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Baltimore Mariners Drown Rats In Home Opener

March 16, 2009 - American Indoor Football Association (AIFA)
Baltimore Mariners News Release


(Baltimore, MD) Indoor football is back with a vengeance in Charm City. The 2009 Baltimore Mariners (1-0) soundly defeated the visiting Erie RiverRats (0-1) 60-32 in the season opener at 1st Mariner Arena. Mariners' RB Isaiah Grier was an integral component in the game, posting a total of fifty-three yards and four rushing touchdowns in the victory over the Rats. Mariners QB E.J. Nemeth performed well in controlling the game while passing for 167 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Erie jumped to an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter when Erie DB Jovon Johnson picked off Mariners QB E.J. Nemeth, returning the interception 22-yards for the first score of the game with just over two minutes into the quarter. The Mariners responded to Erie's score with one of their own. Nemeth completed four of five consecutive passes, driving the team downfield from Baltimore's twenty-four yard line to Erie's 1-yd line. Nemeth capped the drive with a rushing TD. Kicker J.R. Cipra tacked on the extra point, bringing the score to 7-7. Erie regained the lead off of a 2-yd rusher from QB Markell Harrison, but kicker Shon Rowser failed to convert on the extra point attempt. Mariners' WR Tavon Mason took the ensuing kickoff 10-yards to Baltimore's own 10-yd line. Nemeth completed a pass to WR Aaron Yarbough for a loss of two yards. Nemeth's next to passes fell incomplete, bringing up 4th and 12, and closing out the 1st quarter.

Mariners' kicker J.R. Cipra opened the second quarter by drilling a 57-yd field goal through the uprights, chipping away Erie's lead and bringing the score to 13-10. This was the turning point in the game that saw the Mariners post sixteen unanswered points in the second quarter. Erie QB Markell Harrison struggled to get anything going in Erie's next possession, throwing five consecutive incomplete passes and feeling heavy pressure from Baltimore's aggressive defense. Erie failed on a 59-yd field goal attempt, and Baltimore returned the attempt 7-yds to their own 7-yd line. One play later, Mariners' QB E.J. Nemeth found WR Scorpio Brown completely uncovered, launching a 43-yd bomb to Brown for the TD. The Cipra extra point gave Baltimore their first lead of the game, and it was a lead that would never be relinquished. Erie went three-and-out on their following possession, missing a 48-yd field goal attempt. The ball was spotted on Baltimore's 10-yd line and Nemeth and the Mariners offense went to work. Nemeth completed a pass to WR Jamaal Stokes for a 14 yard gain. The next pass to WR Aaron Yarbough fell incomplete, but Nemeth found Stokes again for 24 yards. Nemeth handed the ball off to Grier, gaining four yards on the carry, but losing one yard on his following carry. Nemeth attempted a rush of his own on a QB keeper, losing four yards and setting up the Cipra field goal from Erie's 6-yd line. Cipra's 20-yd kick was good, further widening the Mariners' lead 20-13. Cipra's work was not done. He would tack on an additional field goal, closing the half with the Mariners leading Erie 23-13.

Coming out of the locker room, Erie hoped to get something going in the second half, but only saw the game drift further away from them. QB Markell Harrison would toss an incomplete pass, take a sack, and throw an interception respectively that was returned 13 yards to Erie's 12-yd line by Mariners' DB Richard Johnson. Nemeth and the Mariners offense struggled to move the ball against Erie's defense, but the reliable foot of Cipra came through again as he punched the ball through the uprights for three points.

The Mariners defense continued to play aggressively, consistently hurrying QB Ray Marrow, who replaced Harrison. The RiverRats were shut out in the third quarter, making them scoreless in two consecutive quarters. Baltimore scored late in the third off of a 21-yd Isaiah Grier rush. The Mariners would enter the fourth quarter with a comfortable 33-13 lead.

The RiverRats managed to put nineteen points on the board in the fourth quarter, but it was too-little-too-late. Baltimore would post an additional twenty-seven points in the final quarter of play, ending the game with an impressive franchise-high 60 points. When asked about the win, Mariners head coach Chris Simpson said "I love the chemistry of this team, the character of the team. The interception in the 1st quarter, the way this team fought back and overcame that mistake; that is something that you did not see last year. We do have some things we need to work on. We have some fine tuning in order to prepare for the Reading Express next week. There is always something we will need to work on, but over all, I am very proud of the way these men played today."

Simpson was fired from his position as the head coach of the Mariners last season, and was replaced by Daniel James, who is now the head coach of division rival D.C. Armor. Simpson was brought back as the head coach this season by team owner Alan Taylor and General Manager Greg Justice. Though the move to bring Simpson back was criticized by many fans, Taylor and Justice felt that Simpson was the best choice to lead this team. Based on the results of the home opener, it appears that they could very well be right. When Simpson was asked if he felt vindicated with this win, he responded by saying "It is not about vindication. It is about winning football games, and that is it. I know what type of coach I am, and I know what I had to deal with in the past, and I know what I need to deal with today and going forward. The opportunity is here to go out and prove that I am a quality coach who can win football games. That is all that matters to me. It is not vindication. It is my job. I have a very talented coaching staff and a very talented team. We are going to win games this year. We proved that tonight."

The Baltimore Mariners play division rival Reading Express (1-0) at 1st Mariner Arena on Sunday, March 22nd. Kickoff is at 4pm. Visit www.ticketmaster.com for tickets.

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