The Irwin Hellions completed an impressive late season surge by ripping the league title away from the top-seeded Anderson Brewmeisters with a 30-25 victory in Super Bowl VIII. With the victory, the Hellions break the tie with the Brewmeisters and become the only franchise in the league with three Super Bowl titles.

Domanick Davis' career-best 150 rushing yards help pace the Hellions' victory.

As with their other two titles (in 2000 and 2001), the Western Division champion Hellions took down the Eastern Division champion in the league's title game. Moreover – as with the other two – Irwin went into the game as the No. 2 seed and has now completed a successful hat-trick of upsets.

Following the opening ceremonies and player introductions, Anderson won the coin toss and began the game on offense. Peyton Manning and company drove deep into Irwin territory, but placekicker Phil Dawson pushed a 43-yard field goal attempt wide right, setting an ominous tone for the Brewmeisters' night.

The Hellions then drove 67 yards and scored the game's opening points on Domanick Davis' 1-yard TD plunge. That score set off a flurry of action for the remainder of the first half.

The Brewmeisters went the length of the field on the next drive and tied it up with a 16-yard touchdown sprint from LaDainian Tomlinson. After stalling out on their second possession, Irwin punted the ball away and downed it inside Anderson's 1-yard line. Linebacker Keith Brooking got to Peyton Manning in the endzone on the next play, and Manning was called for intentional grounding as he threw the ball away while being pulled down. The result was a Hellion safety and a 9-7 lead.

Anderson's Patriot defense shut down the Hellion "O" again, and the Brewskies' offense made amends for the safety. Manning sliced through the Hellions secondary, going 5-for-5 and hitting touchdown pay dirt with a 7-yard slant to Eric Moulds. Phil Dawson, however, shanked his second PAT attempt, limiting the Brewmeisters' first lead to 13-9.

Donovan McNabb finally got his offense back on track in the closing minutes of the first half, and he hit the speedy Andre Johnson in the back corner of the endzone for a 21-yard TD strike that would ultimately put Irwin up for good.

The third quarter belonged to the Hellions, who used Edgerrin James and Domanick Davis to chew up yards and control the clock. Davis provided the only scoring of the period, adding a second rushing score to his stat sheet. McNabb made his only major mistake in the opening moments of the fourth period, where he was picked off by Anderson's Troy Brown as he tried to hit Andre Johnson down the sideline. Brown returned the pick 43 yards for a defensive score, but Dawson's PAT kick was blocked, leaving the Brewmeisters with a four-point deficit instead of three.

A disappointed Peyton Manning leaves the field after throwing for 300+ yards in the loss.

When the Hellions got the ball back, McNabb went back to handing the ball off to Davis and James, who finished with over 250 combined rushing yards. After seven straight rushing plays, McNabb rolled out and found Chad Johnson in the front of the endzone for a 5-yard score. After Nate Kaeding's fourth successful PAT attempt, the Hellions had their largest lead of the night – 11 points – with only 7:42 left to play.

Manning took his team back down the field, thanks to some clutch plays on third down. Torry Holt caught a bullet on third-and-eight and raced into the endzone for a 23-yard score. The Hellion "D" made a big stop on the subsequent two-point conversion attempt, keeping the Brew a TD down.

Irwin got the ball back with four minutes to play, and Anderson's Patriots defense couldn't get them off the field. Davis and James converted a few first downs and McNabb took a couple of knees as time ran out for the Brewmeisters.

As streamers and confetti were shot into the air, the Hellion players swarmed the field for their third post-Super Bowl celebration in five years. Domanick Davis was named Super Bowl VIII MVP thanks to his 150-yard, two TD performance. "This is amazing," the Davis said as he clutched the Lombardi trophy. "things weren't looking so good two months ago, but here we are – Western Division champs and now Super Bowl Champions!"

McNabb continued, "I know Brett (Favre) has played in three of these, and i'm just thrilled to have had the opportunity to represent my team and this franchise today on the field. We played a tough team that accomplished a whole lot themselves, but I think we wanted it more. We definitely had more to prove out there."

The Hellions finish their season with a sixth straight win and tenth overall. The Brewmeisters see their own six-game streak snapped, and finish 10-5 with the loss. They'll have to settle for being the second-most celebrated Super Bowl franchise, as Irwin has staked its claim at being the best.

Congratulations Irwin Hellions – 2004 FLF Champions!

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