By Derek Lionberger
This month has been a blast, but now it comes to an epic end. Two heavy hitting and exciting teams are going to be battling it out to finally decide who gets to claim the title best Halloween candy. However, before we preview this big dance matchup, I would like to take a look at this weeks final four matchups.
On Monday we had one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the whole tournament: Reese’s Pieces against Sour Patch Kids. Everyone knew this would be one of the closest games of this whole month. Reese’s Pieces is a team that had a relatively easy route to the Final 4 and is known to be a consistently good team. Beating Twizzlers in the first round 40-10, Snickers in the second round 23-15, and finally Laffy Taffy in the Elite Eight by a score of 23-18. Fairly close games against teams that weren’t the most impressive. A solid team that gets the job done but wasn’t going to wow you. On the other hand, Sour Patch Kids has been on a tear coming into this Final Four matchup. Defeating Milk Duds in the first round 34-16, an exciting Caramel Apple Sucker team 26-17, and running through the veteran Skittles team 28-13. This matchup was destined to be a great one, and it definitely delivered. I was one of the first ones to vote on Monday and I had to root for Reese’s Pieces in this contest. When I voted, they were winning slightly. As I checked throughout the day, it was a very intense back and forth battle. Each team leading and trailing at different parts of the day. In the end, Sour Patch Kids were able to close it out with a close 26-24 victory. A big congratulations to both of these amazing teams in this tournament run, but I’m excited to see what Sour Patch Kids can do in the big dance on Friday.
On Wednesday, we had another major matchup with Kit Kat vs. Twix. Kit Kat has been my lock to win it all since the start of this tournament. Their talent level and legendary coaching staff ensured that they were a lock to make deep runs year after year. With victories over Flavored Tootsie Rolls (17-7), Starburst (19-8) and Crunch (30-5), they knew they belonged here. This is nothing new to them, they’ve been here before and they know how to handle business. On the other side, Twix is a surprising team to make it to this Final Four. With a 30-11 against Airheads, they looked good coming out of the first round. However, they were expected to lose against a dominant Reese’s team. Twix shocked the world by pulling off a stunning 28-18 whooping of that star team. Finally, they pulled off an 18-17 upset over the number 1 ranked gummy candy team; Gummy Bears. With many mind-boggling upsets and wins, they had some major momentum coming into this final matchup against the far superior Kit Kat team. However, head coach Kat and the rest of the Kit Kat team showed why they aren’t a team to be messed with in a 22-15 victory to move on to the Finals. I am pleasantly surprised to see how well Twix performed this year and am excited to see what they can do next year with more experience under their belt.
So there you have it, the stage is set for the clashing of titans. Sour Patch Kids against Kit Kat is going to be a matchup that you’ll tell your children about. I could see this going either way. However, I have to lock in Kit Kat. Make sure you tune in on Friday to ensure your favorite team can get a championship win. I will be back on Monday to announce the winner of this monumental matchup and let you know which candy you need to eat this Halloween.
Championship Matchup
Sour Patch Kids vs. Kit Kat
October Madness: The Final Two Will Blow Your Mind was originally published in The Herald on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.