Week One
After
weeks of anticipation, the first game day of the Virtual Bowl is finally upon
us. All six teams will be playing three simultaneous games. The weather is
great and the football is expected to be great as well.
Melonheads @ All Stars
All
Stars
Cunningham
Petrovich
Lui
Frazier
K
Kawaguchi
Am Khan
Blackwood
Melonheads
Moonbeam
Wheeler
Robinson
T
Delvecchio
Steele
A
Delvecchio
Garcia
The All Stars had possession first, led by captain Randall Cunningham at QB. But on the team’s first drive, he threw a costly interception to Melonheads CB Pete Wheeler. It didn’t take long for the Melonnheads to capitalize as Wheeler rushed in a touchdown to give his team the edge. But that was just the beginning of the rough star for the All Stars.
On the ensuing kickoff, Amir “and Jake” Khan fumbled the kick-off, which was picked up Star “Boy” Moonbeam and returned it to the house for a touchdown. Just like that it was 14-0 and things were looking dire for the All Stars.
On the All Stars next drive, the Melonheads had forced a 4th down and Cunningham made the bold decision to go for it. On a wild conversion, he dumped a pass to Luanne “The Myth, The Legend” Lui in the flat who turned the play into a 69 yd TD. The Melonheads didn’t have enough time to counter, missing a long field goal to end of the half, meaning it was 14-7 at intermission.
In the second half, the Melonheads picked up where they left off with a dominant rushing attack. The team was designed around speed and they saw it with Pete Wheeler rushing for the TD.
But the All Stars continued to fight. Cunningham launched an 80 yd TD to Annie Frazier and kept the team within a score. Then the defense stepped up, Luanne Lui forced an interception against Dante Robinson and the All Stars now had the ball back with a chance to tie.
The Melonheads loaded up against Lui on the run, but the All Stars were ready with some trickery. Lui launched a half back pass to Frazier who took it the distance for a TD. Then, after gaining a sonic boom play on the completion, Lui rushed in a go ahead 2-pt conversion. Suddenly the All Stars had the lead.
But this one wasn’t over yet. Pete “Which Way Is the End Zone” Wheeler, got loose for his 3rd TD of the game to put his squad back in front. He finished with 183 yards on the ground and 32 yards through the air.
There was time for one last counter strike from Cunningham, but his final drive ended when Pete Wheeler snagged his second INT of the game and clinched things for the Melonheads.
Final score: 29 Melonheads – 22 All Stars
Fishes @ Wombats
Wombats
Sanchez
V
Kawaguchi
Estrada
Eckman
Luna
S Dobbs
Dubois
Fishes
Pappas
Phillips
Elway
Favre
Khan
Hasselhoff
Bledsoe
Pablo Sanchez, ranked as the #1 player in the bubble prior to games kicking-off, got to play his first game and he wanted a victory. Sanchez lined up at QB in his first possession, but it was his feet that got the Wombat offense going. He scrambled for a 50 yard TD run to open the game for the Wombats.
However, the Fishes weren’t rattled. They responded with a Chico “Mommas and” Pappas touchdown run. Then, for a second straight game, we saw a fumbled kickoff return go for a TD. Sanchez coughed it up and Favre scooped and scored.
Pablo continued to have the ball in his hands on the Wombats next possession and he rallied the troops for another touchdown, once again scoring from a long way out by using his feet. But on the other side, the Fishes quarterback had some tricks of his own. John “My Way or the” Elway got the start in a crowded QB locker room and he promptly threw his first TD pass to another QB, Brett Favre, from 80 yards out to put the Fishes back in front.
In the closing moments of the first half, the Wombats were driving to try and tie the game. Sanchez completed a pass over the middle to Maria Luna, but she fumbled the football for a second Wombat’s turnover. High priced draft pick Keisha “Screwdriver” Phillips dived on the football.
With only about 5 seconds left, the Fishes weren’t sure how to handle the possession. They opted to try for a very long field goal of almost 60 yards and they missed. But they accidentally left 1 second on the clock. That proved to be their undoing as Pablo unleashed a touchdown pass to Vicki Kawaguchi to tie up the game heading into the half.
Despite the shock and disappointment of that half, Elway marched his team back down the field to start Quarter 3. The drive ended with a touchdown pass to Favre. But the Wombats were not to be denied, specifically Sanchez, who rushed for a third TD and tied things up again, this time at 28 a piece.
It was crunch time again for the Fishes as they pushed the ball down the field. The Wombats countered and contained Pappas and Elway as they tried to sneak some extra yards. It was a 4th and 1 with limited time left and the Fishes had a tough choice. Rather than try another long field goal, they tried to punch forward for the extra yards, but the Wombats made the stop thanks to Kimmy “What the” Eckman making a huge tackle.
After the stop, Pablo did what Pablo does and led his team back down the field. Although the Fishes defense managed to hold the Wombats to a field goal attempt, Maria Luna’s foot was true. A last second Fishes drive couldn’t get down the field and the Wombats held on the victory.
Final score: 31 Wombats-28 Fishes.
Rockets @ Hornets
Hornets
Ng
Sanders
Smith
Crockett
A
Webber
S
Webber
R Dobbs
Rockets
Rice
Young
Worthington
Johnson
Thomas
Morgan
Marino
The high-powered Rockets offense was the talk of the town on draft day and pick within bubble circles for Virtual Bowl champions. On the field, they quickly got to work on supporting that narrative. Steve Young intercepted Jocinda “MVP?” Smith’s opening drive pass attempt before a few plays later, handing the ball to Ricky Johnson for a rushing TD. Just like that the Rockets were in the driver seat.
Smith and Young then traded touchdown passes to Lena Ng and Jerry Rice respectively. Smith got all of her receivers involved with another TD pass, this time to Sidney Webber. It was nearly a perfect drive, but they left just enough time that the Rockets could counter. A Worthington field goal made it 17-14.
Young and the Rockets got the ball to start the second half and picked up right where they left off. This time, Steve rushed in the TD and the lead was extended to 9.
The Hornets could have been rattled, trailing by the largest margin of the game, but Jocinda kept a cool head. She got running back Barry Sanders involved and the first overall draft pick rushed in a 10 yard TD to cap off a great Hornets drive. The Hornets made a bold decision to go for 2 with Lena explaining after the game that, they wanted to try and cut it to 1 so if the Rockets scored again, they would still be within 1 score. You can argue the merits of the decision, but Smith didn’t back-up the call by throwing a second INT, this time to Steve Young. The score was 23-20 in favor of the Rockets.
Finally the Hornets defense got some fortune as Steve Young’s next drive ended with an interception. However, it didn’t mean much as the Hornet’s ended up settling for a long tying field goal attempt (which was missed by Crockett). The Rockets could ice the game with a nice drive, however Ricky “Did I do that?” Johnson fumbled the football! Ashley Webber dived on it for the Hornets.
Suddenly, there was hope and the Hornets did not disappoint. Jocinda Smith lofted a pass to Lena Ng and she took it all the way to the house with only seconds remaining. The Rockets didn’t even have the chance to counter as time expired on the ensuing kick-off. It was a stunning upset win for the Hornets.
Final score: 26 Hornets – 23 Rockets
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