QFL Football Fever

 

Recap

Reds win inaugural Fever Bowl

duffeldoffel's Reds are the first ever QFL World Champions after defeating zugschefz dieselz 45-17 at the inaugural Fever Bowl at the breakdown dome.

A low-scoring game was widely expected from a game featuring the league's two top defenses but apparently nobody told the Reds and the dieselz who would go on to score 62 points combined. The first quarter included three lead changes and promised a thriller, however, the game would not keep this promise.

The Reds' surprisingly strong rushing attack, seven turnovers and 24 points off turnovers allowed proved too much to overcome for the dieselz who had early momentum but then fell apart in the second and third quarter when the Reds took advantage of more than 21 minutes of possession.

Having attacked heavily through the air in their divisional playoff game, the Reds surprised their opposition by staying on the ground throughout almost the entire first quarter and during lengths of the second. By halftime, the Reds' running backs had exceeded 200 rushing yards for the first time in franchise history. They finished the day with 234 yds and four touchdowns.

The Reds' quarterback threw a career-low 17 passes but had another stellar performance with 14 completions for 176 yds (10.4 yds per attempt), two touchdowns and a 149.0 passer rating.

The Reds' defenders contributed with three interceptions, three fumble recoveries and a sack and successfully defended 10-of-12 third downs. Their special teams, however, had a rough outing with many miscues in the first quarter.

The Reds' Option Die made a strong bid to become Most Valuable Die yielding 209 all-purpose yards (6.1 yds per cast) and four touchdowns with 34 casts. It had only one fumble which was retained by the offense.

For the dieselz, only their special teams contributed constantly. They recovered an onside kick, blocked a punt and had several nice kick returns. The dieselz' defense who were top of the QFL in the regular season registered only one sack and no turnovers and allowed 406 yds overall.

The dieselz' running backs registered 167 yds with 35 carries and a touchdown but also lost three fumbles. Their quarterback could not repeat the stellar performance that he had had in the divisional playoffs and completed only 7-of-21 for 106 yds, a touchdown and three interceptions and a rating of 27.2.

The first quarter included three lead changes and promised a thriller, however, the following two periods would not keep this promise as the Australian Division Champions took advantage of more than 21 minutes of possession during this span to make the fourth quarter a five-possession game.

The dieselz seemed to have early momentum after recovering their own opening onside kick followed by a 25-yd pass. They were stopped when the Reds caught an interception at their own 12 but a punt block put the dieselz back in scoring position at the Reds' 6. But the Reds' defense stood tall holding the dieselz to a 23-yd field goal.

Special-teams woes kept plaguing the Reds throughout the first quarter. After an offside call had erased a kickoff gone out-of-bounds and forced a rekick, the Reds had to start at their own 20. Aided by a 15-yd penalty, the Reds went all the way solely on the ground against a defense that had braced themselves for the Reds' passing attack. The drive was capped by a 22-yd touchdown run with six minutes left to play in the first quarter.

Both teams then exchanged three-and-outs but while the dieselz' punter placed a 66-yd beauty out-of-bounds at the Reds' 8, his counterpart only got a 32-yarder (24 yds net) that was taken back to the Reds' 34 setting up the next lead change.

After a run for loss and a penalty, the dieselz' running back ran in a 45-yard touchdown to reclaim the lead for his team with 1:12 left in the first period. However, only 24 seconds later, the Reds got the lead back with an 80-yd run on the first play-from-scrimmage of this possession marking the longest play in the young history of the Reds' franchise.

Continuing their special-teams struggle, the following kickoff went out-of-bounds putting the dieselz in excellent field position late in the first quarter. With the last play of the first period, the dieselz running back ran 23 yds to the Reds' 37. But the dieselz came away empty-handed turning over on downs after three incompletions and a 4-yd run.

On their first possession of the second quarter, the Reds rediscovered their passing game. The Reds quarterback launched a 37-yd rocket to the dieselz' 23 but it was their running back who again finished the possession running in from 21 yds giving his team a 21-10 lead with 11:36 left in the first half.

Again, the dieselz found themselves in excellent field position after another good kick return. However, they lost a fumble on their second play of the drive giving the Reds a momentum they would ride for the rest of the first half.

On their ensuing possession, the Reds covered 29 yds with eight plays (six runs) and took almost six minutes off the clock before converting a 35-yd field goal attempt to make it 24-10. What looked like only a little success, seemed to give the Reds' special teams a boost as they forced and recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff return giving their offense the ball at their opponents' 23.

After a 12-yd completion gave the Reds a 1st-and-goal at the 3, the Reds who have a history of red-zone giveaways fumbled but retained the football. Two plays later, their running back ran in his fourth touchdown from 4 yds out to stretch the Reds' lead to 31-10 with 2:24 left in the first half.

The dieselz went three-and-out on their final possession of the first half but after a punt for 62 net yards and a 10-yd penalty, the Reds found themselves at their own 11-yd line less than a minute before halftime. But instead of just kneeling down, the Reds' quarterback threw a 55-yd pass to give his team a shot at a last-second field goal. However, their 50-yd attempt went wide.

The dieselz turned to the no-huddle offense and moved the ball well during the opening drive of the second half but their hopes to earn momentum ended at the Reds' 31 with another lost fumble. Instead, the Reds returned the fumble for 20 yds and then covered 49 yds with six completions, two runs and two penalties. The Reds' quarterback ended the drive with a 2-yd TD pass with 7:24 remaining in the third quarter.

The dieselz following possession ended with yet another lost fumble on the second play-from-scrimmage and the Reds took over at the opponent's 30. Only four plays later, the Reds' QB found his receiver right at the goal line for a 14-yd touchdown to stretch his teams's lead to 45-10 with 4:48 left to play in the third period.

From that point on the Reds would not undertake any serious attempts to go for more points. They got the ball back in excellent field position four more times but stayed on the ground and opted to punt into the end zone rather than go for field goals.

The final highlight came in the dying seconds of the game when the dieselz quarterback who had two of his previous three passes picked off threw a 51-yd touchdown pass. Against the Reds' prevent defense the pass was somehow caught at the 17 and just run in by a dieselz' receiver.

But this would not diminish the Reds' joy as a soakingly wet coach and his players/dice lifted the Bill Walsh Trophy as QFL World Champions.