Ultimus Bowl XVIII
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| Stadium | Burial Grounds, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Offensive MVP | Franklin Armstrong, Quarterback (OCO) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Defensive MVP | Lanzer Grievous, Linebacker (OCO) | ||||||||||||||||||
Ultimus Bowl XVIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Simulation Football League (NSFL) for 2034 (S19). The American Simulation Football Conference (ASFC) champion Orange County Otters defeated the National Simulation Football Conference (NSFC) champion Yellowknife Wraiths, 16-10, to win their record extending 7th Ultimus Bowl championship. The game was played at Burial Grounds in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. This was the third separate occasion in which the Orange County Otters won consecutive Ultimus Bowl Championships. It was also the third matchup of these two franchises in an Ultimus Bowl, with the Orange County Otters emerging victorious in all three matchups.
Contents
Background
Teams
The NSFC was represented by the Yellowknife Wraiths, and the ASFC was represented by the Orange County Otters.
Yellowknife Wraiths
The Yellowknife Wraiths rolled into Ultimus Bowl XVIII after posting a league best record of 11-2. The Yellowknife Wraiths were first place in the NSFC for the second consecutive season. Cooter Bigsby was named League MVP among other headliners from this dominant Wraiths team. This was a well balanced team as they were the number one offence in the league as well as having the best defence in the conference and the second best defence overall in the league. They were named favourites to win it all by a large portion of the national media. The Wraiths had last won an Ultimus exactly 10 years ago in Ultimus Bowl VIII held in Burial Grounds, Yellowknife. All signs pointed to another Ultimus triumph.
Orange County Otters
The Orange County Otters continued their consecutive playoff appearances streak that dated back to 2016 (S1). The Otters headed into the season as the defending champions, winners of Ultimus Bowl XVII. The Otters improved their record from the previous year, going from 7-6 to 10-3. They were first place in the ASFC season and earned home field advantage in the Conference, but were not able to ensure home field in the Ultimus as they fell short of the Wraiths league leading 11-2 record. Franklin Armstrong had a very strong second season as he led a very potent offence headlined by players like Johnny Blaze who took home his second positional award at tight end.
Playoffs
Yellowknife started off with a fairly no nonsense victory against the Chicago Butchers in the Quarterfinals. Neo Donaldson was one of the standouts in the game with 4 field goals, and 3 in the fourth quarter alone, to keep the game away from the Butchers. The NSFC Championship featured a rematch of the previous season’s Championship as the Wraiths hosted the Hawks who had beat them the year before. This time the Wraiths pulled out the victory, over coming a 14-6 deficit going into half time for a 29-14 victory to earn the right to host Ultimus Bowl XVIII.
The Otters beat Second Line in the Quarterfinals and had their third straight matchup with the Arizona Outlaws in the Championship for the ASFC. They prevailed for the second straight year, with a hard fought 21-16 home victory to reach their second straight Ultimus Bowl. It was an odd game as the Outlaws had 20 first downs to the Otters 10, 442 yards compared to the Otters 265, and Armstrong had only 11 completions in the game. Despite this, the Otters defence managed to hold strong in the redzone, limiting the Outlaws to one touchdown on the day.
Game summary
First Quarter
The game started off with a bang for the Otters, as Franklin Armstrong led the team down the field for an opening touchdown drive with Blaze on the receiving end of the 31 yard pass. They then closed off the first quarter with a touchdown run by second string running back Charles Allan. Cooter Bigsby was under assault as the Otters sacked him twice in the quarter, and the Wraiths offence were forced to punt three times in the first quarter alone.
Second Quarter
Outside of a field goal by Donaldson, both teams failed to score any more points. Bigsby was intercepted in the quarter, and both teams were forced to punt after an array of miscues and blown plays. The score was 13-3 going into the half.
Third Quarter
The Wraiths got the ball to start the second half, but Bigsby was clearly having trouble seeing the field as he threw another interception, this time to rookie Tyrone Biggums. This led to a field goal drive for the Otters making it a 16-3 ball game. Bigbsy had yet another turnover in the quarter, this time a fumble while inside the Otters 15 yard line, keeping the score at 16-3 going into the fourth and final quarter.
Fourth Quarter
The Wraiths started off hot, quickly scoring a touchdown with Cooter Bigsby connecting to Wraiths leading receiver Nate Swift to make it a one score game with 12 minutes to go in the Ultimus. This led to an intense series of defensive stands as both teams were forced to punt a total of 7 times in the quarter. The Wraiths decided to punt at 3:30 left in the game, and the Otters held on to the ball until being forced to punt with about 20 seconds left on the clock. That decision to punt instead of putting the ball in the league MVP’s hands may have cost them as Bigsby had no time to work with to work a miracle drive. The game ended with rookie Tyrone Biggums making another huge play, sacking Bigsby on the final play of the game. The Otters won, 16-10 in a defensive battle. Franklin Armstrong and Lanzer Grievous were named the Ultimus Bowl Offensive and Defensive MVPs respectively for the second straight season.
Game statistics
Statistical comparison
| Statistic | Orange County Otters | Yellowknife Wraiths |
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| First downs | 13 | 15 |
| Third down efficiency | 4/14 | 5/12 |
| Fourth down efficiency | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| Net yards rushing | 91 | 87 |
| Rushing attempts | 33 | 20 |
| Yards per rush | 2.8 | 4.4 |
| Passing – Completions-attempts | 16/26 | 20/36 |
| Interceptions thrown | 0 | 2 |
| Net yards passing | 226 | 246 |
| Total net yards | 317 | 333 |
| Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Penalties-yards | 9-55 | 0-00 |
| Time of possession | 35:25 | 24:35 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 3 |
Box score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otters (ASFC) | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 16 |
| Wraiths (NSFC) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
at Burial Grounds, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
- Date: 29 January, 2034
- Game time: 8:00 p.m. EST
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