“The banner above the main gate, and the unusually well produced game day programs proclaimed what all in attendance knew: "Welcome to Mangleberry Cup Qualifier Pool F" The cover was a full color splash of the visiting Dragon Prince himself!

Good natured banter between the players during opening warm up was cut short as an imposing shadow crept out of the visiting locker room MORG!!! and grinning from behind his knee menacingly waving a chainsaw was Nobbla! Well this was just too much, and the Poem faithful were having none of it.

Incised at the Ogre's presence the recently reorganized Ultra Poems cornered the ref and let him know just how this poetry slam was going to go down.

Freed from the shackles of fair play the elves took the opening kick off and stomped on a downed Orc with newly dirty player Ghazal. With a look of vengeance the orc just smiled back and stood up next turn. However some deft hitting left 2 Orcs stunned and their back field in disary. Limerick spotted an open Free Form dashing to the endzone. A slick pass later and the elves trotted in for the score!

Up 1-0 but with plenty of time in the first half the Poems dug in for the feriocious Orc drive. Morg stomped the freebooted Fleeting Rhyme into the dust injuring him for the rest of the match. A bad kick put the Orc ball into the hands of their slick blitzer Queem. Try as they might the Poems could not get to the ball. Spotting an opening Free Form rushed in hoping to strip the ball loose, to his shock he knocked over the burly orc and the ball bounced into the waiting hands of End Rhyme. Given a moment to collect his thoughts Rhymer marched the ball carefully into the end zone as time expired.

The Second half saw the desperate Sinners trying to figure out a way to put up 2 touchdowns against the more defensively minded elves. A second poorly aimed kick resulted in a touch back to their massive Black Orc Greed. Finally earning his pay for the match Prince Mo dodged away from Morg and blitzed into the monster orc; who just bounced off! Showing his eagerness Greed tried to worm his way through 3 elves and get closer to score against the rapidly advancing clock. That's where Verse got his shot at the ball carrier and knocked the ball out of his hands and into the cheering fans. Some orcs snuck into that section of the crowd and threw it towards the Poem endzone but speedy Ghazal picked up the ball and steadied the play.

Ever opportunistic Free Form saw a chance to spring free and bolted down the sidelines after receiving the handoff. When he marched proudly into paydirt the Poem faithful breathed a sigh of relief and began looking forward to round 2.

”