Story:Shockball Championship 16 ABY

This year's Intergalactic League of Shockball Championship Game pits the #1 ranked Lianna Rarkeyes against the #2 ranked Corulag Acklays!

It's been a tough year for the Acklays, having fought and scratched through the challenging Core Systems Conference to gain their #2 ranking in the ILS. After their painful loss to the Aquaris Submersibles, Head Coach Urbin Meyar is determined to lead his team to a victory in the upcoming title game.

Whereas the Rarkeyes have awed spectators with their 12-0 season and impressive scoring drives, including an early win against the challenging Corellia Shiprights, which knocked the prior year's ILS Title Champions all the way down to #8! Rumor has it that if the Rarkeyes clinch the title this year, having retained their #1 slot since the off-season, Head Coach Jim Kessel may be up for a pretty sizeable salary increase.

No matter what anyone may think about the differences between the CSC and the Big Fifty, this year's Galaxy Championship Game is going to be a match-up of match-ups.

= Plays to look out for =

Lianna's Five-Wide Offense
Lianna shocked the Rudrig defense by taking up a no-back, five-wide receiver empty set. It was in this formation 24 snaps in the rivalry game at Lianna. The Rarkeyes ended up having 503 total yards of offense on 70 plays. T'roi Smiff was 29 of 41 passing for 316 yards and four touchdowns. In the 24 snaps using the empty five-wide formation, Smiff had 15 completions and was able to keep the Rudrig defense spread out and off-balance. The reason the five-wide set was so effective for Lianna was because of the great depth it has in the passing game. For example, Tad Genn, No. 7, had eight catches for 104 yards, Brill Robis'kee, No. 80, had seven catches for 89 yards and Antony Gonzoliss, No. 11, had four catches for 50 yards. Combine these excellent wide receivers with a Hyz'm'nn Trophy-winning QB and you can see why "empty" was such a difficult formation for Rudrig to defend.

Corulag will not be surprised by the five-wide receiver set as Rudrig was, but how the Acklays defend it will be a key in the Galaxy Championship Game.

(excerpts taken from this ESPN article.)

Corulag's Trick Plays
When you face Corulag, you always must be prepared for trick plays and reverses off of its base offensive play. Urbin Meyar has always done a spectacular job setting up reverse-action plays and gimmicks particularly against fast, aggressive defenses such as Lianna's. Corulag's game-plan will include a couple of "deceptives," or special plays, off of its most frequently run offensive plays. For example, the Acklays have always run a lot of speed or down the line options, so the reverse off of the option has often been a weapon. This year they have used Tem T'bow in their short-yardage offense as a power runner at quarterback. Against Coruscant, they ran a reverse pass off of their quarterback zone lead play. The speed option reverse and zone lead reverse pass will be crucial plays if they hope to scramble the Lianna defense.

(excerpts taken from this ESPN article.)

= Team Statistics =

Lianna Rarkeyes


PASSING
 * T'roi Smiff (QB1)
 * ATT: 297 - COMP: 199 - YDS: 2507 - TD: 30

RUSHING
 * Antoine P'ttmane (RB)
 * CAR: 232 - YDS: 1171 - AVG: 5.0 - TD: 13


 * C'riss Wells (RB)
 * CAR: 102 - YDS: 567 - AVG: 5.6 - TD: 7

RECEIVING
 * Tad Genn Jr. (WR)
 * REC: 59 - YDS: 781 - AVG: 13.2 - TD: 9


 * Antony Gonzoliss (WR)
 * REC: 49 - YDS: 723 - AVG: 14.8 - TD: 8

TEAM OFFENSE
 * Rushing: 180.1
 * Passing: 229.7
 * Total: 409.8



Corulag Acklays


PASSING
 * C'riss Leek (QB1)
 * ATT: 329 - COMP: 207 - YDS: 2729 - TD: 22

RUSHING
 * D'Shaan Winn (RB)
 * CAR: 124 - YDS: 630 - AVG: 5.1 - TD: 5


 * Tem T'bow (QB2)
 * CAR: 79 - YDS: 430 - AVG: 5.4 - TD: 7

RECEIVING
 * Dellis Bakor (WR)
 * REC: 56 - YDS: 897 - AVG: 16.0 - TD: 9


 * Andr Calldwill (WR)
 * REC: 55 - YDS: 571 - AVG: 10.4 - TD: 5

TEAM OFFENSE
 * Rushing: 160.3
 * Passing: 237.8
 * Total: 398.1

