2022 Week 11

CUDL 2022 WEEK 11

Henry Rummel - 8.1.22

First Impressions

Well, HammerTime's back, folks. Their win against Green on Friday makes them officially the first team to make it to the Championship match twice. Hammertime has won their last four games and hasn't lost since week four. They've already beat Teal once in a regulation matchup and again in scrimmage.

It wasn't easy, though. In fact, for three-and-a-half quarters it looked like Red wouldn't make it past their first playoff game.

What happened?

The HammerTime-Green Eggs match was incredible- in more ways than one.

I'll admit that I went into this game expecting HammerTime to win handily. They had the power, the skill, and the attendance to defeat every other team. I overlooked the fact that Green was coming off of a five game winning streak.

Both teams brought extraordinary talent to the field. HammerTime brought a huge defensive presence and a deep-mid-range offense to reckon with. The Green Eggs brought a spectacular short game offense and amazing turnaround defense. Ins short, each team had exactly what they needed to defeat the other.

Green received and immediately scored. And scored again. Then, to everyone's astonishment, they scored again- breaking Red's offense twice in a mere three minutes.

Most of the game continued similarly: Green scores, Red makes a mistake, Green scores again.

The quarter ended 5-3 in Green's favor. The half ended 7-5. The third quarter ended with a integrity rule call that gave Green an extra point, leaving the score 11-8.

And then Green's game fell apart.

All of a sudden, Green's offense went from the impenetrable short game they had been playing to deep failed huck after deep failed huck. Further, HammerTime's offense started to capitalize on the mistakes, rallying five points in eight minutes. Green tied the game again at 12, but Red scored again then broke, putting two more points on the board with only 91 seconds to play. Green scored in sixty seconds, putting them within one. Red lost the disc with three seconds left.

Green hucked it. Again.

And lost it. Again. Not just the disc, but the game along with it.

I sense a lesson coming on: Don't huck. Ever, unless you know you can make it. Especially not when your opponent has some of their best defenders next to your intended receiver. Don't even think about it when the game depends on you making one more point. Instead, throw the disc to your teammate. Who cares where the disc goes for now; the goal will come if you keep making passes. The goal will never come if you throw discs only Beau Kittredge could catch.

Meanwhile, top seed Turtles faced off against fourth seed Wind. Teal hadn't won in four weeks. Their last game against Gray had ended in a tie. This game would push to the limits both Teal's powerhouse offense and Gray's strategic stack-and-cut formation and relentless defense.

However, Gray's relentless defense turned out to be somewhat less than relentless. Teal's defense, too, was exceptionally lacking. In 48 minutes of play, the two defenses allowed a combined total of 42 points scored. That's 1 point every 68 seconds.

In essence, that automatically turned the game into a battle of offenses: Vertical stack or sheer, somewhat uncontrolled power- who would win?

In the end, Teal emerged victorious. The Turtles racked up 23 points, one of only four games this season with point totals in the twenties. The Wind, although they played a very good game, couldn't compete offensively with the Turtles. As time reached the fourth quarter, Wind started to tire. Teal, however, kept going. And going. And going. Gray scored an admirable 19 points in the time given to them, but it wasn't enough.

Teal is heading to their first-ever Championship.

Final Whistle

On the one hand, Red has more experience in the high-pressure championship match. They've beat Teal twice already. But on the other hand, they'll be missing some valuable players- and Teal did beat Red back in week three in similar circumstances. The championship match will test strength, endurance, skill, accuracy, and teamwork. Both teams have what it takes, I'm sure.

Both teams have point-per-game averages of over 15 points.

Both have point differentials above +20.

Teal's record going into championship week is 7-2-1; Red's is 6-2-2.

The real question: which team can harness what they have well enough to find that precious balance of offense skill and defensive strength? Who will be brave enough to take the risks- and be good enough to push the odds in their favor? As we've seen throughout the season, it's not at all about who strikes first- but who strikes best.

Championship week is here.

The Call

Next week's game's are as follows:

Purple-Yellow

My call: Landsharks, 18-15.

Green-Gray

My call: Green Eggs, 12-10

Teal-Red

My call: HammerTime, 16-13