Cobras Unable to Stop Big Plays as Carolina Falls 44-16 at Buffalo
February 9, 2003 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Carolina Cobras News Release
BUFFALO, NY Â The Carolina Cobras could not find a way to stop the big play offense of the Buffalo Destroyers on Sunday, as the Cobras fell to 0-2 on the season with a 44-16 loss. Carolina dominated the time of possession, having the ball for almost 37 minutes, but could not find the end zone, while the Destroyers offense racked up big play after big play.
The Cobras led 6-0 at the end of the first quarter and trailed by four, 13-9, at the half, but they could not get anything going in the second half. Buffalo¹s Jeff Loots threw three of his four touchdown passes after the intermission.
Loots ended the day 12-of-20 for 200 yards along with the four scores. He completed two touchdowns each to Gunnard Twyner and Cornelius White. Twyner had five catches for 99 yards, including a 49-yard touchdown as time expired in the first half. White, a former Cobra, had four receptions for 80 yards. Anthony Hicks and Juan Long each added one-yard rushing touchdowns for the Destroyers.
Carolina¹s starting quarterback, Stewart Patridge, completed 5-of-9 passes for 29 yards with one interception, before being pulled in favor of Robert Hall with 1:06 remaining in the first quarter. Hall completed 17-of-35 passes, for 161 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Ben Bronson led the Cobras in receptions for the second straight week, catching 10 passes for 73 yards. Nick Ward had three receptions for 57 yards and one touchdown and newcomer Ty Law caught five passes for 37 yards and a touchdown.
The game was scoreless in the first quarter when Hall replaced Patridge in the Cobras lineup. On his second play from scrimmage, the quarterback found Ward for a 38-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring. Buffalo answered with a one-yard touchdown run by Anthony Hicks with 9:26 remaining in the second quarter. Carolina¹s Matt George hit his first field goal of the season, a 35-yarder, to give the Cobras a 9-7 lead with 53 seconds to play in the half, but Loots hit Twyner for a 49-yard touchdown as time ran out, giving Buffalo a 13-9 halftime lead.
Things got worse for the Cobras in the second half, as Buffalo¹s Jarrail Jackson ran back the opening kickoff of the second half to give the Destroyers a 19-9 advantage. On their next possession, Loots hit White for his first touchdown of the game, extending the lead to 26-9. Carolina answered with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Hall to Law, but Loots found Twyner in the end zone for a second time, and Buffalo took a 32-16 lead at the end of the third quarter.
The Destroyers tacked on two more touchdowns in the fourth period, a 21-yard pass from Loots to White, and a one-yard run by Juan Long, which provided the final margin.
The Cobras posted 62 yards of total offense in the first quarter, but followed that up with just 15 yards in the second. They finished with 170 yards of total offense for the game. Carolina¹s 16 points in the game tied a franchise record for fewest points in a game, and the 60 combined points sets a Cobras record for fewest combined points in a game.
• Discuss this story on the Arena Football League (1987-2008) message board...
Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from February 9, 2003
- Avengers shock SaberCats, 73-72 - OSC Original by Tim Peterson, Mid Valley News
- Avengers Edge SaberCats 73-72 - San Jose SaberCats
- AFL Week Two Summaries - AFL I
- Cobras Unable to Stop Big Plays as Carolina Falls 44-16 at Buffalo - Carolina Cobras
- Desperados up record to 2-0 with 46-38 Victory Over Rush - Dallas Desperados
- Dallas Exacts Revenge on Winless Rush - Dallas Desperados
- Buffalo Destroys Carolina, 44-16 - Buffalo Destroyers
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.
