Post by 50yardfan on Dec 1, 2010 22:34:11 GMT -5
WEEK 2 - PITTSBURGH REBELS VS. HARMAR HURRICANES *GAME OF THE WEEK*
It was originally billed as the ‘Game of the Week,’ but, ultimately, it may end up being the battle of the year. Whatever you want to call it, the clash between the Pittsburgh Rebels and the Harmarville Hurricanes was everything and more for the packed house at Pittsburgh’s Premier Indoor Sports Arena.
After numerous lead changes through the first 50-plus minutes of action, the Rebels found pay dirt for the final time when quarterback Larry Carson hooked up with receiver Jamar White with less than a minute remaining to claim a 26-20 victory. While the play took just seconds to complete, it was something that the duo was building toward the entire game.
“I saw (the defensive backs) inching up on me all game,” White said. “We got together and I said we need to run a hitch and go. I knew it would work. It was such a bang-bang play, I didn’t have time to think. I just ran and caught it.”
With the score knotted at 20-20, it was the Hurricanes who seemed poised to take the lead as they moved into Pittsburgh territory with less than three minutes remaining. But after a solid gain on first down, the Rebels defense stiffened thanks to two tremendous tackles in the backfield by lineman Brandon Carter. The first came after a fake handoff as Hurricanes’ quarterback Camdin Crouse tried to sneak his way up the middle of the field. Carter, who was a defensive menace all game, leveled Crouse again, this time deep in the backfield, as the Rebels secondary had all of quarterbacks’ options locked up. On fourth down, Crouse again was unable to find anybody downfield and, after scrambling out of the pocket, came well short of the first down marker. The Rebels took over on downs and that’s when Carson and White, literally, completed the job.
“I don’t know if Jamar called (the touchdown play), but it was something we definitely saw as the game was going on,” Carson said. “We talked about it and we knew sooner or later we could get it.”
Harmarville began the game similar to how it started last week’s contest, as Crouse hooked up with his favorite target, wideout Stephon Conto, for the games’ first score. The conversion failed and just like that, Harmarville had a familiar 6-0 lead.
But, unlike last week, the Hurricanes’ opponents had an answer. It took the Rebels just two plays to tie the game at six as Carson scored on an eight-yard run.
After a Hurricanes turnover, Carson led his team on another scoring drive before capping it off on what could be considered the longest play in arena football history. Carson, who was a former three-sport star at Sto-Rox High School and a outfield prospect in the Montreal Expos and Baltimore Orioles farm system, scrambled left, right, in and out of the pocket, for what seemed to be an eternity. It appeared to be a futile effort as the Harmarville defense finally closed in, but Carson somehow found White in the right side of the endzone. This time the kick was good and Pittsburgh took a 13-6 lead.
Harmarville didn’t back down, however as they had a couple answers of their own. The Hurricanes scored on their next drive, finally converted on their conversion attempt, and took a 14-13 lead into the locker room. After nearly 20 minutes of scoreless play to start the second half, Harmarville again scored to stretch its lead to 20-13. It didn’t last long, however as Pittsburgh was determined to claim victory. The squad scored on their next two possessions and held on to improve to a perfect 2-0.
“Those guys definitely gave us a battle,” Carter said. “We knew it would be hard fought. Maybe not this hard, but it was well worth it. It was a good win.”
With the loss, Harmarville fell to 1-1/.
WEEK 2 - STEEL CITY SPEED VS. SHENANGO VALLEY STORM
The more things change, the more they stay the same. In the opening week of the season, the Steel City Speed suffered a dismal 50-8 loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Rebels. While the date may have been different, the result was eerily similar. Steel City’s offense was able to double its scoring output, but it still wasn’t nearly enough as they fell to the Shanango Valley Storm, this time by a score of 30-12.
As was the case in last week’s contest, Steel City’s opponent wasted no time jumping out to the early advantage. But while it took Pittsburgh four plays to score, the Storm needed just one. With pressure coming in on both sides, Shanango Valley (1-1) quarterback Seth Powell stood tall in the pocket and delivered a 35-yard strike deep down the right sideline to Chris Williams. The conversion run failed, but the Storm led 6-0.
A few plays later Dion Williams intercepted a Brad Russell pass to give the Storm the ball back, but Powell and the offense failed to take advantage of the turnover and gave it up on downs. Again, Steel City turned it over on offense, this time by way of a fumble, as Russell was unable to handle a high snap from center. Despite another gift, it appeared the Storm would be slowed again. With nobody to throw to on first down, Powell scrambled for a slight two-yard gain. After misfiring on two passes in the previous series, Powell again threw two more incompletions. Faced with a long fourth down, Shanago Valley made a minor change that proved to be make a major difference. The Storm moved Cle Ragster behind center and the wideout turned “wildcat” quarterback scrambled for 10 yards to give the Storm a new set of downs. Ragster ran for another six yards, completed a pass to Trent Kimbrough, before ultimately capping off the drive with a two-yard scoring run.
From there it was the defense’s turn to get into the scoring act. After joining in on a first-down sack, Alonzo Whittier scooped up second-down snap that sailed over the quarterback’s head again and the man they call “St. Louis” scored to extend the lead to 18-0.
In the second half, Shanango Valley picked up where it left off when bruising running back Ike Griffin scored on a counter play to push the lead to 24-0. Powell capped off the Storm’s assault with a four-yard pass to Chris Hunt.
Again, Russell was the lone bright spot for Steel City as he did most of the work for the offense. Late in the second half, he hit Joel Quinerly on a deep pass to give his team their first score. He then made the game look somewhat respectable as he found Dorin Williams in the endzone as time expired.
It was originally billed as the ‘Game of the Week,’ but, ultimately, it may end up being the battle of the year. Whatever you want to call it, the clash between the Pittsburgh Rebels and the Harmarville Hurricanes was everything and more for the packed house at Pittsburgh’s Premier Indoor Sports Arena.
After numerous lead changes through the first 50-plus minutes of action, the Rebels found pay dirt for the final time when quarterback Larry Carson hooked up with receiver Jamar White with less than a minute remaining to claim a 26-20 victory. While the play took just seconds to complete, it was something that the duo was building toward the entire game.
“I saw (the defensive backs) inching up on me all game,” White said. “We got together and I said we need to run a hitch and go. I knew it would work. It was such a bang-bang play, I didn’t have time to think. I just ran and caught it.”
With the score knotted at 20-20, it was the Hurricanes who seemed poised to take the lead as they moved into Pittsburgh territory with less than three minutes remaining. But after a solid gain on first down, the Rebels defense stiffened thanks to two tremendous tackles in the backfield by lineman Brandon Carter. The first came after a fake handoff as Hurricanes’ quarterback Camdin Crouse tried to sneak his way up the middle of the field. Carter, who was a defensive menace all game, leveled Crouse again, this time deep in the backfield, as the Rebels secondary had all of quarterbacks’ options locked up. On fourth down, Crouse again was unable to find anybody downfield and, after scrambling out of the pocket, came well short of the first down marker. The Rebels took over on downs and that’s when Carson and White, literally, completed the job.
“I don’t know if Jamar called (the touchdown play), but it was something we definitely saw as the game was going on,” Carson said. “We talked about it and we knew sooner or later we could get it.”
Harmarville began the game similar to how it started last week’s contest, as Crouse hooked up with his favorite target, wideout Stephon Conto, for the games’ first score. The conversion failed and just like that, Harmarville had a familiar 6-0 lead.
But, unlike last week, the Hurricanes’ opponents had an answer. It took the Rebels just two plays to tie the game at six as Carson scored on an eight-yard run.
After a Hurricanes turnover, Carson led his team on another scoring drive before capping it off on what could be considered the longest play in arena football history. Carson, who was a former three-sport star at Sto-Rox High School and a outfield prospect in the Montreal Expos and Baltimore Orioles farm system, scrambled left, right, in and out of the pocket, for what seemed to be an eternity. It appeared to be a futile effort as the Harmarville defense finally closed in, but Carson somehow found White in the right side of the endzone. This time the kick was good and Pittsburgh took a 13-6 lead.
Harmarville didn’t back down, however as they had a couple answers of their own. The Hurricanes scored on their next drive, finally converted on their conversion attempt, and took a 14-13 lead into the locker room. After nearly 20 minutes of scoreless play to start the second half, Harmarville again scored to stretch its lead to 20-13. It didn’t last long, however as Pittsburgh was determined to claim victory. The squad scored on their next two possessions and held on to improve to a perfect 2-0.
“Those guys definitely gave us a battle,” Carter said. “We knew it would be hard fought. Maybe not this hard, but it was well worth it. It was a good win.”
With the loss, Harmarville fell to 1-1/.
WEEK 2 - STEEL CITY SPEED VS. SHENANGO VALLEY STORM
The more things change, the more they stay the same. In the opening week of the season, the Steel City Speed suffered a dismal 50-8 loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Rebels. While the date may have been different, the result was eerily similar. Steel City’s offense was able to double its scoring output, but it still wasn’t nearly enough as they fell to the Shanango Valley Storm, this time by a score of 30-12.
As was the case in last week’s contest, Steel City’s opponent wasted no time jumping out to the early advantage. But while it took Pittsburgh four plays to score, the Storm needed just one. With pressure coming in on both sides, Shanango Valley (1-1) quarterback Seth Powell stood tall in the pocket and delivered a 35-yard strike deep down the right sideline to Chris Williams. The conversion run failed, but the Storm led 6-0.
A few plays later Dion Williams intercepted a Brad Russell pass to give the Storm the ball back, but Powell and the offense failed to take advantage of the turnover and gave it up on downs. Again, Steel City turned it over on offense, this time by way of a fumble, as Russell was unable to handle a high snap from center. Despite another gift, it appeared the Storm would be slowed again. With nobody to throw to on first down, Powell scrambled for a slight two-yard gain. After misfiring on two passes in the previous series, Powell again threw two more incompletions. Faced with a long fourth down, Shanago Valley made a minor change that proved to be make a major difference. The Storm moved Cle Ragster behind center and the wideout turned “wildcat” quarterback scrambled for 10 yards to give the Storm a new set of downs. Ragster ran for another six yards, completed a pass to Trent Kimbrough, before ultimately capping off the drive with a two-yard scoring run.
From there it was the defense’s turn to get into the scoring act. After joining in on a first-down sack, Alonzo Whittier scooped up second-down snap that sailed over the quarterback’s head again and the man they call “St. Louis” scored to extend the lead to 18-0.
In the second half, Shanango Valley picked up where it left off when bruising running back Ike Griffin scored on a counter play to push the lead to 24-0. Powell capped off the Storm’s assault with a four-yard pass to Chris Hunt.
Again, Russell was the lone bright spot for Steel City as he did most of the work for the offense. Late in the second half, he hit Joel Quinerly on a deep pass to give his team their first score. He then made the game look somewhat respectable as he found Dorin Williams in the endzone as time expired.