Florida Tuskers Remain Undefeated With 24-6 Victory Over New York Sentinels

Published on November 12, 2009 under United Football League (UFL 1)
Florida Tuskers News Release


Hartford, CT (November 12, 2009) - The Florida Tuskers remained undefeated after tonight's 24-6 win over the struggling New York Sentinels at Rentschler Field in Hartford. With 5,201 in attendance, the Tuskers overpowered the Sentinels while keeping alive their hopes for a perfect season.

Florida's opening drive featured a 17-yard run up the middle by RB Tatum Bell but the drive stalled, forcing a punt. Florida LB Terrence Melton then forced a Brian Bonner fumble on the New York 11-yard line. Bell ran another 10 yards up the middle to set up a four-yard touchdown toss to Jayson Foster.

New York responded with a scoring drive of its own, marching down the field on a pair of WR Craphonso Thorpe catches and a 16-yard pass to TE Christian Hopkins to set up Piotr Czech's 38-yard field goal. The 12-play, 53-yard drive narrowed the gap to 7-3 with 6:07 left in the first quarter.

Florida QB Brooks Bollinger answered with throws to five different receivers as he led the Tuskers on a 12-play, 65-yard drive. Bollinger threw 28 yards to Marcus Maxwell and 18 yards to Frank Murphy to get them deep into Sentinels territory. The drive stalled on the New York 19 and Florida settled for Matt Bryant's 38-yard field goal with 5:03 left in the quarter to put Florida up 10-3.

Sentinels QB Quinn Gray, who finished the first half 12 of 21 for 112 yards, directed a 14-play drive that featured two fourth down conversions to move into field goal range. Piotr Czech converted from 44 yards out to pull the Sentinels to within 10-6 with 6:12 remaining in the half.

Florida then began another impressive drive that featured an 11-yard pass to Jermaine Wiggins, a 16-yard throw to Taye Biddle and a 23-yard strike to Michael Pittman to move the Tuskers to the New York 6-yard line. From there, the Sentinels' defense responded as Bell was hit and fumbled behind the line of scrimmage. NY safety David Lofton recovered the fumble at the New York 19.

Gray drove the Sentinels 67 yards in 12 plays to set up a 1^st and 10 at the Tusker 14 with 40 seconds left in the half. Florida's defense held, however, as Gray was hit on the next play and left the game with a hip injury. He was replaced by Ingle Martin who on his second play threw an interception to Ricky Manning, killing the drive at the Florida 2-yard line.

The Tuskers kicked off the second half with a key 26-yard pass to WR Taye Biddle and then the Tuskers trio of running backs (Bell, Pittman, and Shaud Williams) took over. Each has rushed for at least 100 yards in a game this season, a feat only accomplished by the Tuskers. Tatum Bell's three-yard run put Florida up 17-6 with 8:15 left in the third quarter.

Needing a spark, the Sentinels again gambled on two fourth down plays. After Thorpe's terrific 27-yard grab got them to their own 44, Martin converted on fourth and one with a four-yard keeper. Three plays later, RB LaBrandon Toefield converted the second fourth-down try before the Tuskers stiffened and forced the Sentinels into a failed 47-yard field goal attempt by Czech.

New York never threatened again. After Florida drove down the field and scored on a Bollinger pass to WR Paris Warren, Chris Greisen was sent in to finish the game. Bollinger finished 19 of 27 for 215 yards and two touchdowns. He leads the UFL with 1,305 yards, 13 TDs and only two interceptions to go along with a 69% completion rate.

Week Six concludes Saturday night with a pair of championship game hopefuls as the California Redwoods host the Las Vegas Locos at Spartan Stadium in San Jose.

Below are quotes from tonight's post-game press conferences:

New York Sentinels Head Coach Ted Cottrell:

On the game: "I thought we played okay in the first half. But right before the half, we turned it over. That was a huge segue... If we don't turn it over, then it's 10-9 and we are right in it and right where we want to be. We put together a couple drives in the third quarter and one in the fourth, but we weren't good enough on third downs. We didn't stop them. They were pretty good. We really didn't play third down defense very well. Especially in the fourth quarter, they were on our 20-yard line and they were able to convert. Those are things you hate to see happen."

On playing at Renstchler Field: "This is a fantastic facility. It's a great stadium and it's so nice of Connecticut to set up us here. This (Rentschler Field) is first class, no question about it. (The UFL) brings professional football to a facility like this. What a beautiful place to play. If the league wasn't in existence, we wouldn't have this professional football game here in November. The UFL is bringing football to places it's not normally at."

Florida Tuskers Head Coach Jim Haslett

On his team enjoying the UFL: "They are having fun... It feels like when I played in the early eighties. Guys hung out and did things together. That's what the feeling is. Somehow, if you could take this feeling and bring it back to the National Football League, I think football would be a lot more fun for people."

On the game: "We started slow and sluggish and we didn't tackle well on defense. We didn't do a good job up front on offense. That's why the score was what it was at half time. But we did a much better job in the second half. We got after them a little bit and got more aggressive in playing calling. On offense, we threw the ball and obviously scored some points. I think we are a much better team than that. We have to play at a higher level all the time. We did this last week. We struggled then turned it on to win the game when we needed to... But the good thing is that we only gave up two field goals."

On playing at Hartford: "I think it's a first class venue. I think the city would embrace a team here. You know, there's a good stadium with a great following and it would be a good place to have a team."

Florida Tuskers FB Andrew Pinnock (and Hartford native):

Perception of UFL: The league has been great. Everyone out there has something to prove. You have guys out here with so many situations. Guys that got in trouble and guys that trying to resurrect their careers.

Playing in Connecticut It's like a homecoming. I haven't played on this field since I was a senior in high school. It was a blessing to have my family and friends here. The feeling and the atmosphere just brought back so many memories. I had a lot of support tonight, probably 50 plus, including my son's Little League team.

How did you learn about the league? I didn't get picked up during training camp. As soon as the final cuts were made, I called my agent and said I want to get into the UFL. I want to prove that I am back, healthy and ready to play at a high level. This is total commitment here; I am totally committed to my team. Whatever happens when this year is over but I am totally committed to the Florida Tuskers.

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United Football League Stories from November 12, 2009


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