American Football League - Fictional History

A relatively mild mid-December evening allowed for Washington and Cincinnati fans to flock in droves to Washington Stadium, overflowing the stadium to watch two bitter rivals fight it out for the championship. Another title for the hometown Federals would cement themselves as the next-best team behind Chicago challenging them for AFL supremacy, while a title for the Rivermen would put themselves firmly up with the contenders of the league, and their first professional title in nearly 2 decades. Q1 The Federals would start out with the ball after the Rivermen deferred their kickoff to the second half. QB Johnnie Sellers would start out doing what he does best: exploit the secondary to move their way downfield. It was not the immediate start that the home crowd wanted to see, but the Federals were relatively quick, moving 60 yards in about 5 minutes. RB Rip Rooney would run around the end of the offensive line and the Rivermen defense for the final eight yards and the score. K Eugene Hic

West Division Final: Cincinnati Rivermen @ Chicago Hogs With the Rivermen’s victory over the Hawks the previous week, the matchup between Cincinnati and Chicago quickly became one of the most anticipated games of the playoffs, even exceeding that of the championship game the following week. Chicago had a chill in the air throughout the week, and the cold was not expected to lift for a very important football game. Gametime had temperatures ranging from the low 20’s to the mid teens, so the offenses could suffer from the chill. That didn’t stop Hogs and Rivermen fans from showing up in droves, splitting Union Stadium into two sides each wanting their ticket punched to the title game. Q1 Chicago would receive the opening kickoff, though they could only manage to move the ball for 20 yards before punting it over to the Rivermen. Cincinnati would get about as far on their first drive, and the ball went right back to the Hogs. QB Nathan Aldenberg would step back to pass on a third and mediu

West Division Semifinal: Tri-Cities Hawks @ Cincinnati Rivermen River Field was hosting its first playoff game in 3 years, and a mild early December day allowed for Rivermen fans to flood the stadium, with plenty of navy blue in the stands. Hawks fans still managed to show up, but were significantly outnumbered by the home crowd. It is a vital matchup for both teams; Cincinnati needs to win to prove they belong with the top tiers of teams, while Tri-Cities needs to prove they are still able to compete. Q1 The Rivermen deferred the coin toss to the Hawks, who were looking to start off against the league’s best defense in points allowed. QB Gilbert Clay would begin to work the Rivermen defense, though the game didn’t start out with a bang like the away fans would have wanted. Clay relied more on his backfield, splitting carries between RB’s Brian Bruce and Spike Roosevelt. The Rivermen would clamp up after a couple minutes of grinding offense, forcing Hawks’ K Gene Fitzpatrick to kick a