Fumble-itis costs Rage in road loss at Fayetteville
May 23, 2005 - National Indoor Football League (NIFL)
RiverCity Rage News Release
Whom ever is making the travel plans for the River City Rage had best check the airline reservations list before the next road game. Because along with players, coaches and team personnel, apparently a boarding pass is being given to an unwelcome tag-along. In both trips by air in 2005, this nemesis has managed to hang around the team and then rear it's ugly head at the most inopportune time.
In the loss to the Tri-Cities Fever last month, 'Fumble-itis' only made an appearance late in the game, but accounted for three turnovers that sent The Rage home with it's first loss of the season.
This past Saturday night, however, the culprit showed up early and stayed way too long, and again had the biggest influence on the game's outcome as The Rage fell to the Fayetteville Guard 60-51, causing Head Football Coach Mike Wyatt to muse, "maybe our bags need to be checked a bit better at airport security."
On 'Military Appreciation Night' at the Fayetteville Crown Center Coliseum, The Guard came to attention and showed the hometown fans why it's a new team under Head Coach Mike Saini. The former Oakland Raiders standout, who took over after health problems forced former Head Coach Terry Smith to resign last month, has breathed new life into this Atlantic Central team. The Guard is now 3-2 under Saini's leadership.
The Guard set the stage on it's first drive of the game, using five plays to cover 25 yards and get on the scoreboard at 12:03 of the first quarter as Running Back Wayne Davis shot into the end-zone from one yard out. New Fayetteville Guard Kicker Bruce Reinecker's P-A-T was good and The Guard led by the score of 7-0.
Two plays and just over a minute later, The Rage hopped on board with a 24 yard touchdown pass to Hurtis Chinn, foiled only by Mike Matheny's failed conversion attempt. The loss of Chinn early in the second quarter due to a mild concussion would prove to be a factor in the Rage defeat, although Wyatt said on Monday that after observation and a follow up exam by the team doctor, he is expected to play on Sunday against New Jersey.
A Bruce Blue forced fumble and recovery touchdown gallop of 36 yards saw The Rage grab it's first lead of the game at 4:34. After a failed two-point conversion attempt, 'Fumble-itis" appeared to have switched sides when Reinecker's 31 yard field goal attempt was blocked and recovered by Terrell Washington, who ran it back 21 yards for the TD! The Clay Groesema to Chinn two-point pass play was good, and The Rage held a 20-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Saini was not shy about switching Quarterbacks throughout the game regardless of his team's success with either Brian Baker or Joe Davis. In the opening moments of the second quarter, it was Baker, the starter, who fired a 10 yard TD pass to Wide Receiver Tuati Wooden and with the P-A-T, Fayetteville was back in at 20-14.
A Sha-Ron Edwards touchdown run from 2 yards out widened The Rage lead to 26-14 but on the next series of downs, a defensive pass interference penalty gave The Guard a 26 yard gift, and after an offside penalty put the ball on the Rage one yard line, new quarterback Joe Davis took it in. Reinecker's attempt was no good, but Fayetteville had capitalized on Rage penalties to trail by only 26-20.
With an Offensive line leaving gaping holes for defenders to shoot through, and playing what Wyatt later called, "as poor a game as I've seen in the two years I've been here," Rage QB Clay Groefsema was sacked for losses of 4 and 5 yards on two consecutive plays. Mike Matheny's 66 yard field goal try was wide left and again, The Guard jumped on Rage mistakes and mental errors to quickly find paydirt, when Davis aired out a 25 yard pass that was cradled by Brandon McDowell in the end zone. Before the end of the half, however, two plays set the stage for the fiasco to follow. Groefsema was sacked for an 11 yard loss, fumbled, but managed to recover the ball at The Rage 13. On the next snap from center, he wasn't as lucky. Hit at the 14, Groefsema fumbled again, this time the ball was picked up by Guard lineman Corey Ellis, who gained a few yards before the half ended with Fayetteville in front by the score of 27-26.
Wyatt's potent offense regrouped early in the third quarter and at 11:00 Groefsaema thundered 11 yards into the end zone and The Rage was back out in front 32-27. And the defense seemed refocused on the next series as Baker, in again at quarterback under Saini's rotating system, threw 4 straight incompletions and 7 plays later, River City was on the board again when Matheny hit a 25 yard field goal, and booting The Rage to a 35-27 as the third quarter scoring came to an end.
It was only a cruel setup for the finale. On the first play from scrimmage, Groefsema was again sacked by Alfred Dubose losing 8 yards and the football as his fumble at The Guard 24 yard line was recovered by Safety George Miller.
Two plays later, The Rage must have known it was playing against a stacked deck when Guard Receiver Walter Ford took an end around pitch-out, was hit by Lineman Jay Carmack, fumbled, and then watched as the fumble was recovered by Fayetteville's Quincy Malloy, who ran the ball into the end zone. The two point run was no good, but The Guard was within striking distance at 35-33.
Guard Defensive backs Tom Stanley and Kelvin Jones teamed up all night to hold the NIFL's leading receiver Scott Pingle to just 2 catches and 12 yards, but one was the 3 yard scoring strike hauled in by Pingel at 11:14 of the final quarter. With the Matheny P-A-T through the uprights, the Rage lead was 42-33. It was less than two minutes later when Davis found Wide Receiver Brandon McDowell, his favourite target most of the second half, wide open in the end zone and Reinecker's extra point split the uprights and the Rage slim margin was 42-40.
That's when the fumbles, which Coach Wyatt described as "really not exchange problems, just balls that shot out of our hands when we were trying to get additional yards," became the biggest reason The Rage fell to 2 and 2 on the road this season. On first and 10 at the Fayetteville 14, Rage Running Back Sha-Ron Edwards was hit by Dubose, fumbled the ball and it was recovered by The Guard's Kelvin Jones at the River City 23.
The Guard did what good teams do to take advantage of another team's turnovers. They scored 5 plays later as Davis hit Brandon McDowell with a 6 yard rollout pass but 'Fumbleitis' was willing to play for both sides on Saturday as The Guard QB coughed up the football on the two point conversion try and it was picked up and returned some 40 plus yards by Rage Defensive End Lenny Williams for a score. NIFL rules award 2 points for a defensive P-A-T and The Rage trailed by 46-44.
Fayetteville's Defensive End Alfred Dubose made his presence known again moments later when he shot through a now exhausted Rage front line, hit Sha- Ron Edwards, forced a fumble which The Guard's George Miller recovered at The Rage 19. And The Guard offense wasted no time in pulling away for good as Davis rainbowed a 19 yard scoring strike to McDowell to take a lead of 53-44. It was at this point in the game, with 2:28 to play, that Rage Head Football Coach Mike Wyatt says, "the frustration really set in, and that's because despite all the errors, fumbles, penalties and mental mistakes, we STILL had a chance to come out with a victory. We just couldn't get over the top."
Groefsema completed a pass to Corey Bethany, then helped by a 19 yard pass interference call on Guard D-Back Deron Donald, managed to slip out of the grasp of a defender and fire a 5 yard TD pass to Sha- Ron Edwards. P-A-T good, The Rage down by only two, under a minute to play, and the on-side kick coming up!
The implosion began when Scott Pingel's onside mat the Rage 12 yard line by Fayetteville. No Gain, 6 yards, 2 yards, and two timeouts to stop the clock, and suddenly it's 4th and goal at the River City 4 yard line. A stop and 20 seconds left to go the length of the field and pull out a win. Not this time! on 4th down, running Back Wayne Davis sweeps left end and hurdles into the end zone. Kick good and The River City Rage fall to 7-2 in 2005.
More bad news! The Dayton Warbirds won their game over the weekend to pull within a game of The Rage in the Atlantic East Division. Although The Rage is atop the standings with a record of 7-2, Dayton is only a game out at 6-3. Cincinnati is even-up at 4-4 and The New Jersey X-treme is still winless at 0-8 in 2005. New Jersey comes to Family Arena on Sunday to play the River City Rage in a special Memorial Day Weekend game. Kick-Off is scheduled for 7pm and the game can be heard on 1380 ESPN Radio and will again be audio-streamed on both the ESPN and Ragefootball.com websites.
Quarterback Clay Groefsema completed only 9 of 16 pass attempts, good for 66 yards. He threw for 3 touchdowns but took 5 sacks on the night. Rage Wide Receiver Corey Bethany was the leading pass catcher, hauling in 3 receptions for 13 yards.
'Fumble-itis" was checked by security at the Raleigh- Durham Airport and held by officials as the team left early Sunday Morning for the long flight home. Hopefully, not to be seen or heard from for the rest of the year.
QUOTES FROM RAGE HEAD FOOTBALL COACH MIKE WYATT
(On the officiating, which was criticized by both Head Coaches)
"Let's just say I was disappointed and let's just leave it at that. It could have been a lot better."
(On the poor showing by the Rage Offensive Line)
"If I can praise them when they play well, I can surely be critical of the O-Line when it performs poorly, and that was sure the case on Saturday night. I don't know if they've gone soft or what the problems are, but as a unit, the line needs to show me something both in practice and in the game against New Jersey on Sunday. And beyond that, even, but first things first."
(On the New Jersey Rematch coming up Sunday at home)
"We put a whipping on them two weeks ago, and I'm sure they'll be looking a avenge that. But realistically, they've not won a game this year, but that could make them dangerous because they come in with nothing to lose. We've got to focus on making sure a game like we played on Saturday against Fayetteville doesn't happed again. You can be sure we'll be making some adjustments at practice this week."
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National Indoor Football League Stories from May 23, 2005
- Fumble-itis costs Rage in road loss at Fayetteville - RiverCity Rage
- Lee, Hawgs defense more than enough in 52-23 victory - Daytona Beach Hawgs
- Drillers lose fifth straight, now tied for eighth and final playoff spot - Beaumont Drillers
- Roughnecks earn playoff berth, division title - West Texas Roughnecks
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