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Revengers' Tragedy faced their second consecutive cross-conference opponent in the form of the Scarbringer Savages having registered a victory against The Darkstalkers last time out. The team from the West had faced those same rivals in Week 3 and had come away with a 2-2 draw. The Savages do not come into this match on any sort of roll though having been thrashed last time out by the Mugaz. In cross-conference matches, teams from the West have traditionally performed well but the Savages have never picked up a win against a team from another Conference. Most of the 41,000 fans that filed into the Alpha Rats Nest hoped to see that streak continue.
The game opened up with the Tragedy receiving against a flat line of Savages defenders that featured the two Rat Ogres that have become hallmarks of Savages play already this season each guarding a flank. Against this and with a kick taken at midfield by Skaven Thrower Tor, the Tragedy attempted to press forward. The blocking unit did not have much success against the more experienced Savages line, only Blitzer Luke making inroads by blitzing the smallest target, Stinky the Skink. With a lack of progress up front, Tor retreated a couple of yards to secure his possession deep in his own half. It was a security that was threatened by runners from the defensive lines pushing up to try and get near the ball carrier.
Having not had much success initially, it was time for the offense to call on its largest member in the form of Landok the Ogre. Blitzing a path down the inside left channel, Landok carved open a running lane that the Tragedy skill players took immediate advantage of. Rolling their positions round to the left, camp began to be set up just inside Savages territory. The camp was an effective one as the Savages could not make any in-roads, only succeeding in pushing players back and in laying tackle zones. The defence did not deliver the sort of hits necessary to break up the formation and that lack of physicality was punished by Luke. The Blitzer squared up against his opposite number, Dark Elf Sirius and delivered a block that echoed round the stadium Badly Hurting its victim. It was Luke's third Casualty in as many games and seemed to act as a cue to Tor. The Thrower had been holding onto possession deep within his own half but chose this moment to make his move upfield. Rushing up to nearly center-field, Tor was in range to complete a quick pass to Amazon Catcher Sunday, her first reception of the season.
Though it had taken a while to develop, the offensive pattern was put in place immediately once Sunday had the ball. She pushed her way downfield, accompanied by all those around her who could offer support into a 5-player cage formation deep in the defensive half. It was a formation that the Savages could not penetrate. Dropping players back, all they could do was try and throw bodies in the way. Those bodies were not enough, Sunday continued to push her way through and over the line for her first career score.
The action had not been overly swift, around a third of the last period remained and yet the Savages had found that their physical play was not especially sucessful. In the entire drive, the Savages had only knocked down one player, Orc Lineman Numfar. The team needed to redeem itself on offense and quickly. "Fur" Tooth fielded the kick-off and moved casually into midfield. The line in front did their best to offer protection by actually knocking players down and the team held itself firm awaiting the inevitable pass-rush. When the rush came, it was from Luke. The Blitzer came crashing in to the side of "Fur" Tooth but the Skaven showed his now customary poise under pressure, dumping the ball off to Stinky the Skink. The hit failed to knock Tooth down but that did not seem to matter as Stinky had taken over possession in any case. The dump-off represented Tooth's 20th completion of his career, the first player to reach that mark.
Stinky paushed momentarily ahead of his forward strike, surveying the landscape ahead. Time seemingly stood still, all other players moving as if in slow motion but Stinky at full pace. The Skink moved at tremendous pace, he slipped under a couple of lumbering tackles and was off. No defenders could track across and no-one could get near Stinky. It was a tremendous piece of running but it ended abruptly and painfully. The Alpha Rats Nest apparently contained some a surprise waiting for just this moment in the form of a mine that had been laid just beneath the surface of the turf. Stinky was moving at far too great a pace to have spotted and avoided it. Instead, he was knocked from his feet, dropping the ball. Stinky had been close and had only been denied by a dirty trick. The ball bobbled loose and deep in Tragedy territory, it was always going to be collected by one of their players. Luke was the one to clean up and hold on for the end of the half.
1-0 at the break to Revengers' Tragedy, they had shown a good deal of patience to build their scoring drive and it was backed up by a fortunate stoppage of the Savages own attack but such is the natural advantage of playing at home. The Savages had all sorts of difficulty with their blocking game to start with but the improvement towards the end of the half will have pleased their coaching staff. As it is, the scoreline rightly shows that both teams will still have felt that there were points to be taken from this game.
As the teams jogged out to take up positions for the second half, "Fur" Tooth noticed that his footwear had been de-spiked with some form of lubricant preventing him from generating any effective grip. Fortunately for the visitors, he was not called upon to field the kick-off as is typically the as the Savages were provided the benefit of a touchback following a poor kick-off. The touchback was given to Stinky and the drive was on. The Savages attacked down their right flank, setting up a hook round the edge of the flank and sending runners downfield. The runners included High Elf Lineman Mithdithius and Catcher Lobo La'Grange who had both registered scores this season. Around them, a group of Linemen offered protection for Stinky with the aim of preventing an effective break on the ball from the defence. They were unable to prevent the rush though, and it arrived from Amazon Catcher Sunday. She had earlier managed to shove her way through for a score but when it came to knocking down a ball carrier she proved less effective, Stinky withstood her attempt at a blitz with ease.
The pass-rush had not worked so the Savages could retain possesion and an attempt to breach the Tragedy end zone. Their cause was aided by Lineman Sid Unvicious who failed to live up to his name, brutally blocking down on Skaven Lineman Marti causing an injury to the Tragedy player. Instead of hurtling headlong towards the line, the Savages took a moment to pause and maneouver players into position. Not exposing the ball to a blitz, Stinky's composure was rewarded as all that the Tragedy defenders could do was to attempt to secure the running lanes and prevent further forward progress. Unfortunately for the defense, Stinky is one of the best at evading tacklers and showed some more of that skill by dodging away from his minders and finding support up the field. The support was Catcher Lobo La'Grange, the speedster taken in the second round of Da Krush. Having managed to get behind the home team's defence, La'Grange had a simple run-in to register the equaliser and his third score of the season.
At one apiece, there was still more than enough time left for either team to make a decisive play and that was reflected in the cautious initial response from the Tragedy. Facing a full front defence, the home side did not attempt to move the ball at the first opportunity but rather had Tor hold on and wait for something to develop. The Savages took this as a cue to flood forward, pressing towards the ball as much as possible. Defenders pushing forward meant that it became a straight foot-race. The Tragedy ball-handlers attempting to rush downfield before they were caught in their own backfield. Tor has decent pace so was able to put some distance between himself and the chasers but Kyle is quicker. The Skaven Thrower handed the rock on to the Gutter Runner and the parameters of the race had changed. Now it was a race for the defenders to catch Kyle before he reached the end zone. Most of the pacey defenders were caught the wrong side of the ball and could not track back, Kyle had more protection around him led by Ogre Landok than the Savages had players to cover across. Unable to lay a glove on Kyle, only Rat Ogre Veh'nomm could reach the Savages wedge but he was cleared out by Landok leaving just one easy yard for Kyle to put his side into a 2-1 lead.
The drive had eaten up a reasonable amount of time but there was still enough available for a Savages response. It was an effort helped out by Lineman "Steely-Eyed" Sam who injured his opposite number on the line, Cameron, as soon as the ball landed. "Fur" Tooth found himself in his familiar position in the deep, fielding the kick-off. As there was little time left, Tooth attempted to get the ball downfield immediately. Rushing upfield and looking to hit either Lobo La'Grange or Stinky on a medium range pass, Tooth rushed it badly. His pass attempt fell horribly short and there was no way any receiver would have been able to make the catch. The only upside to the short throw was that it left the ball out of the range of any suitable Tragedy ball-handlers so all that the defence could do was exert more pressure on the ball. That pressure was enough, "Fur" Tooth himself was able to get to the ball but he again failed to make it count. Despite picking up the ball in traffic and dodging away from that threat, he fumbled the pass attempt and the game was over.
In the end, the game had been close. Two sides based around speed and mobility matched up well but it was the expansion team that come out on top and now with two wins in Cross-Conference matches to establish themselves as genuine contenders for the later stages of the tournament. The Savages own chances of making the post-season are now fairly small having accumulated two points with just three games to go. Even winning all three might not be enough for qualification but they will no doubt be pleased to have performed well against a Tragedy side that has not failed to win since Week 1. Revengers' Tragedy themselves will have to ensure that they do not become complacent for the remainder of the season as their qualification now seems assured as well as a 4 point lead in the South with just three games left.
Injuries - None
Key Stats
| Team | CAS
|
Rush
|
Blocks
|
Downs
|
Dodges
|
Tragedy | 1
|
36
|
54
|
24
|
14
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Savages | 2
|
36
|
47
|
20
|
11
|
Best Players:
Sunday: 1 TD, 1 Rush for 13 yards, 1 Reception for 3 yards, 6 Blocks, 2
Downs, 2 Dodges
Stinky: 2 Rushes for 22 yards, 1 Reception for 3 yards, 1 Block, 5 Dodges,
1 Fall, 3 Stands, 1 Fumble
Kyle: 1 TD, 1 Rush for 15 yards, 6 Dodges