In the biggest day since the Prairie Dogs arrived in Sunrise City from Washington, DC, the franchise won its most prestigious achievement in winning the International Elite Challenge Cup V after stringing together three consecutive 14-point victories.

Getting to the Cup first required navigating through a qualifying around, which the Prairie Dogs did to the tune of a first place qualifier trophy behind the big arm of QB Zack Knox.

Qualifying for the cup as one of eight qualifier champions, the team had high hopes to make a strong showing in the round robin section with the sight set on a top four finish to advance to the knockout round. Through some uneven play, the Prairie Dogs need to win on the final day of the round robin and get some help to sneak in as the fourth team from the division going 4-3.

That set up an uphill battle in the knockout round, with a first round match up against the 6-1 Sydney Rising Stars. Knox was sloppy in this game, throwing 23/40 for 199 and 2 TDs and 2 INTs, and the team trailed by seven going into the fourth quarter. But the defense provided a huge spark. After tying the game early in the fourth quarter, LB Eddie Biddle came up with two huge interceptions leading to touchdowns to secure a 41-27 win.

In the semifinals against the Department of Love and Peace, the Prairie Dogs jumped out early behind a big game from Knox, who finished the day going 31/41 for 256 yds and 4 TDs. The defense also played a big role in the second quarter with LB Renee Levine recording a sack and forced fumble he recovered and DT Toby Irby stuffing a 4th down run. Both plays led to and the team held off a late comeback attempt to win 38-24.

The unlikely finals match featured the only two teams to finish with a negative point differential. Knox nearly replicated his semifinal performance leading the team with 31/41 for 277 yds and 3 TDs passing. Biddle again was a hero on the defense coming up with a big second quarter redzone INT resulting in a 14-point swing. The Kraken rallied in the third quarter to tie the game on 21, but the Prairie Dogs finished off strong scoring the next two touchdowns to notch a third straight 14-point win, 35-21.

After an incredible run in Washington D.C. during which the Washingtonians won two Sea Devil 1 Championships, two Champ of Champ titles, lost in the RZA Elite championship bowl and for a brief stint, was the highest rated team in the world, DCW has moved across the country to the remote town of Sunrise City.

There were several bidders looking to bring an Elite franchise to their city, and Sunrise City emerged as a darkhorse candidate as a small, remote town. But after rolling out the red carpet for team executives and having a fully prepared 144,000 capacity stadium ready for use, "The Badlands," the move happened.

To ease the transition, Head Coach Buckland agreed for one more season at the helm, and breaking with tradition, he turned to free agency to go for one more competitive run in Elite. As long as Okui is under center, this team has a chance, but with nine starters from last season departing, a little help was necessary to fill out a solid roster. The rest of the vacancies will be filled from within.

Even though the team is hopeful to make one more push to give the fans of Sunrise City the excitement of watching a playoff contender, the speculation is if things go south early, a rebuild will be necessary. Even if the first season unfolds perfectly, this aging roster will likely need a makeover by the second season.

To celebrate the transition and rebranding, the franchise invited fans to The Badlands for a meet-and-greet to become familiar with the new team and to celebrate the greats who made DCW a force. As such, team executives unveiled the All DCW team recognizing the legends who wore the red, white and blue uniforms. Some of these players will don the new Prairie Dog yellow and brown.

The franchise is excited about its new start in a new city, and the Prairie Dogs will become every bit as dominant as DCW was in its heyday.

QB: Takashi Okui (S37-S42): 6x Team MVP, 6x Offensive MVP, 3x Elite QB 1, 2x Champ of Champ MVP, Duck Bowl XIV MVP, S39 Sea Devil Tournament MVP, most passing yards and passing TDs in team history

RB: Jauhar Fall (S28-S35): 5x All-Star, Hall of Fame inductee, second in rushing yards and fifth in rushing TDs in team history

FB: Pat Konvalinka (S32-S42): 1x Trojan Scorer, most rushing yards, rushing TDs and blocks by a FB in team history

WR1: Shemeul Ngahu (S28-S38): 4x Offensive Captain, 4x Trojan Scorer, most receptions, yards and receiving TDs in team history

WR2: Sebastian Zelený (S31-S37): 3x Trojan Scorer, second in receiving yards and receiving TDs in team history

TE: Waldo Covington (S33-S42): 1x Trojan Scorer, most reception yards, receiving TDs and blocks for a TE in team history

LT: Roscoe Baboram (S27-S37): 6x IHOP, most pancakes in team history, 30x All Star, Hall of Fame Inductee

LG: Leslie Mccartney (S32-S42): Rookie of the Year, 1x Elite OL 2, sixth in pancakes in team history, Hall of Fame Inductee

C: Clifford Valenti (S33-S42): 2x IHOP, seventh in pancakes in team history

RG: Frederico Borges (S29-S40): 1x IHOP, fourth in pancakes in team history

RT: Ivan Suvorov (S27-S37): 3x IHOP, second in pancakes in team history

LE: Rakshak Jana (S27-S42): 6x Defensive Captain, leads in tackles for loss, forced fumbles, fumbles recovered and most sacks by a DL in team history, Hall of Fame Inductee

NT: Rayford Seay (S31-S42): eighth in tackles of loss, fourth in forced fumbles in team history

RE: Nathanial Sales (S31-S42): 44x All-Star, Hall of Fame Inductee, fourth in tackles for loss, third in forced fumbles in team history

LOLB: Kusa Thawan (S28-S38): 3x Defensive MVP, 6x HT Sacker, 1x Lotto Picker, Hall of Fame Inductee, leader of sacks, eighth in interceptions and third in defensive TDs (T) in team history

LMLB: Iljios Alanis (S26-S36): 1x Defensive Captain, 6x Defensive MVP, 3x HT Sacker, 7x Lotto Picker, Hall of Fame Inductee, fourth in sacks, most interceptions, second in fumble recoveries (T), and leads in defensive TDs in team history

RMLB: Lavern Boren (S36-S42): 3x Defensive MVP, 3x HT Sacker, Rookie of the Year, second in sacks in team history, Hall of Fame Inductee

ROLB: Murat Schmidt (S28-S34): 2x Defensive MVP, 1x HT Sacker, Sea Devil Tournament MVP, seventh in sacks, second in fumble recoveries (T) and third in defensive TDs (T) in team history

LCB: Martín Santan (S26-S42): 3x Lotto Picker, most tackles and second in interceptions and defensive TDs in team history

RCB: Young-Min Dae (S28-S38): 3x Lotto Picker, second in tackles, third in interceptions and sixth in defensive TDs in team history

FS: Hanspeter Heinrich (S26-S36): 7x Defensive Captain

SS: Christian Wilder (S27-S38): most tackles by a safety in team history

Top ELO Ranking
Jan 21-23, 2021 (high-water mark: 1346)

Is it possible to miss the playoffs after two consecutive years of making it and still have the most successful season in franchise history? That is the storyline this team is selling after coming up a game short of getting into the playoffs despite going 11-5 again, as DCW had done the previous two seasons.

S37 was the toughest schedule the Washingtonians have ever faced, and this squad proved it was capable of playing with all of the best in RZA. DCW played an incredible 11 games against teams that finished 8-8 or better and went 6-5 against them. This also included beating each NC division winner (going 4-1 against these squads) and beating both teams in the Elite Super Bowl. When taking into account the SC playoffs, DCW went 4-2 against the Elite Conference Finals qualifiers and notched a victory against each one.

The story of the season was the new star QB T. Okui putting the team on his back and leading the offense to some impressive stats on offense, and the break-out party of YA-product MLB L. Boren, who led a strong LB corp. Beyond these two units, however, the team showed some regressions in other aspects. The OL, which led the league in pancakes a season ago, slipped this season, and the DL and DBs struggled all season. In S36, Alanis led the team with 8 INTs whereas in S37, the entire defense combined for 7 INTs. The inability to force turnovers, too many missed tackles and blocks all contributed to the team missing the playoffs.

Earning team honors for S37 performances are as follows:

Team MVP: Okui (QB) for winning most game balls
Offensive MVP: Okui (QB) for most MVP points (O)
Defensive MVP: Boren (LB) for most MVP points (D)
Trojan Contributor: Zelený and Galloway (WRs) and Konvalinka (FB) for scoring the most TDs
IHOP Lineman: Baboram (OL) for recording the most pancakes
Harris Teeter Double-Bagger: Boren (LB) for recording the most sacks
DC Lotto Picker: Santana (CB)/Thawan (LB) for recording most interceptions
Best QB in Elite: Okui (1st)

DCW did make some noise in the SC playoffs, after completing another 15-0 season. For the first time in franchise history, the Washingtonians made it to the quarterfinals and notched perhaps the most impressive win with a 48-10 over the top ranked team in the game, Wilmersdorf Wadenbeisser.

Several players retired this season, including top WR Zelený, TE Voorde, FS Dimitrov, DE Loftsson, OC Suvorov and OT Baboram. Baboram surely will find his way into the team’s Hall of Fame; the former second-round pick was a six-time pancake leader (Suvorov, the next highest, was a three-time leader) and found himself on the All-Star roster for 30 games. Back-up and first YA promotee FB Centeno also retired.

The team did not get any help from its rookie class last season, and in fact, none of the draft picks are still on the roster. Like last season, the rookies are not expected to see much, if any, playing time this season. From the YA, WR Isidro Spinks, RB Rico Messina and FS Brent Baggett join the squad. The coaching staff is pretty high on all three and they should see limited time in a back-up capacity. And in a weak draft, the team managed to find three players that should provide some depth after losing so many veterans. In the first round, Safety Logan Hacker is pretty much a finished product and is more or less a place holder until more talented players come up in the system. But the team did find some potential contributors in the second round (TE Curt Bowers) and third round (CB Kenny Blais). More exciting, the team has a handful of YA players ready for promotion next season as the youth movement continues.

Speaking of the All-Star game, DCW became just the 10th team to beat the All-Stars in a full-tilt, no mercy game, winning 30-28, but the game was more one-sided that the final score reflected. DCW went up 30-14 with about 8:30 left in the game and the All-Stars rallied for two late TDs to make the score look close.