Conference Championship Matchups
Oklahoma Twisters (13-5) at Yukon Yeti (17-0)
7 to 37
Yukon's defense limited Oklahoma to 127 yards of total offense while Yukon's offense produced 421 yards. Although Yukon's first two drives resulted in 40 plus yard field goals, they soon began putting together the tremendous runs they are known for, putting up 21 points in the second quarter leaving the score at halftime to be 27 to 7 in their favor. Oklahoma's only score came on a fumble from Yukon QB Ben Harris after being blitzed hard. The Twisters ran the ball in 17 yards for the score with 1:48 to play in the second quarter. The second half saw Yukon post 3 points in the 3rd quarter and 7 in the fourth, tallying the final at 37 to 7. Thanks to a strong time of possession differential fueled by Yukon's offense and stout defense, Oklahoma couldn't get anything going. Despite 2 turnovers by Yukon on a Harris fumble and a Harris interception and only 1 interception from Marc Madison, Yukon's play was more consistent. Yukon QB Ben Harris was named the player of the game for his total of 370 passing yards on 22 out of 32 attempts and 3 touchdowns. Yukon remains the team to beat and returns to the Super Bowl for the third straight year, looking for their third straight victory.
Dakota Vipers (13-4) at Boston Liberty (15-2)
14 to 13
In this playoff rematch of week 2's Boston victory of 18-17, the tables were turned. I am amazed at how this game went. Boston seemed to be in command except when it mattered. They put together 182 yards of total offense, with 177 of it coming from passing. It looked as if they could move the ball with relative ease while Dakota struggled. The score at half was 13 to 7 in favor of Boston. Yet Dakota came up big when it mattered, converting on 3 huge takeaways and working the ball down the field with the game on the line. The Vipers' only touchdown of the first half came on a pick six from Boston QB Shane Gaines on the very first drive. After that, the game settled into a sort of defensive stalemate, but with Boston able to work the ball into the redzone 3 times (total of 4, with the first being when Gaines threw the pick). This game was simply a matter of making big plays when it counted. With under 3 minutes to play, Dakota took possession of the ball and drove down the field, finally converting with a big third down run for a TD. As Boston took the field, looking to at least drive into field goal range, a hard pass rush from MLB Mike Scott forced Shane Gaines to cough up the ball. Although Dakota missed a field goal on the drive that followed, the time they drained from the clock depleted Boston of timeouts. When a defensive stand at midfield forced Boston into a fourth down situation, they were unable to convert, sealing their defeat. Dakota took a knee and ran the clock out. The player of the game is rightly Dakota CB Dave Hawkins, a five year pro who compiled 5 tackles, 4 pass deflections, and 2 crucial interceptions, one of which he ran back 90 yards for a touchdown. Kudos to Dakota for taking down what should've been a better team.
Super Bowl IV
Dakota Vipers (14-4) vs. Yukon Yeti (18-0)
Dakota shows a lot of promise as a team that refuses to be beaten when the game is on the line. Obviously, there's a stark contrast between Yukon's tendency towards total dominance and Dakota's narrow victories. One could say that Yukon has more talent and employs better coaching and therefore has never had to deal with the situations that the Vipers had. On the other hand, Dakota has shown that they are consistently a scrappy team willing to make big plays. I favor Yukon in this matchup due to the fact that they have never struggled to roll on all cylinders this year. Yet, if things do not go their way, do they have the tools that Dakota has to recover? We'll see.
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