SCAB Report

Championship

Galactic Soup Bowl

Leathermen harness Sled Dogs, break away at finish

The DeSade S&M Leathermen completed their surprising ascent this year by knocking off the team that was the heir apparent at the beginning of the season, Heroes of Polar Exploration Memorial. The Leathermen beat Northwestsoutheastern on the last week of the season to take the 10 Pack Conference, QB Sherwood Feelgood became not only the leading rusher among QBs, but took the lead in passing composite by the last season game and won the Demetrius Award, then in the Eastern Semi led the upset of #1 ranked defending champion Puke, who beat HPEMC in the regular season and was undefeated. DeSade S&M claim their second SCAB championship, the last in 2003. The Sled Dogs were also bidding for a second, the first since 1993, but even more frustrating, it was the third appearance in the final in four years, and QB Baron Fang, RB Yukon Volkov and WR Elwood Friezover will leave without a championship.

HPEMC certainly gave a better defensive effort than Puke did, especially against the pass with Feelgood and his receiver corps. But DeSade was also impressive defensively, as they were against Puke, and this turned into a defensive struggle. Both QBs passed for under 200 yards, Feelgood for 183 and 3 TDs, Fang for 156 and a TD with an interception, and in the showdown of dual-threat types, it was Fang who got the better of rushing, with 61 yards to Feelgood's 47. The Lettermen receiver corps was considered the major factor in their success this season, the surprise in how the team came together, especially after the 324 yards passing against Puke, but the Sled Dogs did a good job against it. DeSade TE Dick Claude-Hoff led all receivers with 65 yards (he also had a TD), while WR Elwood Friezover had 53 yards and a TD for HPEMC.

The teams went score for score until the 4th quarter when DeSade scored on a long drive to take the lead, but the Sled Dogs failed on their answering drive and turned the ball over on downs not far into Leathermen territory. DeSade went 63 yards in 5 plays, a blitz to win it running away.

The Leathermen scored on the opening drive of the game, using 9 plays to travel from their own 38 to the HPEMC 30, but stalled out there. They got the points from a 47-yard field goal by K Lyon Down [3-0]. The Sled Dogs followed up with an even longer drive, 16 plays to go from their 20 to the DeSade 4, where the Leathermen held, and HPEMC opted for the easier field goal, a 21-yarder by K Rachem Upp [3-3].

The teams continued the tug of war, trading punts into the 2nd quarter, until DeSade put together a 17-play, 83-yard, clock-hogging drive. It looked like it would be more of the same when they too stalled out with a 4th down and 2 yards to go on the HPEMC 6-yard line. They set up for a field goal, but an offsides penalty on the Sled Dogs gave them a first down at the 3. On the next play, Feelgood threw to RB Dolan Outpayne for a TD [10-3]. HPEMC got one more first down, then punted, and that's how it stood at half.

But the Sled Dogs started the 2nd half with a bang. Volkov took a short kickoff on the 17 and ran 23 yards to set up HPEMC on their own 40. After Fang missed on a pass and Volkov carried for no gain, forcing a 3rd and 10, Fang connected with RB Chase Bone on a pass for 23 yards, Volkov plowed for 12 on a run, Bone broke for 23 more to the DeSade 2, and Fang threw to Friezover for the TD from there [10-10]. The Sled Dogs forced a three-and-out, then drove from their own 42 to the DeSade 28, where Upp made a 45-yard field goal [10-13]. HPEMC had taken the lead and charge of the game. The defensive battle continued, but now in their favor, and the teams traded punts for the rest of the quarter.

On the first play of the 4th, Friezover returned a punt 24 yards to the DeSade 22. The Sled Dogs were poised for a 2-score lead. A holding penalty set them back to the 32, but then Fang hit WR Kees O'Shivers for 19 yards to the DeSade 13. But on the next play Fang was picked off and the Leathermen took over at their own 9. DeSade covered the 81 yards in 12 plays, with Balz bouncing 19 yards on a run, two passes of 17 yards each to Claude-Hoff and WR Batson Belfry, and the capper a 10-yard TD pass to Belfry. Feelgood completed 5 of 6 passes on the drive and had runs of 8 and 6 yards.

Fang struck right back, running 7 yards on the next play from scrimmage, then 16 yard 2 plays later on 3rd down. He threw 13 yards to Bone to the DeSade 41, but on the next play was sacked for a yard loss. Fang got it to Friezover for 5 yards to the 37, but the Leathermen then forced two incomplete passes, the latter on 4th down. DeSade then put the icing on the cake. After a 6-yard pass and an incompletion, WR Gabe Ashe carried 18 yards on a reverse, Feelgood threw to Claude-Hoff for 20 to the HPEMC 19, then covered that with another pass to Claude-Hoff [24-13]. The Sled Dogs ran 3 plays, the last a 14-yard run by Fang, but the game, the season and his college career were over.