Burns Leads Norfolk Past Swamp Foxes in Thriller, 42-41
June 24, 2002 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Norfolk Nighthawks News Release
Nighthawks WR/LB Travis Burns caught two touchdown passes and ran for an eventual game-winner to earn Game MVP honors and propel the Nighthawks (5-6) past Charleston (4-7), 42-41, in front of 3,304 fans at the Norfolk Scope Saturday night.
Charleston kicker Justin Skinner missed an extra point that would have tied the game with only :48 seconds to play. After a missed onside kick attempt, Nighthawks kicker Matt McNew attempted a 31-yard field goal that sailed wide right. It was McNew's second try after his first one, which was good, was called back on a Norfolk penalty. Charleston's last attempt ended when Mike Chandler caught a pass, but remained in bounds to run out the clock.
Burns had 55 yards rushing and four catches for 89 yards to lead the Nighthawks to their fifth straight home victory. Fellow "Killer B" Dominic Banks also caught two scores and finished with three receptions, while Gary Briggs caught a game-high seven passes for 89 yards.
ADT Defensive Player of the Game, Norfolk DS Desmond Washington finished with a game-high 5.5 tackles and six pass breakups. Washington, who also had 47 return yards, came into the game 2nd in af2 with 29 breakups this season.
QB Chris Wallace finished a very efficient game 17-for-25 for 241 yards and threw four touchdowns. Wallace also ran for the team's first score and finished with nineteen yards on the ground.
Charleston WR/LB Ben Christopher was named IronMan of the Game for the second straight game against his former Norfolk teammates. Christopher finished with two rushing touchdowns on 18 yards, caught three passes for 24 yards and totaled 4.5 tackles defensively. QB Mike Bath surpassed the 100 yard rushing mark for the season, threw for only 161 yards and two touchdowns, but ran for his thirteenth score on the ground in the first quarter.
The Nighthawks overcame 18 penalties for 136 yards to avenge their loss to the Swamp Foxes two weeks ago in Charleston. Next week, Norfolk plays their third straight home game, this one against the expansion New Haven Ninjas, Saturday June 29th at the Scope.
(6/22/02) QB Chris Wallace earned his second Built Ford Tough Player of the Game award. Wallace was released by the Orlando Predators (AFL) after suffering a broken foot prior to training camp. Upon arriving in Norfolk he didn't want to aggravate it too much by running unnecessarily. Against Charleston, Wallace ran seven times for 22 yards and scored his third rushing touchdown of the season. With Wallace close to healthy and his arm already winning games for Norfolk, the dimension his feet would add is only going to make the offense better. Wallace was also born with what is called 'Club feet", a disorder that made him wear braces and casts on his feet for the first year of his life.
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