Sports stats



Sting Sock Thunder

April 11, 2009 - Indoor Football League (IFL)
Saginaw Sting News Release


It may have looked like just one win, but for the Saginaw Sting Friday's 65-21 win over the Muskegon Thunder was a lot more.

"It was a big lift off our shoulders," Sting Head Coach Jason Lovelock said. "The clouds are gone now. To get our first win under our belts, it's just a weight off our shoulders."

The win moves the Sting's record to 3-2, but with the change from former head coach Karl Featherstone, to Lovelock, as well as adding six new players in recent weeks, the win was whole lot more.

One new player was quarterback Rob Hunt. The 40 year-old signal caller was making his first start with the Sting, after playing in semi-pro leagues for several years in the Detroit area. Down 14-3 early in the second quarter, Hunt's debut wasn't going as planned.

"It was just Rob getting allocated to the game," Lovelock, who coached Hunt in their years with the Detroit Seminoles said. "A lot of it was timing. Finally we settled down, started hitting our routes better, and started throwing better. We just relaxed and turned it on."

Saginaw scored four consecutive touchdowns, thanks to big plays on offense and timely defensive plays.

First, Hunt found Nick Body for a 23 yard strike with 11:13 left in the second quarter to cut the Sting's deficit to 14-10. Next, Robert Height ran in for a score for two yards out, to give Sting their first lead of the game, 17-14. Then, Hunt found Body again, this time from 17 yards out, with 1:20 left in the half. The Sting scored again, with 18 seconds left in the half, via another Hunt touchdown pass, who found Adrian Perez for 37 yards; giving them a 31-14 lead at the half.

Muskegon scored on their opening possession on a Richard Gills touchdown catch, but were held off the scoreboard for the rest of the game.

While the Thunder were done scoring, the Sting were far from through as they punched in five touchdowns the rest of the game.

Hunt found Body a third time late in the third quarter from two yards out, making the score 38-21 after the third.

The fourth quarter started off with Ernie Smith returning a Muskegon missed field goal 48 yards for a score. After a Muskegon fumble game Saginaw the ball back, Hunt kept the ball himself for a three yard rushing touchdown. Height capped off a strong night of running with an electric 46 yard score with under 30 seconds left. The last score of the night occurred when Ruben Gay returned an interception 50 yards for a score as time ran out, giving Saginaw the 65-21 final.

Hunt finished the night with completing 21 of 30 passes with four touchdowns and four interceptions, as well as a score on the ground.

"He's just a leader on the field," Lovelock said. "We had brought him in a couple weeks ago just as a back up for Damon (Dowdell.) When Damon went down he just stepped in and took right over. "It's like having another coach on the field."

Friday's contest was a drastic contrast compared to the time the two team's met to start the season, when Saginaw escaped with a 17-9 win.

"Always in the beginning of the season it's a lot different," Lovelock said. "All the guys we had in the first game played seven man. The last couple weeks we have brought in players who are rookies or have played eight man (and) we looked over a lot of film and we just prepared ourselves better than the first week."

Saginaw will now hit the road for three straight weeks, traveling to Bloomington, River City, and Muskegon. The Sting saw Blookington in their exhibition game before the season, who according to Lovelock have gone through several personnel changes as well.

"With the preparation that we have, everybody is going to be able to prepare themselves better," Lovelock said. "With the athletes that we have now I think we're going to the next level that we need to be at."

The Sting return home against Maryland on May 8. Kickoff is 7 p.m.



Indoor Football League Stories from April 11, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Saginaw Sting Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central