Xplosion Top Thunder 49-19
by Randy Snow
Published on May 4, 2008 under Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL)
Kalamazoo Xplosion
When the Muskegon Thunder came to Wings Stadium last night (May 3) for a rematch with the Kalamazoo Xplosion, several Kalamazoo players had one thing in mind. Payback.
On April 4, the Xplosion lost their only game of the season so far to the Thunder at Muskegon. The loss was a wakeup call for Kalamazoo, who was 4-0 at the time and feeling quite invincible. Kalamazoo had a 27-17 lead at halftime, but failed to score an offensive touchdown in the second half and eventually lost the game in overtime 44-37. Since that loss, Kalamazoo has won three straight games.
Against Muskegon last night, Kalamazoo jumped out to a 14-0 lead with a pair of Randy Hutchison touchdown passes, the first was a 39-yarder to Little John Flowers and the second was a two-yarder to Brian Dolph. The Xplosion led 21-13 at the half.
Kalamazoo never trailed in the game, but Muskegon nearly tied the score in the third quarter after a five-yard touchdown run by Preston Garris, making the score 21-19. A two-point conversion failed. From that point on, however, it was all Kalamazoo as the Xplosion scored 28 unanswered points, shutting out Muskegon in the fourth quarter for a 49-19 win.
"We felt like we were the better team, but we didn't show it at their place" Kalamazoo quarterback Randy Hutchison said of their first meeting. "We definitely wanted to make a statement that we were the better team."
Kalamazoo head coach Mike Sparks did not want a repeat of what happened the last time these two teams met and was happy with the way his team played in the second half. "Today we wanted to make a point and we wanted to finish," said Xplosion head coach Mike Sparks. "We had a letdown in the second half against those guys last time, and we wanted to make sure we finished all the way to that final gun."
Kalamazoo wide receiver Brian Dolph caught four passes for 58 yards and three touchdowns in the game. He also scored a two-point conversion. Running back Little John Flowers rushed eight times for 33 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught a touchdown pass. Quarterback Randy Hutchison completed 12 of 21 passes for 157 yards, four touchdowns and was intercepted once.
On defense, Kalamazoo defensive back David Gator tied his own league record with his 12th interception of the season in the third quarter. Teammate Ben Richardson also had an interception in the fourth quarter. Kelly Baraka also had a nine-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. In all, the Kalamazoo defense stopped the Muskegon offense from scoring on seven different drives and shutting out the Thunder in both the first and fourth quarters of the game.
The rivalry between the Thunder and the Xplosion is definitely growing into a good one. In last year's game at Kalamazoo, the Xplosion came up with a huge goal line stand at the end of the game to preserve a win. Muskegon was stopped on four straight plays inside the five-yard line by the Kalamazoo defense to come away with a narrow 41-37 win. Kalamazoo leads the series 3-1.
Kalamazoo now travels to Rockford, Illinois next week for a rematch with the Rock River Raptors on Saturday night, May 10. You can listen to the game on ESPN AM 1660 in Kalamazoo or on the Internet atwww.ESPN1660.com. Muskegon will be on the road that same night taking on the Flint Phantoms.
SPECIAL GUESTS AT THE GAME
Cleveland Browns running back Jerome Harrison was at the game and participated in the pre-game coin toss. Harrison went to Kalamazoo Central High School and played football there along with current Xplosion quarterback/wide receiver Eric Gardner.
Also at the game was Lansing author Ted Kluck, who wrote the book "Paper Tiger" which was about the league's 2006 Battle Creek Crunch franchise. Kluck played on the Crunch team along with current Xplosion players Brian Dolph, Eric Gardner, Kyle Lacksheide and L.J. Parker, who were all featured in the book. It was the first time that Kluck had attended an Xplosion game.
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Randy Snow is a freelance football writer from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Since 2003, he has covered the Arena Football League, arenafootball2, United Indoor Football, the Continental Indoor Football League, the All American Football League and the Canadian Football League. Randy has been a member of the Arena Football League Writer's Association since 2005 and can be reached at randysnow22@yahoo.com.
Continental Indoor Football League Stories from May 4, 2008
- Xplosion Top Thunder 49-19 - OSC Original by Randy Snow
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
