Freeze are Playoff Bound after clipping Riverhawks.doc
June 12, 2006 - American Indoor Football Association (AIFA)
Erie Freeze News Release
The Erie Freeze billed Friday's game in "The Igloo" at the Tullio Arena as "Fan Appreciation Friday." The team rewarded thier fans for a season long of support with a fantastic 49-16 overwhelming of the visiting Johnstown Riverhawks. The victory secured an American Indoor Football League Northern Conference Playoff game for the Freeze who will travel to Canton to face the Legends this Saturday evening.
In essence, the home finale was the Freeze's first playoff game of 2006. With a victory, either team would advance to the playoffs, but a loss would end the 2006 campaign. The visiting Riverhawks wasted little time in hushing the "Igloo" crowd of nearly 3,000.
Canton QB Adam Haught connected with receiver Quenteen Robinson on a 33-yard touchdown pass on the game's second play to give the Riverhawks and early lead. Erie's offense sputtered on its first drive and instead of deflating the emotion in "The Igloo" after Sam Kingston's missed 32-yard field goal attempt, the offense's struggle lead to a reawakening of Erie's defense.
The Freeze defense sacked Haught for a safety on the ensuing play, but a facemask penalty wiped out the Freeze's good fortune. On the next play, Craig Prince sacked Haught again to rattle the 'Hawks pivot. The duress put on Haught forced him into quick decision making and allowed Roosevelt Benjamin to intercept a pass and return it back to the Johnston 14 yard line.
Freeze quarterback David Dinkins used the fortuitous field position to culminate a quick three play drive with a 6 yard run to tie the game at 7-7 with the first of four rushing touchdowns on the night.
On the next Johnstown series, Haught tried to go long again against the Erie secondary only to be intercepted by Sam "Bam" Reynolds at the Erie two yard line. Reynolds would return the ball 34 yards into Johnstown territory to the 14-yard line.
Dinkins would only need three more plays to up the Erie lead to 14-7 with a 1 yard plunge for pay dirt to close out the first quarter.
The Riverhawks would penetrate down to the Erie 7-yard line but the "Fearsome Frozen" became solid with a goal line stand and only allowed 3 points to J-town's sure footed kicker Jason Cherry to narrow the gap to 14-10 Erie.
The Freeze would then embark on a seven play drive that culminated in a Darmel Whitfield touchdown reception from Dinkins to up the score to 20-14 in favor of the Freeze.
The Fearsome Frozen again solidified and forced the 'Hawks to attempt a long field goal. Instead of being able to capitalize, the 'Hawks intercepted an errant Dinkins pass and looked to put another score on the board before halftime. Once again, the "Fearsome Frozen" rose to the test. As time expired, Cherry connected on a 37-yard three pointer. The Freeze entered the locker room with a 20-13 lead and halfway to a playoff position.
During the roller coaster ride that is the 2006 season, the Freeze's struggles mirrored personal adversity with the quarterback and defensive personnel. With a playoff position in the balance, both parties emerged in renaissance form.
Dinkins returned to MVP form, while the defense allowed on three points for the remained of the contest. Dinkins ran for an 11-yard touchdown for Erie's only score in the third stanza, but the fourth quarter would be different.
Dinkins rushed for another TD to open the fourth quarter stat sheet. Dinkins would then connect with Darmel Whitfield on a pair of touchdown passes from 15 and 20 yards to close out the scoring at 49-16 and send the Freeze to prepare for a playoff game next Saturday against the arch-rival Canton Legends.
Dinkins finished the game 13-21-1 for 154 yards passing and 28 yards rushing. Jon Frazier added 19 yards on the ground. Whitfield hauled in seven passes for 89 yards and three TD's for the Freeze.
Defensively, the Freeze only allowed Johnstown 85 total offensive yards in the contest. Craig "Let's Go Crazy!" Prince, led all defensive players with six tackles and four sacks. Benjamin, David Smith, and Antwan Fleming all pitched in to sack J-town's quarterback.
Freeze owner Dave Hodas said, "We won this game for our fans. It's been a tough season but the people in Erie stuck by the guys in this room and now it's down to Canton for the start of a new season."
The Freeze head to Canton on Saturday to face the Legends in the first round of the American Indoor Football League playoffs. The winner will face the victor of the Reading Express/Huntington Heroes clash.
Saturday's game kicks off at the Canton Civic Center at 7:05 PM. If you're not traveling to the game, catch all of the playoff action with Travis Phelps on 1400 AM radio.
The Freeze can still host a playoff game by defeating Canton combined with a Huntington victory.
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American Indoor Football Association Stories from June 12, 2006
- Raleigh Rebels Drop to Augusta, Now Look Forward to Playoffs - Raleigh Rebels
- Freeze are Playoff Bound after clipping Riverhawks.doc - Erie Freeze
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