The Deep Dive : Inside Whalers Football Issue 3 Week 5 2064

[BigK1308]

The Deep Dive : Inside Whalers Football

Iss #: 3
Week 5, 2064
Whalers Record: 3 - 1 (Tied 1st)

Week 5 Matchup: vs Columbia Chicharrones

Week 5 brings the 0-4 Chicharrones into town to take on the Whalers. Columbia is coming off a 26-23 loss to the powerhouse that is Iowa City. Columbia will turn to 5th year QB Graham Easy to help lead this team to its first win of the season. So far this season Easy is 86/152 with 1006 yard 7 TD’s and 7 INT’s.

Hartford is going into this game with a 2 game win streak after taking down State College 31-26. The Whalers continue to look toward there veteran QB Phillip Hitchcock and a very strong defense to keep the winning streak alive. Head Coach Jameson Mandel was quoted as saying “A win is a win even if its ugly, but we have a lot of work to do to be the football team we know we can be. Time to be better.”

Week 5 Injury report

Hartford - C Alec Forbes, Broken Foot, Probable
WR Bryson Whitfield, Strained Foot Ligament, Out
TE Erik Hidy, Viral Infection, Questionable

Columbia - LT Wendell Walton, Knee Contusion, Probable
OLB Clayton Schulz, Hyperextended Elbow, Probable

Week 4 Recap: Hartford 31 - State College 26
Game MVP: Phillip Hitchcock (21/28, 193 yards, 2 TD’s, 1 Int)

In a very ugly win for Hartford, the Whalers defense came up big with not just 1 but 2 interceptions returned for touchdowns. A battle of turnovers would be the story of this game with Hartford giving up 3 fumbles and 1 interception and State College giving up the 2 crucial pick six’s and 2 fumbles. Add in Hitchcock's 2 TD’s and Hartford continues to hit there early season stride coming out of State College with a win.

Player Spotlight: Dustin Yamashita (DE)

Drafted with the 5th overall pick in the 2061 draft, Dustin Yamashita is a dominate DE out of Notre Dame. At 6-2, 267lbs, Yamashita is a QB’s nightmare throwing up 10+ sacks in his last two seasons. In just his 2nd year in the IFL, Yamashita was named 2062 Defensive Player of the Year. He was unstoppable that year with 51 tackles and 16 sacks. So far in 4 games this season, Yamashita has 8 tackles and 4.5 sacks.

Sit down with Coach Mandel

Every week here on The Deep Dive we will be sitting down with head coach Jameson Mandel to talk Whalers Football!

Deep Dive: Coach you have a struggling team coming into town this week. How do you prepare your team for a game like this?
Coach Mandel: Every game in this league is hard. We take no days off and underestimate no one. We plan for an 0-4 team just the same as a 4-0.

DD: Your defense was very important in the win last week and we have talked in the past about concernes on the offense. How you feeling about the team at this point?
CM: We want to be dominate in all 3 phases in the game. Its still early and I said we have a lot to do to get better so that’s what we will do week in and week out.

DD: Who stands out for Columbia that you will be keeping an eye on this week?
CM: We need to stop that pass. Easy can sling the pig skin so its going to be important to get pressure on him early and often.

DD: We are getting closer to the trade deadline. Any moves in the works to help improve this team?
CM: Never say never, but right now we are going to focus on developing the guys in the locker room right now.

DD: Last question coach, any interest in Anthony Corbett?
CM: Respectfully...nah, we good

That was Sit Down with Coach Mendel. If you have any questions for coach just respond with your questions in this thread and we will be sure to get answers for you!

Around the League

Key Performances:

Zack Otis WVA - LB
Run Defense: 12 Tckl, 0 Asst, 12 Comb
Pass Coverage: 0 Ints, 0 IntTD, 5 Defn, 6 Cght

Micah Bergman TIJ - QB
Passing: 27-40, 226 Yds, 3 Tds, 0 Int, 2 3DCnv, 7 3DAtt, 10 FDs, 1 Sckd
Rushing: 10 Att, 70 Yds, 1 Tds, 1 3DCnv, 2 3dAtt, 6 Fds

Ralph Kerr PIT - RB
Rushing: 20 Att, 126 Yds, 0 Tds, 0 3DCnv, 1 3dAtt, 7 FDs
Receiving: 2 Rec, 44 Yds, 1 Tds, 0 Drp, 0 3DCnv, 1 3DTar, 2 FDs
Returns: 3 PR, 31 Yds, 0 TD, 0 KR, 0 Yds, 0 TD
Misc: 0 Fum, 0 Rec, 1 FF, 0 FReTD, 2 STTck, 0 2PC

League Notes:

• Lansing, Vancouver, Portland and Iowa City remain unbeaten
• The Montreal Firebirds have put former 1st overall pick Anthony Corbett on the trade block
• Offensive Player of the Week : Micha Bergman, QB, Tijuana - 27 for 40, 226 yds, 3 TD
• Defensive Player of the Week: Avery Rice, DT, Iowa City - 6 TKS and 3.5 Sacks

[Bylanta]

You have one of the deepest QB rooms in the league, how did the training camp battle go down and how did you choose a starter out of that group?

[Hooper]

These are great.