Footbrawl Match Ends 27-27 Tie After Botched Overtime Scramble

At roughly the sixth bell on Sunday evening, the Waterdeep Commandeers and the Nu Yarrow Ogres finished their footbrawl match in a 27-27 tie, a result nobody in the stands could explain to their children. It came down to the last seconds of overtime, when Commandeers quarterback Jaydan Danielf had his team in field-goal range and chose to run with the ball instead of stopping the clock. Allegedly.

The Commandeers led 27-13 in the fourth quarter. Danielf, back from a dislocated elbow, had already run for two touchdowns and looked pleased with the arm. Then the Ogres' backup passer, Jaimis Wynstone, threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns and tied the match with 1:43 left. "I thought it was over three times and I was wrong three times," said Tobbin Pickle, a lantern-seller, who was eating a roasted chestnut cone at the time. "The chestnuts held up better."

Overtime was worse. The Ogres' kicker, Dominick Zwaddle, had already missed three field goals, including the first try of the extra period. Then a Commandeer tackler stripped the ball from an Ogre runner, which spared everyone a fourth miss. With 12 seconds left and the ball on the Ogres' 24, Danielf scrambled for no gain. The clock ran out. The Commandeers' kicker was allegedly on the sideline, not even stretching. Also, a man in row nine was wearing a belt buckle shaped like a griffin, and it was so shiny. Anyway.

Commandeers coach Dain Quinnlock took the blame. "The sequencing of that does not fall on him," he said. "That has to come from me." Ogres coach John Hornbaugh, whose side now leads the eastern division at 3-1-1, said: "It's a heck of a lot better than a loss, but it's not as good as a win." The Commandeers sit at 1-3-1.

For readers in the Lower City, a tie is when the League declares both sides equal and sends everyone home with nothing to yell about. They are rare. The Tower District nobles in the box seats allegedly demanded a refund on the fifth quarter and were given a pigeon. I will not be discussing the pigeon. Meanwhile the realm's taverns, still half-empty from the Pennant Melee, now have a tie to argue about, which barkeeps say is worse than a loss because nobody buys the first round.

— Skritch, on the beat (allegedly)