The grand finally of season 21: Third final in a row for the five seasoned Divine Rats, but so far they had not made it. On the other side an only two season old Cold Blood Magic, but as DR they had not lost a match since round 2. They lost to this seasons 3rd Greyhavien Renegades where DR lost to last seasons defending champs Bones & Bandages. Since then they both had an almost perfect record with 9 wins for DR and 8 wins and a tie for CB.
In the semi final DR had played in front of a record breaking crowd (largest in five seasons) and with all the money they earned from this match they could afford to induce a wizard for their own money, of course giving CB even more gold for inducements. So both teams had a wizard, but DR also faced a chef, and CB had a babe in the dugout.
And the chef cooked to perfection during first half hampering DR's players with too much saliva…
Still they had the advantage of receiving the ball with a touch back and Buddha kept it safe deep, while the fans killed the ref for giving the ball to DR this easily. But for some reason Buddha had forgotten to count on Tiny Dancer's extreme speed and the skink got up close and personal.
Not the best thing when you are strained by too much saliva, so Buddha had to blitz him away to get into a semi cage. DR had stupidly send most of their team down one side of the pitch, with only Loke annoying some lonely skinks on the other side. So when God tried to dodge around a Saurus he fell and got KOed. It should turn out to be a very serious hit he took, cause God did not return for the rest of this very long game. When he was the best card in stopping the skinks, this was somewhat of a problem for DR, but they of course did not know this yet.
The new Krox Mr. Joe Fixit managed to put his TZ on Jesus and again a skink was on to Buddha with the ball. Only Loke was still in scoring reach, as he fended him self free from the blocking skinks. That was after Lenny The Dragon manages to push fender Thor B out over the sideline in the other side, to be killed by the crowd!
A blitz on the skink made it no problem for Buddha to pass to Jesus, who caught it and dodges away from the Krox with no problems. Most of the rest of the match, Mr. Joe Fixit did not do much right! Although he did not cause turnovers, he stood around a lot. Too much pressure to be put in a final in your very first match!
Jesus ran all he could and handed the ball to the free line rat Loke, but here one of the few RRs left where needed for the catch. But it worked, and Loke could score and maybe get a full team back on the pitch. He runs and pushes his way to the EZ and then TD… Noooo! He falls over the invisible line - and gets stunned.
The ball stays on pitch but is in reach of agile skink Bruce Lee. He also manages to grab the ball, but the cage he was supposed to run straight into has been shifted away from the planned position, and now even running all he can he will not be able to make it into the centre. This turned out not to matter though, as he got so stressed by this error that he fell over already outside the cage.
The ball ends up near just one Saurus and for a free Jesus a TD from this position is not a problem and 1-0 for DR.
DR had two KOs vs. one, but God stayed out, where Pluto made it back along with the KOed skink.
Then DR comes out blitzing, and Jesus catches the ball in a semi cage. Is this DR's victory we sees here? No, the blitz by King of Funk takes him down, but not stunned, and the ball is not easy to reach. But then a foul by Tiny Dancer KOs Jesus!
When next DR uses the last RR on a double skull and The Mother gets stunned after failing a simple dodge DR cannot really do anything to stop CB and in the last minute of the half the lizards ties the game 1-1 by Bruce Lee. (He learned sprint from this after the match)
However, where God fails to wake, Jesus manages to get back from his KO to fight alongside The Mother. And then when the ball is blown around by the wind over the stadium the skinks have to keep it caged close to the LoS. This is what Jesus had been waiting for. A leap later he pushes the ball carrying skink and strips the ball free. It ends up near two lizards, but with the Krox forgetting where he is again, The Mother can manage to reach the ball and she dodges away with it.
But holding the ball was not a good thing for The Mother. She is blitzed down by frenzied Saurus Lenny The Dragon and SI. This meant that the apo would not be certain he could put her back on pitch, so he did not even try. But before she were blown out, she had side stepped next to Jesus, who caught the bouncing ball. Sadly for Jesus he had put his TZ on a skink and the skink gets him down as well, but not stunned. The ball is still on the ground, and Jesus then manages to get it but he cannot reach the EZ for the TD and he must stop short.
This is where the Lizard Wizard smites Jesus, but he is not stunned, yet. Again it is agile Bruce Lee who gets the ball but just barely and he stops next to Jesus. However another foul on Jesus stuns him. So Bruce Lee can get away with the ball before Jesus can get after him. But soon Jesus is back in the hunt and the skins has not gotten into a scoring position.
When Buddha then takes the Krox down single handed (after strong Poseidon had failed in a blitz with two assists), and stays down next turn too stupid to get up, so Poseidon can SI Misty Mountain Hopper, then there is a way for Jesus to get close to the action again. - Poseidon mutated after the match due to this casualty, and now sports a claw like the late Zeus whom he replaced.
As Bruce Lee with the ball and fast Tiny Dancer finally gets into scoring reach, DR's coach sees no other possibility than to use his own wizard. And it works even more successful than CB's as Bruce Lee is SI by the lightning bolt, so bad that the apo tries to heal him to prevent permanent damage. This succeeds but not well enough for the agile skink to play the rest of the match!
The ball is thus free and then Pluto blitzes Tiny Dancer down, stunned, and gets the ball. DR is back in business with Jesus close by. A TZ from a Saurus is put on Pluto, but he just needs a dodge to hand the ball to Jesus and the victory is almost DR's. But oh no he falls over. And then Timmy and his Tail blitzes Jesus down and makes a casualty on him!!! Luckily for DR it is only a BH and the apotech, who was not wasted on The Mother, saves him for a potential overtime. Could this be CB's moment? No, Golden Gecko, the only other skink close by, falls on a dodge and gets very SI!
DR then manages to place them selves so the fast skink Tiny Dancer cannot run around them for a possible TD, but still the ball is free when Buddha with the ball is taken down. The chances for DR to score for 2-1 in the dying seconds of the 2nd half is very slim, with TZ on both the linerats in scoring reach. So when the first block is bad the sole RR left in the game is not spend and over time is a reality - from 1-1.
DR is one RR up vs. nil and 11 vs. 10 players, but only saved by the apotech Jesus is left of the GodRunners as God remains KOed, Holy Spirit misses the match and even The Mother is out too.
DR kicks first, but once again they comes blitzing out. Sadly the ball lands near two Sauri in a kind of cage, and with one of those being Lenny The Dragon, the most dangerous of them all, Jesus is not going in for the catch. Instead the two skinks in each wide zone are pressed with the two tacklers, and generally the Lizards are in a tight spot. This it not helped at all when their dangerous blitzer Lenny The Dragon then catches the bouncing ball from the kick.
To prevent Jesus from striping him from the ball all the Sauri surrounds Lenny The Dragon, so DR does not go directly for him, but instead ensures that there is no skink to hand-off too, and several TZs on the ball carrier.
And then the lack of RR hits CB in the face as the first block fails completely. This gives DR a chance to hit and hit and blitz, and finally with several subsequent pushes and great blocking - (amongst other resulting in a BH Wild Rover of Hell at the hands of rookie linerat Tyr B, who became a dirty player after the match) - strong Poseidon gets the assist he needs and takes down Lenny The Dragon. The ball bounces to Odin B who was ready to hit too if needed. Then Jesus runs up close, and even with his limited moving space Odin B can get to Jesus and hand the ball to him.
However, the tackling Saurus Timmy and his Tail can just reach Jesus and blitz him, but already when running up to him he trips over his own feet, and then Jesus can run out of reach near the EZ and scores a certain TD for 2-1 when the first overtime half ends.
It looks great for DR. Although they are down to 10 players, as Frej B was send off for fouling fast Tiny Dancer KO (and the skink came back with the help of a babe), then they only faced 9 Lizards. They still had the sole RR and they were receiving from 2-1. God of course still stayed out.
What could possible go wrong? Well a blitz the other way, to even the score on this? Yes of course it is the exciting finally right! The first two skink do not try to get under the ball, instead they put their TZ on Jesus and Buddha. And the last skink then falls on the dodge through the defence thus leaving the ball to fall on the ground. It is then no problem for DR when Buddha first takes Toad The Wet Sprocket down, and second with Odin B who blitzes and kills The Dirty Little Dino who where standing next to Jesus. Jesus then takes the ball and runs our of reach.
During these few turns CB's coach makes no more than two IPs giving DR 3 vs. nil RR. So when Pluto is far down the opposing pitch with almost no skinks left, DR is ready to take a chance with a long pass from Jesus. DR are willing to spend a RR here, and it has to be used to no avail, it is still a fumble!!!
However, Tiny Dancer could not pick it up without RRs and then Pluto has to run back to help, and with his help Buddha BHs Tiny Dancer. Jesus then gets the ball again and runs up to assist on Ambassador of Kwan so he can be blocked down. But this was a mistake as the not stunned Saurus can now take a blitz on Jesus, and of course he takes the runner down (although not stunned).
But there is only one rookie skink left on pitch, Toad The Wet Sprocket, but he can be put in scoring reach. However only chance to get the ball to him is for Lenny The Dragon to get the ball and pass it to him, and the pick-up fails as expected. But not before Timmy and his Tail made the fans of Loke hold their breath. The line rat was BH by the Sauri, and as it was his 50th appearance for DR (has missed 6 matches so far), then he has collected a lot of fans and also 7 MVPS!) Timmy and his Tail learned break tackle from this (and the BH he made on Jesus earlier).
In their last turn DR's Pluto blitzes the last skink Toad The Wet Sprocket down, thus removing any chance for CB to tie the game in their last turn. And then Jesus runs all he can and the team manages to protect him from any possible blitz. The last blitz then came by King of Funk and resulted in a BH Tyr B - vengeance for him BHing Wild Rover of Hell. The blitzing Sauri learned Guard from this.
The MVP of course went to these two last turn blitzers, King of Funk for at least drawing some blood after the match was lost and Pluto for taking down the last threat for the title. He had also done so at the end of 2nd half. He also learned guard.
DR hauled another major winnings home (160 k - the highest you can earn in one match these days), and will be able to field 16 players for next seasons opening in spite of the 40 k they lost to spiralling expences. And as their fan-base increased after the match, and will increase even more with the trophy, they will have the staggering FF of 18 at the start of next season!
And with that DR finally - with ten wins in a row, in their fifth season and third straight attempt at a final -claimed the gold - the Aros BBL trophy!
And that was almost 100 % due to Jesus and his 31 TDs and 21 completions this season!
