North American Association of Football (Fictional History): 41st McCallister Cup

41st McCallister Cup

Ottawa Royals VS. London Tigers - Mount Royal Stadium - October 4, 1959 - 6 PM ET - Weather: Partly Cloudy - 16ºC / 61ºF

1st Q
From the kick-off, it was clear this game was going to be about offence. The Royals would get the ball start, and QB Jean Matieau got the offence moving seamlessly down the field. The Tigers’ defence was in good coverage, but Matieau was able to find holes and got the ball to his receivers. The Royals would open the scoring on a 13-yard TD pass to WR Chester Bennett. The Tigers would not fall too far behind. QB Riley Kiernan would get the Tigers to the endzone a couple of drives later to tie the game up. He would hit WR Wilbert Benjamin open across the middle to score the touchdown. The quarter would come to an end with the game knotted at 7.
7-7

2nd Q
The second quarter would continue as the first ended, with both teams trading shots, but it would be the Tigers' defence that would create some fireworks. QB Jean Matieau would feel the Tigers' D-line closing in on him and would step up to make a throw, but DL Dee Floyd would get a hand on the ball and pop it up. LB Aengus Lynch reacted quickly and got under the ball to reel in a pick. Kiernan would then take the field and look to lead the Tigers into the lead. Kiernan would throw an impressively accurate pass to WR Max Sutton, who was being tightly covered by DB Uzzia Hayes. Sutton would catch the ball and then reach out into the endzone for the score. 7-14 Tigers. The Royals would bounce back from the swing with another strong offensive drive. Matieau would get the Royals back to the endzone with a toss to WR Mackenzie Jones. Jones would make a tough catch with DB Jackson Miles all over him to score. The game would enter halftime tied at 14.
14-14

3rd Q
The Royals’ defence would step up early in the third and would give the Tigers’ offence a bit of trouble. DL Olaf Viktorsson was causing a lot of issues in the Tigers’ backfield, grabbing a sack and 2 other tackles for losses on RB Clifford Russell. The Royals offence still kept clicking with a field goal to regain the lead early. The Tigers’ defence was still making it a bit tougher for Matieau and the Royals, but they would eventually find their way back into scoring range with the help of a fumble recovery from the defence caused by DL Troy Hunt. The Royals would inch towards the endzone with RB Alexei Volkov getting a few carries. Once at the 3-yard-line, Matieau would pull out the play action and fake it to Volkov before finding TE Jervonte Howell open for the touchdown to make it 24-14 heading into the final quarter of the game.
24-14 OTT

4th Q
The Royals seemed to be in control going into the 4th, and they were able to maintain it. Even if the Tigers were able to slow down the Royals’ offence, they were still tipping the field position battle in their favour. They would eventually grab a field goal to extend the lead to 13. QB Riley Kiernan needed to get the Tigers’ offence going if the Tigers wanted any chance to win this game. He would be successful pulling together a meticulous drive that seemed to have the Royals backpedalling on every play. The poise that Kiernan showed, got the rest of the Tigers into it. They would get into the redzone and Kiernan would toss it to WR Wilbert Benjamin, who found some open space to pull the Tigers back to within 6. The Royals would simply look to kill some time, and they did a pretty good job of it before the Tigers finally forced a punt just before midfield. The Tigers would get the ball back on their on 11. Kiernan would have to get the Tigers going with time becoming scarce. They would pick up a couple of quick first downs, but they would find themselves in 3rd and 8 at midfield. Kiernan would scramble in the pocket looking to make a play and would eventually find WR Max Sutton for the first down to keep the drive going. They continued to move into Royals territory, but time was getting low. The Tigers would need to make a play with the time running. Kiernan would take a shot downfield and Max Sutton would catch the ball, but S Randal Green and DB Uzzia Hayes would be able to bring him down before the endzone. The play would finish before the clock hit :00, so the Tigers had one more shot at the endzone. Kiernan would drop back to pass and would feel some pressure, but with the Royals loading up the secondary, it was going to be a tough throw. Kiernan eventually let it go looking for Max Sutton. Sutton and DB Mingan Oliver would both go up for the ball, and both would get their hands on it. Oliver had the hand positioning though and was able to rip the ball out and he would catch it to bring in the interception and seal the game for the Royals. The Royals were back on top claiming their 4th title in 6 years.