Kitten Bowl 2016: Recap, MVP, Highlights and Twitter Reaction

The Home and Family Felines beat the Boomer's Bobcats, 46-41, to win the third annual Kitten Bowl in a claw-biting finish on Sunday.

The game's hero was Rob Gron-Cat-Ski, who scored a late game-winning touchdown, per Christopher Price of WEEI.  

That will likely make him one of the favorites to earn MVP honors, which will be announced on Monday after voting concludes.

He was also one of the fans' favorites and certainly caught the eye of the man he was named after:

And he lived up to his favorite quote, "Nice cats finish last," as Gron-Cat-Ski got himself in a bit of trouble with the referees, per Price:

Indeed, the game got chippy at one point, as Jason Pierre-Paw and Gron-Cat-Ski got in a bit of a scrap on the goalpost that ended with Pierre-Paw swatting Gron-Cat-Ski in the face, per Luke Kerr-Dineen of USA Today's For the Win. Pierre-Paw also lost his focus at one point, falling asleep on the field.

Comedian Greg Proops was shocked by the intensity of the matchup:

Other notable participants included Coach Bill Beli-Cat, Coach John Hairball, Ben Roethlis-Purr-Ger, Stray J. Watt and Jerry Mice. And the halftime show even introduced puppies to the mix in the ultimate explosion of cuteness.

It wasn't all fun and games, though. Ultimately, it was a tough loss for Puma Esiason and the Bobcats, as Price noted:

It wasn't an easy road to glory for the Home and Family Felines, as they first had to knock off the Last Hope Lions in the semifinals. The Boomer's Bobcats had to get past a tough North Shore Bengals side in the day's other semifinal, meanwhile. 

Of course, while the contest was marked by amazing displays of athleticism and fuzziness, the event also had a much more meaningful cause, as actress Rachel Boston tweeted:

All of the kittens in the game were already adopted, host Beth Stern confirmed to Newsday's Neil Best before the game. The hope is that the Kitten Bowl will continue to help find homes for homeless kittens and build on the awareness it has already raised.

“It’s really incredible,” Stern told Best. “We have these kitten parties across the United States with all of our partner shelters. For the last two it has resulted in over a thousand cats, dogs, puppies and kittens adopted because of our Super Bowl parties at our partner shelters. Pretty awesome, right?”

Pretty awesome indeed.