Football Strategy (FBS) PBeM Reports Updated September 17, 2024

2024 PBeM Tournament
 

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.

2023 PBeM Tournament
 

Twenty-six players started on September 1st in our inaugural PBEM Football Strategy tournament. Ten players were seeded by the number of laurels earned in this event at WBC. All those without laurels were randomly assigned the remaining spots. Of the 10 seeded players, 9 won their first round game, demonstrating that experience does pay off. The only upset in the first round was Chris Wildes defeating 2-time WBC Champion (and FBS GM) Bert Schoose in a 19-15 defensive struggle. Bert had the chance to win, getting the ball on his own 21 with 4 minutes left in the game, but turned the ball over on downs on a 4th and 7 with two minutes left.

With 13 people remaining, Bruce Reiff got the bye. The only upset in this round was former Avalon Hill Football Strategy League (AHFSL) member Andy Maly defeating another former AHFSL member and WBC player Jim Vroom 15-9 in another defensive struggle that also came down to the wire. Jim got the ball with 2 minutes left in the game and managed to drive down the field to put himself in position for a game-winning touchdown. But Andy managed to intercept Jim's 4th down pass in the end zone for the last play of the game.

Round three had six games played, with Doug Galullo getting the bye. The upset of the season was Bruce Reiff losing to Ray Stakenas 24 - 10. Bruce jumped out to a 10 - 3 lead early in the 2nd quarter, but those would be the only points he scored as Ray's offense took control of the game to score two TDs in the 2nd quarter to take a 17 - 10 lead at the half. The second half was dominated by both defenses. Ray's gutsy and very stingy defense clamped down, preventing Bruce from seriously putting up a threat, then managed to score his final TD early in the 4th quarter.

Round four was the final four - Doug vs Sean McCulloch and Paul O'Neil vs Ray. Doug defeated Sean 24 - 17 in yet another game that came down to the last drive. Sean got the ball with 1:15 left in the game on his own 39 - but with only 1 timeout remaining. He did manage to complete a long pass to get the ball to Doug's 31, but his last-play Hail Mary fell short - and into Doug's hands at the 1 as time expired.

The other Semifinal game, Ray vs Paul, was probably *the* game of the tournament. Paul was up 10 - 3 with 2 minutes left in the game, when Ray tied the game with a 30 yard TD pass with 1:45 left in the game. The 5th quarter was scoreless, with Paul missing a 52 yard field goal at the end of the first overtime. The second overtime was more of the same as both teams had two 3-and-out possessions. However, on Paul's second possession, his punt was blocked on his own 10 yard line. Rather than risk anything bad happening, Ray went for, and made the 28 yard FG for the win. This was yet another defensive battle, as the two teams combined for 17 punts and 3 turnovers on downs.

This set up the Final of Paul vs Sean for the Bronze Medal match, while Doug faced Ray in the Super Bowl. Again, Paul's defense was impressive, holding Sean to 3 points in the second half to win 27 - 13.

The Super Bowl started with Ray's offense dominating the 1st quarter - but only getting 6 points for their efforts on two FGs. Ray missed a third FG about half-way in the 2nd quarter, giving the ball to Doug on Ray's 34. Doug drove the length of the field to score a TD with 45 seconds left in the half, giving him a 7 - 6 lead. Ray's first drive in the second half ended with a punt to Doug's 4. Doug managed to put together a 7-minute, 15-play drive for 96 yards and the TD, giving him a 14 - 6 lead. Into the 4th quarter, and Ray kicks his third FG of the game to bring the score to 14 - 9. However, on the very next drive, Doug scores a touchdown - now it's 21 - 9. With the clock winding down, Ray throws two interceptions, the second resulting in another TD drive for Doug at the two minute warning. With Ray down 28 - 9 and 2 minutes to play, Ray lets the clock run out to end the game.

Congratulations to Doug!

The laurelists, in order, were: Doug Galullo, Ray Stakenas, Paul O’Neill, Sean McCulloch, Bruce Reiff, and Andy Maly