SLPN SPORTS - Panthers (2-2) @ Looters (3-1) PREVIEW

Robert Matthews: Here we are, sports fans! We’ve survived all the way to Week 5 in what’s proven to be a real bruiser of a season, here at SLPN Sports coverage of Louisiana State Football Division III. There have been hot streaks and there have been burn outs. Our focus this weekend will be on the hottest of the hot – a squad that defines the term, “Destiny’s Team.” They have seemed — by virtue of how they’ve come together over the season, shown grit when they had to and received grace when they needed it — ordained for the Bowl Game. I can only be talking about, of course, the Golden Meadow Tornadoes. Their performance as a complete unit has been no less than epic, all the way since they stomped this season’s number one spoiler—Columtreal’s Looters—in Week One. In the weeks that followed, their core of leading players, “The Golden Triangle” of Dan Stickler, Drake Lewis and Quarterback Bobby Stede have shown their squad to the winner spot, time and time, against awesome odds. Now we’ll see them take a major leap forward in the ranking, or fall from on high, as they travel to Baton Rogue. There the Tornadoes will clash with the once-unbeaten Sharpshooters. This is the one we’ve been waiting all season for, the true Clash of the Titans, and you’ll see it here live at 2pm. I’ll be joined by State Champion Defensive MVP Will ‘Tank’ McNamara, who will surely lend his colorful commentary on another crucial Sharpshooters game.

Tank McNamara: Nah, Rob. Nah. That dog won’t hunt. I got as ‘colorful’ as I’m going to get last week. It’s done. I’m over it. I’m moving on. Eyes are clear, heart’s full, and that means, I can’t lose.

RM: Unlike your Baton Rouge Sharpshooters, Tank. Who lost last week to a program in its first year.

TM: Woo. You do like rubbing it in. Salt the wound, Rob. Salt away. I admit, though, that I somewhat brought it on myself, banking on an unbeaten season for my alma mater. That was a rookie move as a sports journalist. You won’t see it out of me again.

RM: Now that the eyes are clear, how does it look for the Division’s destiny?

TM: Well, I don’t think it’s going to be decided in Baton Rouge. And that’s not just sour grapes. It’s because what I saw out of Columtreal last week suggests to me that Hathian’s football hopeful might have more than a dark horse to root for. They might have Bowl Game material.

RM: Another bold call from the Tank. What makes you say that?

TM: There’s a term in our business, Rob. “Intangible.” It means, a quality in a football player that you can’t measure with a scale or a stop watch. The Looters have that in spades. Now, you can say it’s because they come from a town of underdogs, or a town of outcasts, or a town of maniacs. You can blame it on whatever chip on their shoulder or thorn in their paw you want to. But those things only make fierce people, not fierce teams. Fierce teams are made from setting aside ego, dedicating very disparate people to a single goal, and getting them fired up together. Together. That's the operative word. Because Hathian might have a reputation for being a kennel of mad dogs, but--

RM: I don't think anyone on SLPN is saying that.

TM: --But it doesn't matter how big the fight in the dog is. All that counts is whether they can form a pack. And what we have in the Columtreal Looters is a case where people from very different, very intense backgrounds have shown solidarity that is unmatched on the field today. Even Golden Meadow doesn't have this kind of unit cohesion. What's more, they don't just have intangibles. They have tangibles, too! Mitch Yama - I still hate the guy's guts, personally, but he's the leader at the running back position in the areas we discussed last week: Yardage after contact and scores on the board. Seth Corbin's pitching a perfect season as a field goal kicker and lays out touchback after touchback. And we've yet to see the best out of some very good players like Hayden Grimm, Sergi Makarov, Leon Acosta, Scott Andel, Scott Samson and Vidarok Omizu. Omizu's about ten feet tall if he's an inch, and even with a single game as a starter under his belt, he was a game changer against the Sharpshooters. A lot of this is due to the excellent play and outstanding commitment of the guys - every single one of them. But a whole heck of a lot of credit goes to the captains on the squad, Quarterback Jason Keaton and Defensive Tackle Joshua Andrew-Parker. Keaton and the British Beast have done wonders bringing together folks that just about anybody would never think could get along.

RM: And yet now there are rumors of a new coach. Is this a shot in the arm for the team?

TM: Definitely a boost. Because this coach really ain't new per se. Columtreal's been playing without any true coach. They cobble it together, much like everything else on this squad. Now they'll have a battle-tested man at the helm. I can't see how this'll go south.

RM: We will see how far it goes, though. Looter versus Panthers will be playing on a highlight reel at 12pm SLT, at select locations in Black Bottom. A Cafe, I hear?

TM: That's right. Bleu Wag Bistro. And if I were in Hathian - heck, if I were anywhere within that ZIP code - that's where I'd be noon on Saturday.