Warrior General Games

In just a few short hours the big game will be kicking off. A classic game of David versus Goliath. With the Sterling Bulldawgs getting set to face off against the Zimbabwe Rebels many are seeing a one-sided affair that can only have on outcome. A Rebels victory by a large margin.

The Bulldawgs are clearly the underdogs in this match-up. After compiling a 15-1 record in the regular season they went on to defeat their opponents in the first 3 rounds. Classic games each and every one with the potential in each game for the Dawgs to be sent home packing. But here they are. Ready to take on one of the toughest teams in Africa AAA to date not to mention the clear-cut BEST team in Elephant this season.

The Rebels have set out to win the championship since day 1 this season. They went 16-0 in the regular on the back of some of the most dominating performances ever. The playoffs changed absolutely nothing as they dominated every team through 3 rounds. Right now the Rebels look unbeatable.

Let's take a look at both of these teams and see how they compare and how they got to this point in the season.

TEAM RATINGS
Rebels Bulldawgs
Overall 72 69
Passing 78 75
Receiving 60 66
Rushing 66 63
Blocking 75 69
Pass Def 66 66
Rush Def 69 66
Kicking 84 87

The Rebels have the advantage in almost every category except for Receiving and Kicking. All bad news for the Bulldawgs unless they plan to kick their way to a victory.

TEAM CHEMISTRY
Both teams are 100's across the board.

ROSTERS
Zimbabwe
55 players (28 on offense, 25 on defense, P, K)
Average Level - 68
Effective Level - 74

Sterling
53 players (23 on offense, 28 on defense, P, K)
Average Level - 69
Effective Level - 73

On paper the rosters look pretty well matched up. I'm sure lots of Zimbabwe's opponents felt that way this season though. Upon closer inspection you'll see that Sterling houses far more younger talent than Zimbabwe does. Could this youth be their downfall or will it turn out to be a strength?

REGULAR SEASON TEAM RANKINGS
Passing Yardage - Zimbabwe (2nd), Sterling (16th)
Passing Yards Allowed - Zimbabwe (2nd), Sterling (5th)
Rushing Yardage - Sterling (1st), Zimbabwe (2nd)
Rushing Yards Allowed - Zimbabwe (5th), Sterling (6th)
Hurries - Zimbabwe (1st), Sterling (10th)
Sacks - Zimbabwe (1st), Sterling (14th)
INTs - Zimbabwe (4th), Sterling (17th)
FFs - Zimbabwe (1st), Sterling (7th)
Pancakes - Zimbabwe (1st), Sterling (12th)
Points Scores - Zimbabwe (1st), Sterling (6th)
Points Allowed - Zimbabwe (1st), Sterling (5th)

Looking at these rankings it's easy to see that Zimbabwe has been the best all season long on both sides of the ball. Behind a strong offense they've lit up the scoreboards. But their defense has been equally impressive as they've held teams to the fewest points while forcing a phenomenal amount of turnovers.

In a second we'll take a look at each team's road to the Championship game.

In the interest of time I am not going to write much, if anything, about blowout games.

Sterling Bulldawgs (15-1)
Week 1 - at Blacc's Bastards - W 30-24
The Bulldawgs kicked off the season with a 6 point win over the Bastards. They took an early lead and fought off a late surge by the Bastards.

Week 2 - Stockholm Polarbears - W 255-0

Week 3 - at West Yorkshire Bandits - W 34-20
After a first half that saw both teams taking turns putting up points on the scoreboard the Dawgs held an 8 point lead. The second half turned into a defensive battle that saw Sterling put up 2 FG's while holding the Bandits to 0 points for the win.

Week 4 - Phoenix City Warriors - W 255-0

Week 5 - Morocco Snake Charmers - W 255-0

Week 6 - at Colonial Zoners - W 182-12

Week 7 - Rapid City Sioux - W 51-3
The Dawgs faced off against a team they would meet later in the first round of the playoffs. This game was not a sign of things to come but the Dawgs held Rapid City to a FG for the entire game to take an easy win.

Week 8 - at Denver Assassins - W 255-0

Week 9 - Nigeria Nightmares - W 54-13
Sterling jumped out to an early 28-6 halftime lead that would prove too much for the Nightmares to recover from.

Week 10 - at Botswana Bone Breakers - W 145-0

Week 11 - Cambridge Chieftains - W 87-23
After 1 quarter the game was a close one with Sterling up by 7 points. The Bulldawgs proceeded to put up 59 points over the 2nd & 3rd quarters however to secure a victory and continue their undefeated record.

Week 12 - at Port Harcourt Playmakers - W 255-0

Week 13 - Kalahari Night Riders - W 58-13
With the season winding down and few teams remaining to pose a threat to Sterling the Bulldawgs proceeded to take down a playoff team by taking a 27-3 halftime lead.

Week 14 - at Ghana Rhea - W 216-0

Week 15 - LHC Naked Turtles - L 27-32
In a game that was of utmost importance to the playoff seeding, the Bulldawgs stumbled early and found themselves trying to play catch up all game long. The loss cost the Bulldawgs the #1 seed and a perfect record with only one easy team left on the schedule.

Week 16 - at Carson City Cadillacs - W 255-0

Playoff Games (3-0)
Round 1 - Rapid City Sioux - W 37-30
A rematch from week 7 turned into one of the Bulldawgs hardest fought games yet. They fell behind early and found themselves down 23-30 with 10 minutes remaining in the game. They bounced back with everything they had though as the defense stiffened up in the second half and the Dawgs offense went on to tie the game and score the winning TD with under 2 minutes remaining in the game.

Round 2 - at LHC Naked Turtles - W 38-23
The Turtles cost the Dawgs the #1 seed during the regular season and gave them their only loss. This was bound to be another struggle and after 2 quarters the game was tied up at 17. Sterling's defense came out pumped in the second half though as they held LHC to 6 points while the offense put up 21 points to avenge the season loss.

Round 3 - at West Yorkshire Bandits - W 33-27
In yet another classic game between these two old rivals, not to mention another classic playoff game, Sterling took advantage of a huge 24 point 2nd quarter to go into halftime with a 30-6 lead. The Bandits were not to be ignored however as they came out and held Sterling to 3 points in the second half while their offense exploded in the 4th quarter for 21 points. WYB fell short though as Sterling would go on to take a 6 point victory to make it to the big game.

Zimbabwe Rebels (16-0) - these will be even quicker since the Rebels never had a close game.
Week 1 - Phoenix City Warriors - W 255-0

Week 2 - at Nile Valley Vipers - W 97-10

Week 3 - Alexandria Barbarians - W 157-3

Week 4 - at San Antonio Venom - W 91-10
This was to be the Rebels first real contest as they faced off against what was definitely an early playoff favorite. The Rebels proceeded to thoroughly dismantle the Venom with double digit scoring in every quarter.

Week 5 - at Nigerian Nightmares - W 255-0

Week 6 - Covington Black Knights - W 48-3
This game kicked off a 3 week tour through playoff teams that had to have put a scare into every Elephant team when it was over. It also marked the closest game the Rebels had all season long. That was even scarier.

Week 7 - at Barcelona Blaze - W 73-0
Barcelona was undefeated at this point of the season and were looking to show they belonged in the #1 spot. The Rebels went about their business and put up 73 unanswered points.

Week 8 - Blacc's Bastards - W 86-10
The Bastards had only suffered one loss (to Sterling) by this point and were looking ready to show what they were made of after a soft early schedule. While they went on to prove they were an elite team they fared no better against Zimbabwe than any other team this season.

Week 9 - at Toro Nation - W 255-0

Week 10 - Mayotte Metal Militia - W 82-10
The Militia were the only other undefeated team in Elephant and had high hopes to prove it wasn't merely based off their schedule. They stayed within 14 points at halftime but then the Rebels unloaded to the tune of 62 unanswered 2nd half points.

Week 11 - at Somalia Warlords - W 101-9
The Warlords just weren't ready yet for this game and after a dominant win the Rebels would go on to remain undefeated.

Week 12 - Mogadishu Juggernaut - W 255-0

Week 13 - at Mario Maniacs - W 255-0

Week 14 - P-Town Ballaz - W 255-0

Week 15 - at Cape Town Great Whites - W 255-0

Week 16 - Warri Delta Warriors - W 150-7

Playoff Games (3-0)
Round 1 - Warri Delta Warriors - W 181-0
The prize for an undefeated season was a first round bye.

Round 2 - Covington Black Knights - W 71-0
Covington hoped to make a better game of it the second time around but they ended up faring worse this time around as the Rebels shut them out.

Round 3 - Somalia Warlords - W 66-6
Somalia was not a team to take lightly even after the 101-9 thumping earlier in the season. With the Rebels up by 11 points going into the second half it looked like we might have a game ahead of us. But then the Rebels put on another second half clinic as they piled up 49 unanswered points to move on to the big game.

Which leads us to the big one. One last game to decide who was the best team in Africa AAA #2 this season. One look at all the data above suggests that the answer is easy. Zimbabwe has outperformed every team in the league, dominated every team in their conference and should continue to do just that today. The question is how resilient is Sterling? After 3 tough playoff games that saw them make huge comebacks and hold off the same from opposition can we expect them to do that against what is arguably the best team in the league. I'll leave that up to you guys to decide and wait a few short hours for the question to be answered.

Championship Game
Zimbabwe Rebels vs Sterling Bulldawgs
I've been unbiased all season long so today I am taking a vacation from making a pick.

I picked Zimbabwe to take it all when the playoffs started and I know nobody out there would argue that it was the safest, most logical pick.

Now that Sterling is in the big game I don't see that outcome being any different but I will keep hope alive that we can find a way to topple this giant. In the interest of that I won't jinx us any more when we have too many things going against us as it is.

Good luck to both teams and I know that I am just hoping for a good game at the least!

Once again EC, you have outdone yourself! One of the best championship game writeups (if not the best) I have seen in my GLB days. I thoroughly enjoyed your write ups through the season and looking forward to them next season as well.

It was great reading the summary of the whole season as well as a sort of timeline as well.

Wish you guys the best of luck today as well, but definitely hoping for the Rebels to come out on top.

Great season to all!

Great write up.

Great write up. You have done a great job at this all season long and it was well appreciated. Thanks for adding to the enjoyment of the season.

Don't count Sterling out, I have been a part of a team that knocked off a thought to be unbeatable team in a title game.
http://goallineblitz.com/game/game.pl?game_id=372505

That was the game and at the time they outleveled us by an average of 7.8, I remember one of our players did all the math in the forum.
Natural Born Killers vs Liverpool Legend Killers

Our Defense stopped their unstoppable HB, 'Gensis Run', and I was the DC
I still to this day have never seen a bigger playoff upset than that, and even if Sterling beats the Rebels I don't think it will be as big as an upset.
Good luck Sterling, looking foward to seeing a good game.

Thanks for the comments throughout the season guys. It's been fun doing this the last few seasons and hopefully I'll have enough time to continue it next season.

Great season Zimbabwe. That was a pretty thorough ass whupping you just handed us. Good luck up in Pros next season.

Originally posted by ecrana


Great season Zimbabwe. That was a pretty thorough ass whupping you just handed us. Good luck up in Pros next season.

Thanks and GG and a great season for you guys as well.

I will say that it seems like all of the teams in our league run class acts (especially those that posted more often), and will say it was a pleasure to play against such a great league. I have a feeling a few of you guys will come up to the Pros as well, but if you don't, wish you all the best of luck next season as well to a great group of owners and agents!

From the Covington Black knights, I would like to say congratulations Rebels. you guys had a great season. A job well done by the GM's and players.

Great game Zimbabwe. Usually when I scout an opponent's offense, I can find something I can game plan against and take advantage of. I found nothing that I could use against you. Great game planning and strong team. Good luck in the pros next season. We hope to have another crack at you in the pros.

Originally posted by Bulldawgy
Great game Zimbabwe. Usually when I scout an opponent's offense, I can find something I can game plan against and take advantage of. I found nothing that I could use against you. Great game planning and strong team. Good luck in the pros next season. We hope to have another crack at you in the pros.

Thanks for the compliments our OC is excellent and we have a lot of unselfish players that have no problem with having so many players to split carries, receptions, and pass attempts with on the offensive side, agents that are OK with splitting time on the defensive side, and some great special teams players as well.