Thursday November 20th, 10:15 AM EST
Barcelona traveled to the Hall of Justice Stadium to face arguably their toughest opponent yet, the Justice League. Experts called the matchup even on paper and many were split on who would come out victorious in the game. The game would be played in front of 55,520 wild fans that consisted about 75% of Justice League fans and 25% Barcelona fans. As is tradition, the Justice League fans were decked out in super hero outfits with their favorite player's name on the back. Today, the Chupacabra offense and defense would be their kryptonite.
"Coach told me we're going to air it out early and often in this one unless we get a big lead. I don't expect this one to be a blowout so I'm ready to throw. This is definitely one of the tougher defenses we'll see this year so I'm ready to rock and roll," Rouse said just prior to kickoff.
The game got under way and as promised Barcelona came out firing. However, the Justice League defense was ready for Rouse. His first two passes were knocked away and then on 3rd down, Rouse threw his first interception of the season. Defensive captain, Sandy Rocker, walked over, patted Rouse on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, we got you Cap. You've helped us out this year so it's our turn to repay the favor." And that's exactly what they did on the next drive and for the rest of the game. Jackson Law would knock away 3 straight passes forcing a Justice League punt. However, Rouse kept struggling to find a groove early as he had two more passes knocked away on the next drive and Barcelona would punt.
"We told him to keep his head up. The whole team has confidence in him and we all know what he can do. Rouse is the best QB this league has seen and just because he starts out slow doesn't mean you can ever relax with him behind center as a defense," Coach C said of his QB after two disappointing drives to start the game. Rouse would have his first pass knocked away to start the next drive before finally settling in and getting comfortable in front of the hostile crowd. On 3rd and 3 he hit Chris Long over the middle for a 16 yard gain, before eventually driving down and finding Braeden Collins for a 22 yard TD pass to get Barcelona on the board. They would never surrender that lead.
The defense of the Chupacabras was stifling throughout the game. Especially Oh Noes who took the league lead in sacks by himself by recording 5 in the game as well as 5 hurries. The Chupacabras also added a safety from Jacob Duffy and deflected 24 passes as a team. The defense is currently on a record setting pace for fewest points allowed in a season and often get overlooked with the great superstars on the offensive side of the ball. But the defense is the main reason Barcelona is where they are today. Coach Stiltz had this to say of his defense, "We tell them every game what is expected of them. We feel as though we always put the guys in a position to dominate if they follow the gameplan and they haven't disappointed yet. What more can you say about these guys...every team fears them as well they should."
Rouse would add another TD pass to Shoes McGee in the 2nd quarter for 20 yards to give Barcelona a 17-0 advantage and the rout was on as chants of MVP rang out in The Hall of Justice for Ryan Rouse. Ron Ricardo who's become a regular correspondent on road games said of the Rouse MVP campaign, "Well there's no doubt about it. The poor guy hardly even gets to throw that often because every game is a blowout and he still has 20 TD passes and only 1 interception. Don't get me wrong...we love Flozell and Shoes and all those guys. They are phenomenal and without them we aren't undefeated. But Rouse is just a born leader and he's got the stats on top of that. Just everything. VIVA BARCELONA!!!"
The running game got going in the 2nd quarter with the Chupacabras up big as Flozell on back to back runs went 15 yards and then 20 for the TD to put Barcelona up 24-0. After a Tito Moss interception, Spears would add another rushing TD as the game was officially out of hand. With Barcelona out of timeouts just before the half, they were content to just run the clock out and call it a half but the Justice League failed to stop Cory Gent from the 31 yard line as he took it the distance with only 20 seconds to go in the first half.
Rouse would have one passing drive to start the second half where he showed off what he could do when in a groove as he went 4-4 on the drive for 53 yards and a touchdown pass to Post-Glom for his 3rd and final one of the day.
Then on what has become an every-game event, El Stankardo bounced off 5 tacklers en route to a 70 yard touchdown run that had the entire Barcelona sidelines going crazy. Flozell was even in awe, "He's like a bulldozer man! I can't even do that but then again I try to avoid defenders. He goes looking for someone to hit. We joke around that a couple games ago he was literally chasing a cornerback towards the end zone on a touchdown run. He's awesome to have around!"
The Justice League fans were gone by the end of the 3rd quarter as the Chupacabra fans partied in the Hall of Justice for the final quarter with their Barcelona Chupacabras winning by a final of 64-0. The win brought Barcelona to 5-0. With wins by the Boston Piggers, Sopron Stars, and River City Ransom, there are now only 4 undefeateds in the Zeta Conference remaining.
Barcelona returns home on November 22nd to face a very beatable opponent in the form of the Crete Minotaurs who currently sit at 3-2. Ryan Rouse had a special reminder for the fans, "Get out there early as it's fan appreciation day and we're having a special BBQ 5 hours before game time where Chupacabra players will serve you and sit and eat with the fans. Also make sure those MVP chants for your favorite Chupacabra whether it be Flozell, the Defense, myself, whoever are loud like all the rest of your cheers always are. It's going to be a fun one!"
Barcelona traveled to the Hall of Justice Stadium to face arguably their toughest opponent yet, the Justice League. Experts called the matchup even on paper and many were split on who would come out victorious in the game. The game would be played in front of 55,520 wild fans that consisted about 75% of Justice League fans and 25% Barcelona fans. As is tradition, the Justice League fans were decked out in super hero outfits with their favorite player's name on the back. Today, the Chupacabra offense and defense would be their kryptonite.
"Coach told me we're going to air it out early and often in this one unless we get a big lead. I don't expect this one to be a blowout so I'm ready to throw. This is definitely one of the tougher defenses we'll see this year so I'm ready to rock and roll," Rouse said just prior to kickoff.
The game got under way and as promised Barcelona came out firing. However, the Justice League defense was ready for Rouse. His first two passes were knocked away and then on 3rd down, Rouse threw his first interception of the season. Defensive captain, Sandy Rocker, walked over, patted Rouse on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, we got you Cap. You've helped us out this year so it's our turn to repay the favor." And that's exactly what they did on the next drive and for the rest of the game. Jackson Law would knock away 3 straight passes forcing a Justice League punt. However, Rouse kept struggling to find a groove early as he had two more passes knocked away on the next drive and Barcelona would punt.
"We told him to keep his head up. The whole team has confidence in him and we all know what he can do. Rouse is the best QB this league has seen and just because he starts out slow doesn't mean you can ever relax with him behind center as a defense," Coach C said of his QB after two disappointing drives to start the game. Rouse would have his first pass knocked away to start the next drive before finally settling in and getting comfortable in front of the hostile crowd. On 3rd and 3 he hit Chris Long over the middle for a 16 yard gain, before eventually driving down and finding Braeden Collins for a 22 yard TD pass to get Barcelona on the board. They would never surrender that lead.
The defense of the Chupacabras was stifling throughout the game. Especially Oh Noes who took the league lead in sacks by himself by recording 5 in the game as well as 5 hurries. The Chupacabras also added a safety from Jacob Duffy and deflected 24 passes as a team. The defense is currently on a record setting pace for fewest points allowed in a season and often get overlooked with the great superstars on the offensive side of the ball. But the defense is the main reason Barcelona is where they are today. Coach Stiltz had this to say of his defense, "We tell them every game what is expected of them. We feel as though we always put the guys in a position to dominate if they follow the gameplan and they haven't disappointed yet. What more can you say about these guys...every team fears them as well they should."
Rouse would add another TD pass to Shoes McGee in the 2nd quarter for 20 yards to give Barcelona a 17-0 advantage and the rout was on as chants of MVP rang out in The Hall of Justice for Ryan Rouse. Ron Ricardo who's become a regular correspondent on road games said of the Rouse MVP campaign, "Well there's no doubt about it. The poor guy hardly even gets to throw that often because every game is a blowout and he still has 20 TD passes and only 1 interception. Don't get me wrong...we love Flozell and Shoes and all those guys. They are phenomenal and without them we aren't undefeated. But Rouse is just a born leader and he's got the stats on top of that. Just everything. VIVA BARCELONA!!!"
The running game got going in the 2nd quarter with the Chupacabras up big as Flozell on back to back runs went 15 yards and then 20 for the TD to put Barcelona up 24-0. After a Tito Moss interception, Spears would add another rushing TD as the game was officially out of hand. With Barcelona out of timeouts just before the half, they were content to just run the clock out and call it a half but the Justice League failed to stop Cory Gent from the 31 yard line as he took it the distance with only 20 seconds to go in the first half.
Rouse would have one passing drive to start the second half where he showed off what he could do when in a groove as he went 4-4 on the drive for 53 yards and a touchdown pass to Post-Glom for his 3rd and final one of the day.
Then on what has become an every-game event, El Stankardo bounced off 5 tacklers en route to a 70 yard touchdown run that had the entire Barcelona sidelines going crazy. Flozell was even in awe, "He's like a bulldozer man! I can't even do that but then again I try to avoid defenders. He goes looking for someone to hit. We joke around that a couple games ago he was literally chasing a cornerback towards the end zone on a touchdown run. He's awesome to have around!"
The Justice League fans were gone by the end of the 3rd quarter as the Chupacabra fans partied in the Hall of Justice for the final quarter with their Barcelona Chupacabras winning by a final of 64-0. The win brought Barcelona to 5-0. With wins by the Boston Piggers, Sopron Stars, and River City Ransom, there are now only 4 undefeateds in the Zeta Conference remaining.
Barcelona returns home on November 22nd to face a very beatable opponent in the form of the Crete Minotaurs who currently sit at 3-2. Ryan Rouse had a special reminder for the fans, "Get out there early as it's fan appreciation day and we're having a special BBQ 5 hours before game time where Chupacabra players will serve you and sit and eat with the fans. Also make sure those MVP chants for your favorite Chupacabra whether it be Flozell, the Defense, myself, whoever are loud like all the rest of your cheers always are. It's going to be a fun one!"
