nd-year RB Michael Glenn — now the presumptive starter with Ryan Green's departure — gained just 14 yards on 9 attempts. He was stuffed on a number of plays, and lost an additional two yards on 2 catches.

The Bees' second round pick from last year, corner Bobby Plantilla, is fairing a little better. He's looking to build on a strong rookie campaign, and came up with another interception.

UTA 24, (at) MOR 27

As is tradition, Utah kept out all starters starting with their second preseason game, and the 2nd-team offense at least did a solid job of keeping up with the Morgantown Maniacs.

RBs Seth Meier and Trent Adams carried the load today, combining for 99 yards on 26 carries and no fumbles. Encouraging, but nothing special.

The day belonged to the 3rd-string quarterback for the Bees, Brent Patten, who went 13-for-15 for 159 yards and 2 scores (1 INT). He finished with a 122.7 rating.

Vandersommen signs
11th-year WR Hunter Vandersommen's holdout has ended, with a slight adjustment on his deal that gives Vandersommen a little more guaranteed money in the remainder of his deal, and signed in time to catch 5 passes for 83 yards in pre-2.

From this point forward, the two primary situations to monitor in the preseason will be the development of Utah's young and unknown RBs, and injuries. So far, the Bees haven't had anything more than some bumps and bruises.

[arton86]

Trade sends WR Sidharta to Boston
present day (2028)

After three preseason games, the Bees' top receiver is headed to Boston.

Picked in the 1st round by the New Orleans Stingrays, Bryan Sidharta arrived in Utah in 2026 as part of a swap for the slightly older Colin Fletcher.

Fletcher was by no means old, and had been a key weapon in Utah's arsenal for years opposite Alvin Foley. The Bees acquired an extra 3rd round pick in the process, and got younger.

The Bees have gotten disappointing return for parting with Fletcher; Sidharta's first season in Utah was largely lost due to injury, and Hunter Vandersommen pushed him to the slot and reduced playing time in his second, all despite some pretty solid productivity.

Utah will lose one of its favored locker room presences, and Sidharta will count $6M against the cap next season, in 2029, which is a burden the Bees don't need.

This is a puzzling move in many respects, given what the Bees got back — a 2031 1st and a 2029 7th — is hardly close to market value for premier receivers. But head coach Sam Conlan and the Utah staff must feel they are OK without him both in the present (with the aging Foley and Vandersommen) and going forward (possibly with names like Chester Haddix or the newly-acquired Shane Littlefield).

This could now be a breakout year for TE Edwin Blades, the third-year man and backup tight end who's a matchup nightmare, but hasn't been featured yet in an offense centered around WRs.

More Preseason Updates: Boston 17, Utah 13

3rd-string quarterback Brent Patten shined once more, this time in extended action against the Boston Fighting Irish, the team that shortly afterward announced the acquisition of Utah's top receiver.

Patten went 17-for-33 for 246 yards, 1 TD, and no interceptions, despite running the 2nd-string offense against a collection of Boston starters.

The Bees may finally have found a spark in their running game, with Gilbert Money flashing some of that 4.40 speed in his 15 carries for 79 yards. Money also added a 27 yard catch-and-run that resulted in the lone UTA TD of the day.

Patten's go-to target was rookie TE Marty Blake, which has come as a bit of a surprise. Blake is widely viewed as a longshot to make the final roster, but he does have a compelling case if the Bees should choose to carry more than 2 TEs.

Upcoming!: taking the weekend off, but we'll return with the '22 season outcome as well as injury developments from the preseason finale, if any.

[arton86]

2028 Preseason conclusion
present day

The Bees finished the preseason unscathed, which is always a blessing, but without anyone landing on IR, it puts the squeeze on the roster bubble.

RB Seth Meier, TE Marty Blake, C Jerald Henry, T Gene Sinclair, DT Doug Hopkins, DT Omar McWilliams, and CB Adam O'Neill were the players who didn't make the cut this year.

Utah concluded the preseason with two trades that brought in the final and only two nose tackles to make the regular season roster: 12th-year Kurt Lee, a former #1 overall and a career star in constantly struggling St. Paul, and 3rd-year Dexter Fike, who is a little more of a pass rusher than Doug Hopkins, but a similar player overall.

It's a tough drop for Hopkins, who was traded for to secure the future at NT a few years ago, and is now released outright after failing to impress during his time in Utah.

[arton86]

The 2022 Regular Season
[archive] six seasons ago

The talent landscape in the OSFL is cyclical, and in 2022, the offense held the upper hand. Before wave after wave of stellar defensive backs entered the league, a combination of quarterbacks and receivers wrought devastation upon secondaries left and right.

It was, for many, their finest hour.

Gainesville's Frank Erickson came out of nowhere to finish the year as the league's top passer, nearing 5000 yards and throwing 42 TDs (to just 12 INTs). He wouldn't come close in any category in any of his next three seasons with the Gaels, eventually losing his job.

Boone's 117.5 passer rating in 2022 also stands far and away as his personal best. He could hardly throw an incompletion, and with few exceptions, demolished teams from the first game to his last.

The Giang Era Begins

The Utah front office had shopped for a running back all offseason long, after narrowing missing future star Roger Salinger (Morgantown) in the first round of the draft.

Finally, in Week 4, a deadline-cutting blockbuster landed the Bees Earnest Giang, a 6th year back and former top 5 pick. Giang was explosive and a regular feature in the Port City passing game, but underutilized as a runner — averaging just 16.3 carries a game (he averaged 21.6 in five seasons with Utah).

The Bees were not doing terribly in their early season experimentation with a committee. Free-agent find Ronald Harrow was a capable playmaker, and Herman Woods succeeded Ken Schacht seamlessly as the team's breakaway threat.

In Giang, though, Utah had the whole package. Strength, power, hands, Giang was the epitome of franchise back and gave the Bees a second player who could single-handedly take over games. With Boone already in the midst of the season of his life, it was a deadly combination.

Giang cost the Bees their upcoming first round pick (considered a steep price at the time). However, his friendly contract and tremendous ability meant the Bees suddenly had everything coming together at one time.

Regular Season Standings


For a fanbase whose team hadn't won a playoff game in six years, steamrolling the entire league and wrapping up the conference's #1 seed with two games to go was quite the experience (one Utah wouldn't duplicate until 2027).

Regular Season Statistics

Utah Bees Stats - 2022
Passing	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	YDS/G	LONG	TD	INT	RAT
QB Randy Boone	261/379	3756	9.91	68.9%	80	29	8	117.5
QB Roderick Sikkenga	41/58	396	6.83	70.7%	38	1	0	95.1
Rushing	ATT	YDS	AVG	LONG	20+	TD	YDS/G	FUM
RB Earnest Giang	249	1192	4.79	39		10
RB Herman Woods	123	627	5.10	38		8
RB Ronald Harrow	105	490	4.67	65		5
QB Randy Boone	30	119	3.97	13		2
Receiving	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	20+	YDS/G	YAC
WR Alvin Foley	81-50	974	12.02	9	80	20		433
WR Colin Fletcher	73-46	715	9.79	5	48	10		260
WR Hunter Vandersommen	62-44	530	8.55	3	51	8		166
TE Nate Barlow	46-34	485	10.54	1	34	8		208
TE Mario Bradford	45-32	342	7.60	1	28	3		110
RB Earnest Giang	39-31	355	9.10	5	35	5		190
WR Brock Rosalez	38-25	337	8.87	4	38	6		86
FB Kerry Duran	16-15	220	13.75	2	42	4		92
	Tackles			Sacks		Interceptions
Defense	SOLO	AST	TOT	SACK	HURRY	PD	INT	TD
SLB Norbert Slaten		13	66	2.0	8	6-33	3
SILB Howard Cote		21	65	3.5	1	13-25	2
SS Brent Driscoll		21	58	0	0	7-23	5
WILB Troy Conant		18	52	0	0	0-22	1
FS Chester Foster		13	51	0	0	6-28	4
WLB Carlos Melnick		24	44	13.5	41	0-9	0
ILB Dan Harper		10	38	0	0	5-18	1
CB Quinn Robinette		6	37	0	0	12-36	2
DE Robbie Kerr		4	30	2.5	20	0-1
CB Kevin Cate		9	29	0	0	4-25	1
CB Chuck Horton		6	26	0	0	2-16	0
DE Emmanuel Logan		14	23	7.0	12	0-2	0
CB Stephen Easton		9	21	0	0	3-15	0
WLB Matthew O'Donnell		4	9	2.0	10	2-4	1
DE Junior Bello		7	8	2.0	5	0-2	0
SLB Cole Motz		5	8	1.0	0	0-4	0
	Kickoffs					Punts
Returning	ATT	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD	RET	AVG	TD
CB Stephen Easton						36	13.2	1
WR Brock Rosalez	23	566	24.6		0
S Donnie Berlat	11	259	23.5		0
	Field Goals				Extra Points
Kicking	FGM	FGA	PCT	LONG	XPM	XPA	PCT	50+ ATT
K Troy Parrish	34	37	91.9%	53	56	56	100.0%	5
Punting	PUNTS	YDS	LONG	AVG	NET	BP	IN20	TB
P Matt Russ	59	2693	64	45.6	37.7		18
K Troy Parrish	8	267	43	33.4	28.5		4

Upcoming: The 2022 playoff run, and the ending of that 6-year playoff win drought!

[MrRudy]

Wow, 14-2! Clearly adding Giang gave your squad the balance you needed to put it all together. Looking forward to the playoffs

[arton86]

One of those losses was with the 2nd team, too!

PLAYOFFS | 2022

After the we'll-never-know 2020 playoffs (in which the Bees were without their just-injured quarterback, Randy Boone) and the near miss of 2021, the Utah team itself was pretty far removed from their era of playoff frustration. Coaching changes, roster makeover, and time had healed some of those distractions, but nonetheless, a team can't play like a winner until they've been one.

Even if they do hold home field advantage throughout.

Divisional round: Ohio valley showboats

The Bees put on a convincing performance, jumping out to a 28-0 lead in the first half before hanging on for the W — their first in the playoffs since 2015.

In the early going, it was the backups show, as 2nd-string RB Herman Woods made the first two Utah scores, and slot receiver Hunter Vandersommen provided the third. With dead-weight veterans like Marvin Daluiso gone, Vandersommen finally emerged as the versatile 3rd receiving weapon the Front Office had hoped for in acquiring him two seasons prior.

Boone was a flawless 21-for-30 for 241 yards, 1 TD, and no interceptions. Alvin Foley carried the receivers mostly on his own, with 7 catches for 102 yards.

Earnest Giang was a steadying presence, with 104 yards on 27 carries and 2 catches for 45 yards. Herman Woods' relief running was more than solid though, as the backup notched 49 on 9.

The second-half whimper should do little to dampen the resolve of the New Bees, who finally have some laurels to rest on after being bowl favorites for most of the year. Ohio Valley's Walter Andrews is one of the elite quarterbacks in the league, and he has some big weapons at his disposal.

Utah 28, Ohio Valley 16

Conference championships: Punxsutawney phils

One week after facing Andrews, the Bees defense got another stiff test in Robert McGettigan. McGettigan and Andrews were #2 and #3 in the OSFL at this time, behind only Columbus's Bobby Tubbs, and probably only because they didn't have quite the supporting cast.

The defense did more than rise up to the occasion, though. The entire team welcomed the Phils into Salt Lake and utterly demolished them.

Earnest Giang exploded for 171 yards on 29 carries. Randy Boone redefined flawless by throwing for 345 yards, 4 TDs, and no INTs on a 21-for-29 day with no sacks. #2 TE Mario Bradford exploited matchups with abandon and led all receivers in yards with 118 on 5 receptions; Colin Fletcher led in receptions with 6 for 79.

Hunter Vandersommen scored another touch and finished with 3 targets, 3 catches, and 87 yards.

The Bees literally scored at will, while McGettigan had a completely forgettable day, complete with two costly interceptions on otherwise drivin' drives. Utah dominated every statistical category, owning the TOP and outgaining PXT, 564-254...and going a maddening 12/15 on 3rd down.

All of a sudden, the Utah Bees are Super Bowl bound!

Utah 38, Punxs 3

The Phils would become Randy Boone's personal playthings for a short while. Meanwhile in the other conference, the Dakota Totems made waves by upsetting Big Bad Columbus — the dynasty of the previous decade — and doing it in style.

The extremely underrated Totems defense intercepted the OSFL's best QB, Bobby Tubbs, 5 times, and won in a blowout few saw coming. For the Bees, avoiding the Columbus beast was to be considered a huge break.

Or was it?


Super bowl: Dakota totems

The aging Totems QB, Roy Parrish, had finished the regular season with more INTs than TDs. The Bees picked him off 3 times and held him to a 61.5 passer rating. You'd think that'd mean good things.

When Utah came out with a 6-yard three-and-out, nobody thought much of it. This had been shaping up to be a defensive brawl from the beginning. The Bees had beat Dakota just 15-7 in the regular season in such a slugfest.

When cornerback Orlando Sampson intercepted Randy Boone and returned it for a pick-six on the next Bees possession, well, it was still early.

Roy Parrish's 63-yard prayer of a pass that landed in receiver Tyrell Pressnall's hands was a confidence shaker, but it was only the second quarter, and the score was 14-3.

Another Boone interception, followed by a 12-play, 78 yard drive that culminated in ex-Bee TE Britt Peters scoring from 4 yards out....at this point, the wheels started to come off.

And boy, did they come off. Utah opened the second half with three drives that totaled 7 plays, -22 yards, and three punts. Time was fast running out, and Boone was unraveling in the spotlight, before everyone's eyes.

By the time the dust finally settled, Boone had attempted 42 passes, with only 17 completions and 187 yards (five were to Hunter Vandersommen, who led the team with 49 yards receiving). He had been sacked 3 times, didn't score, and threw 4 interceptions.

The Totems capped a magical playoff run by successively shutting down — well, more like straight up embarrassing — the hell out of the vaunted passing attacks of the league's two elite teams. Holding Boone to a 14.8 passer rating one-upped their destruction of Tubbs & Columbus Co. one game prior.

It was the ultimate cinderella story. The Bees had by far the most terrifying roster in the league after Giang's addition. The in-game #1 roster rating is a title held by the Bees to this day (although now it's a tie), and the Totems, by most accounts, had very few players of quality on their entire roster, and a couple injured starters on defense.

Yet here they were, not only reigning as champions, but doing so after the total annihilation of the class of the league.

Some say there's a part of Utah head coach Mike Tarr that never recovered from the debacle. And still some say Randy Boone still cowers in fear at the mere mention of 'Dakota', curling up and rolling away from the memories of his very public undressing.

Dakota 30, Utah 6

Upcoming!: Regular season updates from 2028. At some point I'll continue on the history with the 2023 season — and the meteoric rise of in-division Denver as the Bees attempted to pick up the pieces.

[arton86]

2028
present day

Utah Bees 2028 Schedule
WEEK	OPPONENT
1	vs Denver
2	vs Charlotte
3	vs Anchorage
4	at Waco
5	at Memphis
6	vs Phoenix
8	at Denver
9	vs Port City
10	vs New Orleans
11	vs Los Alamos
12	at Morgantown
13	at Punxsutawney
14	at Gainesville
15	at Los Alamos
16	vs Columbus
17	at Phoenix

Regular Season, Week 1: Denver Grizzlies (0-0) at Utah Bees (0-0)
UTA 27, DEN 21
box|log
Utah escapes with a key division win in their season opener, despite nearly a 10-point disadvantage in time of possession and despite being outgained 275-415.

Michael Glenn's starting debut with the Bees was spoiled by his own struggles; Glenn lost yards on three of his four careers and finished with -9 yards. He didn't have a single positive carry, and coaches opted instead for rookie Trent Adams most of the way, who only had 36 yards on 14 attempts.

Randy Boone threw for just 38 yards in the first half before finding his groove in the 2nd, connecting twice with Hunter Vandersommen on scoring throws of 56 and 31 yards. Boone scored the clinching TD on a 10-yard scramble early in the fourth.

The Bees' lone running success came on a 40-yard scamper from fullback Mario Evanswhite, and now head into week 2 with more questions than answers.

notes: 2nd-string WLB Ike Arias builds on last year's success with 3 sacks in reserve duty...starting corner Quinn Robinette suffered a calf injury in the 3rd quarter that is expected to sideline him for several weeks...19 Utah defenders recorded at least one tackle.

Regular Season, Week 2: Charlotte Cougars (0-1) at Utah Bees (1-0)
UTA 45, CHA 16
box|log
Charlotte held an early lead, but Utah quickly pulled away in a redemption game for the Bees' offense.

QB Randy Boone atoned for his limited output in week one with a 22/28, 263-yard performance in which he threw for 5 touchdowns and no interceptions. RB Michael Glenn redeemed himself as well, notching his first 100-yard game with 21 carries for 107 yards. Gilbert Money added 50 on 14 in relief.

Charlotte QB Marshall DeJesus had a solid day and is one of the league's most promising young passers, but the Cougars were outgunned at every level. With the Bees possessing the ball for 38 minutes, it didn't leave much room for a reasonably potent Cougar offense to operate.

notes: Hunter Vandersommen added two more receiving TDs and now has four on the year. Neither Gilbert Money nor WR Shane Littlefield were active in week one, but both saw action and production this week in an attempt to get the fastest players on the field...the Bees host Anchorage on (IRL) Thursday for Week 3.

[arton86]

Regular Season, Week 3: Anchorage Gladiators (0-2) at Utah Bees (2-0)
UTA 23, ANC 16
Box|Log

Down 16-15 after an Anchorage field goal with 49 seconds remaining, the Home Team Bees drove 65 yards in 3 plays to win the game with some flair — and some last-second heroics from Alvin Foley.

With under 10 seconds to go, Foley split two defenders after his catch and zoomed the remaining 16 yards into the endzone. It was Foley's first 100-yard receiving game since before his ACL tear, in the 2026 regular season.

It was another rough day for the Utah ground game; the 40-15 pass/run split is quite uncharacteristic of a team committed to running the ball (4 of the called passes turned into Randy Boone scrambles). Fortunately, the defending champs get away with just a scare, and watch division rivals Denver drop to 0-3 on the heels of a 400-yard, 5-TD passing day from Ohio River QB Walter Andrews.

Denver's had a rough opening slate with Utah, Columbus, and Ohio River in succession...but we'll take it.

notes: Troy Parrish drilled all five of his FG attempts today, including ones from 54 and 56 yards...backup WLB Ike Arias notched two more sacks in 16 plays, bringing his season total to 5.0 in limited action... Utah takes a road trip to Waco for Week 4 on(IRL) Saturday.