Edge win thriller at Reading
Published on April 14, 2012 under Indoor Football League (IFL)
Bloomington Edge News Release
READING, Pa. - Behind four touchdowns from Andre Raymond, the Bloomington Edge earned a come-from-behind 41-31 win over the Reading Express in Indoor Football League action on Saturday night at Sovereign Center.
The Express struck first on the opening series despite only gaining a yard in their three plays when Erik Rockhold connected on a 43-yard field goal with 12:45 remaining in the first period. The Edge put the first touchdown on the board with 1:51 left in the first chapter when quarterback Charles Dowdell recovered a bobbled snap in time to pitch to Andre Raymond for the four-yard score. The extra-point snap was bobbled, and the first quarter ended with the Edge leading 6-3.
The Edge extended the lead as Dusty Burk took over at quarterback in the second period, as he connected on a 10-yard pass to Andre Raymond with 9:04 remaining in the first half, followed by Peter Christofilakos's extra point to put the Edge ahead 13-3. Reading struck with 7:50 left in the second quarter with a 42-yard strike to Chris Schubert, as Erik Rockhold converted to cut the Edge lead to 13-10. The Express used a fourth-down conversion to keep a drive alive, capped by an 11-yard run by quarterback Tim Bailey and a conversion kick by Rockhold with 54.7 seconds left to put Reading ahead 17-13. The Edge came up empty in the ensuing possession, turning the ball over on downs with 18.9 seconds left, and the Express converted a 24-yard field goal by Rockhold to take a 20-13 lead into the halftime locker room.
Reading pushed their lead to 23-13 on a 24-yard Rockhold field goal with 8:03 left in the third quarter. On their next possession, Edge quarterback Dusty Burk rolled in for an eight-yard touchdown, but the extra point was blocked and returned for two points by the Express's Trey Womack to keep Reading ahead 25-19 with 4:10 left in the third quarter.
On the first play of the fourth period, the Express grabbed a 31-19 lead on a three-yard touchdown pass from Bailey to Schubert, followed by a failed PAT kick. Andre Raymond registered his third touchdown of the game on a run up the middle, and added the two-point conversion on a pitch-out to cut the Express lead to 31-27 with 13:39 left. The Edge finally regained the lead on a one-yard plunge by Raymond followed by the PAT by Christofilakos with 3:58 remaining in regulation. The Edge increased the lead to 41-31 when a Jeff Sobol hit forced Express quarterback Bailey to fumble, which was recovered by Ameer Ismail in the end zone for the touchdown followed by Christofilakos' PAT kick with 3:30 remaining. An interception by the Edge's Pacino Horne with 1:53 left gave Bloomington the ball, but the Edge could not earn a first down and allowed the Express one last possession. That desperation threat ended with an interception by Ameer Ismail with 4.1 seconds left, allowing the Edge to kneel one last time to preserve the win.
Dusty Burk, who didn't arrive in Reading until less than an hour before the game, was 13-of-25 passing with a touchdown and an interception for 92 yards. Raymond recorded six catches for 28 yards, while John Cooper also recorded 28 yards on three catches for the Edge. Raymond also recorded 34 rushing yards. Burk led the Edge on the ground with 69 yards. Express quarterback Tim Bailey was 21-of-38 through the air for 146 yards with one interception and two touchdowns, both to Chris Schubert, who led Reading with six catches for 72 yards.
The Edge improve to 6-1 while the Express remain winless at 0-5. The teams meet again next Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington. The game can be heard on WJBC.com.
Indoor Football League Stories from April 14, 2012
- Storm Defeat Wranglers 52-45 - Sioux Falls Storm
- Edge win thriller at Reading - Bloomington Edge
- This Week In The IFL Extras Features Robert Loving and Jon Jenson - IFL
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