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AFL Iowa Barnstormers

Barnstormers Earn Shootout Victory on Military Night

June 15, 2013 - Arena Football League (AFL)
Iowa Barnstormers News Release


Des Moines, Iowa - The Iowa Barnstormers put together their best all around effort of the season on Saturday night, defeating the San Jose Saber Cats 73-68 in front of a Wells Fargo Arena crowd of 9,052. The win was the Barnstormers second straight, improving their record to 6-7 on the season. With the loss, San Jose falls to 8-5.

Both quarterbacks were outstanding throughout the duration of the contest, with each throwing for 9 touchdowns. The 9 touchdown passes in one game was a career high for Iowa QB J.J. Raterink, who completed 33 of 44 passes for 376 yards. WR Marco Thomas also starred for Iowa, collecting 15 receptions for 165 yards and 5 touchdowns.

After forcing a fumble on the opening kickoff, Iowa struck on their first play from scrimmage as Raterink connected with WR Jesse Schmidt to give the Barnstormers a 7-0 lead. The team's matched each other score for score for the rest of the first half of play. On the final play of the second quarter, Iowa Kicker Fabrizio Scaccia drilled a 27 yard FG to put the Barnstormers up 38-35 with the teams headed to the locker room.

During the second half of play Iowa opened up their lead to as large as 12 points when Raterink connected with Schmidt with 2:26 remaining to put the Barnstormers up 73-61. San Jose responded with a score of their own and then forced Raterink to make his only bad decision of the night when he threw a costly interception with just under a minute remaining.

The turnover gave the Saber Cats one last shot at victory and they looked as if they were prepared to do it, marching the length of the field before being stopped at the 8 yard line. From there San Jose had 4 opportunities to punch the ball into the end zone, but the Iowa defense held strong on 4 straight downs to seal the victory for the Barnstormers.

The Barnstormers now hit the road again next Saturday night when they battle the Philadelphia Soul. Iowa returns home on Saturday, June 29 when the San Antonio Talons come to town. Kickoff is set for 7:05pm. Tickets are available for purchase at the Wells Fargo Arena box office, by calling the Barnstormers at 515.633.2255 online at www.theiowabarnstormers.com.

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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.

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