Commandos get defensive, wallop Cardinals

Published on May 16, 2010 under Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL)
Cincinnati Commandos News Release


The Cincinnati Commandos pummeled the Chicago Cardinals 61-13 Saturday at Cincinnati Gardens, shrinking their magic number to clinch the No. 1 seed in the CIFL playoffs down to two.

It was a record-setting performance for the Commandos defense. After racking up three team sacks for the game and increasing its total to 26, Cincinnati tied the single-season CIFL record for sacks.

The Commandos (8-0) defense overwhelmed Chicago (0-7) all game long, forcing five interceptions, a fumble recovery and scoring three touchdowns. The CIFL's top-ranked defense held the Cardinals scoreless in the second half.

Cincinnati DB EJ Underwood dominated the game early after returning two interceptions for touchdowns in the first quarter. Not to be outdone, his counterpart DB Jeff Franklin came up with three interceptions of his own. With 25 picks on the season, Cincinnati is just one shy of CIFL season record for interceptions.

The onslaught began on the game's opening drive when Cincinnati quickly marched down field and scored on RB Greg Moore's first of two touchdown runs of the game.

Underwood picked off Cardinals QB Ron Ricciardi's first pass of the game and returned it 47 yards to the house to give Cincinnati a quick 12-0 lead at the 9:55 mark in the first.

Underwood returned a missed Cardinals field goal attempt to the Chicago 2-yard line and RB Greg Moore punched it into the end zone on the next play, giving Cincinnati a 20-0 lead.

Cincinnati didn't surrender a point until the score was 35-0 in the second quarter and went into halftime leading 41-13.

Commandos DE James Spikes, the CIFL sacks leader, went to work in the second half. He recorded another 1.5 sacks to bring his total to 13.5, recovered a bobbled Chicago snap and returned it 15 yards to the end zone for a touchdown all within the third period.

The dominating defensive performance was even more impressive, considering the Commandos were without two of their starters. Defensive tackle Terrill Byrd was inactive due to a thigh injury and linebacker Clayton Mullins, Cincinnati's leading tackler, is expected to miss the remainder of the season after suffering a knee injury in the May 8 game at Marion.

With a time of possession of just 24:19, Commandos QB Ben Mauk attempted only 11 passes, completing eight for 88 yards and three touchdowns, two to WR Dominick Goodman and another to WR Robert Redd. Mauk now has a league-leading 41 touchdown passes on the season, including 15 to Goodman.

The Commandos return to action on Saturday, May 22 at 7:30 p.m. vs. the Fort Wayne Firehawks in their final regular-season home game.

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Continental Indoor Football League Stories from May 16, 2010


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