The 2014 season ended in the way I had only ever dreamt of. The feeling of being a champion took a while to hit as it still felt unreal. This unreal feeling soon developed into a “what now?” type of feeling as I started 2015 by feeling a sense of emptiness or lack of direction. All I had ever worked for when it came to the Rebels was now complete and now that the team was finally world champions, I didn’t know what to do.

I soon had to find out what the 2015 California Rebels were going to do, and I knew what it was. The Rebels were going to attempt to become only the second team to ever win back-to-back titles in the Yuma Scorpions (Cermak in 2009-2010). While every champion tries to repeat their title, Coach Nevers, GM Dan Thompson, and I all believed that the Rebels had a serious shot at it in 2015. It was going to take a lot of hard work and the strategy the Rebels used to win their first title (pay-to-play) was not going to fly in 2015, as the league voted to outlaw trades involving cash for players. With this new rule, the Rebels would be forced to find a new way to win a title. We soon figured this out and our organization issued our plan of attack early in the Summer of 2015.

Our plan of attack revolved around the structure of the 2015 Yuma Scorpions League. In 2015, the Yuma Scorpions expanded from 10 teams to 12. This would be the first and only expansion under my commissionership and the league’s first expansion since the 2012 season. The two new teams the league added in 2015 was Peyton Raymond’s Cuban Reds franchise and Dayton Ross’ Oregon Express franchise. Ross is the younger brother of Iowa Rebel Killers’ Owner Addison Ross. Together, the addition of the two new teams brought new competition into the league, on top of a new strategy on how to approach the draft and regular season.

Furthermore, during the summer of 2015, the league saw the Minnesota Destroyers franchise go up for sale as Owner Andrew Boell declined to rejoin the league because of the way the 2014 season ended with what he called “several bull-shit trades by the California Rebels.” I was personally sad to see Boell leave the league, but I accepted his resignation and started to find his replacement. I was looking around and talking to my former scout Nathan Simmons when he suggested he take over the franchise. I was hesitant at first to let Nathan into the league because I knew if I did, he and I would soon become bitter rivals and I did not want to add another strong competitor into the league for the Rebels to face. However, Nathan was the only person asking to join and so I caved and let Nathan in. He teamed up with another former Rebel scout, Ben Pauli and he relocated the Destroyers franchise and rebranded them as the Seattle Leathernecks.

As the league was beginning to take shape there was one last thing that the 2014 California Rebels needed to do, and that was to receive their championship rings. For the 2014 title, our first title, I went with a simple gold design, with diamonds around the face of the ring, and a giant football in the center of it. When I placed the ring on for the very first time, the realness that the Rebels were champions hit me once again. I loved the feeling of putting on the championship ring to the point that I knew that I wanted to do it again next Summer. It was time to defend the Rebels title.

Our 2014 slogan “Finish the Race” is my personal favorite slogan the Rebels have ever used as it showcased exactly what the team was about. For the 2015 slogan, I had to come up with a similar slogan, one that would represent the Rebels goal of defending their title and once again lifting the Sean Metz Trophy at the end of the season. The slogan that I came up with, “United. Under. One.” represented that the Rebels were united under one goal and that was to repeat as champions. We knew that it wasn’t going to be easy, but we knew that we had the smartest owner, coach, and general manager working within our organization.

Speaking of our General Manager Dan Thompson, about a month before the 2015 Yuma Draft, Dan called up Carson City Razorbacks’ Owner Cole Katuskey with a trade proposal. Now the Rebels held the eighth pick in the draft, despite winning the Yuma Bowl the previous year. The Razorbacks held the 12th and 13th overall picks in the 2015 Draft. Dan Thompson, called Cole up, looking to see if the 13th overall pick was on the market. The Rebels offered the Razorbacks the team’s 17th overall pick for the Razorbacks’ 13th overall pick, as well as the Rebels fourth- round pick in exchange for the Razorbacks’ ninth-round pick. Cole thought the trade over for a second and then he agreed to the offer. The Rebels now held the first pick in the second round in the upcoming draft.

What the Rebels were going to do with the 13th overall pick remained to be seen, but when Dan Thompson made that trade, he did so with the intent to draft Atlanta Falcons’ Wide Receiver Julio Jones with the first pick in the second round. Thompson along with others in the Rebels’ Scouting Department spent a great deal of time studying Julio that summer, concluding that Julio Jones was on the verge of a historic campaign.

The 2015 Yuma Scorpions Draft was scheduled for Sunday, August 30th at Carroll First Assembly Church for the second year in a row. Having a live draft just adds to the realism of fantasy football and everyone in the Yuma Scorpions wanted to bring that back once again. For the second year in a row, the church served as our draft auditorium, with tables and chairs set up for each present team. Also, a buffet of food was provided to all the owners.

When the Seattle Leathernecks showed up to the draft, they were welcomed with a boo by USMC Owner David Schaal. My Dad, who fought in the Marines disliked the name the Seattle franchise had given their team, and he made sure to let them know his dislike. This saga was one of the highlights in the pre-draft moments.

When the draft kicked off at 7:30 P.M., the New York Rebel Destroyers were officially placed on the clock. New York had won the draft lottery the previous March, and in the months leading up to the draft, it became clear who New York was going to draft number one overall. New York drafted Minnesota Vikings’ Running Back Adrian Peterson with the first pick. The Peterson pick was then followed by RB Le’Veon Bell going to the GMEN. Nothing too out of the ordinary, yet.

As the Cuban Reds were placed on the clock at third overall, the Reds unsurprisingly/ surprisingly selected Indianapolis Colts’ Quarterback Andrew Luck. Now I say this pick was unsurprising because Reds’ Owner Peyton Raymond talked all offseason on how he was going to draft Andrew Luck with his first pick. It was surprising when the rookie owner stayed true to his word and made the pick official. Raymond immediately got dogged for the pick, but in true Red fashion, Peyton ignored the criticism and told everyone that he was proud of his first pick.

The next three picks were not that surprising, however, as they all followed in line with what the mock drafts were predicting. The fourth overall pick was RB Eddie Lacy, while RB Jamaal Charles went fifth overall to our rival USMC. The Oregon Express held the sixth overall pick and they drafted Philadelphia Eagles’ Running Back DeMarco Murray. Everything that had been occurring in the draft up until this point, was exactly the way I and GM Dan Thompson had wanted it to go. However, the next pick, the Seattle Leathernecks’ pick, gave the draft its first real shock and it changed Rebel and Yuma history forever.

In the several mock drafts the Rebels’ Scouting Department had conducted during the scouting season, nearly every time, Wide Receiver Antonio Brown was selected within the first seven picks. This left the Rebels eyeing Denver Broncos’ Running Back C.J. Anderson for the team’s top selection in 2015. Anderson was a league- winning running back that the Rebels narrowly missed out on in 2014. Dan Thompson and the entire organization saw what Anderson did over the last half of the season, leaving Thompson and staff in complete awe. Thompson and I both agreed that Anderson should be our first pick in 2015.

This plan quickly changed when the Seattle Leathernecks announced their first-round pick on stage. As mentioned above, the Rebels were expecting the Leathernecks to draft WR Antonio Brown. The Leathernecks did not draft Brown, instead opting to go for the equally as talented, but much less unproven second- year WR Odell Beckham Jr. When I heard the Leathernecks pick, my eyes lit up and I immediately thought, “is Seattle stupid?” They just left one of the best players in fantasy football on the board for a second-year WR. The Rebels’ entire offseason draft strategy had now changed, and the team had a decision to make at pick number eight.

The Rebels draft phone began to ring as the Rebels were announced as on the clock. I picked up the phone and began speaking with Dan Thompson. Both of us took a second to say we couldn’t believe that Seattle took Beckham over Brown. Dan Thompson started to then tell me that Anderson was no longer our pick, the Rebels were going to draft WR Antonio Brown instead. I approved of Thompson’s decision and I started to make my way up to the stage to announce our pick. Just before I announced our pick, I heard Nathan Simmons say, “don’t be stupid now,” as if the Rebels were not going to select Brown. I looked over to his draft table, gave him a quick smile, and made the pick official. The California Rebels selected Antonio Brown with the eighth overall pick in the 2015 Yuma Scorpions draft.

With the selection of Antonio Brown, the Rebels’ mindsight on drafting Julio Jones 13th overall became questionable. The team had never selected two wide receivers back-to-back to start a draft, and the team wasn’t sure if they wanted to start that trend in 2015. The decision became even harder as our pre-season number one guy, C.J. Anderson began slipping late into the first round. Both Dan Thompson and I were beginning to think that if Anderson fell to us at thirteen, then we had no choice but to select him.

Our worries of whether to select C.J. Anderson or Julio Jones with our second-round pick went away when the Iowa Rebel Killers selected C.J. Anderson with their first-round pick. The first round concluded when the Carson City Razorbacks selected Running Back Jeremey Hill with the twelfth overall pick. The first round of the 2015 draft went in the Rebels favor more than once.

I once again smiled when I heard the Razorbacks first-round pick. Julio Jones was available, and the California Rebels were not going to let the Alabama product to escape their grasp. I once again walked up to the stage and announced the Rebels pick. Members in the audience were a little shocked at the pick, but deep down I knew that the Rebels had just made the best pick in this year’s draft. I was that confident the minute we drafted Julio.

The remainder of the 2015 draft saw the Rebels draft Running Back Justin Forsett in the third round, Tight End Travis Kelce in the fifth round, and Quarterback Ryan Tannehill in the ninth round. Together, Dan Thompson built what he felt was a championship-caliber roster. The easy part was now over, the hard part, the regular season was just around the corner. When the entire draft concluded, Head Coach Matthew Nevers was ecstatic with his new squad, going as far as, making the bold prediction that the Rebels could go a perfect 16-0 in 2015, and most importantly, repeat as Yuma Scorpion champions.

Nearly a week had passed since the draft and while Head Coach Matthew Nevers was content with the roster Dan Thompson had assembled, Dan Thompson himself was not fully content, thus, he began looking around the league for a trade. In the draft, Thompson really wanted to draft Oakland Raiders’ RB Latavius Murray. Murray, who burst onto the scene late in 2014 for the Silver & Black was also a part of the 2014 Rebel championship team. Murray played well enough to enter 2014 as the Raiders started running back and one of the biggest fantasy sleepers. He was a top target for the Rebels, but he was eventually drafted by the New York Rebel Destroyers. Through the scouting he had conducted, Dan Thompson once again knew that Murray was a must-have in 2015 and thus, he needed to find a way to trade for him.

The Thursday before the NFL Kickoff weekend, Dan Thompson called up New York and asked what it would take to acquire Latavius Murray from him. Now, we couldn’t resort back to our 2014 ways and pay for Murray, thus we came up with what we felt was our best offer. Our offer included several bench players in exchange for Murray. Zach Riddle did not care for the players we were sending in the trade, forcing him to counteroffer. He offered a deal of Latavius Murray for WR Golden Tate our fourth-round pick that season, and Detroit Lions’ Rookie Running Back Ameer Abdullah. I was hesitant when I heard the counteroffer as Abdullah was receiving just as much preseason hype as Murray was. I told Dan that I needed time to think the trade over before I allowed him to make the deal. I looked over projections for all three players and even went to Brian Tigges, my high school history teacher, for advice on the trade. I told him that I wasn’t sure if I should make the deal with Zach. Tigges then responded to me and told me that I should make that trade. He believed that Murray was going to be much more valuable than either of the two players I was giving up. The confidence he had in Murray sold me on the deal. I quickly called Zach back up and told him that he had himself a deal. Latavius Murray was heading back to Los Angeles.

The California Rebels’ quest to repeat as champions began Week 1 at home versus the Carson City Razorbacks, a rematch of Yuma Bowl VI. I felt pretty confident heading into the matchup, but of course, I didn’t make my confidence known. The Rebels matchup versus the Razorbacks began with the Rebels dropping their 2014 championship banner in front of their home fans, as well as, the team that helped give them that banner. This was the second year in a row that the Rebels took part in the banner-dropping game, being on the other side of history this season. Furthermore, the 2015 NFL season began on Thursday Night Football with the Pittsburgh Steelers traveling to New England to take on the Patriots. With this matchup, the Rebels’ first-round pick Antonio Brown made his Rebels debut. Brown, although going up against a Bill Belichick led defense, did not disappoint. Brown ended his first game as a Rebel with a 9 reception for 133 yards and a garbage-time touchdown, good for 30 fantasy points.

Week One continued into Sunday with Carson City finally getting to play his players. The 2015 Razorbacks got off to a strong start, gaining eighteen fantasy points from their first-round pick RB Jeremy Hill. The Razorbacks ended Sunday with a slight lead over the Rebels, but the Rebels still had WR Julio Jones to play on Monday Night. What was even worse for the Razorbacks is that they lost their second-round pick, WR Dez Bryant, to injury for nearly the entire season.

When school came around the following day, I saw Cole in the hallway and I made a comment of how it was going to be a close finish, but Cole was not going to have any of that. He replied to me by saying I am going to win; I still have Julio to play. Cole’s comments increased my mood, and I too began believing that the Rebels were going to win. When the Falcons-Eagles game got underway, it was clear that Wide Receiver Julio Jones was going to be a threat in 2015. He completely burnt the Eagles secondary for 9 receptions 144 yards and two touchdowns, an equivalent of 37 fantasy points. With the play of both Julio Jones and Antonio Brown on Thursday night, the Rebels easily defeated the Carson City Razorbacks 170-148.

Week Two was advertised as the game of the week as it saw the Rebels play host to the upstart Seattle Leathernecks. This would be the first matchup in a growing rivalry between the two franchises, and while the Rebels were favored to win the game versus the Leathernecks, I knew that the matchup verse my former staff mates Nathan Simmons and Ben Pauli was going to be a very close game. The team entered Week Two confident off of their Week One win, but they were cautious and became ready for anything.

The highlight for the Rebels in Week 2 once again came from the hands of Pittsburgh Steelers Wide Receiver Antonio Brown. Brown and the Steelers were facing San Francisco and with the help of his quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown put on a show, putting up 195 receiving yards on nine catches, with one of the catches being a touchdown. Brown’s 36 points would give the Rebels a lead over the Leathernecks, eventually becoming the inspiration for the quote, “if you pass on Antonio Brown, we’ll pass on you.” This quote was a direct jab at Leatherneck management, who was once again receiving criticism for passing on Antonio Brown for Odell Beckham Jr.

However, OBJ showed why Seattle took him over Brown, posting 29 fantasy points in Week 2 on a 7 reception for 146 yards and a touchdown stat line versus the Atlanta Falcons. In that same game, Rebels WR #2, but more so, co-number one Wide Receiver Julio Jones, posted 28 fantasy points on 13 catches for 135 yards. The Rebels were once again carried by their dynamic duo of Jones and Brown.

Unfortunately, Seattle posted similar numbers with the Rebels, even managing a one-point lead heading into Monday Night. The Leathernecks had no players left to play, but the Rebels had their kicker Adam Vinatieri. Down 141-142, all Vinatieri had to do was kick one field goal or two extra points for the Rebels to win. But Vinatieri did not accomplish that small feat. Instead, the 42-year old kicker missed his lone field goal attempt and made one extra point for an equivalent of 0 fantasy points. The Rebels would lose to the Leathernecks by one point to move to 1-1 on the season.

Leatherneck Owners Nathan Simmons and Ben Pauli were ecstatic with their team’s victory over the defending champions, so much so, that they sent me countless videos and texts rubbing in their victory and making fun of Adam Vinatieri. After the game, Matthew Nevers said to the press that the team’s loss to Seattle that week stung and that the loss would stay with him for a very long time. As for Vinatieri, the Rebels cut ties with the kicker two days later, putting an end to the team and kicker’s sluggish kicking start to the season (two points through two weeks).

In Week 3 the Rebels went on the road for their very first contest versus the Oregon Express. The Rebels played with more heart this week than they did the previous week, defeating the Express in a blowout 168-91, once again led by the duo of Jones and Brown. The team’s win verse the Express extended the team’s consecutive road wins to seven and a beautiful 10-1 over the last two seasons.

In Week 4 the Rebels played host to USMC in the first and only “Battle of the House” matchup in 2015. The Rebels were once again favored to defeat their day one rival, but the Rebels got off to a slow start that they would not recover from starting on Thursday Night Football. A week prior, Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger injured his throwing arm, forcing him to miss several weeks, including their Thursday Night matchup versus the Ravens.

In the place of Roethlisberger, the Steelers started Michael Vick at quarterback and while Vick was historically electric, Vick was now in the twilight of his career and his play severely affected the output of WR Antonio Brown. In his first game without Big Ben, Antonio Brown posted just nine fantasy points on five catches and forty-two yards. His efforts set the stage for a lousy Rebel team effort, as the Rebels would end up losing to USMC by a score of 119-81.

AB was not the only Rebel that disappointed in Week 4. Starting Running Back Justin Forsett of the Baltimore Ravens was also a disappointment, not just in Week 4, but the entire first month on the season. Seeing a flaw in the team’s roster, General Manager Dan Thompson went looking for running back help and once again called up his buddies in Carson City. Thompson and Kautzky worked out a deal that would send RB Justin Forsett to the Razorbacks in exchange for RB Jeremy Hill.

The trade was accepted on early Tuesday morning, but by the mid-morning to the early afternoon, I began getting second thoughts on the trade, feeling as if the Rebels rushed into a deal. Seeing no other options, I stepped in using my commissioner powers and vetoed my own trade. I felt relieved and Cole didn’t seem to mind. However, the rest of the league minded and began attacking me for overreaching as commissioner. Rightfully so, the league fined me $10 for my actions. I had no problem paying the fine, as once again, I saw no problem vetoing my trade.

With what became known as TradeGate 1.0 now in the past, the Rebels moved forward to focus on their Week 5 matchup versus Metz. Metz was off to a rough 1-4 start in 2015 and by the time they played the Rebels, it seemed as if Owner Sean Metz had given up on the season. This became very apparent when Sunday came around and Metz had only four active starters in his lineup, with the other five players being one a bye. Playing nine against four, the Rebels easily took care of business against Metz, defeating the home crowd 127-54.

In Week 6, the Rebels traveled to New York to take on the GMEN. The GMEN used the game plan USMC used two weeks before in defeating the Rebels; neutralizing both Julio Jones and Antonio Brown. The GMEN went on to defeat the Rebels in a close game 103-90. Standing at 3- 3 at the halfway mark of the season with games against the league’s two best teams coming up, Dan Thompson and Coach Nevers knew that a change needed to be made if the Rebels were going to be serious contenders once December rolled around.

Trade rumors and trade calls began circulating the Rebels’ Englewood Headquarters on the Tuesday before Week 7. The first trade call that went out was to the New York Rebel Destroyers. The Rebels no longer saw Antonio Brown as a difference-maker, but instead, they viewed him as a liability without Roethlisberger throwing him the ball. With this being said, the Rebels began shopping Brown for a big-time player. The player they had in mind was Rebel Destroyer Running Back Adrian Peterson. Dan Thompson called Zach Riddle up and asked if he would be interested in a Peterson for Brown trade. Riddle quickly shot down the trade proposal, laughing at the offer and telling us that Brown was useless without Big Ben. We tried to sell Brown to him, but in the end, Zach was not interested in making a deal.

With New York’s trade decline of Antonio Brown, the Rebels quickly stopped shopping the Pro Bowl WR and instead looked at other areas of their roster for improvement. The team’s biggest need was a quarterback as QB Ryan Tannehill and Tyrod Taylor were not producing up to the team’s expectations. Dan Thompson began looking around, seeing which team he could poach a star QB from.

The answer to that question came in the way of the Oregon Express. The Express, like their expansion counterpart, the Cuban Reds, were the two worst teams in the league, jockeying for the league’s top pick in 2016. Already calling the 2015 season a failure, both the Reds and the Express were looking to improve their situations for the future, by trading away their star players for future draft assets. Knowing this, Dan Thompson called up Dayton Ross, the Express’ Owner, and asked what it would take to acquire Quarterback Drew Brees from them. The two gentlemen negotiated back and forth, finally settling on a 2016 third-round draft pick. The Rebels now had a star quarterback to go along with their star wide receivers.

The acquisition of Quarterback Drew Brees came at the exact right time for the Rebels. With their record at a mediocre 3-3, the Rebels took on the league-best Detroit Titans, handing the second-year club their first loss on the season 143-115. The following week, the Rebels traveled to Chicago to take on the league’s second-best team, Netsch. Just like they did a week earlier, the Rebels defeated a league favorite 132-112 to push their record to 5-3 on the season.

However, the GMEN would defeat the Rebels for the second time that season, 133-106. This marked the Rebels’ fifth loss on the season and the second consecutive loss. With the team now standing at 7-5, the Rebels slipped in the overall standings and power rankings. By falling from second in the league to now fourth, the Rebels moved up two spots in the overall waiver wire order. Usually, picking ninth in waivers means that you more than likely will not be awarded your number one claim. Furthermore, it is very unlikely to see a starting running back fall to waivers this late in the season, but that is what occurred in 2015.

Running Back David Johnson was a rookie out of the University of Northern Iowa playing for the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals were one of the best teams in 2015, posting the second-best record in both the NFC and the entire NFL. They were led by their Head Coach Bruce Arians who liked to throw the ball first and run the ball second. The Cardinals were efficient running the ball that year despite not having their top back Andre Ellington available for most of the year. As Ellington’s replacement, the Cardinals looked to former Tennessee Titan and fantasy football superstar RB Chris Johnson. CJ2K was reviving his career in the desert, but a Week 12 injury placed the 30- year-old running back on injured reserve.

The Cardinals did not panic and instead, displayed great confidence in their rookie running back. David Johnson was the focal point of fantasy football shows and podcasts in the days leading up to Week 13. All the experts were telling owners across the world that they needed to put a claim in for David Johnson. I, who watched these shows daily, put a claim in for Johnson, not believing that he would fall to the Rebels ninth in the waiver wire. But as luck would have, the Rebels were awarded RB David Johnson off of waivers. He would immediately become a starter for the team starting in the team’s Week 13 matchup versus Detroit.

The Titans came into Week 13 at a record of 10-2, the best regular season record in Yuma Scorpion history. They had already locked up the number one seed in the playoffs and were now just seeing if they could extend their record to eleven games. The Rebels, on the other hand, were 7-5 with their playoff seeding still up in the air. The chances of claiming the division title and the second seed went away with the team’s Week 12 loss to the GMEN. However, what was important was that the Rebels had already locked in a playoff spot. They knew that they would either be the 3rd seed, the 4th seed, or the 5th seed in the playoffs, based on how the team performed on the road in Detroit.

The team got off to a great start thanks to newcomer David Johnson. In his first career start, the UNI product rushed for 99 yards and added 22 yards through the air, including catching a touchdown pass. Johnson’s 19 fantasy points would help lead the Rebels to victory over Detroit 136-93 The Rebels ended the 2015 season with an 8-5 record, the third time the franchise finished with such a record. With their win over Detroit, the Rebels were awarded the fourth seed out of eight in the 2015 playoffs. But what frustrated and stressed members of the organization out when it came to the team’s seeding was that the Rebels would be forced to play the Iowa Rebel Killers for the third consecutive year in a row in the playoffs, this time playing host in the opening round.

Although I acted as if I was afraid or stressed to face the Rebel Killers in the opening round of the playoffs in front of the media, I was actually relieved to be playing Iowa as I felt that our matchup would be a good quality matchup, as well as, the Rebels’ best chance of advancing to the second round and beyond. If the Rebels were to beat Iowa, they would then move on to play either the Detroit Titans, who the Rebels beat twice already in 2015 or the 6-7 Seattle Leathernecks.

Those two potential matchups, along with the Rebels’ Round One matchup with Iowa served as the best road to the Yuma Bowl. If the team was on the other side of the bracket, they would have had to face Netsch, USMC, Carson City, or New York, four teams that gave the Rebels fits in the regular season and worries for the postseason. So, while we weren’t huge fans of the team’s opponent in Round One, we were quite relieved to be on the side of the bracket that we on. In the days leading up to the Round One matchup, my confidence began to grow in the Rebels as memories of the 2014 semifinals win over Iowa surfaced through media attention. Coach Nevers handled this attention perfectly by telling the media that the 2014 semifinals win over Iowa was in the past and that the 2015 Iowa Rebel Killers was the team’s top priority this week. Coach Nevers even implemented one of my famous sayings by telling the media that the game was going to be close and that the team could not be looking ahead to Round Two or even the Yuma Bowl. If the Rebels did that then the same thing that happened in 2013 would happen to the Rebels in 2015. We knew every Iowa-California matchup was close and Coach Nevers didn’t expect anything less this time around.

Round One began on Thursday Night with Rebels’ Rookie Running Back David Johnson taking on the Minnesota Vikings. This Iowa-California matchup began similar to how their 2014 playoff matchup began, with either Iowa or California kicking off the matchup by playing the starting running back for the Cardinals. Last year, Iowa played Kerwynn Williams, who only gave the Rebel Killers 10 points, while this year, David Johnson helped give the Rebels an early lead over Iowa with his 17-point fantasy performance. The rookie running back was once again shining for the team from So-Cal.

One of the top matchups for both Iowa and California during Round One of the playoffs was the Pittsburgh Steelers versus Cincinnati Bengals game. Iowa had Steelers RB DeAngelo Williams and the Rebels had WR Antonio Brown. The Rebels could have had both Williams and Brown starting for them, but the team cut Williams earlier in the year when Le’Veon Bell returned from suspension. However, midway through the season, Bell tore his ACL and was ruled out for the rest of the season. Rebel Killers’ Owner Addison Ross added Williams off waivers, giving Iowa an RB1 to pair with Broncos’ Running Back C.J. Anderson.

When the final whistle blew in the Steelers-Bengals game, it was Williams and the Iowa Rebel Killers who once again got a laugh out of the Rebels. Williams finished the game with seventy-six rushing yards and two touchdowns, with an additional fifteen yards on two catches. Williams’ 22 fantasy points helped put Iowa back in the game. As for Antonio Brown, the difficult matchup versus the Bengals that scared the Rebels before the playoffs even started, started to play out in front of the team. Brown finished with a decent 7 catches for 87 yards stat line, but his 15 fantasy points were half of what he was averaging on the season. Because of his performance, along with Julio’s 15 fantasy points, I started feeling as if Iowa was once again going to upset the Rebels on the road in the playoffs.

However, the Rebels got a huge break when Rebel Killers’ RB C.J. Anderson, who was questionable all week, was ruled out for the Broncos matchup with the Oakland Raiders. This helped the Rebels out tremendously, as Iowa left C.J. Anderson in their starting lineup as the late afternoon games got underway. With Anderson ruled out but stuck in the starting lineup of the Rebel Killers, Iowa was not able to substitute Anderson with another player, forcing the team to eat a 0 on their score sheet. Iowa would later accuse the Rebels and myself of cheating, saying I switched his lineup and put Anderson in after he was ruled out. I did not do this, and Ross’ accusations were later dismissed.

Despite getting a huge break in the form of C.J. Anderson’s absence, the Rebels playoff matchup with Iowa would once again come down to Monday Night Football. Unlike the season before, this season, the Rebels could do nothing but wait. The team had no players left to play, while Iowa had two players left to play, RB Lamar Miller and TE Jordan Cameron. The Rebels had a lead of 30 entering Monday Night, but nearly everyone thought that Iowa was going to upset the Rebels through the legs of Miller and the hands of Cameron.

I went to school that Monday morning and I was met with trash talk from other owners in the Yuma and even people who weren’t in the league (yet), like my friend Tyler Harmening. But the biggest trash talk came from Seattle Leathernecks’ Owner Nathan Simmons, whose team already clinched their way to the second round with an upset win over the heavily favored #1 seeded Detroit Titans. Nathan’s trash talk was subtle, reminding me that Miller is a great running back and that the Monday Night matchup of the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins should be a shootout. I agreed that the game was probably going to be a shootout and that the Rebels’ game was going to be a close finish. I didn’t take anyone’s trash talk to heart, rather, I kindly reminded myself and my team to ‘Believe and Be Ready.’

Unlike last year, where I sat through the entire Monday Night football game that determined the Rebels fate against the Rebel Killers, this year, I could not watch the game. I was too nervous to watch the game and I knew that if I watched the game from start to finish, I would be a nervous wreck the entire time. So, to keep my mind off of football, I decided to get out of the house and drive around town, listening to music. This lasted the entire first half of the game and I returned to my house at the start of the second half. I knew that I was going to be a nervous wreck, but I decided to watch the second half of the Giants and Dolphins.

As I turned on the game at the start of the second half, I quickly saw Lamar Miller’s stats from the first half. He already had two rushing touchdowns on the night; ultimately making my heart sink in agony within seconds. However, the Dolphins were not a position to just run out the clock. The team was down by one touchdown late in the game to the Giants, forcing Miami to throw the ball, rather than run. While this lifted my sprites for a second, knowing that Miller wasn’t automatically going to get the ball, I quickly remembered I needed TE Jordan Cameron to not get the ball either.

I patiently watched as the last seconds ticked off the clock, wishing time would move faster. I knew that Iowa’s score was very close to the Rebels, but I was not going to check until the Monday Night game ended. When the game finally ended, I pulled up the ESPN Fantasy app similar to what I did a year earlier, and just like 2014, I was greeted with delight as I saw the Rebels had once again defeated the Iowa Rebel Killers in the playoffs. The team was moving on to the Second Round. As I looked at the final score as it read, 128-123, I quickly realized that this score was nearly identical to the score of the 2014 Semifinals game between Iowa and the Rebels. As I saw this, I grew a big smile, but quickly turned my attention to Round Two and the Rebels’ next opponent; the Seattle Leathernecks.

I was ecstatic that the Rebels had advanced to the Semifinals for the third year in a row, but being honest, I was upset that the Rebels had to face Seattle with a chance to play in Yuma Bowl VII on the line. Seattle may have been 6-7, but their team was much better than what their record said they were. The 2015 Seattle Leathernecks were led by Quarterback Blake Bortles and Wide Receiver Allen Robinson. While the Rebels had the top two Wide Receivers in fantasy football in Julio Jones and Antonio Brown, the Leathernecks had the third and fourth-best Wide Receivers behind Odell Beckham Jr. and Allen Robinson. Both teams, the Rebels and the Leathernecks were assembled identically, relying heavily on the play of their WRs.

Nathan Simmons and Ben Pauli were very confident entering the Semifinals. They were arguably the hottest team in the Yuma Scorpions over the last month and they had just defeated the best team in Yuma Scorpion history the week prior. I didn’t let them see it, but I was worried about the Rebels chances in the Second Round. I was mostly worried about Antonio Brown and his upcoming date with the No-Fly-Zone Denver Broncos secondary. The Broncos defense was the best in the league, and I contemplated sitting Brown, but that thought quickly went away. I was going to win or lose with the team’s studs in the starting lineup.

The Semifinals began on Thursday, December 18th with the Buccaneers traveling to St. Louis for the final home in St. Louis Rams’ history. The Leathernecks had Rams’ Rookie Running Back Todd Gurley playing to help get things started. I wasn’t interested in watching this game and neither was almost all of the United States. Instead of watching this game, I opted to go to the movies and watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The movie was great, and it kept my mind off of fantasy football. When the movie concluded, I saw that Todd Gurley had scored fifteen fantasy points. Nathan quickly texted me and subtly threw some trash talk, praising the performance of Todd Gurley. I didn’t bother to encourage Nathan, rather, I simply replied, “yeah it was a good performance.” I was upset that Gurley scored fifteen points, but it was better than him going off for thirty. I quickly turned my attention towards Sunday when the Rebels got underway.

When Sunday came, I went to church in the morning and right when service got over, I rushed home and turned on the games. On NFL RedZone I saw every game that was important in the Rebels’ Semifinal matchup. The Washington Redskins versus the Buffalo Bills was important as the Rebels were starting Washington’s TE Jordan Reed. Reed caught two touchdowns early in the first half, giving the Rebels 27 fantasy points. The Rebels’ score was quickly increased with touchdowns by both Julio Jones and Greg Olsen. With just three players, the Rebels had scored four touchdowns. I couldn’t believe it, and neither could Nathan. Nathan texted me in the second quarter of the early games and told me that it was over. I was going to beat him. I knew that I was winning, but I did not accept his concession text just yet. I told him that there was a lot of time left.

However, the Rebels lead kept growing as the afternoon went on. The Rebels recorded double-digit points from their defense and double digits from their kicker Chandler Catanzaro. But it was the play and performance by Antonio Brown that sealed the deal for the Rebels. Brown, who I was worried about coming into his game versus Denver, finished the game with 16 catches for 189 yards and two touchdowns, a total of 48 fantasy points. His performance sealed the deal for the Rebels, they were going back to the Yuma Bowl for the second year in a row. On top of this, the team still had RB David Johnson and QB Drew Brees left to play.

The Rebels didn’t need the points from Johnson or Brees in order to advance to the Yuma Bowl, but that didn’t stop David Johnson from nearly outperforming Antonio Brown. Johnson, a rookie, rushed for 187 yards and three touchdowns and added forty-two yards on four catches (46 fantasy points). Brees on Monday Night added three touchdowns as the California Rebels defeated the Seattle Leathernecks 251-141. The Rebels’ 110-point win over Seattle is the largest margin of victory in the history of the league, and the team’s 251 points scored is the most points scored in a single game in league history. The worries that I had in the Rebels in the days leading up to the Semifinal as well as, all-season, quickly went away. The team was now one win away from back-to-back Yuma Scorpion Championships.

Yuma Bowl VII was set to be played at Netsch Stadium with Team Netsch hosting the #4 seeded California Rebels. This matchup did not scare me at all, despite Netsch having both the NFL MVP-Front Runner Cam Newton and breakout star Devante Freeman on their roster. I was confident in my team and I don’t know how one could blame me for being confident. My team just scored a record 251 points and beat an opponent by 110 points. The writing was on the wall and it was spelling out another Rebel championship.

However, there was a small snag in the days leading up to Yuma Bowl VII. Rebels’ Quarterback Drew Brees suffered a foot injury late in Week 15’s Monday Night Football matchup versus Detroit. Brees said he was fine, but the Saints listed him as questionable in the days leading up the Rebels big game. With this being said, the Rebels were forced to make a decision, start Brees with injury risk, or pick up another quarterback that would be a much safer play in the championship. The Rebels did the later and picked up Washington Redskins QB Kirk Cousins off of waivers. Cousins was having a breakout month, as he was trying to lead the Redskins back to the playoffs for the first time since 2012. I wanted to play Brees and just have Cousins as a backup, but all the experts were saying to start Cousins versus Philadelphia, and Coach Nevers agreed. It was final; Kirk Cousins was going to start for the Rebels in Yuma Bowl VII.

Yuma Bowl VII began on Saturday Night with the Washington Redskins visiting the Philadelphia Eagles. The Rebels were starting two players in this game, QB Kirk Cousins and TE Jordan Reed. Reed scored two touchdowns for the Rebels the week prior and his connection with Cousins was undeniable. In their Week 16/ Yuma Bowl matchup versus the Eagles the QB/TE duo combined for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Reed would add nine catches on the day for a total of 35 fantasy points. Cousins would prove to be the better start over Brees that week as Cousins ended his day with four passing touchdowns and 365 passing yards, for a total of 39 fantasy points. By the end of Saturday Night, the Rebels were up 74-0 over Netsch and I started to feel like a champion once again.

While the team may have looked like champions once again, I woke up Sunday Morning with a gut feeling that told me to not get too excited. Netsch still had all nine of his players left to play and many of the Rebels had difficult Week 16 matchups. In fantasy football, anything can happen and because of this, I adopted the idea that it isn’t over until it is over as I watched the rest of the Yuma Bowl play out. My worries that the Rebels were going to blow their 74-point lead escalated when the final stats of Antonio Brown’s game versus Baltimore were finalized. Brown ended Yuma Bowl VII with seven catches for sixty- one yards or 13 fantasy points. I was very disappointed with Brown’s performance, but luckily the six other Rebel players still playing helped make up for Brown’s letdown of a game.

Julio Jones entered Week 16 with a matchup versus Carolina Panthers’ Corner Back Josh Norman. Two weeks prior when these two met, Josh Norman got the better of Jones and it looked as if Norman would do the same once again. However, in the Panthers Week 15 matchup with the New York Giants, Norman allowed Odell Beckham Jr. to get past him a few times to end his day with a decent stat line. Because of this, Julio Jones saw flaws in Norman’s game that he felt he could expose during the Yuma Bowl. When this rematch got underway in Week 16, it was obvious that it was going to be Julio Jones’ day. Jones ended Yuma Bowl VII with nine catches for 178 receiving yards and one touchdown. While Jones’ performance was overall impressive, it was his 70-yard touchdown catch over Panthers’ Linebacker Luke Kuechly that became the dagger that the Rebels would need to become world champions once again.

As the early games started to end, I now knew that the Rebels were going to win the Yuma Bowl for the second year in a row. I didn’t just start to believe that we were going to win, I KNEW we were going to win and so did everyone who was watching the championship play out. However, the Rebels still had David Johnson and Chandler Catanzaro to play, while Netsch just had his kicker Mason Crosby. Johnson added 20 points to the Rebels final score, while Catanzaro added eight. As for Netsch’s kicker, Mason Crosby ended Yuma Bowl VII with zero fantasy points and as the final seconds ticked off in the desert of Arizona, the music began to play as the California Rebels defeated Netsch 176-130 to help capture the club’s second title in franchise history.

With the score now being official, the California Rebels headed towards the championship podium and the post-game celebration. The 2015 presentation of The Sean Metz Trophy was a little different than the 2014 presentation as the celebration was indoors and the league had an official “keeper of the trophy” present the championship trophy to the Owner of the Rebels. Peter Stevens proceeded to walk the trophy through the halls of Carroll First Assembly Church to the tune of “The Lombardi.” It was a very emotional moment for me as the feelings I felt towards the team’s second title were much more powerful than how I felt just a year before the team’s first.

It was emotional to me because many people felt as if the Rebels bought their 2014 championship and therefore the title should have an asterisk next to it. While this is partially true, the Rebels did buy players in 2014, but in no way do I feel like the Rebels title was bought. The 2014 California Rebels fought hard for that title and overcame numerous obstacles. Nevertheless, in 2015 it felt as if the Rebels, but more so myself, needed to show the league that the Rebels and I were just as capable of winning a title without buying players than we were with buying players. As I accepted the trophy from Peter, I got the feeling that the Rebels were truly finally champions. Nobody could deny that the 2015 California Rebels is the best team in Yuma Scorpion history.

In my brief acceptance speech, I thanked Coach Matthew Nevers for delivering not one but two championships to the Rebels Organization. I talked about what his presence meant for the team and how one could tell early on that Coach Nevers was going to be special. When he was introduced as the Head Coach of the California Rebels back in January 2013, he agreed to the promise of making the Rebels champions within his first two full years on the job. In his first three seasons, Coach Nevers brought the Rebels within two wins of a title in 2013, the team’s first title in 2014, and the team’s second title just a year later in 2015. While the road wasn’t always easy, the Rebels would not have achieved this success without the leadership, discipline, and guidance from Coach Matthew Nevers. He is the glue that holds the Rebels together.

As I concluded my acceptance of the Sean Metz Trophy, I walked off stage to the sight of falling confetti and the sound of Queen’s “We Are the Champions.” I joined my team, my friends, and my family in celebrating the team’s second championship. The 2015 California Rebels will not just be remembered for their dominant play in both the regular season and postseason. But the team will go down in history as just the second team to win back-to- back titles in Yuma Scorpion history (Cermak 2009 & 2010); accomplishing the goal that the team made for itself six months prior.