The Larkspur Bowl VIII will be the team's eleventh meeting in eight years of Larkspur Football. Lets examine their history:
2009 - LARKSPUR BOWL I
Week 13: HVM 163.56 over PHX 118.95
The Larkspur Bowl's inaugural season remains to date the only year where Phoenix did not make it to the league's semifinal- even with a playoff field of eight, they bombed out of competition after a 4-0 start: their week thirteen loss to the McFlys was their third in a row, and eighth of nine. Hill Valley survived a four week losing streak of their own to finish 7-4, and took the six seed. From there, they upset the 3 Seed DCS, and then lost to the 2 seed (and eventual champion) Orgrimmar Horde.
Results:
HVM- 4th Place
PHX- 11th Place
Week 8: PHX 132.32 over HVM 87.30
The League's second season began a streak of four straight years where both teams would make (six team) post season, cementing their status as contenders. Their week eight matchup is notable for being the lowest scoring of their head-to-head history, during an era of depressed scores. It was the third loss in a row for the McFlys, who would win four straight to cinch the six seed, where they lost a nail biter to the OKC, 148-144. Phoenix meanwhile took the top seed and then won two hotly contested matchups (143-134 over HCM City and 145-133 over OKC) to win the trophy.
Results:
PHX- Larkspur Bowl II Champion
HVM- 5th Place
Week 9: PHX 197.46 over HVM 127.76
Year Three seemed to have the teams on a collision course; Phoenix dispatched Hill Valley in week nine, one of only three regular season losses for the McFlys, as they claimed the top seed. Phoenix at 9-4 had the other bye, but were the only ones to make it through the semifinal unscatched (defeating the Malibu Deadbeats on stat corrections 169.1-168.36) to make the bowl. The McFlys lost to Orgrimmar, who would in turn lose to Phoenix 186.42-152.53.
Results:
PHX- Larkspur Bowl III Champion
HVM- 4th Place
Week 4: HVM 163.01 over PHX 149.26
Week 15: HVM 152.22 over PHX 110.97
In 2012, the McFlys finally got the opportunity to upend their nemesis, defeating the Uprising twice: Early n the season, they dropped the two time defending champs to 1-3, and their 9-4 season netted them the two seed. Phoenix had to reel off six straight wins to finish the season at 8-5 then dropped Pawnee 146.72-128.54 in the first round. Reenter Hill Valley: The McFly's cut Phoenix down, only to lose to the upstart Islanders in their first Larkspur Bowl Campaign.
Results:
HVM- Larkspur Bowl IV Runner-Up
PHX- 3rd Place
Week 1: HVM 194.42 over PHX 154.36
Week 16: PHX 163.82 over HVM 144.75
The McFlys came back from their LBIV heartbreak to trounce the Uprising in their season opener, one of Phoenix' three losses on the year. Like 2011, the teams finished one and two in the regular season, the McFlys getting the second seed and bye. Both squads moved through the semifinals: PHX by a very slim margin: 179.62-179.10 over Toronto, HVM by a more comfortable amount, 160.77-133.16 over Silver City (now Deputy) leading to a clash of titans:
Phoenix defeated Hill Valley 163.82 to 144.75 to win the 2013 Larkspur Bowl. Their victory was led by WR AJ Green (25.2) S Kam Chancellor (21.3) and RB Eddie Lacy (20.0) in a low scoring affair, with both teams keeping pace through the early games, before Phoenix took a lead that it would not relinquish. The Larkspur Bowl title is the Uprising's third in five years; The McFlys have now lost in back to back championship games.
Results:
PHX- Larkspur Bowl V Champion
HVM- Larkspur Bowl V Runner-Up
Week 2: PHX 154.78 over HVM 150.64
2014 would see the team's collective playoff streak end, as Hill Valley failed to make the top bracket. Their early season matchup was tight:
In a rematch of last year's championship game, the song remains the same: Phoenix held off Hill Valley to advance to 2-0. Brandon Marshall's gutted out three TDs to hold off McFly Bailey's field goal onslaught. The matchup went the distance, as Nick Foles and Zack Ertz hooked up in the final minute, but could not reach the end zone.Ultimately Phoenix would go 10-3 and take the top seed in the playoffs, then defeat the M-Ville Parrots (Now Savannah) in the semis 203.4-190.88 before losing to New York's Finest in the final round, 179-49-146.47. The McFlys would go 6-7 but triumph in the Consolation Bracket and secure the top pick in 2015.
Results:
PHX- Larkspur Bowl VI Runner-Up
HVM- 7th Place, Top Pick in the Draft
Week 10: PHX 166.57 over HVM 108.68
When these two teams met in week ten, Phoenix was 7-2 and coming off their second loss; Hill Valley was 5-4 and had just put two wins together for the first time.
Phoenix (8-2) has their lowest output of the season but still crushed Hill Valley (5-5) who scored the least of any team, any week, this season.
It was bad timing for the McFlys, who would win the next two but drop their final game, and despite a 7-6 record, miss the playoffs for the second time in as many years, after five straight years in the dance. And for the second year in a row, they'd win the consolation bracket to nab the league's first pick the following year. Phoenix lost in the semifinals, dropping to a Pawnee team (246.84-216.78) that would go on to lose LBVII to South Park.
Results:
PHX- 3rd Place
HVM- 7th Place, Top Pick in the Draft
Week 5: HVM 225.44 over PHX 125.61
Week 16: TBD
Hill Valley's week five victory over Phoenix was the most lopsided of any matchup in their headed to head history.
- 3: HVM 225: Strong all around performances masking holes at TE and flex, uncertainty at QB.
- 14: PHX 125: Pitiful display included three goose eggs and nine single digit scores = blown out by 100
The blowout evened the all-time series between the two teams to five head-to-head wins apiece, giving this matchup a little extra oomph... not that a championship game needs any. But with the series all tied up, the winner will have an extra feather in their cap, leading the all time series.
If Hill Valley is victorious, Mike Verrino will join an elite club of champions: Nick Stano (Orgrimmar Horde), Jason Kalmer (Revis Islanders), Tom Grimes (New York's Finest), and Mike Hart (South Park Cows) have all hoisted the Silver Chalice once.
If Phoenix wins, it will be Kevin Grimes' fourth title in eight years. With their advancement into the Final, they have already secured a seventh straight podium visit as a top three finisher every year between 2010 and 2016.
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