PITTSBURGH -- Shrewd pickups and a rare quarterback start for his backup gave Just a Fantasy owner Jeff Newton his first Finger Bowl championship in Week 17 with a record-setting rout over defending champion Ham N Eggers at Three Rivers Stadium.
Newton started backup QB A. Smith KC over Prescott DAL as Smith scored a game-high 17 points to nab MVP honors for Fantasy, a 51-16 winner over the Eggers. Fantasy's 35-point margin of victory in Finger Bowl 23 set a new championship record, topping the 28 points Mike Wilcox scored over Bill Stone in Finger Bowl 1 in a pairing of Hall of Fame owners.
For the victory, Newton will earn $378.75 for the title in his 14th season. He was the longest tenured owner without a Finger Bowl championship after placing second in 2006 and 2004.
Fantasy placed second in the Duerson Division after a pair of losses to the Eggers in the regular season by an average of 30 points. Fantasy (10-6-1) also was powered by 16 points by PK Hauschka SEA, a Week 15 free agent pickup for Newton after Hauschka was released by the Duluth Eskimos midway through the season.
Fantasy started QB Prescott DAL in the second half of the season after picking up Prescott in Week 9. Fantasy released QB Bradford MIN to find a spot for Prescott.
Newton will gain possession of the Abe Gibron Trophy for the following year.
The Eggers win $126.25 as the runner-up and placed second for the fifth time in six years.
In the third-place match, the Brawlers defeated the Distillers 46-32.
