QFL Football Fever

 

Recap

dieselz win home game on the road

zugschefz dieselz (3-1) forfeited home-field advantage for their game against frontmodes Kobras (0-4) and were rewarded with a 25-18 win during the anniversary festivities of 49ersFanZone.net at the breakdown dome.

The two teams opened week 5 with this game even though both teams had yet to finish their week-4 games.

Led by Buvag, who has been appointed interim coach of the dieselz until further notice, the dieselz scored three TDs off turnovers within less than six minutes in the third quarter which proved too much to overcome for the hapless Kobras.

Things started okay for the Kobras who finished each of their first three drives with FGs from 38, 49 and 39 yds out. They took advantage of two short fields after the dieselz had failed to convert a 4th-and-2 near midfield and a FG miss from 56 yds out. Their third FG came at the end of a 59-yd drive in the second quarter.

On the Kobras' fourth possession, however, things started to go south for their offense with two sacks and a negative run in between followed by a punt that netted only 17 yds. The dieselz got to start on the opponents' 24-yd line and made it to the 3 but the Kobras defense stood tall and the dieselz had to settle for a 25-yd field goal to cut their deficit to six points.

The Kobras had a chance to reclaim a 9-point lead with 36 seconds left to play in the first half but on 4th-and-5 from the dieselz 30, they opted for a fake run instead of a 48-yd field-goal attempt. The kicker never had a chance to make it past the line of scrimmage and the Kobras took a 9-3 lead into the locker room.

The third quarter then kind of epitomized the Kobras' season so far in which they had blown early leads in each of their first three games.

Their opening drive ended with a three-and-out and a blocked punt. The dieselz took over in the Kobras' red zone and on the second play, their QB threw a 15-yd TD pass to give the dieselz a 10-9 lead.

The dieselz QB finished the game with 11-of-24 for 151 yds and a TD with no pick.

On their ensuing possession, the Kobras managed two new first downs before their QB was picked off to give the dieselz the ball at their own 40. A 15-yd penalty against the offense seemed to come to the Kobras' rescue but their secondary gave up a 26-yd pass to the Kobras 49 from where the dieselz RB ran home untouched. The dieselz successfully opted for the two-point conversion and extended their lead to nine points.

Shortly afterwards, the Kobras surrendered the ball again when their QB was picked off again and the dieselz returned the football 29 yds down to the Kobras 6. On the first play, their RB was stopped for a loss of 3 yds but on 2nd-and-Goal, he ran in to give his team a 25-9 lead.

The dieselz' RBs finished the game with 29 carries for 131 yds and a pair of TDs. They also had three fumbles but lost none of them.

Their defenders registered a total of three sacks for 20 yds, 10 tackles-for-loss, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

As hapless as they might have been surrendering 22 points off of three turnovers within less than six minutes, the Kobras offense still showed a lot of fighting spirit when they responded with the longest drive of the game. Starting from their own 26, they thoroughly moved the ball with nine runs and two passes to reach the opponents' 2 from where the Kobras' QB threw into the end zone for his team's only TD of the game. The two-point conversion to make it a one-possession game failed.

The Kobras defense then forced a three-and-out and their offense took over at their own 38. They marched all the way down to the dieselz' 10-yd line before they settled for a 33-yd FG after failing to draw the defense offsides on 4th-and-1.

Starting from their own 20, the dieselz moved the ball well but were also lucky to recover two own fumbles. With their final possession of the game, the dieselz took five minutes from the clock but their kicker missed the chance to clinch victory when his 43-yd attempt sailed wide.

A 20-yd run to the dieselz' 26 raised hopes for a comeback in the final minute of the game but the Kobras made it only to the 16 before a lost fumble on the final play sealed victory for the dieselz. Throughout the game, the Kobras who outgained the dieselz 323-276 yds scored only one TD with five trips inside the opponents' red zone.

While the dieselz enjoy decent position in the playoff race, the Kobras are officially eliminated from playoff contention and might even be in for an anti-perfect season.