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by The Confederate Republic of Ranoria. . 3 reads.

RFL Midseason Outlook

The 2018 Ranorian Football League Season is well on its way to the crowning a championship, with week 10 upon us. Saturday Night 'Weekly Kickoff' Primetime games have been exciting all season, and the uber-hyped matchup between the Memphis Steamers and North Carolina Dreadnaughts did not disappoint.

Featuring last year's championship winning, one loss team with defending MVP QB Bo Callahan at the helm, the Dreadnoughts have been a powerhouse all season, coming into their week 10 prime time matchup at 8-1. Bo Callahan had already tossed up 2,545 yards and 25 touchdowns on the year, putting him on pace to break all-time-great Luca Warren's single season passing touchdown and passing yardage records. Meanwhile, wideout Gabe Foster was having one hell of a year as for himself as well, having hauled in 700 yards and 8 scores while Tommy Barker, their elusive back, had hit 500 receiving and rushing yards, with their ground game being paved by OG Drake Sootster. The defense, meanwhile, was full of mediocre players outside of top 5 players in their positions in MLB Spencer Gyles and lockdown CB Billy Shaw.

Meanwhile, the upstart Memphis Steamers, after going down in the second round last season, were tearing through the RFL at 7-1(Bye week), led by second year quarterback Derek McNair, who posted a 3,300 yard, 23 score season last year through the air and another 600 yards and 7 scores on the ground.


Steamers players during pregame warm ups

Without a true deep threat at wideout, the Steamers have relied heavily on a nice tight end duo in Andre Anderson and Carlos Wycheck, whom have both hit the 400 yard mark already this season. Rookie second rounder Anthony Foster, a jump-ball specialist out of Richardson, is having a nice year as well, leading the team in receiving yardage with 550 yards. In total, Derek McNair was able to put up a nice 1,700 yards, 13 touchdowns in the first half of this season, along with 500 yards and 5 touchdowns rushing. Their defense, of course, is anchored by stud veteran Dustin Kearse, whom relied heavily on his speed and pass rushing early in his career, but has transitioned gradually to a bigger, stronger man who is a force against the run and can generate good pressure.

Despite being in the same division, this was the first time these two teams met in the regular season, and it was an obvious shootout from the first play, with speedy wideout Gabe Foster taking the opening kickoff for a score, and Derek McNair breaking off an 81 yard run on the first play of scrimmage for another.

The first half, moreover, turned into a slugfest, with both teams evidently trying to tire out the opposing defense by pounding the run game. Unfortunately for the Steamers, North Carolina's top-3 guard and top shelf running back Drake Sootster and Tommy Barker, respectively, gave the coast team the advantage there, with the Dreadnoughts outgaining Memphis 227-113 in the first half, and outscoring them 24-10.

Heading into the locker rooms, it looked like another dominating Dreadnoughts victory, with Bo Callahan finishing ending the half at 130 yards and a score, while Tommy Barker had seventy and two touchdowns on the ground.

Derek McNair, meanwhile, went 7/13, 45 yards, and tossed an interception, even if he did have that big run to start the game.

Coming out after the half, Tommy Barker continued to pound the rock until the fifth play, a third down, in which star Bo Callahan sent up a sixty yard bomb to wideout Gabe Foster for what looked to be a game-icing touchdown, putting the Dreadnoughts up 31-10.

Derek McNair had other plans.

The next drive, the steamers completely abandoned the running game, driving down on the sheer talent and athleticism of their star quarterback, who engineered an 82 yard scoring drive to get his guys back in it. Following a Dustin Kearse sack to force a three and out, he did the same on the next drive, racking up his second passing and third total touchdown of the night on a sixty yard drive.

By the end of the fourth quarter, the Dreadnoughts were still up, the score now 45-38, but McNair had the ball with two minutes to go. By now, he'd thrown for 315 yards, 4 touchdowns, and had the rushing to boot. He was having the best game of his career, while the Dreadnought offense was more balanced, Tommy Barker having run for a hundred and three yards, and Bo Callahan passing for 250.

But that couldn't stop McNair, despite a punt pinning him inside the one yard line.

One 99-yard drive, and a jump ball, thread the-needle touchdown pass to Anthony Foster later, and this one went into overtime.

Ranorian overtime rules allow each team to get a possession, and, effectively, until one team scores and the other doesn't, the game marches on, with offenses starting at the fifty.

Each offense had a fifty yard, touchdown drive to make the game a 52-52 tie game, but rookie linebacker Marco Johnson picked off Bo Callahan in the red zone, allowing McNair to have one last miracle drive, a drive that let him take the game at 59-52, the second highest scoring game in Ranorian history.

Bo Callahan had one hell of a night, putting up a 34/47, 312 yard, 4 TD, 1 INT performance, supplemented by the run game in Tommy Barker, who had a 30 rush, 135 yard outburst in which he scored twice. The other Dreadnought touchdown came from 2nd RB Elliot Hamilton.

But the Steamers were even better. Or at least, Derek McNair was. While RB Lawrence Adams only put up 55 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries, McNair had 10 carries for 120 yards and a pair of touchdowns, along with a 29/40, 409 yard, 5 TD outing.

With this win, the Steamers are up to 8-1, knocking off the 1st place in the division Dreadnoughts, who are now at 8-2. There are still eight games left to play for the 'Noughts, and nine for the Steamers, but with Derek McNair playing like he did, let's be honest, who's going to stop the Steamers?

At the same time, Callahan will likely remain the front runner for the RFL League MVP Award at the end of this season. After all, if you look at raw passing yardage and touchdowns, Callahan has outstripped McNair by a mile. But look closer. In terms of total yardage, Derek is having an amazing year on the ground.

Derek McNair: Season Stats:
Passing Yards: 2,109
Passing Completions/Attempts: 168/279
Passing Completion Percentage: 60.2%
Passing Touchdowns: 18
Passing Interceptions: 4
Rushing Attempts/Yards: 89/620
Rushing Touchdowns: 7
34/47, 312 yard, 4 TD, 1 INT

Bo Callahan Season Stats:
2,545 yards and 25 touchdowns
Passing Yards: 2,857
Passing Completions/Attempts: 225/327
Passing Completion Percentage: 68.8%
Passing Touchdowns: 29
Passing Interceptions: 7
Rushing Attempts/Yards: 7/19
Rushing Touchdowns: 0[/b]

To be frank, I think that despite Callahan's pedigree and consistency in completions, McNair, despite the statistical deficiencies (100 fewer total yards, 40 fewer attempts, 2 fewer total TDs), McNair's ability to absolutely, and without question, carry this football team is unmatched. Callahan has a talented group of players around him on both sides of the ball, while the best players, besides QB Derek McNair, on this Steamers team are a pair of tight ends and a 28 year old defensive end who's best days are behind him.

Other MVP Candidates would have to include Northwood Yetis quarterback Alex Phoenix, who has thrown for 1,966 yards and 21 touchdown passes on the season despite his team's 5-3 record, and Smugglers RB Stewie Shorts, who has already plowed his way to 989 yards on the year to lead the Smugglers to a 6-2 record.

As for my top 5 teams in the Power Rankings...
1: Memphis Steamers: These guys look unstoppable with McNair at the helm. It's always dangerous to put a team's success on one player's, a young one, at that, shoulders, but if anyone can do it, it's McNair.

2: North Carolina Dreadnoughts: Still at 8-2, the 'Noughts are one of the top-shelf teams in the RFL, and I can't seem them finishing below 15-3. Callahan is a candidate to break some records this season.

3: Richardson Fenrirs: Larry Patton has been impressive, with an impressive 1,800 yards and 12 touchdowns to his name this year, but Charles Zimmerman and Blake Northman, the team's two stud defensive linemen, are the two front-runners for DPOY this year, with 18 sacks already between the two of them.

4: Northwood Yetis:

Alex Phoenix is still one of the top quarterbacks in football, and, along with Bo Callahan, is the only guy likely to break any of my passing records, or Luca Warren's, any time soon. As a passer, he and Callahan are unrivaled, and Phoenix has led his team to an outstanding year thus far, while rookie DE Carlos Junior has proved to be the missing piece to a now top-12 defense.

5: Pittsburgh Ironmen:

OLB Jarrett Hauptmann, out of Richardson University (Along with DE Carlos Junior, mentioned above), has made this defense into a force. With the self-titled 'Iron Legion' in the secondary (CBs Clayton Bourne and Shawn Black, SS Clarence Forton, and FS Alexander Portman), Hauptmann's pass rush has made this team's defense the best in football, his pressure forcing, already, 5 more turnovers than last year's squad. Meanwhile, QB Terry Grayson continues to keep the otherwise shaky offense moving along nicely.

-Art Torrent, Sports Writer, National Sports News and Information Network(NSNN)

The Confederate Republic of Ranoria

Edited:

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