Silverbacks Make Gains In Loss
April 26, 2010 - Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL)
Dayton Silverbacks News Release
Last Saturday, the Miami Valley Silverbacks (1-4) ended a run of nearly two years of losing. This Saturday night, despite a 58-50 loss to the Cincinnati Commandos (5-0) at the Cincinnati Gardens, the Silverbacks went about proving to themselves they are good enough to win several more.
"I think we'll win out," said quarterback Kyenes Mincy, who threw four second-half touchdowns and ran for another during a frenzied comeback. "We know now we have the confidence and drive to play with the best in the league."
That kind of attitude was the furthest thought in the minds of any of the Silverbacks at halftime, when a defensive switch by the Commandos helped Cincinnati to a 32-6 lead.
"Based on the last few games of watching film, they were playing cover-two invert almost every time," said Silverbacks head coach Brian Wells. "When it came time for us to start playing the first half, they weren't playing cover-two. They were giving us a cover-three look. All the plays we had didn't work."
While a confused Mincy completed just three passes and Miami Valley gained only 27 yards in the first half, Cincinnati's Ben Mauk picked apart the Silverbacks, going 10-for-12 for 61 yards and four touchdowns in the first half.
A few halftime adjustments and a 50-yard kick return for a touchdown by Adell Givens to open the second half changed things, however.
"That was a big momentum booster because I was dry with my head down," Mincy said.
Givens' return, in which he twice slipped out of tackles to take the ball the length of the field, started a third quarter in which the Silverbacks were finally able to stay step-for-step with the Commandos, but still found themselves down, 50-26, after Dominick Goodman ran in a one-yard touchdown run on the final play of the quarter.
A lucky bounce in the fourth quarter helped Miami Valley finally make up some ground.
Aric Evans became the fourth different receiver to catch a touchdown pass from Mincy five minutes in, managing to hang for a juggling, 19-yard catch that made the score 50-34 after a two-point pass to Daniel Stover.
The Commandos were flagged for an illegal block on the kickoff that followed, pinning them at their own 1, and a fumbled handoff bounced over the wall in the end zone two plays later to make it 50-36.
"That was a huge point to say we can really win this," Wells said.
That belief grew even more after Mincy found Stover for a 4-yard touchdown and Evans for a two-point pass that made it 50-44 with 1:48 remaining.
Cincinnati responded when Robert Redd made one move to streak 34 yards downfield for his fourth touchdown catch of the game just before the one minute warning, with Greg Moore's two-point run making it 58-44.
Mincy kept Miami Valley's hopes alive by escaping pressure and running 24 yards through the Cincinnati defense with 40 seconds remaining to get the Silverbacks back to within eight points, 58-50.
"It was a designed roll out," Mincy said. "I didn't see anything open and I kept it. (Cincinnati linebacker Clayton) Mullins has put a few quarterbacks over the wall, so I knew if I gave him a hard move, he'd bite."
What followed was a wild final 40 seconds that saw the Silverbacks comeback hopes rise and fall with seemingly every play.
Will White recovered an onside kick for the Silverbacks, but was ruled have touched the ball before it went 10 yards, sending head coach Brian Wells into a rage.
"The guy recovered it at the 12 yard line. How they could say he didn't say he didn't recover it past the 10 is beyond me," said Wells, who got flagged for two penalties while arguing with the officials about the call.
"We had such big momentum and we lost it. I can't believe they took it out of our hands like that. I'll look at it on film and I'll issue an apology if I'm wrong."
With the Silverbacks still holding time outs, the Commandos elected to pass on two of their next three plays, with Mauk's third-down pass being picked off by Chris Stanford in the end zone with 17 seconds remaining.
Mincy's next pass deflected off one of his own lineman, however, and was intercepted at the 15 yard line, ending Miami Valley's final drive.
"I told them they could blame me for the loss," Mincy said. "I saw Moss wide open on a scat. It was tipped and Mullins picked it."
Mincy was far more to credit for the Silverbacks comeback, finishing the game by completing 10 of 24 passes for 102 yards and five touchdowns after his three-for-11 start. Four different receivers caught touchdowns, with Melvin Bryant leading the corps with five catches for 47 yards and Daniel Stover scoring on both his catches, which totaled 33 yards. In addition to Evans' fourth-quarter touchdown, Givens scored the Silverbacks only touchdown of the first half on a 12-yard reception.
Mauk finished 14-of-18 for 148 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception for the Commandos, also rushing for one touchdown. Robert Redd caught four touchdown passes while Brandon Boehm had two and Goodman one. All three had four receptions in the game, with Boehm leading in yards with 61.
The Commandos also ran for 96 yards on 18 carries, utilizing seven different ballcarriers.
Still, coming within one possession of a Commandos team that had won every other game by at least 22 points, including a 53-26 season-opening win against them, brought a lot of confidence to the Silverbacks outlook for the second half of this season.
"I know one thing," Wells said. "We're got a good group of guys. We've got a good team that rallies around each other and the coaching staff, and we'll make a push for the playoffs. At 1-4, it's hard to fathom that, but we'll do it."
Continental Indoor Football League Stories from April 26, 2010
- Silverbacks Make Gains In Loss - Dayton Silverbacks
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