In 2009, the leagues inaugural season, Gridiron Gang made the playoffs as a wild card. It was a successful campaign, going 9-4-1, knocking off the title winning Bear Necessities in their only loss of the season. However they went out in the first round of the playoffs to the Burdettinators.
9 months later a new campaign began, and it started out relatively well for Coach Stubbs Jr, finishing the first 5 weeks with a 3-2 record, including 2 wins over would be playoff teams that year, The Tuckfards and Bear Necessities. 117-107 and 101-94 respectively.
But this is where the rails started to fall off. Gridiron Gang would lose the next 3 games, scoring 74, 93, and 73 across the 3 weeks. This left Coach Stubbs Jr. In a precarious position. Entering week 9 they owned a 3-5 record. With only 6 games to go, and 8 wins usually being the minimum requirement for a chance at playoffs, the pressure to turn it around quickly was on.
This is where the magical stretch that will be in the history books forever begun. But the start wasn’t pretty. In Week 9 they had a tough match up against fellow playoff hopeful Forge Flyers. The game was not pretty and was a 77-61 slog victory for Gridiron Gang, but it got them the crucial win they needed.
The next week they faced a middling team run by Coach Nunn, but it was anything from an easy game. In one of the narrower games in LOC history, Coach Stubbs Jr. Squeaked out a 105.56-104.10 win, lead by some players you’d expect in LeSean McCoy and good special teams, and some you would not in Mark Sanchez and a late career Chad Ochocinco.
Back at 5-5, Gridiron Gang were back in the game, but faced a tough Week 11 test against the playoff bound Tuckfards. In a high scoring affair, Coach Merritt dealt a big blow to Gridiron Gang by sinking them 149-137. At 5-6, Coach Stubbs Jr. Didn’t flinch and would not lose a game for the rest of the season.
In Week 12 Gridiron Gang played another playoff hopeful team, the Burdettinators. It was another close affair in which Coach Stubbs Jr. Took the W 103-96, lead by Tom Brady, Matt Forte, LeSean McCoy, Marques Colston, and Dan Carpenter. At 6-6 with two weeks to go, Gridiron Gang couldn’t afford to lose another game, but faced two playoff teams, including the current champion Bear Necessities in Week 13. They saw them off comfortably 124-76.
Entering week 14, Gridiron Gang had the 4th seed and a tenuous hold on the playoffs. But there were many other teams vying for a playoff spot, so a win was almost essential to ensure a playoff berth. Gridiron Gang faced the Rookie division winning IKNAN so the task would not be easy. But once again led by Tom Brady, LeSean McCoy, Marques Colston, Deion Branch and Malcom Floyd, Gridiron Gang earned a tough fought 113 to 100 victory, and finished with the 3rd seed and a playoff berth.
Gridiron Gang’s opponent in Week 15, the first week of the playoffs, would be a familiar one. In fact, they had played them the week before, and also in Week 1. They took on rookie division winning IKNAN. But this time the game was far more comfortable, seeing them off with a 98-58 victory. They’d made the Corona Bowl, but would have a decidedly harder test to face.
Corona Bowl II was a family affair. The champion would not leave the Stubbs household, as Coach Stubbs Jr. Took on current champion Coach Stubbs Sr. In a close fought game, Gridiron Gang took the title with a 114-98 victory, lead by once again Tom Brady, Matt Forte, Brandon Marshall, and a classic Coach Stubbs Jr. Contrarian play with Kellen Winslow at tight end, who netted a crucial 22 points.
Across the course of those 8 weeks, Gridiron Gang won 7 games, played 7 games against teams that finished with a winning record, 5 games of which against playoff teams, scoring less than 97 points only once. This is where Coach Stubbs Jr.’s reputation for knocking off the best teams emerged. Over that magical stretch, he also got creative starting players such as Braylon Edwards, Mark Sanchez, and late career shells such as Kellen Winslow, Deion Branch, Chad Ochocinco, and Jeremy Shockey.
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