BattleWings' Defense Stymies Sharks

Published on April 6, 2009 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings News Release


The Game: Saturday's home opener for the Bossier-Shreveport BattleWings at CenturyTel Center. The BattleWings walloped the Corpus Christi Sharks 59-14.

The Setting: The BattleWings hoisted their first Southwest Division championship banner before kickoff. Gary Cooper, now QB with the Sharks, helped the BattleWings claim the division championship in 2008.

The Situation: Falling behind 13-6 at the end of the first quarter, Wings' WR P.J. Berry reclaimed the lead for the BattleWings with his 50 yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The Sharks would not score again.

Knew victory was in hand when: BattleWings' DB Roland Cola picked off a Gary Cooper pass and returned it 49 yards for a touchdown with 19 seconds remaining in the first half.

Hanging with Mr. Cooper: Defensive lineman Marcus Pittman of the BattleWings was hanging with Gary Cooper in the backfield most of the evening. Pittman had 1 tackle for loss, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, 2 pass break-ups, a sack, and nearly registered an interception.

Dominating Defense: The BattleWings' defense shut-out the Sharks' offense over the final 3 quarters of play, registering 8 consecutive defensive stops and only allowing 193 total offensive yards. The Wings' secondary trio of Roland Cola, Pierre Lee, and Phillip Geiggar accounted for 20 tackles, 3 interceptions, a forced fumble, and 2 pass break-ups.

Telling Stat: The BattleWings' defense was so dominant that their offensive counterparts only registered 206 yards of total offense on 25 plays.

The Highlight: BattleWings' FB Jason Schule only got 1 rushing attempt in the first half, but made the most of it by rumbling down the right side of the field untouched to score his second touchdown of the season. Schule led the league in rushing touchdowns in 2008.

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