Carolina Rhinos Outlast Charleston 60-48 For Second Straight Home Win

July 20, 2002 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Carolina Rhinos News Release


GREENVILLE, SC – The arenafootball2's Carolina Rhinos scored 40 first-half points including 23 in the final 5:15 of the second quarter as part of a 26-0 scoring run to beat the Charleston Swamp Foxes 60-48 Saturday for their second straight home win. The Rhinos improved to 4-11 including 3-4 at home while Charleston fell to 7-8. A 55-44 win by the Florida Firecats over the Columbus Wardogs also moved the Rhinos into sole possession of third place in the Eastern Division while ending Charleston's chances of qualifying for the af2's ArenaCup playoffs.

The teams traded scores three times to tie the game at 17-17 early in the second quarter. Donnie Pennington made it 3-0 Rhinos with a 29-yard field goal 6:19 into the contest, but Charleston answered with a 45-yard touchdown pass from Mike Bath to Michael Brown to make it 7-3 Swamp Foxes. Ramone Robinson scrambled for a one-yard touchdown putting the Rhinos ahead with 4:27 left in the first quarter, but Charleston again answered as Chris Segaar hit a 44-yard field goal to make it 10-10. Caleb Slover then threw a 10-yard scoring pass to Cliff Shavers on the first play of the second quarter regaining the lead for the Rhinos, but Bath again connected with Brown, this time for 34 yards, and it was 17-17.

Slover then followed Robinson's lead by scrambling for a one-yard touchdown run with 5:15 left in the first half to open the Rhinos' scoring run. Bath fumbled the ball out of the Charleston end zone for a safety making it 26-17 2:34 later, Robinson completed a three-yard pass to Robert Garth with :53 left in the first half and a 45-yard strike to Mal Lawyer with :11 to play making it 40-17 Rhinos. Pennington upped the Rhinos lead to 43-17 with a 24-yard field goal early in the third quarter.

Charleston rallied to make a game of it with 19 unanswered points on a two-yard Bath run and a 17-yard catch by Brown in the third quarter and a six-yard run by Ben Christopher in the fourth period. The Swamp Foxes were hurt by three consecutive failed point after ties by Segaar following each touchdown leaving the Rhinos ahead 43-36 two minutes into the fourth quarter.

The Rhinos defense came up with two more big plays in the fourth quarter as Jarvis Davis ran a fumble back 11 yards for a touchdown to snap Charleston's scoring run, and Bath was pressured into another fumble out of the Swamp Foxes end zone for a safety. Davis scored with 10:09 to play giving the Rhinos a 43-36 lead while the second safety came with :18 to play sealing the win. The teams traded scores twice in between.

Bath completed a 29-yard touchdown pass to Mike Chandler with 8:59 to go, but the Rhinos answered when Nick Johnson ran the kickoff back 57 yards for a touchdown. Brown then caught his fourth touchdown of the game with 1:09 to play, but Pennington added his third field goal :38 later to make it 58-48 Rhinos.

Johnson earned most valuable player honors with eight receptions for 102 yards, 80 kickoff return yards and 171 all-purpose yards. Lawyer was named the game's Ironman with an assisted tackle and an interception on defense, as well as the 45-yard touchdown catch and 113 all-purpose yards. Charleston's Jamie Hattley was named the ADT defensive player of the game with nine solo tackles and one assisted.

The Rhinos will finish the 2002 season at home when they host the playoff-bound Richmond Speed next Saturday July 27th at 7:30 p.m. Rhinos tickets are on sale at the BI-LO Center box office, by calling 864-233-2525 or 864-576-1550 and by logging on to ticketmaster.com. Additional information is also available by calling 864-467-4777 or logging on to rhinosfootball.com.

The Rhinos will host their annual season ticket holder party this coming Monday July 22nd at Wild Wing Café on West Washington Street in downtown Greenville from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Monday will also be the final broadcast of "Rhino Talk" on 1070 "The Sportszone" WCSZ-AM. The show will air from 6 p.m. until 7 p.m. live from Wild Wing Café.



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