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On April 4th, twenty-one players started the second PBEM Football Strategy tournament. The event this year was structured in a league format. The 21 players were divided into 7 divisions of 3. Every player was responsible for playing 10 games, 2 against each of the other 2 players in their division, and 6 games outside their division. The 7 division winners and 1 wild-card team advanced to the playoffs.
At the end of the regular season, Kevin Keller, David Schneider, and Bruce Reiff were the top three seeds at 9-1. Alone at 8-2 in the fourth seed as Chris Wildes. Rounding out the division winners were Stephen Peeples, Bert Schoose, and Kevin Flanagan at 7-3. Jason Schultz and Doug Galullo were the two teams finishing at 6-4, with Jason getting the wild card spot due to the tiebreakers being used.
In the first round of the playoffs, upsets were the rule as three of the four games were won by the lower ranked player. Number 1 seed and two-time WBC champion Kevin Keller lost to Jason 18 – 13 in a game that was as tight as the score makes it look. Jason scored first with a TD about midway through the first quarter, but missed the PAT. Kevin then took the lead with a TD early in the second. Jason and Kevin traded 2 FGs each through the rest of the second and third quarters, making the score 13 – 12 Kevin going into the fourth. After a couple of quick possessions, Kevin got the ball on his own 2 with 12:00 left in the game. He then engineered a 6-minute, 15-play drive deep into Jason’s side of the field, but turned the ball over on downs. Jason then used 5 of the remaining 6 minutes to put together his own 13-play drive that resulted in a touchdown, putting him up 18 – 13 with missing the 2-point conversion attempt. Kevin’s desperation attempt to score didn’t go anywhere in the last minute, leaving Jason with the win.
However, perhaps the most exciting first round game was the 4th seed Chris losing to 5th seed Stephen in overtime. Again, a very tight defensive struggle as Chris jumped out to a 10 – 0 lead in the first half, but Stephen managed to tie the game 10-10 in the third. Both teams kicked FGs early in the 4th to remain tied 13-13 when the clock ran out. With the current NFL playoff rules being in effect, Chris won the toss and elected to kick. Stephen took the kickoff at his 20, and then drove the length of the field to score a TD. Chris took his kickoff also at the 20, but threw an interception on his third play, giving Stephen the win.
The other first round games weren’t nearly as close as Bert defeated Bruce 28 – 6 and David defeated Kevin Flanagan 24 – 7.
The second round game between Bert and Stephen was easily won by Bert, 31 – 14, as Bert jumped out to a 14 – 3 lead in the first and never let up on the gas after that. The other semi-final game between David and Jason was a lot closer than the final 35 – 23 score may appear. The game was actually tied 23 – 23 with 6 minutes left in the game before David blew it open with a TD, Safety, and FG within a 5-minute span.
This set up the Super Bowl between Bert and David. The game was tied 7 – 7 until right at the end of the first quarter when David kicked a FG to go up 10 – 7. Bert’s drive stalled, and his punt was blocked, giving the ball back to David in excellent field position. Four plays later, including a 4J and a 5D, and David scores to go up 17 – 7. Bert has another drive stall, and David drives the length of the field for another TD and a 24 – 7 lead at the half. Bert scores a TD in the 3rd to make it a 10-point game, 24 – 14. David kicks another FG early in the 4th to go up 27 – 14. Three minutes later, Bert gets another TD to make it a 1-score game, 27 – 21 with a little more than 6 minutes left in the game. With getting the ball on his own 35 after the kickoff, David puts together a massive 18-play drive to run out the clock to end the game, earning him the win!
The Bronze Medal match between Jason and Stephen was won by Stephen in a back-and-forth match where Stephen had to come back from a 13 – 7 deficit to win 24 – 20.
The Laurelists, in order, were: David Schneider, Bert Schoose, Stephen Peeples. Jason Schultz, Kevin Flanagan, and Bruce Reiff.
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