X: Quarterfinal Results

And so there were four: A decade of Larkspur Bowl action culminates in this, three previous champions and a challenger for the throne set to halve themselves twice more before the Silver Chalice is raised. Gone are the Snipers- worthy adversaries that in two season have twice made the final six but gone no further. Also departed are the Horde: Proving that after half a decade of layoff, they can still compete at the highest level, they came just short of the next round.

Orgrimmar's last hope came down to disappointing tight end Kyle Rudolph, who as a seventh round pick (91st overall) was expected to a top ten player at the position, with top five upside. Without a touchdown since the season's first month and only reaching double digits once in his last ten games, Rudolph saved his worst performance for his biggest spot, dropping two of five targets, including one in the end zone that might have given the Horde a final chance.

Instead, it is the McFlys moving on to face top seeded South Park, while the Pawnee Pride face off with Phoenix for the fourth time in for playoff campaigns. Each team has encountered trial and tribulation to this point, overcoming their various challenges to make it to the semi-final. Only two will move forward to compete in Larkspur Bowl X, the tenth year of our grand tradition; We'll preview the next round of matchups soon enough.

SCOREBOARD:

MATCHUPS:

#3 PAWNEE defeats #6 BINGHAMTON

Pawnee's magnificent run continues, as they've now scored 238+ in five straight games. If they can push that number to seven it is likely that we'll see a new champion in a couple of weeks- with everything humming so well, the potential for let down looms large: It ain't broke, so should the Pride change their lineup? Questions for another day.

The Sniper's strategy of playing Jameis Winston under center was successful as he outplayed Jared Goff; He was not a difference maker, but he was not a negative. Joe Mixon, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Anthony Walker all played well in the loss; The team will compete for fifth place against Orgrimmar this week, then figure out how to push past the first round in 2019.

Pawnee's overwhelming power starts with Saquon Barkley and Travis Kelce, who have powered the team all year. Shrewd pickup Nick Chubb and mid-season acquisitions Julio Jones and Antonio Brown are all potential first round picks in 2019. With a fearsome defense and fortuitous flex play (DaeSean Hamilton and Cameron Brate were both winners in week fourteen) along with steady decent play from Russell Wilson, the Pride look indomitable.

#5 HILL VALLEY defeats #4 ORGRIMMAR

Despite the nerve racking headed into Monday Night, the McFlys exit with a sizable margin of victory; concern for a reversal is minimal, letting Hill Valley plot for their upcoming matchup with South Park... and pray for James Conner to be ready for the semi-final matchup. His typical battery-mate James White was impotent in his absence, while previously unknown Jeff Wilson was adequate, and none of the other possible replacements stated much of a case.

Despite it all, Hill Valley won, and has reason to believe the next couple of weeks should be more productive: Brandin Cooks and Aaron Donald will probably combine for more than six points, as they have averaged six times that over the course of the season. TY Hilton and the defense (Luke Kuechly, Mason Foster, and Damarious Randall) ensure the team would progress to round two, their sixth semi-final in ten years. After losing their first two times, the McFlys have progressed to the championship game in their last three semifinals, going on to win in their last plakyoff appearance, LBVIII.

Orgrimmar's storybook return ends here, after the fifth place game. While they've shown they can compete with any team in the league, the rumor mill is churning that the team may go on hiatus following the season once again; Perhaps only returning every fifth year to make another go at the chalice, which they won in year one. Zeke Elliot and a defense led by John Johnson III were the reason this team made a go of it. X-Factor Jaylen Samuels did alright, but Adrian Peterson had a quiet day at the office, while the receiving corps outside of Davante Adams was just putrid: The aforementioned Rudolph (1.7), Antonio Callaway (0.5), and Devin Funchess (0.0) crippled the team.

#11 NEW YORK defeats #10 MANITOBA

In the consolation bracket, New York continued their late season resurgence, now guaranteeing themselves a top four pick next season. Christian McCaffrey, Pat Mahomes, Eric Ebron, and Alec Ogletree and a dominating linebacker group have played hungry, while DedeWestbrook and Randall Cobb were competent downfield- more than can be said for Chris Hogan and Jonnu Smith, the latter of whom can at least blame his season ending MCL injury.

Manitoba's surprising start (4-1, their only loss on stat correction reversal) twisted into a 2-7 back stretch, and the uninspired play continued into the consolation bracket, although Odell Beckham's pre-game injury and LeSean McCoy's early game injury were certainly factors. The defense stood strong, but fades from breakouts like Sony Michel, Calvin Ridley, and David Njoku couldn't account for the missing star power.

#12 BREWTANG defeats #9 DEPUTY

The Van Halens are dispirited group that barely resembles the early season juggernaut that scored 305 points. Rookie Darius Leonard wastes a defensive player of the year season on this squad, and they cannot even blame Melvin Gordon's annual later season injury: Austin Ekeler did fine in his stead. Instead, a paltry group of receivers that never received a needed upgrade spelled doom for a team that went 10-3 last year and was 6-4 a month ago.Now they've lost four straight and will be playing against Manitoba for an 11th place finish and fifth selection in next year's draft.

Give the Killa Beez this: They're resilient. After a much criticized deal that sent Antonio Brown out of town, the team has done okay, splitting the six games since the swap. Jarvis Landry's back to back big games (after a pedestrian month to start Brewtang career) still have him being outscored by Brown by 51.5 points (112.1 to 60.6) since the deal, while Latavius Murray scored 11.8 in his BKB debut, and 9.7 combined in the five weeks since. The deal's X-Factor Mitch Trubinsky missed two games, scored under 7 points in two games, and scored 16.0 and 39.5 in the remaining two games. He didn't play this week, losing his spot to a free to add Dak Prescott off the free agent list. On the other side of the deal, Russell Wilson has been the epitome of consistency, scoring double digits every week and outscoring Trubinsky in five of six weeks. The Killa Beez won this week and go to the consolation bracket semifinals, but rest assured... that will not be the biggest mark they make on the LBX season.