As the game clock in the Chicago/Washington game ticked down and Genevas lead hovered at just over 2 points, one almost certainly expected a script that would lead to Caleb Williams needing to march down the field and easily erase that gap.  After all, save for a Scorp sting in 23 (a sub 1 point loss to Stillwater in Week 10 of 2023), this was the type of matchup that almost always broke the back-to-back-to-back champs way over the last 5 seasons.  The Poon became known for its ability to wriggle out from their back against the wall and crush the hopes of their opponent with a gut punch win just before, or at, the final whistle.  Instead, exactly the right scenario for Geneva played out to relegate Caleb Williams to little more than a RFHS QB, handing off and playing safe to set up a FG and leave the Harpooners tantalizingly close to win a that would have left them alone at the top of the RASL standings.  But maybe we should have seen it coming, because while last night was the 17th sub 1 point game weve had in RASL history (just sliding in under at .96), it was the second time it has happened in a Hopkins vs Geneva showdown.  And in 2012 Week 7 the Gigolos escaped against the Moonshiners by a margin of .4 in what was a 212-211.6 matchup.  Geneva is now 4-1 all time in sub 1 point games.

Another week, another 'Digo RB Top 100 All Time Score.  This time, it was the much more expected Bijan, the one time projected Asphalt Cowboy & Lot Lizard, as he dropped 74.4 to slot in at 80th highest RB score ever and move his PPG on the season to a truly eye watering 51 (tracking as 3rd highest ever and only .68 off the all time pinnacle).  Bijan is 5/5 in weekly Top 10 finishes at the position, a feat CMC has matched, but hes almost 10PPG behind our new RB supreme (at least until Walter Payton Incarnate Rico Dowdle gets more games as the bellcow) who is assuredly the top dog in the RASL MVP race.

In the RASL Cup Quarterfinals, #1 Seed Hoboken snuck by St Louis Park on a razor close margin of 300.32, #2 Seed Whitacre was 242.44 better than a Washington County squad slowly chopped down by injury over the three week showdown, #3 Seed Pigs Eye turned a 43 point deficit heading into the last week to a comfortable 51 point victory, and while #5 Seed Hopkins dropped their RASL tilt to Geneva, the Harpooners grabbed a 23 point win in Cup competition against hated rival Tampa, to complete the semifinalists.  That sets up Hoboken (11 all time RASL Cup semifinal appearances) versus Hopkins (11) and Whitacre (12) versus Pigs Eye (6) over Weeks 7, 8 & 9.  The Wendigo quarterfinal victory means Whitacre is now tied with Tampa for the league lead in RASL Cup semifinal appearances, while Hoboken is making its fifth straight, Pigs Eye a second (and third in four years), while Hopkins returns after last seasons quarterfinal loss to Geneva snapped a streak of 6 straight final fours.

Hoboken and Whitacre doubled up in Week 6, not only tangling in RASL but also in Champions League competition, with the Wendigo bounty of high end RB depth able to far outpace the Hoboken flexes, but not quite enough to make up the lineup gap as the Helmsmen move to 4-0 in a 386-350 win, dropping the Wendigo to 2-2.  Pigs Eye didnt get much from their flexes, but it was more than Hopkins added to their tab, and the Pirates grasped their first win 333-222 over the Harpooners and move into 3rd place.

Tampa is clipped from the Commissioners Cup after a nailbiting late MNF game that saw Caleb & Rome trying to catch Geneva in a 3 way race to close Week 6.  Tampa ends up losing out by 1.6 to Hopkins (with Geneva squeaking out the RASL W and staying alive in Commissioners Cup by .94 & 2.76 margins), and the Timberjacks are the first Southeast Division franchise to fall in the competition as the field is trimmed to six.

The Supplementary Pick Challenge and race for the #41 Pick is staying tight, with Hoboken one win ahead of Tampa on 47, who sits one win ahead of Maple Grove.  Saint Louis Park has 43 and Hopkins 40, though we have seen double digit leads evaporate in a shorter period when it comes to the Pick'Em so none of the GMs are even close to out of contention yet.

The MERman race is being led by Coach Danielson in Pigs Eye, who has a MER average of 89.9% on the back of four 90%+ weeks and zero below 82%, followed closely by Coach Zhe in Hoboken at 88.7% and Coach Penton in Stillwater at 88.2%.  Coaching in general is really hitting its stride in 2025, with 6 RASL Coaches over an 85% average MER, and only 4 total weeks across the league below the Mulvey Line of 70%

As far as league trends just short of the midpoint season, Whitacre is taking the role of league j-rag with a preposterous weekly average against of 294.4.  Thats 184 more than second place Hoboken (difference of 30.7/week), and 446 more than the bottom of that metric in Hopkins (difference of 88.3/week).  Much of that onslaught has to do with two matchups against Hoboken already, in which the Helmsmen unloaded with a combined 732.2 points (the two highest weekly totals this season in RASL, as well as 12th & 35th in RASL history).  Its how the Wendigo lead the league in All Play Record at 42-12 (one game ahead of Hoboken), but sit at .500 for the season.  The Wendigo and the Helmsmen are currently tied in strength of schedule, both having a weekly average opponent finish of 3.2.  On the flip side, Hopkins has a weekly average opponent finish of 7.8 with Tampa next at 6.8

The weekly league median of 231.43 would track to be the highest scoring in at least the last 5 years of RASL, which is pumped up mostly on account of RB & QB scoring, with the RB1 and QB1 cutoffs the highest they have been in that same timeframe (and the threshold for WR1 has dipped this season by almost 1.5PPG below the previous low during that window).