Destroyers beat Mountain Lions
October 7, 2011 - United Football League (UFL 1)
Virginia Destroyers News Release
VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA - Dominic Rhodes rushed for a league-record 217 yards on Friday night, but he was more interested in a different number - three, as in the Virginia Destroyers' 3-0 record at the midway point of the United Football League season.
The Destroyers beat the Sacramento Mountain Lions 28-6 before a crowd of 12,617 at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex.
"It wouldn't matter how many yards I rushed for, as long as we're 3-0," Rhodes said. "It's an awesome feeling."
The Destroyers rushed for 287 yards and racked up 479 yards of total offense to remain the only unbeaten team in the UFL.
"We just go out there with the same game plan," Rhodes said, "and if we play our game, nobody can stop us."
Rhodes' 217 yards, on 18 carries, shattered the UFL single-game rushing record of 147, set last year by Hartford's Lorenzo Booker. Rhodes also became the first player in league history to rush for three touchdowns in a single game as he helped Virginia edge closer to the right to stage the 2011 UFL Championship Game.
The Mountain Lions (0-3) put up a tough defensive stand for much of the game but are still looking for their first victory of the season.
The Destroyers led by just 7-6 at halftime, and the Mountain Lions might have had the lead if long snapper Aaron King had not gotten hurt while doing punt coverage early in the game. Working with a less experienced long snapper, Sacramento kicker Jose Martinez missed two kicks - an extra point that hit the crossbar and a field goal attempt that caromed off the right upright.
"We caught a little momentum in the second quarter," Sacramento coach Dennis Green said. "But we didn't take advantage of scoring opportunities, and that hurt."
The Destroyers took an early lead with a methodical 12-play, 81-yard drive that ate up almost eight minutes of clock in the first quarter. Quarterback Chris Greisen completed six straight passes and Rhodes ran a half-dozen times, capping the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run. Gabe Alvarado added the extra point for a 7-0 Destroyers lead.
Sacramento answered in the second quarter on a 23-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback McCleod Bethel-Thompson, seeing his first UFL action, to wide receiver Aaron Woods in the front left corner of the end zone with just under five minutes left in the half. After a bad snap on the extra point attempt, Martinez hit the crossbar, leaving the Destroyers with a 7-6 lead.
The Destroyers were hurt by a pair of turnovers in the second quarter on what started out as big plays. Linebacker Tony Taylor intercepted a pass and ran it back 20 yards before fumbling it back to Sacramento at the end of the return. Later in the quarter, Dominic Rhodes busted off a run of close to half the length of the field, but Mountain Lions cornerback Ronnie Prude punched the ball out of his grasp and the loose ball rolled more than 30 yards into the end zone for a turnover and a touchback.
"I'll be honest - I thought I was gone," Rhodes said sheepishly. "But I broke one of the rules - keep the ball."
Added Virginia coach Marty Schottenheimer: "The rule is very simple: The ball belongs to us. You don't give it to them."
Greisen also threw his first two interceptions of the season, giving Virginia four turnovers after the team committed none in the first two games.
"Those are what I call self-inflicted wounds," Schottenheimer said. "We take pride in avoiding them, but tonight that other tam played hard and made some things happen."
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Greisen rolled to his right and threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to a sliding Jamarko Simmons for a 14-6 lead.
Rhodes added to the lead less than five minutes later with a 25-yard touchdown run that he broke open by neutralizing a defender with a stiff-arm at the 20. Alvarado's third extra point of the night put the Destroyers up 21-6 with 10:17 left in the game.
Rhodes capped his explosive record-setting night with a 33-yard run around the left end for his third touchdown, putting the Destroyers ahead 28-6 with 3:13 left.
"The thing about our business is, it's really very simple," Schottenheimer said. "You find out what your people can do, and then you do that. You don't try to put squarepegs into roundholes to see if that's something that might work."
With that in mind, he said he did not make a lot of adjustments in the second half.
"We didn't have a good rhythm in the second quarter, but to our players' credit they met that challenge when we came back out," he said. "We didn't change a lot in what we do - there's only so many ways you can run the ball up the middle."
The same two teams meet again next week in Sacramento.
Friday night's game was also full of star power away from the field. Academy Award winner Denzel Washington - father of Sacramento running back John-David Washington - watched the game from the sidelines. Also, the local vocal group 4Sure sang the National Anthem and performed at halftime, while former Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Cowher performed the game's coin toss.
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United Football League Stories from October 7, 2011
- Destroyers beat Mountain Lions - Virginia Destroyers
- Dominic Rhodes' Record-Setting Night Keeps Virginia Undefeated - Virginia Destroyers
- Virginia Destroyers Lead Sacramento 7-6 At Halftime - Virginia Destroyers
- UFL Transactions - UFL 1
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