Post by 50yardfan on Feb 24, 2012 23:03:23 GMT -5
www.theindependent.com/sports/danger/danger-drills-lawdawgs---in-preseason-tilt/article_c3bcd4ec-5ea9-11e1-870e-0019bb2963f4.html
The Nebraska Danger used a ball-hawking defensive performance and flashed big-play capability on offense in the second quarter during a 58-0 victory over the Nebraska Lawdawgs Thursday night in preseason action at the Heartland Events Center.
While the Danger’s offensive unit scored seven touchdowns, it was coach Mike Davis’ defense that stole the show against the Lawdawgs, an Alliance Football League squad based out of Norfolk. The Danger, entering its second season in the Indoor Football League (IFL), produced five interceptions, one fumble recovery, five sacks, including one for a safety with its aggressive defensive play.
“We just had to get our guys into the right situations and let them make plays,” Davis said. “We have a ton of athletic guys on defense and most of the balls in the air that were 50-50 balls, we ended up coming down with and our defensive line was pretty good.”
Danger defensive back Peris Edwards led the way with three interceptions.
“I just want to thank God for letting me be out here and the coaches for giving me the opportunity,” Edwards said. “I just tried to make the best of it, do well for my team and try to help us win. It was most definitely a dream night.”
Linebacker Riley Nikkila also had a big game for the Danger. The former Hastings College player had an interception and returned a fumble 25 yards for a score to give his team a 37-0 lead with 3:37 remaining in the second quarter.
“The whole defense played well and that’s the only reason I got to make the plays I made,” Nikkila said. “We got pressure up front with our three linemen, we had great play with our defensive backs behind me and I just got lucky.
“I was in the right spot at the right time and went to where the coaches had been telling me to go and got lucky.”
Defensive lineman Ikenna Ike led the Danger’s sack parade with 2 1/2. Teammate and fellow defensive lineman Kyle Thomas had 1 1/2 sacks.
“We’re just happy that we played hard and tonight was just about working our technique and meshing together as a defensive team,” Ike said. “Of course, the shutout — any way you play it — is good, so we’re happy about that.
“We’re happy about the way our defense played as a whole. I may have had some sacks, but it wasn’t just me. It was the nose guard pushing the pocket and the other defensive end helping to create that wall so I could get the sacks.”
The five sacks, which count against a team’s passing total in indoor football, left the Lawdawgs with minus 18 yards through the air, despite gaining 39 yards on two completions. The Lawdawgs finished with just 54 yards of total offense.
The Danger limited the Lawdawgs to 38 total yards and five first downs in the first half. The first four first downs by the visitors came via penalty and their best chance to score was on a 31-yard pass completion from Michael Koehler to Trary Adkins to the Danger 1-yard line as time expired in the first half.
Penalties were a problem for the Danger, which finished with 14 infractions for 113 yards. Davis’ team was flagged 13 times for 103 yards in the first half alone.
“Our guys have to understand that we won’t tolerate that,” Davis said. “I told them that if we perform like that again in terms of the penalties, I’ll cut you tomorrow. That’s how it is.”
The Danger scored on its first play from scrimmage as Dwight Dasher hit Corey Surrency on a 30-yard TD pass just five seconds into the contest. However, the Danger failed to score on its next two possessions, including losing a fumble at the Lawdawgs’ 1 with 12:06 left in the second quarter.
However, the Danger’s Adrian Davis and Taurean Charles sacked quarterback Brian Ewing in the end zone for a safety on the very next play for a 9-0 lead. The safety appeared to spark the Danger, which then had four TD passes on its way to a 37-point second quarter.
All three Danger quarterbacks performed well. Tim Bailey was 7-of-9 passing for 97 yards and three TDs, Dasher was 5-of-9 through the air for 85 yards and two TDs and Terry Mayo was 3-of-3 for 41 yards.
Chris Bell paced the Danger receiving corps with three catches for 80 yards, including scoring grabs of 34 and 40 yards. Surrency had two receptions for 54 yards, including a 30-yard TD catch from Dasher on the game’s first play from scrimmage.
“We’ve got some tough decisions to make, honestly,” Davis said. “The receivers played well, the offensive line played great, the quarterbacks played well and the running backs played well, so just having a 25-man roster, it will make it really tough come the weekend, deciding who stays and who has got to go.”
The Danger entered the scrimmage with 40 players, but must cut its roster to 25 by next Thursday.
“We’re going to try to do most of it (this Friday) just so we know who the group is and so that we can gel together,” Davis said. “But there are so many tight battles that we may have to keep a couple of guys a couple more days just to see who’s going to make it.”
The Danger opens its 2012 season at 6:05 p.m. on March 4 at home against the Tri-Cities Fever.
“We’ll see how good we really are come March 4,” Davis said. “Tri-Cities lost in the finals last year and they have retooled, so we’ll find out where we’re at right away.
“Tonight, we made a lot of mistakes and were really sloppy. We have a lot of things to improve upon.”
Boxscore
Danger 58, Lawdawgs 0
Lawdawgs 0 0 0 0— 0
Danger 7 37 7 7—58
First Quarter
D—Corey Surrency 30 pass from Dwight Dasher (Alex Tejada kick), 14:55.
Second Quarter
D—Safety, Brian Ewing tackled in the end zone, 12:05.
D—Kayne Farquharson 23 pass from Terry Mayo (Tejada kick), 11:49.
D—Chris Bell 34 pass from Tim Bailey (Tejada kick), 11:19.
D—Farquharson 13 pass from Bailey (Tejada kick), 4:19.
D—Riley Nikkila 25 fumble return (Tejada kick), 3:37.
D—Bell 40 pass from Dasher (Tejada kick), :35.
Third Quarter
D—Pierce Hunter 5 pass from Bailey (Tejada kick), 1:57.
Fourth Quarter
D—Daniel Libre 23 run (Tejada kick), 12:41.
L D
First downs 8 14
Rushes-yds 33-72 13-56
Passing yds -18 216
Att.-Comp.-Int. 2-12-5 15-21-0
Fumbles-lost 3-1 3-1
Return yds 0 50
Pen.-yds 5-40 14-113
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Lawdawgs, Hurtig 4-9, Copeland 5-9, Wilson 11-32, Curtis 5-14, Davis 4-8, Koehler 4-1, Ewing 1-minus 1. Danger, Libre 4-36, King 1-minus 5, Mayo 2-11, Woodert 4-5, Dasher 1-9, Team 1-minus 2.
Passing—Lawdawgs, Koehler 2-4-1 38, Curtis 0-6-3 0, Ewing 0-1-1 0. Danger, Bailey 7-9-0 97, Dasher 5-9-0 85, Mayo 3-3-0 41.
Receiving—Lawdawgs, Adkins 1-37, Gutierrez 1-1. Danger, Surrency 2-54, Farquharson 2-19, King 2-19, Cross 2-35, Bell 3-80, Libre 2-5, Woodert 1-6, Hunter 1-13.
The Nebraska Danger used a ball-hawking defensive performance and flashed big-play capability on offense in the second quarter during a 58-0 victory over the Nebraska Lawdawgs Thursday night in preseason action at the Heartland Events Center.
While the Danger’s offensive unit scored seven touchdowns, it was coach Mike Davis’ defense that stole the show against the Lawdawgs, an Alliance Football League squad based out of Norfolk. The Danger, entering its second season in the Indoor Football League (IFL), produced five interceptions, one fumble recovery, five sacks, including one for a safety with its aggressive defensive play.
“We just had to get our guys into the right situations and let them make plays,” Davis said. “We have a ton of athletic guys on defense and most of the balls in the air that were 50-50 balls, we ended up coming down with and our defensive line was pretty good.”
Danger defensive back Peris Edwards led the way with three interceptions.
“I just want to thank God for letting me be out here and the coaches for giving me the opportunity,” Edwards said. “I just tried to make the best of it, do well for my team and try to help us win. It was most definitely a dream night.”
Linebacker Riley Nikkila also had a big game for the Danger. The former Hastings College player had an interception and returned a fumble 25 yards for a score to give his team a 37-0 lead with 3:37 remaining in the second quarter.
“The whole defense played well and that’s the only reason I got to make the plays I made,” Nikkila said. “We got pressure up front with our three linemen, we had great play with our defensive backs behind me and I just got lucky.
“I was in the right spot at the right time and went to where the coaches had been telling me to go and got lucky.”
Defensive lineman Ikenna Ike led the Danger’s sack parade with 2 1/2. Teammate and fellow defensive lineman Kyle Thomas had 1 1/2 sacks.
“We’re just happy that we played hard and tonight was just about working our technique and meshing together as a defensive team,” Ike said. “Of course, the shutout — any way you play it — is good, so we’re happy about that.
“We’re happy about the way our defense played as a whole. I may have had some sacks, but it wasn’t just me. It was the nose guard pushing the pocket and the other defensive end helping to create that wall so I could get the sacks.”
The five sacks, which count against a team’s passing total in indoor football, left the Lawdawgs with minus 18 yards through the air, despite gaining 39 yards on two completions. The Lawdawgs finished with just 54 yards of total offense.
The Danger limited the Lawdawgs to 38 total yards and five first downs in the first half. The first four first downs by the visitors came via penalty and their best chance to score was on a 31-yard pass completion from Michael Koehler to Trary Adkins to the Danger 1-yard line as time expired in the first half.
Penalties were a problem for the Danger, which finished with 14 infractions for 113 yards. Davis’ team was flagged 13 times for 103 yards in the first half alone.
“Our guys have to understand that we won’t tolerate that,” Davis said. “I told them that if we perform like that again in terms of the penalties, I’ll cut you tomorrow. That’s how it is.”
The Danger scored on its first play from scrimmage as Dwight Dasher hit Corey Surrency on a 30-yard TD pass just five seconds into the contest. However, the Danger failed to score on its next two possessions, including losing a fumble at the Lawdawgs’ 1 with 12:06 left in the second quarter.
However, the Danger’s Adrian Davis and Taurean Charles sacked quarterback Brian Ewing in the end zone for a safety on the very next play for a 9-0 lead. The safety appeared to spark the Danger, which then had four TD passes on its way to a 37-point second quarter.
All three Danger quarterbacks performed well. Tim Bailey was 7-of-9 passing for 97 yards and three TDs, Dasher was 5-of-9 through the air for 85 yards and two TDs and Terry Mayo was 3-of-3 for 41 yards.
Chris Bell paced the Danger receiving corps with three catches for 80 yards, including scoring grabs of 34 and 40 yards. Surrency had two receptions for 54 yards, including a 30-yard TD catch from Dasher on the game’s first play from scrimmage.
“We’ve got some tough decisions to make, honestly,” Davis said. “The receivers played well, the offensive line played great, the quarterbacks played well and the running backs played well, so just having a 25-man roster, it will make it really tough come the weekend, deciding who stays and who has got to go.”
The Danger entered the scrimmage with 40 players, but must cut its roster to 25 by next Thursday.
“We’re going to try to do most of it (this Friday) just so we know who the group is and so that we can gel together,” Davis said. “But there are so many tight battles that we may have to keep a couple of guys a couple more days just to see who’s going to make it.”
The Danger opens its 2012 season at 6:05 p.m. on March 4 at home against the Tri-Cities Fever.
“We’ll see how good we really are come March 4,” Davis said. “Tri-Cities lost in the finals last year and they have retooled, so we’ll find out where we’re at right away.
“Tonight, we made a lot of mistakes and were really sloppy. We have a lot of things to improve upon.”
Boxscore
Danger 58, Lawdawgs 0
Lawdawgs 0 0 0 0— 0
Danger 7 37 7 7—58
First Quarter
D—Corey Surrency 30 pass from Dwight Dasher (Alex Tejada kick), 14:55.
Second Quarter
D—Safety, Brian Ewing tackled in the end zone, 12:05.
D—Kayne Farquharson 23 pass from Terry Mayo (Tejada kick), 11:49.
D—Chris Bell 34 pass from Tim Bailey (Tejada kick), 11:19.
D—Farquharson 13 pass from Bailey (Tejada kick), 4:19.
D—Riley Nikkila 25 fumble return (Tejada kick), 3:37.
D—Bell 40 pass from Dasher (Tejada kick), :35.
Third Quarter
D—Pierce Hunter 5 pass from Bailey (Tejada kick), 1:57.
Fourth Quarter
D—Daniel Libre 23 run (Tejada kick), 12:41.
L D
First downs 8 14
Rushes-yds 33-72 13-56
Passing yds -18 216
Att.-Comp.-Int. 2-12-5 15-21-0
Fumbles-lost 3-1 3-1
Return yds 0 50
Pen.-yds 5-40 14-113
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Lawdawgs, Hurtig 4-9, Copeland 5-9, Wilson 11-32, Curtis 5-14, Davis 4-8, Koehler 4-1, Ewing 1-minus 1. Danger, Libre 4-36, King 1-minus 5, Mayo 2-11, Woodert 4-5, Dasher 1-9, Team 1-minus 2.
Passing—Lawdawgs, Koehler 2-4-1 38, Curtis 0-6-3 0, Ewing 0-1-1 0. Danger, Bailey 7-9-0 97, Dasher 5-9-0 85, Mayo 3-3-0 41.
Receiving—Lawdawgs, Adkins 1-37, Gutierrez 1-1. Danger, Surrency 2-54, Farquharson 2-19, King 2-19, Cross 2-35, Bell 3-80, Libre 2-5, Woodert 1-6, Hunter 1-13.